Chapter 19
Jon
That night turned put to be far more enjoyably than he thought it would be, the men were in good spirits and even if reluctant at first once he started singing he enjoyed that as well, it had been a long time since he last sang to anyone, other than Margaery that is. Men praised both his skill as a warrior and as a singer, all the while Loras smirked.
When the night was done they all retired to their chambers. Hoping to get some sleep he lay on the bed and closed his eyes. He twisted and turned until he managed to fall asleep. He dreamt about the battle, about when he and Robb were young and in Winterfell, he dreamt about the life he had at Highgarden and then came the nightmare, the one he had since he found about his father's death, which had become more frequent since the Tyrells abandoned him.
Jon was standing in the crowd of people all watching as his father was being dragged by guards an to a pulpit. He could see Sansa and Arya there being help by more guards, the king and queen with evil grins on their faces.
"Death," the king said simply and Jon watched as a sword was pulled by a knight beside the king. Jon tried to move, to help, but he could not, his legs were frozen in place, he tried to scream but no voice came out, he could do nothing but watch as his father's head was cut off from his body and fell to the ground. The king laughed while his sisters cried. Then Joffrey turned to Sansa and Arya.
"Now them," the king said and Jon watched as his sisters were put next to their father's decapitated body. Arya tried to struggle but with no avail. Just as the knight's sword was lifted and started coming down towards Sansa's neck Jon awoke, gasping for air, his body and bed covered in a cold sweat. Looking around he realized that he was not in Kings Landing anymore and so he put his head back on the pillow. After calming himself down, Jon decided that a walk would do him some good, to help ease his mind.
He put his clothes on and walked out of the room. Walking throught the halls of the castle he tried not to think much about anything, he just needed to clear his mind. Opening a door he came into the great hall, it was empty except for a man sitting at one of the tables.
"Ser Bonifer," Jon said.
"Ser Jon," the old knight replied back.
"What are you doing here?" Jon wondered why the knight would be in the great hall in this time of night, with all of the other people gone.
"Probably the same thing as you. Can't sleep?"
"Yes," Jon answered. "You?"
"I could never sleep the night before or after the battle, don't know why but its always been like that. Come sit, it's better when you have some company," Jon did as asked and sat next to the man.
"Then why are you alone?"
"Everyone is asleep, people tend to be tired after a battle and drinking so I did not want to bother anyone but is seems that the gods have sent someone my way after all. So what's your excuse?"
"A bad dream, nothing more," Jon said.
"If it's only a bad dream that you wouldn't be here, may I ask that it is exactly?"
Jon sighed "I saw my father get killed with my sisters watching, and then they were next."
"Lord Eddard was a good man, better than most and certainly better than Tywin Lannister or Robert Baratheon," the old knight said and Jon looked at him.
"King Robert?" Jon asked confused.
"Aye, you were at the Hand's tourney you saw the man. Do you think he was a good man?"
"I don't know, my father and he were good friends, foster brothers. I know Robert was a great warrior once and my father loved him."
"That may be true but, Robert might have been a good warrior but he was a terrible king. A man who killed his own blood to get to the throne, who spat on the bodies of babes and their mother," Bonifer said and Jon could hear the resentment in the man's voice.
"But your house sided with him during the rebellion," Jon said.
"Aye my house did, but not I, it was my brother. I refused to take part in that war. My brother thought himself obliged to follow his liege."
"And you were not angry with him?" Jon asked.
"I was at first, but he was still my brother, it took us time but we came to an understanding once more. The gods seemed to punish those who sided with Robert and those who did not, my brother lost his arm in that war and I..I…"
Jon looked at the old knight and could guess what he had lost. "Rhealla?"
Bonifer looked at Jon, sadness and regret in his eyes. "Yes," Bonifer said in a voice barely louder than a whisper. "So you heard."
"I did. What happened?"
"You know what happened, she married a king and I was left alone."
"I know that Ser but I also know there is more to it than that. I would like to know more if you would allow me."
For a long moment, Bonifer did not say anything, he just stared at Jon. Then he finally spoke.
"It began years ago, I was young, skilled, brave which now I realize was not courage but arrogance. I went from one tourney to another, winning some but always distinguishing myself as one of the best. It was during the tourney at Storm's End that lord Steffon threw to celebrate the birth on his first son, that I first saw then princes Rhaella. She was the most beautiful woman I ever saw, silver hear, joyful purple eyes and a smile that never seemed to fade off her face. At that moment I knew that I wanted nothing more than to crown her the queen of love and beauty. My goal gave me the strength to persevere, one by one I beat all the other knights who rode against me, even Barristan the Bold and Gerold Hightower. When the tourney came to an end I was the winner and was given the crown of roses to give to my queen and I gave it to Rhaella.
