Ⅱ 列王的纷争 Chapter24 席恩

THEON

无可挑剔，她美得惊人。为什么你的第一次总是如此美丽，席恩不禁想。

She was undeniably a beauty. But your first is always beautiful, Theon Greyjoy thought.

“瞧您，笑得多灿烂哟，”女人的声音从身后传来，“大人您喜欢上了她，是不？”

“Now there’s a pretty grin,” a woman’s voice said behind him. “The lordling likes the look of her, does he?”

席恩回头审视这女孩。他喜欢她的模样。真正的铁种，一望而知：苗条、长腿，剪得短短的黑发，饱经风霜的皮肤，强壮有力的胳膊，腰间别着的匕首。虽然对她那张瘦脸而言，她的鼻子显得又大又尖，不过她的笑容足以弥补。他认定她比他大几岁，但不超过二十五。哈，走起路来活像上辈子都在甲板上讨生活似的。

Theon turned to give her an appraising glance. He liked what he saw. Ironborn, he knew at a glance; lean and long-legged, with black hair cut short, wind-chafed skin, strong sure hands, a dirk at her belt. Her nose was too big and too sharp for her thin face, but her smile made up for it. He judged her a few years older than he was, but no more than five-and-twenty. She moved as if she were used to a deck beneath her feet.

“没错，她看起来真甜，”他告诉她，“不过嘛，却连你的一半也比不上。”

“Yes, she’s a sweet sight,” he told her, “though not half so sweet as you.”

“噢，噢。”她笑道，“我可得当心，大人您有蜜糖般的唇舌呢。”

“Oho.” She grinned. “I’d best be careful. This lordling has a honeyed tongue.”

“来，尝尝看？”

“Taste it and see.”

“可以吗？”她边说边露骨地瞧他。铁群岛中有的女人——虽然不多，但确有一部分——和男人们一起驾驶长船为生。俗话说海和盐能改变女人，使她们有男人的癖好。“您在海上待太久了么，大人？莫非您去的地方没女人做伴？”

“Is it that way, then?” she said, eyeing him boldly. There were women on the Iron Islands—not many, but a few—who crewed the longships along with their men, and it was said that salt and sea changed them, gave them a man’s appetites. “Have you been that long at sea, lordling? Or were there no women where you came from?”

“唉，女人是不少，可哪有你这样的人才。”

“Women enough, but none like you.”

“您怎知道人家是怎样的人呢？”

“And how would you know what I’m like?”

“我的眼睛会瞧啊，瞧你这漂亮脸蛋儿；我耳朵会听嘛，你笑起来真是没得说。喏，我那儿比桅杆还硬啦，还不都因为你。”

“My eyes can see your face. My ears can hear your laughter. And my cock’s gone hard as a mast for you.”

女人踱上前来，伸出一只手压上他马裤。“嘻嘻，您没骗我，”她边说边隔着衣料挤压，“痛不痛？”

The woman stepped close and pressed a hand to the front of his breeches. “Well, you’re no liar,” she said, giving him a squeeze through the cloth. “How bad does it hurt?”

“痛啊，痛死啦！”

“Fiercely.”

“可怜的大人，”她放手走开去，“真不巧，人家已经结婚了，还刚怀孕了呢。”

“Poor lordling.” She released him and stepped back. “As it happens, I’m a woman wed, and new with child.”

“诸神在上，”席恩说，“那我不能给你孩子啦。”

“The gods are good,” Theon said. “No chance I’d give you a bastard that way.”

“私生子？哈，恐怕还要我男人感激您哟？”

“Even so, my man wouldn’t thank you.”

“他不会，可你会。”

“No, but you might.”

“怎么？人家以前可陪过许多大人的。他们嘛……和外面的野男人也没啥两样。”

“And why would that be? I’ve had lords before. They’re made the same as other men.”

“可你跟过王子吗？”他问她，“当你年老色衰，白发苍苍，连奶头都松松垮垮的时候，你却可以骄傲地告诉孙子，你爱过一个国王呢！”

“Have you ever had a prince?” he asked her. “When you’re wrinkled and grey and your teats hang past your belly, you can tell your children’s children that once you loved a king.”

