CHAPTER 3-The Bold Knight

265 AC

Barristan POV

Ever since the Targaryens established their rule over the Seven Kingdoms the kingdoms prospered. Even though there were various conflicts it never descended into total war and anarchy except when the "Dance" took place. Many changes started taking place in westeros as a whole and one of them was the creation of the "Kingsguard". Only the most strong, brave and loyal knights in the whole of Westeros can be inducted into it. It is the highest honor any true knight can achieve. A member of the "Kingsguard" is what I aspired to be ever since I was a young boy.

I was born as Barristan Selmy son of Lyonel Selmy Lord Of Harvest Hall. Since I was my father's first son I was the heir to the lands and riches of House Selmy Of The Stormlands. Ruling never piqued my interest since all I wanted to do was become a Knight . So when i was seven namedays old I was sent to squire for Lord Manfred Of House Swann , another prestigious marcher house in the Stormlands. He was an excellent knight and thought me all there is to it to become honorable and chivalrous. He also taught me the intricacies of ruling but I never paid that much attention.

I still remember my first tourney. At the age of just ten namedays I donned the armor of a mystery knight and entered the tourney at Blackhaven . While other people were laughing at me only Prince Duncan took pity on me. He jousted me when no one else would and it was he who gave me my epithet "Barristan The Bold". To say that late Lord Manfred was angry at me was an understatement. I still remember the grueling sessions he made me do but all it did was just make me stronger.

Finally at the age of sixteen at a winter tourney at "Kingslanding" I received a "Knighthood" by none other than the King Aegon V Targaryen after unhorsing Prince Duncan Targaryen and the Legendary Commander Of The Kingsguard Ser Duncan The Tall in the joust. At that very moment i finally steeled my mind into becoming a Kingsguard and protecting the Targaryen family. It did not matter for how long I had to wait to be inducted into the "Kingsguard" I would wait.

Then the "Tragedy Of Summerhall" happened . The King ,his son , many of the kingsguard along with the small council perished. The realm lost a good king that day. And that is what led to greatest achievement in my life , ending the accursed"Blackfyre Line". After the death of King Aegon , Pince Jahaerys ascended the throne. As King Jahaerys The Second. Despite not being a warrior he was a wise king. It was then when the Band Of Nine invaded the Stepstones along with the Last Blackfyre Pretender with the golden company at his back did the "Fifth Blackfyre Rebellion" also known as the "War Of The Ninepenny Kings" start. King Jahaerys Appointed his good brother Lord Ormund Baratheon father of the current Lord Of The Stormlands Steffon Baratheon as his hand. The man who was my liege lord at the time decided that we should not wait for the band of nine to invade westeros rather we should take the fight to him.

During the fist battle of the war on the Island Of Bloodstone the largest Island in The Stepstones The Blackfyre King Maelys The Monstrous grievously injured Lord Ormund Baratheon which resulted him in dying in his son's arm. It was gut wrenching to see a son holding his dying father in his arms just because of the greed of a person wanting the Iron Throne. At that time I knew that the one to end that accursed line would be me. Command passed to the Lord Commander Of the kingsguard Ser Gerold Hightower "The Whitebull". The war lasted for a year on both land and sea. There were many casualties which included the younger brother of Lord Tytos Lannister Warden Of the West,Jason Lannister. After which command was passed to Roger Reyne who led the westermen.

Many young knights and lords distinguished themselves in battle, including Steffon Baratheon, Brynden Tully, Tywin Lannister and his brother Kevan, and Aerys Targaryen. Despite us having more men and resources the war did not seem to have an end at sight. So I steeled myself and the next battle which was fought i cut through the ranks of the Golden Company and came face to face with Maelys The Monstrous. He had a grotesquely huge torso and arms. He had a second head sprouting from his neck, no bigger than a child's fist. When I clashed swords with him I could feel that he was more stronger than me , but still I gave it my all. The bards made our fight sound as if it was something out of fantasy, but it was not. It was brutal , blood and gore everywhere. While duelling him I was constantly pushed back. I knew that if I got even a small chance of ensuring his death I could end the entire war. During our fight I could feel his strength leaving him. He was considerably older than me and the last year must have taken a toll on him And when he let his guard down for a single moment i grabbed the chance and thrust the sword through his neck. And that was the end of "Maelys The Monstrous". When i looked around i saw that the entire battlefield was looking at our fight and when they saw me kill him the golden company started retreating . The Loyalist side was cheering and chasing after them to kill the stragglers. After seeing that i had one us the war i gave a deep sigh of relief and collapsed.

