Chương 2: Criston I

Criston is a proud man.

And why shouldn't he be? He rose from the lowest lows, fought valiantly on the Dornish Marches, and now has the privilege to be counted amongst the valiant order of the Kingsguard.

Cole spent his whole childhood dreaming of standing where he is, he trained relentlessly in the yard, was always the first person to enter the battlefield and the last to leave, and he killed and killed and killed so, so many soldiers to become a knight.

Not any knight, a Kingsguard.

But when he first reached the capital and beat Daemon Targaryen in single combat after unhorsing him in the tilts, he realized that no amount of skill or chivalry was going to get him there, what he needed was the favor of the royal family, because members of the Kingsguard were chosen not for their ability, but their utility.

The day Ser Ryam Redwyne died was a day of mourning for most, but one of celebration for anyone such as him, because it signified that after so many years, a position in the Kingsguard was vacant.

Criston felt elation, he finally had a chance! He thought. But then came the crushing realization, that for all his skill, Cole wasn't useful, he didn't come from a powerful family nor did he have gold to spare, he was just a glorified hedge knight, and he saw people less skilled than himself favored more than him for being luckier, and he seethed.

But Princess Rhaenyra changed everything, she saw the reality of it and chose him over men with deeper pockets and even bigger castles, and he was prepared to give everything to her in return because she wasn't like everyone else, she was beautiful, brave... Defiant.

So he broke his oath for her, he dishonored himself as a Kingsguard for her, because she meant that much to him. But she stepped on it, she spat on his honor and insulted his efforts. And then he realized that she was just a spoiled child who doesn't go against norms because of defiance or justice or honor, but as a tantrum, not dissimilar to a toddler that lost his toy.

If only he knew, If only...

"-iston, Ser Criston!"

"Yes My Queen." He turned towards his new charge, the woman garbed in green looking at him inquisitively.

"Where is Aegon? I haven't seen him all day."

"He's at the Yard your Grace, with the King."

"The King ?"

"Yes your Grace, the King wanted to be present for Prince Baelons first day of training, and Prince Aegon demanded to be there too."

"Hmm... Take me there."

"Of course, your Grace."

He couldn't help but ponder about the situation that he found himself in, he did a lot lately. Perhaps his new duties as a guard, standing in a single spot for hours, could be the reason.

As a Kingsguard speaking without getting spoken to is not allowed while doing his duties, so any time someone addresses him or starts a conversation is a blessing that he never thought he'd appreciate.

"Tell me, Ser Criston. What do you think about the Crown Prince ?" Asked his Queen.

"The Crown Prince? Your grace."

"Yes, there are all sorts of rumors about our Prince, people say that he is charming and polite, that he was blessed by the Smith with wisdom beyond his peers. Grandmaester Mellos in particular, while quite not religious, has only heaps of praise about Prince Baelon, he calls him a prodigy, a born maester." She says.

"I do not know, your Grace. It is not my place to comment on the members of the royal family."

"I understand, then how about an alternate question? Who do you think is more worthy of rule, a man who holds a book? Or one with a sword?" She asks.

After a bit of silence, Cole replies.

"The one with a sword your grace, 'tis not a peaceful realm, King Aenys is an example of that."

She hums in response.

In a sudden burst of bravery, Cole continues.

"Although, having both would be better than having one."

His sentence ends just as they turn towards the yard, they find themselves looking at a crowd of men, the King and little Aegon chief amongst them, surrounding two boys in the yard.

The first, and the larger of the two, is a squire to some minor noble of the court.

The other is six-year-old Baelon, no longer sporting his slight smile, his eyes looking at his opponent in such a grim way that the poor boy is trembling. While the other boy was holding a one-handed sword appropriate for his age, Prince Baelon held a two-handed shortsword -a wooden one meant to act as a two-handed longsword for children- in one hand.

The squire charges toward the prince with a defiant roar, as he gets close to him, Baelon calmly attempts to hit the boy's leg. The boy lowers his shield to block the blow only for the prince to twist his wrist, changing the trajectory of his sword upwards.

The blow hits, and the squire staggers, but he doesn't get a chance to even think as he is hit by a flurry of blows by the prince and falls on his back, a wooden tip fixed next to his neck.

"Yield" Almost growls the Prince.

"I yield" Answers the squire.

People applaud the masterful use of misdirection, and the prince lifts the squire while complimenting his swordsmanship, the boy knew Baelon was lying, but that didn't stop a smile to adorn his face.

Cole gapes at the spectacle, 'This can't be his first time!' He thought, the prince showed too much skill for his age, and while it was true that his stance was strange and his footing unstable, the way he managed to think through the fight calmly and critically was something that no one can do at first, or at least not until now.

He looks back to his queen, only to see her aggressively biting her nails, a habit that everyone thought was discarded by her through sheer discipline. For some unknown reason, Queen Alicent dislikes the Crown Prince, at first Cole thought it was because she was ambitious like her father, and saw him as an obstacle to her son's success.

