Chapter 274: The Beauty Brienne

"Where's Martha? That fat innkeeper who used to chew tobacco all day and had blood-red teeth," Barristan asked.

"Martha was my aunt. She died. Two years ago."

"Dead? How did she die?"

"She was hanged outside the inn by the Old Lion."

"The Old Lion? Duke Tywin?"

"Yes," Willow didn't wait for further questions and explained on her own, "That day, the Imp happened to be drinking downstairs and got caught by Lady Stark. During the War of the Four Kings, the Lannisters crossed the river and hanged Aunt Martha as revenge for standing by and doing nothing."

"Standing by and doing nothing? Tywin must've been senile. Your aunt was just an innkeeper. How was she supposed to intervene in front of Lady Stark and the Tully heiress?" Dany said, the corner of her mouth twitching.

Willow replied helplessly, "Since when do nobles care about what's reasonable for commoners?"

"It's a pity. Martha was a great cook, and the ale she brewed was truly rich and fragrant," Barristan smacked his lips in regret.

"You knew Martha too?" Dany asked in surprise.

"Sigh, that inn was a legendary establishment, as famous as the Quill and Tankard. I stayed here during my travels across the Seven Kingdoms." The old maester glanced around and walked over to the fourth room on the north side, stopping in front of it. Smiling, he said, "This was the room where Queen Alysanne the Kind and King Jaehaerys the Wise stayed two hundred years ago."

"You're bluffing, aren't you?" Willow stared at him, both shocked and skeptical.

"Heh," the old maester tugged at the long chain hanging from his neck and proudly said, "See this, little girl? Five red copper links — doctorate in history!"

"Willow, raise the price of this room from now on," Dany said as she entered the former room of the Old King. It wasn't very spacious, only about forty square meters, but it had an extra washroom and a fireplace compared to the others.

She took the large canvas bag off her back and set it on the armchair in front of the fireplace. After glancing around the room, she said, "The feather quilt is a bit moldy—replace it with a cleaner one. Light the fireplace, and fill the water tank in the washroom."

"We'll take the rooms on either side," Barristan added.

The old knight then pulled Willow aside to ask about recent events around the inn.

"Wolves and lions have come and gone. The nearby villages have all been destroyed by soldiers. Bandits, sparrows, and orphans who've lost their families are everywhere. Travelers are few and far between. The inn's long out of food—we survive only by hunting and fishing. Does that count as a major event?" Willow said.

"Have the Lannisters done anything? Organized the refugees to return and plant crops? With the weather like this, there's still time to grow another batch of hardy vegetables like turnips and cabbage. The lions won the war. The Riverlands are theirs now. Shouldn't they manage their own territory?" Dany asked.

"There are plenty of lions around, but aside from killing and looting, they do nothing else. Last time, the Hound killed a few of them, and my cousin followed in Aunt Martha's footsteps—slain by the lions in revenge," Willow said gloomily.

Dany's eyes lit up. "Was the Hound alone?"

A flash of caution appeared in Willow's eyes. "Why are you asking? Are you trying to find someone?"

Dany gave the young girl a strange look. Child, you really are too young and inexperienced.

I didn't ask anything, yet you've already revealed that you know the girl with the Hound is Arya Stark—and you're trying to protect her. What's your relationship with Arya?

She rolled her eyes. "You said it yourself—the Hound killed several lions. He's not some legendary hero like Barristan. Without allies, how could he possibly take on multiple knights alone and come out on top?"

"Is Barristan really that strong? The Hound fought three men with help from a girl, but he still got seriously wounded," Willow said, doubtful.

Dany nodded silently. Now that's the realistic power scale of this world.

With similar gear and physical ability, winning a one-on-one means you're good. Winning a two-on-one means you're skilled. Able to fight three and have a decent chance of winning—that's a master. Those who can fight four or five are legendary heroes, like the Sword of the Morning.

If I didn't have the cheat code of "Lion's Roar," with equal equipment, I could at best handle two opponents—and they couldn't be too strong.

"Barristan once fought eleven men alone in the Citadel—ten elite soldiers in full gear and one heavily armored knight. He was unharmed, and six of them died. He even decapitated the knight," she said.

"Wow! I didn't expect 'Barristan the Bold' to be that strong—way stronger than the Hound," the girl said, her face full of admiration and awe.

Barristan rubbed his nose awkwardly. Your Grace, you really overestimate this old man. Without armor, I'd have been chopped in half long ago!

After Willow left, the old knight shared many more stories with Dany about the Crossroads Inn.

For instance, aside from the Old King, Robert and Cersei had stayed here on their way back from the North. During the Rebellion, Prince Rhaegar and Robert fought their final battle just south of the inn, by the riverside.

Because Rhaegar wore a ruby-studded red dragon on his chest, Robert smashed it with his warhammer, and rubies scattered all over the shore. That place became known as Ruby Ford.

That day, Arya and the pig boy practiced swordplay there. Joffrey and Sansa went for a stroll. Arya's direwolf Nymeria got exiled, and Sansa's "Lady" was executed by Eddard.

Tyrion was also abducted here by Catelyn, setting off a chain of major events.

