The Mountain of Ice and Fire
#163 - Cersei is beautiful and evil
"Your Majesty!" The Mountain bowed with a salute. He had to admit, Cersei was beautiful, her skin as white as snow, the kind that made any male beast want to take a bite.
"Ser Gregor! You've come at the right time. How many men did you bring?"
"Thirty riders, Your Majesty!"
"Go and arrest Eddard Stark." Cersei's courage suddenly surged.
The Mountain was a rabid dog raised by the Lannister family of the Westerlands, specializing in tearing apart anyone who disobeyed.
"Yes, Your Majesty." The Mountain replied respectfully, but remained standing still. He was not the Mountain of old, who would lunge to bite at the sound of a whistle. Clegane was a vassal of the Lannister family, but not of Cersei.
The Mountain looked at the King.
The King's face was grim. He threw the golden goblet to the wine servant, stood up, revealing his height. King Robert had gained the throne at twenty, possessed divine strength in his arms, and wielded a heavy warhammer that even his friend Eddard could barely lift. Despite sixteen years of indulgence, the tiger's power remained.
"What is going on?" the King roared, his eyes wide, his beard bristling.
"Joffrey was almost killed by the Stark girl's direwolf, and you're completely indifferent? What kind of father are you?" Cersei's accusations had not stopped from the beginning.
The Mountain coldly watched Cersei, an extremely beautiful woman whose heart was twisted and filled with evil: the whole world was wrong, only she was right! She was incapable of compromise or self-reflection. The only way to make her reasonable was for the Seven Gods to manifest and take her away!
"Where is Joffrey?"
"He's in his chambers, nursing his wounds!"
The Mountain guessed that Prince Joffrey was in his chambers, eating delicacies and drinking fine wine, perhaps even being amused by the jester from time to time. That boy would never allow himself to suffer. The Mountain knew that the direwolf Nymeria and Arya were connected in mind. Arya was only angry with Joffrey, not filled with murderous intent. If Arya had been filled with murderous intent towards Joffrey, the direwolf would not have just bitten his sword hand, but would have bitten it off!
The bite force of a direwolf the size of a hound could easily sever a young man's bones.
"Bring him out here!" the King roared.
Cersei did not go to call Joffrey, but instead, with a furious expression, went to sit in the chair next to the King.
"Where's the Kingslayer? Where did he disappear to?" the King roared in uncontrollable rage.
Kingslayer—Jaime Lannister's infamous title, earned for killing King Aerys Targaryen, to whom he had sworn allegiance. King Robert had never liked the Lannisters, naturally including Jaime Lannister. He would openly call Jaime 'Kingslayer' during the Small Council meetings in the throne room. He enjoyed humiliating Jaime, and seeing Jaime's hard face made him happy.
Immediately, a guard went to notify Jaime, trembling. Jaime arrived quickly, dressed in white robes, golden armor, and a golden scabbard, his face handsome and his figure tall and straight.
Jaime was a talented man, but it was a pity.
"Jaime, go bring Joffrey to me!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Jaime replied respectfully. He glanced at the giant-like Mountain as he turned, his face expressionless, and departed.
Besides being infatuated with his sister's beauty, Jaime had his own honor and principles in other aspects. He kept his distance from villains like the Mountain, refusing to associate with them, even though his reputation as the Kingslayer was just as foul.
The guards put away the fine wine and food that the Mountain had sent. The King's joy at receiving a large bag of gold was also dissipated by his dear Queen. Today was a sunny day, but the King's good mood had dropped below zero.
The Mountain did not speak, nor did he leave. He calmly remained an observer: if nothing unexpected happened, the King would be finished by the end of the year, dying from the tusks of a wild boar, ending his life, which was difficult to judge as meritorious or flawed.
Robert was a good man. He was approachable, straightforward, and good at turning enemies into friends. He was a natural general, good at fighting, but not a good king. He was in the wrong position, similar to a college student from before the transmigration, who clearly studied architecture, with interests and profession highly unified, but was tricked by fate into becoming a music teacher. It was inevitable that he would not be able to teach 'do-re-mi-fa-so' well.
Soon, Joffrey was brought in, a nonchalant smile on his handsome face, the corners of his mouth upturned, as if mocking everyone present as trash.
King Robert noticed the bandage on Joffrey's right hand.
But the Mountain noticed that Joffrey was accompanied by a jester in makeup and a comical hat, a fair-faced moonboy with a red nose, and a respectful scholar. The Mountain knew his guess was correct: the boy had first gone to his mother to cry, and after gaining her support, everything was fine. He was in a good mood, tasting fine wine, and listening to the jester and moonboy sing, tell jokes, and perform slapstick comedy for amusement.
Great noble families all kept jesters or moonboys to bring them joy. The King, the most honored in the land, kept many jesters and moonboys. Some jesters even performed magic tricks.
Joffrey's face showed no sign of pain.
The King glared, and Joffrey was startled. Perhaps he then remembered his crying to his mother. The boy immediately walked to Cersei with a wronged expression, standing obediently by his mother's side, pretending to be injured and aggrieved.
Everyone could see that Joffrey was feigning pain, but what could they say? The servants and maids in the court all knew this was the prince's daily routine.
"Let me see your hand!" Robert said in a deep voice.
