It should not be long now, my lady, Hallis Mollen said. He had asked for the honor of protecting her in the battle to come; it was his right, as Winterfell's captain of guards, and Robb had not refused it to him. She had thirty men around her, charged to keep her unharmed and see her safely home to Winterfell if the fighting went against them. Robb had wanted fifty; Catelyn had insisted that ten would be enough, that he would need every sword for the fight. They made their peace at thirty, neither happy with it.
“夫人,等不了多久了。”哈里斯·莫兰道。他要求在这场战事中有幸担负起保护她的责任,身为临冬城侍卫队长,这本是他的权利,罗柏也没拒绝。她身边还围绕着三十个卫士,他们的任务只是保护她免遭任何伤害,倘若战事不利,则务必将她安然护送回临冬城。罗柏原本要派出五十人,凯特琳坚持这场仗他需要所有的人手,因此十个就够了,最后他们达成妥协,改派三十名卫士,但双方都怏怏不乐。
It will come when it comes, Catelyn told him. When it came, she knew it would mean death. Hal's death perhaps... or hers, or Robb's. No one was safe. No life was certain. Catelyn was content to wait, to listen to the whispers in the woods and the faint music of the brook, to feel the warm wind in her hair.
“该来的时刻自然会来。”凯特琳告诉他。当战事到来的时刻,她知道那将意味着死亡,或许是哈尔的死……也或许是她的,甚至是罗柏。在战争中无人安全,任何人的性命都有危险,所以凯特琳宁愿等待,静听林间轻响、溪涧乐音,感受暖风拂过发丝。
She was no stranger to waiting, after all. Her men had always made her wait. "Watch for me, little cat," her father would always tell her, when he rode off to court or fair or battle. And she would, standing patiently on the battlements of Riverrun as the waters of the Red Fork and the Tumblestone flowed by. He did not always come when he said he would, and days would ofttimes pass as Catelyn stood her vigil, peering out between crenels and through arrow loops until she caught a glimpse of Lord Hoster on his old brown gelding, trotting along the rivershore toward the landing.
再怎么说,等待对她来说毫不陌生,她生命中的男人总是让她等待。“小凯特,等我回来哟。”每次父亲上朝、上集或远赴沙场,总是这么对她说。她也乖乖听话,耐心地站在奔流城的城垛上,看着红叉河和腾石河水奔涌流过。他每每不能准时归来,于是凯特琳也在城墙上终日守望,透过雉堞和箭孔向外眺望,直到终于瞥见霍斯特公爵骑着那头棕色老马,沿着河岸,快步朝渡口奔来。