Chapter 4: The sworn shield

When Baelium was given the honour of serving as the sworn shield of Prince Rhaegar he was ecstatic. He had snatched the honour by claiming victory in a melee in King's Landing. King Aegon himself had overseen the melee and gifted him with a new shield, sword and armour charging him to protect the seven namesdays old prince. It was the proudest moment of his life and he brought great honour to his house.

He was the third son of Jonathan Brune who ruled over house Brune. When his father's time would come to meet the Seven his brother Edwyne would inherit the lordship of their house. For a third son with less than ideal prospects being a sworn shield to the prince of Westeros was a step up in the social hierarchy.

His house heavily profited from his close position within the royal family. His brother married from House Celtigar inserting Valyrian blood into their house. With Lord Celtigar serving as King Aegon's hand it was almost equal to marrying into the royal family itself. Not to mention the future favours House Targaryen was going to bestow upon House Brune. It was no secret that King Aegon heavily favoured Crownland lords that fought by his side in the Conquest. It was a foregone conclusion this status was going to continue throughout his reign.

With his own close friendship with Prince Rhaegar, this was bound to continue. There were strong rumours that the Crown Prince Aenys was weak in body. Having lived in Aegonfort for the last several years Baelium knew this to be true. The fact that the crown prince survived this long was a miracle in itself. Prince Aenys would fall terribly ill whenever winter comes knocking on the door.

Already, many are looking to Prince Rhaegar to be the next king. Baelium knew that his young friend hardly liked this rumour. Prince Rhaegar dearly loved his twin and never tolerated any insult on his less fortunate brother. That was something he learned early on when he swore oaths to defend and guard the young prince.

Whatever the case maybe he knew that Prince Rhaegar would make a good king or even a great king. The Prince was of sound body and mind. Even from a young age, the prince was studious in his letters, numbers and of the arms. He and Ser Addison Hill of the Kingsguard had trained the prince to use swords, bows and knives. The prince was skilled in knocking down knights in the lists under strict supervision of course. Can't have a prince of the realm die or injure himself in the training yard after all.

But what made Baelium truly loyal to Prince Rhaegar was that the Prince treated everyone equally. He was a knight sworn under the light of the seven. He was charged to help the helpless and protect the innocent and yet even he would have turned a blind eye to the plight of the smallfolk. But the prince would care for even the poorest pauper in King's Landing. He had seen it first-hand day after day when the prince would give his stipend away to the smallfolk.

There was many a weaver in the Street of Silk that owed their looms to the generosity of the Prince. Masons, carpenters, fishermen, smiths and many other traders managed to start their business under the prince's generosity. The orphanage that the prince helped construct was one of the latest success stories. A few years back that orphanage was just a pile of stone but now it housed many homeless orphans and it also served a meal to the smallfolk once a week.

Baelium considered himself blessed to be a small part of his prince's endeavours. Surely his somewhat meagre contributions would treat him well when he would greet the Seven in heaven. At least he hoped it would otherwise his contribution of ten gold dragons a week to the orphanage would have been a waste.

While he dearly loved and respected Prince Rhaegar he was exasperated with the adventurous nature of his charge. The prince could never sit idle unless he had a good read in his hands. It was as if the prince derived some sort of pleasure in barging into other's lives and giving them a shock. Other than that Prince Rhaegar loved to do dangerous stunts like swimming across a river like he often did with the Blackwater rush. This sort of behaviour did land him in trouble especially with Queen Visenya who tried her best to restrain the prince quite unsuccessfully.

Right now this hunt for the Black Septon was the latest in a long series of misadventures Prince Rhaegar was jumping into. It was his job to ensure nothing happened to the prince in this ill-thought journey. After relieving himself of his bladder under the cover of a tree Baelium returned back to the group. He eyed the prince who was chatting away excitedly with a summer islander bard whom the prince took a shine for in his travel. Elisher Mho was a bard that joined their group when they rode out from Tumbleton. The prince was impressed by the bard's skill with the flute and had hired Elisher to teach the prince to play the flute.

"By the looks of it, our prince seems to be horrible at playing the flute. I am developing a headache by listening to our prince's repeated attempts to become a bard." said Ser Addison Hill of the Kingsguard as the man stepped beside him.

"Oh, I believe the prince will learn the instrument eventually. Although, I do agree he is pretty horrible at playing the flute as it is now." said Baelium with a grimace as he listened to the butchered tune the prince was now playing.

"You have such enormous trust in Prince Rhaegar don't you Ser Brune?" asked Addison Hill which made him look at the bastard knight critically.

"Anyone who knows the prince well enough will say what I said Ser." He said with a frown.

"Of course. The Prince is a very talented boy for his age. There is no question of the prince's abilities." said Ser Addison.

"So you just question mine?"

"Your abilities? No. Your intentions, however…" Ser Addison let that hang.

"I don't understand." He looked at the knight indignantly.

"You are a skilled knight Ser Brune and as the third son to lord Brune, you would inherit nothing. Now, you have become a sworn shield for the second son of our king but you hold no designs for the open slot in the Kingsguard. That makes me wonder what you intend by staying as you are." said Ser Addison

"So you are wary of me because I chose not to swear the oaths of a Kingsguard?" Baelium asked incredulously.

