The Squire of the Morning
"Watch yourself!"
Alexander stepped to his left as his blonde haired opponent slashed downward at his right shoulder. The dull training sword barely missed and Alexander quickly went on the offensive with a downward stroke of his own training sword. His opponent pivoted, parrying his strike, sending a loud clang across the dusty training yard. Alexander stepped back and surveyed the young man across from him. The boy was breathing hard. "You should be more worried about yourself, Jaime."
Jaime Lannister laughed and once again relaxed himself into his ready stance. The blonde was good. Much better than he had been when he first started learning. Especially for a boy who had barely seen fifteen namedays. But Jaime did not stand a chance against Alexander.
Alexander continued on the offensive, throwing a quick slash at the smiling Lannister. Again, Jaime parried sending the sound of their clashing swords across the yard to join the many other noises filling the training grounds. The yard was bustling activity. Every section and piece of equipment was in use as many of the squires, guardsmen, and knights wanted to get their blood flowing and put in some training before the meeting in the keep was adjourned. The day was hot, the merciless sun beat down on the training yard and its occupants. Alexander and Jaime were both sticky with sweat, making it increasingly difficult to see as liquid kept dripping into their eyes. It didn't help that they were covered in at least two coats of dust kicked up from all the activity in the yard.
The flow of the fight changed suddenly changed. Jaime went on the offensive and was making quick, calculated strikes across Alexander's defense. He noticed Jaime's smile took on a hard edge and the boy's eyes belied his cheerful grin. He's finally being serious. Trying to beat me into submission before he's too tired. Alexander had to speed up his foot work and deflect blows much more swiftly, but it did not stop him from noticing that a small crowd gathering to watch him and Jaime fight as it often happened when two great swordsman squared up against one another. How frequently did the people of King's Landing get the opportunity to see two squires of their caliber cross swords?
Apparently not very often, thought Alexander. He noticed that some of the guards had stopped patrolling to watch, as well as some those who were training. Time to finish this. He and Jaime had already been slashing at practice dummies for hours before their bout. He could see that Jaime was getting sloppy, but it seemed the blonde's pride would not allow him to stop until Alexander stopped. Which wasn't going to be happening anytime soon as he had unnatural amounts of stamina from years of cardio training, but also, he suspected, it had something to do with the fact that his magical core helped supplement his energy. Alexander enjoyed fighting with Jaime, but he did not want to fight an opponent who could barely keep up. In addition, he had other plans than to train the entire day.
Alexander feinted to his right as Jaime tried to stab him in the thigh leaving the blonde nearly defenseless from Alexander's next move. Jaime tried to recover, but he was too slow. Alexander punched the pommel of his sword into Jaime's forehead knocking the blond flat on his back. The crowd clapped and yelled congratulations to Alexander, which he ignored with a straight face. Instead of celebrating he walked over to where Jaime was just starting to sit up.
"Here." Alexander grasped his downed training partner's forearm and pulled him up.
"Thanks." Jaime said as he rubbed his head. There was a large bruise already forming in the center of his forehead. "Nice move… But I would have had you if I hadn't slipped."
Alexander smirked and patted the blonde's shoulder reassuringly. "Sure you would have." The two squires walked through the dispersing crowd to where they had left their towels.
"I hear that sarcasm." Scowled Jaime playfully. After the two of them wiped the dust and sweat off their faces, they made their way together to their rooms. The halls were cool compared to the dusty yard they had just left, helping them to further wind down from their fight. "You know you don't have to be so serious. You could join in the people's celebration. It's not every day that people see me at the mercy of a mere squire. Take pride in that accomplishment."
Alexander snorted. "You say that as if it were some great achievement."
"I know you're good. I heard all about it before coming here. The second Sword of the Morning they call you. Or the greatest squire in the Seven Kingdoms. Why do you think I watched you train for a week and challenged you to a fight?"
"No wonder you were staring at me. I thought you found me especially good looking or your training dummy especially ugly." Alexander said with a wry grin.
Jaime burst out laughing drawing smiles and funny looks from a few of the guards strolling through the halls. "I did not hear about you being funny as well." Jaime stopped laughing, then continued more seriously. "I had to make sure that you were really skilled. I know all about your older brother. The real Sword of the Morning. I wanted to know if the rumors were true or if your brother's reputation was really what people saw in you."
"Well, I hope you are satisfied."
Jaime grinned. "I'm content with what I experienced. You are as good as they say, but I'm still better."
