Chapter Text
Duncan held on tightly to the reigns as he approached the Targaryen’s guarded fort, the worried expression on his face contrasting the timber of the glad afternoon.
Along his side, a worried squire that had traveled with him for the last three weeks without rest, at the request of yeh crowned Prince. His father.
Who had arranged for the young prince to start at a training academy with the rest of his peers from other noble families.For a many, a great privilege, for the squire? A death sentence would seem more appropriate
The squire did not want to return, insisting it would not be of any use for someone so far away from the crown to learn about the workings of the crown.
His father could threatened all he wanted, but he would not return home.
Dunk convinced him.
this was shocking even to himself, who had grown so ill fond of the family.
yet,
He wanted the best for yeh young prince, did not want him to lack anything for the sake of his own life. He should know about the ways of the kingdom and the complexity of proper social engagement.
Though learning about which fork to hold during supper, and which pins are appropriate for gatherings seemed useless, Duncan knew it was all for the better.
After all, he would soon learn how to hold a lance and block with a shield. Even better than Dunk could ever teach him without the maesters help.
Offering a clout on the ear and sleeping under trees, could only teach so much after all.
The hedge knight was not ashamed, he took great pride in this, but he could not ignore the fact that it was more out there than he could teach on his own.
So he took Maekar’s side and supported his word, just this once.
At the end, the hedge knight was not threatened by him. He believed himself a better father to the boy, not out of arrogance but from a source of proud care. This he would not admit aloud, but de felt it deep down.
This would also give Duncan the perfect excuse to do things he’d been avoiding for a while on the road.
He could travel the harsher roads and sharpen his skills with more ruthless journeys than he could before.
He always wanted to go North, the North had great festivities. He was told.
Traveling with his squire across hundreds of cities had subconsciously made him choose the safer paths.
a small sacrifice he was willing to make if it meant that the young Prince would not be harmed or at risk every step of the way while they leisured through the kingdoms.
( despite Dunk swearing up and down he was not making any exceptions. A wee white lie never killed anyone.)
But now he was free to explore at his own risk, something Dunk spent little time fretting over.
When he was alone he found himself wanting company after Arlan passed, but now that he had been responsible for so long for another soul, he was ready to give solitude ago once again.
It would be good for the both of them, this time.
For others it is easier to lookout for themselves, keep themselves safe, but Duncan spent every second of his life protecting others without hesitation. This effortless nature, was also exhausting. Maybe for once, he could worry about himself. Just for a little while.
Some may call him a fool, but to Dunk it was simply the way he was. Easier to take the carrot from the Donkey than to feed it to a bull…maybe that’s not how the saying goes. But the point lies there.
This was the way Ser Arlan of Pennytree had raised him to be, so it was second nature for the kindred giant.
He would miss the little lad on his travels, more than he cared to admit at the moment. But at least he could be at peace that he would be safe here. Duncan had taught him a thing or two about using a sword, so even if he wasn’t, he would be able to manage on his own.
Besides, a wee thrill on the road here and there might be pleasant after all.
The air brushed past Dunk’s face, and he looked around more closely at the clattering streets. They were really here…
Dunk had been hesitant as well, to be back here after what had occurred that gloomy day four years passed.
A day he would remember for as long as he lived.
His guilt never ceased from the outcome of the Trial by seven, and his mind wandered to the fallen Prince on quiet nights under an occasionally large elm tree on the road.
He wondered about the whispers that followed him, shaming him for his role in the Prince’s death,wondered about Prince Baelor’s son who had succumbed to the spring fever leaving no traces of their lineage, and sometimes he would even imagine the kind of King he would have been had the man managed to die of natural causes.
A truer tragedy could not be told. He had been at the center of it all.
Dunk may carry this guilt with him for the rest of his life, the guilt of possibly having cursed the family in a way, but during his time on the road the ceaseless thoughts became easier to digest.
Occasionally, he allowed himself to hope that perhaps the gods had a purpose for him that needed to be fulfilled, so his life may not have been spared for no reason.
The hedge knight loaded some supplies back onto the horses, as he prepared to depart from Summerhall merely three days after his arrival with the young Prince.
