act i . chapter xi

THE KNIGHT OF THE LAUGHING TREE
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RHAEGAR REMOVED HIS dragon helmet and handed it to his squire, Richard Lonmouth with a silent nod. Young Lonmouth was as good a squire as any. He was always there when needed and always absent when not. Rhaegar spoke to the boy regularly, but they never grew close as other knights and their squires did.

When he got out of his armor, he made his way up to the Grandstand, receiving bows and nods and cheers of good faith as he went. Rhaegar was sure to respond to all of them as best as he could until he was seated next to Elia, beneath his father.

"Why don't I hold the princess for a while," the Crown Prince suggested to Elia, who seemed quite happy today. She complied immediately, handing the currently well-behaved girl over to her royal husband. Rhaenys happily squealed and said "Fa-der!"

"Hello, sweet girl," he said, holding her small hand and bouncing her on his knee. She giggled excitedly and pulled on Rhaegar's hand. He couldn't help but smile. "Who is next, Prince?" Ser Arthur asked, climbing the stairs to the grandstand and stroking the thick hair off Rhaenys's smiling face.

"It's an interesting one," Rhaegar told him, giving Rhaenys a bounce. In the grandstand, there were three levels. The king sat atop the first with two kingsguards. The second level held Rhaegar and his family with the Whents. There were some more kingsguard with them. The third level was the court. All the seats were cushioned with red and it was curtained from the sun. On the raised foundation, the banners of the Great Houses-and the Whents- were hung.

"Oh is it? Who?"

"A Knight of a House Heigh and the eldest Frey," Rhaegar answered, tickling Rhaenys gently.

Arthur scoffed, then repeated Rhaegar. "An interesting one. It even rhymes."

Then, from the left side of the lists came the squire who flew the black pitchfork of the Lesser House Haigh. On the right came not just the eldest Frey, who was flying the Twin Towers, but another rider. He was short and small in stature and rode a small, white and gray dotted mare. All his armor was mismatched and ill-fitting.

Rhaegar's brows furrowed in wonder and confusion. What was going on? The strange rider trotted before the grandstand and in a strange, booming voice that was obviously not his, he projected, "I challenge Ser Hilder of House Heigh, Ser Cowell Blount, and Ser Cleos of House Frey for their armor and mounts."

Rhaegar studied the way he held himself. He saw immediately that he was not used to speaking in front of crowds or the ill-fitting armor he wore. Why was he calling these men out? No matter, if these men didn't accept the challenge, their honor was gone. "Ser Cleos Frey! Ser Hilder Heigh! Ser Cowell Blount! Step forward!" the herald boomed. Ser Cleos and Ser Hilder were already there. Ser Cowell rode in from around the list, not yet dressed in his armor. "Do you Sers accept this rider's challenge?"

The three men looked amongst themselves in confusion. The unnamed knight looked as though he should not be riding in a tourney. Not a challenge at all. Apprehensively, they all nodded yes. The herald then turned to the unnamed knight and looked at the banner draped across the flanks of his horse. A white tree with red leaves and a laughing face carved in its bark."And you Ser, the challenger, who do you ride for?"

Rhaegar could tell all the way from the grandstand that the unnamed knight stiffened in panic. He looked to the flank of his mare and to his shield as if he forgot who he was. He began to talk-in his normal voice, but caught himself immediately, clearing his throat. But it was too late. No one else may have caught it, but Rhaegar did. His voice was that of a woman. Young and soft. "The Laughing Tree," she said in her fake low tone. She didn't give a name. She only gave that bit and raced to the end of the tilt and called for her "squire".

The horn sounded.

"Look," Elia said speaking to Rhaegar and Ser Arthur. "On his shield. A laughing tree."

Ser Arthur's laughter rang melodically. "The Knight of the Laughing Tree."

Rhaegar wasn't laughing. This knight, though she was a woman, was going to win. She didn't have a name. She was targeting three other men. She doesn't have proper armor, nor the strength to wield a lance. Since she was a woman, it explained her short stature, but nevertheless, was the smallest "knight" that Rhaegar had ever seen. Only a strange, quickly drawn illustration of a laughing tree-a weirwood-on her shield.

When she was handed the lance by another masked person, she looked too weak to hold it in his small hands. But Rhaegar knew from glancing that she could ride a horse. No. She couldn't ride a horse. She could handle a horse. In a joust, that was all that was needed.

The crowd lowered to a whisper as the Knight of the Laughing Tree sped through the dirt, knocking the knight off his horse. This one was the Heigh knight. Arthur looked at Rhaegar, shocked. "Tree win!" Rhaenys announced happily, clapping her hands together. The knight didn't even rest. She ran to the end of the tilt and waited for her next challenge. The House Blount knight was next. Rhaegar found himself unable to stop himself from smiling. It was small and his lips barely curled, but the smile was there. He leaned back, unable to fathom how bizarre this was. This woman was incredible. But why these men?

