Chapter 170: Civil War in the Red Keep
Everything has a cause and an effect; Robert's ordeal today was entirely of his own making.
Consider this: if the Kingsguard were all men like Barristan Selmy, what kind of waves could Jaime possibly stir up, even if he had three heads and six arms?
The purpose of the Kingsguard is to protect the King and the royal bloodline, and the requirements for selection are—strength, loyalty, and wisdom. At the end of the Usurper's War, there were five vacancies in the Kingsguard to be filled, or six if one counted the Kingslayer, Jaime. To show affection for his new bride—and to thank his father-in-law for the full support of hundreds of thousands of gold dragons for the new Baratheon dynasty—Robert perhaps also intended to keep Jaime as a hostage. Not only did he allow the Kingslayer to keep his post, but he generously handed over the choice of the other five key members entirely to Cersei!
With the eyes of the world upon her, the young Cersei could not brazenly fill the Kingsguard with Lannister men, but she had no intention of painstakingly selecting elite guards for Robert either. Thus, without consulting her father Tywin, she made her first decision as Queen: bypassing the North, the Riverlands, and Dorne—regions that had long-standing grudges or friction with the West—she chose one minor house friendly to her own from each of the remaining five regions: the Reach, the Vale, the Stormlands, the Westerlands, and the Crownlands. She allowed them to select a family member to be sent to court... to serve as a Kingsguard!
A Kingsguard selected through such a trivial process, carries heavy political bribery, could naturally not be very strong. The five new Kingsguard might be considered top warriors of their respective families, more than capable as mercenaries... but they certainly did not reach the echelon of those worthy of the White Cloak. Barristan assessed his five new colleagues thus: Even now, I could cut through the five of you like carving cheese.
Though he despised the Kingslayer's act of betrayal, Barristan sadly admitted: aside from himself, Jaime Lannister was the only Kingsguard whose skills were truly qualified. The five new recruits might not betray Robert in an internal struggle between the King and Queen, but regardless, the combat power and quality of this batch of Kingsguard were widely recognized as the worst since Aegon the Conqueror landed and created the order of the White Swords. Bar-none.
Concerned for Cersei's safety, Jaime exploded with unprecedented strength in his moment of desperation—it was that familiar backstab again, attacking the monarch he had sworn to protect. Scenes of the regicide from sixteen years ago flickered before his eyes. Honor? Jaime silently repeated the word with bloodshot eyes, knowing it was something he could desire but never obtain in this life. His dagger pierced through the armor on Robert's back in front of two White Cloaks, sinking into the King's flesh. That wasn't enough; Jaime slammed his shoulder into Robert, using his strength and physical momentum to violently knock the man's bloated body down. An instant before his opponent pitched forward, Jaime's hands seized the warhammer that had slain Rhaegar, wrenching it away from its caught-off-guard master.
"You!" Arys Oakheart had relaxed his vigilance for a moment when he saw Jaime's sword break and the man fall. By the time he reacted, it was too late. He gave a thunderous roar, drawing his sword and rushing toward Jaime, who had ambushed the King.
Robert, suffering from the sharp pain in his back and the impact of the collision, loosened his grip as he fell, giving Cersei the chance to break free. The Queen gasped for air, and ignoring the pain in her neck, she took a deep breath without hesitation and let out a piercing scream: "Do it—!"
The shrill soprano drowned out the cries of the three children and penetrated the door. The battle inside and outside the room erupted again at the same time.
...
The warhammer is so heavy, Jaime thought. Robert could actually wield such a weapon; anyone who dared to be careless against such a powerful warrior deserved to lose. Vows? Jaime silently recited the second word in self-abandonment. Grasping the long hammer, which weighed nearly twice as much as his usual weapon, he swung it fiercely: "Get back!"
The two Kingsguard gave no quarter; their weapons struck each other only a fraction of a second apart. Arys's sword sliced through the plate on the Kingslayer's chest, while Jaime's warhammer immediately followed by caving in the other's vambrace. Normally, Jaime could have outclassed these two colleagues one-on-two without taking a scratch, but this time, knowing the City Watch was coming and desperate to escape with Cersei, he chose a mutually destructive style of fighting. The advantage of the warhammer was maximized in a situation where both sides were armored and neither made an effort to defend or dodge. Arys was struck with enough force to break his arm and lose his balance; he flew half a meter, smashed a wooden table, and sprawled on the ground, instantly losing his combat effectiveness.
