350 AC
The ravens came early in the morning, and Maester Pylos had awoken Lady Valkyrie and Ser Darius at first light, summoning them to the ravenry. The ravenry of Storm's End was a lean and short tower connected by a small hallway from the drum, with shit-stained cages lining the stone walls. Golden sunlight streamed in through the window slivers in the tower, creating stripes of shadow and sun down the length of the ravenry.
Maester Pylos led Valkyrie and Darius down to his study, on the lowest level of the tower, below the ravenry. There were no windows to let in sunlight, and the screeches and caws of the birds above echoed down the turret, giving the study a fairly eerie aura.
"Lady Valkyrie, in the week since your ravens were sent to Winterfell and the Eyrie, I received replies from Lady Stark and Lord Arryn themselves. You will want to read their replies, my lady."
"Lady Baratheon, I cannot begin to tell you how much I wish to support Princess Aemma's cause, but Winterfell received a raven from Lord Lannister, telling queer stories about my granddaughter. It pains me to say, Lady Angelina was taken to the capital, and I cannot risk her safety. I hope you will understand, as I know Lady Angelina has been a good friend of yours. Best regards, Lady Sansa Stark, Lady of Winterfell, Wardeness of the North." Valkyrie sighed, crestfallen. "I can feel the bullshit dripping off the page."
"Here is the other message, my lady. This arrived from the Eyrie."
"I wonder what Andrew Lannister forced Lord Nestor to say," said Valkyrie angrily. "Lady Baratheon, the Vale's forces have been mustered. Lady Alyssa sails south as I write this, to pledge fealty to Queen Aemma. Send me no more ravens, for this is treason. Yours, Lord Nestor Arryn, Lord of the Eyrie, Warden of the East, and Defender of the Vale."
"This is wonderful news!" said Darius excitedly. "With Lord Tyrell and Lord Arryn standing with us, Her Grace will have three of the Seven Kingdoms at her side!"
"I've known Angelina Stark since we were both young maidens, playing together at tourneys and each other's castles," Valkyrie began, speaking softly. "She was always nice… A bit of an idiot, but it didn't matter. Now, they've got here locked up in King's Landing, most like sitting in a cell."
Darius spoke up, surprisingly to both Valkyrie and himself, "Andrew is not the like to do such a thing."
"Ser, the things I've heard… The things I've seen… I see no reason to believe that Andrew Lannister wouldn't chain an innocent girl to stop a rebellion."
Darius sighed, his brain telling him that Andrew had slighted them all, but his heart told him of the friendship he had with his brother before their father's death. Yes, our father. Lord Tybolt was just as much his father as he was mine. "We can rescue Lady Angelina, if you so wish. If Queen Aemma allows me to accompany you, I will gladly assist you in the rescue of your friend."
"As long as you shut up about your brother, that would be a great help." Valkyrie put a hand on her sword and turned to the door to the old maester's study. "I'll pack my plate."
"Darius, I don't believe this to be a good idea," said Aemma quietly, "But it seems I must agree. It is important to bring the North into the fray, and if Lady Stark is on Andrew's side, we have lost."
Aside from Aemma, Lord Endrew stood facing Valkyrie and Darius. "House Grandison, House Staedmon, and House Lonmouth are loyal to the Iron Throne, and our cause will lose support if we do not act quickly."
"Lord Tyrell is arriving in a fortnight, if Maester Pylos tells truthfully," Aemma reasoned.
"Aye, and the Starks won't join us unless we save Lady Angelina. You let us go, so let us go," exclaimed Valkyrie.
"Leave, then, and make sure your temper is cooled when you return. Perhaps Lady Stark's attitude will assist."
Darius and Valkyrie mounted their horses; Darius the black stallion from their ride to Storm's End, and Valkyrie a white mare speckled with black spots she had ridden since a young age. Valkyrie was dressed in her usual black and gold hauberk, which made it easy to ride, and Darius wore a simple red brigandine, attempting not to bring attention to himself by dressing as a common man-at-arms. As the gates of Storm's End closed behind them, the crashing waves under Durran's Point resounding like cymbals, a feeling of excitement came over Darius. However, this excitement turned to dread as the knight had time to think on their ride up to the capital.
Though it hadn't been his top priority, Darius had a lingering suspicion that serving Queen Aemma was not what his father would have wanted him to do. Lord Tybolt, like many lords of Lannister before him, placed utmost important on family. In truth, it was the reason Darius had been given quarters at the Rock in the first place. When the bastard knight left Hornvale, he had been sent away under the presumption that Tybolt Lannister would turn him down. What would a high lord like him want his bastard for? But Lord Lannister saw the green tint of his eyes and knew that any Lannister, bastard or no, had a place at Casterly Rock. Now, Darius had betrayed the lord of House Lannister to serve someone the High Septon had explicitly refused to anoint as queen. For as much as he wanted to serve Queen Aemma, perhaps not on her Kingsguard but still at her side, Andrew was his brother.
