The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Lord Gawen hurried over with the family guards and saw Gregor carrying his daughter, Jeyne, out of her room. His heart boiled with anger, this demon was already bullying his daughter on the day of their engagement. What would happen after they were married?

Though Lord Gawen feared the Mountain, and his six family guards only showed anger on the surface but were truly uneasy inside, this was Lord Tywin's main castle. They were protected as honored guests. If the Mountain dared to rough them up here, it would be not only rude but also a grave insult to Lord Tywin's dignity.

So their courage was many times stronger than when they were outside, ten miles from Ironhold.

Gathering his courage, Lord Gawen strode forward, ready to reprimand harshly, but he saw Jeyne calm and quiet in Gregor's arms. She wasn't crying, nor did she show the kind of grief he had imagined.

Lord Gawen had rushed over in a panic after hearing the Mountain had come for his daughter, afraid that the beast had gone too far on their engagement day. Hastily leaving his drinking companions at the noble feast, he called for the family guards and rushed over with weapons drawn.

No matter how fierce the Mountain was, he couldn't allow him to bully Jeyne today.

Though Lord Gawen's fighting skills were average, he was a trained knight who had seen battle. Especially here, in the Lord's castle, his boldness felt bolstered.

"Jeyne, are you alright?" Gawen glared at Gregor but spoke gently to his daughter.

"I'm fine. We're going to the Maester's Tower. Everything's fine." Jeyne glanced at her father, then lowered her gaze to the bundle in her arms.

Only then did Gawen notice the pure white shape nestled there, it looked like a cat. The creature was still, and Jeyne held it protectively. Gawen couldn't be sure it really was a cat.

Before he could react, Gregor passed by like the wind and said, "Lord Gawen, we're going to save a life first. We'll come back later to toast with Jeyne."

Gawen and his indignant guards were left stunned.

Gregor still called him Lord Gawen, not "father-in-law", though his tone was softer than before.

The Mountain had always been rude, crude, and wild. Gawen didn't mind the lack of formal respect. As long as Jeyne was safe, that was all that mattered.

Two of Jeyne's guards approached. When Gawen asked if Gregor had mistreated Jeyne, Gregor was already far ahead, striding as if flying. In the blink of an eye, his tall figure disappeared into the Maester's Tower.

Suddenly, five men burst out from another corridor, all strong and imposing. They carried not swords or spears, but long iron poles with forked ends and nets attached.

Gawen and his guards had never seen such weapons.

"My Lord, where is Ser Gregor?" one demanded.

Gawen pointed toward the Maester's Tower.

"And Lady Jeyne?"

"With him."

"Chase after them!" one of the men shouted, surprised.

The five men took off running, but saw Gawen and his guards remained still.

They were soldiers of Lord Tywin's cavalry, sent by the Lord himself to prevent the Mountain from harming Jeyne.

"My Lord, come with us. The more people against that Mountain, the better our chances." One knight said.

"Ser Gregor and Lady Jeyne are fine. They… uh… they're fine." Gawen hesitated.

"Fine?" The five soldiers stopped dead and asked in unison.

"Well… we saw that Ser Gregor wasn't hurting Jeyne. They're going to the Maester's Tower to save a life."

"Save a life?" The five couldn't help but echo, disbelieving.

"Then let's all go to the Maester's Tower and see." Gawen said.

"Good. Let's go together!"

The soldiers had heard about Gregor showing up drunk to see Jeyne, and they'd all been alarmed. The Mountain couldn't control himself for long, and yet here he was, in Lord Tywin's castle, while the guests were still celebrating, trying to bully Jeyne. This was a stain on the Lord's reputation!

They'd reported immediately to Lord Tywin and received his orders to apprehend the Mountain.

In Lord Tywin's household, no one dared cause trouble, not even Jaime Lannister, Lord Tywin's own son, without severe consequences.

The soldiers carried a special weapon called the "Mountain Pole."

This iron pole with a forked end and net was designed by Grand Maester Pycelle under Lord Tywin's strict orders, specifically to control the Mountain. It was named after the Mountain himself.

The Mountain often suffered headaches and drank poppy milk to relieve them, but too much would cause hallucinations and chaos. Excessive drinking also made him increasingly uncontrollable and prone to violent outbursts. Once, he nearly killed a noble guest from the Riverlands in the Lord's dining hall.

To prevent him from hurting others while drunk or under the influence of poppy milk, Lord Tywin ordered Pycelle to create a weapon that could restrain the Mountain without causing him injury. Thus, the netted forked pole was invented.

Despite repeated training, it was only effective against the Mountain when he was unarmed and either drunk or hallucinating.

When sober, the Mountain could easily grab and snap these poles.

Still, the Mountain Pole was the most proven tool to control him.

Gawen's group arrived at the tower and heard a loud crash from the top floor, followed by the sound of something breaking apart. Then came Jeyne's surprised cry: "Ser Gregor, why did you kick down the pharmacy door?"

"Old Pycelle is too stingy. Even on a wedding day, he locked the pharmacy door. His apprentice dog isn't even here guarding it. Damn it, when we're done, I'm going to deal with them."

"No, don't blame anyone. Today's our engagement day. Everyone's celebrating with the wedding feast. You shouldn't go looking for trouble with the maesters and their students."

"But our cat…"

"Ser, they wouldn't have known we'd come to the pharmacy now anyway."

"Hmph!" Gregor's voice was fierce. "Fine, this time I'll listen to my fiancée and let them off, but if any other intruders come to bother us, they're dead."

"Please don't do that, Ser Gregor." Jeyne said softly. "Put me down. Let me find the medicine quickly."

Then, the top floor of the Maester's Tower lit up.

Lord Gawen and the others exchanged looks and stopped in their tracks.

When the Mountain was angry, he really would listen, everyone in the west knew he only obeyed Lord Tywin.

But now… it seemed there was someone else?!

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