The Mountain of Ice and Fire

“Addison, how many gold dragons did Oberyn give you?” Cersei asked.

“Ten gold dragons, Your Grace.” Addison's teeth had been knocked out, and he spoke with a whistling lisp, his voice trembling with extreme fear.

“How did Queen Margaery choose him to be a taster?” Cersei looked at Lord Mace. “All of Margaery’s servants, attendants, tasters, and officials must be executed.”

“…Your Grace… the others are innocent… we can send them back to the Reach…” Ser Loras said.

“Ser Loras, please take those words to Lady Olenna,” Cersei said coldly.

“And His Grace the King,” Grand Maester Qyburn added softly. He stoked the fire at just the right moment.

“Your Grace, give the order, and I will arrest them. There is a traitor in the Reach, and it's hard to guarantee a second won't appear. The safety of the royal family is paramount,” the Mountain said in a deep voice.

“Arrest all the servants, maids, dog handlers, stable boys, cooks, officials, and tasters recommended by Queen Margaery,” the Queen Mother said. “They must pay the price for more than twenty lives.”

“Cersei!” Jaime said, shaking his head slightly. “Don't do this. Just send them all away.”

“Your Grace, the others are innocent,” Kevan Lannister said. “Just send them all away. There have been enough deaths in the Red Keep. In the future, the royal kitchens and all the servants and officials will no longer employ people from the Reach.”

Cersei looked at the Mountain.

The Mountain decided to quit while he was ahead, after all, he and the Tyrell family were secret allies.

“Your Grace, behead the tasters and kitchen officials from the Reach, and beat the rest of the Reach servants and drive them out of King's Landing.”

The Mountain made a concession, and the Tyrell family paid the price.

The tasters and kitchen officials that the Mountain wanted to eliminate were the core intelligence personnel of the Tyrell family, with information coming from Littlefinger and Qyburn. Kill the key people, drive the rest away, and blind the eyes that the Tyrell family had placed throughout the Red Keep.

Within the Red Keep, there were informants of Grand Maester Qyburn, perhaps someone trimming the lawn was one of his people; there were informants of Littlefinger, perhaps a sweeping maid was one of Littlefinger's informants; there were informants of the Mountain himself, an inconspicuous soldier, a honest jailer, perhaps was one of the Mountain's informants; among them there were also informants of Kevan, informants of the Queen Mother, informants of the Imp who paved the way with money… intricate and complex, there was not a single good person. The Mountain took this opportunity to eliminate all the Tyrell family's informants.

The servants, maids, tasters, officials, and patrolling soldiers from the Reach could all be carefully arranged informants of the Tyrell family.

The Red Keep concentrated the most outstanding liars, ambitious individuals, despicable people, traitors, incestuous individuals, schemers, executioners, hypocrites, and power-hungry people.

Good people don't live long here. It has its own set of survival laws and rules of the game, and anyone who doesn't adapt will die a violent death.

Cersei agreed to the Mountain's proposal. She made a concession, killing a batch of people from the Reach and letting go of a batch of people from the Reach, although she really wanted to kill all the people from the Reach. However, the food and living supplies for the people of King's Landing now came from the Tyrell family in the south. The legions fighting in the Riverlands were also mainly composed of soldiers from the Tyrell family.

Cersei suddenly felt a sense of panic: the Tyrell family gave the people of King's Landing food; the Tyrell family gave the royal legions to fight; the Tyrell family arranged many courtiers in the Red Keep; unknowingly, in a short period of time, the power of the Tyrell family had infiltrated the Red Keep, and had become a powerful force that the royal family could not cut off.

As long as the Tyrell family cut off food supplies, the refugees and people of King's Landing would rise up and overturn the Iron Throne. The mob had already rioted once, and that riot killed many people, which Cersei would never forget.

She had to have her own power, new power and allies.

In addition to the Mountain, Cersei needed other power. The Mountain was too strong, and once he turned against her, he would be uncontrollable.

The current Mountain could only be used, never trusted!

*

The next day, the Throne Room.

On the Iron Throne sat the Queen Mother Regent Cersei, with Prince Tommen Baratheon beside her; behind the Iron Throne stood the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, Ilyn Payne, and on the second step in front stood the Queen Mother's Master of Whisperers, Oswell Kettleblack. He was the father of the Kettleblack brothers, secretly serving Littlefinger.

Below the seven steps, stood four white-cloaked knights—Ser Loras Tyrell, Jaime Lannister, Osmund Kettleblack, and Balon Swann.

Four members of the Kingsguard were responsible for protecting the safety of the Queen Mother and the Prince.

On the left-hand side, at the long table for the important ministers of the court, sat the Mountain in the center, with Lord Mace Tyrell and Lord Kevan Lannister on either side.

The three formed a judging panel, headed by the Mountain.

