The Emancipation of Rhaegar

Chapter 14

Fourteen

The knight wore his breastplate so loose it rattled loudly, forcing some faint-hearted women to cover their ears in disapproval. He pushed a protesting Lord Frey from his dark brown horse. Walder Frey, a man far too old to even be at the Tourney, let out a yell; his scowls towards his son loud enough for many from other stands to hear. "You weak boy! And you expect me to hand over the Twins to you? Get off the pit fool!"

Lord Frey's horse, however, was rejecting its new master, flinging his head from side to side as the Knight tried futilely to tame him. His armour had a fresh coat of paint, Rhaegar could have sworn the smiling face of the tree and it's leaves were painted on with wine. Atop his horse, he announced his competitors; Handson, Bronn, and Gerald.

Squires. Rhaegar thought, frowning to himself. Why squires?

It happened in mere moments, one second an amateur knight was on his horse charging at the three squires, and the next his horse and been brought down, along with the three squires, who cowered at his feet.

"Mercy ser, mercy," one of them begged, hands clasped in front of his face.

"It's a joust, not a fucking battle. On your feet you pussy," the black haired squire sneered, lifting the weaker squire from his feet from the back of his shirt. "What do you want for ransom? We are only squires, we don't have much to give." He continued, pointing to their tattered swords that lay on the green grass. Lord Whent had chosen the worse place to joust, on the murky grass near the Gods Eye.

The knight shook his head, "I want your masters to teach you honour. That is all I ask. That shall be ransom enough."

Light murmuring overtook the crowd, and the angered masters of the squires scolded them. Jaime Lannister had not seemed to care and brushed the encounter off, ordering his squire back to their tent to ready him for the sword fighting that was to commence soon. Brandon Stark's squire returned back underneath the stands, his master nowhere to be seen. However, the young Walder Whent ordered his squire to hand over his satchel and marched him off then jousting field.

"Poor boy lost his job over some knights honour," Oberyn chuckled to Elia who shook her head at her brother.

"It's not a joke Oberyn. That was someone's livelihood. It's not fair."

"Life's unfair princess," Rhaegar cut in. The mood turning icy, and Rhaegar felt his wife and brother had not wanted him to be apart of the conversation; from their looks only.

Before they could continue their awkward conversation, the King stood from his seat. The pit went silent, expecting their King to congratulate the Knight on his noble gesture. On the contrary, however, Aerys brought up a thin pale finger and bellowed, as much as he could. "Seize him!"

And the commotion began, mummers grew louder as the Kingsguard drew their swords and the nobility attempted to make their way from the stands. The Knight shook his hands below them, urging the Lord's and Lady's to remain seated in his weak voice. Pleading almost as he threw his sword to the ground, his attempts, however, were futile. A lowly girl sent out a small screech from below,

A lowly girl, presumably a handmaiden that had been dragged along to watch the joust, sent out a small screech from below. And had he turned his head around for a moment to see what the handmaiden was causing a fuss about, Rhaegar would not have been able to see the Knight drop his sword and run as fast as he could. Which wasn't very fast. Though it was fast enough to distract onlookers and save himself from the King's wrath.

"Lord Tyrell!" A Kingsguard bellowed, the voice of Ser Barristen. "Where is Mace Tyrell?" He asked once more. The young Lord stood from his seat next to his mother, Barristan signalling him out almost immediately. The poor Lord was dragged from his seat