The Mountain of Ice and Fire

The Kingsguard, they shall never marry, never hold lands, never amass wealth, and never have any entanglements with their families' interests. Their sole choice is to serve the royal family.

As a member of the Kingsguard, Ser Garlan Tyrell, after receiving the most honorable knightly title, would no longer participate in any actions outside of the royal family.

According to his oath, his person and soul already belonged to the imperial family.

Even with his father, Mace, captured and his sister, Margaery, under surveillance, Garlan Tyrell remained a white-cloaked Kingsguard. Unless he committed a crime, only the King had the authority to strip him of his Kingsguard powers.

Like the Night's Watch, a Kingsguard, by law, had severed all ties with family, friends, and loved ones. The rise and fall of his family and the life and death of his relatives were no longer his concern. His sword and his person belonged solely to the King and royal family members to whom he swore allegiance.

However, it was somewhat farcical, because this time, none of the royal family members were present.

All members of the Kingsguard had received news of the upheaval in the Red Keep—Queen Cersei had been taken into custody, King Tommen I had fled to Braavos, Princess Myrcella and Kingsguard Captain Jaime had absconded to escape punishment, along with the Hand of the King, Ilyn Payne, and a serving girl, Connee. Queen Margaery had become a false queen, and to temporarily suppress the news, Margaery was under surveillance, her queenly status no longer an honor, but a disgrace.

No one knew what the valiant Garlan Tyrell thought in the face of such upheaval. He and his Kingsguard brothers, clad in white cloaks, stood in a row, continuing to uphold the authority of the Iron Throne.

Many kings had come and gone from the Iron Throne. False kings departed, and new kings would ascend. The Kingsguard would swear allegiance to the next king.

Apart from the Kingsguard and related key officials, the courtiers and military officers were still unaware of the upheaval that had occurred within the royal family. They had simply received orders to attend an emergency meeting in the throne room.

*

Inside the throne room, packed with courtiers and military officers, nobles, knights, ladies, and maids gradually began to sense an unusual atmosphere in the throne room today. Namely, they had not seen the Queen Mother or Lord Mace, the Hand of the King.

When the King was absent, the Hand of the King should take his place on the Iron Throne; however, because the King was still young, Queen Cersei had acted as regent, handling state affairs on behalf of the King. Therefore, it was common for King Tommen to be absent from the throne room. But when Queen Cersei was also absent, the Hand of the King should ascend the Iron Throne to exercise power on behalf of the King and Queen Mother.

Normally, either the Queen Mother or the Hand of the King would attend meetings. For slightly more important conferences, Queen Cersei and Hand Mace would always appear together. Yet today—the King, Queen Mother, and Hand were all absent together. This scene had never occurred before.

An emergency meeting, yet the three most powerful people were absent!

This made the atmosphere in the throne room unusual.

When the King, Queen Mother (Regent), and Hand were all absent, according to the law, a council composed of key officials of the royal court would exercise power on behalf of the King, managing military and political affairs, and handling major and minor events within the kingdom.

The vast throne room was packed with people; the high Iron Throne was empty.

At the position of honor to the right of the seven steps of the Iron Throne, a long table and several chairs were placed. Key officials of the royal court sat in the chairs with grim expressions. Among them, the Master of War, the Mountain, was tall and muscular, like a beast draped in human skin.

Some of the more perceptive courtiers and military officers in the throne room felt uneasy. Ladies and maids whispered quietly.

Outside the Red Keep, in the sky, the Sheepstealer and Viserys circled and flew, occasionally emitting soft cries.

The Mountain stood up, and the murmuring throughout the hall immediately ceased.

Generals from the Reach, the Stormlands, the Crownlands, the Westerlands, Crackclaw Point, the Riverlands, the Vale, the Iron Islands, and the former Golden Company were all gathered, all staring at the Mountain.

Among these people were the Mountain's scribe, Jon Connington, and Daario Naharis, the general from Daenerys, who stood behind the Mountain and Jeyne Poole, along with the generals guarding Jeyne.

Besides Brienne of Tarth, Ser Glendon Flowers, and other generals, the Clegane forces also included Ser Gendry Clegane, a blacksmith knight, wearing a longsword, chainmail, and horned helmet, with a warhammer on his back; Weapons Master Tobho Mott was also fully armed, with a longsword and short knife hanging from his sword belt.

In addition, a large group of Crackclaw Point generals stood behind another group of people. They were all naval generals, captains of various warships. Jeyne's uncle, General Rolph Spicer, who had taken the initiative to fight independently in naval battles, also squeezed into another group of people with several knights from House Westerling…

The Mountain spoke, his voice like a deep rumble in thick clouds: "My lords, sirs, knights, ladies, and maids, I have very important matters to announce, matters that concern the future of our kingdom."

