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Chapter 71 - Suitor
🕑 Added 2026-01-07 23:34:17 +0000 UTCAsgard
Robert walked into the Administrative Hall, his curiosity highly piqued.
A woman that wanted to challenge him for his hand in marriage? It probably was a first in the continent’s history.
There, waiting in the middle of the hall, was a woman wearing layered armor. Overlapping metal plates shaped like scales covered her entire body from shoulders to thighs, with the helmet of a large cat he did not recognize. Under it she had an emerald green skirt. The woman came to his shoulder, taller than most females he had met.
She looked very Asian, or to be more specific, Chinese, in her attire.
Twenty men stood behind, unarmed, standing in formation, hands gathered at the back. They looked very professional, similar to modern armies. That alone was impressive enough.
“I’ll admit to being very curious. A woman challenging my hand for marriage? Never even considered the idea until now,” he admitted. It usually was the opposite way, with the hero of the fairy tale challenging someone else for the fair maiden’s hand.
“This is Lady Mei Lin. She hails from Yi-Ti,” the man next to her, a Braavosi by his looks, translated her words.
“Yi-Ti?” Robert whistled. “The farthest visitor we had was from Moraq.”
“So she heard my fame and decided she wanted me? Do I understand it correctly?” he asked, tapping on his forehead.
Mei Lin removed her helmet.
As he expected, she looked Asian, with a lovely face, accented by a shallow scar running down from her left brow to her cheek. With black eyes and hair, which was tied together in a bun, she looked like a fighter princess from a Disney movie.
And her name did sound like Mulan.
“Lady Mei Lin indeed seeks a worthy husband. All her previous prospects proved to be lacking,” the translator explained.
Mei Lin did not speak so far.
“What exactly are her terms? And what do I get if I am victorious?” he asked. If he wasn’t getting anything for victory, then this challenge was very unfair.
“Should Lady Mei win, you will take her family name,” the translator said. The terms didn’t end there, however. Mei wanted to be included in the governance of Asgard. She had a small fleet and would include them in Asgard's navy.
“Should you prove to be victorious, Lady Mei offers you this,” she explained as two of her men brought forward a thick chest.
The padlock was unlocked, and one of the servants pushed the top half back.
Robert chuckled.
“A dragon egg? How interesting,” he said. It was a black egg, similar to Ormund, and was inert.
“Lady Mei discovered it in the Shadow Lands, in an altar made for the gods of Valyria.”
His eyes widened at the revelation. “Fascinating.”
“I accept this challenge,” he said, gesturing to Tyrion. “Take the lady to the training arena. I will be there as soon as I am ready.”
—
He stepped into the arena in his armor, hammer resting on his shoulder. Tyrion, Davos, and Sandor were in attendance, as well as several guards and spectators, along with Mei Lin’s men standing on the side.
“I did hear you favored a hammer,” Mei Lin spoke, with a very noticeable accent. She was brandishing a steel sword with an intricate handle and a red, woven ornament hanging at the end.
Robert chuckled. This woman was full of surprises. “If you knew Westerosi, why bother with the interpreter?”
“I wished to see how you would treat me if you thought I did not know your tongue,” she said, picking her words carefully.
“Naughty girl,” he smirked, waggling his finger.
“Any conditions for the fight?” Mei asked, and Robert rolled his shoulders. “Not really. Fight however you want.”
“No crying foul later?” She grinned.
“Nope.”
Robert guessed that she had something up her sleeve, though, for her to close the ten-foot distance by jumping was not it.
Neither was her sword being set aflame green.
The Westerosi part of the crowd gasped, and swords were almost pulled.
He raised the hammer, blocking the downward attack. Weirdly enough, Mei Lin did not drop and continued to attack while floating.
The sword pressed down on the hammer, and he could feel the heat through the openings in his armor. He pushed the floating woman back and then swung wide to create more distance.
“You can fly? Neat,” he said, a smile unseen inside his helmet. Raising the hammer, he cast a shadow on Mei Lin’s boots. The shimmers that were almost invisible in the sunlight became apparent.
Foreign letters covered her boots, though they were almost transparent.
