Clegane's Keep.
The Seven Gods' Chapel.
The Witch Priestess stood atop the seven-tiered platform. Her long hair, freshly washed, gleamed with a silvery sheen as it draped over her shoulders, revealing a face dotted with white specks. Every seven white spots formed a small circle, her face was covered with these strange little rings.
Gregor had no idea what those white circles on her face meant, but they inspired an instinctive awe.
The Witch Priestess's expression changed, becoming radiant.
Oddly enough, her teeth, which should have been long gone, had returned. What unsettled Gregor most was that all her teeth were pitch black.
One by one, the black teeth gave the unsettling impression that she had none at all.
The person most shocked by the Witch Priestess's transformation was Lord Gawen.
At first glance, he thought the priestess of the Seven Gods' Chapel had been replaced by someone else.
Dressed in a black robe, the Witch Priestess now stood tall and straight, whereas yesterday, her back was bent with age and weakness plainly visible.
Compared to yesterday, she looked nearly twenty years younger.
What Gregor, Jeyne, and Lord Gawen saw yesterday was not the Witch Priestess's true self, but a facade, the face of frailty and decline.
Perhaps showing weakness was one of her tests for Gregor.
Perhaps the Witch Priestess was hiding many means and powers to retaliate against him.
Maester Harry stood one step below the Witch Priestess, leading everyone to face her and recite the oath.
There were two important matters today inside the Seven Gods' Chapel. The first was to have the Seven Gods witness Gregor's bestowal of knighthood, and the Clegane surname, on Dunsen and Polliver.
The second was to have nearly a hundred miners swear an oath before entering Goldenleaf Bay to mine: no stealing gold, no shirking duties, no fleeing halfway, no asking for leave or going home, and no revealing any suspicious occurrences outside, absolute secrecy.
Sixty cavalrymen watched eagerly as Dunsen and Polliver knelt before Gregor and repeated the knightly oath with Maester Harry:
The Eight Virtues of Knighthood:
Humility, Integrity, Compassion, Courage, Justice, Sacrifice, Honor, and Soul.
Then came the pledge song:
I swear to Heaven to keep my will true;
No harm to the weak, humility through;
In battle's face, no fear to show;
Falsehood's banners, I will overthrow!
Protect the weak, women and child;
Aid those in prison, with strength compiled;
Respect the gentle, never offend;
Stand by my comrades, to the very end;
True to my friends, a noble man;
Loyal in heart, as best I can!
Polliver roared his oath, his face flushed bright red. Dunsen, calm and measured, was drowned out but held his tone steady.
Gregor doubted Polliver understood a word of the knightly song. Take "respect the gentle", in his band of rogue cavalrymen, including his former self, any pretty peasant girl was like meat to a wild dog.
But then, Gregor recalled his own knighthood was granted by Prince Rhaegar when he was sixteen. Just a year later, he raped Rhaegar's wife and killed his son in a fall, violating two of the virtues: "No harm to the weak." and "Respect the gentle."
Among the knights of the Seven Kingdoms, Gregor believed only Eddard Stark and his sons from the North, along with Brienne of Tarth, the Lady of Tarth, and Tyrion Lannister, the Little Devil, truly embodied the knightly spirit.
Yet the knightly spirit wasn't what mattered most, absolute loyalty to Gregor was.
Originally, knights were cavalrymen trained in warfare, but the title evolved into an honorific to mark social rank. Knighthood was not inherited but earned through virtue, horsemanship, and valor, and knights stood at the lowest rung of nobility.
The most valued knightly quality was loyalty; second was sacrifice; third was courage.
Gregor strongly approved of these standards. Raff, Dunsen, and Polliver all met these criteria.
After Maester Harry led Dunsen and Polliver in the oath, Gregor drew his massive greatsword with a sharp inhale, holding it effortlessly in one hand. He tapped the sword's tip gently on each man's shoulder, then pressed it lightly above their heads.
Laughing, he declared, "Rise, Ser Dunsen Clegane, and you, Ser Polliver Clegane."
The two men rose and embraced fiercely, joy surging through their hearts, uncontrollable.
Beside the cavalry stood the steward, Scribe, his eyes gleaming with envy and admiration.
While Gregor was away with the cavalry at Lannisport, Scribe managed all affairs inside and outside Clegane's Keep, overseeing village construction, mining operations, and registering new lands and subjects after the Raven Lord's gift, all with Maester Harry's help.
Scribe Mark was not a knight but the steward of the entire domain. When Gregor was absent, he managed everything, from food supplies to armory stock to stable feed.
He yearned to be knighted and take the Clegane name himself, knowing he had to prove himself further to catch Gregor's notice.
Thus, the Clegane family gained two new knights.
The Witch Priestess beckoned Dunsen and Polliver up the seven-tiered platform.
In her hand was a bone needle. With a slight prick, she pierced Dunsen's fingertip, and fresh blood stained the needle's tip.
She licked the needle, then glanced at Gregor.
Though they spoke no words, Gregor understood, the test was passed. Dunsen embodied the four essential knightly virtues Gregor cared about most: Courage, Sacrifice, Honor, and Soul. The other four, Humility, Integrity, Compassion, and Justice, were outside Gregor's concern.
Polliver passed the test just as smoothly.
Beside the Witch Priestess stood her temporary assistant, Lady Jeyne, holding a bowl of holy oil. The Witch Priestess anointed Dunsen and Polliver's foreheads, formally concluding the ceremony.
Next came the miners' oath before the statues of the Seven Gods. After anointing, the steward led the mining team to Goldenleaf Bay to begin gold extraction.
Gregor said, "Ser Dunsen, you lead forty cavalrymen to supervise the miners. Any formed gold nuggets or flakes must be collected, no miner is allowed to hide gold in their belts. The cavalry will rotate shifts, mining and supervising underground workers daily."
"Yes, my lord!" Dunsen's tone was fierce with battle spirit, still stirred by his recent knighthood.
"Julie Clegane."
"Yes, father."
"You lead ten cavalrymen to oversee the builders. Finish expanding Clegane's Keep quickly, add twenty new houses. Patrol the borders twice daily, morning and evening."
"Yes, father."
"Ser Polliver, you lead ten cavalrymen and come with me tomorrow to King's Landing on official business."
"Yes, my lord!" Polliver beamed, his bald head and black beard twitching nervously with excitement.
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