Chapter 106

"A crown?" Brienne had noticed it early, but she couldn't figure out how a forest witch would have such a thing, let alone give it to her.

"Yeah, the crown of the mad and vain." Her eyes seemed to glitter in the firelight, dazzling.

No night could ever be more magical than tonight.

"Granny, I don't need this gift. I'm a warrior, not a king or queen, and I don't want to be mad or vain—so it's useless to me as well." She laughed as she refused.

Thinking that the enthusiastic forest witch's gift was a crown, she felt both strange and helpless; perhaps the so-called forest witch was just an old person whose mind wasn't very clear due to age, or perhaps just a kind old person?

"Speaking of it, this can't really be called a gift. It's not mine, uh, actually the Old Gods instructed me to find it in the woods of Wild Stone City, and I think they wanted to use my hand to give the crown to you to use or keep, good knight." She tapped the ground with her black staff, leaning on the stacked stones nearby, "Finding it came through a dream, a long yet short dream, like a little story."

"You can come sit by the fire and tell us a story." Brienne could see that standing was painful for the forest witch.

"All right." She nodded, then carefully stepped over the stones and sat cross-legged by the fire, looking smaller.

Podrick moved nimbly, sitting on the other side, intently watching the witch as if waiting to hear the story. Brienne moved a stone to place before the fire and sat herself down.

If this is a wondrous night, then let it continue to be wondrous.

"I returned to the vicinity of Wild Stone City—just after being driven out by the wolves and coming back here not long after—I had a strange dream, I dreamed I had become a crown, uh, you say, what does it feel like to become a crown?"

"Did it feel taller?" Podrick said excitedly.

"Pod!" Don't be so rude, Brienne swallowed the second half of the sentence.

Podrick's face instantly turned red, as if he also understood the abruptness of that remark.

"I, I'm not..." He was occasionally an impulsive lad.

"Ah, brave child, I really did become taller." She smiled, "If you truly want to apologize, perhaps after I finish the story you could sing me a song—oh, any other songs your mother sings, I can teach you."

Podrick froze.

"My mother, she, where is she, is she still alive?" Podrick stood up, asking in astonishment.

"She's dead, died in a warm bed, already returned to the embrace of the Old Gods." The forest witch laughed, saying, "Just as we all will eventually return to the embrace of the Old Gods."

Can those who don't believe in the Old Gods also return to their embrace? Brienne doubted, but she didn't want to ask such a question.

"Let me continue the story." She spoke in an old woman's voice, "Not only did I become taller, but actually when the mad king stood atop the tower, I was taller than the king." She showed a look of longing and reminiscence, "Through the crown's eyes I could almost see all of the Riverlands. It saw higher and clearer than the king. Ah, I liked using its eyes to look at God's Eye Lake; when it was windy, the lake's waters sparkled, and when calm, it was like a mirror reflecting the blue sky. How beautiful."

"God's Eye Lake? On the tower of Helunbao?" What kind of crown is this exactly?

"Not bad," the forest witch nodded with a smile, "Before, that tower was called the Naga Throne Tower; now its name is the Burning King Tower, and no one remembers that old name anymore except it, this crown. It is the Old Gods' great power that lets me see all of the Riverlands through it, beholding such beautiful God's Eye Lake and Thousand Faces Isle."

"This is the crown of the Helun King!" Podrick exclaimed.

"Yeah, this is the crown of the last Helun King, left by Helunhuoer, and also forged by its ancestors. It witnessed Helunbao's progression from foundations to a great castle, witnessed the conflict between the Helun King and the Conqueror Aegon, witnessed the flames burning the city, witnessed Baelor's fire and Valyria's magic... In my dream, following the crown, I saw the achievements and martial prowess of generations of Helun Kings, saw their magnanimity, and also saw part of the rulers' cruelty and madness." She fell into endless recollection.

"How was it... discovered by you?" Brienne asked.

It should have been taken by Conqueror Aegon and placed somewhere in the Red Keep, just like the crowns of the other rulers of the Seven Kingdoms.

"This was the hardest time in my dream. At the final moment, it endured dragonfire and scorching heat, endless flesh roasting, hurting so much I could barely bear it, until at last it returned to dust with the Helun King, buried in ashes, sunk into deep earth. In my dream I fell into sleep, then woke again, waiting and waiting."

"Ah, I see, it finally came out!" Podrick listened to the story with great relish.

"Yeah, it finally came out." The forest witch wore a kindly smile.

Her originally pale skin, in the firelight, actually turned ruddy; Brienne didn't know whether it was from the wine or the heat of the fire.

"And then what happened? Did you just find it?" Podrick asked.

"It's not that simple, singer! This crown has been wandering outside for hundreds of years! Only a few decades have passed! In the earth, worms writhed beside me, they laid egg after egg in the crown, the eggs hatched one by one, I saw them struggle out of their shells and crawl out through the holes in the dirt. I truly felt happy for them. I thought I would fall into darkness."

