AFFC 26 – Brienne V

Retour à Viergétang avec Brienne et son équipe. Ah oui dans l’équipe, il y a aussi trois têtes qui pourrissent (sympa). Brienne a une mauvaise opinion de Hunt, mais à tort cette fois ci (il lui a fait des crasses mais il est plus complexe qu’il n’en a l’air)

“Bury them,” she told him every time they made camp for a night, but Hunt was nothing if not stubborn. He will most like tell Lord Randyll that he slew all three of them.

To his honor, though, the knight did nothing of the sort.

Il dit même toute la vérité en incluant Pod et en disant que Brienne aurait pu en tuer trois de plus. Tarly « propose » à Brienne de rentrer chez elle mais elle refuse car elle doit trouver Sansa

“If it please my lord,” Ser Hyle said, “I watched her fight the Mummers. She is stronger than most men, and quick—”

“The sword is quick,” Tarly snapped. “That is the nature of Valyrian steel. Stronger than most men? Aye. She’s a freak of nature, far be it from me to deny it.”

His sort will never love me, Brienne thought, no matter what I do.

On reparle de Sandor qui serait ou pas avec Dondarrion. Tarly le recherche intensément, il a déjà pendu des douzaines (!!!) de hors la loi en vain.

I will gladly slit their bellies open, pull their entrails out, and burn them. We’ve hanged dozens of outlaws, but the leaders still elude us. Clegane, Dondarrion, the red priest, and now this woman Stoneheart . . . how do you propose to find them, when I cannot?”

Brienne n’a pas de méthode, juste sa volonté. Tarly ne veut pas vraiment l’aider, il ne sait pas combien d’hommes sont avec Sandor (et ajoute une menace de viol, comme toujours dans les chapitres de Brienne, ou Sansa)

Brienne demande l’hospitalité mais elle lui est refusée. Hyle Hunt s’interpose en vain (un point de plus pour lui)

Ser Hyle Hunt stepped forward. “If it please my lord, I had understood that it was still Lord Mooton’s roof.”

Tarly gave the knight a venomous look. “Mooton has the courage of a worm. You will not speak to me of Mooton. As for you, my lady, it is said that your father is a good man. If so, I pity him. Some men are blessed with sons, some with daughters. No man deserves to be cursed with such as you. Live or die, Lady Brienne, do not return to Maidenpool whilst I rule here.”

Words are wind, Brienne told herself. They cannot hurt you. Let them wash over you. “As you command, my lord,” she tried to say, but Tarly had gone before she got it out.

Hunt propose de l’aide avec son cousin Alyn. Pod envisage des bateaux car il y a des hamacs… et des bateaux qui partent au loin. Avec des bateaux qu’on connait un peu…

Half a dozen were in port, though one, a galleas called the Titan’s Daughter, was casting off her lines to ride out on the evening tide. She and Podrick Payne made the rounds of the ships that remained. The master of the Gulltown Girl took Brienne for a whore and told them that his ship was not a bawdy house, and a harpooner on the Ibbenese whaler offered to buy her boy, but they had better fortune elsewhere. She purchased Podrick an orange on the Seastrider, a cog just in from Oldtown by way of Tyrosh, Pentos, and Duskendale. “Gulltown next,” her captain told her, “thence around the Fingers to Sisterton and White Harbor, if the storms allow. She’s a clean ship, ’Strider, not so many rats as most, and we’ll have fresh eggs and new-churned butter aboard. Is m’lady seeking passage north?”

“No.” Not yet. She was tempted, but . . .

As they were making their way to the next pier, Podrick shuffled his feet, and said, “Ser? My lady? What if my lady did go home? My other lady, I mean. Ser. Lady Sansa.”

“They burned her home.”

“Still. That’s where her gods are. And gods can’t die.”

Gods cannot die, but girls can. “Timeon was a cruel man and a murderer, but I do not think he lied about the Hound. We cannot go north until we know for certain. There will be other ships.”

Ah, le bateau d’Arya. Et une option qui va vers le Val. Si loin et en même temps si proche.

Ils dorment sur La Dame de Myr et Brienne cauchemarde (Dick, puis les hommes qu’elle a tués ou qui l’ont embêtée)

Au matin, elle retourne à l’auberge où le destin de Dick étonne peu. (au village sans prétention, j’ai mauvaise réputation)

“You’re the big one went off with Nimble Dick. I remember. He cheat you?”

“No.”