Darius looked ahead at Valkyrie, or at least what he could make out of her figure in the drizzle that had begun to fall, and weighed whether he should ask her about his dilemma. He decided against it, knowing that any hint of treason would not sit well with Aemma, or at the very least her councilors. Endrew Baratheon had risked his reputation with the Iron Throne, Willas Tyrell and Nestor Arryn were as well, and Sansa Stark agreed to join a rebellion if her granddaughter were not in chains. Four great lords stood at Aemma's side, but Darius suddenly wondered if it would be worth it. Aemma would be hailed as Queen of the Andals and the Rhoynar and the First Men, but Andrew would be deposed and perhaps killed for his treason. Furthermore, what would happen to the Lannisters who bore no part in this scheme? Lady Elna left the city a scant three days after her lord husband's death. Little Tyria and Jace had not even come to King's Landing with them, yet they would be the target of the cruel revenge exacted upon the Rock. To make it all worse, the people would call Darius a kinslayer, the knight who betrayed his own family and let them die. Darius Hill, just the same as the Kingslayer before him.
Before Darius had any chance to resolve his internal conflict, there was a rustling in the brush as the pair rode through the wood, and that was when the sellswords came upon them.
"What would two riders be doing in a storm like this?" asked a grizzled man with a hooked nose, who looked about five-and-thirty. "It's not safe."
"It's only a drizzle, friends," said Darius calmly, though he panicked slightly inside.
"Who are you two, anyway?" asked a second man, this one a bit younger, but bald with a shaggy blonde beard.
"Just a hedge knight, searching for the next lord to serve," Darius lied.
"And the wench?"
"My riding companion," Darius said coolly. He looked over to Valkyrie, who remained quiet but seemed very angry.
"Nice eyes you've got there," said a third man, who looked to be older than the other two. "Do you know who has eyes like that?"
They've got us now, thought Darius. "No. Would you spare me the trouble of guessing, my friend?"
"We're not your bloody friend, Hill," spat the third man. He turned to the other men, of which there were eight in all, shouting, "Seize them."
Valkyrie drew her axe, and Darius unsheathed his sword, but his reflexes were too slow. Though the two were able to slay two of the sellswords, both of their horses were cut down and they found themselves put in chains soon enough.
"Why do you have such a recognizable fucking face?" mumbled Valkyrie as the sellswords rode north, but she was kicked in the crotch by a rider, and that was the end of the conversation.
They had reached King's Landing soon enough, and the sellswords had made sure to keep Darius and Valkyrie fed for the most part. When the two were shown to the gold cloaks at the gates, the sellsword group gained themselves free passage to the Red Keep, and Darius knew it was over for him.
Arstan Grandison stood at the entrance to the throne room, and he escorted the sellswords to the foot of the throne, or what was left of it anyway. On top of the mangled iron mess sat Lord Andrew Lannister, Protector of the Realm, who sat with a very disapproving look on his face.
"Well, brother, I'd say this is a bit awkward, wouldn't you?"
"Lord Lannister," said the oldest sellsword, the one who identified Darius, "We present Ser Darius Hill and Lady Valkyrie Baratheon, we believe."
"Your belief is correct, good man. What was the reward promised, Maester Ashe?"
Grand Maester Ashe, who sat at the council table, called up to Andrew, "One hundred golden dragons for Ser Darius. We did not issue a reward for Lady Baratheon, my lord."
"Give these fine men another fifty golden dragons for her capture, Grand Maester. If you would excuse me, I would like to speak to Ser Darius alone. Grand Maester Ashe, please escort Lady Valkyrie to her new quarters in the Maidenvault. I am sure her friend Lady Stark would be delighted to greet her."
The sellswords left the throne room, and Maester Ashe and Ser Arstan took Lady Valkyrie to the Maidenvault.
"My my, Darius," Andrew said, rising from the throne when the room was clear, "You've gotten yourself into a bit of a predicament."
"What do you want from me, Andrew?"
"What have you been doing since I last saw you, brother? I've heard rumors, but nothing all too peculiar. Whisperers say that Princess Aemma has taken refuge at Storm's End, my commanders tell me that Highgarden and the Eyrie have rose up in rebellion against the Iron Throne. I'm less concerned with what plans you've been concocting, but I'd like to know what drove you and Lady Baratheon to ride right into my grasp."
"Lady Sansa Stark said you were keeping her granddaughter captive."
"Indeed, I have been keeping Lady Angelina in the Red Keep, which makes me no better than our lovely aunt Brotherfucker, I suppose. Angelina is living in the Maidenvault for the time being, until a representative of Winterfell joins me here in King's Landing."
"How did you get Angelina?" Darius's words were slurred and broken, more so with every sentence. He had been defeated.
"That's not something I'm willing to tell you, especially since you're a ward of the Crown, accused of high treason against the Iron Throne."
"The Starks will never back you. Winterfell hates House Lannister."
"Many people hate House Lannister, Darius. Willas Tyrell hates that his brother Loras died because of Queen Cersei's foolishness. The Martells hate that Lord Tywin killed Elia and Oberyn. The Tullys and Starks hate how House Lannister crushed the Young Wolf. Our own ancestors held Lady Sansa Stark hostage in this very castle, not to mention they also executed her father on holy ground. Targaryen supporters hate the Rock for Aerys's death. The ironborn hate the Rock for the Battle of Lannisport. The Vale hate the Rock for Jon Arryn's death. It's become the norm to hate House Lannister. I thought you would help me rebuild our house, Darius, as our father did before us. I thought you were worthy of a gold lion rather than a red one. But I suppose I thought wrong."
Ser Arstan walked back into the room.
"Ser Arstan, take Ser Darius to the black cells."