350 AC
And so the High Septon prayed for seven days and seven nights, and much to Ser Darius Hill's chagrin, His High Holiness decided to anoint Andrew Lannister as King as soon as he married Aemma Targaryen.
Very early one morning, Ser Darius came to Lord Andrew in the Red Keep throne room, where the future king sat atop the Iron Throne.
"I resign my position as Commander of the City Watch," proclaimed Darius.
"You mean to steal my bride from me, brother," replied Lord Andrew.
"She is not a slave to be bought, sold, or stolen. She is Queen Aemma Targaryen, rightful ruler of Westeros."
"She is bound to me by a holy vow of betrothal, and by the laws of gods and men, she is to be my wife."
"Andrew, that's bullshit and you know it. You're my brother, and I'll never presume to harm you, but I don't like what I hear about you these days. You want power."
"Darius, one more snap like that and I'll put you in the black cells. I could already have your head for treason."
"With no evidence? The people would despise you."
"They already despise me, but it is not the people who decide their rulers. Get out of my city by daybreak tomorrow, or I'll have your head."
"Always an escalator, eh? Be seeing you, my lord."
Darius exited the throne room, and after he escaped Andrew's line of sight, dashed to the Maidenvault. The winding staircases seemed foreign to him now, though he had lived in the castle for a month now. His black doublet hugged his chest as wind blew against his torso. He was wearing crimson and gold, Darius recalled, he mourned for less than a week.
"This is urgent, my ladies," called Ser Darius through the door to the vault.
Lady Lily Tyrell had opened the door this time, as Princess Aemma and Lady Valkyrie were pacing about the room. Lord Endrew was already inside, seated at a table, picking at bacon.
"We must evacuate Queen Aemma at once," said Ser Darius solemnly. "Andrew gave me an ultimatum of daybreak tomorrow before he has my head, and I do not intend to let my shit of a brother abuse Her Grace while I look up from whatever hell is reserved for bastards."
"Aye, that fucker wants you out, he wants all of us out. Endrew, how many men are here with us from Storm's End?" asked Valkyrie Baratheon.
"Forty of mine, and ten of yours."
"Send a messenger down to the barracks. We ride at dusk."
"My lords, my ladies," said Lady Lily calmly, "We are sure of our enemies, but we know not our allies. How will we be safe anywhere if our trust is misplaced?"
"Lady Lily makes a valid point," reasoned Darius.
Valkyrie laughed, "The bastard's lady love makes the first good point of the morning." It had become her joke that Darius and Lily were secret lovers, though it had not been entirely unwarranted. It was not hard to see the looks that both of them exchanged, and if truth be told, Darius would not be disappointed if Lady Baratheon's jape came to fruition.
"We can trust the men sworn to Storm's End," stated Lord Endrew. "Lady Tyrell, will your father be willing to support our cause?"
"My father will support our cause if he has good reason to, and right now we have fifty swords to Queen Aemma's name," Lily replied.
"We have five-and-thirty thousand swords to Queen Aemma's name if we are safe in Storm's End, and we will have over one-hundred thousand swords if Lord Willas joins his forces with ours."
This time, Aemma spoke up, "Meanwhile, my intended has the might of the Crownlands, the Westerlands, and presumably the North and the Vale of Arryn."
"Not if we can rally them first," Ser Darius said. "What do you two know of Lady Angelina Stark and Lady Alyssa Arryn?"
"Those two are my correspondents, aye," Valkyrie said, "I'll have Maester Pylos send them both a raven when we're safe in Storm's End."
Ser Darius grumbled, but Aemma spoke up, "We ride at dusk, indeed. Ser Darius, can you provide us a clear path to the King's Gate?"
"I'll have Ser Desmond send word," said Darius. He had given Ser Desmond Mallister command of the gold cloaks in his stead, though he was unsure if Andrew would let that stay for long.
"If we're not out of the city by dusk, we'll be trapped. Meet under cover of darkness and cloak on the Hook by sunset, and tell no one. We can trust no one," Aemma said confidently.