His guilt may have been at ease at the moment , but Dunk knew that staying here any longer would only make his mind louder by the day.
Not to mention that he was staying at the Targaryen fort, a place that came with a warning on its own.
Though he had spent most of his days conversing and wondering around the markets to avoid the narrow halls of the castle.
The safest place.
Especially for the hedge knight, who had not had the best of luck with the unpredictable family.
Once he completed his packing, and fed his horses,
Dunk began to walk towards the bridge outside the Targaryen grounds.
a bit of peep in his step as well, not that he was rushing to leave the place or anything…
But just before he was able to climb on top of his horse to begin his journey, a man with white armor, which Dunk recognized to be the King’s guard, stopped him.
He stood in front of him and his horse, holding up a hand.
“Ser Duncan the Tall, Prince Maekar calls for an audience before you part. He insists you make haste.” The dark haired man spoke, and Dunk suddenly got a very hollow feeling in his stomach,
as he nodded his head and tied his horse next to the bridge.
“ I will be back soon Sweetfoot, do not grow angsty.” He whispered, before following the knight in white armor back into the tower.
There he waited a few minutes outside the main hall’s door with the King’s guard man, until Maekar was ready for his audience with the hedge knight.
The doors opened, and Dunk was let in, before they were once again shut closed behind him. Almost suffocating him.
He stood awkwardly at the edge of the room yet kept his posture straight, while Prince Maeker closed a book in front of him and stood up. The hair around his jaw had grown longer and somehow paler.
His features remained sharp, and not much had changed in his appearance since the last time Dunk saw him, apart from the wrinkle or two that had formed on his forehead over the years.
The Prince remained poised, but his exhaustion was clear even to Duncan.
An exhaustion that did not come from carrying heavy tools, but of countless hours of pondering.
That’s why Dunk preferred to not do so as much, better for the mind to not wonder.
His eyebrow raised, and his gaze almost seemed to be inspecting the hedge knight. Observing his much broader appearance.
Not like he meant to intentionally, but it was a natural development from carrying heavy objects daily and traveling the harsh long distances.…
…perhaps he was also being well fed during the journeys as his squire had doubled as the main cook. Too fancy for a a simple low- born knight to be feasting on well rounded meals every day.
The squire had volunteered, after all, he would only take so much salt beef and eggs without driving himself mad. Those being his exact words to Duncan.
“ I have heard about some of your travels from my son. He writes you know? He claims to hate his family, yet he writes.” Maekar chuckled, but it felt empty and whispered.
“It would seem he did learn a few things in the last few years…from my understanding. Not just the complexities of sleeping in ditches and hunting down food." The prince spared another glance to the knight. It seemed as he if he was monologuing, words spoken for himself more than anything.
Then a frown appeared on his eyebrows.
“It displeases, deeply, he left without my approval. He ran away without a word once again. With you.” Maekar sighed, in deep annoyance,” I believe it's too late to fret over that now… I suppose.” He exhaled, a calm expression taking over.
Prince Maekar spoke somberly, yet Dunk in response gave a simple nod.
He grew to understand that Maekar usually did not like to be interrupted. So he listened.
“ You took good care of him, Ser Duncan. I will not punish you for kidnapping a Prince, so calm your weary stance now.“This Prince Maekar stated with sincerity, a sincerity that brought out a soft smile from the giant.
but he could not bring himself to relax.
“The boy listened good m’lord. He learned fast.” was all he managed, as the older Prince had grown quiet while staring at his hand, deep in thought.
“ I see.” Maekar nodded,and slowly walked behind his desk over to Duncan.
“ You see Ser Duncan, I do not wish to punish you. Rather, I seek a request from you. One that I hope you will consider, truly. For the very sake of the kingdom, and even more so for my son you grew so fond of. Perhaps, selfishly, I ask this for myself too. I have not been the finest father...not like my brother at least. He always warned me of my high tolerance for my sons, and right he was.”
The Prince looked down with a heaviness on his gaze , almost unable to ask his request out loud. It would be an admission of his surrender. His failure as the father he was supposed to be.
