The Sworn Sword

"Where are the men?"

"Treb and Wet Wat are on the roof standing watch, in case the widow comes to call. The rest crawled into bed whimpering. Sore as sin, they are. I worked them hard. Drew a little blood off that big lackwit, just to make him mad. He fights better when he's mad". He smiled his brown-and-red smile. "Nice bloody lip you got. Next time, don't go turning over rocks. What did the woman say?"

"She means to keep the water, and she wants you as well, for cutting that digger by the dam".

"Thought she might". Be

"You won't mind her slitting your nose, then".

"Bugger that. If I wanted my nose slit I'd slit it for myself". He jerked a thumb up. "You'll find Ser Useless in his chambers, brooding on how great he used to be".

Egg spoke up. "He fought for the black dragon".

Dunk could have given the boy a clout, but the brown knight only laughed. " 'Course he did. Just look at him. He strike you as the kind who picks the wi

"No more than you. Else you wouldn't be here with us". Dunk turned to Egg. "Tend to Thunder and Maester and then come up and join us".

When Dunk came up through the trap, the old knight was sitting by the hearth in his bedrobe, though no fire had been laid. His father's cup was in his hand, a heavy silver cup that had been made for some Lord Osgrey back before the Conquest. A chequy lion adorned the bowl, done in flakes of jade and gold, though some of the jade flakes had gone missing. At the sound of Dunk's footsteps, the old knight looked up and blinked like a man waking from a dream. "Ser Duncan. You are back. Did the sight of you give Lucas Inchfield pause, ser?"

"Not as I saw, m'lord. More like, it made him wroth". Dunk told it all as best he could, though he omitted the part about Lady Helicent, which made him look an utter fool. He would have left out the clout, too, but his broken lip had puffed up twice its normal size, and Ser Eustace could not help but notice.

When he did, he frowned. "Your lip.. ".

Dunk touched it gingerly. "Her ladyship gave me a slap".

"She struck you?" His mouth opened and closed. "She struck my envoy, who came to her beneath the chequy lion? She dared lay hands upon your person?"

"Only the one hand, ser. It stopped bleeding before we even left the castle". He made a fist. "She wants Ser Be

"… risen with the black dragon?" Ser Eustace seemed to slump. "I feared she might. If you wish to leave my service, I will not stop you". The old knight gazed into his cup, though what he might be looking for Dunk could not say.

"You told me your sons died fighting for the king".

"And so they did. The rightful king, Daemon Blackfyre. The King Who Bore the Sword". The old man's mustache quivered. "The men of the red dragon call themselves the loyalists, but we who chose the black were just as loyal, once. Though now… all the men who marched beside me to seat Prince Daemon on the Iron Throne have melted away like morning dew. Mayhaps I dreamed them. Or more like, Lord Bloodraven and his Raven's Teeth have put the fear in them. They ca

Dunk could not deny the truth of that. Until this moment, he had never met a man who'd fought for the Pretender. I must have, though. There were thousands of them. Half the realm was for the red dragon, and half was for the black. "Both sides fought valiantly, Ser Arlan always said". He thought the old knight would want to hear that.

Ser Eustace cradled his wine cup in both hands. "If Daemon had ridden over Gwayne Corbray… if Fireball had not been slain on the eve of battle… if Hightower and Tarbeck and Oakheart and Butterwell had lent us their full strength instead of trying to keep one foot in each camp… if Manfred Lothston had proved true instead of treacherous… if storms had not delayed Lord Bracken's sailing with the Myrish crossbowmen… if Quickfinger had not been caught with the stolen dragon's eggs… so many if s, ser… had any one come out differently, it could all have turned t'other way. Then we would called be the loyalists, and the red dragons would be remembered as men who fought to keep the usurper Daeron the Falseborn upon his stolen throne, and failed".

"That's as it may be, m'lord", said Dunk, "but things went the way they went. It was all years ago, and you were pardoned".

"Aye, we were pardoned. So long as we bent the knee and gave him a hostage to ensure our future loyalty, Daeron forgave the traitors and the rebels". His voice was bitter. "I bought my head back with my daughter's life. Alysa

In his heart the black dragon never died, Dunk realized.

"My lord?"

It was Egg's voice. The boy had come in as Ser Eustace was speaking of his death. The old knight blinked at him as if he were seeing him for the first time. "Yes, lad? What is it?"

"If it please you… the Red Widow says you rebelled to get her castle. That isn't true, is it?"

"The castle?" He seemed confused. "Coldmoat… Coldmoat was promised me by Daemon, yes, but… it was not for gain, no.. ".

"Then why?" asked Egg.

"Why?" Ser Eustace frowned.

"Why were you a traitor? If it wasn't just the castle".

Ser Eustace looked at Egg a long time before replying. "You are only a young boy. You would not understand".

"Well", said Egg, "I might".

"Treason… is only a word. When two princes fight for a chair where only one may sit, great lords and common men alike must choose. And when the battle's done, the victors will be hailed as loyal men and true, whilst those who were defeated will be known forevermore as rebels and traitors. That was my fate".

Egg thought about it for a time. "Yes, my lord. Only… King Daeron was a good man. Why would you choose Daemon?"

"Daeron.. ". Ser Eustace almost slurred the word, and Dunk realized he was half drunk. "Daeron was spindly and round of shoulder, with a little belly that wobbled when he walked. Daemon stood straight and proud, and his stomach was flat and hard as an oaken shield. And he could fight . With ax or lance or flail, he was as good as any knight I ever saw, but with the sword he was the Warrior himself. When Prince Daemon had Blackfyre in his hand, there was not a man to equal him… not Ulrick Dayne with Dawn, no, nor even the Dragonknight with Dark Sister.

"You can know a man by his friends, Egg. Daeron surrounded himself with maesters, septons, and singers. Always there were women whispering in his ear, and his court was full of Dornishmen. How not, when he had taken a Dornishwoman into his bed, and sold his own sweet sister to the prince of Dorne, though it was Daemon that she loved? Daeron bore the same name as the Young Dragon, but when his Dornish wife gave him a son he named the child Baelor, after the feeblest king who ever sat the Iron Throne.

"Daemon, though… Daemon was no more pious than a king need be, and all the great knights of the realm gathered to him. It would suit Lord Bloodraven if their names were all forgotten, so he has forbidden us to sing of them, but I remember. Robb Reyne, Gareth the Grey, Ser Aubrey Ambrose, Lord Gormon Peake, Black Byren Flowers, Redtusk, Fireball… Bittersteel! I ask you, has there ever been such a noble company, such a roll of heroes?