Chapter 9: Oswell
Oswell looked at the clothes he'd placed on the bed. Four shirts, three trousers, and five pairs of under trousers. That's what he'd taken with him when he'd left Winterfell, he'd bought another few sets of clothes since being in White Harbour-he didn't trust Essosi fashion-and they were already packed into his trunk. He glanced at the trunk, it was more of a small box, being a knight and being on the move, he'd learnt early on how to pack lightly.
They'd be departing for Braavos in two days' time, aboard the fastest ship that Lord Wyman owned. The ship had been arranged largely because of difficulties that were emerging in Essos, and the fears that both Benjen and Lord Wyman had that if they left in a regular ship, they'd get held up. Oswell knew it made sense, but he was also aware that travelling in a ship owned by the Lord of White Harbour would draw attention.
At least his charge didn't have a direwolf. That really would have drawn attention. Though, now that he thought on it, he felt bad for Jon, the boy had really wanted a direwolf. Oswell had seen it on his face when they'd discovered the other pups. And then when he'd found the mutt of the litter with a antler through its throat, his face had fallen.
That Catelyn had looked so smug when she'd learned that Jon didn't have a direwolf pup had not helped. Oswell had wanted to slap some sense into the girl then, as he had done many times over the years. She didn't know the truth about Jon, but that didn't mean she had to treat him as she had. He was not at fault for whatever nonsense Lord Stark had told her about him.
Lord Stark…Oswell exhaled. The man was a naïve fool sometimes, but he had a good heart and he had been good to Jon.
Oswell looked to the doorway as the door banged open.
Jon stormed in, his face filled with thunder.
"How could you?!" Jon demanded.
Oswell raised an eyebrow.
Jon elaborated. "How could you lie to me all this time?!"
So, Benjen finally did it then.
Oswell thought to himself. Benjen had wanted to Lord Stark to be the one to tell Jon the truth, but Lord Stark had become a coward at the last moment and refused to do so. It seemed the incident at the Dragon's Lair had prompted Benjen to take matters into his own hands.
"What have I lied to you about?" Oswell asked calmly.
"The truth!" Jon growled, Oswell was impressed with the fact the boy hadn't started shouting yet.
"And what truth might that be?" Oswell asked, he knew he was pushing it a little, but old habits die hard.
"About who my parents are, about who I am, about everything!" Jon snarled.
Oswell blinked. "So, what did Benjen tell you?"
Jon blinked in surprise, clearly he'd been expecting Oswell to defend his decision, but that was not Oswell's way. He and his brother Walter had been raised to accept when confronted with wrongdoing and to face it head on.
"My parents are Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. Prince Rhaegar absconded with my mother after the Tourney of Harrenhal and they had me." Jon said.
"That is the gist of it yes." Oswell said. "But there is a longer version, one that I know Benjen would have told you." He knew Benjen, after almost twenty years of working together, he knew the man very well.
Jon looked as though he wanted to roar at Oswell, the boy took several deep breaths before answering. "Prince Rhaegar met my mother during the Tourney of Harrenhal after discovering that she was a mystery knight who defeated several squires who had hurt Howland Reed. He promised not to reveal her identity to the King, and instead claimed that the knight had disappeared. However during the lists when he won, he decided to crown her Queen of Love and Beauty to honour her for upholding the value of chivalry. It was a spur of the moment decision and one that he regretted when he realised what the consequences were."
Oswell nodded, he remembered that all too well. Prince Rhaegar had never done something so impulsive before, and the one time he did was in front of the entirety of the Seven Kingdoms. There had been a blazing row between Prince Rhaegar and Princess Elia after the act. It was then that Prince Rhaegar had revealed the truth about Lady Lyanna.
"The tourney ended and my mother remained behind in the south, travelling to Raventree Hall to meet with a few of her cousins there. Whilst there she started corresponding with Prince Rhaegar, about what Benjen doesn't know but he suspects that it was to do with what happened at Harrenhal and about Robert Baratheon." Jon said.
Oswell noted with approval that Jon didn't call the usurper King.
"After a short while, my mother moved from Raventree Hall to Harrenhal again, where she had been invited by Lord Walter's daughter. The two having struck up a friendship during the Tourney. Whilst she was at Harrenhal, Prince Rhaegar appeared one night, accompanied by two knights, Ser Arthur Dayne and Ser Oswell Whent, my mother joined Prince Rhaegar and then they departed for regions unknown."
Jon finished speaking then and looked at him. Oswell took that as his cue to continue the story.
"From Harrenhal, your mother and father travelled southward. Initially, the plan was to go to King's Landing so that Lady Lyanna could petition the King to break her betrothal to Robert Baratheon. She had decided that she had no desire to marry Robert, and wanted to be free. The King's authority superseded that of her father's. However, as we made our way to King's Landing, we received a message that the King planned on executing Prince Rhaegar. Someone had convinced the King that Prince Rhaegar was planning on deposing him. Therefore, they had to retreat."
