Back to the Rock

A saying from our King George R.R Martin, for the readers:

~A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.~

Be proud to read.

———

The day has come.

This is the last phase of the tourney, the melee. It has the most participants out of all constests.

As we prepare ourselves to enter the ground of our incoming battles, I watch all the my future opponents.

In my row stand all fighters coming from the Westerlands. There is Jaime, ser Andrew, ser Beric Hunrey, lord Crakehall, ser Cedric Payne and a few others.

But the biggest surprise must have been the presence of James Lydden.

He is barely fourteen years old and looks younger than me. Yet here he stands, ready to fight and show his talent with the sword.

''Good luck, James. I won't let you win, but beat some asses to show them who you are.''

''Haha. Don't count on it, Leonard. I will defeat you this time. I promised that much at Deep Den, you remember ?''

''Aye, I do. And I still doubt it, no offense.''

We are cut by the sound of the blowing horns. Time to fight.

I see Jaime approaching knights whom he judged to be worthy to face him. Sometimes, he thinks of himself as the best.

But it's better to first choose the weak and keep your energy for the strongest opponents. Him using his sword as only strategy may even be seen as a form of arrogance.

James is approached by another young fighter, while a knight of the Vale is coming towards me.

''Let's see if you are as good with the sword than with your bow, lad.''

Thinking highly of yourself huh, mob character ?

''And I will gladly show you how weak you are, ser.''

Our duel begins and things are easier than expected. He isn't as talented as he is talkative.

I parry his blows without a problem and avoid them as easily when needed. I waited the few perfect moments and striked him with all my strength.

After receiving a few blows, he falls heavily to the ground and yield. He is drenched with sweat… pathetic for a man in his early thirties.

I had two or three others duels of no great value. The higher raw might of my opponents could be a massive problem for someone unprepared. But my rapidity, precision and reflexes are making me quite deadly for most of them.

I end up seeing James beating a third boy before shouting his victory from the deepest of his lungs. When he sees me and our eyes met, James decide to come and face me.

''It's time for you to loose, Leonard.''

''Dream on, badger.''

He charges at me rapidly. But I realize that James isn't being careless in the slightest. He is extremely alert.

James is a bit prideful but he knows not to underestimate me. Tricking me here is going to be difficult for him. And until now, this is the only way he had to beat me.

As we cross swords with our strong blows, I manage to pivotate his blade with a movement of my own. He keeps his grip on the sword, but he is left unbalanced.

I take this chance and place my blade to his neck. I ask him if he surrenders while harboring a cheesy smile.

''Do you yield, my friend ?''

''I suppose, yes. It wasn't meant to be my victory, I guess.''

He yields and exits the competition.

By the time he leaves, I see Jaime standing a dozen meters away from me. His opponent was just beaten a moment ago.

We are only three left. Jaime, me and… ser Andrew. He is more of a badass than I thought. The three of us are from the same kingdom. That shows some superiority to the rest of Westeros.

I leave them to face each other, waiting to have my turn with my brother. I don't doubt Andrew's talent. But he isn't that great.

The battle wasn't that short, as ser Andrew gave all he had in his moves. Jaime won without a scratch none the less. It's our time, now.

I slowly approach him, sword drawn with the tip pointing in the direction of his head.

''I never bested you before. Beating you seemed like a sweet dream. But that was then and now it's going to finally happen.''

He looks a tad bit amused by this comment of mine. He is confident to win.

''You talk like I was your worst foe, little brother. Surely you don't wish to become a kinslayer.''

I decide to be the bold one and provoke him a bit, after hearing that.

''Who knows… you better defend yourself with all your might if you fear that outcome.''

And like that, we began our fight. It's isn't as graceful as these sofisticated techniques from Essos. We are using more of our strength and precision.

After a parry, he tries to surprise me with a faster blow. But my danger sense was quick enough to respond to the threat and I side stepped.

I used the momentum to do a strike of my own, in an area that was left unprotected by the previous move.

But before being struck, Jaime reacted just as fast and parried the blow with an equal strength. His parry left me a bit surprised and he takes this time to effectuate a series of powerful wide blows.

I defend myself with all I have, but I start to loose my footing.

''You are good, Leo. But not as much as m-''

I don't let him finish his sentence and reciprocate like a mad beast. I stop listening to my pain and strike wildly.

''AAAAAAH !''

I recall the past days, all the suffering that I imposed to myself. And I steel my heart and muscles to their limits.

Jaime has to step back over and over again, until he is forcefully brought to one knee. As soon as this happens, I place my blade on his neck.

He retakes his breath and watches me weirdly. He didn't think that he could possibly loose and certainly not against his little brother. But I just proved him wrong.

Eventually, he swallows his pride and give me the victory.

''I yield.''

''Good. I hope they will give me a nice nickname for beating the Kingslayer.''

His eyes twitches at that and he watches me like I just stabbed him in the back. Why so serious ?

But I'm also tired and end up crumbling to the ground after hearing the announcement of my victory. That's it, I can die in peace now.

Being the winner of two parts of the tourney should be enough to give me some fame in the entirety of the realm.

In the afternoon, Cersei decides to invite me to speak. She does it from time to time. But it's rarely just for fun. Often she would demand my opinion, speak about her problems, or about mine.

''A glass of wine ?''

''I have to decline. My… freedom has been recently limited.''

She takes the comment with an humorous smile and I can see the apparent mischief in her eyes.

