The Prince's Tourney IV

Watching my uncle ride off, I couldn't help but acknowledge his martial prowess. The agility, balance, strength, and battle intellect he showed in his match-up proved or at least, brought some credibility to my Mother's words.

It seemed he wasn't my father's glorified bodyguard for nothing...

"So about the gold drag——"

"Keep your gold, I don't need them." My father turned to her and tried to say but she cut him off and said in a whisper, her voice and face devoid of any visible emotion.

.

"...I was about to say, it would be delivered on the morrow but if you insist..." My father frowned and shrugged, taking a green grape from the golden tray filled with an assortment of fruits on the table near his armrest.

He threw it into his mouth as my mother started feeling my head gently. The Farman siblings seated at the side were wise to ignore the minor disturbance, behaving as if they heard nothing as the next contestants came into the field.

Throughout the preparation for the tourney, a couple of weeks ago, the number of times my father and my mother met in one room privately could be counted on one hand.

But during those times, I could see the cracks in their marriage, like a frozen lake that could instantly break with just one step.

My mother was cold, distant, and downright appalled by my father while my father was nonchalant and didn't care about her or her thoughts. The only consolation was that neither hated the other, they just didn't care because they had other things to worry about.

My father supposedly had his prostitutes or what they called whores and my mother, well, my mother had her beloved brother to keep her company...

My new family was much more interesting and for better lack of words, fucked up than my previous one.

At least, so far as I was a member of this family, boredom would never come my way...

"On my left, we have Ser Lothar Frey of the Twins and on my right, we have Ser Gregor Clegane of the Westerlands..."

Ser Lothar Frey was seated on a brown horse, wearing dull silver armor and a helmet. He was holding a shield that bore the image of a grey fortress in the shape of an M.

Sitting on his energetic horse he didn't look the least bit dangerous, in fact, from what I could tell he looked nervous...almost frightened.

And he had the right to be because of his opponent. Ser Gregor Clegane was a large man with arms, legs, chest, neck, and everything thicker than my own father.

Seated on his black armored stallion, with his back straight, he looked like a humanoid mountain. He was by far the tallest person I'd seen so far in my new life. He was almost seven feet tall.

He was donned in dull grey armor with a helmet on his head that had only one slit to peer through and in his other hand was a humongous shield that bore a three-headed hound on a green field. On his helmet was a giant fisting pointing upwards.

I wasn't even near him but I could feel the air of danger and blood around him, an aura I was overly familiar with. And this told me that he was probably the most dangerous person in the event.

I thought I wouldn't be surprised by anything in this new world but Ser Gregor changed my mind. There was clearly a lot I had to discover and it made me excited...

"Is that the mountain? By the Seven, he's more scarier than what I've heard in the stories." Elyse blurted out, her eyes wide open in shock.

"Indeed, it is him. I've heard he has cut a man clean in half before with one swing of his sword. Let's pray that Lord Frey's son wouldn't suffer a similar fate." Esle added, her small eyes looking at Ser Lothar Frey with pity.

I raised my head to look at my mother and seeing her stoic expression, I turned to look at my father who had a strange look on his face.

It was as if he harbored some distaste for the man but it was mixed with a considerable amount of respect.

Interestingly, Esle said he had cut a man in half with one swing of his sword, and seeing the lack of disagreement with her words, it seemed there was some truth in it.

But was it possible? Even Wolfgang, in his Magnificent Steiner persona, could never do such a thing and he was a product of human experimentation. No human on Earth could do or even attempt to do such a thing, it was just humanly impossible.

But if there was even an iota of truth in her words, then it meant that I shouldn't be labeling this world as simply a parallel to Earth.

There was so much more to this place...

"Lord Tywin's mad dog huh? Well, this should be interesting. I almost pity the boy." My father clicked his teeth and commented dryly, relaxing in his seat. His fist serving as a pillar for his chin.

"Riders ready your lances...charge!"

The horses kicked forwards at incredible speeds, their hoofbeats drowning the entire place as with their lances straightened horizontally, the riders came closer and closer to each other.

The next moment, Ser Gregor Clegane casually thrusted his lance forwards and hit Ser Lothar Frey straight in the chest.

His body flew like a kite and hit the ground hard with a loud thud and this time, I clearly heard the sound of something breaking.

"Ahhh!" He shouted in pain like a woman in travail, one of his legs twisted to the side.

I could see someone shouting at him from the stands, a young man wearing a dull cap probably in his thirties.

No one cheered as the helpers ran to the downed Knights aid while Ser Gregor turned his horse back, his posture and figure as calm as a leaf.

My mother sighed and shook her head while, like frightened cats, the Farman ladies covered their mouths with their dainty hands, their eyes wide open in shock.

My father just hurramped and took hold of his chalice, downing it the next second with practiced ease.

"...Victory goes to Ser Gregor Clegane!"

The announcer bellowed and as if a switch had been turned on, the audience started clapping robotically.

He ignored the applause and everything else and just like that he rode away calmly, not even turning his head to look at the man he just injured.

...My tourney was getting more and more exciting and I couldn't wait to see more...