Chapitre 26: Chapter 26: End of Tournament
As the sun rose, the atmosphere within Lannisport was palpable, it wasn't hard to see that this unknown bastard that came out of nowhere was targetting the King.
He had humiliated a Kingsguard, beating him with a single punch while being unarmed. Ser Boros wasn't the best swordsman of the land but he was above average.
He had the advantage of being shorter than most, this made his center of gravity better, giving him access to more powerful swings that were hard to deflect.
Word spread quickly of Aiden's identity, this surprised many people since that meant he was still quite young. In Westeros you were considered an adult at the age of thirteen for males, and for females it was whenever they had their first moonblood.
So even though he was considered a man in the eyes of the law, it was still unbelievable that he had easily unhorsed men much more experienced than himself.
When the time came for the tournament to begin, the arena seats were filled even more than the previous day. Carpenters had the brilliant idea to build extra seating and sold seating of their own, making plenty of profit that more than covered the expenses they incurred from the material.
Many shops closed down, signs hanging from the locked doors telling customers that the shop would open after the tournament. Even the brothels shut down, they weren't very busy during the mornings anyway but some still usually came, mainly guards who were on night duty.
All wanted to see what the outcome would be, they wanted to see what the king would do considering the circumstances.
Robert was already red faced when he arrived with the Queen, this time Prince Joffrey was with them along with Myrcella and Tommen. Robert had been drinking all morning, he was angry at not only Aiden but at the fact that his hands were tied until the end of the tournament.
Barristan Selmy and Aiden were both in the participants tent alone.
"You know Uncle Barristan, I won't lie, I thought you a traitor, but now I see that I and everyone was wrong. You are a good man, you sacrificed your honor to ensure your Crown Prince received the burial he deserved. I shall make sure the others know as well."
"Nevermind that my boy, I made my choice and seeing how much you have grown made it worth it. Just knowing that my brothers and the Princesses are safe along with their children. You know Robert has ordered me to not kill you but to maim you, he plans to attack you on the road with a large group of soldiers. You should leave as discreetly as possible. I know I have no chance at beating you, but you are just one man, you won't be able to beat a group of 50 soldiers."
"Don't worry Uncle, I will be fine. I already know what they are planning. Varys isn't the only one with ears and eyes everywhere. In fact there's even more to what they plan than even that fat buffoon you call a King even knows." Aiden said with a smile.
This surprised Barristan greatly, he was on guard during the meeting and saw no other person besides those in attendance. The area was swept regularly to ensure there were no spies.
"Don't worry Uncle, I won't do to you like I did that other Kingsguard. I originally planned on killing you, until I saw you yesterday and realized the truth, that you didn't betray your oath. But there is something you should know, the Queen's children are not Roberts. They are bastards born of incest with her uncle and cousins."
Barristan's eyes widened as he realized the implications, "You are sure of this?"
"As sure as I am that you only bent the knee to Robert in exchange for him not desecrating my step-fathers corpse like he had planned, making sure he received a royal burial. Don't tell him yet, I can see that the youngest two are actually decent kids. They don't deserve the death that would befall them should he know. I will be coming back after I take care of a few things in the North. I will be making things difficult for Robert in Kings Landing when I return. I will be taking the two children to ensure their safety, once that happens you can tell Robert the truth. That will cause those that plotted against my adoptive family to turn on each other. Just be careful, I'd hate to lose a good protector of my siblings."
"How do you plan to do that? I know you grew up in the castle and know all the secret passages, but Maegor's tower is different, it's not as easy to get around unseen as is in the Red Keep." Barristan stated.
"I have my ways, don't worry, by the time they realize the two are missing, we will be far away." Aiden replied just as the trumpets resounded to let all know the tournament was about to begin.
"Don't worry Uncle, I won't humiliate you like I did those others. No matter what, you always treated me kindly, like a son you never had, that was why it hurt so much when I thought you betrayed us." Aiden patted Barristan's shoulder playfully.
"Aye, I appreciate that. Ser Boros is going to be haunted by what you did to him for many years. I see you went with dual wielding like Ser Arthur. I look forward to seeing how well he taught you."
Both men walked out of the tent, got on their horses, and rode into the arena. Cheers erupted as both men rode into the arena grounds.
Both circled the arena in opposite directions to greet the crowd. Margaery cheered and clapped along with everyone, a big smile formed on her face seeing that her favor was still on his arm. She kept her eyes on the hood part of his cloak, knowing what was hidden within.
After their second pass around the arena, the announcer began the introductions of both the competitors. Aiden kept his eyes on Robert, smiling from ear to ear, even giving him a nod. This pissed off Robert greatly, crushing his wine cup in anger.
After the announcer was finished Oberyn did the same as the day before, beginning a bet between the nobles. Many still bet against Aiden, while all the ones who bet for Aiden the previous day stuck with Aiden.
They had made quite a bit of gold last time, even Margaery got a little taste of the rush of gambling and had doubled her allowance, she bet all she had once again which Olenna once again chipped in to make it a family bet matching the others.
She couldn't have people thinking the Tyrells were cheap, or lacking gold, they had a reputation to maintain. In Westeros reputation was everything.
The trumpets waited for the bets to complete, before they signalled the start of the match, even the commonfolk had began to set up a betting pool. Many of the prostitutes had brought all the coin they had, they were confident in Aiden and many wanted to start a new life.
As Aiden and Barristan took position, the bets slowed down, once it was done the signal was given to the trumpeters, and the trumpets blasted signaling the start.
Aiden and Barristan launched forward, the crowd went silent as they watched the two collide, Aiden didn't readjust as before so the lances just shattered against each others shield.
Both quickly rounded the turn, grabbing a new lance and taking off for the second clash. Once again both remained seated, this continued until the seventh pass, Aiden adjusted at the last second as he did before, unhorsing Barristan.
