Chapter 25: The Imperial Contest
Immediately the spear jousting lasted all day, from early morning until dusk. The hooves of war horses roared, trampling the land of the tournament into a ruined wasteland.
The Stark family's little Lori Arya saw her teacher charge quickly, smashing the opponent's spear to pieces again and again, and the powerful impact knocked the opponent's knight off his horse, and the crowd screamed loudly, cheering for the new-faced knight.
Every time he defeated an opponent, Arya jumped and jumped as if she had won, and she seemed excited.
For the victors of the tournament, the people and the magnates did not hesitate to send praise and flowers, and won one victory after another in the presence of the princes and nobles of the Seven Kingdoms, which is the greatest honor of being a knight.
The last to reach the top four was Jaime Lannister from the Lannisters of the West, the younger brother of Queen Cersei, who was the heir of Castle Rock and joined the Kingsguard at the age of fifteen, and then killed Aerys II Targaryen in the Usurper War, ending the last king of the Targaryen dynasty, hence the name "The Kingkiller".
The second person is the "Knight of the Hundred Flowers" Loras Tyrell from the Tyrell family of the High Court, this knight is an extremely handsome and beautiful man, just like his name, even a hundred flowers are not as good as his appearance, Pu as soon as he appeared attracted the screams of countless noble ladies and girls, I saw that he was wearing a gorgeous silver armor, polished silver dazzling, and inlaid with pairs of black vines and a small blue forget-me-not.
The third is Gregor "The Magic Mountain" from the Cregan family, who is nearly eight feet tall, with broad shoulders and arms as thick as small tree trunks, and is known for his cruelty and bloodlust. During a battle in the qualifiers, he pierced his opponent's throat with a wooden spear, causing the young knight to be stabbed almost entirely in the head, bleeding from the spot. and knocked out his younger brother "Hound Dog" Sandor in the quarterfinals to win.
Last but not least, the free-freedom knight from the North, Sauron Melkor, a humble commoner warrior and the first knight of his family, who became a member of the upper class of the Seven Kingdoms through the trust of Duke Stark.
Amid the cheers in the sky, the first thing to usher in was the duel between the "Monarch Killer" and the "Magic Mountain", the two men rode on both sides of the arena, lowered their spears, and then the two horses began to run at full speed, and the makeshift stands also shook.
The "Monarch Slayer" sat on his horse, leaning forward, his spear as steady as a rock, showing good knightly training, but the "Demon Mountain" stabbed with all his might, and although the tip of the spear was accurately met by his lion-patterned golden shield, it still stumbled and almost fell off the horse. On the contrary, it was the blow he stabbed at the shield of the "Magic Mountain" that only made the other party shake his body slightly, and he was fine.
"That's a lot of strength!" There was a neat inhalation sound from the audience, the "Monarch Killer" was not a fish-belly knight, and his martial arts were also famous in the Seven Kingdoms, but the performance of the "Magic Mountain" made everyone secretly worried.
"One hundred gold dragon coins bet on the Demon Mountain to win." The King's younger brother, Duke Lanley, said after the first blow to the "Magic Mountain" that he was tall and handsome, and was widely loved by everyone for his charisma and interpersonal skills, and King Robert even gave him the rich Castle of Wind's End.
"I'll follow." Littlefinger responded, "The martial arts of the monarch killer are known in the Seven Kingdoms, and the Demon Mountain only has a strong strength, not to mention that the Demon Mountain is still a vassal of the Lannister family. β
"It seems that the Demon Mountain is not an easy to tame fierce dog, but it's a pity that the little devil is not here, otherwise I can earn an extra hundred gold dragon coins." Lan Li looked at the Demon Mountain in the field, and did not care about the relationship between monarchs and ministers, and smashed the spear on the armor of the monarch killer in the second round, and said triumphantly.
In the case that the Magic Mountain did not release water, everyone could see that the monarch killer was about to lose.
"That's because you don't know the little devil, he has always pressed the treasure only on the victor, not on the close." Littlefinger said coldly.
