Todd's Pumpkin

Garlan must have made special arrangements before leaving, because Alden was not assigned to a patrol or a guard shift. Instead, he received a separate order: choose several quick-witted men from the party and enter different parts of King's Landing to gather news.

During Robert's Rebellion, Lord Tywin's sack of King's Landing had badly damaged the intelligence network House Tyrell once kept in the city. In the years since, the Hand of the King, Lord Jon Arryn, together with Varys, the master of whisperers, had swept through the capital and cleared out the intelligence posts of every faction. Naturally, that included the Tyrell network.

As a result, House Tyrell could not be said to know nothing of King's Landing, but it knew very little. Most of what it did know was public information.

Lord Mace Tyrell was also deeply unreliable. During his time in the capital, he had given no thought at all to actively gathering intelligence in King's Landing. To him, attending banquets and befriending the new men of the Baratheon regime mattered far more.

That left House Tyrell nearly blind in the capital and uncertain how to make its next move. So aside from attending the tourney, Garlan's purpose in coming to King's Landing likely included carrying out the Queen of Thorns' order to rebuild their intelligence network.

If Alden had not appeared, Garlan could only have relied on Vortimer to gather information. But Vortimer was the master-at-arms of Highgarden and a swordmaster of the Reach. He had a reputation in King's Landing as well, making him too conspicuous in the eyes of anyone paying attention.

Now there was a better choice. In Garlan's view, Alden's abilities were no worse than Vortimer's, and the Bear-Hunter's fame was still spreading only in the Reach. In King's Landing, he was merely an unknown ordinary soldier of House Tyrell. He could gather information without catching the eye of those who mattered.

Garlan clearly took the matter seriously. He not only paid Alden's wages for the month in advance, but also gave him thirty gold dragons, one hundred silver stags, and eight hundred copper stars as operating funds. He even gave Alden the right to choose his own men, treating him almost like a temporary master of whisperers.

Alden did not stand on ceremony. He chose ten men from the party whom he considered fairly sharp, Raul among them. He had no intention of taking all ten into the city together. Instead, he divided the money Garlan had given him among them, keeping only twenty gold dragons and some silver stags and copper stars for himself. Then he ordered them to enter through different gates in pairs or threes and go to different districts to gather news. Alden himself paired with Raul and took the nearest route through the Lion Gate.

"I never thought I would come to King's Landing again. I thought I would never see this place for the rest of my life." As they passed through the Lion Gate, Raul looked up at the broad gateway and the crouching stone lions beside the drawbridge, then sighed without meaning to.

Alden heard him while feeding cut pieces of meat into the pouch at his chest for Glory. Curious, he asked, "You have been to King's Landing before?"

"Aye. A few years ago, with Lord Brinton's caravan," Raul said. "The mad king still sat the Iron Throne then. The Lord of Winterfell had not been burned yet. The new king was still the foster son of Lord Jon Arryn of the Vale. And the woman I loved had not yet spread her legs for another man."

Alden gave Raul a meaningful look. This old Tyrell soldier clearly had a story.

Once they entered the city, Alden left the guiding to Raul, who had been there before.

He soon discovered that this had been a mistake. Raul led them to an eight-way crossing and then no longer knew where to go.

"Did you not say you came here a few years ago?" Alden asked, puzzled.

Raul looked helpless. "I did come. But back then I only moved around the Fishmonger's Square by the Mud Gate. I never came here."

Alden felt that pairing with Raul had been a mistake from the start. The mistake could not be undone now, so he could only press on.

He glared at Raul's embarrassed smile, drew a breath, forced down his irritation, and looked around. Not far away, several children were playing by the street. Alden walked toward them.

When the children saw an armed stranger with the build of a large man approaching, they stopped their game, gathered together, and watched him warily.

Alden came to stand before them. Very directly, he took a handful of copper stars from his pocket and held them out. "Whoever tells me where the busiest tavern nearby is and how to get there can have these."

To Alden's surprise, the children did not rush to answer as ordinary children might have done for coin. Instead, they looked at one another, then all turned toward one child among them who was neither the oldest nor the strongest, as if waiting for his decision.

That child stepped out from the group and came before Alden. "My lord, if you want a crowded tavern nearby, you can go to the Old Cripple's Insole. Smiths, tanners, and other craftsmen around here like to drink there when they rest." He paused, then continued, "But I do not think you are looking for a crowded tavern because you want to hear craftsmen boast when they are drunk. You likely want fresher, more interesting talk. In that case, I would send you to the taverns and brothels on the Street of Silk. Important people from the Red Keep like to go there when they have time."

At the mention of brothels on the Street of Silk, Raul's breathing grew heavier behind Alden. Even in Highgarden, the brothels of the Street of Silk were famous. One of Raul's first wishes before coming to King's Landing had been to spend a night in one.

Raul's hope was doomed to fail. After listening to the child, Alden shook his head. "No brothels. Tell me which tavern suits what I need."

"Todd's Pumpkin. It is the best tavern in King's Landing. Almost every great merchant and noble who comes to the city sits there when he has time, drinking wines from the Arbor and tasting dishes from across the narrow sea. A seat there costs at least a gold dragon." The child looked Alden and Raul over, noticed their clothing, and smiled. "My lord, you do not look like men who can afford to sit there."