"Of course you are Ser Slip-On-Nothing." Alexander said, causing Jaime to protest and go into great detail about the quality of the dirt in the training yard and how it was not conducive to swordplay. Alexander had heard rumors all week about a young blonde Lannister entering the keep with his lord, Lord Sumner Crakehall. According to the hand maidens, the Lannister was the most beautiful little lordling they had ever seen. And according to a few the guardsmen, the young Lannister had been both cocky and brash as he strutted into the keep, boasting to Lord Crakehall that he would be known as the greatest knight anyone had ever seen after he challenges Ser Arthur Dayne to a fight. Alexander was not impressed. He had also heard that Lord Crakehall merely laughed and reminded his squire that he was not even a knight yet. That had effectively ended the blonde's monologue.
On their very first face to face meeting in the training yard, Jaime had announced his name quite pompously to Alexander and challenged him to a fight, "You're making quick work of that dummy. How about you try your sword against a real opponent… unless you're afraid?" Alexander had been taken aback. Jaime's tone reminded him of his first nemesis, Draco Malfoy. They both had that cocky and spoiled rich kid feel about them. Alexander was not intimidated; he knew how to deal with people like that. This must be that cocky young Lannister, he had thought. Alexander only nodded and remained silent. Jaime must have known who he was already or the blonde wouldn't have made such a bold entrance, so Alexander didn't bother to introduce himself. Alexander was prepared to make quick work of the boy, but he was surprised by the Lannister's skills. Jaime Lannister was almost as good as his boasting implied. If he had to compare, he would say that Jaime was probably better than most of the knights in the yard and those men had been training for far longer. But still, training with the Sword of the Morning no doubt gave him an advantage that Jaime could never hope to have. After all, Ser Arthur Dayne is the greatest knight who ever lived.
When the two squires reached the dining quarters they both realized they needed to head opposite directions to reach their individual rooms. Jaime Lannister offered a mocking salute. "It was nice fighting you, Alexander. Next time you'll see the better swordsman win."
Alexander offered his hand in return and said, "Then I look forward to beating you again."
Jaime laughed and shook Alexander's hand, before strutting away through a separate hall. Alexander shook his head at the Lannister's good humor, before following suit and headed towards his own quarters. He had exercised enough today, now it was time to move onto his favorite part of the day. Writing to his sister Ashara. Ashara and Alexander frequently sent ravens to each other during their time apart. Both were equally excited about what Alexander had been discovering using the libraries in King's Landing.
Upon opening the canister that Ashara had given him as a parting gift, Alexander had been confused about the map that it contained. It seemed incomplete with lines and lines of barely legible scribbles along the margins. So many scribbles that it looked like the map had black borders along its four sides. Alexander was pleased to find that Ashara had also sealed a note with the map. It explained how she had discovered the map in their great, great uncle's private documents, which had been stored in a less visited part of Starfall. Apparently, their great granduncle had discovered writings about long lost valyrian swords that could still be found in the East and was obsessed about obtaining one for himself. According to Ashara's research, their great granduncle was passed up as Sword of the Morning and so he wanted a special blade for himself that could be passed down, regardless of skill, through the Dayne family. Their great granduncle had drawn the map himself as a starting point for where to find such a sword, listing the last known locations of some of the weapons. However, the scribbles contained the bulk of the information, detailing where in the libraries of King's Landing that someone could learn about the possible final resting places of lost valyrian swords. Ashara, already knowing that Alexander was heading to King's Landing, probably planned the research as part of the adventure, as he would already be in the correct city to start looking.
The sibling's initial excitement died down as many of the leads that Alexander followed ended up at dead ends. So instead Ashara had inquired about the many inhabitants of King's Landing, the most famous of which, was King Aerys. Alexander couldn't honestly say much of anything about the King. Aerys was like a ghost in his own his own home, always haunting the same locations, with a strange glint in his eyes. He rarely saw the King, but when he did he believed the dark whisperings that the Targaryen family madness had been awakened after the King's capture and stay at Duskendale. The King was pale. Pale to the point that he looked sickly. Each time the King appeared his long white hair was longer and his nails were the same. They were starting to look as sharp as the swords he sat on when he dared to sit on the Iron Throne.
