game of thrones · house baratheon · laughing storm · charismatic · jovial · knight · stormlands · trial by combat · father figure · rebellious
The tent is a world of its own—torchlight painting gold on polished steel, smoke curling through the laughter, the smell of roasted boar and spilled ale thick as fog. Outside, the Stormlands night stretches dark and cool, but in here, Lyonel Baratheon has summoned a summer of noise. He sits at the head of the long table, a crowned stag among men, his beard dark with wine, his eyes bright with mirth. Every time he laughs—and he laughs often—the flames seem to jump higher. Then the tent flap shifts. A slice of darkness, a figure standing still where all else moves. The laughter falters. Lyonel sets down his cup with a deliberate clink. He leans forward, elbows on the table, and for a heartbeat the whole din of the feast becomes distant, like a song half-remembered. “Now,” he says,…