The Mountain of Ice and Fire

The Mountain's eyes widened, his intimidating presence chilling to the bone. He spoke in a low voice, barely containing his rage, "Your Grace, Lord Hand, esteemed councilors, knights, I, the Mountain, have been in Harroway's Town since yesterday, not having left for even a moment. Ser Edmure Tully's accusations are pure slander! If he were to obstruct me on my way home, my greatsword would not recognize him as Ser Edmure Tully."

The Mountain made sure to mention the Hand of the King—even though Eddard Stark had not yet been formally invested. However, everyone knew that he was the Hand whom the King had specifically sought out from thousands of miles away; the investiture was simply a formality to be performed within the Red Keep of King's Landing.

The Mountain knew Eddard to be an upright man, and the weakness of such men was their very integrity. He mentioned the Hand of the King deliberately.

Lord Eddard would uphold justice impartially, speaking what he believed to be the truth. Besides, yesterday, the Mountain had saved Mycah's life and helped Arya uphold the honor of House Stark. The Mountain had no doubt that Eddard would learn the truth, and he also knew that the 'wild child' Arya would tell Eddard the truth; of that, there was no question!

Sure enough, Lord Eddard spoke first: "Ser Gregor, there must be some misunderstanding. I will send a raven to Lord Hoster to clarify the matter for you."

"Thank you, Lord Hand!" the Mountain said, laced with resentment, to show the frustration he felt at being wrongly accused.

King Robert also reassured the Mountain: "Mountain, we all know that the arson has nothing to do with you. There's no need to be angry. Since Lord Eddard is here, he will naturally explain the matter to his father-in-law, Lord Hoster."

The Hound said coldly, "Then who would impersonate the Mountain to commit arson?" He stared fixedly at the Mountain, his tone laced with sarcasm and ill-intentioned insinuation.

The Mountain flew into a rage, striding out of the ranks, bowing slightly to King Robert, and then turning to face the Hound: "Hound, what do you mean by that?"

The Hound said coldly, "What do you think I mean? If it wasn't you who committed the arson, what are you afraid of?"

*Clang!*

The Mountain's greatsword was drawn, his beard and eyebrows bristling with anger. "Hound, draw your sword!"

The Hound remained unmoved, saying calmly, "Mountain, don't be so impatient. Tonight, I will challenge you according to the rules of knighthood. I want a fair duel with you!"

"I'm done waiting, unless you apologize to me immediately!" The Mountain's greatsword pointed at the Hound's face.

"Mountain, don't cause trouble!" King Robert said sternly.

Four Kingsguard immediately placed their hands on their sword hilts, watching the Mountain warily. The King's Justice, Ilyn Payne, also fixed his gaze on the Mountain, radiating intense killing intent.

Lord Eddard said, "Ser Gregor, please sheathe your sword. Ser Edmure Tully is leading his family's soldiers to hunt down the arsonists. Once they are caught, the truth will naturally come to light. There's no need for you to be angry, Ser."

As Eddard spoke, the knights and guards of the North placed their hands on their sword hilts.

The Mountain was not so much afraid of the four Kingsguard; he was more wary of the Northmen. These fellows were all like Lord Eddard: stubborn and inflexible. He didn't want to clash head-on with such 'honest men'!

"Hound, Ruby Ford, a duel tonight! You will pay for your words!" the Mountain roared, his voice like thunder.

"Tonight, the Seven Gods will be on my side!" the Hound said calmly.

Lord Eddard reached out and pushed aside the Mountain's greatsword that was pointing at the Hound. The Mountain seized the opportunity to step down, *clang* his greatsword sheathing as he strode back into the ranks. He was panting with rage, his eyes wide like a bull's, as if he had suffered a great injustice!

The wealthy Lord Tygett Sand of the Westerlands said from the ranks: "The arson in the Riverlands was most likely committed by bandits disguised as Ser Gregor. Everyone knows Ser Gregor's… reputation… They borrowed Ser Gregor's… reputation… to intimidate the people of the Riverlands. It's clearly a carefully planned frame-up."

Lord Sand was the representative of the Westerlands nobles present, so it was only natural that he would support the Mountain from the Westerlands. Although he and the Mountain had a feud over the killing of his son, that was an undercurrent; this was a matter of public appearance.

As they were discussing, footsteps sounded outside, and a maester entered, holding a wax-sealed letter: "Your Grace, a letter from Riverrun!"

