Game of Thrones: The Wrath of the Sleeping Dragon

She had to stay in front of the dilapidated fireplace all year round, wearing thick furs that smelled of fish, and holding her child.

She never wanted to live like that again.

Although Sansa is not yet married, her mother Catelyn does not need to worry too much about her marriage.

Because Sansa is a handmaiden of the First Queen Ariane, and Ariane is quite fond of the clever and witty Sansa, she is now using Sansa as a bargaining chip to bring her together with the Hand of the King, Velas Tyrell.

Although Velas is a cripple and more than ten years older than Sansa, he is still unmarried and handsome. As the Prime Minister of the Empire, his background is impeccable.

Sansa was very pleased with Velas, and Velas did not refuse the wife that the Great Queen had introduced to him, and expressed his gratitude.

After all, how many wives in this world are more suitable than daughters of the Stark family?

Chapter 937 Selection of Imperial Guards

The eldest daughter's marriage was settled, but the second daughter's love for swords and spears was causing Lady Caitlin a lot of headaches.

She inadvertently stumbled upon Robb seeing Arya off, and Lady Caitlin immediately realized where her troublesome daughter was going.

The King's Landing.

The news has recently spread throughout the Empire, Westeros, and even across the Narrow Sea to Pentos, Andalus, and the Three Sisters.

That is, since the empire was rebuilt, it has not publicly recruited anyone, and the world-renowned knightly order has finally begun to recruit again.

This order of knights was founded during the Targaryen dynasty by Queen Visenia, an elite guard whose mission was to protect the royal bloodline. This guard was called the Kingsguard, and of course, they also had a more poetic name: the 'White Knights'.

Based on the Night's Watch oath, Visenia established the creed and principles of the Kingsguard, emphasizing that loyalty was more important than martial prowess.

Now, in this era of three empresses ruling, the Imperial Guards, whose numbers have never been full, have finally decided to recruit from outside the government again.

The reason is that His Majesty the Emperor of the Empire has married three empresses and has given birth to three princesses and princes, but there are only two Imperial Guards, leaving five vacant positions.

One of these two Imperial Guards was merely a figurehead; now that he's in command of troops, he no longer personally performs the duties of an Imperial Guard.

Therefore, the only person truly performing the duties of the Kingsguard is the female knight Mia. Viserys used to not need anyone to protect him, and Mia alone was enough. But now Viserys has three wives and three children, and having only one Kingsguard is indeed a bit of a stretch.

So before Daenerys left, after discussions among the three queens, the Royal Council, and the female knight Mia, it was decided to recruit a few more white knights.

The moment this news was released, it caused a great stir among all the nobles throughout the empire.

The Royal Guard, a renowned knightly order, has always been the ultimate dream of all knights, and they would do anything to join it.

But over the years, they haven't had much of an opportunity to join the ranks of the white knights.

Because during Viserys's personal regency, there was always only one Kingsguard, but now that the number of positions has finally been opened up, it naturally makes knights throughout the empire flock to join.

Knights from Westeros and Essos gathered in King's Landing to participate in this tournament.

Among them, Arya, the second daughter of House Stark from Winterfell, who had always wanted to prove herself, was naturally attracted. So she began to pack her bags, preparing to set off for King's Landing without telling her family.

But unexpectedly, when the eldest brother Robb was seeing his sister off, their mother, Lady Caitlin, happened to be there.

The idea that a noble lady of high status would want to fight on the battlefield like men was something her mother, Lady Caitlin, who also came from a prestigious family, could not accept.

But she knew her youngest daughter's temperament; she was born mischievous, lively, and quick-witted, not at all like a girl. On the contrary, she had a high talent for swordsmanship and loved fighting and adventure.

When Arya was young, she expressed her desire to learn swordsmanship so that she could compete in tournaments in the future. Sansa was terrified by her sister's idea, but Jon Snow, Arya's close brother, was very supportive of her.

Arya secretly practiced swordsmanship with Jon Snow, and even when Winterfell fell and the family fled to King's Landing, Arya easily defeated her brother Brandon in a one-on-one sword fight.

Furthermore, Arya has a special talent: she is extremely accurate at throwing things.

Her eyes seemed to have a built-in sight, allowing her to accurately throw a dagger into the eye of a stag. At the same time, her archery skills were extremely high, enough to be called "hitting a willow leaf from a hundred paces away." Her two brothers, Jon and Robb, were inferior in this respect.

The little wolf girl's outstanding martial arts talent was later strongly supported by her aunt Lyanna.

Although Lyanna was transformed into a White Walker, she survived the Long Night thanks to the black stone necklace given to her by Rhaegar.

Therefore, Lyanna and Benjen later returned to Winterfell. The two siblings stayed in Winterfell for a while and felt that their current identities were no longer compatible with ordinary people, and that others looked at them with fear.

Lyanna then set off with Benjen to the Wall to join their brother Eddard. Lyanna's own son, Jon Snow, had also sworn in as a member of the Night's Watch a few years earlier and was now serving on the Wall.

With the support of her aunt Lyanna, her mother, Lady Catelyn, finally gave up her plan to force her daughter to change and tacitly approved of her sword practice.

"Mother."

Arya dismounted and stood with her brother Robb, holding the reins, a little afraid to look her mother in the eye.

Lady Caitlin is now forty-three years old. The once beautiful, charming young woman now has more wrinkles around her eyes and her hair is gradually turning gray.

When Lady Catelyn arranged the marriage between Ari Karstark and her son Robb, Lord Rickard Karstark, who was her in-law, had secretly pursued her.

Anyway, Lady Catelyn's husband, Lord Eddard, had been stripped of his title and put in black. At that time, Rickard Karstark was power-hungry and thought that the North was already under his control.

