Chapter Text
A bear-like middle-aged man in a quilted brown doublet, black woolen breeches and soft boots reread the agreement that lay before him. Lines of black Volantine ink indicated that a secret agreement had been made between the houses of the Targaryen and the Martell from that day. In exchange for helping to overthrow the Usurper, the king must marry the daughter of Prince Doran...
— Too good to be true,— thought Ser Willem Darry, the former Master at Arms of the Red Keep and now the guardian of Viserys of House Targaryen, the Third of that Name, the rightful king of the Andals, the Rhoynar and First Men. — Best news from the day the Sea Lord's men found us.
On that day, Ser Willem was made an offer that was impossible to refuse. The Sea Lord took the exiles under his protection. The Braavosi had his own benefit in letting the rightful king of Westeros take refuge in his city... and thank the Gods.
Willem Darry preferred to have a greedy friend to a charitable enemy. Thanks to this "friend", Prince Oberyn reached Ser Willem with a treaty that promised Viserys the dornish spears. Moreover, the Braavosi kindly offered to personally witness the secret agreement. Thus, they gathered in a mansion that belonged to the Sea Lord.
— Dear prince, worthy Ser, in our city they say that time is money,— the Sea Lord broke the silence, sitting in a carved chair on the other side of the round table. Like most of the noble townspeople, he was dressed in black, albeit made of expensive velvet, which looked unusually modest for someone accustomed to the bright colours worn at the Westerosi court.
— The Sealord is right, Ser Willem, don’t you think?— asked Prince Oberyn, looking at the knight with his black eyes, shining like mineral oil. His attire made the Dornish indistinguishable from the Westerosi mercenaries so common this side of the Narrow Sea.
— Yes, my prince,— the knight nodded.
Don't hesitate any longer.
When Ser Willem and Oberyn Martell affixed their signatures and seals, the Sea Lord witnessed the pact. That's all. Viserys has his first true ally in Westeros and a betrothed whom he will marry if the Gods allow him to live to the age of majority.
Darry wanted to see the boy sit on the Iron Throne, but Braavos was slowly killing the knight. Damn climate. This city is too damp and cold for his old bones, but for the safety of the rightful heir to the Iron Throne, Ser Willem was willing to endure much worse. The former master at arms is no longer young, his brother and three nephews died fighting at the Trident. It will take several more years before the Stranger takes him away.
For Jonothor and the boys I'll hold as long as I can, for my honour, for my King.
There should have been someone else in his shoes, someone better prepared for this role. His brother, Ser Jonotor, who wore a white cloak and was considered one of the best knights of Westeros. The Sword of the Morning, the White Bull or even Ser Barristan the Bold...
Seven Hells, Ser Barristan now leads Robert's Kingsguard.
Darry completely forgot about it. It was hard to believe that Selmy began to serve the Usurper.
The uprising that broke out after the Tourney of Harrenhall was like a tale of a mad minstrel. No sooner had the fuss about the appearance of the Knight of the Laughing Tree and the proclamation of Lyanna Stark as the queen of love and beauty had subsided, new events rushed at a rapid gallop. Prince Rhaegar disappeared, and with him two White Cloaks and Lyanna Stark.
The King's rage was unmatched that day, such that he was cursing his firstborn and threatening to make his grandson or youngest son heir. Lucerys Velaryon and the other enemies of the Crown Prince raised their heads, hoping to shake off the threat of Rhaegar's ascension to the throne. Elia Martell was like a shadow of herself, and Varys, the cursed Spider, whispered to the King what he wanted to hear.
And then, as if to make things worse, with five friends and his squire, Brandon Stark has entered the capital, deciding to personally look for the his sister's kidnapper. The northerner arrived at the gates of the Red Keep, demanding the head of the Prince of Dragonstone, as if he were some Dornish horse thief. It was perhaps the worst thing that Lord Rickard's heir could do to save his sister.