Oswell remembered that all too well. Prince Rhaegar had been horrified to learn of what his father thought. He had wanted to write a letter to the King to convince him that he had no intentions of deposing him, but both Oswell and Arthur had convinced the Prince that that letter would do no good.
"We moved southwards, travelling through the border between the Reach and the Crownlands, before making a turn for Summerhall. Prince Rhaegar wanted Lady Lyanna to speak with Robert Baratheon, so that she could tell him the truth, but she refused and ran away." Oswell continued.
That wasn't the complete truth, Oswell had helped her escape, largely because he'd noticed a change in the Prince's behaviour around the time they'd gotten to Summerhall. It was as if the prophecies he put so much stock into had taken hold over him. Jon didn't need to know that though.
"Eventually, she was found and the Prince decided that we had to make our way further south, to the Tower that he had purchased in Dorne around the time he was married to Princess Elia." Oswell said.
"When we arrived there, we received news that Lord Rickard Stark and Lord Brandon Stark had been killed on the orders of King Aerys, and that war was brewing." Oswell said.
"Lady Lyanna wished to leave at once, she thought that if she appeared in King's Landing, that that would stop the war. But Prince Rhaegar told her that if the King would execute his most loyal lord and the man's son, he would definitely kill her. So, she stayed. Prince Rhaegar wrote to Sunspear to inform Prince Doran of where he was, he also wrote to Winterfell and to Storm's End and to Casterly Rock and to Riverrun. Telling them where he was, where he and your mother were. There was no response. As they waited and waited, the war unfolded and eventually, Ser Gerold Hightower, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard found them. Prince Rhaegar left for King's Landing, and ordered myself, Ser Gerold and Ser Arthur to protect your mother. He'd become convinced that someone was trying to kill him and her. So, we stood guard. At the time Rhaegar left, your mother had fallen pregnant."
"Lord Eddard arrived a few months later, and in the fighting, that followed Ser Gerold and many of your father's men died. But I did not, nor did Ser Arthur. We stopped fighting when a wet nurse, Wylla, came rushing down the steps begging us to stop, begging us to help, someone had been spotted from the Tower and the Lady Lyanna was unwell." Oswell said, his voice growing tight as the memories started flooding back.
"Your mother died in your father's arms, whilst Wylla held you." Oswell said, clearing his throat and trying to push the memories of what had happened after from his mind, Jon-the Prince-didn't need to know that.
Jon stared at him, his eyes wide, his mouth open.
Oswell cleared his throat.
"Why was my parentage kept a secret from me?" The Prince demanded.
"Because of what had happened during the Sack of King's Landing." Oswell said. He presumed that Benjen had told the Prince the whole truth, though the Prince hadn't mentioned the final part. "Tywin Lannister had Princess Elia raped and killed, whilst Princess Rhaenys was…" Oswell had to clear his throat then, what had happened to that sweet little girl had horrified him and angered him in equal measure.
"Princess Rhaenys was killed." He finished. "Robert Baratheon proclaimed them dragonspawn and said nothing more. There was a genuine fear that you would meet the same fate, especially given who your mother was. Therefore, a lie was concocted. You were to be Lord Eddard's bastard son, conceived during the war, and you would be raised by him. That you looked like him helped."
"So, why did you accompany us north?" The Prince asked.
"The duty of the Kingsguard is to protect the King and the Royal Family, when we arrived at Starfall, we learned from Ser Arthur's sister, Lady Ashara that Prince Aegon was alive, that he had been smuggled out of the Red Keep before the Sack of King's Landing. That she had helped smuggle him out of the Red Keep, and that one of King Aerys' illegitimate sons had been killed in his place. Lady Ashara had helped deliver the baby to an old acquaintance of her brother's in Pentos. Ser Arthur and Lady Ashara left for Pentos shortly afterward. I went with Lord Eddard and yourself to Winterfell. To look out for you." Oswell said.
There was a long pause then as the Prince digested what Oswell had said. Oswell fully expected the Prince to shout then, to scream, to call him names. He'd accept them and move on. What he did not expect was for the Prince to ask. "Did my parents love one another?"
Oswell took a deep breath, he remembered the arguments and the screaming that had taken place in the Tower between Prince Rhaegar and Lady Lyanna, he also remembered the better times, before all of that. "Yes." It was not quite a lie, not fully at least, but not quite the truth.
Another pause and then the Prince asked. "Did I have a name before my uncle found me?"
"No, your father thought you would be a girl, and wanted to name you Visenya, but your mother thought you'd be a boy. But she hadn't settled on a name when you were born. It was your uncle who named you." Oswell said.
The Prince nodded. He straightened a little and looked right at Oswell. "We'll go straight from Braavos to Pentos, I want to meet my brother and my King."
Oswell bowed his head. "Of course, Your Highness."