“Rape you?”

“No.”

“Steal your horse?”

“No. He was slain by outlaws.”

“Outlaws?” The woman seemed more curious than upset. “I always figured Dick would hang, or get sent off to that Wall.”

Notons que Pod boit de l’eau au vin et Brienne du vin à l’eau 😀

Podrick Payne washed his down with wine-flavored water whilst Brienne nursed a cup of watered wine

Brienne pense encore du mal de Hunt

Hyle Hunt was no true knight. His honest face was just a mummer’s mask. I do not need his help, I do not need his protection, and I do not need him, she told herself. He is probably not even coming. Telling me to meet him here was just another jape.

Hunt arrive, pose une question polie, se fait rembarrer mais passe quand même des infos quand Brienne lui pose une question sur Sandor. Il sort une carte (!!!) et déduit la localisation de Sandor

“The Hound butchered three of his brother’s men at the old inn by the crossroads, here. He led the raid on Saltpans, here.” He tapped Saltpans with his finger. “He may be trapped. The Freys are up here at the Twins, Darry and Harrenhal are south across the Trident, west he’s got the Blackwoods and the Brackens fighting, and Lord Randyll’s here at Maidenpool. The high road to the Vale is closed by snow, even if he could get past the mountain clans. Where’s a dog to go?”

“If he is with Dondarrion . . . ?”

“He’s not. Alyn is certain of that. Dondarrion’s men are looking for him too. They have put out word that they mean to hang him for what he did at Saltpans. They had no part of that. Lord Randyll is putting it about that they did in hopes of turning the commons against Beric and his brotherhood. He will never take the lightning lord so long as the smallfolk are protecting him. And there’s this other band, led by this woman Stoneheart . . . Lord Beric’s lover, according to one tale. Supposedly she was hanged by the Freys, but Dondarrion kissed her and brought her back to life, and now she cannot die, no more than he can.” Brienne considered the map. “If Clegane was last seen at Saltpans, that would be the place to find his trail.”

“There is no one left at Saltpans but an old knight hiding in his castle, Alyn said.”

“Still, it would be a place to start.”

Ensuite, il parle de septon Meribald et a déjà pris des engagements. Brienne est assez peu reconnaissante et ultra injuste en fait…

“A septon. He came in through my gate the day before you turned up. Meribald, his name is. River-born and river-bred and he’s served here all his life. He’s departing on the morrow to make his circuit, and he always calls at Saltpans. We should go with him.”

Brienne looked up sharply. “We?”

“I am going with you.”

“You’re not.”

“Well, I’m going with Septon Meribald to Saltpans. You and Podrick can go wherever you bloody well like.”

“Did Lord Randyll command you to follow me again?”

“He commanded me to stay away from you. Lord Randyll is of the view that you might benefit from a good hard raping.”

“Then why would you come with me?”

“It was that, or return to gate duty.”

“If your lord commanded—”

“He is no longer my lord.”

That took her aback. “You left his service?”

“His lordship informed me that he had no further need of my sword, or my insolence. It amounts to the same thing. Henceforth I shall enjoy the adventuresome life of a hedge knight . . . though if we do find Sansa Stark, I imagine we will be well rewarded.”

Gold and land, that’s what he sees in this. “I mean to save the girl, not sell her. I swore a vow.”

“I don’t recall that I did.”

“That is why you will not be coming with me.”

Le lendemain, ils partent avec ce septon singulier, son âne, son chien et des sacs d’orange

I have a weakness for the orange, I confess. I got these from a sailor, and I fear they will be the last I’ll taste till spring

On en apprend plus sur ce septon itinérant (personnage tertiaire mais très bien écrit, juste dans un chapitre, chapeau). On a même un cours de théologie sur les Sept qui ne sont qu’un, et même les différents aspects du Ferrant. Et c’est là qu’on en apprend plus sur la pénitence auto-infligée de Meribald

“Going barefoot was my penance. Even holy septons can be sinners, and my flesh was weak as weak could be. I was young and full of sap, and the girls . . . a septon can seem as gallant as a prince if he is the only man you know who has ever been more than a mile from your village. I would recite to them from The Seven-Pointed Star. The Maiden’s Book worked best. Oh, I was a wicked man, before I threw away my shoes. It shames me to think of all the maidens I deflowered.”

