The Mountain of Ice and Fire

The Queen Mother's Ballroom in Maegor's Holdfast.

Though called a ballroom, it had long ceased to be a place for dancing, transforming into a private space for the Queen Mother's personal relaxation and meetings.

The southern wall was entirely covered with long, silver mirrors. These mirrors amplified the sense of space, making the Queen Mother's Ballroom appear larger and brighter. To the north, a series of long, narrow glass windows ensured ample natural light.

The entrance was on the east side, with a bar and liquor cabinet to the right. A passageway separated the bar from the singer's performance area. In the center of the hall, a dance floor was designed to accommodate a hundred dancers.

The western side of the hall served as a relaxation area, furnished with exquisite tables and chairs, and a floor covered in animal skin rugs.

Night.

The relaxation area of the Queen Mother's Ballroom welcomed several key members of the small council: Littlefinger, Varys, the Grand Maester, and the Captain of the Kingsguard. Currently, the kingdom lacked a Hand, a Master of Laws, a Master of Ships, leaving three vacancies among the seven positions.

This meeting was convened by Queen Mother Cersei to discuss matters related to the Mountain.

Ever since Eddard Stark's mysterious disappearance from the dungeons, the Mountain had been in a furious rage, acting like a madman. This made the Queen Mother and the royal courtiers very uneasy.

That afternoon, in front of the Queen Mother and the courtiers, the Mountain had beaten a jailer to death, and his officers had arrested Janos Slynt, the commander of the City Watch.

Janos Slynt was one of Queen Cersei's men, and had contributed greatly to the capture of Eddard Stark and the ascension of Joffrey to the throne.

Janos was a meritorious official. However, Cersei watched as the Mountain's men tied up Janos without saying a word in his defense.

The Queen Mother resented Janos's words when he was trying to explain himself to the Mountain: 'Her Grace can vouch for what I say.'

Cersei orchestrated the slaughter of Eddard Stark's guards and the capture of Eddard Stark. The courtiers all knew about the bloody coup in the throne room, but Queen Mother Cersei did not like anyone mentioning it in public.

Cersei tearing up the late King Robert's will, arresting the Hand Eddard, killing the Hand's guards, and the bloody purge of the Hand's Tower—these were all things Cersei did not want anyone to mention; they were her taboos.

When the Mountain arrested Janos, he admitted that he had slit Varly's throat and said that Queen Cersei could vouch for it. These things could only be done, not said, and certainly not proclaimed as honorable deeds. Cersei still wanted at least a semblance of justice and honor.

Now that the political situation was unstable, with Eddard having escaped without a trace and the courtiers feeling anxious, Cersei did not want to come forward to prove how Janos had slaughtered Eddard's guards.

Cersei did not care about Janos's death, but she was very displeased and could not tolerate the fact that the Mountain had arrested Janos and beaten the jailer to death without her approval or prior consultation, like a thorn in her throat.

The Mountain was the Lannister family's mad dog, Tywin Lannister's favorite general, but if a mad dog bit people without listening to its master's commands, then it was not a dog that the master liked.

This was exactly Cersei's mindset now.

If the Mountain would kill and arrest people according to her orders, she would have no objections to his actions.

That evening, more than a thousand grim-faced infantrymen under the Mountain's command had also entered the Red Keep. The Red Keep was the King's palace, and vassals were not allowed to bring troops into the palace without royal orders. Although the Mountain was a vassal of the Lannister family, it was still a taboo.

Queen Mother Cersei and King Joffrey did not speak out about this, and the courtiers dared to be angry but did not dare to speak out.

Cersei said, 'The Mountain was originally a vassal of my Lannister family, and his loyalty is also to the Lannisters. Now is the time when we need people, and we should feel safer and stronger because of the Mountain's arrival, but he killed and arrested people without consulting me. The King in Maegor's Holdfast was also unaware that the Mountain had beaten a jailer to death and arrested Commander Janos.'

Cersei was very annoyed with the Mountain.

Grand Maester Pycelle said, 'Your Grace, what do you intend to do?'

'The Mountain is not a courtier of the Royal Palace, nor is he an officer of the law. He has no right to kill and arrest people directly,' Cersei said. 'You are all important members of the small council. What ideas do you have to make the Mountain understand that he needs to obtain my or Joffrey's consent before killing and arresting people?'

A disobedient dog is not a good dog.

