The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Marin Trant nimbly dodged, clang, his longsword drawn.

Clang clang clang!

Dozens of guards drew their swords simultaneously!

In the harbor's light, longswords gleamed with cold light.

Polliver's personal guards numbered only twenty riders, half the number of Marin's men.

But they used lances.

Black lances, twice the length of longswords.

The captain gave a soft shout, and the lances, pointing towards the sky, suddenly leveled, the tips aimed at the swordsmen, forming a spread-out fan.

One side had more men, the other had longer weapons, and they occupied favorable terrain, and everyone was on horseback.

Polliver's army was a true lancer cavalry, different from Chiswyck's infantry guards. Mounted combat, the lancer cavalry was specially trained, whether individually or as a team, they were well-trained.

Sword against lance, on foot against on horseback, all were disadvantages.

The standoff between the fan-like twenty lances and the fifty-odd longswords was evenly matched. To determine the winner, they could only fight it out with blood.

Moreover, both sides were red cloaks! The warriors all came from the same place—the West!

Marin Trant said in a deep voice: "General, I am carrying out important official duties on the orders of the Queen Mother, put away your sword, lest blades have no mercy."

With the identity of the Iron Guard, and with Marin Trant's title and official authority, saying such words was already a concession.

If it weren't for the Mountain behind these people, Marin Trant would have already swung his sword to kill.

Although his swordsmanship was not super top-notch, it was also very good. Coupled with the official authority and privileges of the Iron Guard, his courage was strong, further enhancing his sword momentum!

Polliver was on horseback, Marin Trant and his party were all on the ground, they had horses, but did not ride, leading them, now the brothers had thrown away the reins. Warhorses were specially trained, and would not run wild just because the ropes were released.

For a wharf piled with debris, the advantage of mounted combat might be offset or even bring negative effects in actual combat.

In fact, Polliver's hands were really itching!

He had no intention of killing Marin Trant, he mainly wanted to try the swordsmanship of the arrogant Iron Guard.

These guys wear white robes every day, flaunting their power, said to be the top knights among knights, with noble status, high-spirited, wherever they go, other generals salute them, and they still ignore them, aloof, these things in Polliver's eyes, are really a bit—fuck them!

Polliver was a person who would not play by the rules, the atmosphere of confrontation was tense, a slight movement could cause a bloody battle between the two sides, but in fact the Mountain's original intention was not willing to have a bloody battle within his own ranks before a major battle with the enemy.

Polliver smiled and said: "Ser, I now want to challenge you personally with the honor of a knight, it has nothing to do with other brothers. If you win me, I will help you intercept the big ship." His sword pointed to the Summer Dream, which was accelerating away.

"General, I accept your challenge, but not now, tomorrow, Red Fort training ground, ten o'clock in the morning, I will be there on time!" Marin Trant said coldly.

A public duel, killing this guy, the Mountain would have nothing to say.

Knight duels, the king cannot forcibly interfere.

"It's now!" Polliver smiled, suddenly shouted, galloping his horse, and slashing fiercely with his sword.

With a clang, Marin Trant had no way to avoid it, behind him were horses, behind the horses were objects, and behind that, was the river.

Marin held the sword with both hands, desperately blocking. An irresistible force came from the sword, Polliver took advantage of the advantage on horseback, twisting his body to borrow strength, his strength was powerful, Marin Trant was caught off guard, and failed to exert all his strength, the longsword almost came out of his hand.

A cold light flashed, and the second strike came again, still a simple and direct overhead chop!

Flipping his wrist, the longsword drew an arc, from bottom to top, from top to pressure, the arm drove the body weight, carrying the inertia of the downward chop, this time the force was even more fierce.

The simple downward chop, losing the complicated skills of swordsmanship, pushed the speed and strength to the extreme.

Clang!

Another loud noise, sparks flying.

Marin Trant staggered, his back hit a pile of wooden boxes, the wooden boxes fell with a crash. Marin took the opportunity to stabilize his body, holding the longsword across his chest, guarding against accidents.

A cold light flashed, and the third downward chop came again, taking advantage of the momentum of the first and second strikes, the strength was more rounded and the speed was faster!

Clang!

Amidst the flying sparks, Marin Trant knocked over the wooden boxes behind him, fell backward, crackling, crushing a wooden box, the longsword came out of his hand, his tiger's mouth was numb.

The guards were shocked, and quickly rushed up, protecting the knight, preventing Polliver from taking the opportunity to kill.

Polliver laughed loudly, reined in his horse and stopped, and said with a smile: "Ser, I fucking won! The Iron Guard is nothing more than this!"

Marin Trant was so angry that he choked!

The other party suddenly attacked, relying on the horse's momentum, condescendingly, chopping in a series, pressing down Marin Trant's strength in the first chop, making Marin Trant exert only seven points of strength out of ten, followed by two consecutive chops, the strength was stronger and the speed was faster, freely waving, making the passively defending Marin Trant's strength only weaker each time, and there was no sufficient time to adjust his posture in order to exert force to resist.

The other party was taking advantage of the tricky battle, not a real contest!

He should know very well that this was not because Marin Trant was inferior to him.

