Pre-Chapter A/N: Remember when I said this one might end up coming a bit late? Guess who underpromised and over-fucking-delivered? This guyyy. Thank you for the kind wishes. The assessment went well, I think. So full speed ahead to the bar finals, I guess. More chapters on my patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga)— same username as here and link in bio.
The body slumped over, hitting the table with a dull thud, and then they began to move with the efficiency of men who had worked together their whole lives. He moved to the side of the room, flipping the books this way and that.
"What's taking so long?" He heard Yoren's harsh whisper from behind him as he struggled to find the entrance to the secret passage.
"I only read about the passage, Yoren. I've never actually seen it before. The plans say it should be behind this wall though." He said, and he continued to look for a mechanism or level. Nymaria had been a woman of great paranoia. Who else would install a secret exit in their already secret mountain fortress.
She must have feared betrayal even from her Lords or perhaps the need to escape one's own fortress in secret for other reasons, and this was the failsafe for that. But how could she have foreseen that one of her descendants would take a curious and precarious little boy as his own. And that that boy would sneak into the secret study of the Prince and read the plans for her secret fortress?
He found a lever behind one of the tomes. Finally. He pulled it, and the bookcase began to slide along the ground, making a harsh screeching sound that made him cringe into himself.
"Let's just get going. Someone must have heard that." Yoren said when he turned back to him. Icarus nodded, and swept into the passage after his friend did so with the Prince held over his shoulder. Icarus closed the passage behind him and they began to run. The passage twisted and turned, moving through the mountains, deeper even than the fortress itself went. It was dark. So dark that he could not even see in front of himself all that well, but he trusted that the tunnel did what the plans said and led straight out of the mountain pass.
They ran and ran, feeling out of breath all the way but not daring to stop. There was a chance there was someone chasing them through these tunnels even now. And if it was Gerold then they were dead men. Neither of them, for all their martial skill, could stand against him in battle— not even together. He had beaten as much into their heads many a time.
Yoren came to a sudden stop, and it was all Icarus could do to arrest his momentum to avoid running into him.
"What?" He hissed somewhat harshly, even as he tried to recover his breath.
"We're here" He said, pointing ahead.
"Fuck, that's dark. How'd you even see the wall?" He asked, squeezing past his friend and touching the dark stone, looking for the loose one to open the passage.
"Just luck. Almost ran into the fucking thing." He said.
"Good you noticed then. I don't think our captive would survive the impact."
"At the speed I was going? I'd have smashed my head open." He said.
"Yes, and his as well" Icarus added.
"I think my head matters a bit more"
"Truly? I think I could live with hearing your voice a bit less. Our captive on the other hand? Let's just say that without a deal with the Velaryons, I'd be pretty dead."
"One can only hope this deal is as good as you say it is, then"
"It is." He assured.
"For now, it is just words. It only matters if the Lordling decides to live up to his end of the agreement." Yoren said.
"I've never known you to be so cautious" He said
"And I have never known you to be so reckless" his friend shot back.
"I have the measure of him. He will do as he says" Icarus assured as he found the required lever that allowed him push open the door buried inside the stone open. The light that shot from the entrance blinded his vision for a few seconds as his eyes were forced to adjust to the sudden change from darkness to abundant light.
"It sounds like you want to believe it to be true, my friend. Need I remind you that wanting to believe something is true will not make it so?"
"If you were so unsure about the deal, then why did you even join in the first place?" He groused while trying to get a bearing of their location. He had a rough idea of where the passage would take them, but beyond that, he could not say.
"Because I would rather die with you than live without you." He said like it was the simplest truth in the world, meeting Icarus' eyes. Icarus turned to the side, not wanting to see the intensity in that gaze. This was not the time.
"West. We ought to go west" He said instead.
"Of course" Yoren replied, following his lead without objection. Closing the passageway behind them seemed to either be impossible or too difficult to figure out in time so he left it alone and just went. Speed was better than anything else in this situation. If they could make it to the Tor in time, they'd be on a ship to Bloodstone before the day was up. And they'd be out of Gerold's range of influence.
It took some walking before they found their horses and caravans again. They'd left them some distance away. The only lowborn allowed into the forest had been the servants and guards who lived there all their lives. The lowborn were deemed too easily influenced to be informed about Dorne's greatest secret.
Being Yoren's servants, they had the good sense to say nothing as the body of the unconscious Prince of Dorne was placed into a caravan and they began to prepare their horses.