Alexander could certainly write about the Iron Throne. The chair, if you could even call it that, was as fascinating as Dawn had been in his youth. The first time he saw it he stood in awe at the magnificent work. The throne had been melted together from thousands of swords. Most of the swords still looked sharp resulting in its occupant needing to be careful and alert. Which you had to be if you were King. Although, he had heard talk about how Aerys frequently cut himself on the throne each time he did sit on the throne, which certainly did not help the King's mood. However, Alexander's awe was not only caused by the appearance of the Iron Throne, but he felt a strange magic still lingering on the massive chair. He had been curious and wanted to touch the chair, much like he did Dawn, but did not dare to with so many people milling around at the time. So, in the dead of night he had cast a disillusionment charm on himself, making his body nearly invisibly, and snuck into the throne room. Placing a tentative hand on the chair revealed that there was indeed magic that had seeped into each sword. It certainly added credence to the fact that the chair was forged by using dragon fire, which was magical in nature. He also heard that valyrian swords were forged in the same manner giving him more reason to want his own.
Just as Alexander reached his door, he spied a maid hastily making her way out. The maid clearly was hoping to leave unseen and gave a surprised yelp, her eyes widening at the approaching black haired squire and dropped her basket, spilling her towels.
"Here let me help you with that." Said Alexander giving the maid an amused look. She was young and quite comely. And was clearly too embarrassed to remember to help pick up her belongings, instead covering her mouth with her hands trying to cover up her blush and expression. "What were you doing in my private quarters?"
"I was just helping my lord prepare a bath. The other maids were telling me about how you and lord Lannister were fighting and I thought you might want to relax after finishing." Answered the maid timidly. Alexander handed he the basket with the towels refolded. "Thank you my lord."
"No problem. Thank you for preparing my bath." Alexander said. With that he entered his room and shut the door, but not before he thought he heard a dreamy sigh. Alexander frowned. He knew what the maids and ladies of King's Landing thought of him. He was the handsome younger brother of the Sword of the Morning. A young man of great skill. But also great mystery. In fact, many compared him to the Crown Prince, Rhaegar Targaryen. Both he and the prince were great with the sword, but their true passions lay in another discipline. They were prone to wander off alone to spend time thinking, reading, or, in Rhaegar's case, playing music. Arthur had told him many times about how talented Rhaegar was with the harp. Alexander was only treated to the sound once, but he agreed. There was something almost magical about the way Rhaegar could play. His song was so sad though.
There was another thing that the servants and guards noticed about Alexander and their Prince. Both possessed haunting eyes, which seemed to make the both of them even more attractive to the fairer sex. Alexander knew that he was serious. And everyone else knew Alexander was too. He had even overheard a few guards betting who could get him to laugh. It didn't bother Alexander and he certainly was not going to change his ways.
Prince Rhaegar has always been serious too, thought Alexander as he sank into his bath. At least according to Arthur. Alexander's muscles were dead tired. He was glad that the maid had drawn his bath for him, but they were getting bolder. Many of the younger maids were always eager to help him, usually giggling and blushing all the while. They always whispered to each other and gave him shy looks when he passed. He was glad that Jaime Lannister was now in the castle. At least they could focus more attention on the pretty boy Lannister and less on him. Although, Alexander did admit that some of those maids were very good looking indeed.
Alexander sank deeper into relaxation, closing his eyes, remembering the first time he was introduced to their Prince Rhaegar. Arthur spoke about Rhaegar in such a familiar way that there was no doubt the two were great friends. Seeing it in person was a different matter entirely. It seemed the two of them could convey entire messages with a single look. Like the look they gave each other when Arthur gave Prince Rhaegar Alexander's name. He always wondered what they were saying to each other that day. After the introduction, Rhaegar nodded at Arthur, then spoke to Alexander. "It's nice to final meet you. I've heard a lot about you from your brother young Alexander."
"It is an honor to meet you, my Prince." Alexander bowed. When he straightened back up he said, "I hope he's only said good things."
Rhaegar's lips gave a quick sad crooked smile. "Oh, he only has good things to say about his siblings. You have a great older brother. I myself waited many years to be an older brother." Alexander had heard all about the sad Queen's children. None of them survived long. Not until Prince Viserys was born. "Perhaps I can be as good of a brother to my brother as Ser Arthur is to you."
"I have no doubt you will be my Prince."
Rhaegar gave the same smile again and looked to Arthur with amusement before saying, "You speak kind words Alexander. I hear you are a great swordsman. Is that true?"
"I am not as good as Ser Arthur, my Prince." Alexander heard Arthur chuckle at his answer.
"Please, enough of the formality. Just call me Rhaegar. Your brother is my friend so I shall consider you my friend as well."