Darius opened up the door of the Maidenvault for the ladies and Endrew, and caught the hard gaze of Ser Perros Blackmont, strong and unwavering. The bastard's expression must have been mortified; he was sure everyone in that room could be trusted, but Ser Perros must have heard every single bit of it.
"Morning, Ser Perros," Darius said nonchalantly. The Kingsguard nodded.
By high noon Darius had packed all his belongings, save for his plate and blade. As the knight gazed at the sword Lord Brax gave to him, he lingered on a past dream of his, to wield a Valyrian steel blade. Whispers were said of Asshai'i shadowbinders, Qohorik smiths, and dragon queens who knew the secrets of making the marvelous metal. Lord Endrew had once spoken of such a smith, one who melted down the sword of House Stark and turned it into the cursed pair of Valyrian longswords, Widow's Wail and Oathkeeper, for a bastard king and a soiled knight. But Widow's Wail still lay in the crypts of Casterly Rock, untouched by man or woman since the death of King Joffrey the Illborn, save for the men who transported it to the Rock. There were few Valyrian blades left in the Seven Kingdoms, but Widow's Wail had always temped him since the moment he came to the Rock. Once, when Darius still lived at Hornvale, he had suggested to Lord Jon that they steal a Valyrian blade, or buy one from an ironborn house or an eastern trader. Lord Brax had only laughed at his grandson, calling it a dreamer's folly.
Upon exiting the Red Keep, Darius decided to pay Ser Desmond a visit on the walls of the city, overlooking Blackwater Bay in all its blazed glory.
"Ser, you sent for me?" asked Ser Desmond.
"Indeed," Darius replied. "Ser Desmond, I have a favor to ask of you."
"If it is within my power, I will grant it."
"Send word to the King's Gate that I will be leaving the city with four other nobles and fifty men-at-arms. And do not let Andrew know. This is strictly confidential."
"Aye, confidential. I'll keep the gate clear for you, and I wish you safe travels. Might I ask where you're heading?"
"Alas, I cannot tell you. Apologies, ser."
"You're acting very suspicious, boy…" muttered Desmond as Darius walked away.
Ser Darius mounted a black stallion from the stables, thanking the stableboy with a silver stag, riding off to a tavern on the Hook, hidden from the view of the Red Keep's guards. Hours passed, and while patrons came and went, laughing and drinking and whoring, Darius sat in the corner, ever-present. As the sun began to descend from view of the tavern's front windows, the bastard left the establishment to find the Baratheon twins waiting.
"Cheating on your lady love, Darius?" Valkyrie called out, laughing.
"Use respect," muttered Lord Endrew.
"Why? We're in the biggest shitpile in the Seven Kingdoms! We may as well act like it," exclaimed Valkyrie.
"Let's just wait for Lady Lily and Her Grace," said Darius calmly.
"Should a Kingsguard be escorting them?" asked Endrew.
"Ser Samwise should be guarding her, from what I heard," affirmed Valkyrie, "He said another would be coming as well."
"Hopefully we can trust this other knight," muttered Endrew.
"Samwise Taylor is a sworn brother of the Kingsguard. I would vouch my life for his honor, or the honor of any of his fellow Kingsguard," protested Darius.
"Aye, but my brother has a point. Jaime Lannister, that was a dangerous Kingsguard. Mandon Moore, Meryn Trant, Criston Cole, Terrence Toyne, and the Clegane brothers, all Kingsguard! Seven hells, Darius, you can't trust a man because he swore his life to a king."
"You discredit brave men like Barristan Selmy, Aemon Targaryen, Arthur Dayne, Gwayne Corbray, and Duncan the Tall. There are some honorable men on King Aemon's former Kingsguard, and having Ser Samwise, if no one else, gives Her Grace favor with the smallfolk. Why, if valiant Samwise Taylor is serving Queen Aemma, maybe she's worth fighting for."
"Keep your voice down, ser," Endrew said, "There are eyes everywhere."
"Including those six," exclaimed Valkyrie, pointing at two armored and hooded knights guarding two equally hooded noblewomen.
