Edwyle

Lucereon Blackfyre was dead, but the battle of Rainwood Forest still went on. His men, men of the Golden Company, men of the Free Cities continued fighting. Maelys Blackfyre still lived, was somewhere in this godforsaken forest fighting and killing loyal men, Edwyle knew that if he could get to Maelys or get one of his men close enough to Maelys they might be able to end the Blackfyre threat once and for all. Ice was still drawn; glistening red with blood of a hundred foes, turning to Ser Gwayne Gaunt of the Kingsguard Edwyle said "Find me Maelys Blackfyre alive or dead."

"Yes my lord hand." Ser Gwayne replied before he mounted his own horse and rode off in search of the last male Blackfyre. Edwyle glanced down once more at the lifeless body of Lucereon Blackfyre the last of Daemon Blackfyre's sons and shivered slightly. He walked back to his own horse and got onto it, spurring the horse on through the carnage.

The men of the Golden Company were still fighting, they had formed some sort of a defensive position around each other, a circle if you will, perhaps hoping to trap Edwyle or one of the other lords in it and kill them. Edwyle was not going to fall for that, he swung his sword ferociously and cut his way through the lines, soldier by soldier, piece by piece until there were no more men left in the circle, all of them lying dead and unseeingly on the ground before him. Turning to his daughter Anna's betrothed and his own squire Edwyle said "Loren can you see Ser Gwayne anywhere."

His squire, a big lad even at fifteen stood up in his stirrups and said "No my lord I can't."

Edwyle frowned, where was Ser Gwayne, had he fallen prey to Maelys the Monstrous, or was he dead killed by some foreign savage? Willam Cassel answered his unanswered question for him. "I see him my lord, Ser Gwayne in the white his trying to fight his way back towards us, he's got five men facing him."

He'd never make it back to them alive, Ser Gwayne was good, but even he could not fight five men at once and survive. "Follow me we must get to him." It was likely Ser Gwayne had found Maelys and these men were trying to prevent him from getting close to him. Edwyle swung Ice forwards and backwards, hacking and slashing his way through the men of the Golden Company, he barely heard their screams and cries of pain, all he saw was a field of red and the inane desire to get to Ser Gwayne before another good man died needlessly in this conflict.

The soldiers of the Golden Company seemed to realise what Edwyle was about for soon arrows were reigning down on them, Edwyle by some luck of the gods managed to avoid most of the arrows though one or two of them brushed past his armour causing dents to it, other members of the party riding with him were not so lucky. Willam Cassel was pierced by a dozen arrows through the face and chest respectively, his horse was pierced by a dozen arrows as well crushing the man. Jonos Waters Ser Oswell's son was littered with arrows through the throat and neck; he died falling of his horse blood gurgling from his mouth. Many more of the men continued to die, but still Edwyle pushed them on, hacking his way through those who stood in his path. Getting to Ser Gwayne Gaunt and possibly Maelys was the objective of this charge.

Just as they were about to get close enough to Ser Gwayne and his assailants, another ring formed around them, twenty warriors dressed in the black and white of the bearded priests of Norvos stood before them, their hulking mass and battle axes plain to see. Edwyle sighed and led the charge once more, ducking and dodging the priests' swings and slashes at them. Though one of the bastards managed to strike him on the helm nearly dazing him, that was soon rectified when Edwyle cut the man's throat open with Ice. They fought for what seemed like hours, the priests swinging their axes, Edwyle and his companions either ducking and dodging or blocking the swings, or retaliating with swings, thrusts and parries of their own, so that by the time the Bearded Priests fell down to the ground dead or bleeding to death, they were all covered in dents and scratches, but Edwyle could not see any sign of Ser Gwayne Gaunt, had the man been overwhelmed or had he been captured?

It was Loren who spotted the man first. Pointing it out to Edwyle with a loud "Lord Stark!" Edwyle followed the boy's gaze and saw horrified as the men who had attacked Ser Gwayne Gaunt danced around his corpse, his white cloak covered in blood, his body littered with a dozen types of scars and bruises all of which were bleeding. The man was dead and yet Edwyle knew that these men would likely know where Maelys was, raising his sword high into the air he let loose a terrifying battle cry and charged forward. He swung to his left and his right and cut down the men who were dancing around the former white sword's body, his companions cut down those men who came to try and aid their fellow traitors.