The left and right sides of the hall were crowded with civil and military courtiers, nobles, ladies, and noblewomen from the Seven Kingdoms. Along the walls on both sides of the hall stood full of gold-cloaked soldiers. Commander of the City Watch, Bronn, fully armed, stood first on the right side of the Queen Mother.

Behind the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard was a row of red-cloaked soldiers.

Dornishmen with some status were concentrated on the left side of the hall, headed by Lady Laora Blackmont. She was the only surviving highborn family head among the nine great families of Dorne, and of course, Prince Oberyn Martell. Beside her, Oberyn's lover Ellaria Sand wore a veil, revealing a pair of hostile and indifferent eyes.

If Oberyn was executed, everyone here would be her enemy. She and Oberyn had four daughters, all in Dorne, skilled in martial arts, and were the feared Sand Snakes. The Dornish strongmen were still there, the Dornish army was still there, the bloodlines of the dead family heads were still there, and the vast population of Dorne was still there.

The Dornish were the quietest group of people, but their expressions seemed a little terrible. Dickon Manwoody became the head of House Manwoody of Kingsgrave after his father and brother were killed; Perros Blackmont, when his sister Jonissa swore allegiance to Jeyne Westerling, she stayed in the Westerlands, and Perros became the heir to House Blackmont.

The Dornish people's hearts were filled with anger, and their eyes were filled with hostility.

They were terrifyingly quiet, a group of silent Dornishmen containing great explosive power.

Opposite the Dornishmen were the Mountain's guard and the tribal leaders from the Claw, and their attendants. These people were like the wildlings outside the Wall in legends. Their gazes were unrestrained, they carried a strange smell, their behavior was rude, their eyes were disrespectful, and foul language came out of their mouths at any time.

Around them, knights, noblewomen, and ladies kept their distance.

Nobles did not associate with barbarians, they had their own pride and sense of superiority. The tribal warriors of the Claw also had their own sense of superiority, and their eyes emitted a cat-like green light when they looked at the ladies. Many ladies subconsciously stood behind the knights.

With the clanging of chains, everyone looked towards the entrance of the Iron Throne. Oberyn and Tyrion walked in under the escort of two jailers, two gold cloaks, and two red cloaks. The chains dragged on the ground, making a clanging sound.

Ellaria Sand took a step forward, but was stopped in time by Lady Laora Blackmont. Oberyn Martell also looked for her in the crowd. When their eyes met, Oberyn smiled slightly, his demeanor still elegant, but Ellaria's tears could no longer be held back and burst out.

Oberyn smiled: "Ellaria, don't cry, dry your tears. In this filthy place, Dornishmen don't shed tears."

The Dornish ladies and noblewomen all reached out to cover their faces, and many turned their heads, forcibly suppressing the grief and bitterness in their hearts. Their husbands, sons, and brothers had all died violently, all dying in the battle to pursue the Cleganes, none surviving. Many of the graceful women and beautiful women here had become widows.

Oberyn Martell, the invincible first warrior of Dorne in their hearts, had suddenly become a prisoner, and the infamous King's Wedding poisoning case, the name of the murderer had fallen on Prince Oberyn's head. No one in Dorne believed this, and they all believed that this was the Mountain's persecution.

Of course, their opinion was right!

The Imp saw Bronn, the Knight of the Blackwater, in the crowd, his loyal squire Podrick Payne squeezed out of the crowd and handed him a small wineskin.

“You are still the most considerate, Podrick,” the Imp said. “You can't be my squire now, and I probably won't be able to pay you your last month's salary.”

“And my gold dragons, Imp,” Ser Bronn shouted in the crowd. “But you can go peacefully, I won't argue with you about my pay.”

“Welcome to hell to claim your gold dragons as soon as possible, Bronn,” Tyrion took a big gulp of wine. “Congratulations on getting Lollys Stokeworth pregnant, the Knight of the Blackwater has successors.”

“Can I name the child after you? Half-man!”

“Oh!” the Imp exclaimed exaggeratedly, “Thank you for looking up to the dwarf, Ser Bronn, if it's a girl, don't call her Tyrion, it's too ugly.”

“The girl will be called Jeyne, and the boy will be called Tyrion,” Bronn said.

“Jeyne? Good name, I'm not dead yet, and you've already found a new master? Well, the Mountain is indeed a good master, at least he doesn't need your protection. Haha, so Podrick, what about you? Have you found a new master?”

“…Not yet… My Lord…”

“Find one quickly, whoever it is, it will definitely be more comfortable than following me. I'm sorry, Podrick,” Tyrion said apologetically.

“Enough, Tyrion, did Oberyn instruct you to bribe Queen Margaery's taster, Addison?” the Mountain shouted sternly.

The entire hall seemed to shake.

All the sounds disappeared.