"To the Tor with all the haste" Yoren ordered, and then they were off. Every step felt like it was a monumental change as the depths of what they had done began to sink in now that they had seemingly gotten away with it. Treason. His house would be a pariah in Dorne for at least a generation, he knew. To betray the Prince was one thing. To do so to the Dragonlords was something even worse.
The Velaryon Lordling had promised security and wealth. That promise would mean everything. Icarus had made his bed now. He was betting everything on rolling a double six. He just had to make sure he left the table with a more full coin purse than the one he had sat down with.
—
They heard their approach after a few good hours of riding. The sand steeds of House Martell in full chase. Icarus dared to turn about and found them a few good kilometers away, but if he could see them then it meant they could see him, and the armoured form at the head of the formation was unmistakable.
If Gerold could see them then he would chase them until the world ended. A wall. They needed to get a good wall between them and him. A wall would mean everything.
"Yoren" he yelled.
"Yes?" His friend returned.
"Delay tactics." He asked. Yoren turned about, looking at the approaching force. It was Gerold and six others. Seven, an auspicious number when on one's side, a dangerous one when on another's. They had a force of two and twenty not including the two of them. Only eight of that two and twenty were Knights.
"Fuck it, we can take him" Yoren said.
"Have you taken leave of your senses? That is Gerold fucking Sand, and we have his Prince. Delay tactics, Yoren" he said.
His friend's face took a harsh set. One did not need to have known him for as long as Icarus had to know that he was upset. Yoren was not the kind of man, Icarus was. He was not so callous. He cared— about his people more than he should. But there was only one real choice.
"Men of House Yronwood." He called.
"Behind us lies a chasing force. Whoever can bring me the head of their leader will have their weight in gold" There was a cheer as their force of guards jubilated. And then they turned, rushing backwards at them. Icarus detached the carriage from his horse, dismounting to pick up the Prince. The carriage would only slow them down, and they needed to put as much distance between them and Gerold as they could. That force could only delay him for so long.
He struggled with the Prince's weight, almost losing his footing, before he felt the weight disappear.
"Did you think he was light for some fool reason?" He heard Yoren's voice, seeing him on the other side, supporting the Prince's weight with ease.
"The ease with which you lift him might have led to that conclusion. A failure of mine to see the difference between us most assueredly" He concluded.
"Indeed." Yoren said, moving the Prince's unconscious form towards his horse.
"You'd kill the horse with all that weight. Put him on mine" He added. Neither of them looked backwards as the sound of clashing steel began to reach their ears. Instead, they spurred their horses forward with all the speed they could. If they had looked back, they would have seen Gerold Sand cut through their men like a hot knife passing through butter.
They rode their horses hard until the sun was directly overhead, and then beyond that. Every time they turned around the sight was the same. Gerold Sand, alone, chasing them with all the wrath of a disturbed manticore.
Their lead, massive at first, thanks to the sacrifice of Yoren's men steadily shrunk as more and more time passed. But the ray of hope they could rely on was that the Tor was in sight now. His family castle, normally a sight that brought rage to his heart as he thought back to all they had lost, was now a balm to his soul.
They just had to make it to the walls. Gerold Sand or not, the archers of the Tor were some of the best in all of Dorne, and not even he could make it across so many miles of open sand with archers raining hell down on him.
And so they rode. The closer they got, the more he felt his horse slow. Even with how light he was, the weight of the Prince was enough for the horse to begin to flag. And as he slowed, so did Yoren. His friend's loyalty would normally make him smile, but in this case, it was stupidity.
"Ride ahead. Get to the castle, tell the archers to fill Gerold with arrows the second he is in range."
"No. Let's continue together" Yoren screamed over the sound of pounding hooves.
"This fucking lard of fat is too heavy. The horse is exhausted."
"Move him to mine then"
"That's stupid. We don't have the time. Yoren please" He begged, and even as much as it clearly hurt his friend to do so, Yoren still turned and left him, horse pounding as he pushed it to go faster and faster. Good. Gerold would gain, but as long as Icarus managed to make it within range of the archers before Gerold removed his head from his body, then he would be fine.
So he rode. He rode and he rode, nothing on his mind other than the desire to keep the horse moving. That was why when he felt the horse begin to slow even further and he heard the sound of Gerold's own horse closer than ever, he almost had a breathing fit. But then he looked up. And there they were. The Archers of the Tor in all their splendor, waiting at the walls. He judged the distance with all the skill of a man who had been shooting arrows since he could walk. Just a few more, and he would be in range. So he did the wise thing and pushed the horse even farther, knowing that this would be its last ride. And when he made it enough, he spurred the horse to turn around and face his friend— his enemy.
