knight activities

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Ahh, hell what trouble I just got myself into, after being put under incredible pressure by King Robert to see me participate, in the jousting tournament, I ended up agreeing to it.

It's not that I'm a bad warrior, I have much more experience than any of my knights in how to ride using a lance and i've practiced constantly with Charles, i'm just afraid of suffering an incident similar to Pyrrhus of Epirus who from a blow to the head ended up dying in a pathetic way.

In a joust, there are many opportunities for an incident to occur that could leave me dead or with some permanent physical problem, the mere thought of falling off a horse makes my back shiver, I just have to calm down, I only have to have one joust and everything ends and I will look like an incompetent knight, but my fame as a general will continue.

Leaving aside my torture, I have good deals with many lords, my plan with Robert has worked better than I could have expected to the point that there is a rumor that Robert fell asleep with the bottle in his arms, I do not know if it is true, but it is a rumor that highlights the quality of my product and many nobles and merchants are already placing orders if this continues I will have to expand the distillery again and hire more staff for the production.

The perfumes were another success, with the queen using them when she used them during her tea ceremonies or her meetings with other ladies, they all asked her where she got such an exquisite perfume, although the queen seems to hate me, she could not deny the quality of the perfume and where she got them from, besides it is not a product that only ladies use, men are also forced to use them because of the bad smell in the city, I thank whoever was negligent for ruining the drainage system and burning the plans.

Besides having to endure the banquet today I will have to joust, luckily there is jousting armor in my size, for some reason the knight idiots wear normal armor to joust, do they have that much desire to die, my jousting armor adds a lot more protection to the neck and an extra plate to the chest to better take the blow and splinters from the exploding spears.

Charles was very happy that at last I was behaving like a true Protestant knight performing acts of leisure worthy of a knight, if you can call it leisure striking yourself with spears while charging on horseback, and now he is helping me adjust my armor.

''my king you should not be so nervous, you are a good rider, jousting is 80% knowing how to handle the horse and 20% knowing how to use the lance, the less worried you are the better result you will have, I am sure you will reach the best positions of the joust'' I said while adjusting my straps.

I'm just afraid of becoming an idiot in one blow, it would be terrible for my people to suddenly have an idiot ruling them ''again'' enough with my father''' I said with a serious tone.

Your father's government was not blessed by the almighty, but your government is, as long as you have faith, god will protect you in all the encounters you will have to face as his representative on earth. I think this armor fits you my king'' said Charles standing in front of me.

''well, finally get my horse ready,the Percheron, the gelding, I don't want a horse too uncontrollable, I will do my best in the joust so as not to humiliate my reputation'' I said while moving the joints of the armor.

''remember that today we have to be at the banquet, so, since you have your armor ready, let's get ready for the banquet, this day many people will have their eyes on you my king, they all want to know if you are as good a knight as a general'' said Charles while he handed me my clothes.

''all right now help me take this off, I hope I can get better contracts today and secure what we came here to do, as I will be showing off a lot to the lords of the realm'' I said as I took off my armor.

after that I dressed again with good clothes to show my social position as a paramount lord of the seven kingdoms, I quickly find my place at the tables as always in front of lord Jon Arryn

''Excited Lord Hohenzoller for this great day?'' Lord Arryn said in a friendly way, ''yes quite, I can't wait to hit another knight with a spear'' I said with a friendly tone.

''I thought so, you don't like jousting either, apparently'' said Jon with a smile ''I do like it when I'm not participating, Robert insisted too much on my participation in this tournament and I had no other choice but to accept, I hope I can perform well and not fall in the first spear'' I said with a serious tone.

''We will have to see it later, how has the business been going Lord Hohenzoller, from what I have seen you have been talking a lot with other lords and taking papers to be officialized by King Robert'' Lord Arryn asked.

''if it is for taxes these will be paid at the end of the fiscal year lord hand, as well as 30% of all grain harvested this year, I have my ledgers up to date, there should be no conflict with the king's administration'' I said looking him in the eye

''your diligence is astonishing lord Hohenzollern, if only all the lords were a little more like you'' said jon sneering.

''it is my responsibility, taxes are sacred to the running of the state...'''I said as I watched the king walk away

Robert had entered the banquet to start the celebrations, and you could tell he was hung over again.

