"Was Prince Rhaegar's closest companion truly the Sword of the Morning?" Gendry asked.
Ser Barristan nodded.
"Yes. Ser Arthur Dayne was the prince's closest friend, though Rhaegar had several trusted companions."
"At court, Ser Myles Mooton of Maidenpool and Ser Richard Lonmouth first served as his squires. After Rhaegar personally knighted them, they remained loyal friends."
"Lord Jon Connington was also one of his closest companions."
"But among them all..."
"Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning, was Rhaegar's oldest and dearest friend."
As Barristan spoke, old memories resurfaced as vividly as if they had happened yesterday.
The young nobles surrounding Prince Rhaegar had all competed for his favor.
Most of them came from respectable but not especially powerful houses.
Among them, the proudest and most ambitious was the red-haired Griffin, Jon Connington.
Barristan also remembered the rumors that Connington preferred the company of men.
It had always been clear that Prince Rhaegar trusted Arthur Dayne far more than he trusted Barristan himself.
---
Robar Royce spoke up.
"My father once told me that King Aerys deeply humiliated both Tywin Lannister and Jaime over the matter of becoming the prince's squire."
Barristan sighed.
"That is true."
"King Aerys refused to allow Jaime Lannister to become Prince Rhaegar's squire."
"Instead, he chose the sons of his own favorites—men who happened to be rivals of House Lannister."
"Prince Rhaegar himself never cared for flatterers."
"But sadly..."
"That wasn't the first time King Aerys had humiliated Lord Tywin."
Gendry nodded thoughtfully.
"My father, Robert, was never considered either."
Barristan smiled faintly.
"Perhaps that was for the best, Your Highness."
"Prince Rhaegar and King Robert could not have been more different."
"One was a gifted, melancholy prince."
"The other was a loud, cheerful warrior."
"The tragedy of Summerhall always haunted Rhaegar."
"It was also his favorite place."
"He often returned there alone with nothing but his silver-stringed harp."
"Sometimes he would sleep beneath the stars among the ruins."
"Each visit inspired another song."
"When we heard him play, singing of dawn, lost kings, and fading dreams..."
"It always felt as though he were mourning himself."
Barristan chuckled softly.
"King Robert preferred songs that made him laugh."
"The cruder, the better."
"And only after several cups of wine."
"'A Barrel of Ale.'"
"'Forty-Four Barrels.'"
"'The Bear and the Maiden Fair.'"
"Those were his favorites."
---
Gendry listened carefully.
Barristan truly deserves the nickname 'Gossipstan,' he thought with amusement.
Robert and Rhaegar were complete opposites.
Robert was loud.
Rhaegar was quiet.
Robert loved feasts, women, tournaments, and laughter.
Rhaegar preferred solitude, music, and the lonely ruins of Summerhall.
One sought joy.
The other chased sorrow.
---
Barristan soon changed the subject.
"King Aerys never treated your grandfather, Lord Steffon Baratheon, the way he treated Lord Tywin."
"They were cousins."
"And Aerys trusted him deeply."
"Steffon wasn't as forceful as Tywin."
"After the Defiance of Duskendale..."
"The king became terrified of Tywin's growing influence."
"So he sent Lord Steffon to Volantis in search of a noble Valyrian bride for Prince Rhaegar."
"There were even rumors that once Steffon returned..."
"He would replace Tywin as Hand of the King."
"And Tywin himself would stand trial for treason."
Gendry sighed.
"But my grandfather died in a shipwreck."
"The mission was never completed."
"And the Mad King became even more paranoid."
Barristan lowered his head.
"That tragedy pushed him further into madness."
"Those truly were dark times."
---
Gendry couldn't help shaking his head.
Aerys practically destroyed himself.
Arrogant.
Suspicious.
Selfish.
Cruel.
Every decision he made pushed another great house away.
Looking back...
Prince Rhaegar's companions were all relatively minor nobles.
There were no heirs from House Stark, Arryn, Baratheon, or other great houses among his closest circle.
Compared to Brandon Stark's impressive network of allies...
The Crown Prince's entourage appeared surprisingly weak.
House Lannister was another example.
Tywin had hoped Jaime would become Rhaegar's squire.
Instead...
Aerys appointed Jaime to the Kingsguard.
It sounded like an honor.
In reality...
It robbed Tywin of his heir and publicly humiliated both House Lannister and its lord.
Nor was that the only insult.
Aerys mocked Tywin's wife.
Rejected Cersei as a bride for Rhaegar.
And sneered,
"Tywin may be capable..."
"But how can a servant's daughter marry her master's son?"
---
Barristan continued.
"After Lord Steffon's death..."
"Young Robert was sent to the Eyrie."
"Lord Jon Arryn would teach him the duties of rulership."
Gendry nodded.
"So I've heard."
"It was my father's great-uncle, Ser Harbert Baratheon, who made that decision after consulting the maesters."
Everything seemed strangely connected.
Had Steffon survived...
Robert might have remained at court beside Prince Rhaegar.
Instead...
Storm's End sensed the coming disaster.
House Baratheon aligned itself with the North, the Vale, and the Riverlands.
The wolf.
The stag.
The falcon.
The trout.
The alliance that would eventually overthrow the dragons.
---
Anguy suddenly spoke.
"Prince Rhaegar may have been admired..."
"But he stole Robert's betrothed."
"And together with his mad father..."
"He destroyed the realm."
Barristan sighed.
"It certainly appears that way."
"It all began at the Tourney of Harrenhal."
"The year of the False Spring."
"I never imagined so much tragedy would follow."
"There can't be many survivors left from that tournament."