Ser Barristan Selmy said, 'Your Grace, this is easy. I will go see the Mountain and explain to him that from now on, he must obtain the consent of Your Grace and His Majesty before arresting and killing people.'

'What if he refuses to listen?'

'Then he will be dealt with according to the laws of the land,' Barristan Selmy said solemnly.

Littlefinger chuckled, 'Ser Barristan, I am a coward. Anyway, I am afraid when the Mountain glares at me. If he is dealt with according to the law, the Mountain will have to pay for the life of the jailer he beat to death this afternoon! His cavalry and infantry are all fierce, and their numbers are only two hundred less than the City Watch. Who dares to arrest him?'

'I will!'

Littlefinger smiled, 'Ser Barristan, I have never doubted your courage and swordsmanship, but I know that if you enter the Mountain's camp to arrest him, you will definitely not be able to leave his camp.'

Barristan said, 'I am not afraid of death!'

'If you die, the problem of the Mountain not listening to the Queen Mother's orders will still not be solved. The Mountain is the Queen Mother's bannerman, and you are the Queen Mother's Kingsguard. Everyone is working for the Queen Mother. Now is not the time for infighting. The question is how to come up with a clever way to remind the Mountain to listen to the Queen Mother's orders. This matter can definitely not be solved with swords, because no one's sword is longer than the Mountain's, and no one's sword is heavier than the Mountain's.'

Barristan was speechless.

'Then, according to Lord Petyr, what should we do?' Barristan said sullenly.

'Eddard Stark suddenly disappeared mysteriously. The Mountain was ordered to take Eddard Stark to the Westerlands to see Duke Tywin. It is certain that he is anxious and irritable because his mission cannot be completed. This also shows the Mountain's loyalty to the Lannister family. We can only tell him from the perspective of loyalty that, in the Red Keep in King's Landing, obeying the orders of the Queen Mother and His Majesty is the same as obeying the orders of Duke Tywin in the Westerlands, which is the highest loyalty. This may make the Mountain realize something, so he may restrain some of his behavior.'

Varys coughed, 'The Mountain is brave. This time he came to King's Landing to take Eddard to the Westerlands. In order to prevent anyone from robbing Eddard on the way, he brought cavalry and infantry. This was all ordered by Duke Tywin. The Mountain is a rough man. His heart only contains missions. He has followed Duke Tywin for twenty years, and he has long been accustomed to only obeying the orders of Duke Tywin. The Mountain does not care about anyone else.'

Everyone nodded in agreement.

'I have an idea. Grand Maester Pycelle can forge Duke Tywin's handwriting and imitate Duke Tywin's tone to write a letter ordering him to obey the orders of Her Grace and His Majesty in King's Landing, and this matter will be settled.'

Cersei was overjoyed.

Littlefinger and Varys were indeed resourceful and clever. In her opinion, things that were so troublesome that she had no solution were solved by these two guys in a few words. In comparison, Barristan was a complete fool. Grand Maester Pycelle was indeed old.

'Let's do it this way!' Cersei said, a smile rippling in her eyes, and she became relaxed.

Grand Maester Pycelle said tremblingly, 'Your Grace, there is no problem with imitating Duke Tywin's tone and handwriting, but just as Eddard disappeared and the Mountain lost his temper and gave us a deadline of three days to find clues and hand over Eddard Stark to him within a week to take away, Duke Tywin happened to send a letter ordering the Mountain to obey the orders of Her Grace and His Majesty in King's Landing. Wouldn't this make the Mountain suspicious? The timing is too coincidental.'

'The Mountain is a rough man,' Varys said. 'He won't notice this.'

Littlefinger smiled and said, 'Grand Maester, even if the Mountain has doubts, he will only know the truth when he returns to the Westerlands. Right now, the most important thing for us is to solve the case and capture Eddard Stark, and to stabilize the Mountain so that he doesn't act rashly is our top priority.'

Grand Maester Pycelle said, 'Okay, since Your Grace also agrees, I will handle this matter. At the morning court tomorrow, I will present the letter written by Duke Tywin to the Mountain to Your Grace to read.'

*

The next morning court.

Because of the major event of Eddard Stark's sudden disappearance from the black cells beneath the Red Keep, everyone had their own thoughts, so they all came to court early, and no one dared to be tardy or negligent.

Joffrey I, Queen Mother Cersei, Royal Executioner Ilyn Payne, Sandor Clegane the Hound, twenty Red Priests from the Westerlands, thirty members of the City Watch, members of the small council, Kingsguard, royal courtiers, noblewomen, and ladies were all gathered together.