“噢，我们这是在谈情说爱吗？我还以为您只关心鸡巴和阴道呢。”

“Oh, is it love we’re talking now? And here I thought it was just cocks and cunts.”

“你想要爱情？”他觉得自己暗暗喜欢上了这婊子，管她是谁，她那尖刻机巧的话语是这又冷又暗的派克岛能给他的最好舒解。“你要不要我拿你的名字来为自己的长船命名？要我整天给你弹竖琴，把你带上城堡的高楼，用珠宝打扮，让你像童话中的公主一般？”

“Is it love you fancy?” He’d decided that he liked this wench, whoever she was; her sharp wit was a welcome respite from the damp gloom of Pyke. “Shall I name my longship after you, and play you the high harp, and keep you in a tower room in my castle with only jewels to wear, like a princess in a song?”

“您本该用我的名字来命名您的船，”她答道，忽略了其他承诺，“她是我建造的。”

“You ought to name your ship after me,” she said, ignoring all the rest. “It was me who built her.”

“不对吧，应该是西格林，我父亲大人的造船大师。”

“Sigrin built her. My lord father’s shipwright.”

“我是伊斯格蕊，安布德的女儿，西格林的老婆。”

“I’m Esgred. Ambrode’s daughter, and wife to Sigrin.”

他不知安布德还有个女儿，西格林的老婆？……但他和年轻的造船师傅只有一面之缘，而对以前那位大师更是记忆模糊。“你和西格林在一起真浪费。”

He had not known that Ambrode had a daughter, or Sigrin a wife … but he’d met the younger shipwright only once, and the older one he scarce remembered. “You’re wasted on Sigrin.”

“噢，西格林告诉我，把这艘漂亮的船给你才浪费呢。”

“Oho. Sigrin told me this sweet ship is wasted on you.”

席恩怒火中烧。“你知道我是谁？”

Theon bristled. “Do you know who I am?”

“葛雷乔伊家族的席恩王子，对不对？说实话，大人，你喜不喜欢她，这艘献给你的美少女？西格林很想知道。”

“Prince Theon of House Greyjoy. Who else? Tell me true, my lord, how well do you love her, this new maid of yours? Sigrin will want to know.”

这艘长船崭崭新新，散发着沥青和树脂的味道。明天，伊伦叔叔将在新船下水之际予她祝福，但席恩已等不及，便飞马从派克城赶过来预先观看。她的大小比不上巴隆大王的泓洋巨怪号和维克塔利昂的无敌铁种号，但即便躺在岸边的木船坞，已能让人充分感受她的灵巧与敏捷：一百尺长的黑色流线形船壳，一根独立的大桅杆，五十条长桨，足够一百人站立的甲板……船首则是一座塑成箭头形状的钢铁巨锤。“西格林取悦了我，”他承认，“她真的就跟看起来一样跑得快？”

The longship was so new that she still smelled of pitch and resin. His uncle Aeron would bless her on the morrow, but Theon had ridden over from Pyke to get a look at her before she was launched. She was not so large as Lord Balon’s own Great Kraken or his uncle Victarion’s Iron Victory, but she looked swift and sweet, even sitting in her wooden cradle on the strand; lean black hull a hundred feet long, a single tall mast, fifty long oars, deck enough for a hundred men … and at the prow, the great iron ram in the shape of an arrowhead. “Sigrin did me good service,” he admitted. “Is she as fast as she looks?”

“很快很快——只要驾御她的是懂行的人。”

“Faster—for a master that knows how to handle her.”

“我有几年没驾过船了。”事实上，从未当过船长。“不过，我是葛雷乔伊家的人，我是铁民，大海融入了我的血脉。”

“It has been a few years since I sailed a ship.” And I’ve never captained one, if truth be told. “Still, I’m a Greyjoy, and an ironman. The sea is in my blood.”

“如果你想好好开船，你的血脉应该融入大海，”她告诉他。

“And your blood will be in the sea, if you sail the way you talk,” she told him.

