There was rubble everywhere. Duskendale was quiet, the bodies were still burning, the stench of death and decay was still very much present in the city. King Aerys had been very thorough in his destruction of the Darklyns and the Hollands. None of them were left alive and the people of Duskendale had had their homes destroyed, their families destroyed or torn in half and so much more. Ser Jacaerys walked amongst the people, his hood up, his nose wrinkled. He walked passed a boy with a cup in his hand, begging for whatever passers-by could spare him. Out of pity more than anything else, Ser Jacaerys threw him a dragon and walked on, ignoring the boy's calls of thankfulness and happiness. There were more important things to be doing.
He turned into an alleyway, and saw the sight where the knight of the Kingsguard had died. There were whispers about what had happened. Ser Gyles Greycloak had come with the King, instead of protecting Princess Daenerys, and he had fought bravely until the King had ordered the arrest and seizure of one Myrela Rogare. Rogare was a beautiful woman and she had been an attendant of Lady Serala. It seemed the King had wanted her gone as well, and Ser Gyles had fought hard to prevent that. He had died at the hands of someone or the other, the details were sketchy and Jacaerys was willing to leave them be. He had liked Ser Jacaerys, the man had been a kind soul, and a very good swordsman. His replacement, Ser Arthur Dayne would have much to learn in the days to come.
The Kingsguard remained formidable though. Lord Commander Ser Gerold Hightower was getting on in years but he could still break a man with one hand. Ser Barristan the Bold was as quick as ever. Ser Harold Grandison might appear slow, but there was a smartness there that lurked behind the shadows, just waiting for the right moment to strike. Ser Jonothor Darry was loyal beyond all reason and he had done more things for the King than many might have thought sane. Ser Gwayne Gaunt was another formidable opponent and one who remembered the days of King Aegon's reign and the wars that came. Ser Oswell Whent was a young man, the son of a powerful lord, and a formidable swordsman with a deadly sense of humour he had saved the King more than once. And now there was one more. The youngest of the Kingsguard. Ser Arthur Dayne, recently given Dawn sixteen namedays old and the Prince of Dragonstone's closest friend. Jacaerys had watched his progress with great interest and he was relieved with what he saw. The boy was quick, fast, smart and agile and adaptable, that last was important, very important.
Jacaerys snorted to himself, he was getting sentimental in his old age. He spared one more look at the spot where his friend had died, and then he turned and walked away. Down the streets that were littered with people, begging or arguing, all of them wanting something the others did not have. The King's punishment was a harsh thing. Duskendale would recover in time, but right now it was the spot of gangs and lawlessness. Controlled lawlessness of course, the King was not a fool, he knew the risks of allowing such a city to go without a lord for too long and so Jacaerys had kept his men in place, allowing them to continue their descent into power. There was a girl with blonde hair, she stared at him, her eyes wide. She could not see under his hood, Jacaerys knew that, but still her gaze was somewhat unsettling, he looked back at her and then he knew who she was and he snorted. So, the old fool had decided to come had he? Very well, Jacaerys nodded to the girl and kept walking.
The King had decided to grant the Twins to Lothar Frey, after the death of Walder Frey and his immediate descendants during an attempted assault on Seagard it had made the most sense. Lothar Frey was the man who had fed them the information of his father's activities, and had made clear that he did not agree with the old weasel. The man had not known about anything to do with the Rat, The Hawk and the Pig, but Jacaerys suspected that if he were to push through the defences he would find some scrap of information lurking beneath the surface. The man was a Frey after all. As for the Brackens, Jonos Bracken had died during his fight with Blackwood, leaving behind a nephew and three daughters. Blackwood demanded the entire Bracken inheritance, but that would've made him far too powerful. Instead he got the lands on his northern border whilst Hendry Bracken became a ward of the crown and the title of Lord of Stone Hedge went to the crown. Jacaerys suspected that the King would wait for a son to be born again or for a grandson and then he would kill off the older Brackens and marry said grandson to Catelyn Bracken. That would be what Jacaerys himself would do if he had any children.
He continued walking down the Street of Fish, smelling not fish, but something much more disgusting, the smell of rotting bodies and the bowels of people who were not yet dead. Sure, enough, as he stopped he came face to face with a hospice. Women and maesters were walking around trying desperately to get the dead and the dying to stop smelling, but they were having no luck. Jacaerys stood where he was for a brief moment admiring the view. He knew the girl was behind him, but he would wait a moment before revealing he knew why she was following him and who she was following him for. The smell grew worse as they added acid to the proceedings and that was when Jacaerys decided enough was enough. He took a deep breath and said. "You can come out now."
