Author's Note: This story has been copied over from my AO3 account. Will be dark and have lots of unpalatable material-violent deaths, sadistic characters, obscenity, popular character death. In other words, about the same as one should expect from ASOIAF+derivative. Read at your own risk. Please also note that POV views do not necessarily reflect the author's opinion-merely her/his conception about how a particular character might act.
On a lighter note, this is the first story I am posting at FFN. Reviews will be appreciated. Thank you for sticking around for so long.
Disclaimer: I own Nothing.
Chapter summary: A Second Lord Commander of the Kingsguard resents having to play Kingmaker, as he remembers how his family had paid the first time for interfering with the succession.
Dorne, 283 AL.
The messenger could not have come at a worse time, Ser Gerold Hightower thought as the rider dismounted. The Stark girl had gone into labour a few hours ago, and the maester and the wet-nurse were fretting about. He had lost count of the number of times he had heard "too young" and "birthing fever" and had to step outside the Tower to escape it all. Rhaegar would not be too happy if anything happened to the girl, but this was not an adversary swords could protect her from. She had not spoken much since her silver prince had left, but then again, she was mostly silent (aside from that one initial explosive outburst) after discovering what happened to her father and brother. Ser Gerold was glad that she had not tried to run away, as she had threatened then; he did not relish the thought of having to drag an unwilling girl back on the orders of the Prince he had sworn to serve. One test his vows did not have to endure, he thought as the messenger approached him.
'How does the war go?' he asked, even though he was almost certain the man would not know anything of importance. Lord Alayne Dayne prized discretion above all, and was not about to trust anyone with important information, especially not where Lyanna Stark was concerned. Ser Gerold had met few men half as honorable, and were it not for his handicap, it would Alayne, not Arthur who would have been the brother more befitting the White. Despite his disability, Lord Dayne's mind was as sharp as ever, and no one questioned his love for his brother or his loyalty to the Iron Throne. Without his help, they would have simply perished of thirst in the deserts of Dorne and despite the recent dearth of messages, he had done an admirable job of keeping them informed about what was happening in the outside world.
'I do not know my Lord,' the messenger replied 'Lord Dayne told me to pass these on to you.'
Ser Gerold was surprised to see that there were two letters. The first was from Lord Dayne, expected to be a summary about what went on in the outside world. The second bore the seal of the Spider and was addressed to him. So he has finally found us out, he thought, as he decided to read put that aside for now.
That proved to be a mistake, as his head spun after reading the first few words from Lord Dayne. His first instinct was to ride back to Kings Landing, but he knew that would serve nothing. He needed to speak with his brothers and pray that old age had made him senile enough to misread the missive.
He found Arthur and Oswell outside the birthing room, standing guard against a foe beyond their power to defeat. Arthur smiled on seeing him, and his grin widened after seeing the parchment in his hands.
'Alayne has written?', asked the Sword of the Morning.
'Read it, read it aloud for all to hear!' snapped Ser Gerold.
Arthur looked surprised but took the letter. His face paled within moments of setting sight on the contents, but he obeyed his command.
'Checkmate. Rhaegar lost Trident-dead along with Jon Darry, and Lewyn. Selmy injured, probably dead too. Lannister's sacked King's Landing to gain favor with the victors. Elia, Aegon and Rhaenys killed by Lannister bannermen. Jaime Lannister killed the King. Its all over. Forget the girl and run to Dragonstone immediately. The Queen was sent there along with Viserys.'
'How can this be?!', Oswell screamed. 'We had more men than them, seasoned and experienced commanders, and we lost to a whoring drunkard and a green second son! And Rhaegar! What will happen to the Seven Kingdoms now?'
Arthur had gone completely still after reading the letter, probably in shock. Ser Gerold still wondered how Lord Dayne's hand held steady while writing the letter.
'Jon, Lewyn, Barristan dead! And that oathbreaking Lannister scum betrayed us! We must ride out to dispense justice at once!' Oswell continued to rant.
'Shut up!' roared Arthur Dayne, face clinched in pain. It must be the hardest for him Ser Gerold thought, he was very close to both Rhaegar and Elia, and he had been the one to knight Jaime Lannister.
'Our duty is to defend the King, who might be born any moment as we speak', finished Ser Arthur.
The King. Oh how Ser Gerold would love to forget that detail. It was easy to think of Lyanna Stark as 'the girl', when Elia Martell still lived, despite both Rhaegar and Arthur claiming that she wed Rhaegar under a heart-tree, in true Targaryen fashion. Ser Gerold was sure that he did not approve, the Faith looked down upon a man taking a second wife while the first lived. Then again, in the eyes of the Faith, the sins of House Targaryen were already prodigious, with their generations of incest. Still, polygamy was not something that had been carried out since Maegor the Cruel. The Old King and Queen Alyssanne had seen to that, although the practice was not explicitly forbidden. Aegon III was the last King to have considered it, when Jaehaera Targaryen failed to bear a child. There was no love lost between the couple, and the Queen chose poison over shame, clearing the last obstacle for the Dragonbane.