Outside the door, over a hundred Redshrouds attacked the King's men the moment they heard their lady's cry. Although the three Kingsguard possessed combat skills far exceeding ordinary soldiers, they had fewer than fifty men with them. The so-called Red Keep Guards... to put it bluntly, were just a small detachment of the City Watch responsible for the area inside the Red Keep. They also wore gold cloaks, and their combat effectiveness was inferior to the Redshrouds who hailed from the Lannisport Guard.
The soldiers on the King's side were at a disadvantage in both numbers and fighting power. Had it not been for the three mediocre Kingsguard holding the line, they likely would have collapsed instantly. The three White Cloaks wanted to disengage and rush inside to see what had happened, but they knew: if they did that, by the time they settled matters inside, there would likely only be Lannister soldiers left outside.
"Kill the both of them!" Robert, though down on the ground, would not let it go. He reached out and grabbed Cersei's dress to stop her from escaping, but with a rip, he only tore off a strip of cloth... He then tried to pull the dagger stuck in his back, but his body was too bloated for his hand to reach the hilt. As he moved, the wound in his lung expanded, and he began to feel a sharp, knife-like pain in his chest. Breathing became difficult, and as oxygen ran low, his massive frame quickly began to succumb to weakness. His vision went black, and he could not even stand.
"Don't come any closer!" Jaime reached down to feel his abdomen; he saw blood but couldn't see the wound, and for a moment he didn't know how badly he was hurt. He looked up, pulled Cersei to him, and raised the warhammer toward Boros Blount, who stood in front of Myrcella. "The King isn't dead yet. Watch him. I don't want to kill you!"
"Don't let him scare you! He took a blow from my sword, he's no match for you... stop him... don't... let him run!" Arys sprawled on the ground, his right arm nearly useless. He had to pass his sword to his left hand, struggling to stand up.
...
If it were said that this generation of the Kingsguard was the worst in history in terms of combat power and quality, then Ser Boros Blount was the worst of the worst. Not only was he a beat slow and failed to follow his teammate's attack, but after seeing Arys Oakheart flattened by Jaime's hammer at the cost of an injury, the man—who had always been a bully at heart—lost any courage to charge forward and risk his life. Trembling as he held his steel sword, he stood cautiously beside Robert. With the excuse of "protecting the King" which Jaime had conveniently provided, he stood as motionless as a statue.
Cersei waved and shouted to her three children: "Joff, Myrcella, Tommen... come with me, quickly!"
"No, stay here! You are the Prince and Princess; Eddard Stark won't dare harm you!" Every word Jaime spoke sent a jolt of pain through his stomach. Clutching his abdomen, he overrode Cersei's command. In truth, he didn't believe his own words, but he knew—carrying three children, Cersei would never make it out of King's Landing. Wiping the blood from his hands, he dragged his sister-lover, who was still unwilling to give up, and retreated step by step facing Boros. Upon reaching the door, he opened it, turned, and rushed out of the room.
Outside, the sounds of fighting, shouting, wailing, and the clashing of steel were deafening. The scene was a chaotic mess, and it was obvious that the side with more men held the upper hand. Preston Greenfield saw Jaime with his blood-stained white cloak and Cersei in his grip. He glared and gave a great roar: "Jaime! What have you done!"
"You need to get to the stables. Without a mount, you'll never escape King's Landing." Jaime ignored the enemy's shouts. The Red Keep was already controlled by Stark; even with a horse, escape wasn't guaranteed, but they had to try. The ground vibrated—a large number of soldiers were rushing here. He gave Cersei a forceful push: "Once you find a horse, take your men and pick a side gate with fewer people. Break your way out and flee the city before they close the gates of King's Landing. Go, now!"
"Not me, us! I have already arranged a way out!" Cersei pulled Jaime's arm back with an air that brooked no argument, stubbornly dragging him toward the stables. "Potter, take half the men and stay here to cover the rear. Amos, take twenty men and follow me... quickly, stop that White Cloak!"
The Kingsguard rushing toward Jaime with a sword was forced back by several spears. A dozen Redshrouds finished off or drove away their opponents and gathered around the young lord and lady, covering their retreat toward the stables. However, from the southern direction of Maegor's Holdfast, a thunderous sound of footsteps echoed. Ned appeared at the far end of their vision with a large force of City Watch soldiers. Upon seeing the combat, he quickened his pace and was poised to arrive on the scene in an instant.
"Can you still keep going? Let's go! The guard at the Red Keep's sewer iron gate is my man. This gate is marked very small on the maps; Stark forgot to send someone to replace him. It hasn't rained these past two days, so there certainly won't be any standing water. The Commander of the Gate of the Gods in King's Landing is also my man. We can make it out!" Cersei pulled at Jaime, who had been prepared to die, not forgetting to turn back at the last moment to shout an order: "Hold them back!"
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