Jaime greatly disliked House Tyrell, because his father, Tywin Lannister, had once considered marrying his sister Cersei to Highgarden. Although this idea ended before it was ever implemented, he still felt dissatisfied with the Tyrells.Furthermore, he had been assigned to greet the Tyrell party this time. He had received news when Garlan arrived at King's Landing and had been calculating the time, coming to this abandoned military camp at the entrance of King's Landing to await the Tyrells' arrival. But as it turned out, the Tyrell party was several days late, making him suffer here in vain for several days. Therefore, as soon as he met Garlan, he couldn't wait to make things difficult for him, using this as an outlet for his resentment.
"I'm only ten years old this year. I wonder what Lord Jaime was like when he was ten?"The Kingslayer's taunts and jests had no effect on Garlan, who smiled and asked Jaime Lannister.
Faced with Garlan's question, Jaime paused for a moment. In truth, Jaime already thought highly of Garlan. To be able to lead a company from as far away as Highgarden to King's Landing at the mere age of ten showed a leadership that most people lacked, and he certainly didn't possess such ability at ten years old.While acknowledging Garlan's ability, he didn't show it, merely smiling and not answering Garlan's question. Instead, he awkwardly changed the subject, saying, "Why is it you, a little whelp whose down hasn't even fallen out yet, leading the team to King's Landing instead of your elder brother, Willas Tyrell? Does your Tyrell family hold Robert's tournament for his firstborn in such contempt? Or are you dissatisfied with Robert's heir?""Lord Jaime, you seem to have forgotten something. My father, Lord Mace Tyrell, is currently in King's Landing. Is my elder brother more important than my father? If House Tyrell were truly dissatisfied with Robert's heir, I imagine my father would be at Highgarden by now, rather than remaining in King's Landing." Garlan handled Jaime's attempt to pin blame with ease.Seeing that his attempts at making things difficult had failed, Jaime didn't continue. Instead, he returned to the matter at hand, saying, "I am here on the orders of King Robert to welcome the Tyrell party. Follow me now to the campsite that has been arranged for you!"
Having said that, he tugged on his horse's reins and turned to head towards King's Landing. As he passed the scouting party, he couldn't help but glance at Lynder, the Tyrell warrior who hadn't shown him any contempt or disdain.At first, he didn't find anything special about Linde, but when he saw the albino Shadow Lynx Glory at Linde's feet, a hint of surprise and astonishment couldn't help but appear on his face, and a trace of curiosity about Linde arose in his heart. However, he knew very well that this was neither the place nor the time to satisfy his curiosity, so he quickly withdrew his gaze and led House Tyrell to the encampment according to the King's orders.Led by the Kingslayer, two companies of a hundred men each marched along King's Road, one after the other. Merchant caravans, upon seeing the banners of the two companies, voluntarily yielded to the sides of the road, waiting for the companies to pass before continuing on their way.
Although the war had ended a year ago, its impact had not disappeared, especially the impact on commerce, which continues to have a significant effect even now.Not all of House Targaryen's forces were destroyed in the war. Most of those who survived surrendered after Prince Rhaegar's death, but a portion, led by knights loyal to the Targaryen family, had no intention of surrendering.
However, these men were well aware that they could not turn the tide with their strength alone and could only flee to safety to find a way.
At the time, they had few escape routes to choose from, perhaps only one: south.Because the North, the Riverlands, the Vale, and the Westerlands were all enemy territory, and only House Tyrell of the Reach and Dorne further south still stood with the Targaryens at the time, these last loyalists of the Targaryens led the remaining army across the Blackwater Rush and moved south.
However, before they could even leave the Kingswood, House Tyrell and House Dorne had already publicly declared their support for Robert Baratheon to ascend the Iron Throne, completely abandoning the already defeated Targaryens.What made the remnants of House Targaryen's forces even more desperate was that the new King Robert issued an arrest warrant immediately, seeking all Targaryen remnants, and confiscating all the properties of the lords and landed knights among them, completely cutting off their retreat.