The party of three approached the newcomers, who Darius knew at once to be Ser Samwise, Queen Aemma, Lily Tyrell, and another knight of the Kingsguard. But who?
"Let's get out of here," murmured Aemma, and the seven were off.
Valkyrie had placed the Baratheon men-at-arms in Fishmonger's Square, and they were signaled as soon as Aemma's guard had raced through the Hook and down to the River Gate. The smallfolk were surprised to see fifty armed men immediately rush from out of the square, and possibly even more surprised to see seven black steeds galloping through the square at dusk. The River Row was bustling at this time of day, as the fish markets were just closing up, and the city folk were eager to get their money's worth before establishments shut down for the night. Darius was grateful the trip was not through the Muddy Way or the Street of Steel, or they surely would have been caught by the bustle of sunset traffic. Thankfully, people cleared out of their way, though none would be stupid enough to stand in the way of nearly sixty warriors. Soon enough, they came to the King's Gate, and saw a guard stationed in front.
"Make way," announced Darius, putting a hand on the amethyst-studded hilt of his bastard sword.
"And who are you to be giving orders to us?" said one of the gold cloaks.
"Darius Hill, bastard of the Rock. Surely you received orders to make way."
"Aye, we did," said the gold cloak.
"At first," said the watchman opposite to him. "But then we received new orders, from Lord Andrew Lannister, Protector of the Realm. Lord Lannister said to keep the city on lockdown, especially for you."
"Friends," began Darius, "This need not end in violence. It is getting late, and we outnumber you. You can step aside and live out your days peacefully, or you can oppose us and pay with your lives."
"Treason is a pesky devil, ser. Take your peaceful days and shove them up your arse." The first gold cloak spit, and slammed a lance on the ground. From the walls above the King's Gate rose twenty archers, and behind them came another three dozen.
"You've come prepared," mouthed Darius, unsheathing his sword. He could hear the Baratheon men slam their poleaxes, the Kingsguard unsheathe their blades, and the Baratheon twins arming themselves with warhammers.
The King's Gate descended into chaos, poleaxe against lance, warhammer against spear, shield against shield, and Darius could barely keep track of it. He slashed and hacked aimlessly until he found himself a few opponents, five to be exact. He had fought against worse odds in the Spicer Rebellion, when he was overwhelmed by half a dozen knights in the woods near Castamere. However, these men went down easily; they were untrained and underfed, whereas Darius was a trained highborn knight, and in the field, bastardy mattered not. The gold cloaks were evenly matched in numbers, but the quarrel left six of them dead for every Baratheon soldier down. By the time the great constellations appeared in the heavens, every gold cloak was dead or wounded, and Queen Aemma's escort rode through the King's Gate mostly unmolested.
"Well, that was fun," said Valkyrie as she cleaned blood off her steel warhammer.
"It surely gave me a rush, and I wasn't even fighting," said Lady Lily excitedly. "I must thank you, sers, for protecting Her Grace and I." Ser Samwise and the mystery knight nodded.
"This is why I enjoy Lady Lily so much. She's not shy or timid, like that Waynwood bitch, or Santagar's daughter. I knew them scarcely, but I could tell they're not made of the same fire," proclaimed Valkyrie.
"A good companion for Her Grace," affirmed the mystery knight, whose voice matched that of Ser Perros Blackmont.
Valkyrie went silent, neither Endrew nor Darius dared talk. Finally, Ser Samwise beckoned to his sworn brother, and Ser Perros responded to their expressions. "Why have I joined you? I petitioned Lord Andrew to make peace with your cause in court today, and he laughed. I took it as an affront on my honor. I have served House Targaryen for forty years, and I intend to continue serving House Targaryen for many more."
"I thank you for your service, Ser Perros," muttered Queen Aemma from beneath her hood.
"My sworn brother forgets that it was I who convinced him Her Grace was worthy of support, after he came to me speaking of dangerous conspiracy," laughed Ser Samwise.
"I understand we're heading for Storm's End," said Perros.
"Aye," replied Valkyrie. "To Storm's End!"