It was like the Game of Thrones version of Liu Family Village—everything started here!

Soon, a few boys brought them hot water and bundles of firewood. After lighting the fireplace and washing up, they went downstairs and ate a few pieces of roasted horse meat. Then the three returned to their rooms and slept like logs—until heavy footsteps in the hallway outside startled Dany and Barristan awake, just as darkness fell.

Once she heard Weeping Willow introducing the room to the guest, Dany lay back down on the feather bed, lazily staring out the window at the gloomy sky, lost in thought: It's going to rain.

The guest seemed to have settled in the room opposite theirs. From time to time, the sound of footsteps pressing against the floorboards could be heard. Dany thought to herself that the person must be a tall and burly warrior, perhaps even wearing armor—those footsteps sounded exactly like Barristan's.

Unable to fall asleep again, Dany got out of bed. Still in her undergarments, she began practicing swordsmanship in the room. Even after flying tens of thousands of miles and mastering the powerful fire-controlling Dragonflame technique, she hadn't slacked off in training her body.

Yes, she still hadn't given up on the dream of becoming the Knight King.

After working up a sweat, she used the kettle hanging above the fireplace to take a hot bath. While at it, she washed the dye out of her hair, restoring it to its radiant silver sheen.

Then she cleaned and oiled her armor, spending over two hours in total. By the time she finished, the sky outside had turned completely dark, and a light freezing rain drifted into the room through the window.

By now, even the red-nosed old maester had woken up. Limping over, he knocked on the door and asked, "Are we still heading out tonight as planned? It's raining!"

"Heh, don't you know the saying 'sun in the east, rain in the west'? Just because it's raining here doesn't mean it's raining up north. Half an hour north, and it'll be clear," Dany replied with a smile.

"Maybe it's snowing up north," the old man grumbled and returned to his room to get dressed.

In truth, when riding a dragon, all you needed was a helmet to block the wind. Even high up in the northern skies, it wasn't cold—because the dragon's scales radiated intense heat.

With the help of the old knight, Dany put on her leather armor and iron plates, then layered on a wool sweater and a thick cloak—the Shadow Lynx cloak she bought from a clothing store in King's Landing, patterned with black stripes. It was arguably the warmest fur in the realm.

Ten gold dragons—very expensive. According to the shopkeeper, there was only one such cloak in all of King's Landing.

At one point, Dany had suspected it was second-hand. Though clean and neatly kept, still carrying a faint orchid scent, the fur's color seemed slightly faded. But the old knight advised her to buy it—no matter how many hands it had passed through, warmth was all that mattered.

Turns out, Dany was right—it was Tyrion's old coat.

That's right, the only Shadow Lynx cloak in King's Landing was the one Tyrion had brought back from the Mountains of the Moon.

When the Imp was cast out with nothing, even his coat ended up being sold and eventually picked up by a merchant.

As a side note, the Shadow Lynx is also a legendary creature—not as powerful as a dragon, but stronger than an ice direwolf, extremely rare, and even harder to catch.

How fierce is it?

Sharp teeth and claws, as ferocious as a tiger, as strong as a bull, and as agile as a cat—that's the baseline. What's truly terrifying is that it can smell blood from ten kilometers away!

When Dany and the others came downstairs with their backpacks, they saw the boys trying hard to push the tables together, forming three long rows. Several older girls were dragging out benches from the back. Over thirty children were busily moving about under Weeping Willow's direction, like a swarm of ants.

While the orphans bustled about, two brawny men and a scrawny young man sat leisurely by the bonfire. Wait—no, one of the armored figures, nearly two meters tall, with a rough face and surprisingly gentle eyes—was that a woman?

"Beauty" Brienne?

Weeping Willow came to the staircase, saw Dany's silver braid hanging over her chest, and said in surprise, "Knight lady, your hair—"

Dany tossed the long braid behind her back and smiled. "It was dyed black before."

"Oh, silver hair suits you very well. You look even more beautiful," Willow said, shyly lowering her head as she touched her own messy, hay-like brown hair.

She quickly noticed the three of them carrying bags and asked with concern, "Are you leaving? It's so late, and it's still raining—where are you going?"

"What if I said we're going beyond the Wall to fight White Walkers? Would you believe me?" Perestan said with a chuckle.

Willow shot him a glance—may the White Walkers devour this lying old man!

But she didn't press further and just reminded them, "It's dangerous to travel at night. You three, be careful."

"Let's eat first—you haven't had dinner yet, have you?" Barristan said.

"We're cooking porridge. You can warm up by the fire for now," Willow said before turning back to the hall to keep the children organized.

The man warming his feet by the fire had his back to the stairs and hadn't noticed Dany and the others. He was still rambling on about something quite strange.

"To be honest, I want you. Be confident—don't doubt my love. Plenty of people willingly marry someone slow-witted, even if that person's been taken in public dozens of times and ended up with a bastard son. Yet the rewards they get don't even compare to half of what the Tarth family offers—you're the only surviving child of Lord Selwyn of Tarth," he said sincerely.

Tarth?

It had to be Brienne.

And this guy—modeling himself after Bronn—was trying to woo Brienne?

(End of Chapter)

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