Chapter 11: The Tourney of Highgarden

At first, Arthur was not exactly thrilled to be a squire for Rhaegar Targaryen. One look at the Prince, he could feel the older boy was trouble. His initial assessment was validated when the incident with the injured man near Blueburn happened. But his father heeded none of his concerns.

Oh, how he prayed to the Father above to make the King reject his father's request but no such luck. The King summoned the Prince and for a moment he hoped against hope the Prince would deny the request. He had nothing against the prince. The older boy was likeable and never looked down on him for his lack of martial inclination. But still, he had no intention of wasting away his precious time squiring for the Prince.

He had seen what the squires are supposed to do and he felt no calling to become the errand boy of the Prince no matter how nice the older boy is. Contrary to his hopes, the Prince accepted him as a square and his father was over the moon with pride. While his father celebrated Arthur's new position he only felt dread. Only two other people shared his dread and that was his mother and his cousin Jaena.

His mother rightly worried for him. She knew he hated swinging swords with a passion. Jaena on the other hand was sad to see her chief storyteller go away. His cousin was just six namesdays old and the apple of his uncle's eye and his father's as well to some extent. Arthur considered her as his own sibling and treated her as such. It was painful for him to say his goodbyes to Jaena who gave him a tearful goodbye.

He didn't know how long he will have to serve as a squire. He gathered he could return home once he gained Knighthood. But that was the crux of the problem. He hated swordplay with a passion. It is not that he was lazy, he just disliked swords. He felt nothing but contempt for swords and he could never hold it properly for some reason.

Arthur's father had thought him a coward and had taken him on a hunt to 'bloody' him. His father had assumed that he was afraid to kill but he killed a stag on that hunt to prove him wrong with a bow. He held no aversion to killing, only an aversion to swords. Now, he got locked in a position where he had to achieve Knighthood to return home.

It was not bad, all things considered. While he found Prince Rhaegar to be too cheery and an all-around troublemaker, the prince was also well-read and not a fool as he feared. He had thought the Prince to be a glory seeker. Well, it was a sound observation based on rumours he heard from the capital. The Prince's latest stunt with some bandits near Tumbleton also didn't help.

'Who goes on a hunt for bandits at such a young age especially one of royal blood?' he thought with a sniff.

Anyhow, Arthur was now the squire of Prince Rhaegar whether he liked it or not. The journey from Longtable was filled with incident after incident. In one village, the Prince held a horse race with some knights that attracted many eyes. From the camp rumours, the King supposedly lost a thousand gold dragons betting on Ser Baelium who lost the race to Ser Addison of Kingsguard.

Then there was the eventful hunt of Cyder Hall where the Prince and Lord Gregory Fossoway made it a challenge to hunt for a wild boar. Prince Rhaegar lost and the Prince agreed to sing for House Fossoway that night at dinner. It was an eventful night where the Prince charmed Lord Gregor's twin daughters with his songs. He even saw the eldest Barbrey swoon while the youngest Florence looked like she was in a dreamland. The Fossoway sisters competed with each other to dance with the Prince the whole night.

There were fewer noteworthy incidents along their journey afterwards. As Arthur was required to stay close to the Prince he was privy to the survey the King was conducting. The Prince would travel with the royal surveyors and oversee their work. In these travels, the Prince would engage in conversations with the Smallfolk or the landed knights that ruled the lands.

Near the Lake of Sorrows a bit west of Cyder Hall, the Prince met a goat herder who had his goats stolen. The Prince decided it was his duty to help the man and had a whole bunch of knights track down the thief. It took them a whole week and a half to find the thief and the goats.

Pleased by the outcome the goat herder offered a goat to the Prince. Prince Rhaegar paid the man in gold and cooked the goat himself before serving it to the knights that aided in this endeavour. Arthur would have taken the Prince less serious if it wasn't for the event that happened afterwards.

A village near the Lake of Sorrows suffered a bandit attack and the Prince rode out in strength from the Royal camp. The Lake of Sorrows takes its name from the death of a Gardner Prince who lost his life to Dornish raiders near the lake. The lake has been one of the prime spots for Dornish raiding parties that manage to slip past the Marcher lords for a long time. This time it was no different. When the Prince caught up with the bandits they turned out to be a Dornish raiding party.