“放心，我不会亏待这位美少女。”

“I would never mistreat such a fair maiden.”

“美少女？”她嘻笑道，“她么，应该叫海婊子才对。”

“Fair maiden?” She laughed. “She’s a sea bitch, this one.”

“瞧，你给她取了个好名，就叫她海婊子吧。”

“There, and now you’ve named her. Sea Bitch.”

她被逗乐了，他看见她黑眼珠里闪烁的火花。“您刚才不是说，要用我的名字为她命名么？”她用受伤的语调责备道。

That amused her; he could see the sparkle in her dark eyes. “And you said you’d name her after me,” she said in a voice of wounded reproach.

“嘿，我可是说到做到了呀，”他执起她的手，“来吧，夫人。青绿之地上的人都说，怀孩子的女人能给睡她的男人带来好运。”

“I did.” He caught her hand. “Help me, my lady. In the green lands, they believe a woman with child means good fortune for any man who beds her.”

“青绿之地上的人怎么知道船上的事？怎会了解船上的女儿家？我想，您不会在哄我吧？”

“And what would they know about ships in the green lands? Or women, for that matter? Besides, I think you made that up.”

“嗨，我投降啦。你还爱我吗？”

“If I confess, will you still love me?”

“什么？我啥时候爱上您啦？”

“Still? When have I ever loved you?”

“就算还没有吧，”他承认，“可我不是在尽力弥补么？亲爱的伊斯格蕊，你瞧，外面寒风凄冷，就请上我的船，让我跟你暖和暖和。明天，我叔叔伊伦就要过来用海水浇灌她的船首，念念有词地向淹神祷告祈福，我打算先用我俩的精液来祝福她呢。”

“Never,” he admitted, “but I am trying to repair that lack, my sweet Esgred. The wind is cold. Come aboard my ship and let me warm you. On the morrow my uncle Aeron will pour seawater over her prow and mumble a prayer to the Drowned God, but I’d sooner bless her with the milk of my loins, and yours.”

“淹神老爷没定这规矩吧。”

“The Drowned God might not take that kindly.”

“去他的淹神老爷。他敢来烦我们，我他妈把他再淹一次。两周后我们就要去打仗，你怎么忍心让我彻夜无眠、满怀思念地上战场呢？”

“Bugger the Drowned God. If he troubles us, I’ll drown him again. We’re off to war within a fortnight. Would you send me into battle all sleepless with longing?”

“那样的话，我最开心了。”

“Gladly.”

“好残忍的女孩。我的船真是取了个好名。唉，若是我驾船分心牵挂，说不定就让她触礁了呢，你可后悔都来不及啦。”

“A cruel maid. My ship is well named. If I steer her onto the rocks in my distraction, you’ll have yourself to blame.”

“您可真会说笑话，莫非您用这个驾驶？”伊斯格蕊的手再度绕过他的马裤，她一边用手指勾勒他硬得似铁的命根子一边微笑。

“Do you plan to steer with this?” Esgred brushed the front of his breeches once more, and smiled as a finger traced the iron outline of his manhood.

“跟我回派克城吧，”他沉吟半晌，突然道。巴隆大王会怎样说？嘿，我关心个屁！我是个大男人了，想带婊子上床是我自己的事，谁管得了？

“Come back to Pyke with me,” he said suddenly, thinking, What will Lord Balon say? And why should I care? I am a man grown, if I want to bring a wench to bed it is no one’s business but my own.

“我去派克城干嘛？”她的手还放在那儿。

“And what would I do in Pyke?” Her hand stayed where it was.

“今晚，我父亲会大宴诸位船长。”其实他每天都在宴请他们，只等他们聚齐，不过没必要给这婊子讲这么仔细。

“My father will feast his captains tonight.” He had them to feast every night, while he waited for the last stragglers to arrive, but Theon saw no need to tell all that.

“呵，我就是您今夜的船长么，王子殿下？”她露出他从未见过的邪恶笑容。

“Would you make me your captain for the night, my lord prince?” She had the wickedest smile he’d ever seen on a woman.