That was not enough for me so that night I approached her and asked her for a dance which she happily accepted. We danced, talked, laughed, she had the most beautiful laugh. At the end of that night, I realized that I completely fell for her. I was in love with her and it turned out that she fell in love with me also. We spend the rest of the festivities together and when the time came for her to leave for Kings Landing I followed. Half a year I spent in the capital, we would meet in secret due to her father's opinion on the relationship.
We loved each other with all of our heart, a simple knight and a princess. She was kind, happy, funny and refused to take a no for an answer," Bonifer said, smiling to the last part. "I can still remember the smell of her hear and the warmth of her lips, gods never made a more perfect creature than her. Then the day came when our little dream came crashing down. Her father decided that she will marry her brother. At first, she refused, she even brought me in front of her father and we openly proclaimed our love for each other but Jaehaearys did not care, he had made his decision and there was nothing we could do about it. It was a fool's dream to think a knight of my stature could love a princess. They eventually married and I was left alone."
Jon could see how hard it was for the old knight to tell him this tale, but he still wanted to know more. "Why did her father do it, did he not care about her at all?"
"All I know what she told me, that her father became obsessed with words from some witch, that a promised prince would be born from their bloodline," Bonifer sighed "After that, I sought answers from the gods, they had to have a reason for taking the person I loved the most from me. I found that even after everything I still loved her, so eventually, I gave myself over to the faith and swore to never take a wife or love another woman again."
Jon looked at Bonifer with pity, he understood how this man felt more than he could know. The man that he rode into battle with now looked almost broken after telling his tale and Jon felt bad for asking Bonifer to tell it.
"Forgive me Ser Bonifer, I should have not asked you of this," Jon said remorsefully.
"No lad, you had the right to know, Rhaella was a good and kind woman, that's how she should be remembered and not as a wife to a mad king. If I only knew what would happen I would have killed Aerys then and there to prevent it, to keep her alive.
Lucas Hasty
Lucas was overjoyed by the coming of his brother and the former kingsguard to the rescue. His family and castle were safe, for now at least. The losses they suffered were not as great as they could have been, they had a good number of knights and Fell men in custody.
The news that Renly was really dead upset him but he refused to show it, what upset him, even more, were the faiths of his sons, one trapped and the other following a kinslayer into war. The only consolation was the words of the three young knights who promised that Duncan was alive. He did not know Lord Tarly personally but he knew him by reputation, a good warrior and an even better commander. It was ironic that he lost his hand to a Tarly and was now relying on the lord to keep his son alive.
A few days went by and he got to know the three knights a bit more, Robar was dutiful and a good man overall, a true knight, Loras was a bit arrogant but that could be expected from a Tyrell but he to was a good soul and Ser Jon, well he was a Stark if there ever was one, bastard born maybe but that does not determine what kind of a man you are.
Getting up, he readied himself and went to speak to his brother once more, Bonifer was in a solemn mood for the past day or so, and he knew that only one thing could make Bonifer that way, speaking about her. He never knew a man who was so in love with a single woman that he would leave almost everything behind until Bonifer did it. Now every time he spoke about her a could of sadness engulf his brother. It is in times like these that Lucas thought that he maybe should have sided with the Targaeryens instead of Robert. The death of queen Rhaella hit Bonifer hard, even harder than when they originally parted.
"You talked about her did you?" Lucas asked.
"Yes," Bonifer said, nodding.
"With who?"
"Ser Jon, he asked me about her."
"An interesting lad, good with a blade and those wolves of his, did you see what they did out there. I heard that Robb Stark has one too."
"Aye, I heard it too," Bonifer said solemnly.
"The lad it seems has a knack for strategy just like his brother. The young wolf has the Lannisters on the defensive."
"His plan was sound, and it won us the day."
"Aye lived were saved, we owe him," just as he was about to continue Alex ran past with some of the squires. Lucas stopped him and asked him what had them in such a hurry.
"The kingsguard are sparing father, against some of our knights," Alex said excitedly. Lucas looked at his brother, who's solemn expression was now relapsed by an intrigued one. Even doe Renly was dead some of the castle occupants still called the three knights kingsguard. Lucas smiled this might be just the thing to get Bonifer's mind off Rhaella.
"Shall we join them, brother?" Lucas asked.
