I was woken up by a man knocking on my door. I thought it was Ser Robar Royce as he was supposed to guard my quarters at night. The arrival of a prince in Storm's End was interesting news for some ears so they took extra precautions. I was surprised to see how it actually was my father, coming to say goodbye.
"Do you really have to go so soon?" I asked, the sadness overtaking my voice. I did not want him to go at all. "I have seven kingdoms to rule, remember?" His voice was sympathetic, a tone only known by me. "I'll see you soon, right?" His eyes looked away. He was hiding something. "Yeah, you will. Don't worry about that. What you should worry about is your training and the fun things you can do." He looked at me again.
"Like what? And what type of training? Will I train to be a ranger too?" My voice filled with excitement. "I can be just like Derreck!"
Father started to laugh. "I'm not sure you will train to be a ranger. But you will become one of the best fighters in all of Westeros!" We hugged each other. "Will you come see me out? Maybe Ser Robar will accompany you to follow me a bit on horse. So we won't have to say goodbye so soon." I was filled with excitement now.
"Of course I will father!" As I got dressed and hurried downstairs I passed by the smithy. "Hello prince Lyonel, are you hurrying off to see your father out?" Rick the smith asked.
"Yes I am, I'm sad to see him go off though." The sadness returned to me, I completely forgot he was going to leave. "How about this, if you need something to do, you can help me around the forge." Rick proposed. "Sounds fun, but I have to run now, bye ser!" Rick chuckled before saying. "I'm no Ser, my prince!"
Once I arrived in the courtyard where they were saying goodbye, Uncle Renly approached me. "Ser Robar will accompany you to ride with your father. As one of my sworn shields he seems to be fit for the task." Renly smiled to me, I nodded and grabbed a horse from the stables, even though I'm only 7 I can ride all by myself on a horse.
"Well, I have to get going, I will see you later Renly, take care of Lyonel for me." Only the last words weren't spoken out with disgust. For being brothers they really didn't care about each other. Once father left I accompanied them together with Ser Robar.
After about 15 minutes we returned to the castle. When we left the stables Derreck arrived on horseback looking all bloodied up an with an empty quiver on his back, Renly immediately ran out of the castle, worried about him. "Ranger Derreck, is everything alright?"
Derreck glanced up, it was obvious something bad happened. "We got ambushed, by some type of bandits." Renly's expression darkened. "Out of the 6 men with me, none survived. 6 good men died." Derreck got off his horse and the stable boy hurried to go and get the horse. "Accompany me inside Derreck, we will talk about this in private."
With that Derreck and Renly's sworn shields all went inside, Ser Robar as well.
As soon as everybody was inside I left to go the smith. When I arrived there Rick was talking to Maester Jurne.
"Maester, why would we need to make that amount of weapons, our armory is filled with weapons already." Rick argued. "Didn't you hear, our men were ambushed in the woods nearby, the bandits are getting bolder. Soon we will have to launch a offensive." Maester Jurne sighed. "Just see that this order is completed, that will do for a while." Rick nodded "I'll see that it gets done."
Maester Jurne turned to leave and bowed to me. "Hello Rick I'm here to help you." He smiled and gestured to a paper note on a table. "That's an order we have to do from Maester Jurne. You can go ahead and look at how it's done because I think you're not strong enough yet to do all the heavy lifting, and the crafting takes a while to learn."
After a long time of heating and forging some swords he turned to me.
"You're quite a good observer. Do you know how to fight, my prince?" I turned my head away from the forge and nodded. "Well then, how about you go ahead and test that sword on the test dummy over there?" I picked up the sword and dropped it on the ground. "It's too heavy for me to swing Ser." Rick laughed. "I'm still not a Ser, my prince." He went picked up the sword of the ground and put it back in the water, just as Renly showed up "Milord." He bowed. "Lyonel, will you come with me?" I was surprised to hear his request of me coming with him, but nevertheless I went with him. "Training to become a smith I see?" Renly smiled. "A noble cause. Providing the soldiers with weapons."
I turned my head to him. "Yeah, it looks like a lot of fun. I wish I was a smith too, but the equipment is too heavy to carry for me." We entered the castle continuing our talk about forging weapons. "Do you want to become a great warrior, like your father?" I nodded. "Yes, I do. I want to be a smith and a warrior."
Derreck who was sitting in a chair spoke up. "A noble cause, helping your fellow warriors by making them weapons and then supporting them in the battle they use them!" I was delighted to hear all of this, people enjoyed the idea of me becoming a smith and a warrior. "Well, I think it's time to tell you why you're here." Renly's tone changed from a sweeter tone to a more serious and deeper tone. "Did something happen with father?" Sadness was about to overtake me before both of them broke out with laughter. "No, we just wanted to tell you it's time to eat." Derreck shipped in. "You guys are the worst. Don't tease the little prince like that" Maester Jurne, who just walked into the room laughed.
"Could the bandits cause any trouble for us?" I asked in a tone of worry. "No, up here you're safe my prince." Derreck said, but not before throwing a worrying glance at Renly. "Don't worry Lyonel, you will be safe up here. These bandit rascals won't be around for much longer." Renly grinned after saying that. He went into discussion with Derreck and the Maester while I remained quiet for the rest of the dinner.
Two years later
"I've been here for 2 years, why send me away again now?" I asked father, who was visiting Storm's End. "I'm 9 now, I'm an apprentice blacksmith and you just want to send me away to Dorne, I had to wait 1 year to see you again and then another year just for you to tell me you're going to send me even further away?" Father's expression saddened. "Look I'm listening to the advice of my councillors. We just want what's best for you, and being around me isn't that. I love you with my entire heart but it's too unsafe for you to be around me." I was mad, when was it not unsafe? "Fine, I'll go to Starfall, but at least you could've informed me a bit earlier." I turned to start packing my bags as father left. After saying goodbye to Rick, Renly and Derreck I was ready to leave. It was not until the last moment Derreck approached me.