Polygamy had proven hard enough to defend even with dragons, and he did not think for a moment that the Lords would consider this union to have any legitimacy. Yet, with Aegon dead, the alternative was truly frightening-Viserys, who had grown up under the shadow of Aerys' madness, unlike Rhaegar (though he was not sure if that had made any difference).
Please let Rhaegar be right and it be a girl, he prayed, I do not want to become a second Criston Cole.
Arthur and Oswell were still arguing, and he knew he had to step in. 'No one is going anywhere. We will decide after she gives birth', ordered Ser Gerold, his mind still far away. Crowning Lyanna Stark's son would have one advantage; it could possibly reconcile them with the North, whose army had truly won the war for Robert Baratheon. Lord Stark may not be too unwilling to see his nephew as King, with possibly himself as Hand (though he did know very little about the second son on Rickard Stark to be truly certain). Blood, he hoped, would run thicker than water. Still, the Queen may not approve. Despite whatever Arthur and Oswell thought, Ser Gerold would obey Rhaella Targaryen over any child-king. But she was at Dragonstone, and a decision might have to be made before then. Please let it be a girl, he thought, and spare me the need to choose.
It had to be a boy, with silver hair and indigo eyes-to spite him all the more, he thought, as the Kingsguard stepped into the room. No question about who the father is, the Lord Commander thought. And the girl was too weak to survive a trip to Dragonstone. A decision had to be made then and there.
'What is his name?', asked Ser Arthur Dayne.
'Jon', replied the girl, weakly but defiantly.
Oswell reeled over in maniacal laughter. 'This is the woman you hope to make Queen Arthur! This fool is supposed replace Elia, who doesn't even realize the gravity of the situation!'.
Arthur's face whitened, and he clenched his knuckles, but did not move. The girl simply looked at them in confusion.
'I am sorry that you have to hear ill news so soon after your ordeal my lady,' Arthur spoke, 'but this cannot wait. Robert Baratheon killed Rhaegar at the Trident. We have lost, and King's Landing has fallen. The King is dead, as is Princess Elia, Prince Aegon and Princess Rhaenys. The Queen and Prince Viserys fled to Dragonstone.'
The girl did not look like she was capable of speech anymore, an expression of abject horror on her face. He was proven wrong a moment later when a moan came out of her face, which suspiciously sounded like Elia.
'Why are you still here then? Shouldn't you be with your new King now?'Lyanna Stark spoke after what appeared to be long moment.
'We are with our new King, Your Grace', spoke Ser Arthur.
'Not if she insists on calling him Jon', muttered Oswell.
'He is not a pawn for you in this game!' screamed the girl with unexpected force.
Ser Gerold made his choice at that moment. For all that I wished to not be Criston Cole, I am the Kingmaker now, Ser Gerold thought. And my choice shall decide the course of History in Westros.
'King Viserys has no need for possible pretenders, especially in this hour of crisis. As Kingsguard my duty is to protect the King, although you may rest assured I won't be as cruel as Clegane.'
'What are you talking about?', the girl spoke, shock still clear on her face.
'Gregor Clegane smashed Prince Aegon's skull down. I won't be half so cruel, a pillow will be adequate' spoke Ser Gerold, his voice becoming harsher as he recalled the details from the Spider's letter. 'No Daemon Blackfyre for King Viserys III, and no one for Starks to rally behind in future.'
'No!' screamed the girl, 'You cannot!'
'It will be either the Crown or the pillow!' roared Ser Gerold. 'Make your choice now Your Grace! Hand him over to Ser Arthur if you want him to live.'
Trembling, the girl complied, shifting his mind to the next priority. Oswell beat him to expressing his feelings though.
'We need a name befitting a Valyrian monarch, not something used by Northern savages.'
We do indeed. Aegon is out, as is Aerys, Rhaegar and Viserys. Maegor is political suicide, as is Aenys or Baelor. Daemon cannot be considered for the same reason. Too few people remember Maekar, but it is the Targaryen legacy we need to base our future campaigns on. Daeron may be a good choice, or Aemon after the Dragonknight and the master who Rhaegar liked so much. But there was no king Aemon before.
Then the answer came to him, as he remembered another pale face with large violet eyes, surrounded by silver hair. The sickly King stood beside the painting of another who had borne his name, firstborn son of King Aenys Targaryen and Lady Jorelle Stark [1], the King who had defeated the Faith and gave the realm six decades of peace.
'Jaehaerys Targaryen, Third of his name' he declared. 'As the Regent, the Queen must be informed at once about the birth of her grandson'. Mother of the King or not, Rhaella Targaryen was his Queen, not Lyanna Stark. He hoped that naming the babe after her father[2] will make her think favorably about her grandson and not oppose his choice of King in this hour of crisis.
'Well then,' Arthur spoke, 'We must be glad that his father had already left us with all that is needed for coronation'.
