Post by Mojo on Aug 29, 2015 20:41:14 GMT
Lord Bolton's little smile paid another visit to his lips. "You speak boldly for a man who needs help to break his bread. My guards are all around us, I remind you."
"All around us, and half a league away." Jaime glanced down the vast length of the hall. "By the time they reach us, you'll be as dead as Aerys."
"'Tis scarcely chivalrous to threaten your host over his own cheese and olives," the Lord of the Dreadfort scolded. "In the north, we hold the laws of hospitality sacred still."
"All around us, and half a league away." Jaime glanced down the vast length of the hall. "By the time they reach us, you'll be as dead as Aerys."
"'Tis scarcely chivalrous to threaten your host over his own cheese and olives," the Lord of the Dreadfort scolded. "In the north, we hold the laws of hospitality sacred still."
Omg! Yet another clue as to how dastardly Bolton is!! And I'm guessing foretelling, too. He is sealing his own fate at the wedding. Bolton is a northerner, but Walder Frey isn't, and the old gods don't have power in the Riverlands (with the exception of high heart, and wherever that stump was where Jaime took a nap). Osha even tells Bran that sadly, they can't watch over Robb, back in Clash, since they cut down all the heart trees.
"I'm a captive here, not a guest. Your goat cut off my hand. If you think some prunes will make me overlook that, you're bloody well mistaken."
That took Roose Bolton aback. "Perhaps I am. Perhaps I ought to make a wedding gift of you to Edmure Tully . . . or strike your head off, as your sister did for Eddard Stark."
"I would not advise it. Casterly Rock has a long memory."
"A thousand leagues of mountain, sea, and bog lie between my walls and your rock. Lannister enmity means little to Bolton."
"Lannister friendship could mean much." Jaime thought he knew the game they were playing now. But does the wench know as well? He dare not look to see.
That took Roose Bolton aback. "Perhaps I am. Perhaps I ought to make a wedding gift of you to Edmure Tully . . . or strike your head off, as your sister did for Eddard Stark."
"I would not advise it. Casterly Rock has a long memory."
"A thousand leagues of mountain, sea, and bog lie between my walls and your rock. Lannister enmity means little to Bolton."
"Lannister friendship could mean much." Jaime thought he knew the game they were playing now. But does the wench know as well? He dare not look to see.
Jaime has already puzzled out that Bolton is giving him the chance to make up his mind as to who to remain loyal too. Something he was just thinking of about his father on the Trident earlier in the bathtub. In other words, it's a parallel to Trident deciding who to support. Not so coincidentally, Riverrun is the house seat for Lord of the Trident.
"I am not certain you are the sort of friends a wise man would want." Roose Bolton beckoned to the boy. "Elmar, carve our guests a slice off the roast."
Bolton wants to be sure he'll be granted immunity. After all, he could be held responsible for Hoat, since Hoat supposedly reports to him now...if only Hoat knew the horrific price he'd be paying for Ser Jaime's hand next book...
Brienne was served first, but made no move to eat. "My lord," she said, "Ser Jaime is to be exchanged for Lady Catelyn's daughters. You must free us to continue on our way."
"The raven that came from Riverrun told of an escape, not an exchange. And if you helped this captive slip his bonds, you are guilty of treason, my lady."
The big wench rose to her feet. "I serve Lady Stark."
"And I the King in the North. Or the King Who Lost the North, as some now call him. Who never wished to trade Ser Jaime back to the Lannisters."
"The raven that came from Riverrun told of an escape, not an exchange. And if you helped this captive slip his bonds, you are guilty of treason, my lady."
The big wench rose to her feet. "I serve Lady Stark."
"And I the King in the North. Or the King Who Lost the North, as some now call him. Who never wished to trade Ser Jaime back to the Lannisters."
"It can go either way, Jaime, take your pick." Bolton the dastardly dirtbag has an excuse to do whatever with Jaime- return him to Riverrun, or "follow Cat's orders". Thanks, Cat (cue voice: yet another thing to add to our list of events to thank Cat for- mayhaps voice and I should co-author an essay about how Cat caused all the bad shit to happen in ASOIAF?)
"Sit down and eat, Brienne," Jaime urged, as Elmar placed a slice of roast before him, dark and bloody. "If Bolton meant to kill us, he wouldn't be wasting his precious prunes on us, at such peril to his bowels."
Dark and bloody...like an upcoming wedding feast!
Roose Bolton cut his meat methodically, the blood running across his plate.
More blood...
"Lady Brienne, will you sit if I tell you that I hope to send Ser Jaime on, just as you and Lady Stark desire?"
Bolton uses the excuse that they are escaped traitors because of the raven from Edmure, but obviously, he knows about Cat- probably due to the Karholds, as he knows of the wedding offer, which he casually mentioned when he said he didn't need a wife now.
