[Chapter Size: 3200 Words.]
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Pessoa Thrid POV
Westeros, 295 AC.
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"Are we ready?" Jon looked at his group, who were prepared to head out again for the tournament.
Seeing them nod, Jon led them straight to the tournament, which unlike the last time, had its structure changed for the joust that would take place that day. The bleachers were much larger so that all the nobles could have a good view, with exclusive podiums for the great families and Prince Renly.
The commoners and bards had to contend with a much more horizontal view, left to crowd on the ground while some climbed nearby trees if they weren't caught by the guards, due to the security for the nearby nobles.
"Jon! I want to see you knock everyone down from the start in all the matches!" Arya exclaimed next to Jon.
"I could maybe do that, but I don't plan to make it that easy. After all, I want to give a bit of excitement to the audience." Jon said to his sister with a smile.
"Did you really bring that horse?" She asked again.
"Yes, didn't you see?" He raised an eyebrow.
"I didn't know, I was only told about it today." Arya admitted.
"Yes, I asked the fleet to bring him here, after all, I need one of him, and this is my most important horse of all." Jon said.
"That's pretty obvious, you wanted to participate with your wolf..." Seryna couldn't help but laugh at that.
"You know I'd even try, but I know it wouldn't be possible, so this past week I made sure to prepare another mount." Jon spoke.
"You... they might even create a song about you again." Arya suggested with a mischievous smile.
"Seems like the Lady of the Bow wants a song about Jon?" Seryna asked Arya while the others listening to that smiled.
In the past week, not only did Eldric have his own song, but the bards created a song about the 11-year-old girl winning fourth place, something that even surpassed Eldric as everyone wanted more of the song about Arya Stark.
The song wasn't the only thing that changed this week, while Jon continued visiting the Tyrells' castle and even attending a few more banquets, Willas seemed to start courting Arya.
They seemed to see an impressive pair with Arya, but the girl remained quite distant from them, maintaining only respect but leaving no opening while staying oblivious to the courtship that wasn't limited to just the Tyrell heir.
"You know I'm famous among the southerners." Arya spoke with some arrogance, smiling, happy to have a song earned by her own skills.
"Let our father hear that in the halls of Winterfell..." Jon commented calmly.
"Bran will be jealous..." She said immediately, and a silent atmosphere took over them the next moment.
"..." Jon and Arya couldn't help but think of their younger brother at that moment. Hoping they could meet again someday, but Jon more than Arya, as he didn't seem to be very well accepted in the North, not without getting into a conflict in those lands due to some petty nobles.
Putting that aside, Jon continued the path with the group, and they finally began to hear the commotion of the tournament as they approached it, with the giants doing a good job of clearing the way through the crowd and entering the place, while Jon had an exclusive podium for his family.
He continued to have a lot of contact with the Tyrell family, and this had improved their relations, despite Arya being discreetly courted by the family's heir. Jon and Willas had something in common, which was animals, and Jon negotiated many horses over the week with the nobles of the Reach along with the Tyrell family, hearing many recommendations from Willas. He could even see if an animal was good enough for him, but the problem was reaching those animals, and Willas served very well for that contact.
Garlan was his constant training partner in the yard. Despite not having as good a partnership as he had with Willas, they got along very well, training, and Jon even instructed Garlan a few times after the latter had to admit that Jon was the strongest swordsman he had ever met in his life.
Margaery was a bit strange for Jon; she treated him with respect, but sometimes she looked at him so intently that he wondered if she wanted to take him to bed a few times. His wife knew better, but Jon didn't insist on this and ignored it, maintaining only respect for her status. He thought she was one of the most beautiful women, he had to admit, but he didn't like her personality much. He believed she was greedier than he would like one of his wives to be.
Mace Tyrell was a very distant man. Although he was often very surprised by many things Jon did, they rarely addressed each other in their few meetings. Jon felt some disdain from him for Jon's status, but at the same time, he saw him as quite confused.
His wife, Alerie Tyrell, was a calmer person. She addressed Jon with respect like her children and liked and treated Seryna very well, always wanting to see the perfumes from the North and talk about many things.
Olenna, on the other hand, was a more difficult woman to deal with in this place, always keeping a sarcastic tone but, at the same time, always observing them like a hawk. Jon considered her a schemer. She hadn't talked to Jon alone yet, but that hadn't happened yet; not that it changed the fact that she would do so after the tournament. Jon was just waiting for the invitation from the woman who ran the Tyrell family to have tea in her gardens alone.
In Westeros, there was a silent game, a game of power called the game of thrones. Jon classified the players into two types: the schemers, who were the people moving the pieces behind the curtain to gain or maintain their power, and Olenna was one of them. He saw many of them also in the king's council. Jon personally had no love for such people and would eliminate them if it wouldn't cause a major diplomatic problem, so he had to wait until a war arose where he could have that excuse.
