Tourney at Harrenhal X

- 288 AC -

- Greywater Watch -

(Howland Reed POV)

I rub my eyes. Jyana tells me the lighting in my solar is bad, and I shouldn't be working this long. I should listen to my wife more. But ever since the Rebellion happened, there has been more to do for me. Robert Baratheon was the new King of Westeros, and unlike his predecessor, he took his new position very seriously. Lord Eddard, my liege lord, is his best friend, from what I could observe during that fateful Tourney at Harrenhal, and while there was more to it than met the eye, Robert I Baratheon genuinely seems to care for the well-being of the realm and the men and women living in it. 

*Knock knock*

The door to my solar opens, and Jyana enters with a cup of milk. She does that every evening when I work too long and wants a reason to come and get me. Milk makes me sleepy, and she is well aware of it. She places the cup in front of me right on the papers I have been working on. Then she sits on my lap, barring me from hoping to continue to work another minute.

"Hello, love," she says and smiles gently. "The children are in bed. They have been asking for you, something about a story you were meant to tell them."

"Right. I promised Meera I would tell them about Harrenhal tonight."

"Harrenhal? You mean its history, or what happened during the tourney?"

"I thought about both, but Meera is more interested in the 'Knight of the Laughing Tree' than anything else. I think she likes the rumours around her."

"Hmm? What are you talking about?"

"I mean the knight."

"Aha."

I can tell that Jyana picked up on my slight, but she lets it be for now. She just smiles and leans on me for the moment, enjoying the short time alone before we go to bed. 

"You should not go back on your promise. The children are waiting."

"You are ever the dutiful mother."

"I am a mother and wife first and then everything else."

"Aren't I a happy man?"

I kiss my wife goodbye and then ascend the stairs to the children's room. They are still small enough to have them sleep in the same room despite Meera having her own. But now that I promised to tell a story, they both want to listen. We Crannogmen are not as stiff as the rest of the realm. We believe that if man and woman can go through the deep moor together and find their way through the Neck, they can also sleep in the same room without a problem. And why should you?

I reach the top of the stairs and enter the room. Ever since Robert Baratheon became King, the realm prospered. Not all parts of it were equally content, though; the Reach wasn't happy, and the Westerlands weren't that happy either, but they had what Tywin Lannister wanted above all. Dorne was also doing well, from what I was told. I don't know much else since almost no news ever reaches Greywater Watch. The North was doing a lot better than before. It was finally possible to improve Greywater Watch slightly and get rid of the broken down. Usually, we were in desperate need of food and had to spend our last gold on that. So it was better, far better. 

"Father! What took you so long?"

"I'm sorry, my little lizards, I had to work. But I'm here now."

"Yay! Please tell us the story. The one about the knight."

"No, tell us bout ... bout ..."

"About, Jojen. About, with an 'a'."

"I know ... about. The big casel."

"You mean castle, son. Aye, I will tell you two about Harrenhal and the Knight of the Laughing Tree. Roughly 300 years ago ... before the arrival of the Targaryens on the mainland of Westeros, the seat of Halleck Hoare, King of the Isles and the Rivers, was a modest tower house at Fairmarket on the Blue Fork. His son, Harren the Black, started to build Harrenhal along the Gods Eye as a monument to himself, intending it to be the greatest of all castles in Westeros and to dwarf any other. He was an ambitious man, Harren the Black and due to the political situation in Westeros during that time, he thought that he could become the most powerful House this way. And at that time, it made sense.

The construction of Harren's dream took forty years. Do you know how long forty years is? Jojen? Meera?"

"I know how long forty years is, Father. That's ... well, I am five-name days old now ... so that is ... hmm."

"That would be eight more of those fingers, dear."

"Eight?! Wow."

"An me, an me?"

"How old are you now, Jojen?"

"Hmm, two!"

"So that would be twenty more of those."

"Woooow"

"Aye, as impressive as it is, there is also a sad part to it. To build Harrenhal, Harren the Black used people he had captured from other Houses and kingdoms. Thousands of captives died in the quarries chained to sledges or labouring on the five huge towers. Men froze by winter and sweltered in summer. Weirwoods that had stood three thousand years were cut down to provide rafters and beams. Harren beggared the Riverlands and the Iron Islands alike to ornament his dream. It was not a nice thing, and it is important that you two learn this early on. There are often two sides to every story. The big and famous castle of Harrenhal is connected with the death and suffering of those who had to build it. 

After forty years, the castle was finished, and upon its completion, Harren boasted that his new fortress was impregnable. And from what the Seven Kingdoms knew at that time, he was correct. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers could have attacked Harrenhal, and all those many men would have died. But what did I just tell you?"

"There are always two sides to a story?"

"Very good, Meera. So what do you think the other side to this story was?"

"Hmm, they didn't have enough men?"