"He won your Valyrian steel dagger, oh, ValΓ©li, the whole continent together doesn't have enough to forge ten long swords." Lan Li said this, his performance was slightly envious, he was not short of gold dragon coins, but there were some things that gold coins could not buy, such as Valyrian steel.
Prime Minister Ed couldn't help but feel moved when he heard this, he had a relationship with the little devil in Winterfell, and he was deeply impressed by this person after a short period of contact, and he had to admit that this Lannister gnome, who was not liked by Duke Tywin, was a smart and sane fellow.
He remembered that Littlefinger had lost a Valyrian steel dagger to the little devil in a knightly joust, and that it was the dagger that had tried to take the life of his young son, Bran, and that was finally confirmed today.
This realization made the "Ice Wolf King" from the north shine with anger in his eyes, he was ready to thoroughly investigate the truth as soon as the tournament was over, if it was really done by the Lannisters, he would never give up!
What he didn't know was that the little finger on the other side was carefully and secretly observing his expression, seeing his expression full of anger, and a smile of conspiracy overflowed from the corner of his mouth.
He deliberately led the conversation here in order to arouse the suspicion of Duke Stark, and further deepen the antagonism between the Stark and Lannister families.
In the end, the monarch killer still lost to the hands of the magic mountain, and in the third round, both spears burst at the same time, but when the wood chips hit the ground, one of the horses lost its owner and ran away to graze alone. Sir Jaime Lannister writhed in the mud, his chest sunken in gold.
"It seems that the Lannisters are not taking good care of their dogs, which will bite their owners." Lan Li smiled and accepted the one hundred gold dragon coins that Little Finger had lost.
Littlefinger shrugged his shoulders indifferently and said meaningfully, "I've always won and lost more than I have to bet, so I've never liked to bet unless I have to." β
On the other side, the audience pointed at the monarch killer, booing again and again, and the aristocratic lords and ladies couldn't help laughing.
Among them, King Robert's laughter was the loudest, and he sat next to the queen without hesitation, in Robert's words, Queen Cersei's screams just now were no different from the prostitutes and girls he had been with, and he looked quite happy about his brother-in-law's defeat.
"Quick! Fast! I'm going to start my second joust right away, and I can't wait to see the tournament winner come to fruition. On the main stage, Robert drank a glass of wine and said drunkenly.
The two knights who were about to face each other entered the arena, only to see one of them wearing a full-body knight armor made of stainless steel, wearing a colorful feather cross helmet, holding a silver-white knight spear, and a pure-blooded divine horse as white as snow in his crotch.
Loras Tyrell, the "Knight of the Hundred Flowers", is handsome and affectionate and civilized to the Seven Kingdoms.
And the other knight Sauron sells I don't know how much, a standard knight's armor can only protect the chest, abdomen, limbs and other parts, and the joints are simply connected with leather, compared with his opponent, the price of this armor is not as good as a bracer of the opponent.
The "Hundred Flowers Knight" was so eye-catching that Sansa in the stands couldn't help but whisper eagerly, "Sir Loras will win." β
Her words happened to be heard by Arya, who shouted at her sister in dissatisfaction, "No, the victor will definitely be Mr. Zoro." β
Little Lori stood on the seat with her feet and shouted loudly to cheer for the teacher, but unfortunately her voice was too small and completely drowned out in the crowd.
In the middle of the field, the knight of the hundred flowers lazily raised his riding spear and greeted the audience, which immediately caused the audience to cheer like a landslide and tsunami, and many noblewomen screamed like estrus.
On the other side, Sauron, who was snubbed, looked at his opponent curiously, this Hundred Flowers Knight really has a good skin, but it's a pity that he doesn't love beauty and handsome men, he is a.
I couldn't help but maliciously speculate that when he stabbed the spear in his hand at the other party, whether this Hundred Flowers Knight had a very familiar feeling.
As the whistle sounded, the two horses started slowly, and it took almost a few steps to increase the speed of the horse, but as the distance got closer, the horse on which Sauron sat became more and more frenzied, bouncing in an almost step-on fashion, while the little mare of the Hundred Flower Knight sprinted smoothly and silkily, the tip of the spear piercing his opponent's chest.