Besides the schemers, there were the "Pieces," whom the schemers moved almost like puppets. Margaery was a piece of the Tyrell family, as an example, since with her becoming queen, which was the Tyrell's interest since her creation, she would place her blood in the royal lineage and increase the family's status. After all, even the great houses had problems in their realms, and people of a lower rank were always waiting for their guard to drop to overthrow them and take their status.
Jon could say that families like the Tarlys would take power from the Tyrells if they could in a moment of weakness. One way the Tyrells prevented this was by forming the Tyrell, Redwyne, and Hightower alliance. After all, they had important relatives concentrated in Highgarden, with Olenna herself coming from the Redwynes and the mother of Willas, Garlan, Margaery, and Loras being a Hightower.
But this alliance didn't seem enough for them. Olenna was too ambitious to keep power only in her realm; she wanted more and even to take the power of the throne... Jon wouldn't doubt if she wanted to be like the Baratheons themselves, even changing the stag symbol in Red Keep to keep the flower symbol, and Olenna would certainly do everything in her power for that.
Speaking of the Baratheons, Jon didn't have a bad experience with Renly. The man was often a bit stupid and annoying, always smiling, but he still treated Jon with respect. Even when talking nonsense, Jon still maintained patience and tolerated his exaggerations.
Loras, who was his guard all the time, kept a certain distance from Jon. Despite hearing that he had once been an avid fan of the song and ballad, little Jon, he seemed reserved and even disliked Jon's presence, almost as if he were jealous. Not that Jon could do anything about it, so he just ignored him the whole time.
And the last man who stood out this week was Boros again. The idiot hadn't learned from his last mistake and tried to provoke them again. Jon lost his patience when he heard him call Seryna a wild prostitute. He returned to the maester shortly after, seemingly showing that when Tormund beat him, it was just a slap on the face compared to what Jon did to him.
Since Jon attacked him without anyone being able to stop him afterward, he broke the man's jaw, fractured the bones on the right side of his face, and knocked out half of his teeth. His nose, already broken by Tormund, worsened even more, and he was in critical condition, in a coma with the risk of permanently losing vision in one eye.
Of course, this shocked everyone. Jon had only used his fists to destroy the man in less than a minute, unleashing his true superhuman strength after years of taking his potions. He didn't even let the royal guards act and did it on his own, giving the only order that prevented anyone from approaching.
This was not taken lightly, and before anyone could protest, Jon challenged anyone to contest his aggression. No one said anything after Renly had seen everything and sided with Jon. After all, he had asked Boros not to approach them anymore, and the man, being a royal guard or not, acted against his orders.
In the end, Jon was seen as someone defending his wife's honor, and this matter ended up being favorable for Jon in the last few days. Some nobles even cheered for him in the end, and many ladies seemed to want Jon to ask for their favor in the joust, but that was out of negotiation.
Returning to the present, Jon and his group were surprisingly applauded by other nobles as they entered the arena and headed to the place reserved for him. Besides the horses he wanted to buy, he negotiated his products through the Tyrells and ended up meeting many people. After all, they were a good way to gain information about the kingdom and Westeros, as Jon discovered the Tyrells' alliances and ambitions through these nobles, connecting all the dots.
With his sister and wife sitting in the main seats with him on the covered podium, he greeted the other podiums and sat, waiting for the most anticipated tournament of all.
The nobles tried to flaunt their wealth as much as they could to assert their status, and the ladies wore the best dresses and adorned themselves for an internal competition among the women. Even Arya seemed to compete in this while she spent more time fixing her hair than usual and wore her best dress.
Unlike the archery contest where even commoners could enter by paying a fee, the joust was more elitist. Only knights could compete, with the vast majority being sons of nobles. There were exceptions, such as bastards and even commoners who managed to become squires of some lesser knight by some luck, but it was quite rare.
Of course, Jon was not a knight, but even so, he would participate in the tournament as one of the most important candidates. After all, he wagered his Valyrian steel sword with Prince Renly, who wagered lands in the Stormlands.
The northern men settled again next to the podium while the giants kept everyone away, with the dwarfs making loud noises and drinking.
Some northern members went to the podium and brought drinks and food for Jon and his most important members. Of course, he didn't drink, so he waited for the tournament to start, which didn't take long. It was early in the morning, and it would be a tournament that would last two days, with Jon participating only when called. His clothes and horses were already waiting for him in the place where the knights and their squires took care of the preparations.
With that, the herald emerged in the middle of the field, the same one who narrated the archery competition, and presented himself to the audience, filling the place with his voice while everything fell silent to hear the man.
"Ladies and gentlemen, nobles and commoners, welcome to the grand jousting tournament in honor of my lord, Mace Tyrell's birthday!" the herald's voice echoed through the arena, capturing everyone's attention. "And with that, we will have the honor of witnessing the bravery and skill of the most fearless knights of Westeros!" he exclaimed, glorifying the competition.
The crowd applauded enthusiastically in the next moment, the commoners being the most excited about it, and the herald continued: "We have a total of one hundred and twenty-eight knights competing in this tournament. They have been divided into pairs, and each pair will compete in a series of elimination jousts with judges marking points to decide the winner when neither falls. The more shields destroyed, the more points will be counted." He began announcing the rules.