“我同意。只要你为我平平安安撑船返航。”

“I might. If I knew you’d steer me safe into port.”

“好啊，我知道怎么撑船划桨……首先是放开绳子和索结……”她伸出另一只手，解开他的裤带，然后笑着轻快地走开，“不过人家结婚了，还怀了孩子，可惜哟。”

“Well, I know which end of the oar goes in the sea, and there’s no one better with ropes and knots.” One-handed, she undid the lacing of his breeches, then grinned and stepped lightly away from him. “A pity I’m a woman wed, and new with child.”

席恩慌忙提住裤带，“总之，我必须马上回城。你不跟我走的话，只怕我会永远为今天悲叹，就连群岛也将终日失色哪。”

Flustered, Theon laced himself back up. “I need to start back to the castle. If you do not come with me, I may lose my way for grief, and all the islands would be poorer.”

“我们别那么坏哟……可我没马呀，殿下。”

“We couldn’t have that … but I have no horse, my lord.”

“你可以骑我侍从的马。”

“You could take my squire’s mount.”

“我害你倒霉的侍从一路走回派克城去？”

“And leave your poor squire to walk all the way to Pyke?”

“好了，骑我的马。”

“Share mine, then.”

“你这家伙！本就这样打算吧，”她又笑了，“那么，我是坐你后面，还是前面？”

“You’d like that well enough.” The smile again. “Now, would I be behind you, or in front?”

“你想坐哪儿就坐哪儿。”

“You would be wherever you liked.”

“我要骑在上面啦！”

“I like to be on top.”

我真该早些遇上这婊子。“我父亲的厅堂又黑又潮，惟有伊斯格蕊能让那儿焕发光芒。”

Where has this wench been all my life? “My father’s hall is dim and dank. It needs Esgred to make the fires blaze.”

“大人您有蜜糖般的唇舌呢。”

“The lordling has a honeyed tongue.”

“嘿，我们不就这样开始的么？”

“Isn’t that where we began?”

她猛地抽回手，“这也是结束。伊斯格蕊跟你走，亲爱的王子，带我去城堡，我要好好瞧瞧您那海中升起的矫健塔楼。”

She threw up her hands. “And where we end. Esgred is yours, sweet prince. Take me to your castle. Let me see your proud towers rising from the sea.”

“来，我把马留在了旅馆，”他们并肩走下浅滩，席恩又去挽她的手，这次她没有拒绝。他喜欢她走路的姿势：透着一股蛮野劲儿，悠闲地摇摆，想来她在毯子底下也同样蛮野，同样棒。

“I left my horse at the inn. Come.” They walked down the strand together, and when Theon took her arm, she did not pull away. He liked the way she walked; there was a boldness to it, part saunter and part sway, that suggested she would be just as bold beneath the blankets.

君王港和从前一样，非常拥挤，鹅卵石岸上挤满长船水手，有的在防波堤边固定船锚，将船在岸边排成一列。铁民们不常屈膝，更不易屈膝，但席恩经过时发现无论桨手镇民似乎都通通闭上了嘴巴，朝他恭敬地点头。他们终于明白了我是谁，他心想，花的时间可不少嘛。

Lordsport was as crowded as he’d ever seen it, swarming with the crews of the longships that lined the pebbled shore and rode at anchor well out past the breakwater. Ironmen did not bend their knees often nor easily, but Theon noted that oarsmen and townfolk alike grew quiet as they passed, and acknowledged him with respectful bows of the head. They have finally learned who I am, he thought. And past time too.

大威克岛的古柏勒头领昨晚刚到，带来了他的船队主力，约四十条长船。这时，他的部下正四处游荡，围着斑纹山羊毛做的腰带，十分醒目。旅馆的闲人都说老板“水濑”吉普肯的妓女都被这群花腰带没胡子的男孩操弯了腰啦。呵，这些小子才不关他席恩的事，他可不想见那些脸上长痘的荡妇，还是身边的人更合胃口。她嫁给了父亲的造船师，肚里还拖着孩子，吓，多么诱人！

Lord Goodbrother of Great Wyk had come in the night before with his main strength, near forty longships. His men were everywhere, conspicuous in their striped goat’s hair sashes. It was said about the inn that Otter Gimpknee’s whores were being fucked bowlegged by beardless boys in sashes. The boys were welcome to them so far as Theon was concerned. A poxier den of slatterns he hoped he’d never see. His present companion was more to his taste. That she was wed to his father’s shipwright and pregnant to boot only made her more intriguing.