A Prince having to resort to a hedge knight to fix what he was supposed to correct himself.
Dunk thought this somber demeanor to be an odd contrast to his usual direct and poised manner of conducting himself.
He tensed in his chair while looking up at the older Prince as he pondered outside the window.
“Anything m’lord, you know I'm nothing but a hedge knight. I would not deny your request if it's of such importance.”
Dunk spoke, but he knew deep down his words were only out of the respect he still held over Prince Baelor, afterall, Maekar had held a lance against him at some point in time. He would’ve killed him for a whim if his sons.
He wanted nothing else than to be able to just go on with his journey at the moment.
But something about the heavy nature of Prince Maekar’s tone forced him to stay despite this impulse.
No honorable knight would walk away from someone in such dire need of help after all.
“Before you answer, please let me finish.” Maekar’s gaze was now set on Dunk, showing how serious he was about his words.
“I have seen enough favorable changes within my youngest son to believe that there may be some benefits to your teachings…At the very least, he seems to have a more respectable and willing attitude now, which is more than I can say about my other sons.”
Dunk swore there was a slight disappointed sigh after this from Maekar, but he did not inquire yet.
“It is not easy to admit, Ser Duncan, but I have let some behaviors slip through the cracks when it came to raising the boys by myself. My approaches have sown no good seeds.I should’ve realized sooner, but no father ever wants to admit they are wrong…until it becomes too late. “ Maekar took a hold of a wine glass next to him and began to fill his cup,and an extra one for Dunk.
The hedge knight took a long sip of the sweet liquid before he focused his attention once again on the Prince in front of him.
“And I'm afraid it's become too late now for Aerion. “
Dunk could not help the disruption in his expression at the name. Almost repulsed, unable to take another gulp of the liquid as the previous one had stuck to his throat.
Maekar must have noticed because he raised his palm, as a signal for Dunk to let him finish.
“ As you know I had sent him away for some time, to the free cities, where I believed…no…where I hoped he would straighten out.
…But it all just terribly backfired. I should have known that for a boy like Aerion a place like that would be nothing but a free range playground. “ Maekar took a heavy sip from his cup, and the wrinkle in his brow grew deeper.
Dunk swallowed, his mouth grew dryer.
How could a man so monstrous turn more vile? Was such a thing even possible?
Duncan could not manage to think of anything worse for the entire kingdom.
And to think that a man like that could ever, even if unlikely, have the opportunity of ruling.
The hedge knight had thought very little of the volatile Prince over the four years since the tourney,
and on the rare occasion that he did, it was to re-play the glorious moment in which he got to drag him through the mud. Felt the quivering muscles of his leg through the armour, as he spoke the words “I yield.” with a desperate expression.
How he wished he had been just a smidge more murderous that day, and perhaps he would have rid the kingdom of the right Prince. Yet he had been a scared boy, with nothing to his name but honor.
Dunk was a fair man, and the rotten Prince had yielded, and all he wanted was for the whole trial to be over in that moment.
Even in his rage and pain, Duncan had respected the unfair trail that he was forced to compete in. Something the Prince would never have done had he been in his position.
Aerion Brightflame would have ran the sword through his head, had Dunk begged to stop the trial and let his guard down for even just a second.
Ser Arlan of Pennytree would have given him a good clout in the ear,
perhaps that would have set him straight as a young man.
He wondered if the Targaryen's ever truly disciplined their children, if not, perhaps they would want to reconsider for the sake of Westeros.
“So what I ask of you, Ser Ducan, is that you take my son Aerion with you on your travels. “Maekar finally lets out.
Dunk chokes on his wine. And His eyes widened. “ m’lord I must refus-!”
“Just listen…” The man spoke, cutting out the knight.
”If Prince Aerion continues down this path…it will be hellfire within these walls and soon good people will suffer more. I thought of you as an honorable man Ser Duncan, so will you let good people suffer or will you sacrifice just a bit of your digital for the sake of a kingdom?”
Maekar spoke in a low voice , but he was stern. Dunk knew he was telling the truth and that his concern was genuine. Yet his choice of words cunningly contradicted his earnestness. A noble after all. He knew just what to say and how to say it to get what he wanted, even when desperate.
