CHAPTER 12

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"Hold up," Arthur whispered pulling Ashara into the shadows.

"What is it," she asked him.

"A patrol."

Ashara leaned against the wall waiting for the patrol to go somewhere else so that they could proceed with their task. What they were doing was incredibly dangerous. If they were ever discovered or caught the outcome would be unimaginable. Either they would be killed here immediately and made to disappear without anybodies knowledge or they would be taken to court implicating their whole family.

This was something she and her brother had talked about in extreme lengths before committing. All evidence led to the Citadel and they wanted answers. The Daynes may not be a Great House, but their house was one which even other Great Houses could overlook and give slight.

"The coast is clear," Arthur said. He slid his sword out of its sheath carefully without making a noise before heading out slowly. She while not adept in swordsmanship was more than capable of dealing with a threat using her forearm length hunting knife. Ashara followed her brother keeping a small gap between them in case of an emergency. The candles and the various torches were almost out engulfing the castle in almost pitch blackness. The slowly dying out embers of the braziers and the streaming moonlight from the windows were the only source of light for the two. They were fortunate that the night had a full moon giving them just enough light to traverse the dark passages of the Citadel.

Both of them were dressed in black. They had foregone full body armor and opted to just don light armor with extra protection in critical locations. She was in her comfort zone with riding breeches and a tight shirt instead of the overflowing dresses she was being forced to wear during the day to keep up with appearance.

They walked crouching lightly keeping to the shadows to and were able to cross the threshold of the third floor without gaining any attention. According to what they were able to find out, their objective was here.

Ashara was rather surprised to find so little security tonight. From what they were able to find out from their snooping beforehand, there were more than a hundred soldiers travelling various routes during the night. That didn't include the stationary guards placed at various locations. From what they had seen so far, they only counted a little more than twenty soldiers doing their rounds. All of the stationary guars on the first floor had mysteriously disappeared as well. But the remaining guars didn't seem to notice this and went about in their usual manner.

"Should we split up?" she whispered.

"No. I won't be able to think straight with you out of my sight. We are in the belly of the beast. They poisoned our father without any consideration. Who knows what they'll do to you if they get their hands on you."

"I'm not the only one in danger here," she shot back hotly. It was endearing on how her brother took the role of protecting his sisters seriously. But sometimes Ashara felt like she was being smothered by him. She was a person who valued her freedoms. It was why she fought with their father so much. She often ran away from home in male clothing to explore. She hadn't been able to venture beyond the lands of the Daynes and the base of the Red Mountains because her brother always managed to find her before she ventured further. But she loved being out in the open enjoying what life had to offer instead of being a prim and proper lady who was meant to be seen and not heard.

It wasn't like she hated her brother… on the contrary she loved him even more than she loved her father. But at times his 'protection' was too tiring.

"I can look after myself. You remember your promise before I let you come with me?"

"Yes, brother," she answered sullenly giving up the argument.

Before they entered the Citadel, he made her promise to follow all his commands to the letter even if it meant that she was to escape without him should things get out of hand. It was only after she had given her oath he had allowed her to follow him. She wanted to disobey him. Yet the look on his face made her obey him. So here they were inside one of the most secure locations in Westeros doing something so illegal that it could result in the destruction of their family should they be discovered.

Arthur nodded and placed his ear to the door next to him to listen whether the occupant was still awake. After a while he gave her a small nod and opened to the door slowly. Ashara held her breath and prayed that the door wouldn't make any sound. To their relief it didn't.

Both brother and sister entered the premises drawing the door behind them but not locking it. Immediately the duo went for the documents and the chest in the room with a single glance at the sleeping occupant. They had things to do and it wouldn't do them good to just loiter around.

Ashara opened the chest and rummaged about pulling all the clothes out of it. Underneath the layer of cloths were letters and books. She discarded the books and skimmed across some of the letters that caught her eye. From the contents she could see that this wasn't the room they wanted. All of these letters were from the maester's family. He wasn't someone in the higher ranks of the order. She placed the belongings back in the chest and headed out followed by her brother. The maester may notice something off in the morning as they hadn't been very subtle. But by then they hoped to be far from away Oldtown as possible to keep with the illusion that they left the town earlier today.

The process continued in the next few rooms until they hit jackpot. The room was much larger than the ones they had broken into earlier. On the four-poster bed to the side slept a middle aged maester. He had the appearance of somebody you often overlooked. It was asset when you wanted to be inconspicuous. He was fast asleep with a band of black cloth covering his eyes.