It took him a moment to get up since he was tired from the joust, but once he did he drew his sword.
"Come let's see what you've learned with the sword!" Barristan shouted, causing cheers to erupt even more.
Aiden dismounted, dropped his shield and pulled out both swords, this made many in the crowd to grow heated with excitement when they witnessed this.
Dual wielding was very uncommon in Westeros, many knights weren't ambidextrous, it was a very difficult skill to learn. Many preferred to use a shield since it gave better protection against arrows and heavy weapons, blocking a sword with a shield was much easier than parrying.
Arthur Dayne was one of the very few that could wield two swords and be just as deadly, he was widely known as the number one swordsman in all seven kingdoms.
To be effective, you had to be able to move both swords seperately, as if each hand had its own brain, otherwise it was easy to read and counter if they moved in unison.
Both men circled one another, bringing silence to the crowd once again. Aiden twirled both swords expertly as he circled Barristan.
Seeing an opening, Barristan made the first move, he thrust his sword forward, stabbing for Aidens right side. Aiden blocked with the left sword, then spun to the left and used the right hand to slash at Barristan's shield, although it was blocked Barristan stumbled a few steps to his right.
The two began to show the crowd a display none would forget, Aiden danced and parried, showing off a skill far beyond even Arthur Dayne himself.
He practically juggled the two swords, letting go of one to do an attack and expertly caught it to do another. Even Robert held his breath as he watched a sword fight like he had never seen before.
Robb Stark stared wide eyed, his mouth agape at what he was seeing. It wasn't just Robb but all the crowd, even the nobles had the same looks. Margaery stood with eyes sparkling with awe, when she turned to say something to her grandmother, she giggled at the face Olenna was showing.
Aiden attacked from multiple angles, making sure not to move too fast, he wanted to make sure Barristan would maintain his honor even though he would lose. No one would doubt the man's abilities now, even if he lost.
Tywin Lannister and Jon Arryn looked at each other, they both had the same thought, they would need to add more men to ensure he was captured.
Lynesse Hightower was mystified by Aiden's sword play, as Leyton Hightower was caught up in his own thoughts, the skills shown by Aiden was impossible for someone so young, especially one who grew up in a castle. Even if he trained everyday with the best of swordsmen there was no way to become this good at such a young age.
The arena remained silent, the only sound heard was the clashes of sword and shield from the combatants within the arena.
The crowd began to see Barristan starting to faulter, his stamina beginning to waver, he was no longer a young man himself. This had still shocked the crowd greatly since he lasted much longer than expected.
Little did they know, Aiden had been helping Barristan by giving him the energy to go well beyond what he should have.
Seeing it was time to end it, Aiden stabbed both swords into the ground and caught Barristan's sword with two fingers as he slashed downward.
Many lords stood up all at once, the sound of their chairs toppling over broke the silence, followed by murmurs of "Impossible" amongst many in the crowd.
Aiden spun behind Barristan, disarming him in the process, once he was behind him Aiden placed the sword at his neck.
"Do you yield, uncle?" Aiden's voice resounded thru the arena.
"Aye. I yield. You have grown much my boy, I am proud of your skills." Barristan said as he breathed heavily.
The crowd erupted into cheers, it was so loud that all in Lannisport, even those at the port heard. Many sailors thought the city was being attacked by an invading army.
Those in attendance knew they had watched a battle for the ages, the Age of Heroes returned, even those that lost gold in their bets didn't mind. They had witnessed something legendary, to be able to say they witnessed it with their own eyes was worth more to them than the gold lost.
It took time before the crowd settled enough for the announcer to declare the winner. A large chest with forty thousand gold dragons was brought out, along with a laurel made from winter roses, the light blue petals made them look as if made from frost, this was the crown of love and beauty.
Seeing this Aiden let out a sigh, but a promise was a promise. Aiden had paid attention and listened to see if Margaery told anyone, almost hoping that she would, he knew this would create trouble for her and her family.
But unfortunately for her, or him, he still wasn't sure, even after being pressured to tell, she held her ground. When he looked up at where Margaery was and saw her hopeful eyes. He couldn't bring himself to break the promise, he mentally gave himself a kick for being flustered enough to fall for such a trick, he had ignored his ability to see past what she was doing, all because he worried about his dragon.
To everyones shock, Aiden lifted the chest of gold that took two men to carry, and they struggled greatly, with a single hand then grabbing the laurel in the other.
As he walked over to Margaery, he began to worry about what could happen to her. A sliver of power entered the the crown of roses, unbeknownst to Aiden his power created a safe guard. His want and desire that she and her family be safe had turned the crown into something more.
"A crown of roses, for Westeros' most beloved 'Little Rose'. My Lady, you have helped the poor and needy the whole time you were here. If only there were more nobles like yourself, this world would be a better one. I can't think of anyone more deserving, I hope you continue to help those in need, a good example of how nobles should be." Aiden said after he placed the chest down, jumping up and grabbing the top of the rail he pulled himself up and placed it on Margaery's head.
The crowd erupted in cheers, Lynesse felt saddened, but with what Aiden stated it made it less painful to not receive herself. She told herself she would strive to do better as a noble.
It was widely known of Margaery's deeds, both nobles and commoners alike. Aiden's words also relieved Olenna quite a lot, it was basically stating that he wasn't using it to court the girl but because she was a kind and generous one.
At that moment Olenna knew she had to reevaluate her thoughts on Aiden, she could tell he said this to keep troubles from coming their way. But she also knew this wasn't enough, Robert was a vindictive person, but she still had to appreciate what he did.
It would make Robert have to work from the shadows rather than doing anything openly, this would make things easier for her to defend against, especially since Aiden had gave them a massive boost in reputation.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone