155 AC, Somewhere near the Southern Coast of the Disputed Lands.
The Commander of the Stormbreakers
Ser Oscar Tully was seated on his horse on top of a small hillock overlooking the battlefield as the carnage unfolded below. Somewhere in that melee was his squire, the young Aegon Targaryen, most likely whacking about with his mace and felling the soldiers. Ser Oscar felt no fear for his squire's life, the battle was win anyways and the broken remnants of the Tyroshi army were being run down.
To his side was Caegal Nograthien, the Gonfaloniere of the Lyseni army. Oscar would never understand the Free Cities' inclination to fight over the worthless strips of these lands that they called the Disputed Lands. They had fought in these lands so often that the devastation had left the lands uncultivable and even if the land were to become suddenly fertile, no smallfolk would want to settle down in these parts.
"You see down there, how my goodson is carving his way through the filthy Tyroshi? Saagael of the Pain blesses his weapon and guides his hand in this!" Caegal said. Oscar knew that Aegon was betrothed to Nograthien's daughter but he also knew that Prince Viserys did not really know of this match yet. All of this reeked in the same way that Prince Viserys's marriage to Larra Rogare did, but Oscar did not wish to involve himself in these matters.
"They are not married yet. Your daughter is but twelve and she isn't flowered. Even by your standards, you would have to wait for four years and that is nothing to say of what Aegon's father has to say of this match," Oscar observed lightly.
The Gonfaloniere laughed, a rich, deep, belly laugh and spoke, "No worries on that matter, my mercenary friend. I have word from Aegon's cousin, who will grant permission for their marriage once he ascends to the Iron Throne. There is no reason for worry in that regard."
Oscar grunted and chose not to involve himself in the topic any further. Rather, he turned to view the field of battle, where the fighting seemed to have died down. Oscar spied the distinctive form of his squire riding up the hillock, his silvery gold hair blowing in the slight breeze that had picked up. Why he had forgone a helmet Oscar would never know. His squire had a wont to do the stupidest of things when it least benefited him.
Aegon reached them and dismounted before bowing to them in a flourish causing Nograthien to grin and Oscar to scowl. Aegon smiled at both of them and spoke, "We have vanquished the enemy Ser Oscar. Yet another victory for our glorious band!" Aegon half-japed.
"Magnificent! With this, we gain a foothold in the mainland. With Saagael smiling upon us, we will soon reclaim our rightful lands which have been cheated out of our hands by the filthy Tyroshi," Caegal exclaimed.
"We must not lose our caution going forward, Gonfaloniere. Overconfidence has been the band of many a campaign here in the disputed lands. These lands we have just occupied serve us better if they were fortified and put to use as a launching point for further expansion," Oscar advised.
Caegal frowned and addressed him, "The Conclave of Magisters has entrusted me with the task of securing the Disputed lands as soon as possible and with minimal loss. I think it would be counterproductive to not push after our victory here."
Aegon jumped in to try and defend Oscar's point and explain his reasoning to Caegal. "It is not that we won't push forward, my lord. Rather, we have a more pressing need to fortify to prevent the bulk of the Tyroshi army, which is still in the field in the hinterlands, from pushing us out of our gains. Once we are fortified and have brought troops from Lys to secure our rear, the Stormbreakers can push forward," Aegon said, pointing towards the North.
"Very well then, the Stormbreakers will stay here and start the construction of fortifications while we go back to Lys. The word of our victory will have reached the Conclave by the time we get back and we might even have a triumph waiting for us," the Gonfaloniere declared.
Just as they were talking, a messenger ran up to them and bowed before coming closer to whisper something in Caegal Nograthien's ear. Upon hearing this news, whatever it was, his frown turned into an expression of delight and he turned towards Oscar and Aegon addressing them.
"Great news, my friend! This runner here brings me a message all the way from Lys. My daughter has flowered from a girl into the woman she will become and there shall be three days of celebrations in honour of Yndros of the Twilight. The last day of celebrations will include a display of martial vigour and you must show me and us of Lys of your own jousting. I insist on this," Caegal said, grinning.
Oscar sighed. He only put up with these Lysene because they paid quite a few degrees better than any other of his clientele. He turned to Aegon and saw that his squire was looking at him hopefully. He wanted to impress his betrothed, no doubt, with his 'martial vigour'.
"Just as well. I must speak with the Conclave in regards to my payments and the distribution of these spoils. I shall leave my foot here under the command of one of my knights and bring the rest to Lys. Perhaps a display of the Westerosi martial capabilities will induce your Conclave to pay me better," Oscar said, while pointing towards the arms and armour of the Tyroshi which had been looted from their bodies and placed in a pile near them.
"They already do, my friend, they already do," Caegal said, laughing.
The whole of Lys the Lovely seemed to be in a celebratory mood. The news of their victory had indeed arrived before they had and many Lysene had taken to the streets to welcome their party. The Conclave had even arranged for children to line the rooftops and shower flower petals on them as they walked through the gate and upon the main thoroughfare leading to the Magisterial Palace. It was no triumph and a rather empty honour as far as honours went.
Oscar looked to Caegal who played the crowds with practiced ease, waving his hand around and drawing further cheers with a few well placed words as the party made their was slowly forward on their horses through the crowd. Oscar, Caegal and Aegon led the front with twelve other knights bringing up the rear while a van loaded with the loot from the battle was dragged in between them.
Oscar saw that Aegon was drinking in the sights and exulting in the adulation that the crowd was heaping upon him and Caegal and by association, Aegon himself. Despite being a prince of the realm, Oscar igured that Aegon should be unused to this sort of praise from the crowds as King's Landing. Aegon the Third was not a martially inclined King and in all of his years ruling the realm Oscar had not heard a peep of any war or even retaliations against the Dornish. It was one of the reasons Oscar left, after all. He found five years after the Dance that peace did not agree with him.
Soon, they reached the Magisterial Palace where the First Magister was waiting for them. The party dismounted and made their way to the First Magister, a pompous Lyseni whose name Oscar did not care to remember. Oscar gestured for his knights to stay back with the carts while he stepped forward with Caegal and Aegon. The First Magister gave a long-winded speech to the assembled crowd who cheered and applauded at appropriate places. Then he bestowed a gaudy, golden medallion upon the Gonfaloniere for 'services rendered in the reclamation of Lysene Honour' and finally ended the damned ceremony after which they made they way to Caegal's manse.
There, Caegal made his excuses and left them in the care of his slaves while he went to see to his daughter. The slaves led the knights to their assigned rooms, with Aegon sharing Oscar's room, being his squire and all. Once inside and settled, Aegon turned to Oscar and spoke.
"Ser Oscar? There is something I wish to tell you," Aegon said.
"What is it? Do you need some advice in dealing with your girl? Don't ask me about that, I didn't marry anyone and I never understood them anyway. Or, you want to ask about fucking I suppose. Why when I was your age, I had already bedded a few wenches, but it isn't too late for you yet. We can go to one of these Lysene pleasure houses if you so wish. The service is there is exquisite and as long as you don't have any enemies you don't even need to worry about being assassinated," Oscar said and grinned when he saw the boy turn red with embarrassment and indignation.
"No! It's not about that. And I have bedded a woman, I'll have you know," Aegon said quickly before wincing and continuing in a softer tone. "It's just, we are going to be jousting for the festival, won't we?"
"Yes. All of us knights and the squires too. We don't have enough men for a proper tourney and the squires will have to compete to swell the numbers. I assume you have been taught how to joust?" Oscar asked.
Aegon shook his head, and spoke, "Well, this is what I wanted to speak with you about. I do know how to joust. I think. It's just, I haven't been able to practice at it for a long time and I was hoping you would be able to help me with it."
"What do you know? Have you ever tilted at a quintain in the yard? If you can hold your lance steady, the rest comes naturally. Come, let us go to a meadow or a field and you can ride at some targets I'll have the slaves set up. We have three days left, four if Nograthien starts his celebrations tomorrow. I will show you the technique and you can practice it for these days. If you're lucky, you won't die from a fall," Oscar said.
And so, they made their way over to a field belonging to Caegal and set up a target. Oscar let Aegon ride without the target for a while giving him pointers on holding the lance steady. If they were j Westeros, they could have an aronourer fashion them a lance holder for their breastplates but as things were Aegon had to learn to hold the lance steady on his own and Oscar reckoned that was better in the long run.