“That is not all,” she smirked. She ran her hand over the sword, setting her gauntlet on fire, before launching a green fireball at him.
Robert batted it away with the hammer, dispelling the magical attack midair.
Mei Lin dove at him again. Her attacks were fast, but he could match them. Retaliating, however, was difficult due to her mobility.
But he had an idea.
He blocked a swing to his head and one to his neck, taking a step towards the sorceress. Pressing the attack, he swung the hammer at her with every step, forcing Mei Lin back. She was content to let Robert tire himself, making sure to stay out of the reach of his hammer.
He was testing the limits of her flight, and she was barely out of his strike range, though he couldn’t be sure she was just being cautious enough to not reveal everything.
Swinging his hammer clockwise with all his strength, Robert let it go midway and sprinted forward. It missed, as he expected, but also pushed her further back. Stepping on the windowsill, he took another step at the outlying top part and launched himself back. Turning mid-air, he barely managed to grab her right boot.
It wasn’t strong enough to keep both of them in the air, and he landed with a thud, still holding Mei Lin like a balloon.
Feeling the intense heat of the blade through the gaps in his gauntlet, Robert reared his arm to slam her to the ground. Mid swing, her boot expanded, slipping out of her feet, and she went flying back.
Rolling on the ground, she sprang to her feet. Glancing at the boot, he threw it to the side, away from her.
Both fighters sized each other up and charged at the same time. Robert picked his hammer up from the ground, aiming for her center chest, and swung it hard.
She bent backwards and knelt, sliding on the ground. Mei Lin then rolled forward as he used the force of the attack to turn around and bring the hammer down.
She stabbed her flaming sword at his chest, but he slapped it aside with the handle of the hammer and slammed it into her face.
Mei Lin stumbled back, shaking her head. She stabbed her sword into the ground, and two wisps of fire rose from each side, coalescing in her hands.
Robert wasn’t idle, though, and immediately bolted forward to stop her.
He rolled to the right, dodging the fire stream, and threw his hammer again. It pulled the sword out of the ground, and she backflipped out of the way. The flames in her hand disappeared, and he pressed his advantage before she could retrieve the sword.
She was good at martial arts too, expertly dodging his right and left hooks. He overextended a right hook on purpose, and she used his arm as a springboard to wrap her legs around his neck. She hit his helmet thrice in quick succession with her elbow. He caught the fourth strike and slammed her on the ground.
Mei bent her knees, feet hitting the ground first, before Robert raised and slammed her again, harder, only for her to do the same.
He raised her up again, but she coiled around his arm like a viper, trying to bend it back. Grunting, Robert brought his arms closer and ripped her off of his arm. Holding her by the back of her neck and skirt, he brought her down again.
She hit the ground this time, groaning in pain while rolling over. He waited to see whether she would get up and wasn’t disappointed.
Raising his forearm, he blocked the dirt she threw at his face. Using the split second, she kicked him on the head with a reverse spinning kick. Landing on her hand, she spun and slammed both feet to the side of his knee.
The kick to the head caused his helmet to ring, and the hit to the knee caused his balance to waver but did not harm him.
Back on her feet again, she launched a flurry of kicks and punches to his joints and head. He let her, taking the hits without suffering any damage.
Mei tried to land another kick on his knee, but he moved with a burst of speed. Dodging the kick, he pulled her leg towards himself, breaking her balance, and wrapped both arms around her hip from the back.
Leaning back, he suplexed her hard enough that she went out like a candle, even with her padded helmet.
Dropping the unconscious woman, Robert removed his helmet. Shaking his head, he gave a small bow in respect.
She definitely was one of the best opponents he had fought.
Ignoring the cheers of the crowd, he called for the healers.
—
Robert, after Mei Lin was taken to a room to rest, went to remove his armor and returned to his solar.
“Quite the interesting woman,” Tyrion commented, handing him a cold glass of lemonade. He was hesitant to use the fridge at first, but once the heat became unbearable, he relented.
He took a sip, eyes closed and smiling. “That she is.”
“She lost, but I wager you won’t find a better fighter than her,” the dwarf added.