''my lords, today is a great day we can continue eating and drinking these magnificent drinks, and we can also see the prowess of the Prussian knights today in the joust, I thank lord Friedrich von Hohenzollern for financing this season of festivities, that said let's continue celebrating'' said king Robert with dignity.

Even after 3 days the food was still plentiful and this could continue for 1 week if the king wanted, but if the food was left over it would be given to the poor people where I will have the opportunity to do charity and that people can associate my face with Prussian charity.

I could see how everyone was eating and servants kept arriving with more food, I could assure you that they never ran out of trays of freshly cooked food.

''Lord Hohenzollern, why do you eat so little?, I have not been able to stop thinking about it'' said Jon Arryn ''gluttony is a sin that I do not like to practice, I do not want to get used to eat well and then be picky in a military campaign where food could be scarce, I am in favor of eating the same as a foot soldier'' I said explaining my reasons

''I see and with the drink is the same?, you only drink fruit juice, none of your liquor'' he continued asking ''I don't like alcohol, I have seen too many things that have been done by the effects of that drink, I would drink water, but that is asking to get dysentery'' I said looking him in the eyes.

Lord Arryn nodded, and I could feel someone grabbing my shoulder.

''Lord Hohenzollern, my friend, are you anxious for your great debut in a joust of the seven kingdoms?'', Robert said with a bottle in his hand ''yes my king today I will participate in the joust, don't doubt my word I gave you yesterday'' I said smiling.

I'm going to see if I can get Lord Hoster drunk,'' said Robert as he walked away towards the paramount lord's table.

''Has the king always been like this? Someone who enjoys banquets too much?''I asked Jon''Robert has always been uncontrollable, I taught him honor and diligence, but it seems he didn't learn much from my teachings''said Jon Arryn looking at the floor''come on don't be so pessimistic maybe after a while he will learn what it takes to be a good king''I said trying to console Jon Arryn.

''maybe, but now we must try to keep the kingdom in good shape and this feast couldn't be a better idea, one thing Robert can't be beaten at is his ability to make friends out of yesterday's enemies'' Jon Arryn said smiling.

I nodded and remained thoughtful for the rest of the banquet, when the banquet was over we began to prepare to go to the tournament grounds carrying all the necessary weapons for the joust.

Already being in my tent I put on my jousting armor and prepared for combat, with a little luck nothing bad should happen to me, the plan would be not to lose so soon so as not to affect my prestige, I hate having to keep up appearances.

Entering the jousting grounds, my first fight was against a hedge knight of whom I had never heard of

There were a lot of witnesses and this was only my first joust, there were lords from the seven kingdoms as well as my own men watching the fight, losing here would be very embarrassing.

We greeted each other and prepared to joust.

as we began to charge I felt the adrenaline rush, everything was slow, I aimed my lance at his chest and tightened my legs around my horse, when we made contact I received a heavy blow, but I did not lose my balance as my opponent fell off his horse quite well and was able to get up quickly.

I was declared the winner and returned to my tent.

''Good joust my king, you knocked down your opponent in a single lance'' said Charles happily ''how did you do in your fight?I asked the Teutonic knight

''I knocked him down in the first charge, it was no challenge, I hope to go far to face the best in this wonderful competition'' said Charles puffing out his chest ''you and your taste for duels, sometimes I don't understand them, come on you have to be ready for the next ones'' I said after drinking some orange juice.

During the next 2 hours I was jousting against several knights, but I could tell that my skill was superior to theirs, since I defeated them with the first spear, the fight got serious when I faced another Teutonic knight, we broke 5 spears until I managed to knock him down.

Until finally without realizing it I arrived to the final joust, which were in the presence of the king, the finalists were Boros Blount, Jaime Lannister, Barristan Selmy, a knight of the Frey house, Charles, two Teutonic knights and me.

I was already in my tent, it had been decided that I would face Ser Boros Blount.

''congratulations, my king you have surprised me, I knew you were a good rider in our training, your fight will not be easy, a knight of King Robert's guard should not be easy to knock off his horse'' he said giving encouragement.