"Why not," Bonifer said and they all walked to the castle courtyard, there finding Ser Robar and Ser Jon on one side and Ser Alister and three other knights on the other, all-around soldiers and castle staff came to watch. Looking around Lucas could see Ser Loras taking bets from some of his men. Lucas and Bonifer walked over to the young knight.
"Ah, ser Lucas, Ser Bonifer care for a wager?" Loras asked.
"Wager?" Lucas asked.
"Aye, that my two friends over there can beat these four knights of yours."
Lucas looked at Alister and the three others "These are some of the be best men I have ser Loras."
"Then you are confident in their victory, so care to put money on it?" Lucas looked at Bonifer who shook his head and then to ser Loras.
"Five golden dragons on my men," Lucas said.
"As you wish ser," Loras said, a large smile on his face. Soon the fighting started his men attacking first, Ser Jon blocking on the attack while Robar did the same on his side. The two young knights traded few more blows with his knights before they went on the offensive. In a few short seconds the man fighting ser Jon was without his weapon with Jons blade to his throat, the knight yielded. Ser Robar seemed to have the same luck for his opponent was now laying on the ground, sword to his chest.
"I yield," the man said and Robar nodded and helped him up. Now it was Alister and one more against Jon and Robar. This fight went a bit longer than the previous one. Alister had the experience and while the other knight was young he had talent at his side. Jon parried the knight's blade and then caught him off guard by moving quickly behind him, his sword now pointing at the knight's neck, the yield was quick. Now all who remained were Alister and Robar.
His master at arms took a more careful approach to deal with the knight of the Vale. Blocking and parrying, waiting for a chance, once he saw it he took it but soon proved to be his downfall, it was a trap. Robar disarmed Alister.
"Yield ser," Robar said.
"I yield, you won," Alister said, a small smile on his face. The men around him were either happy or displeased because of their loos of coin.
"It seems Ser Lucas that you put your money on the wrong men," Loras said and Lucas gave the knight five golden dragons.
"Jon and Robar are skilled for their age, are you like them ser Loras?"
"I'm, maybe better," Loras said.
"If what I heard was right, then out of three of you Ser Jon is the most skilled one," Lucas said with a smile.
"Aye that's true," Loras admitted.
"How did this start anyway?" Bonifer asked.
"Robar decided to give some pointers to some of your men, soon you master at arms came and they started to talk about styles of sword fighting, one thing lead to another, and at the end it was decided that they should spar together. Several more people wanted to join the spar so Jon joined Robar and the other three joined ser Alister. Some wanted to have a wager so I obliged."
Jon and Robar walked over to them. "I have to say Sers, you are not bad with a blade at all. Alister is a good swordsman and you took him and his men with little effort," Lucas said.
"Its called talent," said Loras.
"It also called getting you ass beaten by Ser Vortimer for most of your life," said Jon.
"We both beaten him, eventually," said Loras.
"As much fun as it is to watch you throw my guards into the dirt I would suggest that to be it for today, I would like for my knights to keep their pride."
"As you wish Ser Lucas," the three young knights said more seriously this time.
"Besides I don't have enough coin to lose every time one of them loses to you." As he and his brother walked back into the hall, Bonifer still had a serious look on his face, it was not solemn anymore but something was still bothering him.
Later at lunch, he spoke more with ser Loras while Bonifer spoke to Ser Jon. He got the attention of the three young knights, there was something he wanted to ask them.
"So, do you have any further plans Sers," Lucas asked and the three looked at each other. "Don't take it the wrong way you are welcome to stay as long as you like, I was just curious."
"We thought about it a bit, but we have not yet reached a decision," Loras said.
"What about you Ser Lucas?" Jon asked.
"For me, this war is over. I can not choose sides because If I choose one side I risk one son's life and if I choose the other I risk fighting my other son. I will do neither, I will let the gods decided the outcome of this war, whatever it way be."
"What about Robb Stark?" Alex asked.
"Aye the young wolf it seems poses quite the threat to Tywin Lannister, so far he was beaten the old lion on every turn," said Bonifer.
"We thought about that too, but there is no safe way of reaching my brother," Jon said. "The crownlands are in Lannister control and we are to well known if the Reach, all that would take is for one person to recognize us and we will get caught."
"I can not offer to join your bother Ser Jon but I can perhaps offer you a solution. Stormlands are under Stanniss control now so there is no easy way to get to the Riverlands from here which only leaves you Dorne."
"Dorne?" the three knights said,
"Aye, you could get a ship there and sail to Maidepool."
"From there we could either ride or sail up the Red Fork to Riverrun," said Jon.
"Aye," said Lucas.
"Thank you Ser Lucas, we will think about it," said Jon.