"Not quite. But a good guess. There was something that Harren hadn't accounted for when creating his castle: Aegon the Conqueror and his dragons invading Westeros. Do you understand? Harren had built a castle that could withstand the attack of any army, but he didn't think about the sky. And why would he, no one would think to account for dragons, because no one had any and the Targaryens were only on their island on Dragonstone until then.

On the day Harren took up residence in Harrenhal, Aegon came ashore at what now is known as King's Landing. Supported by many great Ironborn lords and warriors, Black Harren raised his banners. His men fought Aegon's host in the Battle of the Reeds, which ended in a Targaryen victory, albeit with heavy losses, and the Wailing Willows, in which House Hoare was victorious.

However, in the meantime, after years of plundering and beggaring the Riverlands, Harren the Black had to face the consequences of those actions. You can't expect to suck your Kingdom dry without consequence. Maybe he might have gotten away with it, and the Riverlands may have recovered eventually, but the arriving dragonlord, Aegon Targaryen, was a chance for the Riverlords. Lord Edmyn Tully of Riverrun, the most powerful of the riverlords following Harren's harsh treatment of House Bracken and House Blackwood, refused to support Harren and instead joined the Targaryens. Following House Tully's example, numerous other riverlords, including the Blackwoods, Mallisters, Vances, Brackens, Pipers, Freys, and Strongs, rebelled against Harren's Ironmen and marched to surround Harrenhal. Outnumbered, Harren closed the gates of well-stocked Harrenhal in response. So, the situation that Harren was talking about arrived, and he was faced with a large army, but he wasn't worried. 

Harrenhal's walls were too high and too thick and well-stocked enough to withstand a siege. Aegon offered to confirm Harren as Lord of the Iron Islands during a parley outside the castle, provided he would yield. Harren refused, trusting in the strength of his castle, confident that the stone would not burn. Aegon warned him that the line of House Hoare would come to an end that night, at which Harren returned to his castle. To his men, he promised riches and the daughters of the riverlords to anyone who could slay Aegon's dragon, Balerion, in the upcoming battle.

When the sun had gone down, Aegon flew Balerion high above Harrenhal before plunging down upon Harrenhal, burning the castle beneath him. All that was flammable, both supplies and ironmen, caught fire within the castle while Harrenhal's stone towers cracked and melted. The rivermen outside observed that the towers glowed and melted like candles. Harren and his sons died in the largest of the towers of Harrenhal, which would later give the tower its name: Kingspyre Tower. With their deaths, House Hoare was extinguished."

"Wooooaaahhh ... that's terrible. Why would he choose to be so stupid?"

"Well, Meera. Men and women of power tend to do stupid things to keep that power, and when pride comes into the mix as well ... nothing will help but the hard way."

"Can you tell us about the Knight of the Laughing Tree?"

"Of course, dear. As you know, before you both were born, in the year 281 after Aegon's conquest, I attended the Tourney at Harrenhal. It was the greatest and biggest tourney Westeros had ever seen, and it still is. I accompanied our liege lords, the young children of House Stark, there. One evening, I found myself bullied by three squires, none older than fifteen. I had already "grown to manhood", but the boys were all larger than me in size. The squires easily snatched away my only offensive weapon, a three-pronged spear. I was then thrown into the ground. They repeatedly mocked me, shoved me, and kicked me. Help arrived in the person of Lyanna Stark, "the she-wolf" as she was known, who shouted indignantly that I was her father's bannerman. She beat off his attackers with a tourney sword, scattering them away.

As you can imagine, I was very embarrassed then. I was saved by a girl, a Stark, but a girl nonetheless. To my shame, Lyanna wasn't the only one present back then. Robert I Baratheon, our current King, as you know, was also there."

"The King?! You know the King?"

"Aye, I know him. At least a bit. I met him then on that day and saw his performance during the tourney, which, to this day, is legendary and, in my humble opinion, will never be repeated again."

"What did he do? Did he punish the squires?"

"Punish? No. He laughed."

"He laughed? Why ... why would he laugh at you? I thought he was a good man. Shouldn't a king be a good man?"

"Any man should be a good man, but seldom are men truly good. But you misunderstood. Meera, Robert didn't laugh because of me but because of what Lyanna did to the squires. He didn't approve of what they did either and laughed when Lyanna beat them. He also gave them a lesson, but we won't go into that detail for now."

"So what about the Knight of the Laughing Tree? Did he also help you?"

"Well, in a way, he did. He restored my honour.

During the first two days of the tournament, the porcupine knight, pitchfork knight, and the knight of the two towers each won a place among the champions, all in jousting. But the person who garnered the most attention out of all was none other than Robert I Baratheon. The young Lord was a force of nature during the tourney and it was unbelievable what he managed to achieve."

"What did he do?"

"Well, not only did he surprise and shock everyone to their core on the first day, during the melee, where he killed two knights of House Connington and then threw, that's right threw Lord Connington at the late Gerold Hightower with his bare hands ... but he also won the archery contest the day after that. And finally, he attended the jousting. No one thought that he would be as impressive as he had been in the other competitions, but ... we were all wrong. 