“王子殿下，您挑选好船员了吗？”他们朝马房走去时，伊斯格蕊开口道。“喂，蓝牙，”她朝一位路过的船员高喊，那人十分高大，穿着熊皮背心，头戴鸦翼盔。“你新娘子呢？”

“Has my lord prince begun choosing his crew?” Esgred asked as they made their way toward the stable. “Ho, Bluetooth,” she shouted to a passing seafarer, a tall man in bearskin vest and raven-winged helm. “How fares your bride?”

“怀孩子变胖啦，就念着双胞胎。”

“Fat with child, and talking of twins.”

“这样快啊？”伊斯格蕊又露出邪恶的笑容，“你在水里划桨总是这般猛。”

“So soon?” Esgred smiled that wicked smile. “You got your oar in the water quickly.”

“嘿嗨，划呀划呀划呀，”男人吼着。

“Aye, and stroked and stroked and stroked,” roared the man.

“粗汉一个，”席恩评论，“他叫蓝牙？我可以选他上海婊子。”

“A big man,” Theon observed. “Bluetooth, was it? Should I choose him for my Sea Bitch?”

“你莫非想侮辱他？蓝牙有自己的漂亮长船。”

“Only if you mean to insult him. Bluetooth has a sweet ship of his own.”

“我离开得太久，很多人际关系都扯不清喽，”席恩承认。他用心寻访过儿时玩伴，但一无所获，他们要么死了，要么成了陌生人。“我叔叔维克塔利昂答应把自己的舵手借给我。”

“I have been too long away to know one man from another,” Theon admitted. He’d looked for a few of the friends he’d played with as a boy, but they were gone, dead, or grown into strangers. “My uncle Victarion has loaned me his own steersman.”

“‘风暴狂饮’瑞摩尔？人选不错，只是他清醒的时候不多。”她认出更多熟人，朝旁边一个三人组叫嚷，“乌勒，科尔，你们老哥上哪儿去啦？嗯，斯基特？”

“Rymolf Stormdrunk? A good man, so long as he’s sober.” She saw more faces she knew, and called out to a passing trio, “Uller, Qarl. Where’s your brother, Skyte?”

“唉，恐怕淹神老爷急着要个好桨手哪，”那矮小身材，胡子半白的男人答道。

“The Drowned God needed a strong oarsman, I fear,” replied the stocky man with the white streak in his beard.

“他是说，埃迪斯喝得太多，把大肚子撑暴喽，”斯基特旁边粉红脸颊的少年续道。

“What he means is, Eldiss drank too much wine and his fat belly burst,” said the pink-cheeked youth beside him.

“逝者不死，”伊斯格蕊说。

“What’s dead may never die,” Esgred said.

“逝者不死。”

“What’s dead may never die.”

席恩跟着他们呢喃祷词。“看来你很受欢迎嘛，”男人们离开后，他告诉女人。

Theon muttered the words with them. “You seem well known,” he said to the woman when the men had passed on.

“谁不喜欢造船师傅的老婆呢。不多恭维点，说不定哪天船沉了都不知道。你想找桨手，这三人倒不错。”

“Every man loves the shipwright’s wife. He had better, lest he wants his ship to sink. If you need men to pull your oars, you could do worse than those three.”