'Gods are looking after us,' Ashara thought as she immediately went t the large chest by the desk.

Unlike in the previous rooms, this chest didn't contain any clothing. It was filled to the brim with letters and notes. Ashara indicated that she would go through the letters to her brother and pointed the desk and its drawers to him. The duo got to work.

What Ashara found in the letters were surprising to say the least. All these letters were addressed to one Maester Tythax. They contained information from Lords' households. Some described certain incidents in the households, some about certain decisions and policies they took, some described about their heirs. It was no wonder the maesters were current with the happenings of the kingdom. They had one of the most effective spy rings in place. Even if they knew about the spies, what could these Lords do? Chase away their maesters? That would only result in the destruction of their families as the Crown take actions against them. But then again she found several documents regarding the royal family. All the documents were in one place so that they could be destroyed instantly should the crown get wind of this intrusion of privacy against the royal family.

She had to rummage for about an hour before she found what she was looking for. It was a short notice that someone had sent to the maester. It didn't say who it was addressed to or who sent it either.

Deed is done. Ulrick Dayne will no longer pose a problem to us. We used the poison that the Daynes created themselves. He will die a slow agonizing death without the antidote. Send the payment as agreed.

X

Ashara's hands trembled as she read the note over and over again. This was it. This was the confirmation they wanted that there was some big conspiracy going on around their father. Her shaking shoulders drew attention of her brother and he walked over to read the note over her shoulder.

He placed his hand on her shoulder comfortingly and shook her a little. She looked at him and saw the determination on his face. They had all they needed to implicate the Order for the attack. That also confirmed the solution to their problem also was within these walls. He turned back without a word and started to go through all the books in the room. Only one book documented about the poison their father was infected with and it was also the only book with the antidote.

Ashara knew that the chances of finding the lost manual within this room were slim. This room most definitely belonged to the maester who collected all information from the highborn households and coordinated their information network. This man was not even an archmaester. Their objective was sure to be within a the room of a high ranking member of the Order. An archmaester who was proficient in poison or medicine would most likely have it in their possession. But this room was a goldmine of information. If they could find out any clue on where their target was, it would save them a lot of time and effort.

Generations ago when the Daynes were the Kings of Torrentine, they had a specialty. And that was poison. It was this edge that kept them above all other houses since they were afraid of the various poisons deployed by the Daynes. The Yronwoods Kings, Fowler Kings, Blackmont Kings and the Qorgyle Kings were amongst the various local royalty that raised arms against them and failed for several millennia. The Daynes at Starfall were happy with their holdings and only attacked in retaliation seizing lands one by one. By the time Nymeros Martell conquered the rest of Dorne only the Daynes were able to resist them and fight back.

House Martell was able to overcome their forces eventually to unify Dorne. Daynes intermarried with the Martells and the security of the region was established. With the advent of the Rhoynish fighting patterns, the Dayne use of poison also declined. That also created two sides to the Dayne military arm. One was the well renowned Silver Knights of Starfall. They were known for their gallantry and skill with the sword. The other was the much darker and relatively unknown assassins of Starfall. Over time the use of assassins declined until only one or two were deployed every generation.

Only the highest members of the family had access to the Dayne secrets of poison and assassination. They didn't have the reputation of the faceless men, but Dayne assassins who used these poisons were feared by all the other houses. It was one of their concoctions that killed both King Daeron and Queen Rheanys. Martells also procured some of these concoctions after the various marriage arrangements between the two hoses. They became much more renowned for their use of poison giving them the moniker of vipers. Most of the kingdom was in the dark on how the Martells acquired these unique concoctions.

But one thing had been kept hidden from the world. It was the refinement methods of these poisons. Many had tried to steal these secrets, but none were successful. Even the Martells who were their liege lords weren't unable to make the Daynes give up their secrets.

But that changed two generations ago. The maester of Starfall was suddenly called back without prior notice and replaced with another. It was years after this incident that House Dayne noticed that the single book detailing all the production methods and their antidotes were stolen from its secret location. It was a mistake on their part since they dint check up on this manual often. Their hubris made them ignore a traitor from within their holdings.

The previous Lords of House Dayne kept the theft under wraps as it could harm their social standing. But all of them used their resources to track it down. It was a relief that the book was written in a secret language that only the patriarch of the Dayne family and his replacement was taught. So even if the thieves had the manual they were unable to read it. But things had taken a dark turn when the current patriarch was poisoned with a concoction from the manual. They didn't know whether the thieves had finally cracked the code or used some from the stock they had stolen with the manual.