Cersei must see my past actions as some kind of joke. Have some more sympathy for my misery, sis…

''Yes, you had your fair share of wine and women for your age. Slowing down isn't a bad thing.''

It irritates me a bit, but no need to rage for that. I'm the one being in the wrong, here.

''No need to remind me it. I would prefer to discuss about other things. What about you ? You and the king seem distant since the wedding's night.''

It appears that I just hit a sore spot. She looks away and begins to drink her wine with a displeased face. I see the lioness in her showing herself in her controlled enragement.

''He had the audacity to whisper her name while f*cking me. I can't bring myself to desire him since then.''

Well, it's understandable. I would cut his member for that. But the girl died recently, what did Cersei expect ? That seeing her would have made Robert forget Lyanna ?

''He was shaken by all that story. Give him some time. He may fall for you, who knows…''

We continue to talk about one thing or an other and I enventually go back to my room. Two days later, I will go back to Kings Landing with my father.

I didn't have much left to do in this city, so the remaining time passed in the blink of an eye.

The day of my depart has arrived. I made a manly hug with Jaime and nodded with a smile towards Cersei before making my way to the barn. I'll be separated from to two of them for some time, now.

I approach my horse Ablet and mount her. I give a last glance to the twins and to Kings Landing before following my father and his troops on the Gold road.

There is barely any light in the horizon, since it is still early in the morning

Later the same day, my father slows down his horse and positions himself by my side.

''We need to speak about your future.''

The father-son conversation ? Explaining me how to make babies seems a bit late now.

''If we must, then let's do so.''

''You have to marry and continue the family name. It is your duty as my son and heir.''

Oh, that ! Hum, let's wait some years before that. Alright ?

Tywin continues what he has to say.

''Of course, it has nothing to do with a wedding for now. I am seeing the different options related to whom you should be betrothed to. Since the Tourney, there has been more proposals from interesting houses. But first, I want to hear your thoughts on the matter. Which house do you think it wise to marry into ?''

I'm tempted say house Brax or Lydden. But I can't just respond emotionally. Let's use my brain.

I actually studied a lot about the other houses of Westeros. I always wanted to know as much about potential threats than about myself. So I have the needed informations in hand to be objective.

''I could either marry into one of our vassal houses to strengthen ours bounds in the Westerlands, or marry another kingdom's house. That would mean using a strategy more related to our needs. If it's the later, we need to choose a house that could help us with a major problem of ours: Food.''

Tywin doesn't budge and look in front of him. He wants me to explain my reasoning in dept.

''A good analysis. Go on, give me names.''

''For the first aspect, I would choose between our most loyal and powerful vassals. By this, I mean house Lydden, Brax, Marbrand and Lefford. Between these, house Lefford has more troops, nearly four thousand.''

''Yes, it is the case. But let me remind you that our house alone controls fifteen thousand men. By using such a reason, a closer relationship with these houses wouldn't have a great impact on our military power. And they already serve us. Yet again, I want to remind you that such a goal isn't our highest priority.''

''In contrast, marrying into a great house would still be a big boon in that same regard, father. But for those, the choice is limited. Only three ladies are available for now. There is Margaery Tyrell, born last year. Arianne Martell was recently born, in 276. And Asha Greyjoy whose age isn't so different from mine, born in 275.''

''Certainly not a Greyjoy. It wouldn't be accepted by them anyway. Such a possibility died along with Quellon Greyjoy. He was the only one ready to join the culture of Westeros. Without him, they are back to an era of barbarians.''

''Opting for the Tyrells is a good choice, both for their military power and their ressources. We could benefit from cheaper trades, mayhaps. But they aren't the only ones. The Tyrells already have a massive influence in the kingdoms. If we want to stay at the peak, we ought to divide the others. And house Tyrell has one of the most difficult position when it comes to make sure of the stability of their lands. The houses of the Reach are all greedy in their own ways. ''

''And which houses are you thinking about ?''

''I would be more inclined to consider houses such as Rowan, Oakheart, Redwyne and Hightower.''

Father looks pensive, but not displeased by the propositions.

''And which of these would be the smarter one to marry into, in your opinion ?''

''The best choice is definitely house Hightower. They have five sworn houses of their own: Beesbury, Bulwer, Costayne, Cuy and Mullendore. Their personal lands are larger than those of the Tyrells. In addition, Oldtown is home to the Citadel and formely the seat of the High Septon of the faith of the Seven. We may be able to get closer ties with the maesters and the faith. Last but not least, they have twenty-two thousand troops and fourty warships.''

Outside from food, their possible military support would be life changing.

''Correct, the other three houses are less important. But house Rowan also has two sworn houses and share the majority of our frontier with the Reach. House Redwyne is interesting when it comes to maritime commerce. I will announce whom you will be betrothed to in a year.''

Maybe he needs this time to contact different houses and be sure of his choice.

We continue our travel and arrive back home after twelve days.

On the way back, I stopped to bid my farewell to lord Lewys and his family. I squired for him and I now see Deep Den as a second house.

Lehna wanted to tell me something but stayed shy in front of me, for some reason.

I didn't want to dwell on it and left anyway. After all that story with Melara, I need some time away from girls. I… I just had my dose.

It's time to take care of my plans. The most urgent ones are related to food and to Lannisport. I'll be busy for the next couple of years.

We shall be prepared to face the squids with all our strength. May they hear our thundering roar while dying in the Sunset Sea.