110- Let the games begin.

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~~~Lady Olenna, Eighth Moon, 277 AC~~~

~~~Highgarden, The Reach~~~

"You are more of an idiot than I first thought. You will ruin our house. Years of politics, subterfuge, strategy, and business will all go down the sewers if you continue down the path you have taken. " Without even glancing towards the door of my room, which was now my prison, I commented in a measured and resigned tone.

My son was many things, an idiot, a lover of showmanship, no clear mind for business, and even more myopic in his eyes to realize what his actions were causing. But this... This he was doing was a much greater level of insanity, and for the first time, I didn't see that coming, I had survived so many intelligent and powerful men, but an idiot for a son had been able to outdo me. How ironic.

Hearing no word, I carefully turned and looked into his gaze, the reason and seeds of obedience I had instilled years ago returned, and I thought for a moment that my son would give up his plans that would only have us end up on the Wall or but. But it was not so.

His stubby face showed only a frantic look, and sometimes I wondered where the son I knew had gone, "The ruin of our house?" Mace asked angrily and paced back and forth inside the room.

"You were the one who was leading our house to ruin, playing with the king in his games, letting him squeeze us when we were having a hard time, all while the whole kingdom watches and you do nothing, you are the cause of the ruin of our house, so don't you dare lecture."

Those words were a great insult. This idiot dared to judge my actions, my plans, and my moves when those very policies had managed to keep our house in power. I was the one who achieved that, while this... Fatty only wasted gold in his tournaments.

"And now what will happen?" I asked resignedly, not quite understanding the downfall our house would face if Mace remained in power. And sure, I used to hold it, but that was behind the scenes, I 'guided' Mace to do things correctly, I pushed him to create bonds, and I was the controlling hand, but now.

Mace would end up dead, his daughter with a terrible fate, and his children headless, who would make him think about why he was doing all this because Leo was another idiot of far greater proportions than Mace.

For who would think to encourage the king amid his court? Especially insulting those Essosi that Aerys was so enamored with, practically the fool signed his death warrant, and there was nothing to retort to, but Mace was blind to that.

"The Reach will stop selling grain to the kingdom, with the excuse that there is no labor to work the fields due to our house not having enough gold to pay the little people, and with the kingdom starving, once the Greyjoy rebellion starts and no food to feed the armies, then the king will be forced to create concessions for House Tyrell to rise again."

"Hahaha," I couldn't help but laugh at such stupidity, "that is the stupidest plan I have ever heard, you could have at least let Loras or Willas attend Tywin Lannister's wedding since you have me locked up, with their presence in Westerland, the absence of House Tyrell would not have been noticed, and we could have created ties for the spirited war you are sponsoring, and our house would have yielded no clues as to what you are up to with the Ironborne, but you are too stupid for that."

Before Mace could respond, a knock at the door interrupted him, causing him to shout in frustration; "Come in!"

"My lord, I bring news," a gentleman carefully opened the door, in possession of some letters in his hand, "hand them over to me and go."

Mace took the letters and went on to read them, and moments later, he laughed, "Hahaha, it's done, the Lannister gold has just arrived in our coffers, we have enough to equip over a hundred thousand soldiers, it's time to begin, from today, the Reach will no longer sell grain to Westeros."

I just shook my head, not understanding at what point I had made all this madness happens, I just prayed that at least my granddaughter would survive this because she would have to.

~~~Casterly Rock, Westerland~~~

The great hall of the Rock was filled to the brim with lords, knights, and members of the court or important personages.

On the high podium where the great table for members of the ruling house usually sat, it had now been given over to the royal family, King Aerys sat in a golden chair in the middle of the head table, with Queen Rhaella sitting at his right and Prince Rhaegar to her left, with a wet nurse sitting beside Rhaegar as she held Prince Viserys.

All three wore the most expensive garments that gold could buy, Queen Rhaella wore a stunning white gown with long sleeves and diamond inlays in the fabric, along with a pearl necklace that covered her entire chest.