Stark was such a brainless imbecile, he angered the King so much, Aerys forgot that until recently he was looking for an excuse to deprive Rhaegar of his status. After Duskendale, Aerys sometimes acted as if there was no humiliating captivity, but it was easy to get the king out of himself. The courtiers learned to feel how to behave, yet the northerner did not know this art.
— No one dares threaten the dragon! — the king said angrily, ordering the arrest of the heir of Winterfell and his companions.— To the dungeon with you! And you shall remain there, until I see your fathers and ask them why they raised such lousy sons!
Rickard Stark arrived in King's Landing with the fathers of Jeffrey Mallister, Kyle Royce, Ethan Glover and Albert Arryn. Had the Warden of the North known his king better, he could have saved his son and his hapless friends. The wrath of his Grace has subsided, Ser Willem, who was present in the throne room with the other courtiers, saw this. Aerys wanted an apology, a compensation and an excuse for such behaviour, but Rickard Stark demanded a trial by combat. The Warden of the North might just as well have thrown a glove in the king's face. For a while the king sat in silence, looking at his lord, and Ser Willem got a blasphemous thought that his Grace was more like a vulture than a dragon.
— Your will, Stark, you will have a duel, — Aerys laughed hoarsely. — If you manage to defeat my champion, I will return your son and his empty-headed friends unharmed. If not, then blame yourself.
— Thank you for your fairness, your Grace, — the northerner, still oblivious, bowed.
— Justice is a good thing, if rare, — the king said with a grin. — Go on, the duel is scheduled for tomorrow morning.
Lord Rickard was suspended from the rafters of the throne room, and a couple of pyromancers lit a fire under him in a special brazier, which slowly began to fry the northerner. Stark was previously allowed to put on armour, but the Royal guards disarmed him before he saw that his opponent would be fire. To win, the Warden of the North needed only one thing - not to burn.
Brandon was also in the throne room, tied to a Tyroshi device that strangled him as he tried to reach for the sword that was placed next to him. The Warden of the North had only died when his heir strangled himself, still trying to free his father. The pyromancers saw to it that Lord Rickard did not die too soon. Then Darry told himself that no matter how moronic the northerners were, his king had surpassed them.
Only Ethan Glover, the squire of Brandon Stark, declared innocent by the king for the prejudicial behaviour of the Heir of Winterfell, and his father returned from the capital alive. All other companions of the firstborn of Lord Rickard and their fathers, by order of his Grace, were executed immediately after the "trial by combat."
Madness was the curse of Aerys Targaryen since Duskendale. The Starks opened his wound and made him, in a fit of anger, create a situation nobody should not be proud of. Unsurprisingly, Jon Arryn refused to hand over his foster sons and rebelled. A war began, in which Westeros was divided into those who remained loyal to the King, supported the rebels, or remained on the sidelines.
Caustic, domineering, derisive, and stubborn, Aerys remained a decent king until Lord Darklyn's dungeon overwhelmed him. The death of Lord Steffon broke the king even more, reinforcing the distrust of his own heir and Lord Tywin. Then Varys appeared, this cursed Spider from Pentos, who spied for the king, obeying only him.
At the same time, Lord Tywin remained the Hand until the very day when the king granted Ser Jaime a white cloak. The proud Lannister left his post and was replaced by lord Owen Merryweather, who tried in vain to keep the peace in the kingdom. Blaming the Lord of Longtable for the rebels' early successes, Aerys replaced him with Jon Connington, who lasted even less.
He promised to personally strangle the rebellion and kill Lord Robert, but was instead defeated at the Stoney Sept. Although, in comparison to poor Chelsted, the Young Griff got off easy. Exile is better than being burnt alive.
Should Rhaegar have died on the Trident victorious, the king would have been fine with that. But the Crown Prince lost the battle and died himself at the hands of his cousin's hammer. Assembled with such difficulty, the thirty-thousand-strong army was defeated and the vanguard of the rebels moved onto the capital. Years later, Darry could say that Robert Baratheon's victory was not yet inevitable. Be the Gods merciful, the House of the Dragon could yet be saved.