The corridors of the throne room were lined with citizens who had come to petition.

Joffrey sat high on the Iron Throne, looking out from the door of the throne room, seeing the corridors filled with those trembling commoners who had come to petition. He felt both excited and confused. He was excited because he could show off his intelligence and deal with the kingdom's affairs cleanly and neatly; he was confused because there were so many people coming to petition every day. These troublemakers did not work hard and thought about coming to petition and frame others every day, which was really hateful.

Queen Mother Cersei sat upright on a chair covered with a red carpet today, which made Joffrey a little unhappy. His Iron Throne was full of cold and hard iron, which was very uncomfortable to sit on. He had asked the servants to put a blanket on it, but was unanimously opposed by his mother and the important officials, so he had to give up in disappointment. He was uncomfortable sitting, and when he saw his mother sitting comfortably, he felt awkward.

Last night, he had originally prepared to talk to his mother about who was the King, but who knew what kind of small meeting his mother and his important officials were going to have. He waited and waited, but in the end, his mother did not come before he fell asleep.

This made Joffrey splash milk on the face of a maid when he was eating breakfast this morning. When his mother heard the maid's screams and came over to ask, Joffrey said that he was the King, and this maid was negligent and arrogant. He could not bear it, and decided to teach this maid a lesson, so he splashed it whenever he wanted to.

His mother asked people to help this maid leave and arranged for a maester to treat the maid's burns. Joffrey hoped that his mother could understand his intentions from this matter: he was the King.

The maid who was scalded by the hot milk was Cersei's former maid. After Joffrey ascended the throne, Cersei arranged for her favorite maid to be by Joffrey's side to take care of him, which made Joffrey feel that his mother was deliberately monitoring him.

Joffrey's gaze returned from the corridor outside, searching for Sansa among the courtiers. He saw Sansa talking to a noble lady next to her, with a sweet smile on her face. The anger in Joffrey's heart suddenly burned uncontrollably.

This rebellious girl's father had escaped from the dungeon yesterday, and today she dared to be so happy in front of him. This was humiliating the dignity and self-esteem of the King.

'Sansa!' Joffrey suddenly shouted.

In the throne room, people were still greeting each other in soft voices, nodding to each other. Before the Master of Ceremonies announced the official start of the meeting, the nobles would have a very brief period of free, low-voiced greetings and exchanges. King Joffrey's shout interrupted this 'harmonious' atmosphere.

Sansa Stark was startled.

Queen Mother Cersei next to the King was also startled, and the entire hall immediately fell silent. No one dared to speak again, and everyone was stunned.

'Come out!' Joffrey's lips curled up, his face full of contempt.

Sansa walked out of the ranks tremblingly. She had dressed carefully today, wearing the velvet gown and white mink cape that Joffrey had given her, looking dignified, beautiful, and elegant.

Joffrey saw the panic in Sansa's eyes, which made him feel happy.

'Your father, Eddard Stark, is a great traitor to the kingdom. I originally intended to deal with him leniently and spare his life, but he dared to order the remaining rebels to rescue him from the dungeon. You are his daughter, and his rebellious blood flows in your body. In order to maintain the dignity of the royal family and the honor of the King, who will take action to teach this traitor's daughter a lesson for me?'

'I am willing!' Ser Meryn Trant of the Kingsguard stepped forward.

'Slap her for me.'

'Yes, Your Majesty!'

Meryn Trant strode towards Sansa, and Sansa trembled. Then, there was a loud bang, and Meryn Trant's giant palm, wearing an iron gauntlet, struck Sansa's right face, a cruel sound of flesh. Sansa was knocked to the ground by this slap, and the right half of her body was numb. Millions of buzzing insects were buzzing in her right ear.

The noblewomen and ladies in the hall screamed in fright.

Thoros of Myr and Lord Beric Dondarrion of Blackhaven were dumbfounded and could not believe it. Ser Barristan was stunned, and then his heart filled with anger. He turned his head to look at the King, who was elated, squirming on the Iron Throne, his handsome face full of joy and triumphant glory.

'Ser Meryn, Sansa is still my betrothed, don't ruin her face. I want her face to be beautiful.'

'Yes, Your Majesty.'