Ashara knew that her father would not tell his children on what happened since he wanted them to avoid the same fate as him. But she and her brother were more resourceful than their father imagined and were able to retrace his path. All they had to do now was to find the manual and destroy whatever stock of poison the Citadel had managed to whisk away from Starfall.

The search continued, but they didn't find anything else.

She shot her brother a questioning look but he shook his head and pointed to the door. Ashara sighed and stuffed all the pieces of paper inside the chest before following her brother out. They were extremely lucky that the occupant was a heavy sleeper since he didn't even notice the slight sounds around him.

After listening intently for the sound of footsteps they headed into another room.

"What do you want to show me, Fenrir?" Percy whispered to his faithful companion as the hellhound led or more likely dragged him all the way to the top of the Citadel to show him something. If it had been Sif who was dragging him, he would have ignored it due to her 'unreliable' nature when it came to situations like this. Fenrir was different. Fenrir wasn't the alpha of his siblings because he was kind of a loner. One of the curious things about the hellhounds was that amongst the eight of them, there was no apparent alpha of the pack. But all Fenrir's siblings gave way to him when he wanted something done.

Fenrir was also the only pup they didn't have to keep a constant eye when they were growing up. He kept mostly to himself and only wanted attention when there was something he couldn't do by himself. That was one of the reasons Percy was reluctant to hand over him to another person like he did with the rest of his litter. Fenrir reminded Percy of himself in some ways.

Since Fenrir wanted him to follow him, he would do so without any trepidation. Sif followed them keeping awfully quiet that was against her nature.

Fenrir pawed at one particular door ignoring all the other doors they had passed by. Percy didn't hesitate as he opened the unlocked door and entered the premises. He slowly closed the door behind him. The room was very peculiar as the only things he saw were candles that were made of… glass? The candles were of various shapes and sizes. All of them stuck on different pedestals around the room. Only three identical candles were stuck on the stone podium at the opposite end of the room isolated from everything else.

The odd thing was that there were so many candles, only a few scant oil lamps were lit. By their dim light Percy made another discovery. These glass candles didn't have a wick that begged the question on what they were and what they were used for.

Sif and Fenrir kept near the door while Percy wandered about in the sea of glass candles isolated in his thoughts. They were not made of regular glass either. They had a blackish tinge and one could mistake them for being made out of some kind of rock. They were of different shapes and sizes. There were even a few that was in the shape of bowls with the wick like protrusion in the center.

'Obsidian,' he thought. 'This is an obsidian based glass.'

He ignored the smaller candles and made his way to the podium. By the streaming moonlight that struck the podium, he could see its details more clearly than any other item in the room. The candles were kept at the top of it while on a shelf that was situated about halfway a dark item laid on a silk cushion.

Percy drew close to the podium. He ignored all the carvings that decorated the stand and focused on the item atop the cushion. Because the light was streaming from the opposite direction a permanent shadow was cast on it obscuring his view. But he could vaguely see that it was something long and narrow. With trepidation he grasped it and removed it from its resting place.

In the moonlight he was able to see the item clearly and he almost dropped it in his surprise.

'A deathdart,' he thought. 'This is a fucking deathdart. How in seven hells did one survive?'

Deathdarts were a part of history that was obscured by the Valyrian dragonlords on purpose. This invention by the Rhoynish mages almost caused the expansion of their Freehold to a halt and caused significant damage to their power. The only reason they were able to prevail and overthrow the Rhoynish civilization was because it took a significant amount of time and resources to create one of them.

To put it simply a deathdart was a very advanced arrowhead created with a singular purpose. And that was to bring down dragons. This arrowhead fixed to ballistae would enable to bring down a fully grown dragon with one shot no matter the location struck. It was an item imbued with the now almost extinct Roynish water magic. Sadly it was a single use item. Otherwise the Rhoynar would have conquered Valyrian and not the other way around.

Nobody knew what it was made of. By holding it Percy could tell that it was some kind of glass. He could see why it couldn't be retrieved to be used again and again. This fragile arrowhead would shatter upon impact and whatever was inside was released. Be it poison or some other mystical substance he couldn't tell until he broke it and inspected inside. He was going to leave the dissemination of this unique item to Charles and Silena. They were more suited to this task than either him or Zoe. This would also be a fine addition to the museum they were building at Wintertown to preserve history.

