Chapter Two – we swore a vow

I do not own a song of ice and fire. There is violence in this chapter.

Can you please review so I know what changes I can do and how to develop this story?

AN

Hello everyone I know it has been an extremely long time. I have been stuck with writers block. I still do not have a clear vision on where I will be taking this fanfiction but I know enough to plan ahead. Currently I am updating the current chapters, fleshing out the characters especially Oswell Whent and Gerold Hightower. I will be trying to add more chapters to this story ASAP. And what are your thoughts on Jon becoming Jaehaerys.

UPDATED VERSION

283 AL

Arthur Dayne POV

I was with my brothers Lord Gerold Hightower and Ser Oswell Whent. The lord commander was a huge man and older than both me and Ser Oswell, his dark brown hair was peppered heavily with grey. His face was lined and worn with age, but he was still quite a presence – his shoulders were broad and strong, his hands like great paws. He embraced me in a bear hug, slapping his back.

"Arthur," he greeted. "It is good to see you again. How are you faring?"

I glanced back at Lyanna, still holding the king close to her. "We have done admirably, here in this little tower." He smiled and waved his hand at Jaehaerys. Both men of the Kingsguard looked to Jaehaerys; Lyanna found herself instinctively holding him closer to her as they stared. "What brings you here again?"

"Prince Rhaegar's last words to us before he left for the Trident were to inform us of his marriage to Lady Lyanna," explained Ser Gerold. "He told us also of the babe that grew inside her and that should anything happen to him in battle, he wished for us to swear to protect them both at all costs."

I saw Lyanna Stark gazing out the window, as she had often used to do, before the news came of the Trident and all of the life had left her eyes.

"Rhaegar entrusted me with this son's life, and he is the new king and I am a member of the Kingsguard" I reminded her. I felt anger flow through me as I thought of the child's brother and sister; they were murdered during the sack of King's Landing. They say little Rhaenys tried to hide under her father's bed, but they dragged her out all the same, and the Mountain ripped baby Aegon from his mother's breast. They laid the bodies in front of the Iron Throne wrapped in red Lannister cloaks to mask the blood. I was not there. I could not save them. But I will save the boy.

Arthur clenched his mailed hands into fists. "I will never allow him to fall into the Usurper's hands, I swear to you, I swear to Rhaegar and I swear to Jaehaerys."

Lyanna glared at him. "Nor will Ned hand my son over to be butchered by the likes of Gregor Clegane," she said, fiercely. Though she shivered so violently with fever that her teeth clashed against each other. I half-believed she would take on The Mountain herself if given a chance and a sword. For a she-wolf will tear out the throat of anything that threatens her pups.

I shook my head. "If Robert learned that your brother let a Targaryen child he'd have him executed for treason," I said. And her face paled at the thought.

Tears began to glisten on her face, surprising me. "Please," she said in a voice barely above a whisper, "Don't kill my brother. If you ever loved Rhaegar, let me go home. Don't kill my brother please."

Lyanna squeezed my fingers as another wave of pain wracked her body. This one was considerably harsher than the last. She turned her head to look at me.

"Please, let me go home." Lyanna pleaded with him for the third time. The first had been after Rhaegar left. The second was after they learned he had died.

I refused her again. "We have sent for a maester," I said. "After he sees you, and after you recover, and we shall leave." Even in death, Rhaegar had a plan for her.

Oswell and Gerold entered the room none too quietly, clanging in their white armour. Gerold looked at me grimly; Oswell, once full of life making his brothers laugh with his dark sense of humour had a face now more reminiscent of the bat of house Whent, looked at Lyanna pitying her.

"When our Prince did not return, we knew we had to leave at once," continued Ser Oswell. "But the journey has been fraught with danger. Forces loyal to the rebels run rampant in the Kingswood, all the way up to the Marches. What should have taken us a week to travel has taken thrice that."

"Your raven reached us three days ago," I replied to him.

"We suspected it might," Ser Oswell said. "We had hoped to bring the news in person, but it was not to be."

There was a pause. What other news was there? "Pray tell me there is not more ill news?" Ser Oswell turned his gaze to the floor, and then Ser Gerold responded.

"The war is lost, my friend. Robert Baratheon sits upon the Iron Throne. The King is dead, slain by Jaime Lannister."

My face darkened. "Jaime? He…" my voice disappeared in a confused exhaling of breath.

"I am sorry Arthur I knew the boy was dear to you. He was guarding the King and he ran his sword through his heart. We heard the news as we travelled through the Stormlands." I shook my head. "We set off on this journey believing we were fulfilling the last wishes of our Prince, but we conclude it with the knowledge that our task is now of much graver import. Before the rebels even arrived in the city, Tywin Lannister and his men came to the gates of the city, begging entrance. King Aerys, it seems, admitted them, and they began to sack the city. Prince Aegon was killed, his head dashed brutally against a wall." The Lord Commander stopped and looked to Jaehaerys in Lyanna's arms. "He seems so small doesn't he? But there he is – the rightful King of the Seven Kingdoms."

Lyanna looked surprised. We all looked towards Jaehaerys and we then dropped to their knees in front of Lyanna and the babe, heads bowed, and proclaimed together, "Our King. We swear from this day until our last, we will protect and defend you."

Jaehaerys was sleeping in a makeshift cradle I had made for him. Lyanna picked up her son from the cradle and began to rock him. The babe was very quiet and hungry as he suckled on her breast. She closed her eyes and whispered to her son in a soft voice. "You have a healthy appetite my son and you will need all the strength in this world in order to survive."

The following morning, she was tired as she blinked and rubbed her eyes. "Arthur, A…, I have a headache" and then she collapsed.

"Lyanna, Lyanna" I shouted. "My lady" she opened her eyes slowly she was suffering from a fever. Wylla entered the room with a cup of water, Lyanna drank the water eagerly. Her dress was soaked with blood.