"I . . . you'd send us on?" The wench sounded wary, but she sat. "That is good, my lord."
"It is. However, Lord Vargo has created me one small . . . difficulty." He turned his pale eyes on Jaime. "Do you know why Hoat cut off your hand?"
"It is. However, Lord Vargo has created me one small . . . difficulty." He turned his pale eyes on Jaime. "Do you know why Hoat cut off your hand?"
Yep, exactly. This is why Bolton isn't sure whether to trust Tywin...
Bolton stabbed a chunk of meat with the point of his dagger, put it in his mouth, chewed thoughtfully, swallowed.
Ok, ok, we get it! Took 5 reads, but I see now that Roosey Goosey is going to bloody stab Robb at their next feast together!
King Robb has won every battle," Brienne said stoutly, as stubbornly loyal of speech as she was of deed.
"Won every battle, while losing the Freys, the Karstarks, Winterfell, and the north. A pity the wolf is so young. Boys of sixteen always believe they are immortal and invincible. An older man would bend the knee, I'd think. After a war there is always a peace, and with peace there are pardons . . . for the Robb Starks, at least. Not for the likes of Vargo Hoat." Bolton gave him a small smile. "Both sides have made use of him, but neither will shed a tear at his passing.
"Won every battle, while losing the Freys, the Karstarks, Winterfell, and the north. A pity the wolf is so young. Boys of sixteen always believe they are immortal and invincible. An older man would bend the knee, I'd think. After a war there is always a peace, and with peace there are pardons . . . for the Robb Starks, at least. Not for the likes of Vargo Hoat." Bolton gave him a small smile. "Both sides have made use of him, but neither will shed a tear at his passing.
One piece of advice Cat was smart about earlier. Both Catelyn and Bolton both knew Robb would be pardoned for bending the knee. Sansa may be hostage, but he'd stay heir of Winterfell, and be too far from King's Landing to invade if he stayed up north in his castle.
A thousand Karstarks prowl the lands south and east of Riverrun, hunting you. Elsewhere are Darry men left lordless and lawless, packs of four-footed wolves, and the lightning lord's outlaw bands.
Sure sounds like Nymeria is helping out the Brotherhood. So this interests me, because we know in the epilogue she drags Cat out of the water to become Un-Cat later with Thoros' help. So maybe not so indirectly she's assisting the Lord of Light. Which seems odd, right? The direwolves are of the north, and belong to the old gods. This is my confusion over the separation of magic I brought up in another thread. It sounds like the differences aren't so distinct.
Dondarrion would gladly hang you and the goat together from the same tree." The Lord of the Dreadfort sopped up some of the blood with a chunk of bread.
Did you catch that this time? In case you didn't, Bolton = blood.
"By maiming you, he meant to remove your sword as a threat, gain himself a grisly token to send to your father, and diminish your value to me. For he is my man, as I am King Robb's man. Thus his crime is mine, or may seem so in your father's eyes. And therein lies my . . . small difficulty." He gazed at Jaime, his pale eyes unblinking, expectant, chill.
Will he get a pardon like the Robb Starks of the world, and immunity, or treated like the Hoats, Reynes, and Tarbecks of the world instead?
Reynes & Tarbecks were actually mentioned a little earlier too:
The curse of Tywin Lannister." Bolton held out his goblet and Elmar refilled it silently. "Our goat should have consulted the Tarbecks or the Reynes. They might have warned him how your lord father deals with betrayal."
"There are no Tarbecks or Reynes," said Jaime.
"There are no Tarbecks or Reynes," said Jaime.
So even to an evil badass like Roose Bolton, the reputation of Tywin Lannister makes him think twice.
She is such an innocent. Jaime was almost as surprised, if truth be told, but he hid it better. Sansa Stark, that ought to put a smile on Tyrion's face. He remembered how happy his brother had been with his little crofter's daughter . . . for a fortnight.
Snap! Notice in his mind, Jaime referred to her as a crofter's daughter, not a whore!! If I hadn't been looking for Benjen, I would've realized Tysha was never a whore a whole lot sooner!
"Ser Jaime will continue on to King's Landing. I said nothing about you, I fear. It would be unconscionable of me to deprive Lord Vargo of both his prizes." The Lord of the Dreadfort reached out to pick another prune. "Were I you, my lady, I should worry less about Starks and rather more about sapphires."
I read this as two different messages- one, it's a way for Bolton to give a half assed attempt to cover his ass and "prove" his loyalty to Robb by punishing Brienne, but it's also a sneak peek at his cruel and duplicitous nature. Brienne is still highborn, and even if put to the sword for treason, she should be eligible for a cleaner death than the likes of Vargo Hoat.
And that's all, folks. I was pleasantly surprised at the treasure trove of information I found in this chapter, and I'm sure I missed a lot more.