A Game of Thrones 4-Book Bundle

inside, coz. We need to talk.”
    Garrett had lit the braziers, and their glowing coals filled Jaime’s tent with a ruddy heat. Ser Daven shrugged out of his cloak and tossed it at Little Lew. “You a Piper, boy?” he growled. “You have a runty look to you.”
    â€œI’m Lewys Piper, if it please my lord.”
    â€œI beat your brother bloody in a mêlée once. The runty little fool took offense when I asked him if that was his sister dancing naked on his shield.”
    â€œShe’s the sigil of our House. We don’t have a sister.”
    â€œMore’s the pity. Your sigil has nice teats. What sort of man hides behind a naked woman, though? Every time I thumped your brother’s shield, I felt unchivalrous.”
    â€œEnough,” said Jaime, laughing. “Leave him be.” Pia was mulling wine for them, stirring the kettle with a spoon. “I need to know what I can expect to find at Riverrun.”
    His cousin shrugged. “The siege drags on. The Blackfish sits inside the castle, we sit outside in our camps. Bloody boring, if you want the truth.” Ser Daven seated himself upon a camp stool. “Tully ought to make a sortie, to remind us all we’re still at war. Be nice if he culled some Freys too. Ryman, for a start. The man’s drunk more oft than not. Oh, and Edwyn. Not as thick as his father, but as full of hate as a boil’s full of pus. And our own Ser Emmon . . . no,
Lord
Emmon, Seven save us, must not forget his new title . . . our Lord of Riverrun does nought but try to tell me how to run the siege. He wants me to take the castle without
damaging
it, since it is now his lordly seat.”
    â€œIs that wine hot yet?” Jaime asked Pia.
    â€œYes, m’lord.” The girl covered her mouth when she spoke. Peck served the wine on a golden platter. Ser Daven pulled off his gloves and took a cup. “Thank you, boy. Who might you be?”
    â€œJosmyn Peckledon, if it please my lord.”
    â€œPeck was a hero on the Blackwater,” Jaime said. “He slew two knights and captured two more.”
    â€œYou must be more dangerous than you look, lad. Is that a beard, or did you forget to wash the dirt off your face? Stannis Baratheon’s wife has a thicker mustache. How old are you?”
    â€œFifteen, ser.”
    Ser Daven snorted. “You know the best thing about heroes, Jaime? They all die young and leave more women for the rest of us.” He tossed the cup back to the squire. “Fill that full again, and I’ll call you hero too. I have a thirst.”
    Jaime lifted his own cup left-handed and took a swallow. The warmth spread through his chest. “You were speaking of the Freys you wanted dead. Ryman, Edwyn, Emmon . . .”
    â€œAnd Walder Rivers,” Daven said, “that whoreson. Hates that he’s a bastard, and hates everyone who’s not. Ser Perwyn seems a decent fellow, though, might as well spare him. The women too. I’m to marry one, I hear. Your father might have seen fit to consult with me about this marriage, by the bye. My own father was treating with Paxter Redwyne before Oxcross, did you know? Redwyne has a nicely dowered daughter . . .”
    â€œDesmera?” Jaime laughed. “How well do you like freckles?”
    â€œIf my choice is Freys or freckles, well . . . half of Lord Walder’s brood look like stoats.”
    â€œOnly half? Be thankful. I saw Lancel’s bride at Darry.”
    â€œGatehouse Ami, gods be good. I couldn’t believe that Lancel picked that one. What’s wrong with that boy?”
    â€œHe’s grown pious,” said Jaime, “but it wasn’t him who did the picking. Lady Amerei’s mother is a Darry. Our uncle thought she’d help Lancel win the Darry smallfolk.”
    â€œHow, by fucking them? You know why they call her Gatehouse Ami? She raises her portcullis for every knight who happens by. Lancel had best find an armorer to make him a horned helm.”
    â€œThat won’t be necessary. Our coz is off to King’s Landing to take vows as one of the High Septon’s swords.”
    Ser Daven could not have looked more astonished if Jaime had told him that Lancel had decided to become a mummer’s monkey. “Not truly? You are japing with me. Gatehouse Ami must be more stoatish than I’d heard if she could drive the boy to
that.
”
    When Jaime had taken his leave of Lady Amerei,