act i . chapter xxvii

COME OUT AND DIE
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"LORD BRANDON STARK," greeted a portly castle guard nervously. He was standings top the battlements of the gated wall surrounding the looming Red Keep over the shimmering waters of Blackwater Bay. It was late afternoon and the sun was threatening to set. The air was cool but with warm winds, as spring weather usually is. "There was no word of your arrival."

The nervousness from the guards stowed away in the quiet vicinity of the Royal Castle was quite understood. From the tall, robust, bearded Northman, who was many titles more important than the guard, anger and alcohol reeked off. The companions of Lord Brandon Stark too seemed to be more afraid of their lord than the fact they were in a foreign land and at the gates of the infamous Mad King. Then another rider pulled his horse next to Brandon's. A lean, snaky figure that looked more like he was riding around his own castle than that of his king. "Prince Oberyn," the guard greeted accustomedly.

"Open the door for us. I am here to see my sister," he ordered, an obvious common goer of the Red Keep. The mustachioed Dornish Prince had no questions in his own ways.

"King Aerys is not keeping court at the moment, my Lord and my Prince," the guard said from behind the gate. "You'll have to allow me to relay the request."

Anger swelled in Brandon's throat and he sat straighter on his horse. With eyes burning of drink, he argued, "Ser, I would like to be let through." Brandon growled through his white teeth as if he were a wolf ready to attack. His dull brown hair was tied behind his head and beads of sweat were rolling down his pale face. He was paler than usual with bags around his eyes. Sickly from the drink, but uncontrollable. The guard turned around with an impatient expression.

"I'm no Ser, my Lord," he called down to Brandon carefully. Brandon visibly tensed up with anger. All he could hear were the cries of his sister. All he could see were Dragon prince's hands all over her. He wanted to vomit. He wanted to kill Rhaegar Targaryen. And he was going to. Right here, right now. He was here to get his sister back. Oberyn noticed the wolf's growing anger and stuck his long arm out to signal to Brandon that he needed to be patient to get in the Red Keep.

"Relay your message to King Aerys. Lord Stark is with me and I'd only like to see my sister," Oberyn said smoothly. The guard nodded and was on his way, his position on the battlements being replaced with another. Oberyn turned to Brandon with a look of contempt. "Just remain calm. I am a friend to Rhaegar. Him being a friend to me ended as soon as those flowers were placed in your sister's lap. When he receives us, we'll make sure he can receive no one."

"Fine," Brandon said in his gravelly, drunk voice. They sat patiently on their mounts, tails swishing and hooves stomping, until the guard came back. The young, blonde Lord Elbert Arryn rode up Brandon's flank and quietly asked him, "Are you sure this the way to go about it? We can talk to Prince Rhaegar and see if he's really done this. It could be a misunderstanding." Brandon's anger-twisted face remained the way it was as if it were stone.

"There will be talking," Brandon answered darkly. The guard, using a cone to call down to them.

"Our King Aerys is not taking company," he called down. "I was ordered to tell you to come back in the morn. The Hand, Lord Owen Merryweather will be holding court. Lord Brandon Stark may approach with his pleas and Prince Oberyn Martell may visit his sister."

"Aye," Brandon seethed, his face turning red. The four riders behind the Lord Heir stiffened in fright. With every word that came out of Brandon's mouth, his tone grew harsher and his volume louder. His voice bounced off the red walls of the castle. "Your king lets his son foresake his own wife and steal another's! And he won't receive the heir to largest kingdom? Or the brothers of the afflicted women?"

The guard stood unmoved and unspoken. But Brandon did not. He hopped off his horse, boots slapping the stone. He ripped his sword from its sheath with a foreboding shing. "FUCK THAT!" he screamed, fuming, pacing back and forth in front of the gate. "FUCK THE KING!"

Oberyn cocked his head, insterested in the heated nature of the man he had joined foces with. "FUCK RHAEGAR TARGARYEN! YOU TELL THAT BITCH OF A PRINCE THAT I'M WAITING FOR HIM RIGHT HERE!"

With bloodshot, crazed eyes, he looked around, thinking. He walked up closely to gate and screamed through it at the Red Keep. "RHAEGAR TARGARYEN! COME OUT AND FACE WHAT YOU'VE DONE!"

And then he said more words that he regret for what ended up being a short time.

"COME OUT AND DIE!"

The men that had joined Brandon in this endeavor sat frozen on their mounts horrified by what they were now apart of. Aside from Oberyn Martell, who sat contently through all the screaming. Brandon continued to scream and yell and curse at the prince who wasn't even home. Oberyn's eyes squinted I though before he said, "Fuck it," stepping down from his horse and taking his spear and standing by Brandon, ready to join him.

But Brandon didn't notice. He was too busy threatening the Crown Prince and renouncing his king. Eventually, King Aerys himself came out on the battlements with Lord Commander Hightower and Prince Lewyn Martell guarding him, Lord Hand, Owen joined them. Brandon was too distracted to be disturbed by the King's appearance, but he should have been. The king was shrunken bone thin. His hair was even more overgrown that his appearance at the tourney. His face was gnarled an evil as if he wasn't even human.

"Take them all," he ordered to Lord Commander Hightower. And that's what happened. The goldcloaked City Watchmen stormed the gate, overwhelming the traitors. The four men that came with Brandon laid their weapons down, knowing that there was no use. Oberyn threw his spear through the throat of an approaching guard and dropped to his knees in surrender. Ethan Glover looked at Prince Oberyn in horror. "I wasn't going to be arrested without killing someone," Oberyn said under his breath.

Brandon was not so easy. He swung his sword violently at anyone approaching. "Stay back!" he screamed. "I want my sister!"

"Your sister ain't here," yelled a soldier with a Fleabottom accent as he stomped in the back of Brandon's knees, knocking him off his feet.

"You're all under arrest for treason!" Lord Hand Owen Merryweather called out to the yard.

And suddenly a fear erupted in Brandon's gut. Or was it the liquor. Either way, Brandon knew, as his sword was wrenched from his hands and they were bound behind his back, he was fucked.

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A/N: Short, simple, to the point. I know you guys are feeling the "oh shit" and I'm sorry. Do you like the long, long chapters or the really short ones. Sorry I usually can hit them in-between mark. Next chapter is sweet Lyanna. We'll see what Lord Arron and Prince Rhaegar decide. Maybe some more secrets will get out. Maybe not. We'll see.