Ser Oberyn Dayne
The hunt began in the Kingswood at the first break of dawn on the seventh day of the seventh month of the 251st year after Aegon's Landing. The target a white hart that had been spotted some five miles within the Kingswood forest, the King had decreed that a break from council activity could be had and that those nobles from court who wished to come could. As such quite a large party had decided to join the King, along with him came the hand of the King Lord Edwyle Stark, master of laws Prince Aegon Targaryen, master of coin Garon Lannister, master of ships Tyrek Baratheon, Lord Darklyn, Lord Hayford, Lord Kenneth Royce and his son Ser Robar. There were also some twenty other members of the party that set out for the Kingswood, including Prince Aenar Targaryen, the presence of three members of the Targaryen family Oberyn had decided necessitated the need for four members of the Kingsguard to be present to make sure that nothing went awry. As such as well as his own presence, Ser Gerold Hightower, Ser Harold Grandison and Ser Lucas Goodbrook were riding with the party, their eyes alert and their swords not far from their hands.
As he rode through the Kingswood, Oberyn kept his attention focused on making sure the King and the Hand were safe and remained so. He knew what would happen soon enough, but he was not sure when it would happen, that detail the Hand not seen fit to tell the King, a wise move Oberyn thought, it would give him plausible deniability, he could not be charged with something he knew not of. Still Oberyn kept one hand near his sword just in case something went wrong. A rustling in the bushes drew his eye, and he saw the King raise his bow, only for him to lower it slightly afterwards when it turned out to be the wind, they continued to ride in silence.
Just as they got half way through the Kingswood, another rustle was heard. And this time the King fired off one arrow after the other and managed to bring down a mighty elk, a big brute of a thing. "A good catch Your Grace." Ser Oberyn heard Lord Garon Lannister say. He snorted slightly, the man was a lickspittle and a arse kisser. The king said nothing and merely grunted before riding on, two of the helpers from the Red Keep bundled the beast up and rode away, more than likely to prepare it for a feast when the King returned. They rode on, through the forest, the King firing arrows left right and centre, along with other members of the party bringing down whatever sizeable prey they could find, and having sent back to the Red Keep, thinning down the party of nobles, and thus lessening the chance that what was about happen could look suspicious.
After another few treks through the forest, what Oberyn had been anticipating happened. Arrows began flying through the bushes and the trees, whizzing with such alarming ferocity, Oberyn momentarily forgot that this was all part of the plan. "Get down Your Grace." He shouted above the noise of the arrows, the king nodded and rode back quickly, just as the shooters of the arrows came forward galloping quickly, shouting and screeching. Oberyn drew Dawn and began to engage the bandits in combat, hacking and slashing his way through the men, cutting them down left and right. A slash here, and parry there, he cut through a man's armour and left him bleeding on his horse. Arrows were flying around him. "Keep the King safe." He shouted at his sworn brothers just as he brought down yet another bandit.
Get to the leader. He thought sharply to himself, kill the leader and prevent this getting out, he charged through the bandits cutting them down like they were nothing more than flower sacks, but before he could get to the man, an arrow came whizzing past and he saw it pierce the man's throat. Oberyn watched with grim fascination as the man chocked to death on his own blood. Once that was done the bandits began to flee back into the darkness, with the fighting done Oberyn reversed his horse and looked to the King. "Are you well Your Grace?" he asked.
"Aye Ser Oberyn I am. But we must find out who did this, and we must get Garon help." The King replied, his voice shaky.
"Lord Garon is dead Your Grace," the hand replied his voice eerily calm. "One of the bastards got an arrow through him, and then some during the chaos."
Oberyn hears the King curse, though he knows it is feigned. "Very well then, Oberyn I want you to go and finish off the rest of the bandits, take however many men you need to get through them. I shall be waiting here."
"Yes Your Grace." Oberyn says, sneaking a quick look at the body of Garon Lannister, his hair is muddy and his body is littered with arrows as his throat. Blood spilling everywhere, Oberyn turns his eyes away from the sight and then says. " Ser Gerold come with me. Ser Lucas and Ser Harold remain here."
With that he and Ser Gerold ride out in silence to find and finish the outlaws, the fighting there is short and sweet. The bandits are not skilled enough to stand against two knights of the Kingsguard, even if one is pushing past sixty. Oberyn swings and swings, hacking two men's arms clean off, shoving Dawn through another's throat. By the time he and Ser Gerold are done, he is sweating underneath the weight of his armour. He turns to Ser Gerold, and sees the lad looks pale. "Come Ser, we are done here. Let us return to the King."
When they return Oberyn notices that Ser Harold is gone, he looks to the king who simply says. "I sent him back to bring news to court. We must have more men to bring the body back. You dealt with the bandits?"
"Yes Your Grace. Not one of them lives now." Oberyn replies.
Later when they had returned to the Red Keep, and the raven had flown to Casterly Rock, and the silent sisters were dealing with Garon Lannister, Oberyn found himself in the King's Solar along with the Hand of the King Edwyle Stark, as the king began asking the hand questions. "So you have made absolutely sure that no one will suspect us in the fool's death?"
"Yes Your Grace. I have made very certain that none will be able to link anything back to us. The leader of the bandits was the only person to know whom and why they were attacking and he is dead." The hand replies.
