"You're awake!" Lynd, who was playing with Honor, heard movement from the bed and turned his head.
Seeing that the girl, who had been unconscious for two days, had opened her eyes and was looking around blankly, he said, "Don't move around.
Your wounds haven't fully healed yet, and moving around will cause them to reopen."
The girl didn't react after hearing this; she just turned her head and stared blankly at the tent ceiling, her eyes full of lifelessness, as if Lynd had only saved a body, and her soul had already died.
It was no wonder the girl reacted this way.
After Lynd brought her back to the camp and settled her in his tent, he found Maester Holly, who also served as the camp's accompanying doctor, to treat her.
After Maester Holly's examination, he found that the girl's injuries were too severe.
Not only did she have many broken bones, but there were also internal injuries that couldn't be checked, especially her private parts, which were so ravaged that it was a miracle she was still breathing.
Although Maester Holly had tried his best to use all his medical skills to save the girl, he still couldn't guarantee that she would survive.
In his words, everything could only be prayed for to the Mother, hoping her mercy would fall upon the girl.
Lynd didn't say anything about this.
In his opinion, bringing the girl to the camp and treating her was already enough.
If the girl still didn't survive, then it could only be said that it was her fate.
While Maester Holly was treating the girl, Lynd also took the opportunity to check Honor's body.
Although Honor had absorbed the chill from the cracked Dragon Egg, he didn't find any abnormalities on Honor.
The only thing that could be considered abnormal was that Honor's appetite had increased; he ate almost his body weight in meat at each meal and ate four meals a day.
This was only Honor's appetite as a cub.
When Honor grew up, his appetite would likely be even greater, and Lynd's current salary probably wouldn't be enough to cover it.
Therefore, training Honor to hunt for himself was put on the agenda.
Fortunately, his cavalry team was entirely composed of hunters, and catching one or two live prey in the surrounding forest was not difficult.
These two days, Lynd would try to let Honor hunt the captured live animals when he was hungry, training his hunting ability.
Honor was a Shadowcat after all, and even though he was adopted by Lynd, his hunting ability remained as well-preserved as his wildness.
The Tournament was held as scheduled on the second day of the Red Keep banquet.
Because the number of participants was too large, the duration had to be extended accordingly.
The archery competition, which was originally supposed to be completed in one day, was extended to two days.
After a morning of competition, only fifty-six people remained in the archery competition, and it was believed that the champion archer would be determined in the afternoon.
Now, all the casinos in King's Landing had started accepting bets, and some nobles had also set up gambling games.
The largest of all these gambling games was the one set up by Hand of the King Jon Arryn in the name of the Iron Throne.
Although King Robert didn't care about money, as the kingdom's steward, Lord Arryn had to find ways to fill the financial hole caused by the Tournament.
The easiest way to get money in the short term was naturally to set up gambling games and be the dealer.
Perhaps the income obtained through gambling would not completely fill that hole, but at least it would not make this year's finances look so bad.
Because he was responsible for camp security, Lynd had not left the camp to watch the Tournament these past two days.
In addition, he also couldn't resist and placed a bet with his other colleagues, and his betting target was a Dornishman named Anguy.
In his memory, during the Tournament held in King's Landing more than ten years later to welcome Eddard Stark as Hand, an archer named Anguy became the archery champion.
Although he didn't think there was any connection between the current Anguy and the Anguy of more than ten years later, he still chose this Anguy as his betting target, merely wanting to try his luck.
However, it was clear that he didn't get lucky.
The Anguy he chose was eliminated in the first round of the afternoon competition.
After several more rounds of competition, the archery champion of this Tournament ultimately fell to a middle-aged man named Brynden Rivers.
It was said that he had a very good relationship with Lord Brynden Tully, the master archer of the Riverlands, and their archery skills were comparable.
Although the archery competition had ended, the public's enthusiasm did not diminish much, because tomorrow there would be an even more exciting team martial arts competition.
Historically, team martial arts competitions have always been the most casualty-heavy, with blood and barbarism as the main theme, and thus the best to watch.
Therefore, bets on how many people would die in the team martial arts competition had already appeared early on.
House Tyrell also sent their best archers to participate in this archery competition, but for some unknown reason, perhaps due to poor performance, House Tyrell's archers were completely wiped out in the first round.