Arthur had never felt such rage when he took stock of the raiders' camp. The Dornishmen had taken many women, girls and boys from the Reach to satisfy their deviant urges. Many were cruelly maimed and tortured by the wicked Dornishmen when they found the camp.

The Prince was utmost wroth with the raiders and it was there Arthur saw another face of the Silver Prince. The Prince had the dominant arms of the Dornishmen cut off and then took the thumb from the other. Those who confessed and boasted of raping among the captured raiders were gelded. Then the Prince sent out riders to Horn Hill asking for the Tarlys to escort the raiders back to their cursed deserts. It was at that moment Arthur knew that the Prince was indeed a dragon despite his playful nature. He had seen the benevolence of Prince of Rhaegar but the rage of the Dragonknight was indeed terrifying to witness.

It was as if the Prince held two personalities clashing within him. The next day, the Prince was back to his cheerful self acting as if nothing had happened. It was unsettling to his mind that the Prince could remain so aloof with what transpired that day. It took him a few days to build up the courage to question the Prince on the matter. The answer he received was highly confusing and at the same time made some sense.

'There is a lot of evil in this world. Some would say evil is warring with good. Unfortunately, this is the greatest lie those in power have made the weak believe. The truth, however, is different. The war has always been between greater evil and lesser evil. When you accept that, in your heart, you will find the courage to do what is right and not easy.'

Arthur had mulled over those words again and again in his mind. Many a night passed with his mind mulling over the core meaning behind the Prince's words. Even now, he found no clear answer. At first, he thought those words wrong as there was obviously the factor of love the Prince had neglected. Then Arthur remembered the Dornishmen fiercely loved their homeland. They fiercely loved each other as they refused to betray one another. So, even love could be corrupted and stand on the side of evil.

That led him to think of pure love and corrupted love. Love born out of compassion ought to be the pure one. Arthur was planning to mention this to the Prince and renew their conversation but his duties as a squire held him back. Besides, the Prince has been busy once they reached Highgarden.

The Tyrells were intent on pleasing the King and the Prince with lavish feasts and gifts. Arthur had never dined with this much food on the table. Despite being a Reachman, his lord father has always been cautious in his spending. The feast put forth by the Tyrells were fit for a Royal feast. There were crabs burned in fiery eastern spices, silvers of swan poached in a sauce of saffron and peaches, honeyed chicken that tasted so delicious that Arthur could drown himself and he would die a happy man. To top it all this fine spread was accompanied by Arbour Gold to wash it all down.

It was indeed the best feast he attended in his whole life. He took note that the King was enjoying the splendour that he was being showered with. While the King was being wooed by the Tyrells the Prince remained conservative in his diet.

The Prince rarely took part in extravagant dining or wining for that matter. He would have assumed being a Royal Prince, even if second born, the Prince would have enjoyed feasts. The Prince certainly was interested in many aesthetic contours of life like singing and dancing. Mayhaps, he judged wrong. Day by day Prince Rhaegar was proving to be an arduous character to understand.

"You are thinking too hard." said Ser Baelium who sat opposite to him.

"What?" Arthur blinked back startled by the intrusion.

"You think too hard. I know that look as it is often seen only on the Prince but I see this is a contagious fever."

"I wasn't." he insisted.

"Really… Perchance I may have misread your squinty eyes and scrunched up eyebrows as a pondering face."

"You are annoying." he huffed before he drained another cup of Arbor Gold.

"I try to be. You should drink less."

"Why?"

"You have a big day come tomorrow."

Arthur frowned in confusion…

"You do know that there is a tourney to honour the King?" asked Ser Baelium as a matter of fact.

"Of course."

"The Prince is participating in the tourney. You know what this means, right?"

"Ahh…" Arthur now understood and he slapped his forehead for thinking he was bereft of any responsibility.

"That's right! You have to prepare the horse, lances and armour of Prince Rhaegar come tomorrow. Good luck lad." said Ser Baelium with a laugh as the man took a cup full of wine and exaggeratedly bit into the chicken leg.