''I hope I got carried away by the adrenaline, I should have stopped jousting several rounds ago'' I said with a serious face ''but think of the glory and prestige you would get if you win this tournament'' he said with a smile.

''I would have to knock you down, and I know you won't make it easier because I am your king, on the contrary, you would go all out to make my victory even more prestigious for my name'' I said sarcastically ''exactly you would have the prestige of not only being the best general in the war against the mad king, but also the best knight in the tournament by knocking down a veteran knight of many battles'' he said proudly.

I just turned my head from side to side, until another knight entered.

''my king you are called for your combat'' said the Teutonic knight ''well let's leave the prestige talks for later I'll see if I can avoid getting knocked out, my chest already hurts from so many blows today'' I said putting my helmet back on.

I was in position in front of the knight of the royal guard, it should not be easy if I get here, he must be a competent man in the joust, and he must have strong legs to be able to resist the blows with spear.

When they gave the order we charged and to my surprise I failed, the blow with the spear, when my spear hit the knight he fell immediately, after re-balancing I looked back and saw how he was on the ground being helped by several assistants.

What the hell how that idiot got so far, how could he miss with the spear, ah maybe he made a mistake, I don't think he could have made it here by luck, I think.

While I was relaxing after the combat I could observe how the king was laughing like never before while he was celebrating Charles' participation as he knocked down another Teutonic knight in the second lance.

Jaime defeated my other knight and Barristan defeated the frey knight, my next fight was against Jaime Lanister, I could already feel the murderous look of the queen, for facing her brother, Jaime has a lot of experience in this, it won't be easy.

Entering in position, I could hear the king shouting

''2000 dragons for Lord Hohenzollern to sweep the floor with the king slayer'' he shouted to the air, while several bets were emerging.

Great more pressure, let's get this over with if I lose now it would no longer be frowned upon

my joust against Jaime was quite good, as charles will say glorious, we charged 7 times until I managed to unbalance, and he fell, this was followed by the king's laughter and the faces of many nobles who bet against me, but the worst look was the queen's, a look full of hate, what the fuck did I do to that woman to make her hate me so much?

I didn't have much time to celebrate, I already knew who my next opponent would be, and I started to be afraid, I have more experience than Charles that's for sure, but my body doesn't have his training, he has 40 years of experience fighting and training, while I have only trained for 3 years at most here my luck ends, everything depends on if I find a weakness.

Barristan lost against Charles and our joust started in 20 minutes.

There was the best knight of the Prussians with his horned helmet so far he has defeated everyone without problems, they gave the order to charge, and I prepared my lance, when we exchanged blows Charles received it without problems while I almost fell down with a blow, it was like being hit with a mace, you could notice his skill and the quality of his horse, we use the same breed of horses, the best in my stables.

The joust continued for 8 more charges, I was already in my last breath and Charles, it seemed that nothing had happened, my chest hurt too much, and I was having trouble breathing, no doubt this would be the last, instead of aiming at the chest as usual I decided to aim at the neck to see if this could surprise the veteran knight, when we collided I gave him a strong blow to the neck while I received another blow to the chest, this blow made me lose my balance and without being able to reposition myself I fell.

I was 10 seconds on the ground contemplating the blue sky while everyone cheered and the king laughed.

How did I get here, I let myself be carried away by the whole tournament, I should have let myself be knocked down in the first joust.

Until several of my knights arrived to help me up, when I was finally on my feet I saw Charles who was also down, apparently I knocked him down from the blow.

''Wow Lord Hohenzollern why was he so reticent to joust, you just beat your best knight, although only for a few seconds before falling'' said the king while he was laughing all the time.

After that, I was given a crown of flowers to crown the queen of love and beauty, I had no one to give it to, and no doubt if I gave it to the queen it might awaken memories of Robert with his former fiancée, I wandered around the jousting fields a bit until I saw the emblem of the Hightower, as far as I know, most marriage settlements base the beauty of a woman on how many times she has been crowned with that title, so I preferred to give it to Lynesse the daughter of my most powerful bannerman to calm her temper a little.

After the tournament was over, I stayed in my tent being attended to by my doctors in order to reduce the swelling of my chest a little bit, and swearing that I would never do anything stupid like this again.