“At his pace he will father thousands of bastard children before he weds, murder anyone who gets in his way, and spoil our family name across the lands.
I tell you this not to speak ill of the Targaryen lineage, but so that you will consider my request, truly. So, what will it be, Ser Duncan?”
The hedge knight gripped his cup tightly and stared at the table.
He was conscious enough to see through Maekar’s lightly manipulative attempts at convincing him, but also empathetic enough to know the Prince had no other choice but this.
If Aerion had truly grown worse with his exile, then it only meant misfortune for those around him.
And innocent people would suffer. Just like Dunk suffered under his temper years ago.
“ It is my job to protect the innocent m’lord. I will take your son with me and try my best to make him a better man.’
Duncan accepted, but though his lips approved his body recoiled at his words.
But before he could finish more words slipped out unwillingly,
” Under one condition, he is to travel by foot and do what I command. He will live like a hedge knight, sleep and eat like one, and if he refuses I will leave him behind, Even if it means during a harsh winter in the mountain m’lord, I swear it. “
There was a slightly sour tone to Dunk’s words,he even surprised himself by his request. Although for a Targaryen,
this would hardly seem like a cruel punishment, but for Dunk it was the worst case for a Prince.
To be treated as less than.
For a prince that had bathed in warm waters, drank the finest ale, had all of his whims encouraged, and whored with any wench he could manage even in exile, this would barely be punishment enough.
But it would be humiliating, and for someone as prideful as Aerion Brightflame this would cause turmoil.
After all, a dragon without his fancy wings cannot fly.
“ Aerion, despite his unruly character, is blood of the dragon I cannot by any means have a son of mine paraded around like-”
“Those are my rules m’lord. I will not break them. If you want me to do something for your son, then you will allow this. This is how I was made the man I am today, It might seem inferior to you, but a lot can be learned this way” Dunk remained firm,
and if he was being honest,
he was not sure from where the audacity was coming from at the moment but one thing was for certain,
Aerion would not be getting any more special treatment simply because he was a prince.
Dunk would not give him comfort, for comfort has made him into a monster.
Before a Prince he is a man, and a man must learn to behave honorably. From scratch.
Prince Maekar took a moment of silence before letting a long sigh escape his lips, defeated by his own thoughts.
“ I will see that Aerion follows you this evening if you accept. By foot.”
It was not that Maekar wanted his sons to be humiliated,
but rather this was the last act of a desperate father to find any bit of hope in his child.
“ Then I will do my best m’lord. “ Dunk nodded, and turned to face the door.
“ Just one last thing, Ser Duncan. Keep an eye on Aerion, he does not…obey…easily. I'm sure he will be furious, so sleep with an eye open. That’s all.”
Prince Maekar dismissed him,
and Dunk swallowed hard,
but instead of barging back in the room to decline the request once and for all, he went over to tend to his horses.
Dunk fed them once again,
anxiously pacing around the stable as he felt the pit in his stomach grow the more he had to wait around for the new Princeling.
Soon, the sun began to set, and the knight began to hope he would not show.
Hope which was shattered, when a certain prince stood behind him quietly.
He wore a scowl, and scanned his eyes over the knight.
But he did not speak.
Dunk glanced at him from the corner of his eye, nodding his head in acknowledgement yet returning the silence.
Through this unassuming glimpse Dunk noticed the now healed scars on the Princeling’s matured face.
Likely leftovers from Dunk’s handiwork during the trial.
Scars which did not diminish his striking features.
He still remembered vividly smashing the Prince’s own shield over his helmet repeatedly, and the whimpers that left his foul mouth after cowarding away from the fight when he saw himself bested on the field, by a man with far less adornate training.
Dunk held deep distaste for the man,
but his eyes would be foolish to deny the beauty of the Targaryen eldest.
A shame truly, that such features belonged to such a shallow and empty shell of a man.
His white locks reached the sides of his neck now,
yet remained trimmed and swirled around the edges like the horns on the paintings of Dragons Dunk had seen on children’s books.
