The three exchanged glances and nodded. The Green-Cloaked Knight slowly let out a breath and continued in a lowered voice, "Then let's go. It's time we followed them inside."
Highgarden's Council Chamber occupied a distinctive building in the inner city. It was an exceptionally spacious long hall, large enough to rival the king's Council Chamber in King's Landing. In all of Westeros, only Harlon Castle's was larger, and it could accommodate at least a thousand people at an assembly.
This, too, was a legacy left by House Gardener, the former kings of the Reach. It spoke volumes about how powerful the Gardener dynasty had been in Westeros-and how mighty the Targaryen dragons must have been to destroy such a house.
The moment Viserys stepped through the doors, the space seemed to open up before him. The interior felt far lighter and more cheerful than the Council Chamber in King's Landing, with its heavy, solemn atmosphere.
The hall was immensely broad and long. Alternating blue-green and ivory diamond tiles covered the floor, illuminated by hundreds of white candles. The tall, pointed-arch windows around it stood half-open, letting in a breeze laden with moisture from the Mander River outside the city and the fragrance of flowers from every street. It gently stirred the long green-and-gold drapes along both walls.
Beneath the vaulted ceiling, two rows of carved stone pillars supported a wide, open space. An ebony high-backed chair stood on the dais at the far end, draped in green velvet. A blooming golden rose fashioned from gold thread and yellow gemstones adorned its back.
A raised platform stood on either side of the Council Chamber, each furnished with several rows of high-backed benches whose backboards were carved with grapevines and thorny rose branches. The lords and knights who had followed them inside