The Mountain's gaze swept across the hall, his fierce aura overflowing: "The first major matter is that Lord Mace Tyrell, the Hand of the King, colluded with the Imp before the war, surrendering to Daenerys and betraying the country. He prepared to act as an inside agent when the enemy forces attacked."

Boom!

The hall erupted! Nobles, ladies, and maids all changed color. Soon, curses rang out loudly.

The Reach's generals exchanged glances, their faces filled with fear.

Lord Redwyne, the naval commander of the Reach, suddenly discovered that his captains were surrounded by captains from Crackclaw Point, the Royal Navy, and the Iron Islands. He turned his head, and Rolph Spicer was standing behind him at some unknown time.

Lord Redwyne had trade cooperation with the Mountain. The Mountain had long ago reached an exclusive sales agreement for Arbor Gold wine, and of course, he had also received great benefits: a share of the Mountain's salt trade and a partnership to establish a Clegane Bank branch. In addition, there was the Mountain's protection of his maritime trade—ensuring that the Ironborn would no longer hijack, attack, or harass ships flying the Arbor banner.

Lord Redwyne's aunt was Mace Tyrell's mother—the Queen of Thorns, Olenna Redwyne.

Clearly, the Mountain had taken special care of Lord Redwyne. Among the Reach's vassals, Lord Redwyne's wealth and legions were the most powerful. His twin sons had long held positions in the royal palace.

Mace had two remarkable families and vassals under his command. The first was the famous general Randyll Tarly, who had already been destroyed by the Mountain, along with Randyll's heir, Dickon Tarly. The second person was Lord Redwyne of the Arbor.

Redwyne signaled, telling his generals and knights not to move rashly. Mace Tyrell's betrayal had been discussed with Lord Redwyne, and a few of the major noble generals knew about their lord's plan to surrender!

Mace Tyrell wanted to open the gates to surrender, and he needed to communicate with several of the most important vassals in advance to gain their support.

Now that Lord Mace Tyrell's affair had been exposed, the nobles of the Reach were immediately uneasy, fearing that the Mountain would kill them all.

Ser Garlan Tyrell of the Kingsguard was expressionless, but his eyes had already flickered. When he stared at the Mountain, who was three steps away from him, Garlan noticed that his fellow brother, Little Mountain Osmund, had placed his hand on the hilt of his sword. He feigned nonchalance and turned his head back, and as expected, he saw the brothers Gralen and Gormond on the other side staring at him intently… These two brothers were from the Iron Islands, the two sons of Lord Goodbrother, who had been recommended by the Mountain to enter the royal palace and don the white cloak.

In fact, since the meeting of the key officials of the royal court, Garlan had been intentionally or unintentionally watched by his fellow brothers. It was not until he learned of his father and sister's misfortune that Garlan realized there were always gold-cloaked soldiers and white-cloaked brothers around him.

*

The Mountain raised his hand, and the noisy throne room returned to silence once again.

The Mountain raising his hand was an order, and no one dared to disobey.

In the silence of the hall, Jeyne Poole's voice rang out: "My lords, generals, sirs, knights, ladies, and maids, let us invite Grand Maester Qyburn to read the letter of treason that Lord Hand wrote to Daenerys."

Garlan Tyrell's face turned pale!

Lord Redwyne and the Reach's generals were sweating and felt like they were sitting on pins and needles.

Grand Maester Qyburn stood up, unfolded the letter. The secret letter was not long, and he quickly finished reading it and showed it to the courtiers and generals present, allowing people to see Mace's signature and the Tyrell family's wax seal on the secret letter.

Jeyne Poole said: "This is physical evidence. Now, please have Captain Iorek, the dungeon jailer, bring in the witness."

Outside the throne room, the sound of iron chains clattered. Varys, the former spymaster of the kingdom, was brought into the throne room by four black-clad jailers with swords. Once, every corner of this throne room had Varys's footprints. Varys had worked here for over twenty years, serving three kings: Aerys Targaryen, Robert Baratheon, and Joffrey Baratheon.

Varys's arrival caused another uproar among the people!

Many nobles and generals couldn't help but change their expressions—before the naval battle, they had secretly contacted Varys and reached an agreement on the details of surrender. However, when the Mountain Dragon appeared, they also promptly and proactively found Spymaster Bronn Clegane and betrayed Varys, who had come to King's Landing to persuade them to surrender. This directly led to the capture of Varys and Daario.