"Sleep my lady, sleep," I said while smiling compassionately. "Only sleep will cure it, I have found."

"So, what is your judgement then, Lord Commander?" Ser Oswell asked the Lord Commander. Old Ser Gerold sighed; he ran one of his thick-fingered hands through his hair and rubbed his face.

"The way I see it, we have but three options," Ser Gerold replied. "We can bend the knee to the rebels, like our brother Barristan, we can ride to Starfall then sail to Dragonstone to join the Queen and Prince Viserys, or…" He paused and looked around the table. "Or we can make a stand and fight."

"Don't," she said. The fever made her eyes dazzlingly bright. "Don't," she repeated. She looked as if she would faint with the effort of staying on her feet. "Let me go home with him. The war is over. Rhaegar is dead. There is nothing left for me here."

"I will not bend the knee," I said. "Stop and think about what will happen if we do. Robert Baratheon will not suffer another Targaryen heir just like he did not suffer Prince Aegon and Princess Rhaenys. If he gets his hands on the babe, he will kill him. I cannot allow that to happen. I swore to Rhaegar that I would keep them safe."

"I agree," said Ser Oswell. "That is not an option. And if we go to Dragonstone, what then? We cannot stay there forever. The Usurper will have us hunted down."

"We travel across the Narrow Sea, I suppose, to go into hiding," Ser Gerold said. His voice was heavy.

I shook my head. "And do you think that will mean we are safe? It is not an option. I say we go to Sunspear. He is Aegon's brother and Rhaenys's sister. We will be safe in Dorne. Prince Doran will grant us refuge."

"Truly you think Oberyn will allow us in Dorne. In his eyes, Jaehaerys's existence dishonours Elia." Replied the Lord Commander.

"I will convince him." I said adamantly.

"Eddard will be coming here very soon," I finished. "And I suppose I should not need to remind you that he is on the other side."

"Ned wouldn't hurt us!" Lyanna cried out. "He loves me dearly."

"I don't doubt your brother's love for you" I said. "But he is Robert Baratheon's man. The war is over. The rebels have won and a usurper sits the Iron Throne. Ned Stark, honourable though he undoubtedly is, will not want to risk allying himself in any way with a boy whose claim to the throne is a thousand times better than that of his friend's. It would make him a traitor in the eyes of his friend."

Her eyes widened as the reality of my words sank in. "Don't fight him!" she exclaimed. "Do what your sister wanted – Ned will surely listen to you if you talk to him. He's known Robert almost all his life! He could persuade him to help us."

"Help us do what?" I argued. "Flee? Bend the knee? Accept Robert Baratheon as our king when we know the rightful king still lives? Stand by and watch them murder him?" I shook my head. "No, I will not do that. I swore a vow – to Prince Rhaegar and to my king, my rightful king. I am of the Kingsguard and I cannot turn away from that vow. I will not."

Ser Oswell Whent broke the silence. "Arthur, you speak it true," he said. "I am no oathbreaker."

"So we are decided then," said Ser Gerold Hightower. "We stand and fight. Trial by combat."

Then Lyanna's body began to shake, wildly and feverishly, utterly out of control. And she collapsed again. I was kneeling beside her and her limbs were trembling and shaking.

Wylla then pressed a cold cloth to her forehead. The lady Lyanna was dying I realised.

"My Princess," I said, my voice shaking with fear. "Can you hear me?" She nodded vaguely in reply.

"We must get her back to her bed," Wylla instructed them, I then carried her and took her to her chambers. I set her down on the bed and Wylla began to remove her dress. We stepped back to allow Wylla to her work.

"I'm cold, Wylla," Lyanna murmured. Wylla said nothing but passed her another blanket and Lyanna wrapped it around herself. Her fingers looked as if they had turned to ice.

"What is it?" I demanded when she took her hand away. "Tell me."

"It is the fever, m'lords," said Wylla, her face grave. "The childbed fever."

In the cradle at the end of the bed, Jaehaerys began to cry.

"Eddard Stark has come here, with friends," Gerold answered. Lyanna's heart raced at the mention of her brother.

Eddard stark was arriving with six companions. We waited before the round tower, with the red mountains of Dorne at our backs. I could feel my white cloak blowing in the wind. I had a sad smile on my face. The hilt of the greatsword, Dawn poked over my right shoulder; Ser Oswell Whent was on one knee, sharpening his blade with a whetstone. Across his white-enamelled helm, the black bat of his house spread it wings. Between us stood fierce old Ser Gerold Hightower, the White Bull, the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard.

"I looked for you on the Trident," Ned said to us.

"We were not there," Ser Gerold answered.

"Woe to the Usurper if we had been," said Ser Oswell.

"When King's Landing fell, Ser Jaime slew your king with a golden sword, and I wondered where you were."

"Far away," Ser Gerold said, "or Aerys would yet sit the Iron Throne, and our false brother would burn in seven hells."

"I came down on Storm's End to lift the siege," Ned told them... and the Lords Tyrell and Redwyne dipped their banners, and all their knights bent the knee to pledge us fealty. I was certain you would be among them."

"Our knees do not bend easily," I said.

"Ser Willem Darry is fled to Dragonstone, with your queen and Prince Viserys. I thought you might have sailed with him."

"Ser Willem is a good man and true," said Ser Oswell.

"But not of the Kingsguard," Ser Gerold pointed out. "The Kingsguard does not flee."

"Then or now," I said. As I donned my helm.

"We swore a vow," explained old Ser Gerold.

"And now it begins," I said. I unsheathed Dawn and held it with both of my hands. The blade was pale as milkglass, alive with light.

"No," Ned said with sadness in his voice. "Now it ends."