A fortnight after the royal wedding of Prince Baelor to his sister Princess Daena, the long-awaited tourney took place to honor the occasion. Declared as a joust for love, in which knights must bear a lady’s favor and swear to perform feats of arms to please them, more than two dozen knights entered the lists for love of their ladies. Among the great names were Lord Tyrell’s brother, Ser Ardon, and Lord Baratheon’s heir and brother, Ser Tancred and Ser Sarmion, and even the Dragonknight, Prince Aemon, who carried Daena’s favor on behalf of his cousin. More notably still, Ferro Antaryon, Sealord of Braavos, rode in the tourney in the finest armor lent to him by the king. Other names there were, too, some as famed as Whalon Rosby, the Jousting Lord, or Ser Aidan Dayne, the Knight of the Twilight, and others young knights who meant to make names for themselves, from Stormbreaker’s former squire Ser Ethos Mertyns to the northern knight Ser Raynard Locke.
It was a fine event, with many notable feats of arms. A mystery knight all clad in gray sought to face five champions, and managed the feat, much as Ser Janden Melcolm managed to face five worthy knights for love of Elyana Mertyns. Notably among the champions, Ser Sarmion first broke a lance in rememberance of his first wife, Demeri, and then changed the favor to that of Lyrissa Hightower, whom he had only recently betrothed. The first to achieve his goal was Ser Ardon Tyrell, who broke seven lances against diverse knights. The Sealord of Braavos had a more modest aim of riding a single course against seven knights, and eventually achieved this; most notably, he bore the favor of Princess Rhaena, the king’s younger sister, which many marked.
At the end of the day, despite the many challenges and many splintered lances, only one knight remained undefeated: Prince Aemon Targaryen. He had bested all who came against him, accepting all challenges. He even defeated the Knight of the Twilight, whom he had never unhorsed before without himself also being unhorsed. Some marked that the Dornish hostage seemed distracted despite carrying the favor of his cousin, Tanyth of House Toland. When the last of the challenges was completed, however, it was up to the ladies of the court to decide the victor based not on mere prowess—for any knight might have that—but by how best they exemplified devotion to their lady and chivalry to their foes. The mystery knight was unmasked at the end, revealed to be none other than Ser Dagur Saltcliffe, the commander of the City Watch.
Faced with this, and with all the fine deeds performed, the ladies deliberated for an hour, and more. Eventually the decision came: the prize went to Ser Ardon Tyrell, who jousted for love of his lady wife Nemony, and achieved his goal first ahead of all others but who continued to joust after this both to further prove his prowess and to deny no man an opportunity to achieve his own enterprise.