Joffrey stood behind his mother, cowering and afraid to go forward.
If there was anyone that this boy was afraid of, it was this cheap old man.
He had once been curious about how many little babies were inside a mother cat's belly, so he dissected the mother cat, picked out the little babies one by one, and then happily showed them to his King father. That time, Robert was shocked, and he almost beat Joffrey to death. From then on, Joffrey had a deep fear of his King father. As long as his King father glared at him, he would be afraid.
Cersei stroked her son's handsome face with her slender hand: "Go, show your father, don't be afraid." Cersei's encouraging gaze, "If your cowardly father doesn't dare to stand up for you, your mother will help you punish the criminals! The Stark family must give an explanation for this matter, you are a prince."
Cersei's words always contained a venomous whip, a whip that lashed out at the King's dignity and authority at any time, such as publicly calling Robert a 'cowardly father'.
Although Robert was a terrible king, he was by no means a coward!
Cersei wanted to provoke the King to use force against Eddard Stark with her superficial words.
The King had always been courteous to Eddard Stark, naturally having nothing to do with cowardice.
Robert's neck bulged with angry veins. He glared at Joffrey, who was cowering and walking towards him, grabbed his right hand and looked at it. From the position of the bandage, he could tell it was a minor injury. The scholar had not allowed Joffrey's right hand to hang around his neck, which meant that the bones were fine.
A minor injury!
"Speak, what exactly happened? If you dare to lie, I will deal with you!" Robert roared, his eyes wide.
Joffrey was so frightened that his face turned pale, and his eyes looked to his mother for help. His mother immediately beckoned her son to come over, hid him behind her, held Joffrey's hand tightly, and sneered: "Robert, what can you do besides threatening your own son? I have already investigated clearly. The Stark girl Arya and the butcher's son Mycah suddenly attacked Joffrey. Arya struck Joffrey in the back of the head with a training sword. The lowly butcher's son Mycah took the opportunity to knock Joffrey down. Together, they snatched Joffrey's sword Lion's Tooth and threw it into the Trident River. The Stark girl also ordered the direwolf to bite him. His right hand is evidence of being bitten by the direwolf. Robert, if you don't dare to order the capture of the Stark girl, then don't interfere in this matter, I will handle it!"
Robert was furious, revealing his bastard nature: "Cersei, go to hell, take your son and get out. Kingslayer, go and invite Eddard Stark here!"
"Tsk tsk tsk, his Stark girl is about to kill your son, and you're still afraid of him, still using the word 'invite'. Jaime, you don't need to go either. I've already sent Donnel Marbrand. I believe Eddard Stark will be here soon."
The Mountain looked out the door. Unknowingly, the sun was setting outside, and it would soon be dark.
Rapid footsteps sounded outside the door. A young warrior entered, wearing a red cloak, kneeling on one knee, facing the King and Queen: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness, Eddard Stark heard about the dispute between Miss Arya and Prince Joffrey and refused to come here. He has led the guards of the North to Ruby Ford to search for Arya and the butcher's son."
"He actually dared to go look for his daughter first?" Cersei said in disbelief, "Robert, look at the Hand you invited from thousands of miles away, he completely disregards the authority of the royal family."
"Shut up!" the King roared, "Control your son. Before Arya is found, I forbid you from mentioning this matter again."
Cersei sneered, stood up, gave Robert an extremely contemptuous look, grabbed Joffrey's hand, and strode out. The Mountain coldly saw a flash of a smile in Joffrey's eyes.
King Robert gasped with anger. He threw his massive body back into the chair and roared: "Pour the wine, you stupid Lannister."
Lancel trembled and quickly poured fine wine for the King.
The Mountain looked at Jaime. The King cursed the Lannisters as stupid, and Jaime was also a Lannister, but his face was expressionless, as if he hadn't heard it at all.
Jaime had already received the King's favor, cultivating a strong heart from the King's rage and humiliation! Or perhaps it could be called numbness.
The King drank several cups in a row, drinking quickly and urgently, his chest rising and falling rapidly, almost choking on the wine.
The Mountain felt sympathy for the King. This guy's life was really bad. Fortunately, he still had fine wine, women, and hunting to vent his anger.
*
After dark, the courtiers had eaten. Because of the notice sent by Cersei's guards, all the courtiers came to the hall, crowding the room, waiting for the Hound and Eddard to find the people. It was said that Eddard had sent people across the river to search the riverbanks in a carpet-like manner.
The two troublemaking children and a wolf, the Hound and Eddard had not yet found.
*
Outside the town, on the Kingsroad, torches were held high, and the gold cloaks marched in formation. Leading the way was a handsome and elegant young man, Robert Baratheon's younger brother, Renly Baratheon, the Master of Laws of the kingdom. Behind him were three white-robed knights, members of the Kingsguard: the Captain of the Kingsguard—the fearless Barristan Selmy and his two brothers-in-arms; behind them was a terrifying-looking man, full of death, with dead fish eyes, the hilts of his greatswords extending diagonally above his shoulders. He was the King's executioner, Ilyn Payne, whose official position was Royal Justice.
The arrival of this group of fierce men immediately made the town's night even more noisy. These fierce men from the royal palace had come specifically to welcome their King Robert.
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