"That is the one." Alden ignored the doubt and pressed the copper stars into the child's hand. "Tell me the way."

The child looked at the coins, tucked them into his pocket, then nodded to a little girl. "She will take you. Enjoy King's Landing, my lord."

He led the other children away quickly, leaving only the little girl behind.

"Please follow me, my lord." The girl nodded to Alden and wasted no words. She led Alden and Raul toward the prominent Great Sept of Baelor atop Visenya's Hill.

King's Landing's streets were already crowded, and the closer they came to the Great Sept of Baelor, the more worshipers of the Seven filled the roads. They prayed as they walked slowly around the roads beneath the sept's outer walls, and Alden's group had to push hard through the human wall.

Fortunately, the stretch was not long. After breaking free from the pilgrims, the girl led them around Baelor's Square, which was even more crowded, crossed the tail end of the kingsroad inside the city, and entered a mostly empty alley. She twisted east and west through dark, winding lanes for some distance before they finally emerged onto a street heavy with the smell of wine and perfume.

"There." The girl pointed to a lavishly decorated three-story building with a golden pumpkin sign hanging out front.

After speaking, she turned to leave. But as she passed Alden, she seemed to step on something. Her body tilted and knocked into him. She quickly moved away again, apologizing over and over.

"No need to apologize," Alden said with a smile, pressing a hand onto her shoulder. "Just return the purse you took from me."

The girl's face turned ugly. Her eyes darted around as if she were considering how to escape.

Alden saw her intent. His smile did not lessen, but his voice turned far darker. "Do not think of calling anyone for help. If you make any strange movement, I will kill you at once, then take my purse from your body. Even if the gold cloaks see it, I doubt they will find fault with me."

The girl could tell he was not lying. If she truly acted out, he would kill her. Fear broke her thoughts of escape, and she obediently took out the purse she had just lifted from his belt.

Alden released her shoulder, took the purse, weighed it, and made sure nothing was missing. Then he looked at the little girl again.

Although he had caught the child who stole from him, he still did not know how she had taken his purse. Only his sharp senses, noticing the change in weight at his waist, had let him realize he had been robbed.

He did not make things difficult for her. He took a few copper stars from the purse and handed them over. "Take your guide fee, apologize, and you may go."

The girl froze. She had thought she would be beaten. She had not expected him to let her go so easily, much less pay her.

She hurriedly took the fee, gave Alden a sincere apology, and fled.

"Are all the children in King's Landing this good now? She stole your purse that easily?" Raul said from the side. "Lord Alden, you are just letting her go?"

"If I did not let her go, were you truly going to beat her? Or kill her? I only said that to frighten her." Alden gave Raul a sideways look, then glanced toward the alley corner where the girl had vanished. "Besides, she and her companions are not ordinary children."

In truth, Alden had guessed as soon as the children acted in a way unlike normal children that they were probably Varys's little birds. At present, he had no conflict with Varys, high above him as the master of whisperers, and he did not plan to remain in King's Landing for long. So he did not particularly care.

Raul looked blank. He did not understand what was special about those children. Alden had no intention of explaining, because there was no way to explain it properly. He could hardly tell Raul that everything he knew about the little birds came from stories, debates, and accounts from another world.

Alden motioned Raul along and walked into Todd's Pumpkin.

The inside of the tavern was as lavish as the outside. Decorations from across the world had been set beautifully into the walls and pillars, giving the whole place an air of many foreign lands.

The most eye-catching object in the tavern, however, was an old-looking travel bag hanging in the center of the hall. Its shape was no different from an ordinary canvas bag, but the material was not canvas. It was some smooth, unfamiliar substance that looked costly at a glance. Alden had no idea why it was hanging there.

It was still afternoon, not the tavern's busiest hour, yet there were already many guests inside. Most were idle court nobles from King's Landing. Others were merchants from elsewhere.

While Alden and Raul were taking in the room, a waiter approached, bowed, and said, "Good afternoon, my lords. How may I serve you?"

The waiter had clearly been trained well. He did not slight them or treat them coldly because their clothes did not suit the place.

"I hear this is the finest tavern in King's Landing, where a man can taste the best wine and food," Alden said, far more at ease than the slightly timid Raul.

The waiter answered with complete confidence. "Of course. If you have enough gold dragons, we can provide wines and dishes you can imagine, and others you cannot."

Alden showed him the purse holding twenty gold dragons. "Is this enough?"

The waiter smiled. "Not for the finest wine and food, but more than enough for ordinary fare."

"I had no hope of the finest. Ordinary food and drink are already enough for men like us." Alden smiled. "In that case, arrange us a good seat, somewhere pleasant but not too conspicuous."

"As you command, my lord." The waiter bowed and led Alden and Raul to a relatively quiet window seat on the second floor. From there, they could see the courtyard in the center of the tavern and clearly hear and watch the singers and dancers hired to perform there. It was a good place.

After sitting, Alden gestured for Raul not to be so stiff. Then he tossed the purse of twenty gold dragons to the waiter. "Bring us ordinary wine and food worth that amount. Also prepare some raw meat."

"Raw meat?" The waiter froze with the purse in his hand, thinking this might be Alden's particular taste.

He soon learned he had misunderstood. Alden took Glory from the pouch at his chest and set the cub on the table. Newly awake, Glory stretched and gave a little howl.

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