After that, Oscar and Aegon ran a few tilts against each other using the tourney lances that the slaves were fashioning for the tourney, to get Aegon used to the force of the blows and Oscar made sure to hit Aegon harder than he usually did in tourneys to let Aegon get a taste of the tourney blows. If Aegon were to face off against Ser Harrold Ryger in the tourney, Oscar would bet he'd take harder hits than these. It was then that Oscar noticed a fatal flaw in Aegon's technique.
"Aegon, when you face your opponent in the joust, you have to bow your head down just as they strike you. If you don't, the slivers of the shattered lance could force their way through your visor or the gaps in your gorget and your lady would be a widow before you'd even have a chance to marry her," Oscar said.
"But that doesn't even make any sense. How can she become a widow if I won't marry her?" Aegon asked.
Irritated, Oscar smacked Aegon upside the head and said, "Just focus on your technique. It is the small things like these that have killed better jousters that you. I don't want to explain why you're dead to your father. You can do that yourself."
Aegon nodded then smirked and said, "But Ser, how would I explain things to my father if I were dead?" Aegon ducked away as Oscar tried to smack him again and started riding towards the target to practice. Oscar chuckled and left the field, leaving Aegon to practice alone.
The day of the joust dawned bright and clear and Oscar took it as a good omen. His negotiations with the First Magister were later in the day after the Conclave met to decide the course to be taken in the war against the Tyroshi, a meeting Caegal was not attending in favour of staying for his daughter's celebrations instead. A huge field, just outside the city, had been cleared and flattened by slaves working for the past few days. A huge, luxurious gallery had been erected for seating the Nograthien family and their guests with the daughter occupying the central position. Oscar figured that the Nograthien star was rising, looking at this extravagance and he was suddenly reminded of how quickly the Rogares had fallen from grace.
The last day of the celebrations started off well enough with the slaves showing off their naked wrestling, Caegal having promised freedom for the winner. As expected the slaves fell over one another and tore each other apart, with gouged out eyes and broken noses and missing teeth for a chance at freedom. In the end, the winner was a robust slave with Valyrian white hair who had defeated his enemy by bashing his head in with a rock. He had a huge scar running around the side of his face where another slave had scratched him with his long nails.
As the slave was being rewarded with his freedom, his copper collar being struck off, the rest of the slaves started to put up the lists and the pavilion for the knights. To increase the duration of the jousts, only one line for tilting at in the lists had been set up and the tourney was divided into two brackets.
The knights and squires were divided into two equal halves at random. The first half would tilt against each other, their opponents chosen by lots and then the second half would tilt among themselves with the winner of each bracket going on to tilt against each other for the glory of winning the tourney.
Oscar himself was in the second bracket but Aegon was in the first and Oscar wanted to see if Aegon had practised at all after he had left. Aegon's turn came up and he faced off against a squire who he managed to dispatch with ease, as Oscar expected, unhorsing him on the second lance and claiming the victory.
Aegon's second opponent was Ser Denys Bracken, a distant cousin of the Lord of Stone Hedge. He was not very much older than Aegon was but becoming a knight at his age had given him a measure of arrogance. As the riders touched their lances together in salute before the tilt, Aegon leaned forward and whispered something to Denys whose face turned red in anger and he quickly turned his horse away and rode to his end of the lists while Aegon smirked and rode to his end no doubt having goaded the young knight.
They rode at each other in a thunder of horses and steel and Oscar saw that the young Serenei was spellbound at this display. Martial vigour indeed. Oscar turned his attention to Aegon noticed that the riders we're almost upon each other. They met with a bang and a shower of shards exploded around them. Denys hit Aegon square on the chest but Aegon hit Denys on his helm the flap of which broke open at the force of the blow and flew off of his head even as a few slivers of wood embedded themselves in his face. Denys screamed and fell off his horse in shock and pain, granting victory to Aegon.
As the bleeding Denys was taken to the healer's tent by slaves Aegon raised his broken lance in triumph, giving a sort of salute to his betrothed in the stands, who, not one to be outdone, threw a red rose at him which Aegon caught and secured in the plume of his helm. Oscar snorted at this display of frippery but the crowd ate it up and cheered even louder.
