Prince Daeron was deeply frustrated. With Ser Mund, Hand Otto, Viserys, and Alicent all opposing him, his request to compete had been denied. He could only sit behind the Hand and the King, waiting for the tournament to begin.
"Have all the lances and other weapons for the tournament been inspected?" In a tent outside the arena, Steward Amor asked the representatives of Summerhall's Smiths and grooms with a blank expression. Valantis had none of Westeros's knightly tournament traditions. The nobles of the Black Wall preferred Slaver's Bay-style arena duels, where slave warriors fought men or beasts upon blood-soaked sands for food and glory. Amor had only just encountered jousting, and he could not understand why they used lances that shattered at a touch, blunted weapons, or even flails and spiked maces wrapped in thick protective cloth.
But his caution had helped him. At least, no problems had arisen so far.
"Everything has been inspected, my lord." The Smiths' representative was silver-haired Xiu Fu. His superb craftsmanship had already qualified him to become the next representative of the King's Landing Smiths' Guild, representing the Smiths before the King in the throne room. After arriving at Summerhall, he had quickly distinguished himself and become one of the Smiths' representatives alongside another Valantis smith.
"Our men guard every weapon intended for the contestants day and night," Xiu Fu said. "Every knight must draw his weapons from our warehouse, my lord. Sixty Unsullied guard it. Aside from me and Smith Garmon, no one can get past them." Xiu Fu did his best to describe their efforts in refined language.
Amor nodded slightly and handed Xiu Fu a bag of Silver Stags.
The grooms had done the same. Hofa Lawkeeper had been ordered to send a hundred Silver Blood Army cavalrymen, and these knights,