"Yes, my Pri… I mean Rhaegar." Alexander quickly corrected himself. Again, Rhaegar gave Arthur an amused look, but this time with a wider smile and a slight twinkle in his eyes.
"I also hear you are quite the avid reader. A man skilled with his sword as well as his mind. Quite a combination."
"I've always loved reading about new places. That's why I wanted to come here and squire under my brother."
Arthur laughed drawing Alexander's and Rhaegar's attention. "My brother doesn't just love reading. He used to live in the library. It was like he was eating those books. He honestly reminds me of you, Rhaegar."
"Indeed." Rhaegar said with amusement. "Another one like me." The Prince turned his face to look at Alexander again. "Tell me, would you like to be like me?" There was something different about Rhaegar's voice. It almost sounded like he was asking himself the question. Arthur seemed to think something was off too, because he stopped laughing and he looked concerned. But before Alexander could answer, Rhaegar seemed to regain much of the sadness in his eyes and his smile disappeared.
"Please, enjoy living in King's Landing." With that Rhaegar turned and started walking away. Arthur gave Alexander a quick goodbye, "I will see you later Alex. Rhaegar and I have much to talk about. Just relax. No need to be so serious, the Prince is already seriousness enough for all us." With a quick reassuring smile Arthur turned away as well to catch up to Rhaegar.
Alexander thought that everything about Rhaegar was sad; there was an aura of melancholy around him. Of course, knowing his history the Prince had every right to be. But the haunting look in Rhaegar's eyes reminded Alexander of himself in his first life. There was unbelievable sadness in those eyes. And underneath that sadness there was a great pressure. The weight of a prophecy seemed to press down on the Prince. The Prince that was promised… Alexander had glimpsed a bit of it with an accidental probe of legilimency when he looked into the Prince's eyes. He emphasized with the Prince, but was glad that there was no prophecy guiding him this time. He did not want to tangle with fate in this life. So he let the Prince's thoughts out of his mind.
A loud knock interrupted his musings. "Alex, are you in there?" It was his brother. It seemed the meeting with the King was finished.
Alex quickly sat up in the bath sloshing water onto the tiled floor. "Yes, Arthur. Just washing up!" He shouted.
"Okay, I will wait for you in your room. I have some important news."
"I'll get dressed now." Alexander replied, carefully getting out of the tub and picking up the towel the maid had neatly laid out for him. Looks like writing to Ashara will have to wait.
Arthur turned to look at him when he heard the bathroom door creak open. Arthur was standing at Alexander's desk looking at the notes he had taken from all the months of research. "I see you are still researching with Ashara. How is that going, anyway? I hardly talk to her about anything other than mother, father and the little one."
Ah yes. Little Allyria. It seemed she was quite the happy little baby, much less serious than the rest of the family. At least according to Ashara. "It's alright. Nothing too interesting yet." Alexander gestured for them to sit. As soon as they were both settled, with Dawn in Arthur's lap, Alex asked, "What important news do you have?"
"It seems the King has finally decided to remove the Brotherhood. Once and for all."
Alexander raised an eyebrow in surprise. The Brotherhood was an outlaw group operating out of the Kingswood. Many had thought the King would take action when the Brotherhood had begun kidnapping nobles. But the King only responded with a few of the armed forces, which proved ineffective. It seemed the King was not seriously interested in stopping the Brotherhood and only considered them a minor annoyance. Until now. "I assume something has happened that has spurred King Aerys into action?"
Arthur sat up straighter in his wooden chair. "We received a raven sent by the Lord Commander that Princess Elia and her escorts were attacked by the Brotherhood."
Now Alexander was even more surprised. The Brotherhood was indeed getting bolder. Had they no fear what would happen when they attacked the Crown Princes' betrothed? Unless they thought they could defeat the best that the realm had to offer. That was certainly a troubling thought. "What is the King planning to do?" Asked Alexander.
His brother smiled. "They have decided to put me in charge of finding and serving justice to the Brotherhood." Alexander was excited for his brother. He knew that Arthur was considered a true knight and an even more honorable man. Capturing criminals was part of that duty, which Arthur was happy to do.
"How many men will you be taking?"
"Well, the King offered 50 of the royal forces. Lord Commander Gerold Hightower was injured in the attack so I asked for another member of the Kingsguard. Prince Rhaegar was the one to offer my services, but it seems the King is uneasy about letting any of my brothers in arms to leave. After all, the Kingsguard's duty is to protect the King. Luckily, Ser Barristan was allowed to fight. Lord Sumner Crakehall was also here today and he volunteered." Arthur replied. "Of course you will be coming too as my squire."