There was only one instance a deathdart was utilized in Westeros. And that was by the Martells to bring down Mexeres, the dragon of Queen Rheanys. It had shaken the Targaryen dynasty to the core to discover surviving a deathdart since the dragonlords had hunted them down and destroyed them before the Doom. After the integration of Dorne to the Seven Kingdoms, they had conducted several searches for any more of these darts but had come up with a nothing ending their alertness.

But here he was… in the Citadel, the place where all knowledge gathered in Westeros right under the Targaryen noses with a deathdart in his hands. He wondered how the mad king would react if he leaked this information to the spider's ears. Would he raze the Order of Maesters to the ground? Would he ignore it? Would he pass on severe restrictions on the order for blatantly ignoring the royal decree? It was fun to think of the political situation should such a thing happened. He knew there were many houses that would most likely to use this situation to their advantage. These houses didn't have a stellar relationship with the Order due various reasons.

That begged the question what the maesters were doing with such a weapon. Why were they keeping it secret in the topmost level of their keep? Percy knew that only the archmaesters and their direct disciples were able to access this floor despite him walking about it as if he owned the place. Dragons were extinct. Unless you ventured to Assahai and the Shadow Lands or Sothoyros where dragons were rumored to live, you wouldn't come face to face with suck a creature of destruction. Were they studying to replicate this? Or was something they kept as a reassurance?

He and his siblings often wondered whether the maesters had a direct hand in the demise of the Westerosian dragons under the Targaryens. Sure they were pitted against each other to almost extinction but there were several dragons that were born after the Dance of the Dragons, All of them were rumored to be small and frail. Most of them didn't even survive infancy. Then there was the problem regarding the lifespan of dragons. From what they knew dragons were supposed to live up to a thousand years with some breeds being nearly immortal and not just two centuries like it was described in the books. Either the Targaryen breed of dragons was different or some other sinister plot was afoot from the start to destroy the hold of dragons in Westeros.

It wasn't like they had concrete details on dragon breeding from Valyria. All that information had been lost in the Doom. What little they knew came from the Targaryens. They were the only House of dragonlords to escape. Yet even they couldn't completely move their belongings to Dragonstone in time. They too lost a significant amount of information that only accumulated over the years.

That was a thought they had to explore later in depth. For now he was going to steal the most valuable item the maesters had in their possession. All the Valyrian blades, gems and jewels, coins and rare manuals put together couldn't match its value. This could be the only surviving deathdart in this world. Its historical value was more significant than anything else. This item was the symbol of defiance of a single race against insurmountable odds.

Also he didn't want anything that could harm their familiars in the hands of a dangerous organization when they reveal about the storm dragons in the future. He placed the deathdart in his bag carefully and turned his attention back to the podium.

The three candles, each that were about two feet in height gave a cold desolate feeling as he drew closer. He ignored the feeling and brought his palm to touch it. But suddenly he drew his hand back sharply as when he was about to touch the candles, they lit up from within. It wasn't like a candle with the flame on top either. It was more like a glow stick from his previous world. As soon as he drew his hand back, the candle stopped glowing making him raise his eye brows.

"What do you think, boy?" Percy asked Fenrir, but he was mostly asking that from himself. He was met with silence. Percy knew that it was the deathdart which Fenrir sensed and led him to in this room. The candles were a mystery to them as it was to him.

Percy held his palm up and when he was about to touch the candles, they lit up again. Either they responded to touch or something more was going on. Without much further ado, he touched the centermost candle and it was like a flashbang had gone up on his face. Percy fell down to the ground in disorientation trying to get over the bright light and the mysterious light pitched screech that went through his head. He didn't eve register the fact that he was crawling away from the podium. But it wasn't the light and the piercing sound that got him all flustered.

He saw something when he touched it… a vision, a glimpse of what may or may not come to pass. But the images were so distorted and broken up that he couldn't make heads or tails out of anything. This vision was unlike anything Rachel said she had experienced. According to Rachel, he visions as an oracle were straightforward. She saw what was about to come to pass with absolute clarity. She used those visions to give warning to those who are affected by it. Sometimes the warnings helped and they were able to overcome the danger. But sometimes despite all the warnings, the machinations of destiny couldn't be stopped. Every single action taken by the warned individuals would eventually lead to the same outcome that Rachel foresaw. It was this uncertainty that made visions by oracles rather a controversial topic. It showed the branching vines of destiny but the path that was decided was a mystery for everybody including the Fates until the time came to pass.