Most of his fears came true the next morning. He struggled to tame the Prince's horse and get it ready for the tourney. It didn't help he was suffering from a massive headache and the Prince was with his dragon. Many times he thought of calling out to the prince but the dragon's chilling gaze gave him creeps. That giant fire breathing lizard seems to have an uncanny sense in spotting him whenever he meant to call out the prince.

It was the stare of a predator and he didn't fancy being dragon food because he offended the dragon somehow. The Prince's horse was another stubborn animal that just wouldn't make his job easy. For some reason, the Prince's companions all held stubborn will. He would have found it amusing if it wasn't he who was on the receiving end of this stubbornness. Even the name of the horse was weird which he supposed fit for a weird horse.

'Who in their right mind would name their horse Bambi?' he thought incredulously.

By some miracle, he managed to wrestle the harness on Bambi and set the horse up for the tourney. He roped in some help from a few stable boys lording over his position as the Prince's squire. By the grace of the Seven, he managed to prepare the horse and the armour ready for the Prince in time.

For an hour, he ran around fussing over everything. If he displeased the Royal Family it would be an embarrassment to his father. While he disliked being saddled with all the work associated with being a squire he will not bring shame to his house shirking his duty.

Soon, the makeshift stands were being filled with people preparing for the tourney. Arthur spent his time polishing the steel armour, shield, greaves and gauntlets of the Prince.

"Being a squire is boring isn't it?"

Arthur was so startled by the voice the shield he was polishing clattered on the floor.

"Forgive me, my prince. I forgot myself." Arthur bowed in deference.

While the Prince was indeed friendly it'd be remiss of him to not show proper respect to a royal prince.

"Don't be so formal Arthur. Save the formalities when we are in public."

The prince patted his shoulders before helping himself to put on the greaves and gauntlets. Arthur rushed to assist the Prince. The armour was far too heavy and he wondered how the Prince would manage to tilt in the lists with it.

"Have you ever rode in a tourney my Prince?" Arthur asked as he fastened the armour and began to tighten the hooks and belts.

"Twice, and that was in the Squire's tourney back home."

"Did you win?" he asked curiously

"I did but only once."

"Do you think you can win this tourney?"

"Most likely not but that doesn't mean I'll go down that easily."

"I think this folly, my prince. You are just one namesday older than me. You will be riding against men twice your age."

"Struggle breeds greatness. Greater the challenge greater the struggle. Only those who face struggle truly lives. Without struggle life is less colourful and dull." said the Prince as he stood up with steel plated armour and took a few steps. "Do tighten the greaves, Arthur."

He rushed to obey and began setting the greaves on the Prince's legs.

"Who should I look out for in the tilts Arthur?" asked the Prince

"There is Franklyn Hightower. He is an experienced jouster but he is old, too old some would say. But he fell Martyn Rowan in a tourney at Oldtown when King Aegon was crowned."

"Who is Martyn Rowan?"

"A cousin of Lord Richard Rowan. The man is a good knight and a dangerous foe in the tilts, my prince. Between Hightower and Rowan, they have always won tourneys in the Reach. But they are tourney knights and nothing more. Never have I heard of them in battle."

"That makes them all the more dangerous in a tourney." said the Prince with a frown. "Anyone else?"

"There are Boris Bulwer and Jon Bulwer. They are fearsome warriors according to rumours. Other than them, I'd say you will have to look out for Ryan Tarly and Ormund Osgrey."

"I see."

Arthur watched from the knight's tent on one end of the arena as the crier blew a horn to gather the attention of the crowd.

"The Seven made us in their image. The Knights are a reflection of the Warrior. Honourable, chivalrous and strong! The Lord of Highgarden celebrates the visit of King Aegon First of His Name, King of the Andals and the First Men, Protector of the Realm. Now, let the knights greet the King and earn his blessings."

Arthur watched on as the knights took to the field on their horses one by one. Ser Addison Hill and Ser Robin Darklyn stood out among the knights with their white cloaks as the Kingsguard knights. He took note Ser Velaryon didn't take to the field as the Lord Commander stood dutifully beside the King in the pavilion. Ser Boris and Jon Bulwer earned many cheers from the crowd, no doubt because the Bulwers were now tied closely with the Tyrells.