When only one man was left alive in that little group Edwyle had his men point their swords at him and questioned him with a cold voice. "Maelys where is he?"

The man was beaten and bloody, his armour was broken and his eyes were swollen and yet still he had a defiant air about him. "Why should I tell you that Stark?"

"Because your death will be much more painful unless you do." Edwyle replied still in the same cold tone.

The man laughed then and said through a mouthful of blood. "Pah, threaten me all you like. Torture me, but that will not bring you Maelys. He has already set sail for Tyrosh by now. He was never here my lord of Stark. It was all a ruse to lure you away from the main threat."

Edwyle had put his sword closer to the man's throat but stopped at his last words. "The main threat? You mean the host marching toward King's Landing?" He thought that had just been a lie told by Lucereon to distract him. "How many men are marching for King's Landing and who leads them?"

The man laughed once more. Blood continuing to flow from his mouth making his words hard to understand. "Lord Torman Peake my lord of Stark, with 12,000 men made up of men from the Reach and the Yronwoods. They should be in the Kingswood by now, and your king will never make it back in time to defend his throne."

Edwyle felt his blood go cold at that. "Kill him." He said to his men and then he turned his horse towards their camp and rode hard. Once back at camp he found Tyrek Baratheon the heir to Storm's End lounging in his tent, a cup of wine in one hand and a whore in the other. Edwyle gave the man a cold look before speaking. "I trust we won and the rest of the pretender's men are dead then?"

Tyrek Baratheon at least had the decency to blush scarlet. "Yes my lord hand, enemy defeated and rousted and killed just as you ordered. Some of the men captured have spoken of a march by the enemy on King's Landing is it true?"

Edwyle merely nodded trying to think of how best to get the men marching at their fastest speed without killing them all. Baratheon spoke once more "Then we should march at once my lord hand." Edwyle noted with some amusement that Tyrek Baratheon had sounded just like his father in that moment, Robar Baratheon had always been eager for a fight, always picked one and had always one.

Soon enough their host, which had numbered 8,000 at the start of the battle and now numbered some 3,000 men marched from the Rainwood Forest as quickly as possible. They passed through the Stormlands marching during the day and most of the night, stopping only for a few hours rest. With that done they marched at an even faster pace, though Edwyle could feel the pain of his wounds open up a fresh everytime he mounted his horse or moved his legs and arms, and all the while there was the panic about what the man had said about Brynden being unable to make it back to help defend King's Landing in time, did that mean the king was dead?

He shook such thoughts from his head, as the Kingswood came closer into view. He ordered scouts and outriders to go up ahead of them to scout out just how many men were camped in the Kingswood and what the situation was closer to the city. Three days later one of the scouts returned, a look of pure panic on his face. "My lord hand, there are 10,000 men camped within the main part of the Kingswood forest, and some 500 men whom look like Pentoshi are camped close to the southern gate of the city."

Edwyle nodded and then turned to Cedrik Storm the bastard of Bronzegate and said "Ser Cedrik I want you to lead 200 men towards the heart of the Kingswood close to where these traitors are camped and I want you to engage in a game of chase with them, lead them close to the Wendwater and their mounts will drown."

Ser Cedrik looked pale at Edwyle's words but he merely nodded and rode off to chose his men. Edwyle thought once more about something he had heard his goodbrother say to him, "The lords of the south are scared witless of you Edwyle. They think you are some sort of shadow demon come to haunt and kill us all." Edwyle had been none to surprised about that even some of his bannermen were petrified of him. "And what of you Your Grace, are you scared of me?" he had asked his goodbrother. His goodbrother had stared at him for a long moment before replying. "No, if I had been you would have been dead long ago."

Sometimes being feared was a good thing, other times it was a hindrance, but it was something he had striven to teach both of his sons Rickard and Brandon and even his squire Loren. To be feared and to be respected was much more important than being loved, if they were not family, their love was not necessary, their respect and loyalty was. Shaking his head to take his mind away from such thoughts, he spoke once more "Loren, send for Ser Almond Goodbrook."

When the boy returned with said Goodbrook, the man looked pale the sign of the battle previously fought still evident by the amount of blood and dirt on his usually immaculate armour. Edwyle looked at him and then said " I have sent Ser Cedrik to lead 200 men into the heart of the Kingswood to draw the enemy out. When you see the sign of him close to this outpost, you are to sound your war horn and the battle will begin."