"You do that but in the meanwhile, you are free to stay as long as you want."
Radnyll Tarly
Randyll slammed his fist on the desk in his tent for what felt like the hundredth time. Another message reached him saying the same as all others before it did, that his riders failed to find the boy. When Ser Loras fled the camp and that bat Olenna raised the alarm he quickly found out what happened, the boy was told to leave by the Tyrells and Ser Loras and ser Robar decided to follow him. The Tyrells pushed the boy away because the lions offered them a crown. He cursed the Tyrells to seven hells.
That left him with little options if Olenna found Jon before he did she might give him over to the Lannisters who would either keep him hostage or kill him. The boy might have had a bond with the Tyrell but now that bond was broken, all but with Ser Loras perhaps. He knew he had to act fast if there was a single chance that the boy could be the prince's son he had to act. He offered his riders to track down Ser Loras and Olenna accepted which surprised him a bit but unbeknownst to her the order he gave to his men was to track down Jon Snow and bring him back unharmed.
Randyll never believed the lie Robert Baratheon and his lot told about the prince, how he kidnapped and raped lady Lyanna. He knew Rheagar, the prince was honorable, steadfast, good, and would never let himself be driven to such actions, even if he did Arthur Dayne would be there to stop it. When he heard that Eddard Stark killed the Sword of the morning he knew that there was something off about that too, no man could beat Arthur Dayne in a fight, not even the Bold could do it, so he suspected something less honorable had accrued at that tower than lord Stark said happened. When the warden of the North brought a bastard back with him that only increased his suspicion that Ned Stark was not as honorable as everyone thought he was. But it seems he was wrong, at least up to a point.
He never paid much attention to the boy, he had the Stark coloring and that was enough for him to prove that he was truly a bastard of Ned Stark. That all changed however in King Landing, the boy caught a flaming sword and had no burn marks on his hands, the way he sang there was only one other man that could sing like that and it was that man's voice that he heard that night. His suspicion only grew when Barristan stormed into the great hall with an expression as if he just saw a ghost. From then on Rednyll paid more attention to the boy whenever he could, watched how the boy moved, spoke and acted around other people in the capital and when he was summoned to Highgarden to fight for the Usurpers brother. He even started looking at the boy's face, searching for any trace of Rheagar.
His original plan was to find enough proof that the boy was Rheagars son and then get help from other lords of the Reach to aid him. The boy had the Stark coloring that was true but Randyll could see Rheagars features now clearly in the boy, not only that, the boy fought and moved just like his father.
That boy that Ned Stark brought back from Dorne was Rheagar's son he was sure of it but before he had the chance to esquire more, to find out more information the Tyrells did what they did best, fuck everything up. None of this would be happening if Mace Tyrell simply marched the Reach army to aid the prince instead of besieging Storms End and Randyll still had not forgiven the fat flower for taking all the credit for Robert loos at Ashford.
The Tyrells were nothing more than stewards who got lucky, a house that was lead by a woman and whose lord was nothing more than a bumbling idiot who did whatever his mother told him to do. Which now included pushing away a potential true heir to the throne of the seven kingdoms. He must find the boy, he needs to know if he is trueborn, even if he wasn't he was still Rheagars son and better he sits on the throne than a Lannister.
If he was indeed a true born then they would have to put him on the throne. The North and the Riverlands are bound to the boy by blood and he will have the Tarly forces but that would still not be enough, they would need more. The Lannisters would no doubt demand of him to help them to deal with Robb Stark. A mummery was nothing something he was good at but he would have to be for now, when asked he will march his forces to the Riverlands but slowly and when the fighting starts he will let the Lannisters do the most of it. But for now, all that matters is to find that boy, he will have to send more riders.
Quickly grabbing a quill he started writing a message for Hornhill. He wanted to send his son Samwell to the wall so his real heir could take over but that would have to be postponed for now at least. It seems he would be in need of his wicker son. Samwell was friends with Jon, they knew each other well. The boy might be reluctant to trust him so he would be needing Sam for that if for nothing more. Randyll was not going to let anything more to chance. Finishing the letter he asked to be brought a raven to send it, Sam must be ready if called for. His lesser son might finally be of some use after all.
They would also need to find out who they could trust, many Reachlords were Targaryen loyalists and might be still but he needed to know which exactly and which would follow the Tyrells. The Hightower have tides to both families, Ashords perhaps, Redwynes were as opportunistic as the Tyrells and are also tided to them. He would need to be careful, he has never been a player of the game but it seems that the gods have decided that he must become one.
