Chapter 480 The Big Sparrow
Samwell Caesar walked slowly up the hills of Visenia.
Followed by seven knights in white armor and a group of guards.
The seven members of the Kingsguard have also been identified, and the captain is of course Ser Barristan Selmy.
The other six members are Loras Tyrell, Kato Huya, Noah Rowan, Brynden Tully, Robert Royce, and Brienne Tass.
According to the agreement, Loras Tyrell should be exiled from the Great Wall to become the night watchman, but Samwell thought that this person had helped him a lot, and he was also an important witness to the secret of Tyrion's patricide, so he allowed him to stay King's Landing, join the Kingsguard.
Kato Huya and Noah Rowan, both of whom served as Samwell's squires, and Robert Royce fought with Samwell to the last moment in the sept in Skyreach, They are all knights who have won the trust of the king.
As for the "black fish" Brynden Tully, he had never met Caesar before.
However, when Caesar and Lannister faced each other across the river, it was this man who raised the flag of rebellion in Riverrun and led the nobles in the river to escape from the control of the lion.
The chaos in the Riverlands directly led to the lack of food in King's Landing. It can be said that Samwell was able to defeat the Lannister family so smoothly, and Brynden Tully made a great contribution.
In order to commend this person's achievements, Samwell wanted to canonize him as an earl and grant him a fief.
But unexpectedly, Brynden refused directly.
This "black fish" was a deviant all his life. He once rejected the proposal of marriage proposed by his elder brother, Duke Horst Tully, and has never married a wife and had children. Naturally, he has no desire for titles and fiefdoms.
However, he was interested in the honor of the White Knight.
Samwell also fulfilled his wish and let Brynden join the Kingsguard.
The addition of the last White Knight, Brienne Tass, is quite controversial.
The Kingsguard had never had a woman, after all.
But on this point, Samwell resisted all opinions and insisted that this loyal female knight join the Kingsguard.
It's not that he is full and wants to promote women's rights in Westeros in this era, but that Brienne Tass is indeed worthy of the honor of the White Knight.
A group of people came to the top of Visenya Hill, and the majestic vault of the Baelor Cathedral and the seven shining towers came into view.
However, between the royal procession and the marble steps of the sanctuary, there were countless dirty people dressed in brown coarse cloth.
Thousands of them are lining up to receive the alms of the church.
Samwell frowned slightly.
After capturing King's Landing, he had mobilized a large amount of food to stabilize food prices, and sent people to set up almshouses throughout the city. Even Queen Margaery went to the poorest and filthiest flea dens in the city to distribute food for free, but nothing happened. Thinking of it, there are still so many people coming to the church to beg.
The guards stepped forward to separate the crowd, and Samwell passed by.
There was no cheering, no kneeling, not even a smiling face.
These people in front of the sanctuary looked at the new king with gloomy, even hostile eyes.
Samwell was not surprised by this.
After entering the Lord’s Landing, he has been slow to come to the Cathedral of Baylor to pray, nor to accept the coronation of the archbishop. Some rumors have begun to spread in the city, saying that he disrespects the Seven Gods.
He came to Visenya Hills this time to solve this matter.
The influence of the Church of the Seven Gods in Westeros cannot be underestimated. Even as a king, he needs to be cautious when dealing with this issue.
But Samwell obviously won't bow to the church either.
When Samwell crossed the crowd and was about to walk up the stone steps, he was stopped by a monk.
"Does the Great Sept of Baelor dare to stop His Majesty the King?" Ser Barristan stepped forward to question.
"Of course not." The monk said, "The Great Cathedral will not block anyone, but weapons cannot enter."
Ser Barristan said, "A knight of the Kingsguard need not disarm, even at the king's side."
"Beside the king, the king is the master." The monk said neither humble nor overbearing, "but this is the church's sanctuary, and the gods have the final say."
"When did the gods ban weapons from entering the sanctuary?" Samwell asked, "I remember the last time I came, there was no such rule."
"This is a new rule. It will be conveyed by the Archbishop, the new spokesperson of the Seven Gods."
The Archbishop did change.
The previous archbishop was torn apart by angry people during the previous King's Landing riots, and then replaced with a new archbishop of humble origin.
Normally, the archbishop is elected from among the archbishops, but now there is an exception.
In recent years, there have been constant wars, during which the displaced and impoverished people have formed a large and influential group.
Someone already saw the potential in this group and used the power of faith to hold them together.
The poorer you are, the more pious you are. This is an eternal law.
These pious and poor people are called sparrows by the people of King's Landing.
Their leader is called the "Big Sparrow", who is now the Archbishop.
After the death of the previous archbishop, the archbishops held an election meeting, but during this period, the crazy sparrows held up their swords and rushed into the Baylor Cathedral carrying the sparrow, forcing the archbishops to choose the sparrow to become the new archbishop.
"Since the gods have orders, mortals should obey." Samwell seemed not angry, and he untied the giant sword behind his back with a smile.
The seven white knights of the Kingsguard also took off their swords one after another.
The monk stepped aside.
The king leads seven white knights up the steps.
After entering the hall of lights, Samwell found more than 20 monks kneeling on the ground, but they were not praying, but scrubbing the floor.
Samwell recognized that they were all once powerful archbishops.
"Archbishop Leonard," he called to one of them, and asked curiously, "Is there a shortage of servants in the church?"
"Your Majesty," Archbishop Leonard blushed like a monkey's butt, "labor is also a form of prayer, which can please the gods."
Samwell raised his eyebrows: "Is this also the new oracle given by the archbishop?"
Archbishop Leonard seemed frightened by the teasing in the king's tone. He didn't dare to answer, but carefully looked at the person behind him.
It was a tall, thin old man with a half-brown and half-gray beard. His thin hair was combed back and tied into a simple knot. Although the robe was clean, it was full of patches.
Samwell met this person's gaze, and suddenly laughed:
"Are you the new Archbishop?"
The old man fixedly looked at the king with gray eyes, nodded and said:
"Yes, Your Majesty, I am the Archbishop."
(end of this chapter)