Ils parlent de leur quête (Sansa, et Sandor), le septon prie pour Sansa. Brienne aussi mais dans sa tête de crainte que Hunt se moque d’elle (euh….). Ils vadrouillent dans un Conflans désolé (un chapitre de Brienne classique, en somme)

No land could have been more different from Tarth, with its mountains and waterfalls, its high meadows and shadowed vales, yet this place had its own beauty, Brienne thought. They crossed a dozen slow-flowing streams alive with frogs and crickets, watched terns floating high above the bay, heard the sandpipers calling from amongst the dunes. Once a fox crossed their path, and set Meribald’s dog to barking wildly.

Et puis les gens qui ont des visages des Sept

Most seemed to live alone, out of sight of any human habitation but their own. They seemed a shy folk for the most part, but near midday the dog began to bark again, and three women emerged from the reeds to give Meribald a woven basket full of clams. He gave each of them an orange in return, though clams were as common as mud in this world, and oranges were rare and costly. One of the women was very old, one was heavy with child, and one was a girl as fresh and pretty as a flower in spring. When Meribald took them off to hear their sins, Ser Hyle chuckled, and said, “It would seem the gods walk with us . . . at least the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone.” Podrick looked so astonished that Brienne had to tell him no, they were only three marsh women.

Et là on apprend qu’ils sont loin de tout ce qui se passe à une journée de là

“These people live less than a day’s ride from Maidenpool, and yet the fighting has not touched them.”

“They have little to touch, my lady. Their treasures are shells and stones and leather boats, their finest weapons knives of rusted iron. They are born, they live, they love, they die. They know Lord Mooton rules their lands, but few have ever seen him, and Riverrun and King’s Landing are only names to them.”

Meribald parle encore de ses 40 ans de virée dans le Conflans. Et Brienne se pose des questions à son sujet

The back roads are the ones the outlaws use, and the caves would make fine places for hunted men to hide. A prickle of suspicion made Brienne wonder just how well Ser Hyle knew this man.

Sinon sur le chien « Chien » et celui « Héros », ça vous fait pas penser au Dernier Héros ?

Puis au détour d’une conversation, on apprend qu’il y a des loups super actifs dans la région. Le temps reste mauvais, ils dorment dehors avec des marécages, du mal à trouver du bois sec… Pause dans un village de pêcheurs où on leur dit qu’on a vu passer trois mecs louches. Meribald parle habilement de la faim qui change les humains

“Only three?” Ser Hyle smiled. “Three is honey to our swordswench. They’re not like to trouble armed men.”

“Unless they’re starving,” the septon said. “There is food in these marshes, but only for those with the eyes to find it, and these men are strangers here, survivors from some battle. If they should accost us, ser, I beg you, leave them to me.”

“What will you do with them?”

“Feed them. Ask them to confess their sins, so that I might forgive them. Invite them to come with us to the Quiet Isle.”

“That’s as good as inviting them to slit our throats as we sleep,” Hyle Hunt replied. “Lord Randyll has better ways to deal with broken men—steel and hempen rope.”

“Ser? My lady?” said Podrick. “Is a broken man an outlaw?”

On arrive au moment de bravoure du chapitre, celui où Meribald parle des hommes en rupture de ban (et donc de lui-même). C’est profondément humaniste et très bien écrit (je ne vais pas tout citer, ce serait trop long).

Brienne a bien compris que Meribald parlait de lui

The quiet stretched and stretched, until finally she said, “How old were you when they marched you off to war?”

“Why, no older than your boy,” Meribald replied. “Too young for such, in truth, but my brothers were all going, and I would not be left behind. Willam said I could be his squire, though Will was no knight, only a potboy armed with a kitchen knife he’d stolen from the inn. He died upon the Stepstones, and never struck a blow. It was fever did for him, and for my brother Robin. Owen died from a mace that split his head apart, and his friend Jon Pox was hanged for rape.”

“The War of the Ninepenny Kings?” asked Hyle Hunt.

“So they called it, though I never saw a king, nor earned a penny. It was a war, though. That it was.”

