Gold Saw Dyed in Lannister Red: Kevan (296 AC)
Kevan was wiping the decapitated bandit's blood from his sword when Black Gold Saw came out of the woods to his left. She was carrying a Doll over her shoulder, who was groaning in pain from snapped and shattered limbs, dripping behind them a spattered trail of fluorescent green fluid. If the Doll had been human, she would have been no older than twelve.
"I see that you and your men have dealt with the remaining bandits," she noted the few remaining cowed criminals being manhandled into a cart Kevan and his men had found in the bandits' camp. "What do you think will become of them? Mines, or the Wall?"
"It has been some time since Doll Bandits have arisen in the Westerlands, let alone this bold," Kevan finished wiping the blood off his sword and sheathed it. "My brother will want them to repay our family for the damages, and they can't do so from the Wall, so off to the mines they'll go."
"I am of a similar reckoning to their fates," Black Gold Saw agreed.
"What about that one?" Kevan asked about the Doll responsible for the bandit band and the destruction they'd wreaked in their corner of the Westerlands.
The cruel edge in Black Gold Saw's usual smile became more pronounced. "I will be taking her myself to see if she can be, repurposed, to serve House Lannister."
Kevan understood that more Dolls in their House's service meant that it was powerful, but-
"She is a Severed," he said. "And I am the one who severed her Bond. And you expect to convince her to swear allegiance to the House that killed her Bonded?"
Black Gold Saw nodded at that. "I can understand the concern for the potential of betrayal. But I can assure you, good Ser, that the methods and resources our Lord has left in my disposal have already proven that they can persuade even the most vengeful of Dolls to obediently serve in our causes."
Kevan understood very well that his brother had been placing exponential levels of trust in Black Gold Saw over the thirteen years that had passed in her service to his House. But his concern over how secretive she was with the extent of what she was doing was eroding what trust he could give her.
"I would like to talk with you about that, actually," Kevan said. "So leave the Doll with my men while we speak in private."
Black Gold Saw dropped her grin and tilted her head, as if she were thinking over whether or not to actually dispute his order due to his not being her Bonded or Lord. But she nodded her head, and walked over to the cart where Kevan's men had secured the prisoners.
She dropped the damaged Doll in the bed of the cart like a sack of potatoes and told the men "She shouldn't be getting up again anytime soon, but your lord and I must converse in confidence with each other, so keep vigilant watch over her as well. Need I say anything else?"
"No, milady," the sergeant, named Stephan, said, without hesitation or stutter.
Good man, Kevan thought, his already-good appraisal of the man jumping several notches for not being intimidated by the fearsome Doll.
"Very good, Sergeant Stephan," Black Gold Saw approved. "You have our trust."
She returned to Ser Kevan's side and gestured toward the woods ahead of them. "Shall we, Ser?"
"Come," Kevan marched forward, Black Gold Saw matching his pace.
The pair proceeded without a word through the trees, neither looking at the other or slowing their gait. The silence between them was broken only by the crush of dirt and grass with the crack of twigs beneath their feet, the chittering and chirping of insects and birds speeding through the air, and the rustle of cloth clashing with the clatter of armor.
"Black Gold Saw," Kevan addressed, "what is your opinion of the Slaying of Hook Grappler?"
Black Gold Saw raised an eyebrow. "If you're asking me about the song, I think it leaves something to be desired. But even if you were asking me about the actual slaying of Euron Greyjoy's Doll, I think it's a bit of a stretch to assume it is somehow relevant to our current ongoings."
Kevan turned and stopped, Black Gold Saw a missed step behind in reaction. "I would have your opinion, nonetheless."
Black Gold Saw tilted her head, then straightened and answered: "While I certainly won't argue against their success, Lord Stark, Ser Barristan and the rest should not have risked themselves to charge into battle against Hook Grappler, even if it was to distract her long enough to let Black Rock Shooter land the killing blow. And I do credit Black Rock Shooter with the kill, she'd stabbed Hook Grappler through the heart. Ned Stark lopping off her head at that point merely hurried her death."
Ser Kevan remained silent for a moment or two. "I remember speaking with Lord Stark and Ser Barristan themselves at Pyke about that fight. The story had already been exaggerated so much by the time it reached my ears that I didn't believe it had happened. Happen it did, both men assured me. They saw Black Rock Shooter on the verge of defeat, rallied over thirty men to charge Hook Grappler through her storm of barbed whips, and divided her attention just long enough for Black Rock Shooter and Lord Stark to kill her.
"But do you know what gets overlooked in all the retellings and the songs, Black Gold Saw?" he asked her.
The Doll hummed to herself, and answered. "The part where Hook Grappler still managed to kill almost all the men attacking her? Only two or three men besides Stark and Barristan survived, if we don't count Black Rock Shooter."
"Their part in that fight lasted less than twenty seconds," Ser Kevan pronounced.
Black Gold Saw let out an "ah" at that.
Kevan's visage was grim. "The two best swordsmen in the Seven Kingdoms, backed by over thirty men, and the best they could do was help one Doll win her duel against another, and even then only by sacrificing most of the men who fought."
"You fear becoming obsolete in an age of Dolls, Black Gold Saw deduced. "Purposeless."
"It's more than that," Ser Kevan reiterated. "You have been entrusted with great power and responsibilities by my brother, and in all honesty, there is very little we could do to hinder whatever it is you're doing with it. But there is something I want from you."
"And what is that, Ser Kevan?" Black Gold Saw inquired.
"I want your Oath," he demanded.
"To you?" Black Gold Saw smirked.
"To House Lannister."
Her smirked vanished.
Ser Kevan marched up to her, and looked her dead in the eyes. "I want you to swear, before all the gods and by your Waking eyes on pain of death, that whatever you do, whatever your plans, no matter the time or place, that everything you do is for the good of House Lannister above all else, even you."
The prior silence returned, stronger than before, with only beating and flapping of wings to desecrate the moment. The two stood implacable before each other, neither yielding an inch.
Then, Black Gold Saw manifested her blade before him, the edge facing him. Ser Kevan unsheathed his sword in response, unblinking and unwavering. Black Gold Saw flipped the sword point-down and stabbed it in the earth, kneeling before him. She bowed her head as Kevan rested his blade on her shoulder.
"Black Gold Saw, do you swear yourself to House Lannister?"
"Before all the gods, by my waking Eyes, on pain of death, everything I think, say, and do is for the good of House Lannister."