There was a brief silence, then the sound of feet hitting stone and the girl appeared. Dirty blonde hair, and pale green eyes, pale face. She was scared. "How did you know I was there?" she asked.
Jacaerys snorted. "I am a man who has served as a master of secrecy for longer than most people have been alive. I have known more plots than you have years on this planet. So, of course I would know you were there." He kept his hood up, she might know of him, but she did not know him and he intended to keep it that way. "Tell me, what is it he wants?"
The girl shifted from foot to foot, her nervousness giving her away. "How do you know it is him that wants anything?"
Jacaerys snorted once more. "Do not give me that nonsense, girl. We both know he sent you. I would know what he wants."
The girl shifted again, but this time she moved forward. Jacaerys kept himself rooted to the spot. "He wants to know when the next time to strike would be. He wants to know why Duskendale happened."
Jacaerys laughed. "I do not answer to him. I never have. He is alive because I told his cousin to keep him alive. So, you can tell him to either come and ask me himself or to stop bothering me."
"He said that you would have to tell him this. That there would be no reason to hide anything. He wants to know, and you owe him." the girl replied.
Jacaerys stared at the girl, the thought of owing her master anything was a thought so repellent he actually wanted to snort and kill her right now, but instead he kept his breathing even and replied. "I will give you an answer, whether it is satisfactory to him or not is none of my concern." A pause, the girl was interested, he knew that her life depended on getting a solid answer from him and so he said. "Ask me the questions you want answers to."
"Why did Duskendale happen?" the girl asked, and Jacaerys was disappointed, surely the man could've chosen someone smarter, bolder to ask him these things?
"Duskendale happened because Darklyn grew greedy on the promises of a group who had not been within the public eye for twenty years. He foundered on their lies and now he is dead and two ancient families are dead." Jacaerys replied. He suspected he would find something within the city if he looked hard enough, but right now he needed to see what this girl knew.
"Bracken and Frey are still alive, their houses are still ruling, why then did the King decide to remove the Darklyns, when the Darklyns had always been loyal before?" the girl asked.
"The Brackens and Freys are down in their standing with society for their rebellion. They are now on the King's good graces. Darklyn had that chance and he threw it away. There was nothing more that could be done." Jacaerys replied.
"What will happen to Duskendale now?" the girl asked.
Jacaerys got the sense that she was asking more for herself than for her master. He took another look at her and saw the tell-tale signs of abuse and nodded to himself. "Duskendale will stand and it will rebuild."
The girl's shoulders relaxed as she exhaled. "Very well. Thank you." With that he watched as the girl disappeared down the street and through the slopes of the city.
He stood where he was and then he clicked his fingers and other figures appeared. "Did you see the girl?" He asked.
"Yes, my lord." Borros replied.
"She was lying, my lord. Her master did not send her here." Janos stated, disgust in his voice.
"Naturally." Jacaerys said. "She came here of her own free will. Now that is what I want to know. Why did she come here and not wait till later." He knew who her actual master was and it was not who his friends thought it was, he kept quiet on that matter though. "Follow her. Find out where she goes and where she stays. Find out who she speaks to and who she avoids. I want to know everything."
"Yes, my lord." Borros replied before he disappeared back into the shadows.
Janos waited a minute and then whispered. "Do you trust her?"
"It is not a case of trust, Janos. It is a case of seeing who is what and why they are what they are. That is all that matters." Jacaerys replied patiently.
"If she cannot be trusted what do we do?" Janos asked.
Jacaerys kept himself calm, though he wanted to throttle Janos. "You do what is necessary to protect the King and the Royal Family." There was a pause then Janos too disappeared, leaving Jacaerys alone in the street.
The smell of fish was growing more and more acidic; it was becoming hard for him to breathe properly and so he walked through the stench onto the other side. There were more houses, this was where the merchants and the guilds had stayed. They too had been touched by the King's attack on the city, but they were suffering more from the lack of trade than from any physical destruction. He walked into the Guildhall and spoke to the first person he saw. "You know staring at the sign isn't going to bring customers in."
The man had a brown beard and a head filled with grey. He jumped slightly and then said. "I know, but it cannot hurt to look, to remind oneself."
"Are you sure you're not trying to torture yourself?" Jacaerys asked.
"Maybe I am. Maybe I am not. I don't really know anymore." The man replied.
"Are you truly as gone as that?" Jacaerys asked.
"I do not know. I think that in time everyone goes that far and they never come back. Father never did." The man replied.
"Your father was a weakling. You are not." Jacaerys stated.
The man laughed. "You always knew how to give a rising speech."