Another letter from Riverrun, so fast!

King Robert opened the letter, read it, and handed it to Lord Eddard, his expression relaxing. "Last night's fire burned over a hundred villages in the Riverlands, but there were no casualties." Robert leaned back in his chair, stretching. "The letter says that the bandits woke the villagers from their sleep, then drove them out of the villages, forcing them to set fire to their own villages, rice paddies, and forests, but they didn't harm anyone. They gathered the old men and children together, telling the old men to take good care of the children."

The whole room was silent. Everyone felt that these arsonists were too 'civilized,' and it was precisely this 'civilization' that gave them an unreal, strange feeling! But it was also because of this 'strangeness' that everyone knew that the arsonists had nothing to do with the Mountain. If they were the Mountain's men, they wouldn't have let the old men protect the children; instead, they would have 'protected' the old men and children to coerce others.

The style of the Mountain and his men was always—grab hostages and coerce others; if they didn't comply, cut the hostages in half!

The Hound looked at the Mountain, and the Mountain glared back. If looks could turn into fire, the Hound would have been scorched by the Mountain's anger!

The Mountain roared at the Hound, "What are you looking at? Hound, if it were my men, would I have let them impersonate me? If you want to die, I'll grant your wish, tonight!"

"Good, tonight we'll duel according to the rules of knighthood, to the death!" the Hound said. "I now formally issue a challenge to a duel in front of Your Grace, Lord Hand, the esteemed councilors, knights, and generals. Tonight, at Ruby Ford, I challenge the Mountain to a duel. Mountain, do you dare to fight?!"

"I accept!" the Mountain said fiercely.

When knights have conflicts, a duel is the ultimate way to resolve them, and it is also a legitimate form of challenge. A one-on-one duel, life and death determined by fate. After the duel, neither side may seek revenge in private, and the previous conflicts between the two sides are written off with the end of the duel.

Even His Grace the King can only mediate such duels to the death and cannot order them to be canceled.

Lord Renly, the Master of Laws, laughed: "Since it's a public and fair duel between knights, I'll be the bookmaker. Those who bet on the Mountain to win will get even money; those who bet on the Hound to win will get ten to one!"

The Mountain immediately ordered his squire, Berne: "Berne, gather all our gold coins and give them to Lord Renly. Bet on me to win!"

"Yes, Lord Mountain," Berne said, overjoyed. He had two favorite things: prostitutes and gambling.

The men in the hall, from His Grace the King to the gold-cloaked and red-cloaked guards, all had these two glorious hobbies: prostitutes and gambling.

As soon as His Grace the King heard about gambling, he couldn't resist the urge. He was a gambling expert, and he immediately realized that there was a huge loophole in this betting method, but he certainly wouldn't point it out. He decided to send someone to bet five hundred gold dragons on the Mountain and five hundred gold dragons on the Hound. If the Mountain won, he would break even; but if the Hound won, he could earn a huge sum of four thousand five hundred gold dragons.

Since the Hound was the one who initiated the challenge, His Grace the King believed that the Hound must have secretly studied his tactics, and the Hound had a better chance of winning. His vision was unique and sharp, and he favored the Hound. But what if the Mountain won? So, using this method, he was sure to make a profit without losing.

Lord Renly was still a little too young!

The King put on a stern face and shouted: "Lord Renly, no gambling is allowed. I will not allow either the Mountain or the Hound to die. Hound, quickly cancel the duel!"

The Hound knelt on one knee, his right fist over his heart: "Your Grace, the knight's duel challenge has been issued, and the Mountain has already accepted. It cannot be canceled. Please forgive me, Your Grace!"

"Hmph!" King Robert was furious, stood up, and left. As he walked, he thought to himself: one is the vicious dog of the Westerlands, biting whoever he catches; the other is Queen Cersei's hound, biting whoever Cersei tells him to bite; if the two dogs duel, one of them is bound to die, which is good! It's just that the King Robert didn't have enough of the thousand gold dragon stake in his pocket, and he had to find a few ministers to help him raise it.

As soon as the King left, Lord Renly was immediately surrounded by people, all clamoring, pushing and shoving, vying to place their bets; except for Barristan Selmy and Lord Eddard, who showed bitter smiles, everyone else was beaming with joy, as if it were a holiday.

The private duel between the Mountain and the Hound had turned into a public showdown that even the King and the Hand would come to watch!