The herald paused to let the spectators absorb the information. "The rules are simple: each joust consists of three rounds today, where the knights will try to knock their opponent off their horse with their lances. Whoever knocks their opponent down will win and advance to the next round immediately. Those who do not knock their opponents to the ground will be judged by the points I mentioned earlier." He said.
"Jon, don't trust these judges... win all before the last round." Arya immediately requested, not trusting the southerners, and Jon smiled at her.
"I feel offended by this, Arya. Do you believe I will need judges?" Jon said, opening a smile.
The herald looked around, ensuring everyone was paying attention. "The knights who win their battles will advance to the next rounds in this style. Out of the 128 knights, 64 will participate in the second round, and the winners will be placed in the last round of the day, with 32 champions!" He said and continued.
"After the last round ends, only 16 knights, champions, will be acclaimed tonight when the banquet is held for the nobility. As soon as the day starts tomorrow, which will be the second day when we will decide our true champion, they will compete among themselves. Out of the 16, only 8 will remain. From 8, 4 will go to the semifinals, and after they compete, we will have only 2 knights vying for the title of champion!"
As he finished explaining how the competition would proceed, the crowd was ecstatic, murmuring and commenting excitedly about the first battles and who would be the true winner of this tournament. "Besides the honor and glory, we have an exciting contest between two people in this place. One of them is our glorious prince and the king's brother, Prince Renly Baratheon! On the other side, we have our special guest, King of a kingdom to the north of Westeros, King Jon Artica!" He exclaimed, not letting the crowd of commoners clap yet, not knowing what the competition was about or even reminding the nobles who had heard about it over a week ago.
"In this competition, we have a very valuable bet between the two monarchies. On one side, Prince Renly Baratheon will enter the competition with his champion, Loras Tyrell!" He announced with people clapping immediately, as Loras was the favorite of many. "On the other side, the King of the North himself will fight in person. If he is as skilled in riding as his archer is in shooting, we may see a great competition between the two!" He spoke as more applause arose with excitement, although Jon had fewer people cheering for him compared to Loras.
"Now you must be wondering what is so important about this bet, so let me tell you..." He said in a clearer and more animated tone. "Prince Renly made a bet with the Northern Monarch. If Prince Renly loses to Jon Artica, he will give large amounts of land in the Stormlands for Jon to use as a trading post." He spoke while everyone who didn't know this was immensely shocked, but not as much as what was to come.
"But if Prince Renly's champion, Loras, wins, Renly will gain the legendary Valyrian steel sword, Darksister!" He announced, and everyone exclaimed even more. Westeros treated a Valyrian steel sword with more importance than lands in a kingdom across the continent.
Renly stood up from his seat and waved to the crowd, which responded with enthusiastic applause. Jon did not stand up; he just nodded his head to everyone looking at him and clapping, as the competition had again reached a higher level for those unaware of the bet.
"Let all the knights prepare their lances and mounts! May courage, skill, and honor prevail in this grand jousting tournament!" The herald concluded, leaving the center of the arena as the trumpets sounded again, signaling the start of the competitions.
A group of servants approached the center with a large crate and placed it in the middle of the field. A judge approached the crowd. "Now we will see the sequence of knights that our competitors will face. Please, bring your squires so they can pick their numbers. Bring the name of your knight, and we will get the registration list." He spoke and waited for a group of young men to come forward to see the numbers of their knights.
"Can I get the number for you, my king?" a royal knight asked beside Jon, but Jon shook his head.
"Don't worry too much about it... after all, they have already chosen my number and Loras'..." Jon already knew that they had placed the two names on opposite sides on their own, as they seemed to believe Jon had a good chance of reaching the finals and competing with Loras, which was a surprise to him, but he just smiled.
"What is your number then...?" Arya asked beside him.
"Loras has number 1, and I have... 128." He answered, not caring much, as his confidence in this model was unshakable, especially with that horse.
After a while, everyone had picked a number, and Jon had an opponent among them, who was number 127. But he didn't know who it was yet.
As soon as the crate was removed from the middle of the place and it was clean and empty again, the herald came out once more for everyone. "Now we will begin today's joust. Our first competitor is none other than Prince Renly's champion, Ser Loras Tyrell!!" He exclaimed while the crowd filled with loud applause.
"His opponent is Ser Wuter from the south of the Reach!" He announced, an unknown knight to Jon, while the applause was much weaker than for the first announcement. Loras left the podium and went to prepare the next moment.
"With these two competitors, we officially begin the tournament!!" The herald announced once more as he waited for the first two knights to prepare for the first joust.
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Raccoon Here:
I planned to cover the first day in this chapter, but I didn't realize when I had already surpassed 3k words and didn't want to leave the first day halfway. So forgive me if I'm dragging things out here.
There will be two more chapters of this, and Jon is leaving the Reach. There will be no more negotiations in any other kingdom, so chaos will begin in Westeros.
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🦝 Raccoon here: 🦝
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