“I just met her today. It is too soon for a romantic like me,” he replied. Good thing Robert was who he was; otherwise, he would have been wed by now.
“She can use magic too. That was rather unexpected, for her to fly like that,” Tyrion continued, unwilling to yield yet.
“I know, right. Did you have the boot and the sword returned to her room?” No matter how interesting they were, Marwyn would need Mei Lin’s permission first.
“Of course.”
“Is everything ready for the bridge opening in Harroway?” he asked, focusing on business. While the fight was a nice distraction, he still had too much to do.
“Aye,” Tyrion nodded. “Two weeks after that, the construction for the barracks of the First Legion will start, and in four months, we will have our first Advancement Fair,” he said, laying down the timetable.
“You might be able to sneak in a wedding between the barracks and the fair,” the dwarf quipped, and Robert had had enough.
“Any news from your father?” he asked. Tywin had not sent a letter back about the fate of Brightroar, which still was hanging on a wall in Tyrion’s manse.
“He still did not respond. And I don’t think he ever will,” he said.
His father was too prideful.
“And your aunt?” Robert continued. Not that he cared about Genna or her feelings, but it was nice to irritate a Frey.
“Happy that Walder is gone, furious that House Frey, and her by association, is being mocked to the ground,” Tyrion said.
Robert sniggered, humming the tone of Walder, the Whore of King’s Landing.
—
Mei Lin woke up the following day, nursing a headache. She admitted her loss, but Robert invited her to stay for a while. He was sure she had stories to tell, and he had nothing fun to do.
And if he liked her, marriage was possible down the line.
She was from Yi-Ti, the sole daughter of a merchant family after her father, the patriarch, and brother, the heir of the family, had died under mysterious circumstances. The family fortune would be passed to her uncles and cousins, but Mei knew in her heart that they were responsible for the deaths of her family.
People underestimated her, believing Mei to be a withdrawn and shy girl. It was due to how she preferred to stay in the family compound, training with a blade in secret.
Using how her extended family members saw her, she was able to acquire proof regarding the deaths of her family. The officials, either bribed by her uncle or not interested in what she had to say, did not do anything.
Taking the matters into her own hands, she slew the male members of her extended family at the age of seventeen. The inheritance was left solely to her, though Mei knew it would never be accepted.
She sold her family business and home, buying herself a ship and hiring a crew. For years, Mei went on expeditions, seeking long-lost treasures and ancient ruins.
Which was how she had found the Sword of the Emerald Viper and the boots.
Eventually, Yi-Ti lost its appeal, and she sailed farther, her single ship turning to a small fleet over time.
Shadow Lands, which was close to Yi-Ti, was her first destination. By her account, the land itself was cursed with something ancient.
Shadows seemed alive, but only when they weren’t looking directly. Some of her men had died, with a black, inky substance pouring out of their eyes, nose, ears, and mouth.
No one knew how or why it happened, and she had stayed only long enough to find the egg.
Her next destination was Sothoryos, but the continent itself was too dangerous to map without an army. The Sothoryi near the shore were, by her description, some sort of apes that had evolved enough to be sapient, but not very bright.
There were four ruined cities on the northern coast. Three of them were former Ghiscari cities that had fallen to ruin, but one was different.
Yeen.
Built entirely from oily black stone, none knew who owned the city in the first place. All attempts to settle the city had ended in a disaster, and if he remembered right, Nymeria’s people had tried it once as well.
It sounded just the kind of place he would investigate to discover what ancient horror lay beneath it.
Following Sothoryos, she had fought pirates and slavers in the Summer Sea and visited the Summer Isles for their beauty. Eventually, she was too intrigued by Robert’s fame to not visit Westeros.
Seeing the corpse of the demon and the horns of the kraken, not to mention the ruins of Valyria, had brought her to Asgard.
Her next destination, provided nothing happened between her and Robert, was the Iron Islands, or as he had named them, the Heaven’s Stead.
The chance to see a tree that had bloomed with magic was not one she would pass up.
For now, she would stay in Valhalla so they could exchange tales and see where it led.
Comments
It's Just Bob
Nice! Finally someone who can match Robert in the yard to some degree