Moreover, the Karstarks and the Stark family are one family, sharing the same bloodline, which is why he dared to humiliate Lady Catelyn in this way.

Later, the North fell into civil war, and the Stark family's control over the North declined. Some nobles began to become disloyal, and Robb Stark finally broke off relations with his father-in-law, Rickard, the Grand Warden of the North, which led to a civil war. One of the reasons for this was that his mother was humiliated.

Ultimately, Robb fought Rickard one-on-one in a chaotic battle, then pierced his father-in-law's chest with his sword, beheaded him, and returned to Winterfell with his head on the tip of his spear.

Robb's wife, Ari Karstark, was heartbroken upon hearing the news of her father's death, torn between her husband and father.

Although Robb and his wife are still married, their marriage is practically over in name only.

Ariel was always serious and rarely smiled, while Robb had also developed a taste for alcohol and often secretly went to the home of a brewer in Winterfell.

Because this winemaker has a wife named Bass, who has a great figure.

Chapter 938 Changes in the Kingdom

"Go, Arya."

"Since you like it."

Mrs. Caitlin looked at her son and daughter and suddenly felt a pang of guilt.

She interfered in too many of the children's affairs, but it seems she did it all wrong.

It was she who strongly advocated for the marriage between Robb and Ari Karstark, because Lady Catelyn believed that this would make Lord Rickard Karstark submit to Robb and become his ally.

But things didn't go as planned, and Rickard, as Robb's father-in-law, did many outrageous things as well.

Ari is actually a good child, unlike her father who is blinded by power.

However, Robb ultimately killed Lord Rickard with his own hands. A son-in-law killing his father-in-law was an outcome that Ari, no matter how virtuous and kind, could never accept.

Ultimately, this forced marriage reached the point of collapse. From then on, Aly stopped smiling, and Rob even sought out a brewer's wife to satisfy his desires.

His second daughter, Arya, was the same. She disliked being a noble lady from a young age and dreamed of becoming a knight who could gallop across the battlefield.

Lady Caitlin also interfered in Arya's life, hoping her daughter would change things according to her own wishes.

But now I realize that all of that was wrong.

Lady Caitlin felt a pang of guilt, and thus, unusually, did not object to Arya doing what she liked.

Arya had been bracing herself for her mother's wrath with her head down, but to her surprise, her mother actually allowed her to go to King's Landing to participate in the tournament.

The brown-haired girl was overjoyed, her beautiful gray eyes sparkling with a bright light.

Arya wasn't considered pretty as a child, just like her nickname 'Horse-faced Arya,' and she was often mistaken for a boy.

However, as Arya grew older, her appearance gradually became more outstanding.

Some even compared her to her aunt Lyanna, believing that both possessed the same wild beauty. This unique beauty can indeed sometimes attract men's attention, arousing their desire to conquer.

"I will never betray the honor of the Stark family."

Arya spoke with certainty.

"Don't be in such a hurry to say goodbye, at least don't leave secretly."

However, Lady Caitlin shook her head and said...

“Call Brandon and Rickon together, let’s prepare a farewell dinner.”

...

A farewell banquet was held in Winterfell.

Before the banquet, Lady Caitlin wrote a letter which was sent to the Wall by a raven; she needed to tell her husband, Ed, about it.

However, this time it wasn't about seeking her husband's opinion, nor was it about having him write back to persuade Arya. Lady Catelyn had already agreed to let her daughter participate in the tournament being held in King's Landing.

Lady Catelyn will also be traveling south to King's Landing with her daughters to discuss the marriage of her eldest daughter Sansa to Velas Tyrell.

With no elders left in the Tyrell family, Velas is the current head of the Tyrell family and also the Hand of the King, extremely busy with state affairs. Therefore, the Stark family did not put on such a grand show and took the initiative to send someone to King's Landing to discuss the marriage.

Eddard had known about Sansa's relationship with Velas Tyrell for some time, as Sansa had written back to him about it six months earlier.

However, during the banquet, upon hearing that his sister was going to King's Landing to participate in a tournament to compete for a spot in the Kingsguard, the younger brother Brandon was the first to step forward.

He wanted to go south with his sister to participate in this martial arts tournament.

"Hahaha--"

Unfortunately, Brandon's ambitions did not elicit applause; instead, they amused everyone at the table except for his sister-in-law, Ari Karstark.

“Bran…”

Even Robb, who is usually stern and rarely smiles, couldn't help but smile and then shook his head.

Everyone knows that Brandon's swordsmanship, while not terrible, is mediocre at best; he's a half-baked expert with nothing particularly outstanding.

Brandon can't even beat Lord Rodrik Caesar, the headmaster of Winterfell, yet he wants to participate in the tournament to compete for a spot in the Kingsguard?

Although the boy's ambition drew laughter from the room, he eventually received permission from his mother, Lady Catelyn, to travel south to King's Landing to attend his sister's wedding.

However, Rickon, who wanted to go with him, was ruthlessly rejected.

He still needed to stay obediently in Winterfell, so that if anything unexpected happened, the Stark family wouldn't be wiped out in one fell swoop.

Winterfell needs to have members of the Stark family here; Robb alone won't suffice. Although Lady Catelyn is just a woman, she is meticulous and leaves no room for error.

...

Several months later.

The Stark family, traveling south under the protection of a hundred family guards, finally arrived at King's Landing, the capital of the Empire, along the King's Road.

The city has changed significantly since the Starks returned to Winterfell.

The most obvious change is that the city walls have expanded outwards again. King's Landing now has three layers of walls. The innermost layer is the earliest wall of King's Landing. Later, due to economic development and the attraction of the capital city, many people started to set up tents around the perimeter of King's Landing, eventually forming the outer city.