The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Prince Joffrey and Queen Cersei, surrounded by the Kingsguard Jaime Lannister and red cloaks, arrived at the Ruby Ford.

Joffrey wore a splendid robe that accentuated his fine figure, with jade adorning his golden belt, and a sword with a magnificent scabbard hanging at his waist. The close-fitting clothes outlined the graceful lines of his body.

Renly had not prepared seats for Queen Cersei and Prince Joffrey.

Queen Cersei had strongly opposed the duel and made it clear that she would not come to the Ruby Ford.

But now she was here, with Prince Joffrey, who was unusually handsome with an excited expression and bright eyes.

Renly hurried forward and courteously offered his seat.

Queen Cersei didn't say a word, heading straight for the king's highest seat. Prince Joffrey seemed to have forgotten his unpleasantness with Sansa and Arya. He extended his right hand, wrapped in a white bandage, to greet Sansa, while his left hand rested on the hilt of his sword, looking imposing and handsome, as if he were the protagonist of this duel.

Arya's face was filled with disdain, her scornful eyes sweeping back and forth between Sansa and Joffrey.

Eddard Stark stood up, offering his seat. Queen Cersei gave a soft hum and sat down directly, which severely dampened the king's good mood, as if he had found a fly in a plate of delicious food.

Sansa stood up to pay her respects to Queen Cersei and Prince Joffrey. Cersei gave Sansa a condescending glance; Joffrey returned Sansa's greeting with great enthusiasm and politeness.

The king's table was filled with sweetbreads, pigeon pies, roasted apples with cinnamon, and lemon cakes sprinkled with icing sugar, honey and butter gleaming invitingly. Not far behind the king, the roasting chefs and bakers were busy. Dark beer, ale, cider, and wine were piled high on the king's table. The wine steward, Lancel Lannister, stood by the king's side, ready to pour wine into the king's golden goblet.

Joffrey knew that Sansa loved lemon cakes the most. He very graciously delivered two lemon cakes to Sansa's hands himself and kissed the back of Sansa's hand.

Sansa's heart was filled with sweetness, her face radiant with the glow of love.

Arya couldn't stand it anymore. She got up, left, and went to the seats of the Northern guards. As soon as she arrived, the guards happily made way, welcoming the Second Miss to take a seat. Arya was deeply loved by the guards, servants, craftsmen, and apprentices. As for Sansa, she was too noble, and the guards and servants kept their distance, not daring to joke and play with her.

To Arya's slight regret, Mycah, although present, kept avoiding her, refusing to play with her as he used to. When Prince Joffrey arrived, Mycah was so frightened that he hid directly, afraid of being seen by the prince.

Duke Renly invited Prime Minister Eddard to his table. Servants began to bring freshly made pastries, baked bread, honey-glazed roast chicken, sweet onions drenched in thick gravy, hard cheese, butter-fried rutabaga, fried finger fish, sturgeon, bacon, eggs, all kinds of steaming and fragrant pies, roast meat, and all kinds of beautifully colored fruits that were basically used to decorate the table... in a constant stream.

The entire Ruby Ford had become a grand banquet of delicacies!

It was as if this was not a duel, but a bonfire carnival!

The Hound and the Mountain, along with Maester Lucius, walked into the arena. Knights, generals, and centurions stood up to cheer for the two men.

Then, Maester Lucius publicly inspected both sides' shields, armor, swords, and whether they were carrying other daggers, stilettos, short crossbows, or steel thorns. After the inspection, Lucius announced that there were no errors, and the two knights' weapons and armor complied with the rules of the competition.

Next, Maester Lucius recited the duel oath in the name of the Seven Gods. The Mountain and the Hound knelt on one knee, placed their left fists on their hearts, and swore to conduct a life-and-death duel in a fair, just, and open manner. All grievances between the two would be written off because of this duel. In the future, neither side's family, friends, lords, attendants, or anyone else shall seek revenge on the other party or any of their family members because of the consequences of this duel.

This was the custom of the duel oath. The only difference was that the two sides of this duel were family members themselves.

Fratricide, a heinous crime!

But from the king to the servants, everyone was excited, looking forward to seeing blood splattering, one standing, and the other falling!

Then, Maester Lucius came to the King's table and requested His Majesty to announce the start of the duel.

King Robert held a golden roasted meat leg in his hand and a golden cup in his other hand, and shouted, "In the name of Robert I of the House Baratheon, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm, I hereby formally declare that the knightly duel between the Mountain and the Hound begins!"

Joffrey stood up and shouted, "Hound, kill the Mountain, I bet you'll win!"

Joffrey's abrupt shout silenced the audience. Everyone's eyes swept over to him. The Hound and the Mountain also stared at Prince Joffrey, which made Prince Joffrey shrink back.

Immediately, the Mountain and the Hound slowly retreated, pulled away to the prescribed distance, and prepared for a fighting stance.

The Hound held his sword in both hands and said lightly, "Mountain, you are doomed this time! I am not wearing plate armor, just light leather! My speed and agility are above yours!"

"Tonight I'm wearing a tortoise shell!" The Mountain said.

"Why?"

"Last night I was attacking, mounted combat, needing speed and agility, so I didn't want shields or armor, that was tactics. My tactics were very successful, I won you with just one sword; tonight is foot combat, I only defend, needing heavy protection and a safe barrier, so I brought a shield and put on plate armor, this is also tactics, I will still win you very easily!" The Mountain's tone was relaxed and confident.

Clang!

The Mountain's greatsword tapped lightly on the huge and heavy oak shield, signaling the Hound to attack!

"You are wearing hundreds of pounds of armor, plus a hundred pounds of shields, and dozens of pounds of greatswords, hehe, how long can you last?" The Hound said lightly.

"I'm only defending tonight, if you don't attack, I'll rest!" The Mountain also said lightly. He stuck the shield into the ground, and the shield stood on the ground. The Mountain lowered his body, and the greatsword rested on the shield, revealing the tip of the sword.

A hundred pounds of oak shield, dozens of pounds of greatsword, these are all burdens. Wielding, jumping, dodging, quickly attacking and defending with these things consumes a lot of strength, and the Mountain is also wearing plate armor that is difficult to penetrate.

Plate armor is very thick, is the best defense, but it is also very heavy, over two hundred pounds.

Eddard Stark realized that when he rode out of town last night to see the fire, he encountered the Hound walking back. It turned out that the Hound and the Mountain had just finished their fight at the Ruby Ford.

The two brothers' simple conversation contained too much information. This way, everyone knew that the Hound and the Mountain had already had a duel on the Ruby Ford last night, and the Mountain had won the Hound with just one sword.

This made the king, queen, prince, prime minister, courtiers, knights, generals, centurions, and many guards all terrified!

The Hound's bravery and skill in battle are known throughout the Seven Kingdoms!

But he could not withstand the Mountain's sword!

This conversation also proved that the Mountain was indeed in the town of Harroway last night, and the arson in the Riverlands had nothing to do with him.

King Robert, who bet on the Hound to win, was nervous. He had bet five hundred golden dragons on the Hound winning!

The Hound sneered: "Mountain, tonight is not last night!" He suddenly started, extremely fast, swayed left and right, and arrived in front of the Mountain. The long sword shone with cold light, stabbing straight at the Mountain's face.