When I woke up In the maesters tent i saw the bruises on my body. I knew for a fact that if I had fought Maelys when he was in his prime then I would have lost . After returning home victorius I was awarded richly by the king and when I was asked what reward I wanted I told him that the only thing that I desired was to be a member of his kingsguard. When my father got to know I was inducted in the kingsguard he was sad but he had come to terms with my dream and so my cousin married the girl who was promised to me and he became the Lord Of Harvest Hall once my father passed away a few years later.

About a year later King Jahaerys passed away and his son prince Aerys became the king. As the kingsguard I was assigned to guard the crown prince rhaegar. Rhaegar read obsessively, to the point that jests were made about his habits. He was a good child but always seemed lonely. Seldom laughing and even at a young age looked melancholic. It seemed that when he became the king he would be similar to King Daeron II who was seen as wise, just and kindhearted . Unlike the boys of his age prince rhaegar did not seem interested in knightly pursuits rather being content reading his books.

Then on the first day of the new year the queen gave birth to a son which sated the fears of the realm that the crown would have another prince in case something untoward happened to the crown prince. Today it has been a year since prince daemon's birth and I was standing guard outside the prince's room when I heard the crown prince crying at which i darted inside the room hoping that there was not an attack on the queen and the princes. That is when I got to know that the reason prince rhaegar was crying was because prince daemon had just uttered his first word and it was prince rhaegar's name. Queen Rhaella had a smile on her face seeing her two children with tears glistening in her eyes while prince rhaegar was hugging prince daemon as if his life depended on it and was crying uncontrollably. It seemed that ever since rhaegar was born the only companions he had were the queen and me while the king seldom visited. Even I smiled seeing the love between the two brothers.

Little did I know that my life would be so hectic after prince daemon started speaking. After the feast on his first nameday rhaegar would make me bring large books to the younger princes room where he would read to him. When the queen asked him why he was reading such books to prince daemon . Since he was too small ,while all that prince rhaegar said that daemon himself had told him that he wanted books and then both the brothers looked at each other with a mischievous glint in their eyes while a wide smile was present on their faces. When Prince Daemon started walking he just did not stop . Even when he fell down he did not cry rather he got up quietly and continued trying . Like the crown prince the younger prince was a bit of a mystery to him. Even when the prince daemon was a babe he was mostly quiet. The moment he used to see me in my armour he would put his arms in the air asking me to pick him up and would say the word "run" while making a cute face which resulted in me running around with him while the crown prince followed behind with both of them giggling . It did make some of the maids look at me weirdly but I did not mind their looks.

Prince Daemon would start crying when my fellow kingsguard would come to guard him. The prince did have good lungs because when he would start crying his voice could be heard all over the holdfast and the moment he used to see me he would stop crying. It seemed that the only Kingsguard that he liked was me. Even though he was just a nameday and few months old he would call out to me.

"Barry", i heard him call out to me. I naturally smiled at him and asked him what it is that he wanted and he pointed towards my sword. He really was a smart babe, always trying to explore new places. It seems that the prince had grown on me. It was not just the duty which compelled me to protect him but it seemed that it truly was fatherly love. I told him that he was still was small for weapons but he did not take no for an answer . So when I asked him if he wanted to see the men at arms practiced he truly was happy and grabbed my leg tightly while chanting "barry favourite" continuously . I just smiled at the small child. So every morning I would take him to the courtyard where the men at arms were practicing along with the kingsguard. When the king heard about his younger son being interested in martial pursuits he was more than happy and started visiting him more often.

When I saw the fierce determination in his eyes when he was observing the men practice it reminded me of the look that i had when i would was a squire. I wondered what kind of a man would he become , would he be like his namesake's? The Rogue or The False dragon. Even though both the prince's were young he knew that rhaegar would never become a warrior unless something changes inside the prince, while prince daemon would surely become a great warrior seeing his enthusiasm while observing the kingsguard practicing. Even though he was not interested in the court's gossip, he still knew what kind of people there were in the world. He had seen back on the Stepstones what men can do for greed and power. It would not be a surprise if they would try to pit the brothers against each other just for power. Only time would tell what it had in store for the future of House Targaryen .