A few more tilts passed and Aegon's turn came up again, this time against Ser Jon Harte, a bull of a man. This was yet another knight who would not hold back his blows. If anything, he'd try to hit harder using not only the horse's momentum but his own power. Oscar hoped Aegon would remember to roll with the blow or he'd have a dead squire on his hands, which would be really inconvenient.
The proctor signalled the start and the riders barreled towards each other and broke their lances on each other's breastplates in a shower of wood. It was then Oscar noticed that Aegon was not lowering his head, leaving his neck and eyes unprotected and from the looks of things Jon had noticed it too. The Harte knight ,who had taken off his helm to wipe off his sweat, gave a wolfish grin which Aegon seemed oblivious to.
Having taken new lances from the slaves, the riders rushed forward once more and suddenly Oscar saw with clarity as it happened. Just as Aegon had done in his previous tilt, See Jon Harte chose to aim for Aegon's helm. Unlike Ser Denys however, Aegon's head was raised high and so the lance broke on his helm and the broken piece went through the gap between his gorget and his helm even as his help broke free of his head. Oscar saw a piece of wood gouge a deep wound on Aegon's cheek almost all the way up to his eye as Aegon was unhorsed.
As the slaves rushed forward to take Aegon to the healer's tent, Oscar chanced a look at the seating galleries and saw that the Lady Serenei was in tears while her father also looked distraught. How much of it was for the boy and how much for the loss if an alliance should he die, Oscar did not know. At least, the girl's sorrow seemed genuine and even the crowd was sufficiently subdued. Oscar left his pavilion and made his way to the healer's tent.
The healer had just finished examining Aegon and was giving some instructions to his apprentice as Oscar walked in.
"Well?" Oscar inquired.
"He will not lose the eye, which is a blessing. The wound was too close. Just a bit further and he'd be half-blind. As for the cheek, I have yet to fish out the slivers of wood lodged in there. I will wash the wound, but your guess is as good as mine if infection sets in. And he will scar. Significantly," the healer said.
Oscar gave his thanks and left. Things were out of his hands now. But, for the sake of his squire, maybe he'd make a visit to the local Sept. It had been a while since he had prayed anyway.
Oscar rode back to the manse after his meeting with the First Magister. As he walked to his rooms in the manse, he heard voice coming from inside and stood near the door, trying to listen in.
"... and my nephew, whose first nameday should be coming up. My brother named him Jaehaerys, after the Conciliator. My youngest cousin is also of the same age, and my brother's letter has named him as Aerys, my uncle's choice no doubt," Oscar head Aegon say.
A female voice said something in the Lysene tongue which Oscar approximated as her asking whether Aegon's family would like her. Aegon laughed and anweed in the affirmative. Oscar chose to intervene not wanting to listen to this prattle any further.
"Aegon. You seem well. Did the healer tell you how long you are to be rested?" Oscar asked.
"Ser Oscar! I was telling to Serenei here about my family back in King's Landing. And the healer says that I am to stay in bed for two weeks but I think a week is excessive. I want to get back into the thick of fighting," Aegon said even as the girl took her leave, placing a kiss on Aegon's unwounded cheek.
"Well, you will have to wait. The Lysene aren't pushing further. They are afraid that the other Free Cities might choose to get involved. They are going to fortify the place we've conquered and sure for peace. Perhaps win a few more battles to improve their position but their goal seems to be to annex the land they have occupied," Oscar said.
"What! But what about us? The Stormbreakers, I mean! We won't have a contract anymore. What'll we do?" Aegon asked, agitated.
"If you are truly worried about contracts, let me tell you that there is no dearth of mercenary work in Essos, especially for a company of our size. And if it is a worry you're feigning for the girl, she'll stay here until you come back. It's not as if you are getting married tomorrow," Oscar said and Aegon deflated. Oscar continued speaking.
"Chin up, lad. We'll win these battles for the Lyseni and then we can think of what we'll do later. For now, all you can do is rest."
A/N: This chapter was very fun to write and I like Oscar as a POV character. If you have any questions, suggestions or complaints, please let me know. I live off of feedback in every form.