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Arthur I
The two parchments laid pressed in the hands of Ser Arthur Dayne as he looked over the rolling hills of Dorne. The sun was already low in the sky as the knight clutched the papers in his hand. They had both arrived in quick succession, each had held ill news. The Targaryen dynasty had come crashing down, and the knight had been hundreds of leagues away when it happened, powerless to defend those who had sworn to defend.
Brooding, Ser Dayne turned from the open window that he had been looking from and looked upon the very reason he hadn't been able to protect House Targaryen. Lyanna Stark, who carried the last of Rhaegar's children in her womb, though not for much longer.
When he had first laid eyes on her, she was but a girl of four and ten, but she had captured the heart of Prince Rhaegar at the tourney of Harrenhal. Not long after, the prince and him, with the company of Oswell Whent, had ridden north and stole away the young lady in the night. Not long after the pair had a sept wed them, consummating the marriage that night. Arthur would have been happy for the pair; had it not lead to the death of Lord Stark and his heir. He remembered, vividly, at how she had wept, and Rhaegar promised her he would make his father pay for the Starks deaths. However, he was never given the chance to overthrow the king as the usurper had rallied the Starks and marched for the prince's head, and to his sorrow, had now claimed it.
The knight might have continued to brood longer had it not been for the high-pitched cry of pain that Lyanna let out, her labor being a bloody one. She had been like this for over an hour now, and he had watched over her. The handmaidens had requested he leave, but he would have none of it.
"My friend is dead and can't see his lady wife give birth to the last of his children. I will not abandon her; it is now my duty to protect this child and its mother."
After that, they had left his to the edge of the room, where he stayed out of the way of the women as they tended to Lyanna. Time seemed to crawl by as he waited for them to help the girl with her labor, and eventually, they had carried her through the ordeal as she finished giving birth to her and the late prince's child.
"A boy!" One, the blond-haired handmaiden, announced happily before taking the baby to be washed in a basin of water.
It wasn't long after, that Lyanna had reached out with both of her arms for the child as her handmaiden passed off the child to her. Arthur, for a moment, was happy for Lyanna, but at the feeling was soon replaced with concern. Looking at her, he quickly noticed just how pale the girl was, and it had seemed that the covers on her where only being soaked with more blood with every passing second.
"Arthur-" Lyanna said weakly, her eyes began to droop as she held her child tightly in her arms. Upon hearing Lyanna call to him, Arthur rushed to her side. Tentatively reaching out, the knight grabbing hold of her free hand, and was taken back by just how cold she felt.
"I'm here my lady," Arthur replied softly before turning to one of the two handmaidens. "Bring her something! She's losing too much blood."
"I don't want to die." Lyanna said, her eyelids fluttering as she tried to fight off an endless sleep.
"No, you're not going to die my lady." Arthur assured her.
"N-No," Lyanna said weakly, her voice sounded frail. "I need you to listen to me. I need you to listen," she repeated, squeezing Arthur's hand with that little strength she had left. "His name is Jon, you have to protect him, you have to. I don't have much time left." Lyanna sniffled as she started to sob lightly.
"No, you'll be there with him, I promised Rhaegar I would protect you no matter the cost." Arthur felt the pain again, he couldn't bring himself to accept that the love of his best friend might be dying, he couldn't fail his memory.
"You need to protect him. If Robert finds out, he'll kill him." Lyanna said, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Promise me, promise me you'll keep him safe."
Arthur looked down as Lyanna pushed her child into his hands. The knight could only stare down at the boy in his arms. The child was a small thing with tiny swirls of black hair atop his head, and the child looked up at him with his dark grey eyes. It was then that it struck him that he was holding the very future of House Targaryen, this boy was now the heir to the most powerful seat in all the world. At the realization, Arthur looked down at the young prince, and that was when he realized it was his duty to protect the son of his friend with his life.
Looking back to Lyanna, Arthur gave her a slight nod. "I swear to you, on my life, I shall protect your son."
Lyanna smiled, a look of relief washed over her as he lifted her hand and lightly touched her child's cheek. "I love you Jon, more than you'll ever know." It was then that her eyes fell shut and her hand fell limp at her side. Arthur felt cold, it was as if he had failed his prince once more. Yet another vow he had been powerless to see through.
It was then that Arthur looked back upon Jon, the small child had fallen asleep in his arms, and it was then that his duty had become clear. He was to protect the now rightful heir to the iron throne, Jon Targaryen. However, it was best that all those who could not be trusted with knowledge of his existence be eliminated, for Lyanna was right; the usurper would chase them to the ends of the Earth if he knew of Rhaegar's son. So, setting the babe beside his mother's body, Ser Arthur rose, drawing his sword.
The first handmaiden had been so overcome by the sudden death of her mistress, that she didn't even see the flash of dawn before it had cut her down, without so much as a scream to signal her death. The second however screamed upon seeing the other girl cut down, her face fixed in a state of shock as she stumbled for the door, but Ser Dayne had anticipated the move cutting her off before she would reach the door. There, then came the moment when the girl's eyes widened as the realization of her own death set in. Opening her mouth, the girl attempted to plead for her life, but no words left her lips as the pale white edge of Dawn cut into her side, abruptly ending her life.
Looking over the scene, Arthur reached down, retrieving a dry bit of cloth from one of Lyanna's fallen handmaid's dresses and used the material to clean the blood from Dawn before returning it to his scabbard. Now, looking back to Lyanna's body, Arthur was astounded to find that Jon hadn't been stirred from his sleep with the shouting of the girls. Cautiously, Arthur took a step forward but stopped when the door behind him burst open.
Turning, Arthur's hand flew to his sword as the figures of Ser Oswell Whent and Ser Gerold Hightower, the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. The pair took a long look around at the bloody scene in front of them, their faces pale.
Arthur watched as Gerold rose a hand to steady him. "Relax. Tell me what happened."
Lifting his hand from Dawn, he looked back to Jon. "The Lady died giving birth to a son, and with her last moments, she had me promise to see to the boy's protection." Turning back to his commander, Arthur gestured to the bodies around him. "I couldn't trust these two to keep news of the boy's birth safe, not in life at the very least."
Ser Gerold nodded before looking past Arthur to Lyanna's corpse. "And so, it seems our duty here has come to an unfortunate end."
"What shall we do with the child?" Ser Whent said, speaking at last.
"He cannot stay here. By now the location of where the Prince hosted the Lady will have reached the usurpers ears," Arthur said, receiving a nod of agreement from Gerold. "We must ride out at once."
"I agree, though one of us must stay behind. The bodies of these girls need to be burnt, along with all evidence that Rhaegar has another child."
"I will see to it." Whent spoke, his eyes falling on Jon.
"I would not force this burden upon you, my brother."
"No, you two will be needed to protect the young prince, especially now that he is without a wet nurse. I pray he'll take well to goat's milk." Whent chuckled to himself.
"Very well. Oversee the Lady's body, and if a foe comes upon you, may you send him to an early grave my friend." Whent nodded in return.
"May your travels be uneventful, my friends."
With that, Arthur took Jon back into his arms, descending the tower, leaving Ser Whent to tend to the dead. The pair of Gerold and Arthur gathered as much as they dared take with them and quickly saddled two horses and prepared to ride.
Mounting their horses, the two knights headed south, deciding it best to find shelter with those they could trust. It had been decided, they rode for Starfall, leaving the Tower of Joy behind them, the rightful heir to the throne tucked in Arthur Dayne's arm.
SPECIAL THANKS TO MY AMAZING EDITOR/BETA READER
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