“君王港里多的是壮汉。”席恩早考虑过这个问题，他要的是经验丰富的战士，要的是赤胆忠心的伙伴——不是对他父亲大人，不是对他叔叔，而只对他本人。眼下，他不得不暂时扮演恭顺尽责的王子殿下的角色，眼看着巴隆大王执行计划。可只要时机成熟，计划出了岔子，或是他不喜欢自己的角色了，那么，那就……

“Lordsport has no lack of strong arms.” Theon had given the matter no little thought. It was fighters he wanted, and men who would be loyal to him, not to his lord father or his uncles. He was playing the part of a dutiful young prince for the moment, while he waited for Lord Balon to reveal the fullness of his plans. If it turned out that he did not like those plans or his part in them, however, well …

“光有力气是不够的，要想一条长船跑得快，关键是她的桨手必须整齐一致。你聪明的话，得尽量选择以前共事过的船员。”

“Strength is not enough. A longship’s oars must move as one if you would have her best speed. Choose men who have rowed together before, if you’re wise.”

“贤明的建议。依我看，应当由你来帮我挑选船员。”让她知道我有多赏识她的智商，女人就喜欢这道道。

“Sage counsel. Perhaps you’d help me choose them.” Let her believe I want her wisdom, women fancy that.

“或许吧，如果您待我好点儿的话。”

“I may. If you treat me kindly.”

“还不够好么？”

“How else?”

他们走近密拉罕号，席恩陡然加快脚步。这条船甲板上空无一人，在波浪中不住摇晃。早在两周前，船长就试图驾船离开，却被巴隆大王发话禁止。自席恩归来以后，君王港所有的商船都不准出港；父亲希望在准备就绪之前，不让大陆得到一丝一毫军队集结的讯息。

Theon quickened his stride as they neared the Myraham, rocking high and empty by the quay. Her captain had tried to sail a fortnight past, but Lord Balon would not permit it. None of the merchantmen that called at Lordsport had been allowed to depart again; his father wanted no word of the hosting to reach the mainland before he was ready to strike.

“少爷！”商船船楼上传下一声凄惨的呼唤。船长的女儿倚在栏杆边，目不转睛地望着他。她老爸不准她上岸，于是每当席恩前来君王港，总能见她在甲板上没头苍蝇似的四处徘徊。“少爷，请等我一下，”她在他身后大喊。“如果少爷您高兴……”

“Milord,” a plaintive voice called down from the forecastle of the merchanter. The captain’s daughter leaned over the rail, gazing after him. Her father had forbidden her to come ashore, but whenever Theon came to Lordsport he spied her wandering forlornly about the deck. “Milord, a moment,” she called after him. “As it please milord …”

“就这女孩？”当席恩领着伊斯格蕊飞快地越过小船后，她问，“逗少爷您高兴？”

“Did she?” Esgred asked as Theon hurried her past the cog. “Please milord?”

我可不会为这小女孩脸红。“有一段时间吧。她得寸进尺，想当我的盐妾。”

He saw no sense in being coy with this one. “For a time. Now she wants to be my salt wife.”

“噢，噢，没错，当盐妾再没更好的可人儿了。你看看，她娇嫩又柔弱，不是么？我说得没错吧？”

“Oho. Well, she’d profit from some salting, no doubt. Too soft and bland, that one. Or am I wrong?”

“没错。”娇嫩又柔弱。中肯极了。可她怎么知道呢？

“You’re not wrong.” Soft and bland. Precisely. How had she known?

他吩咐威克斯在旅馆等他。此时大厅里人头攒动，席恩只好从门边一路挤过去。长椅和桌边都没了空位，他的跟班不见了。“威克斯，”他在一片喧嚣和谈笑中高声大叫。如果他跑去睡那些长痘痘的婊子，我就剥了他的皮，他正这么想着，转头便瞧见了男孩，对方正在壁炉边掷骰子……赢了不少，面前的钱币堆得小山似的。

He had told Wex to wait at the inn. The common room was so crowded that Theon had to push his way through the door. Not a seat was to be had at bench nor table. Nor did he see his squire. “Wex,” he shouted over the din and clatter. If he’s up with one of those poxy whores, I’ll strip the hide off him, he was thinking when he finally spied the boy, dicing near the hearth … and winning too, by the look of the pile of coins before him.