He had, starting with Aegon III's crown and Dark Sister, for his own Visenya Targaryen. He was wrong about the sex though, something Ser Gerold was now glad for. This babe represented their only chance of victory and vengeance, should Lord Stark see it fit to adhere to the words of his wife's family, Family, Duty and Honor.
The risk of dragging in a Dornish Septon was too high, and it was he who had to proclaim Jaehaerys Targaren, Third of his Name as the King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm. The Stark girl was still rather disapproving, but fell in line with her son's sworn protectors quickly enough. She truly did not want to be Queen, Ser Gerold thought in marvel, but at least she understands the need to keep the boy safe from the Lannister-Baratheon combine. Lord Alayne shot off ravens to both the Queen and Lord Stark, but he did have his apprehensions about the plan. Your plan is sound, he had written, and yet I cannot bring myself to agree wholeheartedly with this. Ashara disagrees with your characterization of Ned Stark, though I have told her she is just being a naïve girl. Nonetheless, I am somewhat apprehensive, though I will obey the King.
The Spider had mentioned that Stark had protested the butchering of Rhaegar's children, and had fought with Baratheon over it. A defection seemed likely, and Ser Gerold hoped that family ties would prove stronger than friendship. There was no way to inform the Spider about the new King though, he was still in the heart of King's Landing and Ser Gerold did not trust him completely.
The Queen responded with haste, and Ser Gerold was relieved to know that she fully supported his decision to bypass Viserys. It was obvious that her bias for Rhaegar and hatred of her brother won the day, and she appreciated his desire to not see the second coming of Aerys II on the Iron Throne. The Velaryon fleet was prepared to attack King's Landing at any moment. One flaming arrow into the wildfire stockpile, she wrote, and the enemy decapitated and the war won. She also approved of his decision to ally with Lord Stark and offer him the position of Hand, should he back his nephew. Rhaella Targaryen was not generally supportive of her brother-husband's actions, and she had fought tooth and nail to prevent the Stark burning, rightly foreseeing the civil war to come.
Damn you, Criston Cole, thought Ser Gerold, were it not for the Dance, it would be her I served. The eldest inherit according to Valyrian law, and the Queen would have made a far better ruler than her brother.
Ser Gerold was also surprised to know that the Queen was with child. A girl, she hoped, writing 'I do not intend to fail the son as badly as I failed the father.'
Lord Stark however, had not responded, and the first word about his movements came from Lord Dayne. Stark had lifted the siege of Storm's End and had made the Tyrells bend the knee to Robert Baratheon. The loss of the Reach was effectively a death sentence for the Targaryen cause, and Lord Dayne repeated his earlier advice of running to Dragonstone, since Dorne too would yield soon enough. However, Lyanna Stark was in no state to travel; she had barely survived the childbirth, and was in a stupor most of the time. Lord Dayne had suggested poison, but Ser Gerold had refused to entertain the notion. Unlike Ser Jaime, he was no Oathbreaker. Besides, the weather had turned for the worse, making any voyage to Dragonstone unsafe, especially with the now hostile Redwyne Navy on the Eastern Sea. The free Cities were another option Lord Dayne had suggested, but all three of the sworn brothers were united in their opposition: The Kingsguard do not flee. Leaving Westros is abandoning the cause of the True King. Exile is not a pill we will swallow.
Ser Gerold was no fool, and he knew what was going to come, though he still hoped that they could somehow escape to the Island seat of House Targaryen. Thus when he saw Ned Stark and his companions approached the Tower, his first command was return the King to his mother. Better die a King being defended by the Kingsguard than die a beggar far away, was what he told his brothers. Arthur hesitated on hearing that, but then all three marched out, secure in the knowledge that they would die that day, in service to the Last Targaryen King of Westros.
Notes:
[1]: This is a slightly dated hypothesis that GRRM has confirmed is not the case. However, I did not know that while writing this and in any case, makes little difference. Copied from AO3: 'We do not know who Aenys Targaryen married till now, and so this is just a guess. However, it will not be surprising if he had married a Stark. Ive read it somewhere that he did not marry a sister, and that seems plausible for alliance building. Umber mentions 'it was the dragons we married but the dragons are no more' before crowning Robb Stark and calling for secession. Torrhen Stark might have knelt, but his men would have wanted something in return to comply with this, suggesting a marital alliance to bind the North (the way Dorne was finally bound 200 years later). A Princess marrying into House Stark is plausible, except there are no records of a dragon being anywhere around Winterfell, in the days when Targaryens still had dragons. A Stark woman marrying into the Targaryens is an alternate solution, one that seems plausible as Jaehaerys I defeated the Faith at a rel. young age, where his father and uncle had failed. It might mean he had a powerbase independent of the Faith (The Northmen) or that he was not a product of incest or both. His sister-wife Alyssanne had blue eyes, rather surprisingly. Targaryens were unlikely to be marrying into the recently elevated House Tully, but a former Royal house was a possible option.'
[2]: Jaehaerys II Targaryen: Second son of Aegon V, made King after Summerhall. Sickly and weak of constitution, he lasted three years before being succeeded by his son Aerys II.