"Good. That is good. The raven has been sent to the Rock and Daenys shall come to court for the man's bones and then Tytos Lannister shall be lord, and we can move on from this." The King states.
"I do not think it will be all that simply Your Grace," The hand states. "After all you did not make your dislike of Lannister all that much of a secret from your family. And Lady Daenys is nothing but perceptive, you might need to explain certain things to her to get her to understand why you had to do what you did."
"Yes, yes. Just as you had to do." Oberyn hears the king grumble. Though he does not understand what that is about, he sees the hand tense.
"Enough of this Brynden. You are not a child, you are the king. It is time you acted as such. You know I did what I thought would be in your best interests. And it has worked well for the kingdoms. Either put this behind you, or I will resign. I will not be treated so insolently." The Hand says, and Oberyn is shocked, he knows not what is happening.
There is a long moment of silence, in which Oberyn sees the king's jaw tense and his fingers flex, and then the King speaks. "Very well Edwyle. I apologise, if my manner and attitude towards you has been disrespectful. I never meant it to be so. Do not resign, you are more valuable here than in the north. Now what else do we need to discuss?"
Oberyn is not entirely sure what he has just witnessed but he knows it is not his place to question it, though he can sense that there is still some underlying tension there. Lord Stark speaks then, his tone calm. "There is Your Grace. Ser Oberyn, did Ser Gerold look uneasy with what we asked you both to do?"
Oberyn looks at the hand and then says. "No my lord, he seemed a bit pale but that was simply because it was his first proper fight. Nothing a little talk won't sort out. He was none the wiser as to the true purpose of the attack. No one else was my lord Your Grace."
"Very well then. You are dismissed Ser." The king says.
Oberyn stands up and nods and then leaves heading for White Sword Tower, where upon entering he finds his sworn brothers Ser Brandon Stark and Ser Quentyn Bracken sat discussing something. He smiles slightly, at the clear hero worship on Brandon's face, the boy is young just turned fifteen, but a finer young swordsman Oberyn has not seen, not for a long time. Quentyn Bracken is also a fine swordsman, and proud of the fact as well, deadly in the field. "Now what are you two talking about?" Oberyn asks a smile on his face.
"The wolf pup was just asking me about the campaign against the Merwood Pirates Ser." Bracken replies gruffly.
Oberyn nods , he remembers that campaign, during the reign of King Aerys, there had been a string of attacks on the coast of the crownlands that had required royal attention, it had been a bloody affair. "And what did you make of our exploits there then young wolf?" Oberyn asks.
Brandon Stark, a very good swordsman is still very shy at some points and his voice his very soft when he replies. "I thought it was very brave of you Ser going up against Nar Surg like that on your own injured."
Oberyn grunts. "Aye brave and foolish. I was but a lad, and should have left it to the more experienced soldiers. But that is neither here nor there, just make sure that should something like that ever happen to you, you never put the King or any member of the royal family's life in danger by trying to be gallant."
"Yes Ser." Brandon replies.
"Now enough of this solemnity. I know Ser Harold and Ser Gerold are with the King. And that Ser Lucas guards the Queen and the royal children, but where is Prince Lewyn?"
Both his sworn brothers seem unsure if they should answer the question, though Oberyn continues looking between them and then he laughs and says. "I know very well where Prince Lewyn will be. My great nephew and he were good friends back in Dorne, I know very well that he has an appetite for certain pleasures. He is loyal and true though, so we shall say nothing of this to anyone."
Both men nod and then, Oberyn retires to his chambers for some rest and sleep. As he sleeps he dreams of the events of his life, from his time in Starfall playing with Garse and Mychel and then when their father died, his training to become a knight and the dedication he showed to wanting to become the sword of the morning. His dreams alternate between his battles with the bandits who raided along the coast of Dorne serving the Prince, and then being knighted by Lord Uller for his prowess and dedication, then the dream changes to the day he was raised to the Kingsguard. King Aerys had come for a tourney for Princess Daenaerys nameday, and so he had been raised to the white in Sunspear in front of all of Dorne, though the occasion had been marred by some tearful words from his brothers informing him that their mother had died. Then there were the countless wars he had fought in since then, all the blood and gore all the things he had done in the name of the King, it weighed on his mind, this last deed as well, but still he defended himself, he had not broken his vows, he had never broken his vows and he would not do so now. Though when the dream changed and he saw the boy's rotting corpse and his eyes turning to lava, he woke up screaming.
The next few months were spent making sure that the king was protected and that the Kingsguard was up to scratch in terms of battle practice, they sparred and trained regularly when they were not on duty, and Oberyn always made sure to go against the younger members, he needed to keep his reactions quick, one never knew when battle could come. In that time, Garon Lannister's funeral service was held, his wife seemed not in grief but merely shocked, his son Tytos Lannister a blithering fool merely nodded and thanked the king like a lackey, Queen Dowager Aelinor began to become frailer in health rarely leaving her rooms for anything, and relations between the king and Lord Stark continued to improve, though Oberyn stood guard over one of their more fiercer arguments one night.
The first time he was broken out of his stupor of duty, was when Brandon Stark knocked on his door and said in a scared voice. "Ser Quentyn is bleeding Ser."