Carliene Stark

II Chapter 68

Carliene

"Do you know why they call it Bitterbridge?" Lord Tyrion questioned as our horses slowly approached the large bridge, crossing over the Mander. If he thought that this was his chance to tell me something new then he was mistaken. 

"There was a battle between the forces of Maegor the Cruel and the Faith Militant fought here" I recalled thoughtfully as I took the time to study the grey stone and the timber and stone keep on the other side in the form of a short tower. "They say it was so bloody that the river ran red" I looked at the wide body of water as we crossed it. The water ran slow and calm and I tried to imagine the amount of blood it would take to turn it all red. It made me doubt that part of the tale, I felt like whenever there was a battle fought in or around water, someone would eventually claim that it ran red with the blood of the dead and defeated. 

"Bitterbridge, King's Landing, Highgarden, Cornfield, Riverrun, Storm's End" Tyrion counted and I turned my attention towards him, wondering what he was listing. "It seems we westerosi are not very creative when it comes to the naming of our castles" he offered. 

I thought about that for a moment as I felt Tansy's rhythmic hoofbeat beneath me. I gave a small chuckle as I managed to think of a few more. "Highgarden, Sunspear, Oldtown, Castle Black, Dragonstone"

"In comparison the names of the cities across the narrow sea sound almost like poetry" he decided. 

I shrugged. "Maybe only we think that, maybe in their language 'Pentos' means warm rock?" I offered.

He chuckled. "I believe they speak Bastard Valyrian there" he recalled. "It can't be too different from High Valryrian and I don't recall there being a meaning for Pentos in High Valyrian" I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that he spoke High Valyrian. It would come in handy as the one who commanded the Unsullied. 

I looked up at the keep of Bitterbridge as we passed it, studying the yellow centaur of House Caswell and once again feeling glad that Olenna was so adamant about me studying all the houses of the Reach. Otherwise I would never have known why it was called Bitterbridge. As I straightened back in my seat I found myself thinking about Winterfell. Why was it called Winterfell? Did it have any significance? I knew that it was a very old castle and that the crypt bellow were even older. But I couldn't recall maester Luwin ever telling us why it was called Winterfell. And I had never thought to ask. 

Although I was assured we were covering god ground, it still felt to me like our host was moving too slow. Many of the westermen that Lord Tyrion commanded and nearly all of the Unsullied were moving on foot. Pairing that with the slow-moving provision caravan and I felt like I could have made better progress walking, rather than siting on my horse as it walked along in the long trail of men and horses and wagons. It frustrated me, probably because I knew better than anyone what Tansy was truly capable of. And I could feel she was frustrated as well. 

I refrained from warning into her or any other animal on our journey though. I was too afraid of sinking in too deep and maybe falling off my horse again. Not because I freaked injury, but because I didn't think I could stand the humiliation. 

I spent most of my day riding along next to Tyrion's smaller horse and listening to him talk. He was a good talker and I found it very pleasant to listen to him. He had this habit of trying to leech information in very subtle ways though, which at times made me feel very uncomfortable and which I would discourage him from quickly. Any topic having to do with my time at the Rock, my relationship with other members of his family or worst of all having to do with my child, would make me hold my tongue very quickly. I could tell that he meant no harm and that he was just curious, but I was far too suspicious to open up to anyone about those topics. Maybe that was the reason why by now most of the south must be believing that I killed my now newborn son, but ignoring that seemed easier to me than openly trying to contest it.