There was still no word on Barristan Selmy either, no one has seen him since he was kicked out of the Lannisters service. When he did not go to either Stannis of Renly Randyll thought that the old knight would start to put the pieces together as he did and would try to sick out Jon but so far no word about Barristan reached him, the kingsguard was being careful or has left Westeros altogether, the latter option seemed less probable to the lord of Hornhill.
Loras
The welcome they received was warm, to say the least, being the ones to break the siege probably the reason for it. Ser Lucas was an interesting man, a man who defended with castle and family on the wall with his men even if he was a cripple, a man whose sons are either imprisoned or fighting for another lord right now and yet the knight had a positive outlook, he did not let anything keep him down and Loras was impressed by that.
Watching Jon and Robar spar with the castle knights was fun, especially for him since he was the one who won the bet and took the coin from the Hastys. All of that, the battle, the small celebration after that, talks with the men of the hundred helped him forget about what was happening with his family but only for a small while. When even he went back to his room the thoughts returned, the choice his family made, the fact that Jon was far from getting over it even if he acted as if nothing was wrong but Loras could see the look in Jons eyes, he noticed when he spaced out from time to time. The thought of Renly took kept crossing his mind, how this victory however small it maybe should have been his, Renly should have been here with the three of them as his loyal kingsguard, celebrating the liberation of a loyalist castle and the bravery of its owners.
Now Loras, Robar and Jon sat in the great hall discussing their next move. They have done it somewhat before but not to an extent as now. They knew that the Hastys would not have a problem with them staying here for a while but they needed to get moving soon. If word reached his family they will certainly send a force to bring him and by extension Jon and Robar back.
They gave Lucass proposition some more thought and the more they talked about it the more it sounded like the best option to go with. It was not the fastest but it was the safest. Dorne is not taking part in the war and is neutral so they would not have any problems there compared to what they would have if they went through the Reach.
Jon shook his head "I know you want to come with, but I can't ask you to join a fight that isn't yours Robar and I don't want to be responsible for you fighting your own family Loras. What if we fought in a battle and came across Garlan, what would we do?"
"I will follow you anywhere, you know my reasons," said Robar.
"I will go with you too and there is nothing you can say that will sway me to do otherwise," Loras sighed "And I have to fight my family then so be it, they made their choices. But if it comes to it, if we face Garlan or my father, I will not be the one to fight them head to head. Cursed is the kinslayer ." Loras said.
"Thank you Loras," Jon said.
In the end, it was decided, they will head to Dorne in a day or two and find a ship to take them to the Riverlands from there. Once in the Riverlands they will find a way to reach Jon's brother and see how they can help.
Robar brought up that they could ask the Martells to join them in their fight against the Lannister, the Dornish hatting the Lannisters and Tywin in particular for what he did to Elia and her children, that they would not pass an opportunity to take revenge. Loras wasn't too sure about that idea, he had no love for the Martells, not after prince Oberyn crippled his brother and he knew the Red Vypers reputation well. Oberyn is an expert with poisons, an excellent warrior and some even claim that he is half-mad. If half things he heard about the Martell were true he would be inclined to agree with them.
Lady Lysa has for some reason decided not to help her family and to keep the Vale from the war but maybe they could persuade the lords of the Vale to come on their side. They would have to see once they reach the Starks.
The more he thought about it the more he was sure that they will have to face his family and their bannermen at some point. No matter how much he wished that not to happen he knew that it will. He will do whatever it takes to protect Jon even fight his own family to do it.
Father is no military man, Robb Stark could easily beat him in a battle but he has men like Randyll Tarly, Pacster Redwyne and Simon Ashford on his side and capable commanders not to mention Tywin Lannister. If his war is to be won they would need allies. The Reach has at least double the manpower of any other kingdom and the Northmen have been fighting for some time now and the Riverlands as well.
They also have both the spy network loyal to the throne and the one that serves his grandmother so that could be an issue as well. They would need to find a way to counter it. Another reason to get Dorne on their side, he heard from Willas that Doran Martell has an extensive network of spies as well, although no one knows how large it really is.
The best way to ensure an alliance was through marriage and if Robb is to be king then the best way to bring Dorne to the table is to offer a marriage between the two houses, Doran's daughter to marry Robb. The North will get the Dornish army and they would get a queen. The only thing was that they needed to get to the Riverlands first to tell this to Jons brother first. The plan might not be the safest considering the reputation of some of the Martells, especially Oberyn and his daughters.
AN: I'm sorry it took me so long to update I will try to make it up to you guys. My partner and I have split due to creative differences but I will continue to work on this story regardless. I hope you guys enjoy it and as always leave your opinion.