"You ready to leave, little prince?" Was all he said with a sly smile on his face.
"I'm not little, I'm already 1m50!" Derreck and father started laughing. My face got as red as a tomato.
"Well, I have some news for you, little prince, I'm going to accompany you on this trip, and I will be staying with you in Starfall."
My face lit up with happiness. "But what about your ranger training, in Dorne there aren't a lot of woods." Rick arrived to talk to us. "That's what I've been working on. I made a special sword for Derreck so he has an easier time adapting to sword fighting rather than the special ranger weapons and I also got you a cloak. Since there aren't many forests in Dorne I made you one that blends in with the desert if you're ever going to need it." Derreck accepted the sword and cloak and sat on his horse. "Well are you ready to go, little prince?" Derreck mocked. "Yes? Well, let's get going then."
"Welcome to Starfall, my Prince." Ser Arthur Dayne announced, standing next to, Allyria, Edric, and Alysanne. "This is my sister, Allyria Dayne, my brother, Edric Dayne and my sister's bastard daughter, Alysanne Sand." All of them bowed when they got introduced. "I am prince Lyonel Baratheon, and this is my companion Derreck Storm." Derreck bowed as well when I introduced him. "Edric will guide you to your quarters, after you get settled in we will have a feast for you, my prince."
My room was not that different from my room in Storm's End the only real difference was that there was no ocean view but if you looked good you could see the summer sea in the distance and the furniture. My room was decorated in a typical Dornish fashion rather than one from the Stormland's. Well, I guess it's time for another feast then.
A couple of years later
It's just 2 more weeks and I will be 13, meaning I will return to father to have my Baratheon hunt. Arthur, The Sword Of The Morning is training me with different weapons. After training for a week with swords he realized I did not enjoy using the sword. We tried a longsword, spear, axe, double-handed axe and a warhammer. after using the warhammer, I settled on using the warhammer over the sword. I was okay with a spear but I still enjoyed the feeling of a warhammer more. Thanks to my physique, helping around the forge and an early growth spurt shooting me up to 1m70 (5ft57) I could wield a warhammer without any problems.
"Good training Lyonel, I think your hunt will go without problems!" Arthur always seemed to praise my fighting skills. "Thanks Arthur, I still wish I was as good of a swordfighter as you though." Arthur laughed before giving me a pat on the shoulder. "Soon you'll be as good with a warhammer as good as I was with a sword at your age. Go bring your warhammer to the quarter master and join us for lunch." On my way to the castle I ran into Ulmer, the blacksmith here in Starfall. "Hey Ulmer, did I tell you yet? I'm going to see father in King's Landing soon!" Ulmer laughed. "Dear prince, you've told me that more than I've made swords this week." Ulmer was a good guy, he immediately accepted my help around the forge as an apprentice and has taught me many things. When I walked into the great hall the servants were already setting up the food on the tables for us to eat. As I went to the table I usually sit at talking to Arthur and Derreck, Alysanne called me over and told me to sit with her. As I sat down I heared Derreck joke about Alysanne and me. I gave him a mean look and him and Arthur laughed. By the end of the dinner, Derreck invited me for a bit of sparring with in the courtyard. As I went to fetch a warhammer Derreck grabbed a longsword. "I've never really used one of these, but I guess I can try to beat you with it, can't be too hard now can it." Arthur, who was spectating the fight shipped in "Try not to hurt the little prince too much, he's going to his father soon."
Little prince, I wonder when they'll stop calling me that.
"Arthur I'm not little stop calling me that!" Was all I could respond before Derreck charged at me. I countered quickly with my warhammer and tried to deliver a counter blow but Derreck deftly sidestepped it. He seemed more like a water dancer than a swordfighter. After a good 5 minutes of swinging around Derreck tried to deliver a counterattack that I sidestepped and I delivered a blow to his side. If we didn't use training weapons he would be dead now. "This isn't fair, you are used to a warhammer I never use a longsword" Derreck said. "I would say grab a short sword but I think you don't want to lose with a short sword either." I taunted.
"I wouldn't go on his offer Derreck, he will beat you with that warhammer of his. "Arthur said. Derreck threw his sword on the ground as a sign of surrender. "Giving up so soon. Derreck spat on the ground. "No, the fight would be unfair. I mean a 23 year old against a 12 year old, the victory wouldn't be sweet." Arthur laughed.
"Well boys playtime is over, it's time for the young prince to go to bed. Say goodnight to Derreck and Arthur and go to your quarters." Allyria, Arthur's younger sister yelled.
2 Weeks Later.
"There it is, I haven't seen it in forever!" I said happily. "King's Landing.
I haven't been here yet." Derreck said.
"Well, you don't have to worry, we're only here for the hunt and probably a feast remember."
Riding into the city was filled with a lot of cheering since people knew their prince was arriving. When we rode into the courtyard to the Red Keep, father, mother, Joffrey, Tommen, and Myrcella were all waiting for me, together with a bunch of guardsmen and the Kingsguard.
"Lyonel, Derreck welcome to the Red Keep!" Robert announced beaming.
A/n Look who's alive Arthur :) I'm a huge fan of the Daynes and couldn't let them out. The idea of Alysanne came from the fic 'the desert wolves' written by bluegoldrose I also used the same name.