Lord Baratheon unhorsed one squire and knight after the other. His gruesome show during the melee gained him quite a few disapproved Lords who tried to challenge him. But it was no use. As is their House's words: Ours is the fury. The young Baratheon stormed through all the challenges like a breeze and asserted himself as one of Westeros's most powerful knights and future Lords. He was a true Stormlord."

Thinking back to those days, I wonder whether it was smart to give him the crown. Although giving is the wrong word, he took it by force. 'Ours is the fury' ... truer words have never been spoken about Robert Baratheon. I wasn't present when he entered the throne room, but from what Eddard told me and what I witnessed afterwards ... aye, gods help us if the past repeats itself. 

"Father?"

I wake up from my thoughts and look at my two children. How much I love them and how I don't know what I would do if anything happened to them ... or to me and they were left alone. I suppose I would also become furious, and while Lyanna wasn't his daughter ... they were close, like siblings. 

"Sorry about that. Let me continue. Late on the afternoon of the second day, after Robert Baratheon had retired since he had easily secured a spot amongst the champions, a mystery knight appeared on the lists. It was unusual, but not illegal, to arrive so late. This knight was short of stature, though, and no one thought much of him. His armour was made up of mismatched bits and pieces that appeared ill-fitting on him. His shield was blazoned with the image of "a white Weirwood with a laughing red face", which is where he got his name from. 

The mystery knight challenged and defeated all three of the previously mentioned knights I told you about, who embarrassed and beat me, winning custody over their horses and armour. None of them were particularly popular, so the smallfolk cheered for the mysterious "Knight of the Laughing Tree". I was also quite happy when it happened. I can't lie, but something unnerved me about the situation. I didn't know many men who would fight for what's right like that and even fewer were supposed to know of what happened that day, when I was beaten by these squires.

When the defeated trio sought to ransom back their former property, the knight declared his terms, that they ought to teach their rude squires honour. His voice sounded "booming" through his helm. The trio then proceeded to chastise their squires sharply in front of all the people present, and I felt relieved. 

The mystery knight attracted unwanted attention, however. Robert Baratheon was determined to unmask him, while King Aerys was certain that the man was his enemy. The king was convinced that the tree on the mystery knight's shield was laughing at him. He decided that the mystery knight was Ser Jaime Lannister, who had returned to the tourney, defying Aerys's order to protect Queen Rhaella and Prince Viserys in King's Landing. Aerys told his beliefs to every man who would listen and furiously commanded his own knights to defeat the Knight of the Laughing Tree when the jousts resumed the next morning to unmask and expose him. 

However, by the next day, it was discovered that the knight had disappeared. The king became angered by this, certain that someone close to him had given warning to "this traitor who will not show his face." An angry Aerys sent his men, including Prince Rhaegar, to search for the vanished knight, but only his shield could be found, abandoned in a tree."

"..."

"And then? What happened?"

"That's it. That's all that I know."

"Truly? Oh, that's a bummer. I was hoping to find out that it wasn't a man, but Lyanna, who restored your honour since she was the one to see what happened. It couldn't have been Robert Baratheon since he was seen somewhere else. Was it Lyanna?"

"We will never know. Now, it is long past your bedtime. I promised to tell you the story, and I did. We can discuss it tomorrow."

"Oh, but I'm not even a little bit tired!"

"Nonetheless, you have to sleep."

I kill my two children on the forehead and then leave the room. As I walk to my bedroom, I think back to that day. The day when the 'mystery knight' was revealed. Robert Baratheon knew, he always knew, and no one can make me believe otherwise. When Rhaegar Targaryen found the 'mystery knight' and saw the beautiful face of Lyanna Stark come forth, he was elated. He almost rushed forward, and he would have reached her ... if not for that hand stopping him. That powerful paw of a hand belonging to Robert Baratheon. 

'Where are you going, pretty boy?'

'I'm ... oh, Lord Robert, how good to see you. Sadly, I don't have time right now. If you would excuse me-'

'I will not excuse you. Listen to me, you white-haired cunt and listen well. I will say this one time, and that's it. Should you, or anyone of your ass lickers, even think about touching the She-Wolf, I will kill you.'

'Oh, but yo-'

'I don't think you understand my words clearly. I will kill you. Do you understand? I will ride to King's Landing, break down the walls to your pretty castle, waltz through the corpses who stand in my way, find you and then feed you your own groin and cock for all to see. Do you get me, boy? I will bathe the streets of King's Landing or all of Westeros in blood if you go down that path ... are we clear?'

'...'

Robert smacked him on the cheek lightly and then left. I repeat what I said: I am unsure whether it was a wise idea to allow Robert Baratheon to sit on the Iron Throne. 

_________________________________________

Quite a bit longer than usual. But for all that wiki lore, you deserve more info on the tourney. A bit different this time, but I enjoyed it. 

This is not a time skip.