It appeared he had grown sturdier during his time at Lys,
probably a result of the work his father had him doing there while he was not out tormenting the city.
The once lean Prince had grown to fill in his armour perfectly.
Armor.
The prince was wearing his full armor which the hedge knight found quite peculiar.The spikes on the metal piece were even less inviting than his expression.
The journey would be long, and if the Prince believed he would make it through in such a heavy piece of metal,
he would be very displeased soon.
The giant also worried about the attention it would attract,
After all the Targaryen armour was likely worth a fortune, and thieves on the road would surely notice.
Dunk’s jaw clenched as he got on his horse, without looking back at the Princeling, who looked like he was having difficulty holding back a frenzy.
He should probably get off his horse and run to Prince Maekar, explain that he made a grave mistake, and take off alone now.
It would be months until he returned back to summerhall, and now was the time to pause this madness .
But he simply pulled the reins back on his trusted horse and began to gallop forward towards the bridge slowly,
as the Princeling followed behind.
Though he would walk, he brought a horse to bring his belongings for him.
The stoic knight’s expressions changed from vexed to a look of worry,
Was he doing the right thing here? This was not like the time with the young squire, they would head off into dangerous lands, and Dunk barely felt like breathing the same air as the man.
Would they finally have his head if something happened to the Prince on the road?
Though it would probably be the best thing for everyone…
Dunk thought, yet brushed it away as soon as he realized the ill nature of his mind at the moment.
After all, It was not Aerion’s fault that he had been born a Targaryen Prince,
and that he had everything applauded for all of his life instead of being feee the reality of the world.
Someone like him could afford to be cruel, as there would be no repercussions for his actions. Who would dare punish a Prince?
The white haired man next to him had never known fear. Overprotected all of his life. Even in his wrongs.
Yet people like Dunk risked everything for one heroic action, This twisted something inside of Dunk’s chest, yet he remained as stoic as he could.
And as Prince Aerion walked into the dusk. Dunk pondered for the first time,
an action he was not fond of, but could not help given the circumstances.
They traveled several miles north in the middle of the night in silence.
All but the gallop of the horses and Aerion’s clunking armor could be heard in the quiet of the night.
Perhaps it was for the better because Dunk was not so sure he would not finish the job from four years ago if he heard a singular snarky comment from the prince on the road.
No one else in the seven kingdoms enraged him like Aerion Targaryen,
he thought.
Is this what hate felt like? He was not quite sure. Dunk sighed in annoyance.
They walked for four more hours.
Dunk had grown tired long ago, but the thought of Aerion having to walk in his heavy armor just a bit longer helped him stay awake in the rough night.
When the hedge knight finally choose to pause their journey, it was because his horse slowed down.
So he decided it was time to give them a break for the night,
and continue on the morrow.
They settled next to a comfortable tree,
and as Dunk dismounted from his horse,
Aerion watched him cautiously.
“You are not expecting me to sleep in this filth, are you?. “The monster spoke.
His voice was exhausted, yet in the Prince’s mind it remained poised.
Dunk closed his eyes and recoiled at the voice, but did not reply.
He simply set his horse free of the bags and laid a cloak on the ground.
“ Do as you please, I'm sure your father would love to have you back home under your expensive silks. Real proud you would make him” Dunk spit out, accent heavy, before closing his eyes.
He might have hit a nerve, because there was no snarky reply.
The Prince simply stared at him in spite as he dropped his helmet and chest metal plate on the ground.
Dunk heard a relieved sigh, then a murmur.
“ fuck this…fucking hells.”
The Prince walked a few feet away from the tree onto a rough patch of grass outside of Dunk’s sight.
He wondered what Prince Maekar threatened that man with for him to remain here after all,
must have been something serious for Aerion the reckless to stay put, despite his obvious disdain for his position under the low-born knight.
Whatever it was,
Dunk simply hoped his obedience would leave and he would return home begging for forgiveness from his father so that the knight could actually enjoy the journey.
A crisp wind blew in their direction, but Dunk simply covered himself with his cloak,
and allowed himself to doze off.
Perhaps the gods would once again favor him,
and the silver threat would be gone on the morrow when he opened his eyes.