Prophesies on the other hand were iron clad. They guided and molded the affected to the outcome the Fates had planned for them. It was inescapable. Prophesies described what the Fates 'wanted' to happen.

What Percy saw was a jumble of images that seemed to be from various different outcomes of a single situation. He saw the Wall fall, he also saw another Wall being erected further north. He saw a huge army of bones and rotten flesh that was dressed in rags, but he also saw a prosperous kingdom with no wars. He saw death and destruction, but he also saw life and happiness.

Hs head pounded as he tried to take in all these various visions and emotions together. He didn't want to stay another second with these prophetic candles that screwed with the minds of the people who came in contact with them. Percy pulled himself together and was about to head out when both Fenrir gave a short growl putting him on alert instantly.

He drew his blades and crouched down in the shadows behind a pedestal to survey the situation. Both his companions melded with the shadows leaving him behind. The flashbang had taken them by surprise as well. He had heard the loud keening whine of the both of them before they melded into the comfort of the shadows. He was glad Fenrir had the presence of mind to give him a warning despite his disoriented state. Hellhounds were creatures of the dark. They and sudden bright flashes of light didn't mix together well.

'Traitors,' he cursed as they had left him and hid in the shadows without taking him with them.

But then again he knew the duo wouldn't be far away and would jump to his help whenever he needed it. He wondered whether it was possible to climb atop a hellhound and just stay in the same place after melding with the shadows. Every single time they had done that, they had moved from the original location to somewhere else. Maybe it was impossible to use them as a super mount to spy on anything he liked. That was food for thought later as he had a more pressing issue.

The door opened and a middle aged man entered. He immediately closed the door behind him and locked it. After he had done that he turned to the still glowing candles which Percy had forgotten all about in his disoriented state.

'Shit,' Percy thought.

The man ignored everything else and stared at the glowing candles almost reverently. He took small calculated steps to go to before falling to his knees in front of the podium holding his hands in a prayer. From the light of the glowing candles Percy could see his disheveled looks. He was a man of about fifty years of age. He already had strands of white hair in his untamed mop atop his head. There were multiple links in his chains, even more than the amount he had seen on late maester Waly's chain. The maester didn't even seem to notice the missing deathdart. His attention was solely focused on the three glowing glass candles.

'Probably an archmaester.'

The man got up from his dazed condition and searched the room with his eyes. When he saw nothing out of place he seemed to debate on something internally. He then went about in a small circle relighting the extinguished torches and braziers of the room. Percy was lucky that he managed to crawl to the edge of the room his disheveled state. At that time all he wanted was to get away from the confounded things.

"I know you are here. So come out now," the maester said just above a whisper.

Percy remained quiet. Without knowing his intentions, he would never expose himself. It wasn't just him who had to deal with the fallout for being caught trespassing inside the Citadel. The mad Targaryen would use this to his advantage since the crown had come up with blanks on ways to deal with the silent north. The wild imagination of a mad man was not something any sane person could hope to match. Especially when the said mad man had more power than anybody in the mortal realm.

"My name is archmaester Marwyn. I mean you no harm. I just want to talk with you," the man said again.

'So I was right,' Percy thought. 'But I'm not stupid enough to believe you.'

The maester waited for a while and sighed. "Stranger, I just need to speak on how you activated the candles. They have been silent for more than a century. I can give you anything you want. See, here are the keys to the doors," he said casting the bunch of keys away. "Now nobody can enter the room since I've already locked it. Nobody can hear me yell either. This room retains all sound inside."

The man was earnest, Percy could give him that. Percy too had noticed the layout of the room. It was designed in a way that it dampened all sounds inside. You could scream your head off, but nobody would hear you after the doors were closed. The keys also happened to land near Percy. He held all the cards should a confrontation occur. Because of the honesty of the man, Percy decided to speak with him, but he covered the bottom half of his face with a cloth to keep his identity a secret. He didn't want to wait all night inside the room. He could see that maester Marwyn was a driven man and he wouldn't leave the room without achieving his goal from the look in his eyes.

Percy stood up from his crouched position ad picked up the keys while he was at it. There were some puzzling things in his mind about the candles and maybe the maester could help him clarify some. He slid his sword to its sheath soundlessly but he kept the hunting knife out just in case.

