Chapter 38: Two Sides Of The Same Coin

[King’s Landing]

 

The Grand Maester was walking through the halls of King’s Landing hurriedly as he was bringing a piece of paper. His face looked pale, and his hands were shaking, but he kept going, heading towards the Council room.

 

As he entered, the council was busy arguing against one another, with the king, who rarely sat in a council meeting, just watched them calmly, but his face showed untold rage and fear. When the Grand Maester entered the room, all of the members of the council turned towards him, and all of them frowned.

 

“Grand Maester. You’re late.” said the Hand of the king.

 

“Apologies my lords, your majesty…” said the Grand maester quietly. “But I bring dire news from the south.”

 

“South?” the hand of the king raised his brow. “The reach? Stormlands?”

 

Grand Maester shook his head at the question. “Dorne.”

At the mention of Dorne, the atmosphere turned cold quickly. The King’s eyes turned sharp, and he looked at the piece of paper in the Grand Maester’s hand.

 

“Read it.” said the king. 

 

Grand Maester bowed. “As you wish my king.”

 

Grand Maester Pycelle unrolled the piece of paper and read the content of the message loudly and clearly to the council.

 

“I, Prince Doran Martell of Dorne, proclaimed that Dorne would not be a part of the seven kingdoms anymore, the lords and ladies of Dorne have unanimously voted to become independence from the rest of the Westeros due to the uneven view of King Aerys II towards Dorne. —”

 

“Preposterous!” The king cursed. “First is Lewyn’s betrayal, now this?! Those savages will need to be dealt with quickly!”

 

“My king, we should not pursue war towards Dorne at the moment, our forces are—”

 

“I want Doran’s head!” the king slammed his fist to the table.

 

“Your majesty… My lords… the message is not finished yet…” said Pycelle calmly.

 

“What is there to be read again!? It is obvious that Dorne wants to rebel while I am suffering!”

 

“My king… the rest of the content… is more… dire… than Dorne’s rebellion…”

 

“Dire?! What more deceit that these Dornish created now?!” the king insulted, but he didn’t stop Pycelle.

 

“The message stated… that Dorne has taken Prince Rhaegar hostage, and they set up a meeting in Prince’s pass to discuss ransom.”

 

At the news, the entire council turned silent, even the king leaned on the seat, trying to calm himself, but ultimately failing.

 

“Are you telling me… that Sir Arthur and Sir Oswell failed to protect Rhaegar?!” The king roared, he then turned towards the lord commander behind him and stared at his eyes directly. “Sir Gerold, answer me!”

 

“There has been no message that comes from the tower where Rhaegar is staying, my king.” said Gerold calmly. “It is possible that Dorne knows where he is, or…”

 

“Or?”

 

“Or Sir Arthur Dayne betrayed us.”

 

“ARRGHHH!!!” the king shouted like a madman, scratching his disgusting face using his long nails. “Guards! Bring Ser Gerold to the dungeon! I do not want any incompetence in my council!”

 

Ser Gerold’s eyes shook a bit, but quickly dimmed. He quickly accepted his fate, he is old anyway. The guards quickly dragged Ser Gerold away from the council, but the king was not done.

 

“You…” the king pointed at the hand of the king, Lord Qarlton Chelsted. “I appointed you as my hand because Lord Connington is not capable enough, and that you promised that you can deal with the rebellion quickly. I see no results. And now, off with your head.”

 

The hand of the king shivered. “M-My king?”

 

“OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!”

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[Army camp near Greywater watch]

 

Inside a camp, two men were doing their own thing, seemingly unbothered at all. Robert Baratheon, the storm lord, was eating on the table, chewing carelessly in front of his two brothers-in-arms, Lord Jon Arryn was dealing with paperwork that comes with managing an army, while also thinking of a way to win against the royal army that is gathering in King’s Landing right now.

 

Suddenly, another man entered the tent, it was Ned Stark, the quiet wolf, bringing a single piece of paper.

 

“Dorne rebelled.” he said straightforwardly. “Saying that the mad king has treated them unfairly. So right now, the king only has the Crownlands and the Reach.”

 

Robert slammed his mug against the table. “Well that’s great then! It’s only a matter of time before we put the mad king’s head on a pike.”

 

Ned looked at foster brother calmly, and turned towards his foster father, Jon Arryn. The two shared a look, and Ned just shook his head, giving the paper to Jon.

 

As Jon read the message, he frowned, making Robert confused.

 

“What?” the storm lord questioned. “What’s wrong? It is good news, right?”

 

Jon Arryn eyed Robert for a second, before speaking. “They have Lyanna, Robert.”

 

Robert was even more confused. “Well that is great news then! Lyanna is safe, the king is weak, it would be the end of those damned Dragons!”

 

“Robert,” said Ned sternly. “They’re not on our side.”

 

“What? But you said Dorne has rebelled?”

 

Jon could only stand up from his seat, and give the piece of paper to Robert. He read it carefully, his face turned from curiosity, to anger.

 

“Ransom?!” he roared. “They want to meet us to discuss ransom?!”

 

“It appears Dorne has Rhaegar as well,” said Jon calmly. “It seems that Dorne sent the same offer to the king. We need to hurry to Prince’s Pass to get Lyanna.”

 

“Wait.” Robert calmed down a little. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

 

“We could get Rhaegar from them.” Jon nodded. “But the king could have Lyanna if we’re not quick enough.”

 

“Then what are we waiting for!?” Robert stood up, quickly cleaned his mouth and washed his hands, walking to his armour at the edge of the tent. “Fetch me a squire! Let’s go get Lyanna!”

 

“Robert, this could be a trap.” said Ned Stark calmly. “It all seems… too good to be true. What if Dorne hadn’t betrayed the king and we’ll be walking to a massacre?”

 

“He’s right Robert.” said Jon, agreeing. “We need to be careful.”

 

“Then what are we going to do?” Robert scoffed, looking at his two comrades in disbelief. “Are we just going to sit here while Lyanna is in the hands of those Dornishmen? Who knows what might happen to her, Ned, she’s your sister!”

 

“Yes, I know Robert. But we need to be careful on this.” said Ned, leaning against a table. “I don’t know what Dorne is planning…”

 

“Well, I think Dorne really rebelled.” said Jon suddenly. “My spies in King’s Landing said that Princess Elia, along with her two babes, died… suicide. Dorne has no attachment to the king anymore.”

 

“But we can’t rule out the possibility, Jon.” said Ned, thinking in deep thought.

 

“Fine then.” Robert grumbled. “You can all act like cowards here all you want. I will go by myself to discuss the terms of ransom. I’ll bring my best men and a couple of lords with me.” he said, drinking a cup of wine, walking towards the outside to fetch a squire.

 

Ned could only sighed at Robert’s act, and turned to Jon. “I will go too then, but I have a bad feeling about this…”

 

Jon simply nod. “Be careful, Ned.”

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