Arya ducked to avoid the punch and then sprinted forward.
Bang!
She was kicked in the buttocks and almost fell forward.
The momentum of his forward run effectively mitigated the force of the kick from behind. Although he was in a sorry state, he did not fall and managed to break free from the interception of the three opponents.
Meow!
The black kitten cried out helplessly and fled back into the alley.
Arya suddenly stopped in her tracks. At the entrance of the alley, a large group of people appeared, one of whom was riding a tall horse and looking at her with a half-smile.
It's my uncle, Edmund!
His green cloak was quite eye-catching, with silver trout clasps gripping it, gleaming brightly.
"Uncle, save me!" Arya was overjoyed and ran over quickly.
A muffled, metallic voice, carrying a sense of oppressive hum, came through: "Arya, how have you been lately?"
A giant, burly man emerged and appeared directly in front of the alleyway entrance. Although he was behind Edmure, he was much taller than Edmure.
It's the Demon Mountain!
"The Mountain!" Arya exclaimed.
In the town of Harloweville, it was the Mountain who saved Arya's friend Mikael—Mikael was a butcher's apprentice from Winterfell, whose father was a butcher for the Stark family of Winterfell.
"Arya, look at you, why are you chasing the cat?" Edmure said, frowning.
Arya was as dirty as a little beggar, and the clothes she was wearing were not those of a noble lady—you can't exactly go out to catch a cat in silk clothes, can you?
Arya's leather was covered with scratches from the kitten's sharp teeth and claws.
She also had quite a few scratches on her hands; if you lifted up her sleeves, you could see those 'battle marks'.
"I'm learning to dance! My dance teacher won't teach me if I don't catch cats!"
"Catching a cat? Dancing? Nonsense!" Edmund scolded.
"It's sword practice!" the Mountain exclaimed. "Arya's dance is sword practice. Julie, Zelly, Bernie, come up here and apologize to Arya!"
Arya yelled, "Uncle, you saw me on the street and deliberately sent people to make things difficult for me?"
"It wasn't me, it was The Mountain!" Edmure said. "The Mountain saw you and said you were chasing a cat. I didn't believe him, so we came after you! Once you entered this alley, the Mountain sent Bernie, Julie, and Zelly to 'serve' you."
Julie Clegane stepped forward and extended her hand to Arya: "Hello, Miss Arya, I am Julie Clegane, and the Mountain is my father."
"Hmph!" Arya had no liking for Julie.
Julie regained her composure, but once she turned hostile, she was terrifying and menacing. Moreover, she even kicked Arya.
The Mountain laughed and said, "Julie, apologize to Arya."
"I'm sorry, Miss Stark," Julie said curtly, her tone devoid of any apology. Ignoring Arya's sour face, she walked past Arya, out of the crowd, mounted her horse, and galloped into the street.
Mrs. Jenny's carriage was still waiting at the intersection of the main street ahead, at the crossroads of Silent Sisters Street and Steel Street.
"Hello, Miss Stark, I am Zerigelda, you can call me Zerigelda, that's what my master calls me." The tall, burly woman bowed apologetically. "It was my master, Ser Gregor, who asked us to play a little game with you. Miss Stark, you are indeed very quick. I couldn't even touch the hem of your clothes."
"It's just that you're too stupid!" Arya said smugly.
"Arya, watch your manners." Edmure wasn't a particularly polite person himself, but he was very serious in front of Arya.
Arya's filthy appearance and rudeness embarrassed Edmure, damaging his reputation as Earl and the honor of House Stark. He wondered how his brother-in-law Eddard would berate her. Sister Mordan, Arya's governess, should also be dismissed, and that dance teacher deserved to die for making Arya catch cats before she could practice dancing.
Arya was not afraid of her stern and aloof uncle; she feared no one except her father.
Bernie removed his mask and laughed, "Dear and beautiful Miss Stark, you are more agile than a cat and more slippery than an eel. I am Bernie, and what I said was just a joke. Please forgive this fool, Miss Stark."
"Bernie, I should have guessed it was you!" Arya giggled.
She met Bernie in the town of Harloweville. She even spoke with him and played a game of throwing stones. Bernie was quite funny; it was he who testified against the Queen and Prince Joffrey, which saved Michael. He suffered a lot while saving her, being thrown to the ground by the Mountain and slapped.
The Mountain's slap was no joke! His face swelled up so badly that Arya couldn't bear to look at it.
Arya was then lifted onto a horse by Edmure, and they rode together, returning the way they came to the street of Silent Sisters Street, where they met up with Mrs. Jenny who was waiting there.
The Mountain noticed that across the street stood the imposing gates of the long-abandoned Pyromancer's Guild. The black gates, like black steel, were tightly shut, adorned with engravings of burning green wildfire flames. It was clear that the entrance hadn't been cleaned in a long time.
The group then turned onto the main street leading to the Red Fort: King's Road.
Many carriages blocked the road ahead, and the banners of various families flew high, some from Dorne, some from the North, some from Storm's End and the Reach, with all sorts of animal patterns fluttering in the wind.
A man in a golden robe blocked the road ahead, ordering all the nobles who came to compete to set up camp at the martial arts arena by the Blackwater River. He also demarcated the approximate territories of the nobles in each region along the city wall near the King's Gate.
Edmure said, "Mountain, what do we do? We can't get through!"
The King's Road was packed with carriages and oxcarts from various families, stretching as far as the eye could see.
"The hotels in the city are all full. Let's go to the martial arts training ground first, set up camp and settle the soldiers in. We'll go into the Red Fort tonight."
"I brought many gifts to present to the King and the Prime Minister," Edmure said, shaking his head.
"We also brought gifts, mainly for Her Majesty the Queen," said the Mountain. "It seems everyone else has brought many gifts for the King and Queen, just like us. Let's set up camp outside the city first."
So the group turned and took the seafood avenue, which the locals called the muddy avenue. They passed the fish market, exited through the seafood gate, and followed the riverside avenue along the Blackwater River to the martial arts arena.
The locals call the seafood scandal "mud scandal."
*
Night. Red Fort. Prime Minister's Tower.
The Prime Minister's Study.
Ed sat down and gestured for the Mountain to sit down as well.
"I heard from Edmure that you had to come see me. Thank you for the bags of snow salt, noodles, and... uh... chopsticks? Those wooden sticks are called chopsticks, right?"
"Yes, chopsticks."
"Yes, thank you, Sir. What did you want to say to me after coming all this way?"
"I am Lord Edmure's brother-in-law, and you are his brother-in-law as well. Therefore, the Mountain and the Stark family can be considered relatives. I can visit you under this pretext, which is perfectly legitimate. Even if the Red Cloak's spies in the Westerlands see me, I will have an excuse. Lord Edmure, do you believe in the Great Prophecy?"
"I never believe in any great prophecies spoken by priests, wizards, monks, or the like; they're all lies," Ed said firmly.
"Oh, so you don't hold the Old Gods in reverence, sir?"
The North is the only place in the Seven Kingdoms that worships the Old Gods; the people of the North do not worship the Seven Gods.
"What connection does the faith of the Northerners have with Ser Gregor?"
Eddard was not good at hiding his deep wariness and hostility towards the Mountain. The Mountain was well aware of this.
Magic Mountain decided to get straight to the point.
"My lord, I know you are investigating the cause of Jon Arryn's death. I urge you to stop; it will be better for the Starks."
Ed was startled, a chill running down his spine.
"Oh? Did Lord Tywin send you to threaten me? Lord Tywin is afraid I'll investigate the cause of Jon Arryn's death. Why? What is he afraid of?"
"It wasn't Duke Tywin who sent me to threaten you, sir. I came to you myself. I want to tell you a great prophecy."
"Hmph!" Ed snorted coldly. He never believed in any prophecies. "What great prophecy?"
"Winter is coming, my lord."
Ed's expression immediately changed.
"Winter is coming" is a sacred motto passed down through generations of the Stark family.