"Are you amused, Prince?" Ser Arthur asked him jestingly. "Are you that All-Knowing?"

Rhaegar looked up at Arthur and did his best to smile bigger. "Now wouldn't that information be restricted to me?"

Arthur shrugged. "I just thought you might want to share why you are smiling when never have I ever seen you do that just out of the blue." Rhaegar shook his head. "I was just thinking," he told him, not wanting to reveal this woman's identity that she's obviously trying to hide for various reasons.

Arthur looked at him suspiciously, knowing Rhaegar far too well for that lie. The Prince did his best just to ignore Arthur's guilt tripping stare. He watched Ser Blount take the lance in his hand, hard and ready.

He was big and strong and rose a war horse destrier. Arthur shook his head. "The mystery runt is done for," he said. Rhaegar shook his head, looking back at the cloaked woman. Looking at her felt... weird. He felt excited and... proud. He never felt like that. He wanted to see this woman compete. He wanted to see her win. But there was familiar feeling there too. He was curious. Rhaegar wanted to know why she chose to challenge. Where did she get the armor? Where she learned to ride the way she did. How she had the courage to do this. Most importantly: Who was she? "The mystery knight will be the one taking the win.

Then he looked up at his father who sat unsteadily in his seat, shaking intensely. The entirety of the crowd, workers, and jousters fell silent, waiting for their King's okay. After a few seconds, of waiting, Rhaegar new that his father's orders were not going to come, so he himself stood up.

"Begin your joust, sers," he prodded, looking back at Aerys anxiously, wondering if he'd go off on them all for Rhaegar taking his place in the ceremonial parts of the joust. Rhaeger did not regret what he had done. If they had waited any longer, to much of the unwanted attention would have left the Knight of the Laughing Tree and landed on the royal family.

The knights nodded and trotted back to the end of the tilt, readying themselves and getting set for the physicality to come. The Knight of the Laughing Tree was handed his lance by the masked squire who was also smaller than the common man. Was he also a woman? He raised the lance up for the knight to take it in her hand just as weakly as she took it.

Rhaegar could feel his father's eyes on him and on the silent scene of this mysterious knight, coursing towards her burly competitor.

As the two jousters neared, the crown prince wrapped his hands anxiously around the wooden rests, waiting for his father to make a scene. Waiting for the woman to be knocked from her horse and her helm falling off. The Blount Knight hit the mystery knight directly on the chest, nearly unhorsing him. Ser Arthur cheered in self-glory. He shouted, "What did I say?"

Rhaegar could have easily been doing the same. The mystery knight was still on her mount. The blow that was delivered should have knocked her down. It would have knocked all the other smaller knights down. But it didn't. If that did not take him off the races, then nothing will. Now at the opposite ends of the tilt, their horses neighed and reared, ready for their next run.

In the next round, the Knight of the Laughing Tree went so fast, it was as if her horse could fly. This time, when she passed the Knight of House Blount, the unnamed knight put the tip of her lance at the center of the breastplate. To avoid it slipping up and under his gorget, he fell backward off his horse, the Knight of the Laughing Tree claimed her second victory and readied herself for the third.

Rhaegar glanced up to Aerys whose pale skin was even paler and veins were bulging out of his aged head. Rhaegar shook his head as anxiety began to prick hot at his cheeks. His father should not be sitting before the people in that state he was in. He was bound to either meet into the floor or explode into the open.

"I suppose I should just assume he'll unhorse Ser Cleos?" Arthur said to anyone who was listening. Elia's bright smile flashed tiredly. "I assume you should, Ser."

Arthur chuckled. "So quiet Lia! Your voice is seldom heard!"

"Arthur," she spoke back. "Your voice is seldom quiet."

"Aho!" he boomed. "She's saucy today, Prince!" Rhaegar looked back at his wife and best friend and shook his head. "And you're vexatious today."

Arthur let his jaw drop mockingly! "You both are! So saucy!" Rhaenys bounced on Rhaegar's leg. "Sassy!" she repeated. Elia and Arthur laughed. Only a ghost of a smile appeared on Rhaegar's young face.

"Careful, Arthur," Rhaegar warned softly. "You don't want to influence Rhaenys too much. She is a princess." Arthur jestingly scowled at Rhaegar. "My personality would fit a princess perfectly. I'm a better princess than Elia!" he teased, bumping the Dornish princess with his elbow.

"I don't think so," Elia came back. Arthur laughed and shook his head. "Sister!" he yipped to the lower level of the grandstand. Upon hearing her brother's call, Ashara Dayne stood up and faces the royal heir and their glorified bodyguard with her laughing violet eyes. "Brother!" she yipped back. "Who would make a better princess? Me or Lia."

"That's not fair!" Elia pointed out. "That's your sister."

"And your closest handmaid," Arthur said putting his hands on his hip.

Ashara then started to speak. "Arthur leave you better alone before they take your head. You know just as well that you are just craving attention," she said lightly. Arthur smiled smugly. "The first part was right. What was wrong was that it's not attention that I crave. I just love to laugh. Unlike Prince Melancholy."