Prince Rhaegar wore the colors of his house, with black pants and shirt, with a dark red gambit over his shoulders, with the Targaryen house crest sewn into the coarse cloth. As for Aerys, he wore mostly blood-red garments, with a coat with thick sleeves of the same color that brought out the silver color of his hair, and in company with the crown of gold and jade on his head, he looked worthy of a king.

But the royal family was not the only one at the great table, Azrael and Valka were also seated there, with Azrael to the right of Queen Rhaella and the left of Valka. Azrael wore tight pants, with knee-high leather boots, along with a tight sweater and a dark blue cloth cloak made of spider silk over his shoulders, with metal shoulder pads complementing the attire, and like Aerys, he too wore a crown, but Azrael's made of obsidian, which glowed faintly when struck by the light of the candles and torches.

Valka for her part grabbed a lot of attention, since as opposed to wearing flashy colors, she decided to implement the use of clothing and color proper to the association of witches, with a completely black dress with silver decorations, along with a veil of the same color that she had over her head, but did not cover her face, made her look but intimidating, and it was surprising how wearing only those garments she could still be beautiful.

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"My distinguished guests!" Tywin's voice soon filled the room, he, seated next to Janna and his sons and brothers, was seated at another table, one that was not on the podium, but was the one closest to the head table, showing the level of powers and hierarchy in between.

"Today, with the finally expected arrival of our guest, King Jaesyrian, who has come from Xandar to give us his presence, I begin the two weeks of celebrations that House Lannister offers, the wedding between Lady Janna and I will be held next moon, but until then, they will hold tournaments, jousts, hunts, banquets and dances to commemorate the union between the two kingdoms." The lords were quick to celebrate, not because of the union between Tywin and Janna, but because of the reception of the tournaments that would be held, for in an age when television and the internet did not exist, only sex, rum, and blood were entertaining distractions for men. And apparently, Tywin was going to offer that.

"Tomorrow we will open calls for tournament entries, and the next day, with a day for each nature, we will begin with archery, horse racing, jousting, and melee tournament. After that, we will have five hunts to raise spirits and prepare for the wedding."

As everyone clapped happily and contentedly, Azrael took the moment to rise from his seat, which drew attention at the time and quieted the masses. "Since there is talk of tournaments, feasts, and hunts, I, as king of Xandar, will offer additional prizes to the winner and the last two finishers of each activity."

This got everyone's attention, while Tywin had not spoken of the value of the prizes there would be for the winners, it was obvious there would be, and considering Tywin was the richest lord in Westeros, the prizes would be substantial, but now, Azrael was joining in, and it only served to fill everyone with anticipation."For the winners, the prize offered by the Xandarian crown will be ten thousand gold coins", and chaos ensued, that single sentence was enough to ignite the ambition and desire to win of many, because who wouldn't want to have all that gold for themselves? It had to be known that the common people, or even the most prominent knights in Westeros, only saw two or three gold coins in a year, and there were even cases where they never saw one in their entire lives.

But now, Azrael was offering the sum of ten thousand, wasn't this a wet dream for everyone? "For the second place, the prize would be five thousand coins, and the third place would be two thousand gold coins, apart from that, there will be the presentation of fighting between wyverns, as entertainment, and it's not only that."

"For the five hunts that will be organized, the one who manages to hunt the beast that we have brought from Xandar will be offered as a reward a sword made of Netherithe Steel, swords stronger and sharper than those of Valyrian Steel, in total, there will be five swords as a prize, one for each hunt, and to wait for the most cunning and strongest to get them."

Once Azrael finished speaking, he sat back down, in time for Doran Martell, who was seated next to his brother Oberyn who had arrived along with Azrael, to rise and make a toast, "To King Azrael, and the wedding of Lord Tywin and Lady Janna."

"Cheers!"