This was naturally not a happy thing.
Mace Tyrell's grim expression had not changed since he led Garlan back to the camp.
This was also the first time Lynd had seen the Warden of the South, Lord of Highgarden.
Although he had guessed beforehand, upon seeing this middle-aged man with a barrel-like physique and carefully trimmed beard, Lynd did not feel much disappointment.
If he had to use one word to describe His Grace the Lord, the only word he could think of was mediocrity.
Although mediocre, this did not mean that Lord Mace Tyrell was incompetent.
In fact, he was more outstanding than most noble lords.
However, compared to other great lords of similar status, he appeared so mediocre, and coupled with his frequent impulsive decisions that went against common sense, he often seemed very ordinary.
But if anyone truly regarded Mace Tyrell as someone easily manipulated, they would ultimately suffer greatly.
Upon returning to the camp, Lord Mace Tyrell immediately summoned those who would participate in tomorrow's team martial arts competition, either to inquire about their status or to boost morale.
For him, this Tournament was an opportunity for House Tyrell to gain fame, but he did not know that the Quenn of Throns, far away in Highgarden, had no interest in this Tournament and did not believe that House Tyrell needed a victory in a Tournament to gain fame.
Due to the return of His Grace the Lord, the guards and Lord's Guard from House Tyrell's temporary official residence in King's Landing also came to the camp.
The original camp guard duties were handed over to these people, and Lynd also found himself with nothing to do.
Just as Lynd was about to take a few of his subordinates and Honor to hunt in the nearby mountains, and train Honor at the same time, Maester Holly found him and expressed his hope that Lynd could escort him to the city to see Grand Maester Pycelle.
Lynd naturally would not refuse.
He instructed Raul to take care of the girl whom he had rescued, then changed into casual clothes, told Vortimer's attendant that he had business in the city, and then walked down the slope of Lion Hill with Maester Holly.
If King Robert was included, Grand Maester Pycelle had served four kings in the Red Keep, which gave him a very high status in the hearts of some people in the Red Keep, even higher than the king.
It was precisely because of this that after King Robert ascended the Iron Throne, Hand Lord Arryn specifically arranged a residence for Maester Pycelle near the castle library, and built a road directly connecting to the outside of the Red Keep near this residence, and also bought a house for Grand Maester Pycelle near this road, granting Maester Pycelle the right to directly access the Red Keep, which showed extreme importance.
And in this year, Grand Maester Pycelle had also done an excellent job in helping King Robert stabilize the situation, for example, it was he who facilitated the marriage between King Robert and CerseiLannister, winning over the powerful Lannister, and completely stabilizing the Iron Throne.
Therefore, he was also very happy to see Cersei pregnant and giving birth.
When King Robert proposed holding a Tournament in its name, he also expressed approval.
However, these days he had neither attended the banquet nor gone to watch the Tournament.
Instead, he stayed in the library, organizing documents of the Targaryen Dynasty and compiling the history of the Targaryen Dynasty.
In fact, as early as when he served as Grand Maester to Aegon V, he had already thought of compiling the history of the Targaryen Dynasty, but this involved many secret histories of the Targaryen Royal Family that could not be made public.
He had barely started when Aegon V immediately prohibited him, and subsequent kings also successively prevented him from compiling the history of the Targaryen Dynasty.
Despite this, Grand Maester Pycelle had never given up.
For years, he had been collecting various relevant materials, organizing them, and storing them together, waiting for the day they could be used.
Now that Robert Baratheon had ascended the Iron Throne, the Targaryen Dynasty had ended, and House Baratheon was beginning, the secret histories of the Targaryen Royal Family were no longer taboo.
Moreover, because King's Landing was breached very quickly, a large number of relevant secret documents in the Red Keep did not have time to be destroyed.
In addition, some documents found by Stannis Baratheon on Dragonstone, and some Valyrian historical materials related to the Targaryen family provided by House Velaryon of Driftmark, meant that he had enough materials and documents to complete the compilation of the Targaryen Dynasty Chronicles.
However, these documents and materials were simply too vast, and their content was complex and obscure.
Many important documents were also written in coded languages, so it was very difficult for him, his assistants, and his students alone to organize these materials clearly.
He needed to invite other scholars with historical compilation abilities to participate and jointly complete this classic work.