"When you ask like that it paints me in an unfavourable light. I am just curious why you follow Prince Rhaegar like a shadow." said Ser Addison.

"The Prince is a good company to have and he is a good friend." said Baelium

"Those are good reasons…." said Ser Addison and smiled at him before scurrying off to the group.

Baelium let out a sigh he was holding. While he strictly didn't lie to the Kingsguard knight there remained one more reason for his choice to stay by Prince Rhaegar's side. There was no doubt that King Aegon was grooming Prince Rhaegar to rule the vast kingdom of Westeros.

Prince Aenys may have born first but the heir to the Iron Throne was weak. Prince Aenys rarely had the strength to even fly upon his dragon most of the time. While he knew that Prince Rhaegar would never seek to overthrow his twin rumour is that the Silver Prince would be crowned as the heir by King Aegon. He knew that Rhaegar would object and laws of succession would be breached but if King Aegon was the one to declare the heir then Rhaegar would have to take the throne. From his time in the royal court, Queen Visenya had suggested the same to King Aegon. While the Queen was subtle in her attempts to her schemes it was glaringly obvious to him and many in the court.

"Ser Baelium. Come join us." Called out the prince and he rushed to obey.

Whatever happens, he had chosen the side of Prince Rhaegar. For one he could at least say that he served someone who was kind and passionate but tempered by duty and honour. A knight could not ask for a better lord.

After a few hours of riding, they managed to arrive at the outskirts of a fishing village that was burnt down.

"The last village to be visited by the Strangers my prince." said Ser Ethan.

Baelium glanced at the knight and he was not impressed. The knight was a portly man who favoured his stomach more than his title and what it entailed. He wondered just how the smith managed to make an armour that the portly knight of Tumbleton was wearing.

"Shall we take a closer look then?" the Prince asked before galloping towards the village on his horse. Baelium was quick to follow and he took to the Prince's right. Ser Addison was there on the prince's left. With the two of them flanking the prince he doubted any harm could befall the prince.

Baelium noticed that Prince Rhaegar scrunched his nose.

"The stench of death my prince. A common occurrence in the battlefield." Commented Ser Addison from the prince's side.

"Perhaps you ought to stay back my prince. We can search the village for any sign of these Strangers." said Baelium knowing that the Prince disliked any kind of foul smell. In King's Landing, he had seen the Prince personally insisting on digging wells for the smallfolk. Most of the major streets of the capital city had bathhouses constructed under the prince's insistence. Even the orphanage had something called steam baths something that the prince had a personal hand in building.

"I would see and experience what these bandits did with my own eyes and senses Ser. I will do so because when I meet them I will remember to show no mercy." said the Prince and there he saw the hint of King Aegon in the prince. The cold and unyielding stare of the prince was something that he saw only once and that was when the prince saw a rapist being brought before the court. The eyes of the prince looked like it was on purple flames.

They moved further inwards and then they took in the grisly sight. At the centre of the village was a spear with a body nailed in the spear. Blood had dried on the sand beneath the body but they could make out the black seven-pointed star pinned on the body.

"Heresy! They would dare desecrate the Seven. Honourless curs. May they rot in seven hells." said a knight in their company and Baelium agreed wholeheartedly. Looking around the spear bodies were arranged neatly in circles. The women lacked clothes and the wounds that he could see on their body let him know that they suffered before they were murdered. He could even make out several children with a similar state of undress. His hands closed into a fist and he shook with rage.

"There were no hoof prints in the ground." said the Prince making Baelium blink confusedly.

"My prince?" asked Ser Addison with a frown.

"When we rode in through the village entrance we did not see any hoof prints. The locals we talked to confirmed that the night of the attack it rained heavily. Yet we see no hoof tracks. These bandits did not use horses." said the Prince

"If the bandits were already in the village then that would explain the lack of prints isn't it, my prince?" asked Ser Addison

"If so then they must have left prints once they left the village won't it?" asked Baelium to which he saw the prince nodded.

"The boats. The bandits used boats." concluded Ser Addison

When they searched the shores the place was distinctively clean and it lacked boats.

"Now we know why they only attack fishing villages. They do not travel the lands by horses or on foot. They target the fishing villages because they travel through the Mander using boats." said Baelium

"Or they could have walked through the village entrance and then left via the boats after they did what they did." said the Prince which made him nod in agreement. That was also a distinct possibility.

"How will we catch them?" asked Ser Addison out loud.

"Have you not seen an obvious pattern in these attacks, Ser Addison? The Strangers seems to be attacking along the Mander towards the east." said the Prince before turning on Ser Ethan. "Are there any villages further east of this village?"

"Yes, my prince. A fishing village just a few miles away from our position." Answered the portly knight.

"Then we move to that village but we don't enter as we are but in companies of three and that too dressed as traders. We take only chainmail and our swords. Leave armour and our horses." Commanded the prince.

He looked to Ser Addison in askance and at the nod of the kingsguard knight, he followed the order of the prince. While he was sworn to follow the commands of Prince Rhaegar he had to obey the orders of the King. The King charged Ser Addison to be on charge and he was not keen on breaking that order.