Game of Thrones || The Sword of the Morning

Dawn

꧁~~~Ser Arthur Dayne~~~꧂

He watches and listens as several men on horseback gallop towards the Tower. He sighs, stepping towards the rock where he left his Kingsguard helmet, and picks it up.

Moving along with Ser Gerold Hightower, they go to meet with the approaching Northmen.

Ser Arthur Dayne twirls his ancestral sword in one hand for a moment before jamming the blade into the ground so as for it to hold itself. His other hand leans on his second sword at his hip.

Arthur and Gerold look on as Eddard Stark and his Northmen stare at one another for a long and tense moment.

"Lord Stark."

He greets in acknowledgment.

"I looked for you on the Trident."

"We weren't there."

"Your friend, the Usurper would lie beneath the ground if we had been."

Hightower states as Eddard looks at him.

"The Mad King is dead. Rhaegar lies beneath the ground. Why weren't you there to protect your Prince?"

Arthur often thought of that the many nights after hearing of what occurred at the Trident. If he and Gerold were there that day, maybe Rhaegar would still be alive.

But he had more than duty and honor to worry about. The one and only thing that matters more than that was his daughter. Having just been born the day before, he swore to protect her in the wars to come.

"Our Prince wanted us here."

He calmly states as Lord Stark looks up at the Tower and then back down, frowning deeply.

"Where's my sister?"

Arthur just smiles a faint smile and nods in respect to the Lord of Winterfell.

"I wish you good fortune in the wars to come."

He and Gerold put on their helmets, Arthur gripping his sword tightly on his side. He nods to Ned.

"And now it begins."

And with those words, Ser Arthur draws the sword Dawn from the ground and the sword on his side, wielding both now as he prepares.

Ned Stark looks on solemnly, feeling saddened for what is about to happen. He doesn't want this. But it's something that needs to be done.

"No. Now it ends."

The Quiet Wolf and his men draw their swords, immediately engaging in combat with the Kingsguard. Howland Reed lunges for a strike on Ser Arthur but he is swiftly slashed and knocked out of the fight.

Gerold kills a Northman as Arthur shoves Eddard away. Catching Gerold off guard, Eddard drives his sword through Gerold Hightower's neck, killing him instantly.