Gathered in the throne room were what seemed to be half the nobles in the realm, as a great royal feast was arranged to close the tourney. All of the royal kin were present, and seated among the high table were lords such as Loren of House Lannister, Lord of Casterly Rock. It was a grand occasion indeed, with music and entertainers, with a free flow of wine and a constant flow of savories, confections, roasted meats, delicacies, and more. In the course of it, a silence was called for with a royal fanfare sounded by a trumpeter, so that all might attend as King Daeron spoke. Speaking at first of the many acts of prowess and courage during the past eight tourneys, and all the other contests besides, the Young Dragon promised that greater days of peace and victory both were ahead. Seven champions had defended the lists on that final day, a holy number, and he compared it to the Kingsguard, those seven Sworn Brothers who served the king and the realm with faithful, selfless courage. But then King Daeron acknowledged that it had been long and long since the Sworn Brothers were six, not seven, ever since Ser Fulk Staedmon fellow at the Carrion Woods nearly two years before. His grace said it was time to end mourning, and the day had come for a new Kingsguard.

The final day of the joust had arrived with great pomp and circumstance, but before it could begin there were a hundred squires to be raised to knighthood by King Daeron’s own hand. Among the new-made knights were Ethos Mertyns, Holtyn Rosby, Jan Marbrand, Urston Coldwater, and the young Lord Guy Cordwayner. After the ceremony was completed, the grand final would begin with the victors of the previous seven days defending the Queen of Love and Beauty, the Princess Daena, from all challengers. The first six champions were Ser Almer Connington, Ser Triston Templeton, Ser Gueren Waters, Balian Blackwood, Prince Aemon Targaryen, and Ser Aidan Dayne. The seventh would have been the esquire Seth Blackwood, but his injuries prevented his participation. The king considered the matter, and choose to substitute Ser Bonifer Buckwell, due to his great deeds in the joust for love, most notably defeating both ahorse and on foot Ser Ardon Tyrell while he was disguised as the mysterious Weeping Knight.

As the first light of dawn broke, the Joust of Love commenced at the Tourney Grounds. A mystery knight in sable, calling himself the Black Lion and bearing the golden cloth favor of Lady Kellyn Lannister, rode out to make the first challenge of the day, Ser Almer Connington of Griffin’s Roost. The first day’s champion, who wore the ivory and pearl sandsilk favor of Lady Keira Sand, accepted the mystery knight’s challenge. Their confrontation was sudden and violent, and as the Griffin Knight’s lance shattered, the Black Lion was ripped from the saddle. The crowd saw the Black Lion rise, however, and the two knights exchange courteous words after, with Ser Almer saluting both Keira and Kellyn.

Following the archery, a tourney of sixty-four knights began, and the knights were in high form, keen for glory. Eventually only eight knights remained: Ser Harold Kenning, heir to Kayce, Ser Aidan Dayne, the squire Ethos Mertyns, Seth Blackwood, Ser Dagur Saltcliffe, Ser Bonifer Buckwell, Ser Halbert Cordwayner of the Kingsguard ... and a mystery knight, bearing the sorrowful visage of a weeping man upon his helm and attended by men wearing grey silk masks. They had proclaimed him as the Weeping Knight, and the helm with the crystal tears had been carried to three victories when he faced the White Sword. Many courses did he ride against the Anvil, no less than nine. Ser Halbert had the better of him in nearly every course, but on the ninth the Weeping Knight’s lance was truer, and Ser Halbert fell! Other contests were as boldly managed, as Stormbreaker’s squire gave Seth Blackwood a difficult match until he was vanquished, and Ser Bonifer from the Antlers refused to fall before the Iron Serpent for a number of passes. Only Ser Aidan had a relatively easy match, and that is very relative indeed, with Kenning giving him three well-fought courses before being knocked off his mount.

Beginning with an archery competition on in the morning, the excitement of the day was increased because this time the ladies would compete down in the tourney fields before the eyes of the smallfolk rather than in the Red Keep’s outer ward with only fellow nobility to see. The crowds were drawn by the novelty, but found much of note to comment on. Though the ladies competed at shorter distances than the men, and showed not quite the skill that the best of them did, their determination and fineness of hand stood them in good stead. More than a dozen noblewomen of high birth competed, matching two sets of arrows for each round before the targets were moved back five paces. Among the first to be removed from the field was Lady Marian Stark, who had faired notable well in the riding of rings. In the second culling, it was another horsewoman of some seeming skill who was among the eliminated, Lady Ammena Piper. After her, Lady Reyna Saltcliffe fell away when the distance proved too great for consistent accuracy, leaving the field down to just three: Lady Aisling Ryswell, Lady Ryssa Waters, and Princess Daena Targaryen. Lady Aisling held a commanding lead in each of the rounds, but the battle for the second prize was exciting. In the end, the royal princess prevailed, but fell before the Northern maiden. The king himself gave the prizes to first and second , a hundred gold dragons and yards of sandsilk from Dorne for Aisling, and fifty gold dragons and some yards of richly dyed velvet for his dear sister.

The fifth day saw one of the most complex and exciting of tournaments, as a challenger who was defeated in the lists received a second opportunity to continue. Sixteen knights in total competed in the list. First and foremost was Aemon the Dragonknight, who drove the famous young Dornish knight Tamlyn Toland from the saddle in his first joust. Ser Aidan Dayne, the Knight of the Twilight who had come so close to the prize two days earlier, fought and defeated Ser Axell Farman. Ser Victor Reyne, heir to Castamere, defeated the larger of the two Twins of the Crossing, Ser Halder. The Iron Serpent, Ser Dagur Saltcliffe, took a match from Ser Benedict Rogers, the son of Arson the Bastard. Seth Blackwood defeated Ser Jossart Vaith after a hard fought match. Ser Jaesin Lannister, the heir to Casterly Rock and a good friend to the Dragonknight, then defeated the bold Ser Ondryn Waters. This was followed by Lord Manfred Dondarrion and Ser Janden Melcolm, who unseated the Dondarrion lord to advance. Finally, Ser Corrent Gargalen faced Ser Aberyn Crane, who fell to the Dornishman.