Among all the candidates that came to Grand Maester Pycelle's mind, there was one person he considered most suitable to participate in this matter, and that person was Maester Holly.
At the Citadel, Maester Holly was renowned for his historical knowledge.
Any question related to history, whether it was the family history of a great noble or the history of changes in Westeros, he could effortlessly answer as if reciting from memory.
Furthermore, during his studies, he corrected errors and loopholes in various historical manuscripts compiled in the past many times.
If Maester Holly's personality hadn't been so reclusive, and if he hadn't known how to make friends and had offended important figures at the Citadel, being forced to leave the Citadel, then Maester Holly might have already picked up the bronze scepter and worn the bronze mask, becoming a Doctor of History at the Citadel.
Therefore, when he felt it was difficult to organize historical documents by himself, Grand Maester Pycelle found an Assistant Maesters under him who had a good relationship with Maester Holly and asked him to invite Maester Holly to participate in the joint compilation of the Targaryen Dynasty Chronicles.
Maester Holly quickly agreed to this invitation and wrote back to the Assistant Maesters, telling him that he would come to King's Landing with House Tyrell's contingent.
After receiving the reply, Grand Maester Pycelle had been waiting for House Tyrell's contingent to arrive in King's Landing.
But just a few days ago, after House Tyrell's contingent arrived in King's Landing, the Maester Holly he was waiting for did not appear, which made him suspect that something had happened to Maester Holly.
So, he sent someone to House Tyrell's camp to inquire and learned that Maester Holly was indeed in the military camp, but had some matters to attend to and could not come to see Grand Maester Pycelle.
Although somewhat displeased with Maester Holly's attitude, Grand Maester Pycelle did not get angry.
For him, the most important thing now was to complete the historical compilation of the Targaryen Dynasty.
So, after understanding Maester Holly's situation, he had that Assistant Maesters stay at his residence outside the Red Keep, and as soon as Maester Holly arrived, he was to be brought directly to him.
Grand Maester Pycelle liked to organize materials slowly by himself, so he sent all his servants out of the room, then sat at the table and slowly flipped through the relevant materials of the Targaryen Royal Family's secret history by his side, quickly recording the key points.
He didn't know how much time had passed; it was already dark outside, and the candlelight in the room had also dimmed considerably, making it unsuitable for continued reading.
Just as Grand Maester Pycelle closed the book and notes on the table, preparing to rest and eat something, he saw someone standing beside him without him knowing when.
After being startled, Grand Maester Pycelle vigilantly looked up, his hand in his sleeve resting on the dagger hidden inside.
By the not-so-bright candlelight, he saw a familiar face, but he was very puzzled as to why the other person would appear here, so he said, "Maester Herne, when did you return from Harrenhal, and what I asked you to bring from Harrenhal…"
Mid-sentence, he suddenly felt that Maester Herne in front of him seemed a bit off, and couldn't help but frown.
Then, as if he suddenly thought of something, his face instantly darkened considerably, and he said in a deep voice, "How dare you come back? His Majesty the King's arrest warrant has not been revoked. Anyone would hunt you down for two thousand gold dragons. Why aren't you back across the Narrow Sea, and what are you doing still in King's Landing? Do you still want to assassinate the King?"
The man raised his hand, signaling Maester Pycelle to be quiet, then said coldly, "Don't be nervous.
I'm not interested in your king; he's not on my list.
I just came back to collect a debt you owe me."
"When did I owe you a debt?" Grand Maester Pycelle knew very well how strong the person in front of him was, and that resistance was useless, so he withdrew his hand from his sleeve.
"You took my money but didn't tell me that guy was protected by four heavily armored knights and a team of archers, almost getting me killed there," the other party said, gritting his teeth slightly, "Your intelligence error caused me considerable harm, so you must compensate me. Otherwise, I don't mind letting you sleep forever and never wake up."
Although Grand Maester Pycelle was somewhat greedy for money, he also knew that life was more important than money.
Facing the threat from the person in front of him, he could only choose to compromise.
Just as he was about to agree to compensate the other party, a servant at the door knocked on the bronze ring hanging above and said, "Lord Pycelle, Maester Holly has arrived.
Will you see him now?"
Grand Maester Pycelle hesitated upon hearing this, then gestured to the man, telling him not to speak, and then turned to the door and said, "Let him in!"