At the same time, in order to show his loyalty to the new king, alleviate the conflicts caused during the War of the Usurper, and dispel the new king's suspicions, Mace Tyrell immediately ordered all the nobles in the Reach to encircle and suppress the Targaryen remnants, effectively trapping them in the Reach and forcing them into becoming vagrants and bandits.Upon hearing this order, the Queen of Thorns, holding court at Highgarden, was so enraged that she smashed her most beloved exquisite porcelain vase from the Far East, because she knew very well how much damage and negative impact this order issued by her son would have on the Reach, damage and impact that could even directly shake House Tyrell's rule over the Reach.However, she couldn't stop it anymore, because Lord Mace Tyrell had issued the order publicly. If she were to stop him, the new king would undoubtedly see it as support for the Targaryens, and the still-scattered usurper army would march south and directly flatten House Tyrell.
Therefore, the only thing she could do was order Lord Mace Tyrell to stay in King's Landing and not return to Highgarden, lest he make some foolish decisions and make things worse. The excuse was simple: to ease relations with the Iron Throne.For a full year after that, the Reach was exactly as the Queen of Thorns had predicted: overrun with bandits and marauders. The Red Lake Forest bandits that Linde had participated in suppressing were just one example. Many remnants of House Targaryen had also turned to banditry, establishing themselves in the vast plains, hills, and mountains between Highgarden and King's Landing.
The entire Reach suffered a severe blow to its commerce as a result, because trading in the Reach was simply too dangerous, with the constant threat of robbery. Without trade caravans, the commerce of the Reach's cities naturally stagnated, and the lords suffered heavy losses, leading to widespread resentment towards House Tyrell.The nobles of the Reach, who were already resentful of House Tyrell becoming Lords of Highgarden and Wardens of the South, have once again become restless, challenging the authority of House Tyrell. The schism within House Crane is just one small example.
Although the various lords of the Reach have done everything possible to eliminate bandits and restore some commercial activity over the past year, the restored portion is insignificant compared to the commercial scale before Robert's Rebellion.Previously, the Rose family's team had encountered very few merchant caravans along the way. This was despite the fact that the Rose Road was frequently patrolled by cavalry from various lords, which encouraged those caravans with their own guard detachments to take a chance. However, those caravans that couldn't recruit enough guards didn't even consider traveling the Rose Road.As the Rose family's party crossed the Blackwater Rush, this feeling of North-South commercial disparity became even more pronounced. South of the Blackwater Rush, the roads were overgrown with weeds and the post houses were almost abandoned, while north of the Blackwater Rush, caravans gathered in droves and all the warehouses were piled high, some even overflowing onto the grass in front of the warehouses. These goods were all being transported to the Westerlands, the Riverlands, the Vale, and other northern regions.
Looking at the prosperity before him, Garlan couldn't help but sigh, feeling a headache coming on for his father, who always seemed to make foolish decisions.Actually, this trip to King's Landing was originally supposed to be led by his brother, Willas Tyrell, but the Queen of Thorns stopped it and instead sent him, only ten years old, north. Willas stayed in Highgarden to assist the Queen of Thorns with various affairs. Clearly, his sharp-tongued grandmother must have felt that since her son had gone astray, she would cultivate another grandson to replace him.
After adjusting his mindset, the observant Garlan quickly noticed that something was off with the surrounding crowd. This wasn't the kind of danger associated with assassination, but rather the way people were looking at them.Ordinarily, an average person would feel fear upon seeing a column of nearly three hundred people, lowering their head and keeping their distance, but now these King's Landing commoners were all gathered at the roadside, staring at the column, their eyes filled with hatred and contempt.
However, Garlan soon realized that these eyes were not looking at them, but at the gold cloaks leading the way, or more precisely, at the Kingslayer riding on horseback, his head held high.At this moment, Garland also recalled the information he had seen about the War of the Usurper, realizing that the Kingslayer was hated and despised by the people of King's Landing not only because he had killed the Mad King he had sworn allegiance to, but also because he was a Lannister. In the war's final stages, Lord Tywin Lannister's army had sacked King's Landing, and countless people of King's Landing had died at the hands of the Westerlands army. Ultimately, this hatred fell upon the Kingslayer, the most prominent Lannister.At this moment, Garland suddenly felt a little sympathy for Jaime Lannister, and also admired the Kingslayer's will. Putting himself in the Kingslayer's position, he knew he would absolutely be unable to ignore the malicious gazes that were constantly directed at him; being driven mad would only be a matter of time.
