A Game of Thrones 4-Book Bundle

to bother your cousin at his prayers.”
    â€œLord Lancel is asking the Father Above for guidance,” said the third sparrow, the beardless one. A boy, Jaime had thought, but her voice marked her for a woman, dressed in shapeless rags and a shirt of rusted mail. “He is praying for the soul of the High Septon and all the others who have died.”
    â€œThey’ll still be dead tomorrow,” Jaime told her. “The Father Above has more time than I do. Do you know who I am?”
    â€œSome lord,” said the big man with the starry eye.
    â€œSome cripple,” said the small one with the big beard.
    â€œThe Kingslayer,” said the woman, “but we’re no kings, just Poor Fellows, and you can’t go in unless his lordship says you can.” She hefted a spiked club, and the small man raised an axe.
    The doors behind them opened. “Let my cousin pass in peace, friends,” Lancel said softly. “I have been expecting him.”
    The sparrows moved aside.
    Lancel looked even thinner than he had at King’s Landing. He was barefoot, and dressed in a plain, roughspun tunic of undyed wool that made him look more like a beggar than a lord. The crown of his head had been shaved smooth, but his beard had grown out a little. To call it peach fuzz would have given insult to the peach. It went queerly with the white hair around his ears.
    â€œCousin,” said Jaime when they were alone within the sept, “have you lost your bloody wits?”
    â€œI prefer to say I’ve found my faith.”
    â€œWhere is your father?”
    â€œGone. We quarreled.” Lancel knelt before the altar of his other Father. “Will you pray with me, Jaime?”
    â€œIf I pray nicely, will the Father give me a new hand?”
    â€œNo. But the Warrior will give you courage, the Smith will lend you strength, and the Crone will give you wisdom.”
    â€œIt’s a hand I need.” The seven gods loomed above carved altars, the dark wood gleaming in the candlelight. A faint smell of incense hung in the air. “You sleep down here?”
    â€œEach night I make my bed beneath a different altar, and the Seven send me visions.”
    Baelor the Blessed once had visions too.
Especially when he was fasting.
“How long has it been since you’ve eaten?”
    â€œMy faith is all the nourishment I need.”
    â€œFaith is like porridge. Better with milk and honey.”
    â€œI dreamed that you would come. In the dream you knew what I had done. How I’d sinned. You killed me for it.”
    â€œYou’re more like to kill yourself with all this fasting. Didn’t Baelor the Blessed fast himself onto a bier?”
    â€œOur lives are candle flames, says
The Seven-Pointed Star.
Any errant puff of wind can snuff us out. Death is never far in this world, and seven hells await sinners who do not repent their sins. Pray with me, Jaime.”
    â€œIf I do, will you eat a bowl of porridge?” When his coz did not answer, Jaime sighed. “You should be sleeping with your wife, not with the Maid. You need a son with Darry blood if you want to keep this castle.”
    â€œA pile of cold stones. I never asked for it. I never wanted it. I only wanted . . .” Lancel shuddered. “Seven save me, but I wanted to be you.”
    Jaime had to laugh. “Better me than Blessed Baelor. Darry needs a lion, coz. So does your little Frey. She gets moist between the legs every time someone mentions Hardstone. If she hasn’t bedded him yet, she will soon.”
    â€œIf she loves him, I wish them joy of one another.”
    â€œA lion shouldn’t have horns. You took the girl to wife.”
    â€œI said some words and gave her a red cloak, but only to please Father. Marriage requires consummation. King Baelor was made to wed his sister Daena, but they never lived as man and wife, and he put her aside as soon as he was crowned.”
    â€œThe realm would have been better served if he had closed his eyes and fucked her. I know enough history to know that. In any case, you’re not like to be taken for Baelor the Blessed.”
    â€œNo,” Lancel allowed. “He was a rare spirit, pure and brave and innocent, untouched by all the evils of the world. I am a sinner, with much and more to atone for.”
    Jaime put his hand on his cousin’s shoulder. “What do you know of sin, coz? I killed my king.”
    â€œThe brave man slays