Gerold was still riding, clearly intent on running him through. He lifted one hand. Four arrows buried themselves in the ground right in front of Gerold's horse. Only the man's quick reflexes saving him from having a dead horse. He looked into his eyes as they met. Gerold hated using a helmet and even now did not wear one. His black hair flowed in the wind easily and his black eyes starred daggers into Icarus' soul. Lips usually set in a smile now sported a scowl that dripped venom.
"That's far enough, Ser" He said. Not Gerold. No, he had betrayed the man and taken advantage of his trust. They weren't on a first name basis anymore.
"Treason now, Jordayne? You can't be this foolish" He said from his position, at least having the good sense not to proceed forwards.
"It seems I am" He replied.
"Return the Prince to me. We will accept this as a youthful indiscretion. The product of hot blood from the sun and leave it be. You and Yoren will take the Black and your houses will not suffer for your actions." He scoffed. This wasn't a negotiation, but if it was, that was a shitty first offer.
"How long have you known that he was trying to kill me?" He asked, watching Gerold's face closely. The man didn't even look shocked at the accusation.
"Since before you arrived. He would have removed your head as an example to the rest of Dorne as penance for your father's foolishness. But I talked him out of it. The Tor is a dangerous fief, he knew. So I convinced him of the merits of a Tor loyal to him. One that fought for his interests and not against them. One that fought the dragonloards rather than betrayed our plans to them. But it seems I failed. Even raised at the Prince's bosom, you still inherit the treason of your fathers"
"I do. Because I am a Jordayne of Tor. Let it be written that the Prince betrayed me first. This is no treason. You can call it a rebellion if you wish, but I think a better word would be seccession. Let it be written that House Jordayne no longer recognizes the authority of the Martells of Dorne."
"This is foolish. Pure foolishness"
"Be that as it may, good Ser. I have all the leverage here. And only for the fact that you raised me yourself will I allow you to leave here alive."
"You think House Martell will not have vengeance for this?"
"Sure. Put one of his wastrels on the throne of Dorne. Let us see how many Houses will still be interested in bowing to House Martell. A name can only take you so far" He said.
"My name will be enough. Because they know I will lead them to victory. Ensure no harm befalls the Prince while you hold him, Jordayne. When I return, only his life will spare your house from complete destruction." Gerold said, and then turned around, spurring his horse to leave. Icarus closed his eyes, hardened his heart, and snapped his hand down.
He heard the thud before he opened his eyes. And there he was. A man that had known him since he was naught but a boy. The man that had put a sword in his hand and trained him day in and day out. The man that had taken him down to Elaria's when he had just turned thirteen and then held him when he cried because he could never get it up for any of the women. The man that had told him what he was was natural, and there was no need to feel shame.
The man he had just ordered killed. He wanted to run to the body, to hold it and weep and mourn, but common sense held him back. He turned, and spurred the horse to ride to his walls.
"I didn't think you'd actually do it" Yoren said to welcome him past the gates.
"I didn't think I'd do it either."
"How do you feel?" His friend asked. He turned to him. He wanted to run to him. Fall into his arms and just cry. But he was a boy no more. He was the Lord of the Tor, and such weakness was intolerable in a Lord.
"I have other worries. Is the ship ready?" He ignored the worry in Yoren's eyes as he turned to Oberon.
His brother looked far from sure, casting a worried glance at the Prince who was being placed in fetters.
"Look at me, Oberon. Is the ship ready?"
"We'll die for this" His brother said.
"No we will not. Not if the ship is ready" He said somewhat harshly.
"The ship. The ship is ready" His brother replied.
"Good." He said.
"Send the raven now. Evacuate the town while I am gone as well. Prepare for a siege, but worry not. I will return with enough force to break any siege" He said. He was casting his lot with the dragons now. The same thing his father had done when he had betrayed the plans of Morion Martell to the Iron Throne. But Laenor Velaryon was a better man than his Great-grandfather. He would hold up his end of the bargain. Icarus would trust in that.
"Yes brother" He said.
"Come here, Oberon" He said. There was a time to be a Lord, and there was a time to be father. He wrapped his arms around his brother.
"We will be fine. I have never led you wrong before."
"Yes brother" He sounded more sure now.
"Good. Get to it. Let it be written"
"Let it be written" His brother returned.
"And us?" Yoren asked.
"We have a Dragonlord to deal with now. But first, I must get a drink"
A/N: A whole chapter spent in Dorne. Did you see this coming when we met Icarus Jordayne all those chapters ago? Let's just hope his treason goes better for him than treasons tend to. Next six chapters up on patreon (https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga)(same username as here and link in bio), support me there and read them early.