Gendry replied quietly.
Barristan nodded.
"Even King Aerys attended."
"He hadn't left the Red Keep since Duskendale."
"Yet suddenly he insisted on accompanying Prince Rhaegar."
"Princess Elia was there."
"And so was her lady-in-waiting..."
"Ashara Dayne."
His expression darkened.
"I later learned that Varys convinced the king that Rhaegar intended to gather the great lords and seize the throne."
---
Instead...
King Aerys only humiliated himself.
The assembled nobles saw him clearly for the first time in years.
His fingernails had grown long and yellow.
His beard was tangled.
His hair hung like filthy ropes.
His madness could no longer be hidden.
One moment he laughed hysterically.
The next...
He burst into tears.
Then suddenly flew into a furious rage.
The Tourney at Harrenhal became famous not only for its champions...
But also for exposing the king's insanity before the entire realm.
---
Robar said,
"And in the final joust..."
"Prince Rhaegar defeated even you, Ser Barristan."
"Then he crowned Lyanna Stark the Queen of Love and Beauty."
"We all know what happened afterward."
Anguy frowned.
"But why?"
"By doing that..."
"He offended House Martell."
"House Baratheon."
"And House Stark."
"All at once."
Barristan slowly shook his head.
"I never understood."
"Princess Elia was a noble and virtuous woman."
"Though her health was always fragile."
---
Gendry believed he knew the answer.
Prophecy.
The Targaryens had produced countless dreamers and mystics.
Rhaegar believed in The Prince That Was Promised.
He believed in The Song of Ice and Fire.
He believed that the dragon must have three heads.
He feared Elia could never give him a third child.
Perhaps...
To Rhaegar...
Prophecy mattered more than his own dynasty.
He also may have feared the growing southern alliance centered around House Stark.
Whatever his intentions...
His actions ultimately destroyed everything.
---
Gendry couldn't help thinking,
Father and son truly were remarkable.
One was completely mad.
The other completely obsessed with prophecy.
Yet...
The more he examined history...
The more he suspected something greater had been unfolding behind the scenes.
The Mad King's growing paranoia wasn't born from nowhere.
The Targaryens had already lost their dragons.
Their kingdom depended entirely upon marriage alliances.
Yet they had too few children.
Rhaegar remained their only viable heir for years.
Marrying him into one great house inevitably offended another.
Before Viserys...
The royal family endured miscarriage after miscarriage.
Daenerys herself wasn't born until the kingdom stood on the edge of collapse.
Meanwhile...
Lord Rickard Stark had several children.
He looked south with ambition.
Brandon was betrothed to Catelyn Tully.
Lyanna to Robert Baratheon.
Eddard fostered with Jon Arryn.
The North...
The Riverlands...
The Vale...
And the Stormlands...
Gradually became bound together.
Rickard believed these marriages would strengthen House Stark.
In reality...
Someone else had likely guided those ambitions.
According to what Gendry had learned...
The architect behind many of those ideas was Rickard's maester.
A man whose father had once been an Archmaester of the Citadel...
And whose mother came from House Hightower.
---
Hightower...
Again.
Even if Lord Leyton Hightower hadn't personally orchestrated events...
House Hightower always seemed to benefit.
The Citadel had long opposed magic.
It had never welcomed dragons.
Perhaps...
The Kingsguard's White Bull had never realized what was happening.
After all...
A Kingsguard abandoned family loyalties.
---
Gendry looked toward Barristan.
"What kind of man was Ser Gerold Hightower?"
Barristan answered immediately.
"A loyal knight."
"My Lord Commander."
"He gave up the beauty and wealth of Oldtown..."
"And left House Hightower behind..."
"To serve the Kingsguard."
Gendry nodded thoughtfully.
"Oldtown..."
"The richest port in Westeros."
Ships from every corner of the known world gathered there.
Yet despite their enormous wealth...
House Hightower rarely sought conquest.
Trade always mattered more than war.
---
Anguy frowned.
"If they were so powerful..."
"Why didn't they ever become Kings of the Reach?"
Barristan smiled.
"They once were."
"Long before recorded history."
"In the Dawn Age."
"When the Andals invaded..."
"They wisely submitted."
"In return..."
"They kept their wealth..."
"Their privileges..."
"And survived."
Their bloodline stretched back to the First Men themselves.
---
Gendry finally understood.
House Hightower possessed immense wealth.
The Citadel.
The Faith.
Trade.
Knowledge.
But not armies capable of conquering kingdoms.
Their strength came from influence...
Not battlefields.
Perhaps that was why they preferred working quietly behind the scenes.
Rather than openly taking power.
Everything slowly fit together.
House Hightower had become one of Gendry's greatest suspects.
Outwardly...
They served the crown.
Behind the scenes...
Who truly knew?
If any institution hated dragons and magic more than anyone else...
It was the Citadel.
One day...
He intended to uncover the truth.
---
"You've witnessed enough history to write your own memoirs," Gendry said with a smile.
Barristan bowed respectfully.
"Silence is one of a Kingsguard's virtues, Your Highness."
"I may speak of my own deeds."
"But never the private affairs of the kings I served."
Gendry smiled.
"That is what makes you honorable."
Barristan gazed toward the sea.
"I often think of my brothers."
"I have outlived them all."
"I have seen more than any of them ever did."
"They would never believe the Seven Kingdoms could produce a queen so shameless..."
"Or summers and winters that lasted so impossibly long."
Old memories were like strong wine.
Every time they surfaced...
They left the heart intoxicated.
Fortunately...
Dragonstone had finally come into view.
________________________________________
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