The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Gregor laughed and said, "Congratulations, congratulations, old man Boose. From now on, we are family."

Boose was full of questions. He was an ordinary commoner with no special skills, a native of King's Landing. Why would the Mountain from the Westerlands come to his home in King's Landing to try and become related?

This was very strange and unreasonable.

He looked at Tobho Mott and Gendry. Tobho was strong and sturdy, a very robust man, and Gendry was also muscular. Just by looking at his face, one could tell that he was a fearless child, but it seemed that they, like him, had been coerced by the Mountain.

"Ser Gregor, we are commoners, and my little granddaughter, Arya, has no special skills either. We are not worthy of such an honor…"

Gregor ignored the old man's rambling, interrupted him directly, and shouted, "Let's go, back to the Westerlands."

He took the lead. A cavalryman jumped onto the purchased carriage. With a crack of the whip, the carriage rumbled, following behind the Mountain. Polliver Clegane rode his horse beside the carriage, and behind the carriage were nine fierce cavalrymen surrounding the master blacksmith Tobho Mott and the blacksmith's apprentice Gendry.

The group traveled along the Gold Road, traveling by day and resting by night, heading straight back to the Clegane lands in the Westerlands.

*

King's Landing, the Red Keep, the Throne Room.

Renly Baratheon, King Robert's younger brother, sat on the Iron Throne in the Throne Room.

Renly Baratheon was born in 278 AC and was twenty-one years old this year. He was young and handsome, with charming blue eyes and shiny black hair draped over his shoulders. His smile was kind, and his words were gentle, making him very likable, but his older brother, Stannis Baratheon, had always thought he was too frivolous.

If the master blacksmith Tobho Mott, who had been abducted by the Mountain, were here, he would be surprised at why his apprentice, Gendry, looked so similar to Renly Baratheon. Whether it was the eyes, forehead, lip contours, or face shape, they were extremely similar. It was just that one had short hair and a stubborn, reckless temperament, while the other had shoulder-length hair and an elegant, noble demeanor.

King Robert Baratheon led a hundred courtiers and the Queen north to Winterfell, leaving the city in the care of his younger brother, Renly Baratheon. This made Robert's second brother, Stannis Baratheon, very dissatisfied. He angrily left King's Landing and returned to his fiefdom: Dragonstone, an island in the sea outside Blackwater Bay.

Renly was the Master of Laws, while his second brother, Stannis Baratheon, was the Master of Ships. Renly offered a hypocritical farewell to his brother's departure, but once Stannis made a decision, no one could persuade him except for Robert.

Stannis left resolutely and did not bid farewell to Renly.

However, Renly was an optimistic person and did not mind this.

Although the Master of Ships among the important officials of the Small Council was absent, this did not affect the daily political meetings at the Iron Throne.

Beneath the Iron Throne, the other important members of the Small Council were all present: the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, the fearless Barristan Selmy; the Master of Whisperers, Varys, whose bald head was as shiny as when King Robert was present; the Master of Coin, Petyr Baelish, whose face was terribly swollen two days ago, but now the bruising had disappeared, with only a faint blue mark on the right corner of his mouth, which he said was a happy wound caused by playing a masochistic game with a prostitute while drunk; and Grand Maester Pycelle, the great scholar of four dynasties.

Pycelle was born in 216 AC and was eighty-two years old this year. His bald head was covered with black age spots, and the hair on both sides and the back of his head was all white, hanging down long. His maester's chain was made of twenty-four metal links, representing his mastery of twenty-four different fields of expertise. The metal pieces hung heavily from his neck to his chest.

Grand Maester Pycelle valued his long, snow-white beard the most, which he regarded as the foundation of his honor and pride.

Pycelle entered the royal palace at the age of forty-two and had served four kings: Aegon V, Jaehaerys II, Aerys II, and Robert I. He respected Tywin Lannister of the Westerlands the most and was a loyal member of the Small Council to the Lannister family of the Westerlands.

For a Small Council meeting, as long as at least three members of the Small Council were present, the meeting's decisions had legal effect. This was also why Renly was not afraid of his brother Stannis leaving.

Renly was loved by his brother Robert in everything. He was the heir to Storm's End, the Duke. But according to the laws of the country and the order of family inheritance, Stannis Baratheon should have become the Duke of the rich Storm's End. But Robert did not like Stannis, who was cold and cruel to everyone, so in the name of the King, he bestowed Storm's End to his younger brother Renly Baratheon, and granted the barren and sparsely populated Dragonstone to Stannis.

Stannis had long suffered from the unfair treatment of his brother Robert, and this time was no different. Robert left, and according to the order of seniority, he could have become the acting king, but unfortunately, it was not him again. Robert still gave the honor of acting king to his younger brother Renly Baratheon.

Renly did not feel comfortable sitting on the Iron Throne, which symbolized the highest power of the Seven Kingdoms.

The Iron Throne was very cold and hard. From the day it was born, it had been around for 298 years. It was forged by Aegon, the first king of the Targaryen dynasty.

In the first year of Aegon's Conquest, King Aegon had his dragon, Balerion the Black Dread, melt down thousands of swords discarded by the enemy when they surrendered, and it took fifty-nine days to complete the construction of this royal throne.

The Iron Throne was covered with spikes and barbs, making it uncomfortable to sit on. The back of the chair also had spikes, so you couldn't lean back when you were tired. If you weren't careful, the spikes and blades would cut your hands or body. The founding emperor Aegon deliberately used thousands of enemy swords to forge this throne to remind future kings that the throne was hard-won, and that it was not easy to be a king. They had to cherish it and work diligently for the country.

The last king of the Targaryen dynasty, the "Mad King" Aerys II, was often cut and injured by the Iron Throne because of his violent temper. There were even rumors that the Iron Throne had killed several kings. For example, Maegor I died after accidentally hitting the outward-facing tip of the Iron Throne. Of course, there were rumors in secret that Maegor I was pushed from behind before he hit it.

Although Renly did not enjoy sitting on the Iron Throne, he still had to sit on it.

"My lords, I have received news that King Robert and Queen Cersei, along with everyone else, have crossed the Neck, the hundreds of miles of swamp in the North, and are expected to arrive at Winterfell in the North in about ten days."

A smattering of applause rang out in the Throne Room.

Most of the courtiers had followed the King on his journey, including the Queen's two brothers: Jaime Lannister and Tyrion Lannister, known as the Little Demon. The Throne Room was very empty, with only a few people.

The following political affairs were still the same trivial matters that Renly had no interest in. When Renly clearly showed a bored and tired expression, the Master of Whisperers, Varys, said, "Duke Renly, my lords, two vicious cases have recently occurred in Flea Bottom. One was in the street where brown soup is sold, where a mercenary of the Brave Companions was killed. The other was in the underground arena of Flea Bottom, where an even more serious violent incident occurred, resulting in several deaths and more than twenty injuries."

"Who is the murderer? Have they been caught?" Renly immediately became interested, his blue eyes shining.

Thank you: Dong Huang Tai Xu and Chu Men Dai Zhe Laohu for the reward and support, thank you!