"Oh!" The onlookers couldn't help but scream, and they were about to witness a classic knight duel with huge disparities.
At the critical moment, the Sauron knight clamped the horse's belly with his legs, and forcibly controlled the mount that was about to lose control, and then his body fell back and hung upside down, his back almost attached to the horse's buttocks, and he dodged the spear of the Hundred Flowers Knight in a very thrilling way.
The two horses staggered by.
"Alas!" There was a sigh from the field, the Hundred Flowers Knight and the horse control and straight stabbing skills were perfect, but it was a pity that such a good opportunity was in vain.
In the stands, Sansa clenched her hands excitedly, her eyes full of surprise and adoration. Arya, on the other hand, looked at the teacher worriedly.
"A mare in heat, it seems that Sir Loras must have figured out his opponent's equipment long ago." Suddenly, Littlefinger commented with interest.
Arya was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly asked, "What do you mean?" β
"Nothing." Littlefinger spread his hands and said meaningfully, "But if I'm not mistaken, Sir Sauron rides an uncastrated stallion. β
In fact, it was true that Sauron knew nothing about horses, and before the knight race he made a special trip to the horse market, and after the recommendation of the merchant he selected an uncastrated horse, which was of superior physique and speed, but had a violent temper and much less discipline.
As the second round was about to begin, Sir Sauron still couldn't control his mount, and his horse screamed and stomped his head.
"Despicable!" After knowing the reason, Arya cursed the Flower Knight viciously.
Sansa hurriedly retorted, "Sir must not know about the horse's heat, he is a knight of honor." β
"Shut up, you nymphomaniac who is in heat all day long! You're just like that mare! Arya said to her sister.
Sansa was so angry and anxious that she almost burst into tears.
Ed had no choice but to separate his two daughters so that they would not quarrel in public.
In his heart, he also agreed with Littlefinger's inference, and felt that the tricks of the Hundred Flower Knight were not honorable, and since Sir Sauron was fighting on behalf of the North, he should be more inclined to Sauron.
On the field, the Hundred Flowers Knight took advantage of the opponent's inability to control the horse and launched a fierce attack, and the cold cavalry spear was like a bloodthirsty fang, biting the opponent fiercely.
There was a gushing sound from the impact of metal, and a figure flew into the air with the sound of sawdust mixed with the sound of shields shattering.
It's Sir Sauron! His shield shattered, and the whole person was directly hit by the impact force and flew into the air!
Prime Minister Ed was shocked, and his right hand unconsciously clenched the armrest, seeing that Sir Sauron could not escape the fate of defeat.
At the last moment, I saw the tip of the Sauron Knight's spear lightly touch the ground, and with this force, he flew up, and the spear cut a graceful arc in the air, and a precise and powerful assault directly swept the Hundred Flowers Knight out of his mount.
The Knight of "Poof" Zoro sat down steadily and occupied the opponent's mount, while the Knight of the Hundred Flowers rolled down to the mud, and the swan turned into a pheasant, looking more embarrassed and embarrassed.
Everything happened so fast! The cheers of the crowd in the stands were still in their throats, and the handsome face of the Hundred Flowers Knight still had a look of satisfaction, nervousness, and excitement, and everything came to an abrupt halt, and the final battle was abruptly reversed, which was much more than everyone expected.
"Smack! Syllable! Syllable! On the throne, King Robert's face was shiny and flushed from drinking too much, but his voice was as full of energy as ever, "Wonderful! He said, "Don't you cheer for the warriors from the North! β
"Zoro! Zoro! Zoro! β
At this time, the deafening cheers and cheers were belated, and everyone felt sorry for the defeat of the Hundred Flower Knights, but they did not hesitate to give applause and cheers to the Sauron Knights who gave them a wonderful knightly duel, and he found the right time to fight back and finally won the victory in a very unfavorable situation.
This duel has become the most popular subject for bards, and will be adapted into a wonderful song for the Seven Kingdoms.
There are also people on the field who are secretly frightened by Sir Zoro's strength, they know very well that they can make such a counterattack under such an unfavorable situation, their vision and strength are absolutely powerful and terrifying!