"Yes," he said to the man startling him when he suddenly appeared.

"Are you the one that lit the candles?"

"You don't see anybody else here, do you?"

"Ah, my mistake," the maester said. "Let me reintroduce myself. I am named Marwyn and people call me Marwyn the mage for my work here in the Citadel."

"So you have magical powers? I thought the maesters despised magic."

"No… no, I dedicated my life to study about magic and that got me that particular title. The Order may despise magic, but that doesn't mean we have to overlook its existence. We needed people to research it should it become a problem for us."

"What do you want maester? I have places to be and things to do," Percy said in a no nonsense tone. He wanted the archmaester to know that he wasn't dealing with some amateur brat but with someone who had dealt with situations like this.

Maester Marwyn gave a hard look to him. The man was clearly judging him trying to figure out who he was. He clearly knew that he didn't hold any advantage in this conversation. But Percy could see him desperately trying to figure out any tiny detail that he could use against him. This was something Percy and his siblings had seen in all maesters. They were all indoctrinated in a way that they deemed themselves above the rest of mankind. Even members of the same family held this disdain. They use the knowledge they had to place themselves in some sort of pedestal. But they didn't like it when someone outside their order held knowledge they weren't privy to.

"Tell me how you lit the candles," the man said finally.

"These?" Percy pointed at the three glass candles. "Before that tell me what they are. And don't hold back. I despise your Order's little habit of withholding information."

The maester looked torn. But in the end his curiosity gave out. "We don't know the exact name of these glass candles. They were created in the Valyrian Freehold before the doom. Each set has five candles. There are three here, as you can see. One is with me in my quarters and the last one was destroyed many moons ago. Actually we are not quite sure on their use either. But what we know is that they respond to magic. These candles died out with the death of the dragons and have been unlit until today. The Order tried many methods to ignite them. We even kidnapped some magicians from Essos but nothing worked. Today new acolytes try to ignite them before being formally inducted into the Order as a rite of passage."

"Why keep them hidden? You could have had more chance in learning about them if you had included the noble houses. Some were said to have magic in the past," Percy asked.

"And acknowledge the existence of magic? The archmaesters of the Elder Council would commit suicide than admit the one thing they had spent lifetimes denying."

"So why are you researching on it then?"

Marwyn sighed. "Unlike my colleagues I know that denying the existence of magic wouldn't just make it go away. Forces of nature can never be tamed by man. So I dedicated my life to research it. That is why I became the most isolated and avoided archmaester in the recent years. My existence is merely tolerated because the elders know that should magic return, they should have some sort of idea what they were dealing with. But what I want is to delve into the mysteries of nature and witness its beauty. "

'A black sheep,' Percy thought. Even amongst the indoctrinated folk among the Citadel there were outliers that didn't confirm to the mold. Still it didn't warrant Percy's trust.

"Tell me how you lit them," Marwyn said again.

"I just touched them," Percy replied blankly.

"Touched them?" the maester asked incredulously. He who had been researching on this subject for the majority of his years had been unsuccessful in finding anything about the objects of his interest, but here he was a stranger that happened to stumble upon them made the single greatest discovery in the field of magic ever since the Doom.

"Yes, and it blinded me with its light," Percy confirmed but he still withheld the vision he saw.

The maester started to mutter things under his breath. Percy couldn't catch any of it. He slowly made his way to the door so that he could escape without more surprises thrown at him. He had overstayed his welcome. And most importantly he was getting sick of the southern weather. He had already sated his curiosity and found out that the candles wer some sort of magic detection system developed in Valyria. They may have other uses. That was why he was going to steal a few of those smaller candles. The bigger ones were hard to miss but the smaller ones were easily overlooked.

"Wait," the maester called after him. "Could you tell me who you are?"

"Maester Marwyn… do you honestly think that I would answer that? I have broken into one of the most secure places in Westeros. Your Order would do anything to detain me now that you know that I possess magic. My family would be in harm's way as well. So no… I won't tell you my identity. And we won't see each other again anytime soon."

"Your accent… you are obviously a northerner. I will find you no matter what. I would even leave behind the Order to have a chance at studying real magic. Why don't you give me a chance?"

