S1┬ÀE4 ÔÇö A Trial of Seven
The hour retold
The law catches up with the fists, and it wears the oldest shape the Faith allows. Rather than a simple trial by combat, Aerion demands a trial of seven ÔÇö the Andal way, seven champions a side ÔÇö knowing exactly what he is doing: a hedge knight with no name must find six men willing to fight and perhaps die for him, and the price of losing is precise and cruel, the hand and the foot that struck the prince. The hour becomes a study in what an oath actually weighs when it is asked for out loud, as Dunk begs the length of the meadow and mostly hears reasons.
What he finds, in the end, restores exactly as much faith as the tourney has spent. Raymun Fossoway shames his cousin Steffon into a promise Steffon sells to Aerion by morning ÔÇö and is knighted at dawn to stand in the traitor's place, the first green apple of his branch. Broken-legged Ser Humfrey Hardyng demands a place against the prince who killed his horse; Ser Humfrey Beesbury and Ser Robyn Rhysling stand as well; the Laughing Storm takes his place with a roar. And with the horn already blowing and Dunk still one man short, the Prince of Dragonstone himself, Baelor Breakspear, the best man in the realm, takes up a plain shield and remarks that his helm seems dusty ÔÇö the seventh man, on a hedge knight's side.
What happens
- Aerion demands a trial by combat ÔÇö and names it a trial of seven, the old Andal way: seven against seven, and Dunk must find six men to die for a hedge knight's honor.
- The price of losing is a hand and a foot, the parts that struck the prince. The price of asking men to stand: everything they have to lose.
- Raymun Fossoway shames his cousin Steffon into promising help; Steffon sells his promise to Aerion instead by morning ÔÇö and Raymun is knighted on the spot to take his place.
- Ser Humfrey Hardyng, broken leg and all, demands a place against the prince who killed his horse. Ser Humfrey Beesbury and Ser Robyn Rhysling stand with him.
- One man short at the horn's blowing ÔÇö until the Prince of Dragonstone takes up a plain shield: 'It seems my helm is dusty.'