The Throne Room, Red Keep.
The great hall, where the King and his small council usually held their formal hearings and listened to petitioners, was filled with an unusual amount of chatter that day.
Not since the time of the dragons has this chamber ever been this full of life and people, at least not with this much high nobility in the room, and that too of such diverse origin.
From the houses Hightower, Redwyne, and Tarly of the Reach, to houses Crakehall and Marband of the Westerlands, the houses Frey, Blackwood, and Bracken of the Riverlands, Tarth and Dondarrion of Stormlands, and even the Manderlys of the North.
Almost every kingdom had been represented here today, and this is not to mention the various small nobilities situated in and around the crownlands, who usually treated this place as their backyard, coming here to partake in the activities whenever they felt like it, but today it was very a different experience for them, as not only did they not get their usual seats, they didn't get any place to sit at all, and had to actually stand at the back like commoners.
This left all of them feeling very indignant, but there was not much that they could do, as everywhere they looked, they found someone belonging to a family that was not only much stronger than they were but also far more wealthy, so they dared not make a fuss, as there was hardly anyone around today that their little families could afford to offend.
While most of the seats placed in the room were of the standard size, there were seven seats that were much larger than the rest, which had been placed closest to the throne on both sides of the room. Each of them bore either an animal, like a lion or wolf, or a symbol, like a rose, on them, making them exclusive to the Great houses.
These seats seemed to have only been recently cleaned after being taken, which made sense, as there was hardly any need for them over the past years, so they had just been left collecting dust in storage until today.
Of the Lord Paramounts, the Lannister family was already present in the room, seated on the left closest to the throne.
The main seat had, of course, been occupied by Lord Tywin himself, who was sitting there with his eyes closed, wearing a stoic expression on his face, and seated right behind him on the smaller chairs were his brother Kevan Lannister with his son Tyrion beside him.
Tyrion already had a glass of wine in his hands and was in a deep discussion with a very taciturn Blackfish.
The elder Tully was there to support his nephew Edmure, who was sitting right in front of him, beside Lord Tywin, looking very much uncomfortable with all the attention he was getting, but he was trying his best to act confident nonetheless.
The combination of the Lannister Dwarf and the Tully Black sheep, conversing with each other, looked quite strange to the nobles of their respective kingdoms sitting behind them, but with both being single men and having an estranged relationship with their family head, not to mention a deep love of adventure, they had surprisingly hit it off well.
And while the Blackfish did try to keep a cautious expression on his face, as if he was only reluctantly taking part in the conversation, those who know him closely would immediately realise that he was not the kind of man to be polite and pretend if he was not actually interested.
Moving on, towards the middle sat, of course, the Iron throne, and in front of this were the chairs of the small council, with most of the members already being present there, either talking with each other, sneaking in a nap, or gritting their teeth in impatience at the time being wasted.
Most notably, both Cersei Lannister and Jamie, who was on his Kingsguard duty with her, were conspicuously absent from the room, doing who knows what.
To the left, there were four seats placed side by side, with Lord Royce of Vale sitting on the chair closest to the throne.
He was there to represent his liege as Lord Paramount of the Vale, since Lord Arryn himself would be doing his duties as the hand, and they couldn't just leave it empty, considering the occasion.
At that moment, the gates to the chamber suddenly opened and in came an auburn-haired male wearing fitted dark warrior attire, looking very strange amidst the silk-wearing nobles in the room.
Robb Stark had a very stoic expression on his face as he calmly surveyed the room, looking completely unfazed by the probing stares of the nobles around him.
In fact, everyone who met his eyes got quite unerved by his gaze, unconsciously falling silent, feeling as if they were being stared at by a deadly predator.
Looking at his composed demeanour, no one there could say that this was a lad no older than fifteen.
Robb gave his uncle Edmure and Blackfish a quick nod, which they both returned with a smile, but since they had already gotten closely acquainted the previous evening, he didn't waste any more time going to meet them instead, he decided to head straight for the seat assigned to his family, which was the third one in the row that Lord Royce was sitting in.
"You must be Robb," Lord Royce greeted the boy with a warm smile, after Robb had taken his seat with Ser Rodrik coming to stand guard some distance behind him.
"Aye, My Lord. It is a pleasure to meet you," Robb replied with a respectful nod towards the Lord from Vale, "My Father always spoke fondly of you, and often told me that you were one of the few people he genuinely considered a good friend."
"Ah, and I him," Royce replied with a jovial look on his face, "I still remember the numerous outings that we partook in during his fostering days in Vale," he reminisced with a chuckle, "In fact, I very much hoped to meet your father this time, but since he is not here yet... I presume he will not be attending?" he asked with a curious expression on his face.
"No, he will not, My Lord," Robb replied with an apologetic shake of his head, "My Father had already left the North for a trip to Essos when the raven from Capital arrived bearing the news about the Tourney, and since it is impossible to send letters out to sea, there was little chance for him to learn about the happenings here,"
"How unfortunate," Royce said with a shake of his head, sounding genuinely disappointed with the news.
But before their talks could move further, the gates to the room opened again, and this time the one to walk in was a small elderly lady using a loud walking stick.
Right at her heels was a young, elegant maiden who immediately drew the eye of every man present there, whether they were a bachelor or not so beautiful as she was. Along with the two came twin massive shadows guarding them from behind.
All of them had a rose symbol carved on their clothes, announcing their identity to every noble present there.
Olenna gave the crowd of nobles barely a glance before making for the seat of House Tyrell, located between Robb and Lord Yohn Royce.
"Lady Olenna," Robb and Lord Royce both greeted with respectful nods as she approached their location.
"Yes, yes, Good afternoon," Olenna returned their greetings with a perfunctory nod, as she slowly took her seat with her granddaughter's help, "Though I can't say if there is anything particularly good about this noon..." she grumbled with a snort.
"Lord Stark, Lord Royce," Margery greeted with a graceful courtesy as she took her seat behind her grandmother.
Lord Royce simply nodded while Robb smiled gentlemanly and praised, "My lady, you really are as beautiful as my brother made you out to be."
"Well, then, I am delighted that I was able to live up to your expectations, My Lord," Margery replied with a polite smile on her face, as she began inquiring about the absence of his father, Lord Eddard.
"Lady Olenna, I had thought that Lord Mace would be attending," Lord Royce, meanwhile, asked Olenna with a raised eyebrow, as the young ones were getting acquainted. "Is he fine?"
"He is fine," The woman replied with a roll of her eyes, "He just indulged too heavily in wine last night at the banquet, and is indisposed at the moment. So I had to force my old bones to make the trip." she replied before abruptly turning her head towards the conversation between Robb and her granddaughter, "So your brother still hasn't arrived yet, huh?"
"No, my lady. Not yet," Robb replied with a quiet shake of his head.
"He must feel it very beneath him to arrive early then," she expressed with a sharp expression on her face, "After all, unlike us idle individuals with too much time on our hands, the boy is too busy to waste his time, correct?" She was not even trying to hide her sarcasm there.
"Of course, that is not the case, My lady." Robb replied without a change in his expression, as if getting rebuked like this was normal, "My brother's ship just encountered a little trouble with the weather on the way, so he got delayed. But his most recent letter assured me that he will arrive here by no later than tomorrow."
"Difficult weather, you say," Olenna mused with a raised eyebrow, "And here I had heard that he was blessed by the sea, and that nothing bad happens to any ship that he commands. And did the boy not boast to us that he had never lost a ship under him during his visit, Margery?" she turned to her granddaughter and asked.
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