But the more he observed the more he thought it false, or at least at first. The boy unnerved her she would always evade his eyes and quickly end conversations with him.

Lately, she seems to be more of what people thought of her, ever since Princess Rhaenyra's wedding, where she started wearing green to the Princess' black, Queen Alicent showed more interest and ambition for the Throne, and started educating and treating Aegon more like a ruler than a prince.

The Queen looks back toward Cole with a strained smile.

"You were right, Ser Criston. Having both is better than having one. I do not wish to interrupt Aegons fun, I'd like to go back to my quarters for the day."

"Of course your grace."

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Ser Criston stood vigil next to the Queen's quarters for what felt like hours, listening to her Grace conversing with her maids and spending time with both prince Aemond and princess Helaena.

The sound of controlled, measured footsteps echo in the corridors of the Red Keep, and soon enough, Otto Hightower steps inside the room, and as usual, the maids and nurses leave them alone.

"Lord Hand"

Criston receives a nod in return.

He wondered why Maegor the Cruel built the Keep like so, as while the walls do a good job at containing the sounds of conversation, the doors don't. Which leaves him listening to most of the conversation between the Queen and her father.

"You have been biting your nails again, Daughter."

"I-I'm sorry, I couldn't help it."

"Yes. To think the Prince could be so... adequate."

Alicent lets out a derisive snort.

"Adequate, that thing is not even human!"

After a quiet pause, she continues.

"Do not look at me like that! You know it, I know it, everyone knows! Whatever happened on the day of his birth took the baby! What's inhabiting him is something else!"

"Keep your voice low daughter! What you're saying is treason of the highest order!" Otto practically hissed at his daughter.

Alas, she gave him no heed.

"He stopped breathing! Several times! You remember the day, the day when the Heir to the Throne was declared dead! Then alive! Then dead again! Until the Maesters just gave up! But he lived, he lived when he shouldn't, they said that the babe stopped breathing for nary an hour!" She took a breath, as her anxiousness and trepidation began to show.

"A-and I held him, some moons after. His eyes were cold and dispassionate, he looked at me as if I were prey for him to feast, and I almost wished I could have dropped him. No, that isn't a human, no child is so- so different!"

A long period of silence, then a chair scraping on the stone floor.

The Lord Hand's voice sounded from further away.

"You may be surprised, my Queen. Tell me, do you remember Oldtown ?"

Alicent takes some deep breaths.

"Yes, of course. I grew up there."

"Right, but you don't, as a lady of noble birth and a scion of Hightower, you only visited the Manses of our vassals or the Starry Sept, you weren't able to see or discover the other side of the city, the Citadel, the port... the slums."

Otto stops talking to let out a melancholy sigh.

"Ah, we used to sneak out, me and my brother, to the various streets of the city. And one of our duties as male members of the family was also to visit the Citadel, I met many people there, some of them not dissimilar to the Prince."

"What ?"

"Oh yes, they were rare as diamonds, people like the Prince, but Oldtown is the center of Westerosi civilization, many people came to pray, to trade, to learn. I remember in particular a boy, Garlan Flowers, the bastard of a hedge knight on the Reach.

The boy received his first link at 9 name days, almost the youngest in history. For you see, Garlan could never forget anything he read, the whole Conclave tested him one day by giving a selection of books, that he was to recite the next day."

"We came at first to make fun of the boy, such an outrageous act couldn't be possible, we thought. The boy was frail and weak, he stuttered a greeting and we responded with jeers. But then he began to talk, and we were mesmerized, no word was misspelled, and no page was forgotten, the boy of nine name-days seemed a giant at the time."

"There are many people blessed with gifts since their birth, and most of them aren't born in a situation where they could make the most of them. The Prince may just be someone who can. Do you understand ?" He finishes.

"I *sigh*, I do."

"But that doesn't make him any less dangerous."

'What ?' Thought Criston.

"What ?" Echoed the Queen.

"The boy is mature beyond his years, with a mind as sharp as Valyrian steel, he will realize Aegon's threat to his throne, and he may cause his downfall for that."

"W-what do we do ?"

"I tried, previously, to betroth him to Helaena, but the King was too headstrong, he seems to be keen on arranging his marriage to someone else outside the family, the Velaryons perhaps? But since that failed, we have no choice but commit."

"Can't, *gulp* can't we..." She whispers it too low for Criston to hear.

"I tried, but it turned out an impossible task."

"I... see."

"..."

"I think that it is time for me to leave, have a good evening, daughter."

"You too, Father."

The sound of footsteps echoes again and the door opens.

Otto Hightower steps out and closes the door, but doesn't leave until he stared at Criston for a couple of seconds.

Criston felt cold sweat on his back, working as a Kingsguard may have been too much to deal with, he thought.