\u00a0The final humiliation had been delivered with a smile, when Lame Lothar had summoned him to discuss his role in Roslin\u2019s wedding. \u201cWe must each play our part, according to our gifts,\u201d his half-brother told him. \u201cYou shall have one task and one task only, Merrett, but I believe you are well suited to it. I want you to see to it that Greatjon Umber is so bloody drunk that he can hardly stand, let alone fight.\u201d<\/p>\r\n
\u00a0 And even that I failed at. He\u2019d cozened the huge northman into drinking enough wine to kill any three normal men Derma 21 hard sell<\/a>, yet after Roslin had been bedded the Greatjon still managed to snatch the sword of the first man to accost him and break his arm in the snatching. It had taken eight of them to get him into chains, and the effort had left two men wounded, one dead, and poor old Ser Leslyn Haigh short half a ear. When he couldn\u2019t Umber had fought with his teeth.\u00a0 Merrett paused a moment and closed his eyes. His head was throbbing like that bloody drum they\u2019d played at the wedding, and for a moment it was all he could do to stay in the saddle. I have to go on, he told himself. If he could bring back Petyr Pimple, surely it would put him in Ser Ryman\u2019s good graces. Petyr might be a whisker on the hapless side, but he wasn\u2019t as cold as Edwyn, nor as hot as Black Walder. The boy will be grateful for my part, and his father will see that I\u2019m loyal, a man worth having about.\u00a0 But only if he was there by sunset with the gold. Merrett glanced at the sky. Right on time, He needed something to steady his hands. He pulled up the waterskin hung from his saddle, uncorked it, and took a long swallow. The wine was thick and sweet, so dark it was almost black, but gods it tasted good.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n The curtain wall of Oldstones had once encircled the brow of the hill like the crown on a king\u2019s head. Only the foundation remained, and a few waist-high piles of crumbling stone spotted with lichen. Merrett rode along the line of the wall until he came to the place where the gatehouse would have stood. The ruins were more extensive here, and he had to dismount to lead his palfrey through them.\u201cA swallow of wine, to settle my -\u201d\u00a0 \u201cWe don\u2019t drink with your sort,\u201d yellow cloak said curtly. \u201cIt\u2019s this way reenex cps<\/a>. Follow me.\u201d\u00a0 Leaves crunched beneath their heels, and every step sent a spike of pain through Merrett\u2019s temple. They walked in silence, the wind gusting around them. The last light of the setting sun was in his eyes as he clambered over the mossy hummocks that were all that remained of the keep. Behind was the godswood.\u00a0 Petyr Pimple was hanging from the limb of an oak, a noose tight around his long thin neck. His eyes bulged from a black face, staring down at Merrett accusingly. You came too late, they seemed to say. But he hadn\u2019t. He hadn\u2019t! He had come when they told him. \u201cYou killed him,\u201d he croaked.\u00a0 \u201cSharp as a blade, this one,\u201d said the one-eyed man.\u00a0 An aurochs was thundering through Merrett\u2019s head. Mother have mercy, he thought. \u201cI brought the gold.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cThat was good of you,\u201d said the singer amiably.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t think so,\u201d said Merrett. \u201cNot that I knew Elevit<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>","type":"rich"}