However, Polliver shamelessly announced the victory of the duel, and in the loud laughter, his guards shouted in unison: He! He! He!

Marin Trant was half dead with anger, his hands and feet were weak, and his chest was aching faintly! He stood up with the support of the guards, and a guard picked up the longsword for him.

Polliver was on horseback, seeing Blackwater Bay, the Summer Dream was far away, leaving only a vague shadow in the night!

The Iron Guard's troublesome big ship left.

Polliver smiled and reined his horse around, "Brothers, let's go!"

Swish!

The twenty lancers put away their leveled lances, the lances stood upright, the tips pointing towards the sky.

The sound of hooves clattered, Polliver and his party left triumphantly.

"Sir, what should we do next?" the centurion of the hundred-man team asked.

Marin Trant turned to look at Blackwater River, in the bay, the Summer Dream was no longer visible.

Swish!

A cold light flashed, Marin Trant's longsword slashed at the small official who led them to find the ship. Amidst the screams, the small official fell down, Marin again with a sword, cut off the boy's throat.

*

Cersei looked at Marin Trant's dirty robe and Manden Moore's bruised face, she smiled slightly, and gently took a small sip of wine.

Lady Tanda stood beside the queen, her face uncertain.

The Iron Guard's successive defeats surprised her.

First, the Hound went to the Prime Minister's Tower, the Prime Minister was not invited, but 'not in the tower'; then Marin Trant and Manden Moore returned even more embarrassed.

Marin Trant's white robe did not know where it was stained with something, large patches of black dirt. And the always silent Ser Manden Moore, this time was beaten with a bruised face, and there was blood on his beard.

"What's going on?" Queen Mother Cersei said softly, smiling, with a teasing look.

"Queen Mother, we arrived at the Iron Gate and learned that Jacelyn Bywater had gone to the pier, so we rushed to the pier, we just found out that Jacelyn Bywater took Yarrael Dym and others on the 'Summer Dream' from Pentos, we went to investigate the Summer Dream, and then we encountered the Mountain's patrol troops, one of them named Polliver interfered, wanting to duel with me, taking advantage of my unpreparedness, he ambushed me on horseback, I was knocked down by him, and dirtied my white robe. The Summer Dream merchant ship took the opportunity to escape, it was a large sailboat with rowers."

"Oh, taking advantage of your unpreparedness? Why were you unprepared? They are the Mountain's people, all hooligans and bandits, never lacking in treachery and cunning, viciousness and cruelty, don't you understand this?" Cersei asked softly.

Marin Trant immediately knelt down on one knee, lowered his head: "Your subject is not doing his job well, please punish me, Queen Mother!"

Cersei snorted softly, shaking the wine glass in her hand, the red wine in the glass gently rotated, forming a vortex: "Ser Manden Moore, who beat you up like this?"

Manden Moore said lightly, as if he had not been beaten: "Returning to the Queen Mother, I rushed to the Royal Fleet, wanting to transfer a warship to pursue; Summer Dream', I also encountered the Mountain's patrol team, words did not agree, so we fought."

"Who beat you? And how many of them did you knock down?"

Manden Moore did not answer, and closed his mouth tightly.

"Okay, I see, you go down."

"As you command, Queen Mother!"

*

"Queen Mother, the Mountain is interfering, we need to win over the Mountain," Lady Tanda said. Her 'we' naturally tied herself and Queen Mother Cersei together, becoming a united front alliance.

"How to win him over?"

"Send someone to invite him, talk first, see the Mountain's reaction. What the Mountain wants, we see if we can give it."

Cersei did not answer, and paced in the room.

The Summer Dream has left the port, where will the Imp take Yarrael Dym and others? But no matter where they are taken, or thrown into the sea, it can be determined that the Imp did not want to force Yarrael to accuse Cersei of ordering indiscriminate killing of innocent people, then the trial before the court, there is no need to worry about it.

However, the Imp is showing his knife like this, then we have to eliminate him.

Win over the Mountain?

Indeed, whether publicly or privately, winning over the Mountain is always the most beneficial to oneself.

Cersei stopped and said to Lady Tanda: "Madam is right, we need to immediately find the Mountain to talk."

"Queen Mother is wise!" Lady Tanda quickly complimented.

"Hound!" Cersei shouted.

The Hound pushed the door open and came in, wearing a white robe, he looked more burly and imposing, and the person was much more pleasing to the eye, that is, there were many scratches on the armor inside the white robe, old, the hilt of the longsword was also damaged, and the paint on the scabbard was peeling off, there was really no noble temperament of the Iron Guard.

"Go and find the Mountain to see me, no matter where he is, no matter how late, tell him, I am waiting for him in Maegor's Holdfast."

"As you command, Queen Mother."

*

Half an hour later, the door of the Queen Mother's bedroom was pushed open, and the Hound and the Mountain walked in. After the Hound reported back to the Queen Mother, he withdrew and continued to stand at the door to fulfill his duty. As for the conspiracy and dealings inside the door, it was not what he cared about.

"Mountain, if I want to buy you off, let you stand on my side to deal with everyone who threatens me, what do I need to pay?" Cersei went straight to the point, with absolutely no concealment.

*

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