With the defeat at the Trident, the Iron Throne still had enough swords to turn the rebels' success into nothing. Mace Tyrell's army was large, and King's Landing had a strong enough garrison that it could not be stormed immediately. Tywin Lannister has raised his banners, it seemed he would not risk his son's life. Aerys could have done a lot, but he was carried away by the ravings of pyromancers and even appointed one of them as his Hand instead of poor Chelsted. His Grace plunged deeper and deeper into the abyss of madness, but in one of his lucid moments he ordered to send the Queen and Viserys to Dragonstone.
The departure of the Queen and the Prince took place in secret. Darry led the escort, confident that they would be back soon. Viserys was bored on the island, while his mother enjoyed a respite from the string of torments that had become her life with her husband. Perhaps the Queen even prayed that the Iron Throne would take her husband, as the seat once forged in Balerion's flame took Maegor's life.
But even then, no one thought that the House of the Dragon could fall. Almost three centuries after the landing of Aegon the Conqueror at the mouth of the Blackwater Bay, Westeros was still ruled by house Targaryen. They survived the Faith Militant uprising, the loss of dragons after the Dance, countless Blackfyre rebellions, and stood tall. It was all the more terrible to learn that King's Landing had fallen, and Aerys had been stabbed to death by the youngest knight of the Kingsguard.
The news came to the island, one worse than the other. Lord Tywin had betrayed the king who trusted him, Princess Elia and her children were killed, the Capital is in the hands of the rebels. Mace Tyrell and Paxter Redwin surrendered without a fight. Only Dorne and a few riverlords were still on the side of the Targaryens. The knights and men at arms of the garrison lost hope, and with it their loyalty to the house of the Dragon melted away.
For a time, the Queen wanted to flee to Dorne, leaving a garrison and part of the fleet on Dragonstone. Master of Ships Lucerys Velaryon and his galleys remained the last shield that separated Dragonstone from the greedy clutches of the rebels. And that night, when the storm sank the Royal Navy, and the queen died giving birth to a dead girl, the island became defenceless.
Willem Darry managed to flee with the boy before the garrison could have sold him to the Usurper for a pardon. Yes, the knight saved Viserys from the worst, but he was unable to return the Iron Throne to its rightful king. Should the Sea Lord wish to betray Viserys... fortunately, thus far he chose to follow the opposite path. But with the advent of Prince Oberyn, Darry became hopeful again. Ser Willem rejoiced at the Red Viper as he would at his brother coming back from his grave. The Martells had not yet laid down their arms and refused to recognize the power of the Usurper. However, Prince Oberyn's words were as dark as his hair. Doran Martell and Jon Arryn made peace and Sunspear, though the last one, bowed to the might of the Baratheons.
— Peace? — Ser Willem felt as if his heart was gripped by a hand in an icy glove. He coughed. The Dornishman waited patiently for him to finish. — So Prince Doran sent you to inform the King that he should no longer rely on the Dornish Spears?!
— My brother doesn't think the time has come for revenge. If I had my way, Ser, Dorne would never have recognized the Baratheons,— Oberyn remarked in a deliberately even tone.
He doesn't care about anything, not the Usurper, not the damned dampness, not even about the Yronwoods, no matter how many there are. Unfortunately, the head of House Martell was not the Red Viper, but Doran. Doran is different. Smart and careful, and too damn cautious for my liking.
The treaty gave the Martells much in the event of the success of Viserys and did not oblige them to anything, until the army of the last Targaryen, purely theoretical at this point in time, landed in Westeros. This was Prince Doran Nymeros Martell at his best.
Ser Willem once taught Prince Rhaegar to be a warrior, but he also began to teach his younger brother how to handle weapons. While the former Master at Arms is still strong enough, Darry will try to teach the boy everything a knight should know.
I will not fail, Viserys will be King.