Jacaerys grinned under his hood. "You always needed it. Tobho, why are you still here?"
Tobho Mott sighed. "I do not know. I thought I'd find something here. But there is nothing."
Jacaerys stifled a groan, his friend had always wanted something more than he could get, especially when it came to the things from Valyria. As softly as he could he said. "You know that the Darklyns never wielded Valyrian Steel, I doubt they kept any detailed record of the stuff and its properties within their city or even amongst the guildhall." He paused and then gestured at the sign. "So, staring at that is not going to do any good."
Mott ran a hand through his hair. "I know. Still, it would've been nice." His friend looked around and then whispered. "Let's get out of here."
Jacaerys kept his hood up and walked with Mott through the doorway of the Guildhall, down the corridor which was lined with portraits of men who were long since dead and rotting. They stopped when they came to a small room, the door was locked, but Mott opened it with a quick one two move that Jacaerys had seen him use many times before, they walked into the room and Jacaerys saw the dust and the blood and sighed. "Why are we in here of all the rooms?"
"Because, there is something I need to tell you." Mott said.
"What?" Jacaerys asked. He did not like the sound of this, nor did he like how Mott was shifting.
"The Rat, the Hawk and the Pig. They're real, you know that. You know they were back and operating. Only one of their number has been removed. The other two are out there." Mott said.
Jacaerys already knew that. "And? What is it?"
"The Hawk is the one doing the marshalling. I know this because I overheard Darklyn soldiers talking about how their lord was adorning their castle and their city with hawk masks as if in homage to this man or woman, or whoever it was behind the mask. It is said that a man with a hawk introduced Darklyn to his wife and that the man constantly visited to ensure things ran smoothly." Mott replied in a rush.
Jacaerys had not known this, he had searched high and low for more information on the Hawk, perhaps he was getting slow in his old age. "Do you know who was behind the mask?"
Mott shook his head. "No, but I do know that they had great sway over Darklyn and his wife. It was the Hawk who convinced the man to refuse to pay taxes and to demand a charter for his people. He wanted all of these things to serve as a distraction."
Jacaerys had an idea of what this distraction could be, it had been used fifty years ago as well. "What was the purpose for the distraction?"
"To ensure that the money and the resources that were being harboured here could be taken out of the city without anyone truly noticing they were gone." Mott said.
Now this was news to him. "What resources? I was not aware there were any resources within the city."
"Swords, daggers, armour, coin, books, maps, all things that one would need to plan for a war or an invasion. The Hawk wanted them in great quantity and ensuring that they were taken out without anyone getting in the way was the thing's top priority." Mott said, something off in his voice.
"How do you know this Tobho? And don't give me this nonsense about only knowing it because you overheard some soldiers talking about it. No soldier would know this much. You would only know this much if you had either worked for Darklyn or if there were some other reason for you knowing it." Jacaerys said.
"I… I was a thief before I became a Blacksmith. Learning things is in my blood. You know this, that is why we became friends." Tobho said, the odd note in his voice growing.
"Tobho, what has this got to do with anything? What have you done?" Jacaerys asked, though he had a sneaking feeling he knew what was about to happen.
"I did everything that was asked of me. I ensured that the information got passed through, the King was good to me. But then they found me. They found me, when I was told they would never find me. They took advantage of my family and my wife, and I could never live with myself after that. I did what they asked, and now, well now here we are." Mott rambled.
"Tobho," Jacaerys said holding his hands up. "Whatever has happened, it is fine. I am sure we can fix it. I'm sure we can ensure that nothing wrong happens anymore. Just trust me on this. Come with me to King's Landing, and we can ensure that this never happens again."
Mott's eyes were wild when he replied. "You cannot save me. Nobody can save me. I have betrayed myself and my family and my King. I must end this now." He drew a knife from his pocket and pointed it at himself.
"Tobho, think about what you're doing for a moment. Just think about it." Jacaerys pleaded.
It was as if time slowed down then, Mott plunged the knife in so slowly that Jacaerys had moved forward three steps by the time blood started pouring out. He saw Mott's eyes widen and then saw him fall to the ground with a deafening clatter. Jacaerys stared at his friend and then felt a knife press into his own back and he sighed. "So, it was you. I figured you'd be here."
"Good to know you're not too slow." The girl replied, giggling.
"Why are you acting like a girl, come now, show me your true face." Jacaerys replied bored.
Blond hair fell to the ground and the knife dug into his back. The voice was deeper. "Very well. Are you ready to die, old man?"
"I am now. Get on with it." Jacaerys said. "Oh and Varys? Make sure to clean up." The eunuch laughed and the knife pressed in further.