While Garland was analyzing the situation in King's Landing by observing his surroundings, a method he had learned from the Queen of Thorns, Lynde, like the others in the group, was curiously looking around, admiring the sights of King's Landing.The vast majority of the Rose's household had never left Highgarden, and having long heard of King's Landing, the most famous city in the Seven Kingdoms, they had already formed ideas about what it would be like before arriving.After crossing the Blackwater Rush and passing through the inn district to the outskirts of King's Landing, the glimpse of the city before them was somewhat disappointing. The towering walls should have been imposing, but the pervasive signs of decay made it seem as if they could collapse at any moment. What was even more disheartening was that these signs of disrepair were not the result of siege damage, but rather natural deterioration from years of neglect.Besides the disappointing city walls, the residents of King's Landing were also disappointing, each one ragged and looking like refugees fleeing from elsewhere, lacking any of the grandeur one would expect from the inhabitants of the capital of the Seven Kingdoms.However, they soon realized their judgment was correct; the vast majority of the people they saw on the road were indeed refugees fleeing the war. These refugees, who had escaped the war, should have returned to their respective homelands after the war ended, but their fields had been confiscated by the local lords after they fled, and returning would only lead to death, so they could only stay in King's Landing to make a living.The massive influx of refugees has exceeded King's Landing's capacity, and even though Lord Tywin's Westerlands army had purged the city a year ago, the rapidly arriving refugees quickly filled the population void left by the dead civilians. The later refugees were unable to reside within the city walls and could only build wooden huts and tents along the roads outside the city.
Over the course of a year, King's Landing, from the Mud Gate to the Iron Gate, was surrounded by refugees' wooden huts and tents along most of its outer walls, and several new districts spontaneously formed around the areas near each gate.Such a massive influx of people naturally brought with it a variety of problems. Theft and robbery were almost commonplace, and gangs of all sizes sprang up like mushrooms after rain in these areas. However, for Linde, the only trouble these refugees brought was the filthy environment.The streets awash in excrement were torture for Lind, but fortunately, he had placed Glory in the specially made pocket on his chest while crossing Blackwater Bridge to avoid unwanted attention, otherwise he would have had to deal with a Glory covered in excrement rubbing against him.
Fortunately, this stretch of road wasn't particularly long. They turned a corner outside the King's Gate and headed towards Lion's Mound on the west side, along the edge of the tournament grounds.Lion's Mound is located on the northwest side of the arena, right next to the Lion Gate. It's the best vantage point around the entire arena, offering a panoramic view of the arena and allowing you to see everything that happens within.
At this moment, several flags are already flying on Lion's Mound, such as the golden lion banner of House Lannister, Warden of the West, the wolf banner of House Stark of the North, the stag banner of House Baratheon of Storm's End, and the falcon banner of House Arryn of the Vale, all of which are the largest families in the Seven Kingdoms.The rose banner of House Tyrell was also among them, indicating that Mace Tyrell had prepared the camp in advance, but the location of this camp was not ideal, on the west side of Lion's Hill, with no view of the tourney grounds at all, even worse than the camp of House Martell of Dorne. Clearly, the work the Duke of Highgarden had done this year to ease relations had not had much effect.
The Kingslayer, after delivering Garlan and the others to the camp entrance, turned and left without any hesitation.After entering the camp, Garland spoke a few words with those guarding it, presumably asking about his father's current whereabouts. Afterwards, he led Fortimo and the other nobles and knights, temporarily leaving the camp and heading into King's Landing. The remaining people were assigned to various tents under the camp's arrangements, and were also assigned their respective patrol, guard, and other duties for this period.
...
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Here are a few fan-fic titles that I've recently uploaded on my Patreon:
"Game of Thrones: Dragon Prince"
"Game of Thrones: Political Life"
"Game of Thrones: Holy Flame"
"The Game of Thrones Upgrade System"
"Game of Thrones: Lannister Kingdom"
"Game of Thrones: Godzilla vs. Dragons"
"Game of Thrones: Ruler of the Deep Seas "
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"Game of Thrones: The Most Powerful Dragon Queen"
" Game of Thrones: From the Elden Lord to the Young Wolf"
"Game of Thrones: Rise of a Lord with the Army-Building System"
(End Chapter)