Pour ce passage qui parle de la guerre vue par la piétaille de base, et le traumatisme qu’elle apporte (loin des récits de guerre héroïques), ce chapitre reste marquant et probablement un des plus singuliers et des plus beaux de la saga. Dire qu’on ne connaissait pas Meribald avant ce chapitre et là, en quelques pages, il s’imprime à jamais

Ah ben, elle a la rancune tenace, c’est vrai. Certes il lui a fait des crasses jusqu’à encore récemment mais depuis le retour de Claquepince, elle imagine toujours le pire venant de lui et c’est le contraire. D’ici à ce qu’elle change, c’est pas gagné ^^

Sur le fait qu’il soit amoureux, je pense que tu te fais des idées. (Un esprit retors pourrait en effet se dire qu’il vise moins Brienne que Torth dont elle est l’héritière… mais y a du chemin encore pour que ce soit accepté par Brienne). Sur le fait qu’elle a gagné son respect, en revanche, là je suis d’accord. Elle s’est battue pour de vrai et a été très efficace, il le reconnaît.

D’un autre côté, il insiste sur le fait que lui n’a jamais fait vœu de retrouver Sansa donc il ne sera pas parjure s’il ne fait pas ce que Brienne s’est engagée à faire

Hyle Hunt porte le nom d’un chasseur : chasseur de prime (Sansa) et chasseur de dot (Brienne).

Ses vues intéressées sur Brienne, il en fait l’aveu tranquille dans le chapitre 38 :

Un mariage nous avantagerait tous les deux. Des terres pour moi, et un château pour vous plein de ces machins-là. » Sa main désigna les gosses.

R.Graymarch wrote:

Sur le fait qu’elle a gagné son respect, en revanche, là je suis d’accord. Elle s’est battue pour de vrai et a été très efficace, il le reconnaît.

Ce respect montre que Hyle a évolué, même s’il persiste à la nommer deux fois encore dans le chapitre « bobonne d’épée ». Le terme en V.O. étant plus insultant, dans son acception archaïque, que la V.F., quelque chose comme la gueuse d’épée.

SansaQueenBread wrote:

Leur relation est assez intéressante en tout cas. J’espère qu’elle sera explorée plus avant dans TWOW, parce que je suis vraiment curieux de savoir comment ils vont finir.

Comme septon Meribald, Hyle Hunt, à la relecture, est un personnage très secondaire, plus attachant qu’il n’y paraît. Quant à l’approfondissement de leur relation, il se pourrait qu’une corde ne coupe court à toute poursuite.

J’ai deux petites questions :

Les trois pitres que Brienne abat aux Murmures sont-ils les premiers hommes qu’elle tue ? d’où ses cauchemars ?

– C’est lord Randyll qui vous a de nouveau ordonné de me suivre ?
– Il m’a ordonné de rompre toute relation avec vous. Le point de vue de lord Randyll est qu’une séance de viol aggravé pourrait vous être bénéfique.
– Dans ce cas, pourquoi vouloir venir avec moi ?
– C’était ça, ou reprendre mon poste à la porte.
– Si votre chef vous a ordonné…
– Il n’est plus mon chef. »
Elle fût prise au dépourvu. « Vous avez quitté son service ?
– Sa Seigneurie m’a informé qu’Elle n’avait plus besoin de mon épée ni de mon insolence. Ce qui revient du pareil au même. Je vais dorénavant jouir de l’existence aventureuse d’un chevalier errant…

Je trouve les confidences de Hyle Hunt ambiguës : il ne dit pas que Randyll Tarly l’a renvoyé, mais qu’ à cause de son insolence, il est déchu du service d’épée, pas du service tout court qu’un banneret doit à son seigneur dont il est suffisamment proche pour être à son service personnel à Corcolline où il sauve Samwell de la noyade (chapitre 16). Dans un chapitre où il est beaucoup question d’hommes en rupture de ban, Hyle Hunt n’en serait-il pas un ?

J’espère que nous le reverrons dans TWOW ou ADOS, ce septon est une vraie bouffée d’air frais.

Elle est très loin de trouver la fille de lord Eddard, en effet. Je pense qu’elle ne la trouvera pas, mais que c’est Sansa qui finira par la  trouver. Et je pense que Brienne ne la reconnaîtra pas, du moins pas au début. Comme on le voit dans son premier chapitre d’AFFC, elle cherche Sansa Stark telle qu’elle était dans le souvenir de Catelyn, quand elle était encore une enfant innocente et naïve à Winterfell. La jeune femme que devient Sansa est très différente de cette enfant, même si je pense que sa droiture et sa gentillesse resteront. Brienne cherche une personne qui n’existe plus, pour le compte d’une morte (enfin d’une morte-vivante). Ce genre de quête a peu de chances d’aboutir.

• Cette réponse a été modifiée le il y a 1 année et 5 mois par SansaQueenBread.