Chapter 4
Dale Lane
Dale rode with the other lords as they made their way to the Trident. Robbert's plan was to meet Prince Rhaegar in open battle, a plan that most lords were against, but Robert was out for revenge, and not even the Gods would be able to stop him from achieving his goal. It felt like they had been riding for days, but in truth they had only been riding for an hour now. Robbert's army stood at about 30k while Rhaegar had an army of 40k fresh soldiers, Robbert claimed that a battle hardened soldier was worth ten fresh soldiers but Dale was not so sure about that, still Hoster Tully followed Robbert so it was only natural for Dale to follow as well. When they made it to the trident Dale could see the force they were to face, he saw the dragon banners flow in the wind next to the burning sun of House Martell and several other smaller Lords that chose to stay loyal to the king. Robert rode out in front and turned to his men.
He could hear Robberts booming voice but could not make out the words, though it did not take a genius to know what he was saying. Most likely he was yelling about how the reign of the mad king will fall after this battle and how he will save Lyanna Stark from the clutches of Rhaegar. When Roberts voiced stopped, those who could hear his words roared in approval, the yelling spread throughout the army, and once it reached Dale, he shouted along with his men. The cavalry grouped up behind Robbert and they charged at the enemy, Dale could see that Rhaegar was personally leading the opposing charge with his much larger force. Dale stayed back with his infantry, House Lane was famous for its strong infantry not its cavalry.
When the two armies clashed Dale could hear the sound of steel clashing against each other, unlucky men who were the first to fall in the charge and horses slamming into the ground because of a well place spear. "Come on men! Let's show Robbert that House Lane has the best soldiers!" His men yelled in excitement and marched forward in formation, their shields locked together like a wall. Some enemy cavalry broke from the fight and chose to charge down the infantry. "Hold! Spears Out!" Dales men followed his orders to the letter as the enemy charge their lines, Some were able to crash through the lines but were quickly surrounded and ripped down from there horse, only to have a sword shoved into their stomach. The rest fell victim to the spears and were slowly dispatched as Dale's soldiers pushed forward. They soon saw the enemy infantry charging in to support their cavalry. "Come on men, Get your asses in there and protect Robert!" The men ran in and clashed with the enemy infantry. Now that Dale was so much closer to the battle he could smell the iron tang of the blood of the wounded and dead, bodies littered the ground. Arrows continued to fly and slaughtered dozens of men with each volley. The battle seemed to favor Robbert as they pushed the enemy back, inch by inch.
"Do the Gods favor our cause?" Before Dale could come up with an answer to that he saw out of the corner of his eye, through the chaos of the battlefield Robert and Rhaegar locked in combat, thigh deep in the river. He also saw Barristan Selmy, one of the Kingsguard cutting threw men to get to Robbert, to protect Rhaegar. "To me men!" Dale charged his horse threw the weakened front line and galloped at Barristan. He swung his axe at the enemies blow him as he carted threw, his axe cutting through the armor and into the flesh. Suddenly only fifty yards away his horse collapses under him. Dale hits the ground with a loud thud. When he looks at his horse he could see a spear in its chest. A Dornishman jump over the horse and charge at him. Dale drew his axe, his breath sounded loud in his ears, the Dornishman's sword clashed, with an unholy scream into his shield. Dale pushed into the blow, knocking the Dornishman to the ground. Dale stomped his foot onto his assailants arm, hearing a loud crunch and brought his axe down on the man's head. With a hard jerk he freed his axe from the man's skull and looked to his goal.
The two Lords remained in oblivious combat, Barristan cut down soldier after soldier growing closer to the target both Dale and he were after. Dale wondered did he stand a chance? Was it worth risking his life to only slow this famous knight for a couple seconds? Despite his doubts regarding his sanity, he kept running, knocking over and cutting down those in his way to stop Barristan. The knight's back was turned to him, he charged. A blow from behind may not be the most honorable, but this was war, and there was no room for honor in the thick of battle. Dale raised his axe, but the Gods did not look favorably on his moralizing as Barristan turned at the last second and blocked the blow. He quickly caught Dales axe with his blade and jerked it out of Dale's hands, he then attacked with a flurry of blows, Dale was only barely able to keep the attack from him with his shield.