Ashara pursed her lips and turned back around to sit down. "Wait, Shara," Arthur called. "Who is that sitting next to you?"

Rhaegar saw a young man with brown hair tied back and the gray wolf on the coat of arms. The Stark Direwolf. The man was of small stature. He stood up to face them. "You're not Brandon and your too old to be Benjen, so you must be Eddard. The second son of Stark," Ser Arthur said.

"That is me, my Lord Ser. I'm just attending the empty seat next to your Lady sister. I hope I'm not disturbing."

Ser Arthur chuckled. "Oh, I'm not disturbed. It's the Prince you should be worried about."

Gods, he was immature. Rhaegar turned to glare at Arthur. When his eyes met Arthur's, the kingsguard burst into laughter. Rhaegar just shook his head and turned to Lord Eddard. "I apologize for Ser Dayne's juvenile behavior. I pay no mind to your company. Perhaps it may even be enjoyable. If the Lady prefers your presence, then so be it."

Lord Eddard bowed his head to Rhaegar. "Thank you, my prince." He sat back down.

Arthur's voice sounded again. "Lord Ser Frey is ready," he said excitedly. "Will the Knight of the Laughing Tree triumph?"

Rhaegar nodded silently to himself, focusing in on the unnamed "knight" as she sped down and took the Frey heir out with one hit. She let the horse finish his run and turned her around, riding back to where Lord Cleos was getting up out of the dirt. She then projected her false voice out to the defeated. "I believe you men owe me you horses and armor."

Lord Cleos was trying his best to get his breath back, but Ser Hilder and Cowell came out yelling. "Why should we give you our horses and armor? Who even are you?" The smallfolk were cheering madly for the knight. "You can fuck off, Ser! You will not be getting my things today!"

"You can have it if you teach your squires some bloody honor! I suppose you know what they spend their time doing!"

The three men stopped bantering at the mystery rider and looked at each other strangely. After a few seconds, they turned to their squires and began chastising and beating them. Rhaegar felt a smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. She did it. She won at whatever she was trying to accomplish.

"Show your face, Knight! Your name is now required before me!" Aerys screamed, standing up. Rhaegar's heart sunk. Oh no. The knight looked suspiciously to the right, then to the left. "Remove your helm, Ser!" the king repeated. Rhaegar could see her begin to panic, breathing rapidly. Before anyone could do anything, she bolted. The crowd went silent.

So was Aerys.

Rhaegar handed his daughter back to his wife, ready for what was sure to come. It was Lord Robert Baratheon broke the silence. "Let's unmask this beast!" he said fervently. Rhaegar shook his head. This did not need to happen. She was just a young woman.

"TRAITOR!" King Aerys screeched. "THAT MAN UNDER THE MASK IS JAIME LANNISTER! TAKE HIM!"

Rhaegar stood up, looking at Lord Commander Gerold Hightower who stood by the king. Both their faces conveyed a sense of dread. The king continued to scream about the boy Jaime Lannister. The life he ruined. The King's voice wasn't the only one screaming. Lord Baratheon was ordering his men to begin riding after the mystery knight and Rhaegar's squire was by Robert's side.

"Lonmouth!" Rhaegar projected down from the grandstand. The young man straightened immediately. The people's scared, excited voices clawed at his ears like rabid animals. Aerys was only making things worse. "My Lords and Ladies! People of the Seven Kingdoms!" he addressed, trying to get them to calm. And they did. The entirety of the attendees moved their attention to Rhaegar. "Lord Baratheon, hold your men," Rhaegar ordered. "You will not be going after this knight."

"Your king has ordered it!" Aerys growled. Rhaegar cringed. He held up hand up to Robert as he turned to speak to his father. "Father, didn't you just him joust? A sea of men will only spook him. He'll get away. Or worse, he'll fight back."

"So I'm just supposed to sit idle as Jaime Lannister commits high-level treason?" His mouth twisted maniacally and his dull purple eyes held certain insanity within. Rhaegar frowned. "Riding in a tourney against your wishes is not high treason. He did not kill you. I will go after this man and catch him with stealth. You know as well as I that Robert Baratheon is not capable of that. I will bring this man back to you and can do with him as you please."

Aerys thought about it. He was paranoid. Mad. And wanted the Knight of the Laughing Tree dead. And he's got the entire kingdom thinking it was Jaime Lannister under the mask.

"Fine, Rhaegar. Find him and bring him to me," he muttered. Rhaegar nodded and turned to the crowd.

"We know not who the man under the helmet was. Only that it is not Ser Jaime Lannister. The jousting will resume and I will find the Knight of the Laughing Tree."

The people said nothing and neither did Rhaegar as he descended from the grandstand. He had absolutely no intentions of finding this woman. At least publicly. But he wanted to see who it was. He wanted to know her. He swung his leg over his horse and set out to do so.