“该走了，”席恩宣布。男孩不理他，他一把揪住孩子的耳朵，将他拖离赌局。威克斯慌乱中抓起一把铜板，一言不发地跟席恩出去。他就这点讨席恩喜欢，别人的侍从都是多嘴多舌，只有他的威克斯天生是个哑巴……惟一的遗憾是他跟其他十二岁男孩一般机灵古怪。他是波特利头领的同父异母兄弟的私生子之一，带走他当跟班也是席恩为换取波特利的好马所付出的代价。

“Time to go,” Theon announced. When the boy paid him no mind, he seized him by the ear and pulled him from the game. Wex grabbed up a fistful of coppers and came along without a word. That was one of the things Theon liked best about him. Most squires have loose tongues, but Wex had been born dumb … which didn’t seem to keep him from being clever as any twelve-year-old had a right to be. He was a baseborn son of one of Lord Botley’s half brothers. Taking him as squire had been part of the price Theon had paid for his horse.

当威克斯瞧见伊斯格蕊，眼睛顿时瞪得老大。你还以为他这辈子从没见过女人呢！席恩想。“伊斯格蕊跟我一起骑马回派克。快把马鞍备好，快！”

When Wex saw Esgred, his eyes went round. You’d think he’d never seen a woman before, Theon thought. “Esgred will be riding with me back to Pyke. Saddle the horses, and be quick about it.”

男孩的坐骑只是从巴隆大王的马房里随意拣的一匹又瘦又矮的小马驹，但席恩的马不同凡响。“这该死的马你打哪儿弄到的？”伊斯格蕊一见便问，从她笑的模样，他知道她被打动了。

The boy had ridden in on a scrawny little garron from Lord Balon’s stable, but Theon’s mount was quite another sort of beast. “Where did you find that hellhorse?” Esgred asked when she saw him, but from the way she laughed he knew she was impressed.

“一年前，波特利头领在兰尼斯港买下的。不过他家的马也实在太多，所以就很乐意转手喽。”铁群岛贫瘠多山，不是培育良马的地方。多数岛民对骑马很陌生，对他们而言，待在甲板比骑上马背自在得多。头领们也只骑骑矮马或多毛的哈尔洛小马。岛上牛车都比马车多。平民百姓更没财力去购买牲畜来在这荒芜崎岖的土地上拉犁。

“Lord Botley bought him in Lannisport a year past, but he proved to be too much horse for him, so Botley was pleased to sell.” The Iron Islands were too sparse and rocky for breeding good horses. Most of the islanders were indifferent riders at best, more comfortable on the deck of a longship than in the saddle. Even the lords rode garrons or shaggy Harlaw ponies, and ox carts were more common than drays. The smallfolk too poor to own either one pulled their own plows through the thin, stony soil.

不过席恩在临冬城待了十年，决心骑着雄健的战马上战场。波特利头领不识货，算他的运气：这匹牡马的脾性就像他的漆黑皮肤一般，个子虽比不得军马，却比普通坐骑高大。对他而言真是恰好合适，因为席恩也不如一般骑士那么高大。这家伙眼透火气，记得第一次跟新主人见面，撅撅嘴唇，差点把席恩的脸咬掉。

But Theon had spent ten years in Winterfell, and did not intend to go to war without a good mount beneath him. Lord Botley’s misjudgment was his good fortune: a stallion with a temper as black as his hide, larger than a courser if not quite so big as most destriers. As Theon was not quite so big as most knights, that suited him admirably. The animal had fire in his eyes. When he’d met his new owner, he’d pulled back his lips and tried to bite off his face.

“它有名字么？”席恩上马时她问。

“Does he have a name?” Esgred asked Theon as he mounted.

“笑星，”他朝她伸手，把她抱到身前，好在骑马途中搂着她。“记得从前有个家伙对我说，我总是对着错误的东西微笑。”

“Smiler.” He gave her a hand, and pulled her up in front of him, where he could put his arms around her as they rode. “I knew a man once who told me that I smiled at the wrong things.”

“是么？”

“Do you?”

“哼，在那些从不懂得欢笑的人眼里或许如此吧。”他想起父亲和伊伦叔叔。

“Only by the lights of those who smile at nothing.” He thought of his father and his uncle Aeron.