Every strike seemed to cut deeper into the shield, Dales arm began to ache as each blow got closer and closer to his body, until finally his men caught up to him. Two of his Knights attacked Barristan giving him time to breath, Barristan fought them bravely with the same power he had showed against Dale, with one quick slash he took the head off of one of his assailants, and focused on the other, who was hopelessly outmatched and Barristan's sword pierced his gut, the loyal knight fell to his knees but grabbed Barristan's arm. Barristan tried to pull away but the mortally wounded knight kept hold, Dale saw his chance and retrieved the fallen sword of the other knight Barristan slew, He drove it deep into Barristan's leg, the famous knight yelled in pain and drop to the ground clutching his wound. Dale stood over the knight and rose his sword to finish him, but he heard a loud shout from Robbert. Robbert stood over Rhaegar's corpse, his breast plate caved in from the ferocious blows of Robert's warhammer. The battle was over, the death of Rhaegar inspired Roberts men, while striking fear into what was left of Rhaegar's forces. They ran, on horse or on foot, they all ran. When Dale looked back to Barristan he saw a strong, brave, man crying, not from fear of death, but from failing his duty to protect the future king. Dale ordered his men to put Barristan in chains. The battle was over, there was no need to kill him.
"Dad……. Dad!" Dale's eyes slowly opened to see his son Jasper kicking his bed. "Come on dad. The tournament is about to start, I'm not going to get disqualified because you couldn't get out of bed." He kicked the bed one last time before heading down the stairs. Dale stood up from the bed, the simple task causing his body to crackle and pop. He dressed himself and went down the stairs to eat with his son. "I'm guessing the preliminaries went well?"
Jasper met his father's eyes. "I got lucky, Ulfric apparently drank too much the day before and wasn't even able to saddle his horse. Most of the jousts were really close."
Dale couldn't help but feel a little proud. "That's good to hear. Do you know who else is jousting?"
Jasper scratched his head trying to remember. "Jami Lannister, the Clegane brothers..." Dale remembered the first time he saw the Clegane brothers,The eldest was named Gregor, people took to calling him the Mountain, he was a massive man who stood almost 8 ft and was just a mass of muscle, he was infamous for the raping and murder of Elia Martell and her children. He understood why the children had to die, though he hated the thought of it, but there was no reason for Elia to die in such a way. The younger brother, while not as well known as the Mountain, is called the hound, he was Joffrey's personal guard and would willingly kill anyone the boy wanted. "...Renly Baratheon, and Loras Tyrrell. Many others are jousting as well but those are the only ones I can recall."
Dale cocked his eyebrow. "Renly made it?"
Jasper shrugged "Either he got even luckier then I did or Stannis downplayed Renly's skill."
Dale took a bite of his cooked chicken. Wondering witch one it could be. "Do you know who you're paired with?"
"No, but we can find that out once we get to the tourney. Personally I hope it's Renly or Loras." The two finished their breakfast and headed to where the joust will commence. They made their way past a crowd to see a parchment with the ballot on it. Dales heart sank when he saw who was to be Jasper's opponent. -Gregor Clegane. He turned his gaze to Jasper who looked as pale as goat's milk.
"Well….. look like it's an uphill battle for me."
He could tell Jasper was forcing the smile for his joke. A part of Dale wanted to tell Jasper to drop out of the joust, but Dale knew that the seven hell's would freeze over before he dropped out of a joust.
"I-I'll go get ready Dad. Next time you see me, I'll be conquering the Mountain."
Jasper walked off towards the stables while Dale made his way to the bleachers. He passed by the betting house and noticed a large sum of gold was placed on Gregor unhorsing Jasper in the charge. Dale walked over. "100 Dragons that Jasper will stay horsed the charge." The broker quickly snatches the gold coins.
"If he makes it through the first tilt your winnings will come out to 350 dragons. If you want we can change it to Jasper winning. Your payout will be 10,000 Dragons."
Dale glared at the broker "What are his odds of winning?"
The broker smiled, showing his yellow teeth. "99 to 1. We would go lower but that's the lowest the boss is willing to go."