Queen Mother Cersei sat upright on the Iron Throne, staring at the Imp all the time, but unfortunately, her gaze couldn't kill people, otherwise the Imp would have been killed hundreds of times.

“Yes, Mountain!” the Imp raised his head, facing the Mountain proudly.

“Bring Addison Fatch.”

A bloody man, covered in scars, whose facial features could no longer be seen and unable to open his eyes, was dragged in and thrown in front of everyone.

“Addison Fatch, did the Imp give you the gold dragons and strangler poison?”

“Yes!” Addison replied.

His voice didn't tremble, he was covered in scars but didn't scream. It had to be said that Grand Maester Qyburn's treatment level possessed magical power.

“He's lying!” Ellaria shouted, “This is a conspiracy, Prince Oberyn is innocent.”

“Lady Ellaria Sand,” the Mountain said coldly, “If you dare say another word, I will cut off your tongue.”

Sand?!

Dornish bastards are called Sand!

The Mountain deliberately named Ellaria's identity, emphasizing the tone of Sand. As expected, many noblewomen, ladies, knights, and knights all looked at Ellaria, and contempt and disdain were like the silent waves of the sea.

Ellaria's face was full of grief and anger, she opened her mouth, but made no sound. Oberyn shook his head slightly at her, making a silent mouth shape to go back to Dorne quickly.

“Prince Oberyn, in the name of the Seven Gods, in the glory of House Martell, did you persuade the Imp to come forward to bribe Queen Margaery's taster?”

“Yes, Mountain!” Oberyn replied, with a teasing smile on his face.

Boom!

Many righteous knights, knights, noblewomen, ladies, generals, and soldiers clamored to swallow Oberyn alive, cut him into pieces, steam, fry, roast, strangle, behead…

This was a ridiculous performance to show loyalty. All nobles have this kind of performance. Of course, there were also real victims among them. Queen Margaery did not come to the scene, she was accompanying her grandmother Lady Olenna.

The louder and more agitated the performance, the more likely it was to attract the attention of Her Grace the Queen Mother and Lord Mountain. In the Throne Room, it was obvious that these two were the real powerful figures.

On the judge's seat, the Mountain was in the center, and Lord Mace Tyrell, the Minister of Justice, sat next to him. Lord Kevan was the Minister of Intelligence, and was also the Mountain's assistant.

This influence was subtle, imperceptibly changing everyone's re-examination and positioning of the Mountain.

Oberyn was indifferent to the overwhelming crusade, scolding, and vicious curses. He believed that the poison was administered by the Mountain, because the Mountain appeared too timely, and the two who wanted to put people to death were the two who had planned to destroy the Mountain: him and the Imp.

Otherwise, it was impossible to explain why the Mountain would appear so quickly and be reused by Queen Mother Cersei. Only a precise plan in advance could achieve this.

He was very happy that the Mountain would go on a killing spree in the future and massacre the people in this hall. Since the Mountain dared to kill Joffrey, defeat Tywin, and was ambitious, what else would he not dare to do?

It was ridiculous that these people were kept in the dark, and even the wise Imp had become a little fool.

The Mountain got up and faced the Iron Throne: “Your Grace, Oberyn has confessed, the Imp has also confessed, and Addison Fatch has also identified him, and the poisoning case has been investigated clearly.”

Jaime Lannister couldn't believe it, just a few words, and the poisoning case was over? A question and an answer, just like a pre-arranged dialogue script.

Was this a child performing a farce?

The Mountain asked Oberyn a question, and the trial of the case was over.

Cersei, however, felt nothing about this hasty decision: “Ser Gregor, please pronounce their death sentences.”

“As you command, Your Grace.”

"Wait a moment!" Oberyn laughed. He scanned all the nobles, generals, and warriors in the hall, his gaze slowly sweeping across their faces. "In the name of the Seven Gods and the laws of the realm, we will not plead guilty unless someone defeats me in trial by combat. Yes, we administered the poison, but we are not guilty, for those we poisoned were truly guilty. The Mountain, I challenge you to trial by combat. If you are afraid, you can find another champion. Ha, ha, ha!"

Oberyn's laughter echoed through the throne room.

The Mountain looked at Cersei, who nodded slightly.

The Mountain said calmly, "Prince Oberyn, I am pleased to have the opportunity to personally cut off your head." He looked at the Dornishmen. "Esteemed guests of Dorne, this will be a trial by combat, a fair duel. We leave the victory or defeat to the Seven Gods. If Prince Oberyn is truly innocent, the Seven will favor him and allow him to defeat me."

"Come on, Mountain. Let's start now!" Oberyn rattled his chains loudly.

"Prince Oberyn, you need to regain your strength, have a good meal, take a hot bath, and say a proper farewell to Ellaria. Three days from now, in the plaza of the Great Sept of Baelor, we will duel, and leave everything to the judgment of the Seven!"