Meryn Trant pulled Sansa up, but Sansa could no longer stand steady, half of her body numb, her head buzzing. Her right face was already bleeding, and millions of buzzing insects were buzzing madly in her ears. Her beautiful eyes were wide open, and everything in front of her was shaking, twisting, stretching, overlapping, and deforming.

Shadows were heavy, as if demons were haunting; King Joffrey's laughter was very shrill and terrifying, like coming from hell.

'Eddard Stark, you really run fast. Then thank Sansa for taking the blame for you. Ser Meryn, I want the wolf girl to beg me for mercy.'

'Yes, Your Majesty.'

Ser Meryn held Sansa with one hand to prevent her from falling, and clenched the other hand into a fist, delivering a heavy uppercut to Sansa's lower abdomen.

Bang!

Sansa was bent into a shrimp by the blow. Even though Ser Meryn grabbed her shoulder tightly, she could not stand. Ser Meryn let go, and Sansa slid to the ground like soft mud.

That punch made Sansa's internal organs twist in pain, making her feel like she would die with the next heartbeat.

“Oh!” Some noble ladies cried out, reaching up to cover their faces.

Joffrey clapped his hands and cheered: “Ser Meryn, ask her if she is willing to beg for mercy. As long as she begs for mercy and identifies Eddard Stark as a great traitor, and admits that she herself is a little traitor, I will spare her.”

Queen Cersei woke up from her shock and said in a low and urgent voice: “Joffrey, stop it!”

“Shut up!” Joffrey looked at his mother provocatively, with a slight smile on his lips. “Mother, I am the king. You've been interfering a bit too much lately.”

Cersei choked!

Joffrey's face bloomed with a spring-like smile. He was so powerful that his mother was speechless with just one sentence.

“Ser Meryn, ask Sansa if she is willing to beg for mercy?”

Meryn lifted Sansa from the ground. The panic and fear in Sansa's eyes disappeared. Blood flowed from the corner of her mouth. She looked at Meryn Trant with calm eyes and said softly: “You are not worthy to be a knight.”

Meryn Trant was furious. He raised his palm high, wanting to leave a bloody mark on the other side of Sansa's face, but he remembered that the king had said not to hit her face, that the king wanted his betrothed's face to be beautiful. So he slowly lowered his palm, clenched it into a fist, and the calm look in Sansa's eyes finally turned to fear again. Her body began to tremble, and her eyes were full of despair…

Meryn Trant's face began to twist, his fist clenched, raised high, and shook slightly, about to strike Sansa's stomach…

“Stop!” A tall figure appeared at the gate of the Iron Throne. These two words were like thunder, full of majesty and irresistible force.

The Mountain had arrived, his right hand still clutching a bloody and unrecognizable person, as if he were carrying a small toy.

Meryn Trant sneered: “The Mountain, this is the throne room. I am a Kingsguard, carrying out the king's orders.”

“Stop, or I’ll kill you!” The Mountain said coldly. “If you don’t believe me, then try it.”

Meryn Trant's raised fist froze in the air. His face became very ugly. He turned his head and looked at King Joffrey on the Iron Throne, hoping that the king could speak for him.

However, Ser Meryn saw the fear in the king's eyes.

As soon as the Mountain arrived and spoke, the king was afraid.

His Majesty the King is still a child!

Meryn Trant released Sansa, lowered his fist, retreated, and his face was ashen.

Sansa slumped to the ground again.

The Mountain strode over and extended his hand to Sansa: “My lady, are you alright?”

Sansa wanted to cry, her whole body felt like it was falling apart. But she was a Stark, and she couldn't cry. The Mountain was not a good person either, and Sansa did not put her hand in the Mountain's hand. She rested on the ground for a while and slowly stood up on her own. The right side of her face had begun to swell, she wiped the bright red blood from the corner of her mouth, her eyes were dull, and she silently walked into the ranks of the courtiers, stood still, although her hands and feet were still shaking.

The Mountain threw the bloody person in his hand on the ground and said: “Meryn Trant, do you think you are a more honorable knight than me?” He came to Meryn Trant and stared down at him.

Meryn Trant saw the Mountain's giant hand open and slowly rise. The Mountain's hand, like his, was also wearing an iron gauntlet.

*

Ps: Although I'm a one-chapter beast, one chapter is basically the amount of two chapters.

Thank you: [Jin Xiaoyanei, Nanfeng Beima, Wu Longxin, White Lion, Passerby] for your support, thank you, handshake.