Percy turned around to look at the earnest look on the maester's face. He did look sincere. But North was wary of the Order. There were so few members of the Order that originated from the North itself. Northerners didn't have time for books as they were busy surviving in the harsh conditions of their land before he and his family started to change things rapidly. All of the assigned maesters were from the South and all of them held prior allegiances. For an example maester Walys of Winterfell was a member of the Tyrell household and he obeyed orders from Highgarden as well as the Citadel. He wasn't exactly loyal to the Starks. That could be said about most of the maesters assigned to the North.

His father made maester Walys disappear. Soon the maester at White Harbor, Bear Island, Last Hearth disappeared as well. Greywater Watch didn't have a member of the Order assigned to them. When a Lord pledged his household to the Starks in the new expansion of the Northern power, the maester of the household mysteriously vanished as well. Some were deported in disgrace. Others… well they were never seen again. Instead all of the children of the Lords were taught by tutors invited from Braavos and Pentos. Sometimes they were grouped together so that they could be taught together to create an early friendship between these future Lords.

Since then, there hasn't been a single member of the Order running a Lord's household. Percy wasn't sure on how his parents or siblings would react to inviting Marwyn to the North. Sure the man would fit right into the College of Winterfell but then again it opened a whole can of worms that he didn't want to stick his hand in.

"I can see your earnest need in wanting to know more about magic. But I cannot tell you who we are or where to find us right now. You are a smart man, maester. Try to use your brain to figure out who we are. Then when the time is right, you can join us. You will hear more about us in the near future."

Marwyn grimaced. He was so close and yet so far from the subject he love so dearly. "Fine," he said turning back to the candles.

"By the way how did you find out that I was here?"

"The five candles and linked. When these three lit up, the one in m room lit up as well. So I knew that something was going on in this room. I hurried don to catch you," the maester replied.

"Huh… alright then," Percy said. "Oh do you know where I can find more of these candles?"

"You won't be able to find more," Marwyn said. Seeing his blank look he explained further. "All the candles you see in this room were brought here from the Freehold about a thousand years prior to the Doom. These are the only surviving specimen in Westeros. But I believe you could find more in the Free Cities or the lands to the east of Essos."

"Thank you for the tip," Percy reached out to the door handle and paused. "You know… maybe you will find your answer in those candles. They are magical after all. When you find me again why don't you explain what you discovered," he said mysteriously giving a little hint to the man. He had seen a vision in them. Maybe Marwyn would be lucky to see another and point him to his destiny.

The master glanced at him in surprise and turned back to the candles again. "Oh, and by the way… I was never here. Otherwise," he left it at that since he knew Marwyn the Mage got the message loud and clear.

Percy was almost out of the Citadel when he heard a disturbance. He wanted to leave in style so he opted to use the front door. It was much easier to just hop on Fenrir by the front door and appear on the other side. This way he could look around and see if he had missed anything on the first floor. Other than that he wanted to make the experience a little memorable. It was a matter of bragging rights between the Stark siblings.

He crouched and headed towards the clashing of blades keeping to the shadows.

Just outside the entrance hall he saw about twenty guards attacking two people who were dressed in black. Like him they too covered their lower faces. He could tell the one wielding the long sword was a male and his partner was obviously a female. The two ducked and swiveled trying to retreat to the entrance hall. Already more soldiers were pouring in to harass them further. They were lucky for he had taken out most of the guards on night duty.

'I wasn't the only one breaking in tonight it seems,' Percy thought idly as he watched the duo idly. In no way he was going to help them. They were strangers and unlike in the past he had gotten over his 'saving people' thing. He was merely interested in finding out what was going on.

There was also the fact on what they were after. Maybe they were common bandits in some sort of high stakes heist. For now he was going to observe.

The two were obviously skilled. None of these lowly guards could keep up with the sword work of the male. He slashed and struck blocking and disabling his opponents one by one. But Percy could see him getting overwhelmed. If it was about ten soldiers ganging up on him, he could have easily won. But right now there was almost twice the number of individuals focusing on him. The female on the other hand used a hunting knife to parry her adversaries. She was skilled enough to keep five of them at bay but she was slowly losing ground as more and more people came at her.

The man leaped forwards with a roll and got behind the woman to protect her back. He clearly saw the disadvantaged position they were in. Back to back they tried to head towards the entrance hall where they would be granted more mobility. Instead of attacking the duo solely focused on defending.

Suddenly with on clever thrust one of the soldiers managed to grab the face warp around the woman and tear it away revealing her identity. She immediately used her left had to cover her face trying to conceal her identity but that single moment was enough for Percy to see who it was.

