The Sworn Sword

My father found me others, but the Stranger took them, too. I no longer trust in men, no matter how ample they may seem. I trust in stone and steel and water. I trust in moats, ser, and mine will not go dry"".

""What your father said, that's well and good"", said Dunk, ""but it doesn't give you the right to take Osgrey water"".

She tugged her braid. ""I suppose Ser Eustace told you that the stream was his"".

""For a thousand years"", said Dunk. ""It's named the Chequy Water. That's plain"".

""So it is"". She tugged again; once, twice, thrice.

""As the river is called the Mander, though the Manderlys were driven from its banks a thousand years ago. Highgarden is still Highgarden, though the last Gardener died on the Field of Fire. Casterly Rock teems with Lannisters, and nowhere a Casterly to be found. The world changes, ser. This Chequy Water rises in the Horseshoe Hills, which were wholly mine when last I looked. The water is mine as well. Maester Cerrick, show him"".

The maester descended from the dais.

He could not have been much older than Dunk, but in his gray robes and chain collar he had an air of somber wisdom that belied his years. In his hands was an old parchment. ""See for yourself, ser"", he said as he unrolled it, and offered it to Dunk.

Dunk the lunk, thick as a castle wall. He felt his cheeks reddening again. Gingerly he took the parchment from the maester and scowled at the writing. Not a word of it was intelligible to him, but he knew the wax seal beneath the ornate signature; the three-headed dragon of House Targaryen.

The king's seal. He was looking at a royal decree of some sort. Dunk moved his head from side to side so they would think that he was reading. ""There's a word here I can't make out"", he muttered, after a moment. ""Egg, come have a look, you have sharper eyes than me"".

The boy darted to his side. ""Which word, ser?"" Dunk pointed. ""That one? Oh"". Egg read quickly, then raised his eyes to Dunk's and gave a little nod.

It is her stream.

She has a paper. Dunk felt as though he'd been punched in the stomach. The king's own seal. ""This… there must be some mistake. The old man's sons died in service to the king, why would His Grace take his stream away?"""

"""If King Daeron had been a less forgiving man, he should have lost his head as well"".

For half a heartbeat Dunk was lost. ""What do you mean?""

""She means"", said Maester Cerrick, ""that Ser Eustace Osgrey is a rebel and a traitor"".