Little Robert stood trembling, the short sword in his hands shaking back and forth. He said loudly, "I'm not crying!"
Hearing little Robert's rebuttal, King Joffrey's face showed excitement.
His "lions tooth" feigned a thrust, and little Robert immediately dropped his short sword in fright and sat down with a thud.
King Joffrey burst into laughter.
Not long after, his smile suddenly vanished: "Stand up, pick up the sword."
He lifted his chin and added, "Today, the remnants of House Arryn caused trouble in my King's Landing, and I have already cut off all their heads."
He pointed the tip of the lion's tooth sword at little Robert: "Lord of the Eyrie, if you can please me, I can take you to see them. I've already had them impaled."
Little Robert didn't react. To avoid spoiling the King's mood, Sandor nodded to a spot.
Then, Maester Colmon once again ran into the King and Duke's "dueling ground."
Little Robert was helped up by Maester Colmon, who picked up the small short sword and made him hold it in his small hand.
He whispered, "Please, Duke..."
King Joffrey said unpleasantly, "Hound, what are you doing?"
He proudly raised his chin, looked down at the cold gleam of "lions tooth" on the sword's blade, and added, "No one is allowed to disturb my contest with the Lord of the Eyrie."
When little Robert stood firm and gripped his sword, Maester Colmon whispered something as he retreated backward.
Sandor pointed at Maester Colmon and said, "If he disturbs you, I'll stab his * * out, King."
King Joffrey cackled, and seeing the "effect" of the Hound's arrangement was good, he didn't pursue it further.
Clang!
King Joffrey's "lions tooth" easily knocked the short sword from little Robert's hand.
Holding a weapon in one hand, King Joffrey mimicked his father's victory pose, raising both hands to receive the crowd's "awe" and "cheers."
"Pick up the sword!"
...
"Pick it up! Quickly!"
...
"Quickly!"
...
When King Joffrey struck a victory pose for the seventh time, little Robert threw away the short sword Maester Colmon had picked up for him.
"I'm not playing! I'm not playing anymore!"
"Playing?"
King Joffrey's pleasant expression instantly vanished: "You think I'm playing with you?!"
He showed a cruel smile, pointed his sword at little Robert, and said, "Alright, I'll play with you."
He instructed Ser Mandon, "Go get an apple and a crossbow."
An apple on his head as a target... Maester Colmon immediately thought of the King's hobbies he had secretly inquired about these past two days.
Maester Colmon immediately knelt before King Joffrey, begging, "Your Majesty, that was just a slip of the tongue by the Duke, I promise!"
King Joffrey kicked the frail Maester Colmon away.
Maester Colmon scrambled to pick up the sword, made little Robert grasp it, and said painfully, "Duke, please, I beg you to be brave..."
King Joffrey's voice carried over: "Prepare a few more dogs, I want to see if they can catch the Lord of the Eyrie..."
Maester Colmon said in a panic, "Duke! You'll die, please..."
Endless taunts.
Endless pleas.
Endless urging.
Little Robert's face was flushed, and his pupils dilated.
In Maester Colmon's horrified gaze, little Robert suddenly rushed out, holding the small short sword high in both hands. He hadn't run far when he... tripped over his left foot with his right, and his body tilted directly forward.
And... the small short sword "flew" from his hand and happened to graze King Joffrey's hand.
Clang, clang, the lion's tooth sword fell onto the flagstones.
"I'm hurt!"
A long, narrow wound appeared on King Joffrey's hand, oozing small drops of crimson.
"May the gods forgive me..." Maester Colmon collapsed directly.
King Joffrey gripped his hand in pain with his other hand, glaring viciously at little Robert, who had just scrambled to his feet: "You dared to ambush me?! Hound, my Hound, I'm hurt! Come save me!"
Sandor, who was arranging Joffrey's orders, didn't have time to stop this sudden little accident, but he had already noticed... his King had only scratched his skin.
"Hiss! Be gentle with me!"
When the Kingsguard bandaged Joffrey's injured hand, he was in so much pain that he couldn't bear to look, and kept crying out in agony.
His eyes burned with fury: "Take the Lord of the Eyrie to the tower for me. I want him to see his future fate in advance."
He gritted his teeth and said, "When the trial is over, I will dismember and flay you!"
...
Hand's Tower study.
Earl Greene and Duke Tywin were now standing before a long table covered with a map of the Seven Kingdoms.
Greene's finger pointed to the location of Pyke and said, "Duke Tywin, Greyjoy has declared himself King. They will be the Red Keep's enemy sooner or later. I don't think Greyjoy will easily take off his crown, just like the rebellion ten years ago. If you want Balon Greyjoy to submit to the Iron Throne, there is only one way, as Robert I did, directly suppress them with force."
He then pointed to the location of Winterfell, and continued, "The Ironborn invading the North... I must admit, they have inadvertently helped the Red Keep."
His finger moved to the location of Riverrun: "Therefore, the Direwolf, trapped here and unable to get other support, is not to be feared."
Duke Tywin was silent for a moment, then said, "A besieged beast will resist even more fiercely."
Greene nodded slightly, extending his finger to point at the gates of the Westerlands—Golden Tooth.
"Perhaps, we also need to guard against the Direwolf repeating his last raid."
Duke Tywin glanced at Greene and said, "The Direwolf cannot leave the Riverlands."
Greene nodded, his gaze slowly sweeping across the Riverlands, finally stopping at the location of The Twins, and said, "If House Frey is willing to 'cooperate'...
He pinched his chin: "We might not need to use too many troops to end the chaos in the Riverlands."
After a pause, Duke Tywin's eyes moved, looking at Greene: "This is difficult, House Frey is after all a vassal of the Tully Family. Earl Greene, have you thought of a good method?"
Greene thought for a moment and said, "Duke Tywin, I'm thinking... the title of Duke of Riverrun might make House Frey abandon his liege."
After speaking, he immediately shook his head: "I don't know Lord Frey well. This kind of temptation... I'm not sure if it will be enough to attract him."
Knock, knock, knock, a knock on the door suddenly sounded.
Without waiting for Duke Tywin's response, Ser Kevan entered the study in a hurry.
"Duke Tywin, Joffrey has taken Robert Arryn away."
------------------------
I've posted 70+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right nobut who knows what the future holds?
[email protected]/TripleCrown
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"