Chapter 71: Loras's Friendship

The first to proceed was the battle between Arthur and The Hound, Sandor Clegane.

Both parties stood by at opposite ends of the field, and after signaling to the King, Arthur and The Hound lowered their visors almost simultaneously.

Then they spurred their horses into a charge.

Because Red Hare's shoulder height was a head taller than ordinary horses, Arthur held a great advantage in the jousting tournament:

His center of gravity was much higher than his opponent's.

When the two sides charged, if the opponent wanted to knock Arthur down, they had to angle their lance slightly upward, otherwise, they would only strike the giant red horse.

And according to the rules of the tournament, if one killed the opponent's horse, they would be disqualified.

So Arthur's opponents had to struggle to raise their lance tips, yet they could never manage to knock this handsome man off his horse.

Today's match against The Hound was the same.

The Prince's personal Attendant broke his lance on the very first charge and also used his Goumiandun to block Arthur's lance.

But neither party fell from their horse.

So after charging to the other side, Arthur and The Hound exchanged for new lances and began repeating the previous actions.

Until the fourth time, The Hound's mount veered slightly, and he failed to control his force, being knocked off his horse by Arthur.

Bang!

A massive sound spread across the entire field; even a deaf person would know what had happened, as it was accompanied by a tremor.

The Hound lay prone for quite a while before rolling over to get up.

The spectators closer by could clearly see that his dog-shaped visor had deformed.

"Someone go help him quickly, let him take off his visor and helmet to rest for a while," the kind-hearted Duke Eddard ordered in a loud voice.

Two Attendants from the Red Keep stepped forward, but were waved away by The Hound.

The loser stumbled away, while the winner raised his visor.

As he passed by Sansa Stark's seat, Arthur winked at her.

This caused Sansa's face and neck to quickly turn the same color as her neatly braided red hair.

In order to fit into the circle of noble ladies in King's Landing, the young lady from The North had started braiding her hair; back in her hometown, she would never do such a thing.

Arthur rode his horse to the standby area, then dismounted to go fetch his Great Hammer.

Because in a moment, The Mountain's mount might cause some trouble.

After being knocked off his horse by Loras, an enraged The Mountain beheaded the poor horse with his sword, then prepared to hack Loras to death.

It must be said, The Mountain's train of thought was rather peculiar; he actually thought about hacking a Duke's third son to death right under the eyes of the King and most of the nobles.

And this Duke was the liege lord of the Seven Kingdoms' most powerful region, The Reach.

As for The Mountain himself, he was merely a Landed Knight. His liege lord, Duke Tywin, was not present either, unable to speak for him.

I don't know why The Mountain had such courage.

Because of Arthur's presence, The Hound, who originally would have stopped The Mountain, had gone to rest, so Loras might be in some danger in a moment.

He had to go guard him to prevent an accident.

Even setting aside the fact that Loras was the brother of the little rose Margaery Tyrell, just for his character, he had to be saved.

The servant Meidan stood guard loyally to the side, and Arthur picked up his Great Hammer and walked toward the jousting field.

Things basically did not change.

After one pass, The Mountain was thrown off his horse by his own mount; the Knight of Flowers hadn't even broken his lance, so it was clear he hadn't been knocked off.

The commoners began to cheer; after all, the Knight of Flowers looked more likable than the vicious The Mountain.

Then The Mountain began the established process of hacking the horse's head and hacking at Loras.

The cheers still lingering in people's ears instantly turned into screams and gasps.

"Stop him," the new Hand of the King shouted, but his voice was clearly not as loud as Robert's.

No Golden Cloaks or soldiers from The North responded.

Everything happened so fast; Loras also reacted and wanted to use his sword to defend.

But his Attendant was shoved to the ground by The Mountain.

The Knight of Flowers was struck off his horse by The Mountain, his breastplate dented with a clear deformation.

Then, having had a crooked thought, Loras began to regret: why did he have to ride a mare to make The Mountain's mount irritable?

"I will kill you." Loras even heard The Mountain's muttered whisper.

This is the end.

Just as the Knight of Flowers felt his life was about to end here, a Great Hammer appeared before his eyes, colliding with the Greatsword hacking toward him.

A mere Mountain, daring to lay a hand on my third brother-in-law in front of me?

Arthur thought to himself, using his Great Hammer to parry the sword, then swung the hammer and began to trade blows with The Mountain.

Of course, a hammer is always more durable than a Greatsword.

After The Mountain's two-handed Greatsword was bent out of shape by their back-and-forth attacks, King Robert's order arrived.

"In the name of your King, stop at once."

The Mountain ignored Robert's words and still swung his bent sword to hack over.

Arthur was not a blindly loyal Hound either; he used all his strength to wield the Great Hammer and met him head-on.

The Mountain's Greatsword struck the hammer handle and was snapped in two by sheer force.

Then Arthur seized the opportunity to change his move, hammering down onto The Mountain's foot.

This caused the foot in the iron boot to sink deep into the mud softened by the horses' hooves.

With the protection of the iron boot, although it wouldn't go so far as to break the foot, The Mountain shouldn't be feeling good either.

Arthur, holding the upper hand, wanted to land another hammer blow, but The Mountain was clearly not one to take a loss lying down.

He pulled his foot out extremely quickly and walked away with a limp.

He shoved Barristan, who was surrounding him, as he passed.

"Brave Arthur Bracken," Sansa remarked with a sigh.

After being presented with flowers yesterday, she had learned the name of this handsome nobleman from Littlefinger.

Duke Eddard nodded, acknowledging his daughter's words.

He recalled what happened a week ago and said to his daughter casually:

"This man is full of kindness and Justice; he is a friend worth making."

Sansa remembered these words.

After Loras stood up, the onlookers began to cheer again, as if the screaming from just a moment ago had never existed.

But this time, their cheers were for a different target.

Arthur accepted it all with composure.

The Knight of Flowers, having suffered a minor injury, was helped up by his servants and walked toward the tents in the distance.

A few minutes later, Loras returned to this place, having changed into linen clothes.

"I owe you my life, Lord Arthur. You shall have my friendship and the friendship of Highgarden."

The third son of the Lord Paramount of The Reach announced this.

Then King Robert also acted with generosity, granting Arthur the title of champion and a reward of forty thousand Gold Dragons.

Originally, according to the tournament proceedings, Arthur would have had to compete against the Knight of Flowers Loras, but The Mountain's irrational behavior saved the Lord of Red Mill a lot of trouble.

Of course, he also gained much more.

The friendship of Highgarden is not something that can be ignored.

The morning was still long, so the archery competition proceeded quickly.

Arthur was not so lucky in this competition. A mercenary won the championship and ten thousand Gold Dragons.

PS: Some say the Hammer is too small; I think it's fine. The Drum-Beating Urn Gold Hammer is only the size of a human head; any larger would be bullying.

Seeking recommendation votes and monthly tickets.

(End of chapter)