Bran did not try to follow. His pony could not keep up. He had seen the ragged man’s eyes, and he was thinking of them now. After a while, the sound of Robb’s laughter receded, and the woods grew silent again.
So deep in thought was he that he never heard the rest of the party until his father moved up to ride beside him. “Are you well, Bran?” he asked, not unkindly.
“Yes, Father,” Bran told him. He looked up. Wrapped in his furs and leathers, mounted on his great warhorse, his lord father loomed over him like a giant. “Robb says the man died bravely, but Jon says he was afraid.”
“What do you think?” his father asked.
Bran thought about it. “Can a man still be brave if he’s afraid?”
“That is the only time a man can be brave,” his father told him. “Do you understand why I did it?”
“He was a wildling,” Bran said. “They carry off women and sell them to the Others.”
His lord father smiled. “Old Nan has been telling you stories again. In truth, the man was an oath breaker, a deserter from the Night’s Watch. No man is more dangerous. The deserter knows his life is forfeit if he is taken, so he will not flinch from any crime, no matter how vile. But you mistake me. The question was not why the man had to die, but why I must do it.”
Recede 減弱
Forfeit 被剝奪的
Flinch 畏懼
Vile 卑鄙的
布蘭沒有跟上去，他的小馬沒這般能耐。他方才見到了死囚的眼睛，現在則陷入沉思。沒過多久，羅柏的笑聲漸遠，林間歸於寂靜。
太過專注的他，絲毫沒注意到跟進的隊伍已趕上自己，直到父親騎到身邊，語帶關切地問："布蘭，你還好吧？"
"父親大人，我很好。"布蘭應答，他抬頭仰望父親，父親穿著毛皮大衣和皮革護甲，騎在雄駿戰馬上如巨人般籠罩住他。"羅柏說剛才那個人死得很勇敢，瓊恩卻說他死的時候很害怕。"
"你自己怎麼想呢？"他的父親問。
布蘭尋思片刻後反問："人在恐懼的時候還能勇敢嗎？"
"人唯有恐懼的時候方能勇敢。"父親告訴他，"你知道為什麼我要殺他？"
"因為他是野人，"布蘭不假思索地回答，"他們綁架女人，然後把她們賣給異鬼。"
父親微笑道："老奶媽又跟你說故事了。那人其實是個逃兵，背棄了守夜人的誓言。世間最危險的人莫過於此，因為他們自知一旦被捕，只有死路一條，於是惡向膽邊生，再傷天害理的勾當也幹得出來。不過你會錯了意，我不是問你他為什麼要死，而是我為何要親自行刑。"
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