Ned was so stunned by Lynn's final words that he could not speak for a long while.
Turn everyone in King's Landing against the Lannisters?
It sounded easy, but House Lannister had entrenched itself in King's Landing for years. Its influence ran deep.
Cersei was the queen, Jaime was a member of the Kingsguard, and their father, Tywin Lannister, was the richest and most feared lord in Westeros.
How could anyone hope to shake that golden lion?
"This is madness..."
Ned muttered to himself. He had lost count of how many times he had said that to Lynn.
"How do you intend to compete? Jousting is for knights, and you..."
Ned suddenly stopped, remembering what Lynn was.
A man of the Night's Watch.
A man of the Night's Watch had no knightly title to speak of. In the eyes of southern nobles, they were no different from criminals.
"I cannot knight you."
Ned's voice was strained.
"House Stark worships the Old Gods. Knighthood is bestowed through a ritual of the Faith of the Seven. I cannot keep vigil in a sept or receive the blessing of the Seven."
It was an impasse they could not avoid.
Without a knightly title, a man was not even eligible to enter the joust.
Lynn's plan had hit an obstacle at the very first step.
Lynn looked at Ned's troubled face and spoke calmly.
"Then let someone with the authority approve my entry."
Ned stared. "Who?"
"The king."
The king certainly had the authority, but those two words made Ned's eyelid twitch violently.
"Robert?"
He objected almost instinctively.
"Impossible! Right now... right now, he is thoroughly prejudiced against me."
"He thinks I'm a country bumpkin who knows nothing beyond the North and pays no attention to his affairs of state."
"If I ask him