If Varys were to identify them here, with the Mountain's brutality and ruthlessness, they would have no way to defend themselves, and there would only be one glorious path—to be strangled to death by the Mountain!

Varys was brought to the front of the long table of key officials of the royal court—once, there was a prominent position for him behind this long table.

Jeyne Poole said indifferently: "Lord Varys, please point out to me, among the courtiers and military officers here, who are the traitors who accepted your defection?"

As soon as these words came out, many nobles almost fled, but they all held back. The Cleganes were everywhere in the crowd. Several courtiers were trembling and their hands were covered in cold sweat.

Varys's bald head was bright. Before he came here to testify, the jailer had shaved his scalp. Varys knew all the courtiers in this hall, many of whom were old friends of more than ten years. Those old friends were all targets of his defection.

"Lady Jeyne, I do not see any lord who reached a surrender agreement with me."

"Not in the hall?"

"Yes, Lady Jeyne."

"Not even one?"

"Yes, madam, not one. That great man is not here."

The many courtiers and generals who had secretly found Bronn Clegane and betrayed Varys breathed a sigh of relief in their hearts. They had confessed to Bronn Clegane that they had been seduced by Varys. They made amends for their mistakes, telling Bronn about the arrival of Varys and Daario. Jeyne Poole and the Mountain could not have been unaware that they were the targets of Varys's defection. They themselves had already confessed and admitted their guilt to Lord Bronn in advance.

Jeyne asked, Varys answered, and among so many courtiers, there was not a single traitor, which made these courtiers and military officers understand one fact: the Mountain and Jeyne Poole were well aware of the stupid things they had done, but the Mountain and Jeyne had let them go: they would not pursue the matter!

The feeling of escaping death suddenly descended, which was truly wonderful!

At the same time, these lucky courtiers and military officers were grateful to the Mountain and Jeyne. They knew who they should rely on in the future, and there was no doubt about it.

Jeyne Poole said: "Varys, since you say that person is not here, then please tell us that person's name."

"Lord Mace Tyrell."

This sentence was not loud, but it spread throughout the hall.

Garlan Tyrell's face turned green!

Redwyne and the Reach's generals all looked miserable.

"Bring Lord Mace Tyrell," the Mountain roared.

Soon, a group of gold cloaks brought Mace Tyrell, who was tightly bound, out of the side door of the throne room. His face was ashen, his expression haggard, as if he had just died and only had one last breath left.

"Varys, is he the traitor you contacted and defected in King's Landing?"

"Yes, madam, it is him, Mace Tyrell, Duke of the Reach, Hand of the Seven Kingdoms."

Jeyne Poole looked at Mace Tyrell: "Lord Mace, this is Lord Varys, who came to King's Landing specifically to see you. You have been seduced by him and personally promised to open the city gates to welcome Daenerys's army into the city. Do you deny it?"

"…No, I do not deny it, madam…" Mace Tyrell said hoarsely.

Mace Tyrell admitted to the crime of treason without a word of defense!

Beforehand, the Mountain had told him that as long as he publicly admitted to the crime of treason, he would be spared death. If he denied it, he and Margaery Tyrell would be strangled to death.

Slap!

Someone in the crowd threw a shoe, hitting Mace's head squarely.

A gold dragon also flew out from the crowd and hit Mace's face. Mace's skin broke and bled.

Curses also exploded, one after another.

The crowd was surging, and it seemed that many people wanted to rush forward and strangle Mace Tyrell.

Of course, those who showed excitement and 'used their hands and mouths' were not necessarily more noble than Lord Mace.

The Mountain shouted: "Stop."

The courtiers, military officers, ladies, and maids then restrained themselves, stopping and shutting their mouths.

The Mountain spoke slowly, "Lord Mace Tyrell was turned by Varys and the Imp, but he also performed great service. During the coalition's decisive battle against the White Walkers at Winterfell, had Lord Mace not selflessly transported food and military supplies to support the North, our coalition would not have been able to defeat the White Walkers, and I would not have been able to kill the Night King. If Winterfell had fallen, we would all have faced the danger of extinction. Lord Mace committed great crimes, but he also made great contributions. He is still a Duke, and I cannot tolerate you resorting to vigilante justice to humiliate him. His merits and demerits require the Minister of Justice to appoint a Grand Inquisitor to conduct a fair and open trial."

Lord Redwyne of the Arbor and the Riverlands generals present immediately felt relieved. The Mountain still remembered Lord Mace's contributions, so their lives as vassals under Lord Mace...