He took note that Franklyn Hightower was present, tall and proud as he remembered. There were a few more Hightowers but none that he could recognize. Ryan Tarly was also there with the Tarly sigil painted on his breastplate.

The crier once again blew the horn to settle the crowd.

"The people of Highgarden are blessed for we host the King of the Seven Kingdoms. But that is not the sole reason. We also will host the first tourney of Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, the first ordained knight of House Targaryen. Though the Prince is young he is the blood of the Dragon, the youngest knight in this tourney. So, please welcome the Dragonknight!"

It was the cue for the Prince to take the field. The prince trotted forward on his white horse with his silver armour gleaming under sunlight. The Prince raised his fist high in the air to the roar of approval emanating from the crowd.

The crier continued to introduce other famous knights like Franklyn Hightower and even some knights from Crownlands and Westerlands have arrived for the tourney. After a round of introductions were completed the knights prepared for the first match.

To the crowd's delight, the first match was between Ser Robin Darklyn of the Kingsguard and Jon Bulwer. The first tilt saw both knights break their lances but not a smudge of weakness from either. This was the first time he was seeing a Kingsguard knight in a tourney and he was sure this was the same for most people here.

"Who do you think will win?" asked the Prince startling Arthur.

Arthur had barely noticed that the Prince had returned to his side in the excitement.

"I don't know my prince. I have never seen Ser Darklyn ride in tourneys." he answered honestly.

The two knights continued to break lances one after another. They ran seven tilts and the crowd was anxious to see a winner in the exciting contest between these two knights. On the eighth tilt, Ser Darklyn managed to smash his lance straight under the armpit of Ser Jon, unhorsing one of the best among the Bulwer knights. The crowd jumped to their feet in applause and the Kingsguard knight bowed to the King before taking his leave waving to the crowd.

The next match proved to be another attraction to the crowd as it was between Ser Addison Hill of the Kingsguard and Boris Bulwer. The match at first looked like it was going to be a long match like the last but Ser Addison unhorsed Ser Boris on the fourth tilt by breaking his lance on the Bulwer knight's chest. Arthur felt Ser Addison is the best among the Kingsguard knights. Though a bastard, the knight certainly knew his courtesies and was more skilled in arms than his Kingsguard brothers.

The next match announced by the crier unnerved him as it was between Ser Hightower and the Prince. He looked disturbingly at the Prince but he found the Prince to just shrug and smile. Arthur immediately took up the lance and handed it over to the prince.

The Prince was certainly tall for his age but compared to Ser Franklyn the Prince looked like a dwarf. Despite that, the Prince remained steady and poised in holding himself. The horn blew and the prince rode out in speed before he could say a word of encouragement. He flinched when the Prince and Ser Franklyn clashed in making a thunderous note.

To his surprise, the Prince managed to deflect Ser Franklyn's lance while the prince broke his against the Knight of Hightower. Now, the Prince was on the other side and changed his lance in favour of a new one. The second pass saw the Prince and Ser Franklyn break their lances against each other. On the third, the Prince was nearly thrown off from his horse but he held on to Arthur's relief. On the fourth pass, the Prince managed to return the favour in kind to Ser Franklyn.

The crowd went wild seeing the Prince proving himself a challenge to a veteran rider like Ser Franklyn. However on the fifth pass, the unthinkable happened as the Prince managed to unhorse Ser Franklyn. The sound of the Prince's lance breaking against Ser Franklyn's shield could be heard in Dorne. If it did not, the deafening roar of the crowd certainly shook Sunspear.

The crowd was cheering and the Prince had taken away his helmet sporting a wide smile showing his take on the victory. The prince also was courteous as he rode near Ser Franklyn and shook hands with the knight before returning to the tent.

Arthur still couldn't believe the Prince managed to unhorse Ser Franklyn even as he helped the Prince adjust his armour. The Prince went on to win a few more bouts securing a position for the next phase. On the morrow, the next bout of knights would commence and then a winner will emerge. But for now, he was content to watch the rest of the match after he helped the Prince out of his armour.

'Perhaps, there is something to be learned from the Prince.' he thought before turning his attention back to the job at hand.