A Feast for Dragons

time he reached the foot of the
stair. He slung the girl over his shoulder and began to climb. Jeyne had ceased
to struggle by then, and she was such a little thing besides … but
the steps were slick with ice beneath soft powdery snow, and halfway up he lost
his footing and went down hard on one knee. The pain was so bad he almost lost
the girl, and for half a heartbeat he feared this was as far as he would go.
But Holly pulled him back onto his feet, and between the two of them they
finally got Jeyne up to the battlements.
    As he leaned up against a merlon, breathing hard, Theon
could hear the shouting from below, where Frenya was fighting half a dozen
guardsmen in the snow. “Which way?” he shouted at Holly. “Where do we go now?
How
do we get out?”
    The fury on Holly’s face turned to horror. “Oh, fuck me
bloody. The rope.” She gave a hysterical laugh.
“Frenya has the rope.”
Then she grunted and grabbed her stomach. A quarrel had sprouted from her gut.
When she wrapped a hand around it, blood leaked through her fingers. “Kneelers
on the inner wall …” she gasped, before a second shaft appeared between
her breasts. Holly grabbed for the nearest merlon and fell. The snow that she’d
knocked loose buried her with a soft
thump
.
    Shouts rang out from their left. Jeyne Poole was staring
down at Holly as the snowy blanket over her turned from white to red. On the
inner wall the crossbowman would be reloading, Theon knew. He started right,
but there were men coming from that direction too, racing toward them with
swords in hand. Far off to the north he heard a warhorn sound.
Stannis
,
he thought wildly.
Stannis is our only hope, if we can reach him
.
The wind was howling, and he and the girl were trapped.
    The crossbow snapped. A bolt passed within a foot of him,
shattering the crust of frozen snow that had plugged the closest crenel. Of
Abel, Rowan, Squirrel, and the others there was no sign. He and the girl were
alone.
If they take us alive, they will deliver us to Ramsay
.
    Theon grabbed Jeyne about the waist and jumped.
    ----

    DAENERYS
    The sky was a merciless blue, without a wisp of cloud in
sight.
The bricks will soon be baking in the sun
, thought Dany.
Down on the sands, the fighters will feel the heat through the soles of
their sandals
.
    Jhiqui slipped Dany’s silk robe from her shoulders and Irri
helped her into her bathing pool. The light of the rising sun shimmered on the
water, broken by the shadow of the persimmon tree. “Even if the pits must open,
must Your Grace go yourself?” asked Missandei as she was washing the queen’s
hair.
    “Half of Meereen will be there to see me, gentle heart.”
    “Your Grace,” said Missandei, “this one begs leave to say
that half of Meereen will be there to watch men bleed and die.”
    She is not wrong
, the queen knew,
but
it makes no matter
.
    Soon Dany was as clean as she was ever going to be. She
pushed herself to her feet, splashing softly. Water ran down her legs and
beaded on her breasts. The sun was climbing up the sky, and her people would
soon be gathering. She would rather have drifted in the fragrant pool all day,
eating iced fruit off silver trays and dreaming of a house with a red door, but
a queen belongs to her people, not to herself.
    Jhiqui brought a soft towel to pat her dry. “
Khaleesi
,
which
tokar
will you want today?” asked Irri.
    “The yellow silk.” The queen of the rabbits could not be
seen without her floppy ears. The yellow silk was light and cool, and it would
be blistering down in the pit.
The red sands will burn the soles of
those about to die
. “And over it, the long red veils.” The veils would
keep the wind from blowing sand into her mouth.
And the red will hide
any blood spatters
.
    As Jhiqui brushed Dany’s hair and Irri painted the queen’s
nails, they chattered happily about the day’s matches. Missandei reemerged.
“Your Grace. The king bids you join him when you are dressed. And Prince
Quentyn has come with his Dornish Men. They beg a word, if that should please
you.”
    Little about this day shall please me
. “Some
other day.”
    At the base of the Great Pyramid, Ser Barristan awaited them
beside an ornate open palanquin, surrounded by Brazen Beasts.
Ser
Grandfather
, Dany thought. Despite his age, he looked tall and
handsome in the armor that she’d given him. “I would be happier if you had
Unsullied guards about you today, Your Grace,” the old knight said, as Hizdahr
went to