'Ashara' he thought in surprise. 'So this is what they were planning. That means the man is Arthur.'

This explained all their secrecy and the early threats Arthur hurled at him before finding out his identity. They too had something inside the Citadel they wanted to retrieve. Clearly they were well aware of their fates should they get caught.

Percy was torn. He could just jump out and help them. But that also revealed his involvement to the siblings. Charles and Zoe had warned him to not reveal his identity inside the Citadel. But this was the Dayne siblings. They were decent enough that Percy enjoyed the evening he spent with them. Arthur was quite headstrong. He wanted to prove himself and dreamed of helping the people from a position of power. Percy couldn't get behind his idea of joining the King's Guard. Despite that Arthur seemed to have shelved the idea of King's Guard for now after hearing his views on the matter. Percy could see him becoming best friends with the man.

Then there was Ashara. It was almost like a cruel joke the Fates used to play on him back on earth. She was almost like her. True, Ashara had a fiery personality that drew him to her like a moth to a flame, but Calypso too had that personality hidden deep beneath her kind demeanor. He had witnessed this when she professed her love to him. He had seen the possessiveness she had within her. The anger in her eyes whenever he mentioned anything about Annabeth. It was one of the things that made it hard for him to leave the island for he knew that she would make him content no matter what.

Unlike Calypso he could see these qualities in Ashara out in the open. Percy liked strong independent women. Annabeth, Calypso, Rachel, Reyna… they were all examples for this. That was also a reason why he got quite well with Zoe too. He had yet to meet another specimen of Ashara's caliber in this world. So he made a choice.

Arthur was getting slower and slower as he tried to take on all of the soldiers himself trying to keep his sister safe. Suddenly he mistimed a counter and was struck across his prominent arm effectively crippling his defense. Percy saw that it was now or never. He signaled to Sif and Fenrir jumping upon his faithful companion. With a whistle from him the duo barreled down at the thicket of soldiers bowling them down.

Percy used his height advantage to cut down two people who were obviously the leaders in the assault further adding to the confusion. He didn't even glance at the surprised look on the Dayne siblings. There was only a short window for them to get on top of a hellhound so that they could leave. Already the fallen soldiers were scrambling to their feet.

"Climb up. We must leave now," he commanded giving the duo no time to think or argue.

Arthur used his good arm to vault himself onto Sif. For some unknown reason the duo had instantly trusted and followed his command. Percy held his arm for Ashara and she climbed onto Fenrir with his help. The three didn't even register the ringing of the alarm bells or the frantic shouts of the guards. There were maesters already coming down to see what the disturbance was.

"Hold on tight. This may feel a little awkward," he yelled at the siblings. Ashara held him tightly by his waist. Percy didn't register the intimate moment as his battle senses were working overtime to get in the surrounding situation. When he saw Arthur wrap his arms around Sif's neck he gave another whistle. The two hounds bounded towards the solid wall. Ashara screamed as the wall came closer and closer. She also squeezed the daylights out of him in her fright.

Then it was all over. They were in the shadowy realm escaping the Citadel leaving behind scrambling soldiers and a deeply disturbed Order.

In another world… another parallel instance, the Dayne siblings would be caught and brought to the Royal Court by the Order. The siblings wouldn't be given a single chance to explain their actions. They managed to limit the fallout by denying their family's involvement and accepting the punishments. Due to the ferocity Arthur had shown when fighting the guards in the Citadel, he was forcibly inducted to the King's Guard. He would serve as the Crown Prince's personal guard playing the role of Rheagar's best friend realizing why his father didn't want him to join the Kings Guard. He would give his life to the Crown and his death would only put House Dayne in a dire state.

Ashara on the other hand was forced to be Princess Elia's lady in waiting. The two would eventually form a tight bond becoming best friends. She would find love in Eddard Stark's arms giving birth to a daughter from their one night dalliance during the Tourney of Harrenhall. The child would pass away within the week leaving her alone and broken hearted. With the subsequent rebellion against the crown and hearing the death of her loving brother at the hands of the man she loved she threw herself from top of the Palestone Sword. Her body was never recovered.

House Dayne never recovered their lost manual either. With the deaths of the heir apparent and his sibling, the house's power gradually waned until they were but a footnote in history. The seat of the Lord of Starfall was left vacant after the death of Lord Ulrick Dayne as there was no clear line of succession. Their once magnificent glory was never recovered and the Order of maesters never gave a chance for the house to rise up again.

AN:

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