This is a wondrous little tale; perhaps Brienne will tell her children what she saw and heard today. Will she have children of her own?

"Isn't it dark in the dirt?" Podrick asked.

"Of course it's dark in the dirt. When I was just buried in ashes, in my dream I fell into sleep; upon waking, everything around was black, there was still the smell of smoke, and besides that I could see nothing. I wanted to wake from the dream, but I was powerless; the Old Gods' might is not something I can resist, I thought in reality I had died, I thought the Old Gods had abandoned me."

"And you?"

"When I was about to give up and sink into oblivion, the Old Gods told me, open your eyes, open your eyes. So I obeyed, opening my eyes in the dirt, and then I saw the worms around me, saw them laying egg after egg. It was practically a miracle of life; can you understand my joy then?"

Podrick nodded repeatedly, then looked toward Brienne. Brienne felt a bit shy, she felt doubtful, but she did not deny the possibility of pleasure.

"I opened my dark eye, which lets me see more clearly; I know this is a gift from the Old Gods." She smiled at Brienne.

Brienne believes in the Seven Gods, like her father and grandfather, like all the lords and knights of the Stormlands; is the forest witch preaching to her? How would the Seven Gods view these miraculous powers of the Old Gods? Although she is rescuing girls who believe in the Old Gods... but this has nothing to do with the Old Gods, it is entirely her honor as demanded by the Seven Gods.

"Can the dark eye see what's beneath the dirt?" Podrick inquired.

"The roots of the eel-wood tree penetrate underground; it also has eyes down there, this eye can pierce soil and rock, pierce everything, see whatever you want to see, perceive the essence." The forest witch pushed the scattered wood toward the fire with her black staff.

Brienne gathered firewood from the pile of dry branches beside her and added it to the fire. This is a miraculous night, a night of puzzlement, but it will not be a boring night.

Perhaps the story is still long.

"Could the crown have just become a nest for worms?"

"The little worms lived and died there, until later they were overtaken by earthworms, making it an earthworm nest; the earthworms lasted five years, after which it became an ant nest. The ants endured the longest, a full thirty years, experiencing several winters and summers, until another great fire scorched the ground. Since then, for a long time no worms have kept the crown company." She reached her hand toward the fire.

"And then after that? Did it become dark again?"

"Yeah, it turned dark again; in the dirt I heard the day-to-day bustle, the faint rustling... there were happy everyday moments, there were sorrowful everyday moments. I fell back asleep in my dream, until the dragon's wail woke me from sleep. Ah, the cruelty witnessed by Harrenburg in such a short time might be more than that of Harren's Hall throughout history. I ask to omit these stories; they are sad."

Brienne nodded.

That leech elder certainly isn't the most terrifying lord Helunbao has ever seen, and the goat isn't its craziest master; her little affair in Helunbao is nothing special, too ordinary to be remembered by that castle. No, it should be remembered! Helunbao is full of cruelty and madness, but it had never before witnessed a leap filled with courage and righteousness.

"Please tell me, how did the crown 'walk out of the dirt'?" Brienne stood up, took from behind a leather bag filled with mead, and handed it to the forest witch, "When my father told me stories, he liked to drink while speaking."

"Bitter stories need a little sweet wine. I've already smelled it." She took the wine bag, somehow produced a cup made of white wood, and carefully poured wine from the bag, "You should all drink too; tonight there will be no danger. The Old Gods have let me see your tomorrow."

Brienne smiled; perhaps she really could relax, and more importantly, she truly wanted to relax.

"When the bricklayer took earth from the ground, he discovered the crown, secretly bringing it out of the castle; unfortunately, he himself met with an accident. The crown was ultimately lost in the thicket, lying buried in the ground for nearly several decades, until a sapling lifted it from the soil, and then a crow carried it away from the ground, perched it on a branch, letting it see the light of day again..."

"Did you follow the crown in your dream all along?"

"Yeah, most of the time it was boring, but at least during this period I didn't have to smell the sour odor atop the Helun King's head, the bricklayer's stench, or the scorched smell of earth. Hanging in the tree, most of the time a fresh breeze blew, the air was clean, and there were birds singing; of course, sometimes one also had to endure wind and rain, but sunlight was never stingy."

"Did you, in your dream, continually feel that you were that crown?"

"Yeah, my dream followed the crown's turning; in the dream I was the crown. What the crown saw, I saw: the changes around God's Eye Lake were wondrous; Helunbao being built bit by bit was miraculous; the cruelty of Helunhuoer was shocking; hearing the wails and screams from the ground in the dirt was also painful. This is a cursed crown."

"So you want to give me a cursed crown?" Brienne chuckled lightly, feeling she had found a reason to refuse.

"That is a curse on some people." She poured all the mead in the cup into her mouth.

"It endured the fire of the Valyrian magic dragon, absorbed the king's vital blood, without a doubt, it is a magic crown."

"Brienne instantly felt the mighty aura of Belerion surging forth from the magic crown, suddenly making her whole body tremble."