Alexander nodded. He was eager to test his skills in the fields of battle. It had been far too long. Alexander was never one to find pleasure in killing, but there was something special in the feeling of defeating an opponent in a life or death situation. In his previous lives, whenever he could, Alexander usually gave a chance to his opponent to surrender themselves and if they did, he would give them mercy. Of course, there were exceptions. Those who truly deserved to die he would gladly kill without an afterthought. Alexander was also glad that Ser Barristan Selmy was joining the team that would root out the Brotherhood. Each time Alexander had interacted with the old knight, Ser Barristan had proven the stories of his chivalry true. The knight was certainly one of the greatest in the Seven Kingdoms and as honorably and kind as they came. However, as successful of knight as Ser Barristan was, he wasn't much for politics. Alexander did not think he was sharpest tool in the shed, although, the old knight's knowledge was where he needed them most.
"Don't be afraid little brother. You are almost as good at wielding a sword as me. I think you will have no trouble keeping up with the rest of us." Arthur said, mistaking Alexander's silence for fear.
"I'm not afraid." Alexander replied. His face gave away no emotions. "I'm looking forward to doing my duty and serving with you brother."
His older brother smiled brightly. Alexander thought Arthur should smile like that more, it helped make him less intimidating. That's probably the reason why he doesn't smile as much. "Well then. It seems my little brother doesn't need any more coddling. I will go make the final preparations. You should start packing. Make sure to be ready in the morning. The King wants us out by midday."
Alexander nodded again. Something about his blank expression must have seemed strange because Arthur stared at his face awhile before turning away. Once his brother shut his door, Alexander ran to his desk to check his notes. He breathed out a sigh of relief. Arthur had not seen his writings on magic underneath all his research on valyrian swords.
He had been working on aiming some of his old spells at random off duty guards when he wasn't sneaking around the castle at night. It was a long process of trial and error as many spells, like stupefy, were surprisingly too intricate and wild to perform without a wand, but all those years of practice as a child helped him from depleting his magical core too quickly. As the Master of Death, Alexander could perform wandless magic better than any wizard, but complicated spells were not accurate enough without a wand for him to carelessly cast. It was actually surprising how many spells required exceptional accuracy. Luckily, the disillusionment charm didn't really need to be aimed, he could just let the spell wash over himself, not caring if it drizzled onto the area around him. It also didn't help that this dimension did not have as much latent magic in the environment, at least not the kind that he was used to, so all the spells were powered directly from his core. He had tried apparating outside the gates of King's Landing from his room, but ended up in the gardens, only travelling a quarter of the way to his destination. He had discovered those two pieces of information after waking up from magical exhaustion and dealing with a severe headache. He wasn't doing that again any time soon.
Alexander had thought about making himself a wand as a solution. The problem was that the components needed to make one did not seem to exist in this world. At least not anymore. He had seen the dragon bones on his nightly strolls under the disillusionment charm, but he didn't think that the old dragon bones would work in a wand. He needed something far more saturated in magic. If only I had a fresh dragon to harvest heartstring from.
Runes came in handy where spells could not. Alexander had carved runes into his armor for sturdiness and protection over the course of his stay in King's Landing. This wouldn't make him invincible, but it did add an extra layer of protection on top of his considerable fighting skills. He couldn't design these runes the same way he had with Ashara's necklace, because he was going to be actively fighting. The runes merely prevented others from actively trying to harm the wearer as long as he or she did not have any hostile thoughts towards the potential attacker. So of course, because Alexander going to be in active combat, he would be thinking about ways to harm his enemies. Hostile thoughts were unavoidable in the heat of battle. But the runes did help if some random person ever decided they wanted to have him assassinated. Alexander was no stranger to wars and bloodshed. But this was the first time that he chose to do it under his own volition. It was a refreshing thought. And this time he would have to rely heavily on his physical abilities, as he did not want to accidently have his spells splash onto his allies. Well this is certainly turning out to be an interesting vacation.
After he had finished packing his essentials, he decided to finally write his letter to Ashara. He needed to tell her about his upcoming adventure and to assure her that he would look after himself and their older brother. I will protect him. Alexander snorted in amusement at the thought. Not that Arthur can't look after himself. But Alexander considered his family members the only people he could truly trust and love in this world. So he was going to do everything he could to protect them.
