-Chapter 71-
-Tywin Lannister POV-
I nodded towards the king and then turned back to the archery contest with a slight smile playing on my lips. Providing our support now was a demonstration aimed at thwarting the Dornish schemes and soothing House Lannister regarding its future status at court.
'He has finally decided to completely abandon Tyrion and rely on my judgment. Who knows, maybe Cersei's plan could work, although I doubt I'll still be alive to see it.'
Quickly, the contest was won by the Dornian, who outclassed the others and then pocketed the very generous sum of 10,000 gold dragons. Although it was a great advantage for me, I did not like to see so many gold dragons wasted.
'Especially to end up in the hands of those filthy Dornians.'
"And now, here is the moment you have all been waiting for... the grand melee..."
The herald shouted a long list of names among which the most recognizable were my attack dog Gerold Dayne, Balon Swann, Loras Tyrell, Thoros of Myr, and many others who wouldn't want to miss the chance to win the immense reward of one hundred thousand gold dragons and a place in the order of the Kingsguard.
-MC POV-
"Who do you see coming out as the winner of this melee?" I asked Viserys.
"I don't know, many of them are second sons of second sons, unknown, but if I had to choose one, I think I would bet on the man with the flaming sword," he said, seeing Thoros bravely charge into the melee with a flaming sword in hand.
"Yes, I thought about him, but I don't know if it's a good idea."
"Why?"
"You know what happened to Stannis."
He nodded, so I said, "I don't want that to happen to me too."
"I understand, but we are not as weak as that dog; we are dragons, and nothing can stop us."
He looked at his dragon flying in the air and said with an arrogant smile full of anticipation:
"Once they are grown, we will be living gods to all these insignificant beings."
I rolled my eyes, and Bronn intervened just in time, saying, "Unless you die poisoned before."
His remark instantly burst Viserys's imaginary bubble, who looked at him with a bit of resentment but did not deny Bronn's words. He even glanced at the Dornian side and said:
"We must be careful of these snakes; who knows when they will try to poison us."
"Don't worry about them, for now, all we have to do is maintain balance within the Kingdom, and time will naturally take care of the rest," I said without any concern about the continuation of my reign.
He smiled, somewhat relieved, and then we continued to watch the fights speed up as most combatants struggled with endurance, having difficulty lasting while wearing their armors.
I watched the fights, expecting Thoros to win, but when a mysterious knight finally overthrew him, my waning interest in this tournament, which I found too long, was revived. The knight then targeted one of the last 8 participants.
And to my astonishment, when he chose to fight Gerold Dayne, known as Darkstar, I smiled, seeing the fight take a turn completely to his advantage, and I said to Viserys, "It seems I was wrong, and it will be a lady who wins this tournament."
"A Lady?!" said Viserys, perplexed.
"Yes..."
Just as I was about to speak, the mysterious knight placed a sword under Gerold Dayne's chin, who surrendered despite a tight fight.
She then sought her next opponent in Loras Tyrell, the Knight of Flowers. I smiled, witnessing a fight I had already seen in my previous life, and just like the original, she defeated Loras in fewer than 20 exchanges, propelling her to the final against Balon Swann.
The fight, though close, was won by Balon Swann in fewer than 10 blows, and he then found himself acclaimed by the crowd as he was now the fourth member of the Kingsguard.
I applauded everyone's performance, then stood up and shouted so most could hear: "PEOPLE OF KING'S LANDING, I AM PROUD TO ANNOUNCE TODAY THAT BALON SWANN WILL HAVE THE HONOR OF WEARING THE WHITE CLOAK. CHEER FOR THE CHAMPION OF THE REALM."
The crowd cheered wildly, and I raised my hands after a few moments to continue:
"TO PROTECT THE CROWN, I CALL THOROS OF MYR TO SERVE HIS KING."
"I am here, my Azor Ahai," said the priest, kneeling in the arena.
"DO YOU ACCEPT BEFORE YOUR KING AND THE PEOPLE TO DIE FOR ME AND MY OFFSPRING?"
"Of course, Azor Ahai," he said, looking at me as if I were Jesus.
'Well, in his mind, I was Azor Ahai, which could be considered the Red Priests' Jesus,' I thought.
Finally, I turned my gaze to the second candidate: "TO PROTECT THE CROWN, I CALL LORAS TYRELL TO SERVE HIS KING."
He followed the example by kneeling in the arena but didn't say anything too ostentatious.
"DO YOU ACCEPT BEFORE YOUR KING AND THE PEOPLE TO DIE FOR ME AND MY OFFSPRING?"
"Yes, my King," he said in a sober tone.
I nodded and then said, "Rise as a sworn brother of the Kingsguard."
"I ALSO WANT TO ANNOUNCE RIGHT NOW THE LADY WHO WILL HAVE THE GREAT HONOR OF BECOMING YOUR QUEEN AND THE MOTHER OF MY HEIRS."
To everyone's surprise, I turned towards Arianne and raised my hand towards her, who stood up abruptly with a big smile and joined me: "I WILL MARRY PRINCESS ARIANNE MARTELL OF DORNE, HEIRESS TO SUNSPEAR AND THE PRINCIER DOMAIN OF DORNE."
I observed my half-brother turn pale as a ghost and saw Oberyn gripping his lover's hand and his stone armrest so hard his knuckles whitened.
With a slight mocking smile, I turned to my fiancée, to whom I offered a hand kiss while saying: "AND FINALLY, TO PROTECT THE CROWN AND ALL OUR FUTURE CHILDREN, I CALL GEROLD DAYNE TO SERVE HIS KING."
"I am here, my king," he said, kneeling in the arena.
"DO YOU ACCEPT BEFORE YOUR KING AND THE PEOPLE TO DIE FOR ME AND MY OFFSPRING?"
"Yes, my King."