A Game of Thrones 4-Book Bundle

“Or does he dream of her draped in silks and velvets?”
    â€œHe’s a man. He dreams of her naked.”
    She is trying to make me blush again.
    Lady Myranda must have heard her thoughts. “You do turn such a pretty shade of pink. When I blush I look quite like an apple. I have not blushed for years, though.” She leaned closer. “Does your father plan to wed again?”
    â€œMy father?” Alayne had never considered that. Somehow the notion made her squirm. She found herself remembering the look on Lysa Arryn’s face as she’d tumbled through the Moon Door.
    â€œWe all know how devoted he was to Lady Lysa,” said Myranda, “but he cannot mourn forever. He needs a pretty young wife to wash away his grief. I imagine he could have his pick of half the noble maidens in the Vale. Who could be a better husband than our own bold Lord Protector? Though I do wish he had a better name than
Littlefinger.
How little is it, do you know?”
    â€œHis finger?” She blushed again. “I don’t . . . I never . . .”
    Lady Myranda laughed so loud that Mya Stone glanced back at them. “Never you mind, Alayne, I’m sure it’s large enough.”
    They passed beneath a wind-carved arch, where long icicles clung to the pale stone, dripping down on them. On the far side the path narrowed and plunged down sharply for a hundred feet or more. Myranda was forced to drop back. Alayne gave the mule his head. The steepness of this part of the descent made her cling tightly to her saddle. The steps here had been worn smooth by the iron-shod hooves of all the mules who’d passed this way, until they resembled a series of shallow stone bowls. Water filled the bottoms of the bowls, glimmering golden in the afternoon sun.
It is water now,
Alayne thought,
but come dark, all of it will turn to ice.
She realized that she was holding her breath, and let it out. Mya Stone and Lord Robert had almost reached the rock spire where the slope leveled off again. She tried to look at them, and only them.
I will not fall,
she told herself.
Mya’s mule will see me through.
The wind skirled around her, as she bumped and scraped her way down step by step. It seemed to take a lifetime.
    Then all at once she was at the bottom with Mya and her little lord, huddled beneath a twisted, rocky spire. Ahead stretched a high stone saddle, narrow and icy. Alayne could hear the wind shrieking, and feel it plucking at her cloak. She remembered this place from her ascent. It had frightened her then, and it frightened her now. “It is wider than it looks,” Mya was telling Lord Robert in a cheerful voice. “A yard across, and no more than eight yards long, that’s nothing.”
    â€œNothing,” Robert said. His hand was shaking.
    Oh, no,
Alayne thought.
Please. Not here. Not now.
    â€œIt’s best to lead the mules across,” Mya said. “If it please my lord, I’ll take mine over first, then come back for yours.” Lord Robert did not answer. He was staring at the narrow saddle with his reddened eyes. “I shan’t be long, my lord,” Mya promised, but Alayne doubted that the boy could even hear her.
    When the bastard girl led her mule out from beneath the shelter of the spire, the wind caught her in its teeth. Her cloak lifted, twisting and flapping in the air. Mya staggered, and for half a heartbeat it seemed as if she would be blown over the precipice, but somehow she regained her balance and went on.
    Alayne took Robert’s gloved hand in her own to stop his shaking. “Sweetrobin,” she said, “I’m scared. Hold my hand, and help me get across. I know
you’re
not afraid.”
    He looked at her, his pupils small dark pinpricks in eyes as big and white as eggs. “I’m not?”
    â€œNot you. You’re my winged knight, Ser Sweetrobin.”
    â€œThe Winged Knight could fly,” Robert whispered.
    â€œHigher than the mountains.” She gave his hand a squeeze.
    Lady Myranda had joined them by the spire. “He could,” she echoed, when she saw what was happening.
    â€œSer Sweetrobin,” Lord Robert said, and Alayne knew that she dare not wait for Mya to return. She helped the boy dismount, and hand in hand they walked out onto the bare stone saddle, their cloaks snapping and flapping behind them. All around was empty air and sky, the ground falling away sharply to either side. There was ice