Dale turned his back to them. "Keep the bet how I asked." He felt guilty he didn't have more faith in his son, if it was only based on skill Jasper would be the winner hands down, but Gregor was called the Mountain for a reason.
As he made his way to the bleachers he locked eyes with a man he had not seen for 17 years. Barristan Selmy, he looked like he had not aged a day. The only difference being his hair was a bright white color rather than a dark brown it used to be. They walk up to each other. "Lord Lane." Barristan said in his deep voice.
"Sir Barristan. It's been a long time." Barristan extended his hand. "Will you be jousting? I saw Lord Lane on the ballot."
Dale chuckled at the thought as he took Barristan's hand and shook it. "No that will be my son. Not all of us can age like wine. Some of us age like goat's milk."
Barristan chuckled at the comment. "I promise time has not been as kind to me as most say."
Dale wished time was that cruel to him. "Will you be jousting Barristan?"
Barristan gave a small nod. "I will."
Dale returned the nod with his own. "Well I wish you good fortune in the jousts." The two men went their separate ways. Dale took a seat with some of the other Lords. The first joust began. Jory Cassel defeated Horas Redwyne, Ser Meryn Trant defeated Harwin of Winterfell, Ser Balon Swann defeated Alyn of Winterfell, Ser Jaime Lannister defeated Ser Andar Royce, but now came the Joust Dale was most worried about. He watched as his son rode to one end of the path, his armour a dull gray steel. The sigil of House Lane was on both his armor and shield for all to see. Then Gregor Clegane rode in. He was much larger than Dale had heard and his horse was a giant in its own right. Gregors Lance was almost twice as long as Jasper's. The announcer makes his way to the middle of the two. "On my left we have Sir Jasper Lane, Heir to Steel Lake. He was Knighted by Lord Stannis himself when he was 18 years old and know jousts to show his family's Strength. To my right is Ser Gregor Clegane, Lord of House Clegane and famous for his aid in ending the Mad King Aerys Targaryen's reign!" Dale shook his head in disgust, any man could have killed a woman, child, and baby.
The announcer quickly moved out of the way as both Gregor and Jasper charge at one another. Time seemed to slow down as they got closer. Dale saw Gregor's Lance crash into Jasper's shield. The shield was forced into Jasper's shoulder. A loud crunch could be hear as Gregor's Lance broke on hitting Jasper. Jasper's lance struck Gregor straight into the chest, only to shatter on impact barely moving the giant. The impact of Gregor's hit sent Jasper turning to the left as he began to fall of his horse. Quickly though Jasper dropped his lance and grabbed his horse's mane to stay attop. Both of them made it to the end of the path still on there stallions. People all around Dale were shouting for Jasper to fall off or yield, some took notice at Dale and the sigil he bore. Those who noticed quickly piped down. Dale saw that Jasper was still holding on with his right arm, but his left wasn't moving. He saw Jasper motion with his arm for one of his men to approach him. He got upon a stepping stool and grip Jaspers other arm. A loud pop could be heard along with Jasper letting out a loud yell of pain. Dale soon realized that Jasper's arm had been dislocated. A part of him want to yell for him to yield, for him to surrender before any serious damage was dealt, but before Dale could say a word Jasper already had his lance and shield ready for the next round. Half the crowed cheered and the other half sneered, the only thing that could be heard over them was the king, bellowing and laughing at Jasper. It wasn't a laugh like he thought that Jasper was stupid, but more like an impressed laugh that this young man was going to test his luck against the Mountain again. They charged, again as they got closer slowed down again. Gregor's lance wasn't aimed for Jaspers shield or chest, it was aimed for his head. Jasper was barely able to bring his shield up to block the strike, but the lanced only rammed the shield into his head, Jasper lance dropped from his hand as the lance and shield forced Jasper off his horse and sent him flying. He crashed against the ground. Not moving.
"JASPER!!!" Dale shoved his way past the commoners to his son. He tried to take the helmet off but it was badly dented and could not be removed.
An old man hobbled over with two members of the Kingsguard. He wore a chain of many metals around his neck to show he was a Master. "Lord Lane, please move if you want your son to survive." he said, not unkindly.
Dale obeyed the healer but whispered under his breath as they took Jasper away. "Oh Gods, please spare the boy."