The man nodded and rode away likely to get his horn and a wench to pass the time. They waited a long time in silence, before the sound of hooves could be heard coming close towards them, Ser Goodbrook had returned by that point and Edwyle nodded to him and the horn was blown, Edwyle drew his sword and let loose a battle cry before the charge began. It was a bloody battle, hacking and slashing; the trees of the Kingswood provided much cover for both sides allowing for sneak attacks and lots of bodies to be left strewn on the ground, which sucked their blood up eagerly.

Edwyle found himself facing close to five opponents at the same time for most of the battle, hacking and slashing, ducking and dodging. Doing all he could to remain alive, he hacked and slashed and watched as another body fell to the ground dead, the person's blood splattered on his sword and armour only for another man to take the other's place. There were too many of them, it was likely that they would lose this battle and the city would fall, but Edwyle was determined that they would not just walk into the city.

Rallying his men once more, he charged against the enemy again and again, shattering their defences with swords, spears and arrows, but more and more of his own men continued to die, whilst another man seemed to step in for the enemy. Edwyle felt himself beginning to tire, blood was beginning to pour out of his wounds, and the world was beginning to go hazy, black was replacing the colour of the world, still he fought bringing down more men with him, as he slouched down in his horse, he swore he saw the banner of House Osgrey and House Webber coming towards them with the sound of a thousand hooves following them, Ser William Osgrey had come to answer his king's call to arms perhaps.

Edwyle felt as if he was having an otherworldly experience as he watched Osgrey and his men attack the rebel Reacher lords, it seemed as if the loss of blood was starting to get to his head. Osgrey was cutting through men like they were nothing more than paper. They were winning this, rallying his men and trying to ignore the pain stabbing him in the side, Edwyle raised Ice high into the air one last time and led what would later be known as the final charge of the Kingswood, a mad dash against the shields and swords of Lord Peake's own forces, Edwyle killed Peake in the charge, slashing his head off with Ice and sending it flying into the Wendwater according to story.

With Peake and most of the main commanders in Lord Yronwood, Lord Ambrose, Lord Costayne and Lord Appleton dead the remaining soldiers surrendered and the city of King's Landing was saved as the 500 Pentoshi soldiers seemingly faded into the mist once Edwyle had recovered enough to order a search of the southern gates. King's Landing cheered Edwyle Stark and Ser William Osgrey as it had never cheered their houses before, celebration was long and hard as the small folk and the nobles alike cheered their new heroes who had saved them from almost inevitable defeat.

The celebratory attitude died down somewhat when King Brynden returned from Harrenhal, a changed man, a broken man. His son's death had been avenged House Lothston had been put completely to the sword, not a soul was spared, and it was as if the king wanted to make it so that it was as if the house had never existed in the first place. Harrenhal was granted to Lord Desmond Whent and his heirs for the rest of time immemorial. Prince Maelor and Prince Baelor were cremated and buried in the crypts of Dragonstone as befitting the Targaryen tradition, and a period of mourning was decreed for seven days and nights the people of King's Landing mourned the passing of two of their young and promising princes.

Jarryck Lothston was replaced as master of whispers by Gormon Rivers a bastard from the Riverlands, whispered to be Lord Tully's bastard son, but never proven. Loren Reyne was knighted by Edwyle for the valour he showed in battle and his marriage to Anna Stark took place in the Great Sept of Baelor. To replace the three knights of the Kingsguard who had fallen during the sixth Blackfyre war, their names being Ser Gerold Massey, Ser Tywin Reyne and Ser Gwayne Gaunt, came Ser Gerold Hightower, Ser Lewyn Martell and Edwyle Stark's youngest son and the youngest knight ever to be raised to the Kingsguard Ser Brandon Stark, knighted after capturing and killing Jarryck Lothston himself.

It took three months before the dust settled on the sixth but not the last Blackfyre rebellion. Three months in which Edwyle and Brynden rebuilt the realm and tried to deal with the scars that had come from this new war, three months in which the king came closer to discovering certain truths that had been kept hidden from him for so long.

It came to a head one night, after a council meeting, the King, Edwyle and Queen Dowager Aelinor were sat in the King's chambers discussing some affairs of state when the king changed the topic and straight as you like asked "I wish to know more about my uncle Prince Maekar, who better to tell me than my mother and his squire. And I want to know what happened between you and him mother."

Edwyle looked at Queen Dowager Aelinor, and felt cold all over, the moment he had dreaded had finally arrived.