The fourth day of jousting saw a field of more than forty knights take part, thanks to the novel rules that could lead to ignominious defeats or epic victories. It was decreed by the Master of the Games, Ser William the royal steward, that champions would be chosen by lot to initially defend four pavilions. However, challengers could only challenge the knight defending the first pavilion. If they defeated him, they could take his place, or hazard challenging the defender of the next pavilion, and so on. A great knight, or at least a confident one, might hope to achieve the relative security of the fourth pavilion and keep themselves safe from all but the most dangerous opponents, while one less sure of himself might settle for the second pavilion, or perhaps even the first if they could hope only to win a few ransoms before inevitably suffering defeat. Once all challengers were vanquished, the final four champions would contest against one another to determine the victor.

Following the joust and the choosing of Balian Blackwood as champion of the day, the throne room saw the noble guests and royal family entertained by groups of mummers, including one that is said to have come from across the Narrow Sea just for the tourney. While nobles dined on fine foods and drank fine wines, each group was brought in, announced by the King’s herald.

Besides the jousting, competitions of a different sort took place. Riding at Rings, a staple of the training many youths go through as they labor to become men worthy of knighthood, has often seen squires compete in it before lords and kings for the sake of prizes. But it’s rare indeed to see women compete in it, as a number of young ladies of high birth did on the grounds of the Red Keep. With a gathering of the nobility to watch, the king presided over a contest in which Princess Daena and one of her ladies in waiting, Lady Carmella Dondarion, competed against Lady Ammena of House Piper and two northwomen, Lady Marian Stark and Lady Aisling Ryswell. The contest began in earnest, but perhaps under the stares of so many in the crowd the bold princess and her lady-in-waiting faltered in their first two tries at the rings, while Lady Marian rode boldly and—to the surprise of many—the Ryswell and Piper maidens seemed to ride flawlessly.

The third day of jousting saw a different format, as the field of thirty-two jousters were made aware of the rules. It was decreed that any knight who should break at least three lances in the course of the joust should receive parole to joust against those who had managed that same feat, for the right to challenge the last knight left undefeated. After the first round of jousting, sixteen jousters were left, some which had managed the feat of breaking three lances and guaranteeing their place in the final. The jousting began well, with Ethos Mertyns, squire to the Stormbreaker, refusing for several passes to fall before the famed knight Ser Gueren Waters. Yet in the end he was overthrown. A most notable result followed when Ser Doran Dondarrion, the famed Black Bolt of the Dornish Marches, met Prince Cadan Martell only to fall before him; but he had broken three lances, and received the parole. Ser Sarmion Baratheon met and defeated Seth Blackwood, and Ser Anders Dondarrion defeated the knight Ser Janden Melcolm who had fallen in second place in the first day of jousting.

Though a smaller field of knights participated in the second day’s tournament, none could say the results were not noteworthy and remarkable. With an unusual format in which the thirty-two jousters competed in small pools of four each, with the best advancing to the next pool, much of the morning was taken up resolving the contests. In the end, two pools of knights were left. In the first, Lord Manfred Dondarrion of Blackhaven, Ser Sarmion Baratheon, Ser Aidan Dayne, and the heir to Ninestars, Ser Triston Templeton, jousted with one another. It was remarked by many that the Knight of the Twilight had a poor start, and was defeated by the unheralded Ser Triston in the first pass while the Stormbreaker defeated Lord Manfred handily. In the next contests, Ser Triston continued his streak, defeating Lord Manfred, while the knight from Starfall seemed to redouble his efforts and drive the Baratheon knight from the saddle with a great clatter. Ser Sarmion rose up in a rage, and threw his unbroken lance after the victorious knight before ungraciously departing the field shouting curses and imprecations. It was later reported he would not continue, and forfeited his place. It may have been that Ser Aidan would then have advanced, if only Lord Manfred—stung by two straight defeats—did not suddenly hit the Dornishman square in the chest and force him from the saddle in their final tilt.

The first day of the Royal Tourney proved as thrilling as anticipated, and the amazing pageantry and colour of the festivities was surpassed only by the action in the lists.

After interminable delays caused by a host of factors, not least the extravagant preparations called upon by the king to appropriately celebrate the conquest of Dorne, it seems that at last the tourney draws near. The tourney fields are now readied for the inevitable sea of tents and pavillions that will serve as home to hundreds of visitors, and the lists and barriers are all whitewashed perfection. Wagons come in daily, laden with victuals, cloth, and other goods to help feed and keep the noblemen who will come to feast day in and day out. Ships have come the last month from the Arbor, and longshoremen have rolled out great casks of golden wine along the quays and unto carts that carry them away to the Red Keep. It truly seems set to be the grandest tourney in a century.

Last night, the King’s men took and (further) imprisoned a hostage from the Dornish Tower.

His Grace, King Daeron, has been ensconced more and more with the small council as news arrives from Dorne of the continuing issues there raised by petty bandits and rebels who refuse to bend their knees. It is said Prince Viserys has made all his efforts in convincing the king to trust in Lord Tyrell and his other captains in Dorne, but the youthful valor of the king will not be gainsaid from spending as many hours as he wishes in interpreting reports and sending orders. It is well known that certain Dornishmen have audiences with the king, perhaps so that he may seek their opinions on what their rebellious countrymen plan and how best to defeat them.