Chapter 26: The New King's Peace, The Hawk's Vigil
The Red Keep, stained with the blood of a fallen dynasty and the avarice of treacherous lions, slowly began to settle under the heavy hand of its new master, King Robert Baratheon. In the chaotic days following Aerys's death and the sack of the city, Darth Vorhax moved with the cold precision of a scavenger dissecting a fresh kill, securing his gains and positioning himself for the new era. His formal rewards for his undeniable contributions to Robert's victory were substantial: the confiscated lands of several minor Crownlands lords who had remained stubbornly loyal to Aerys were added to his already extensive holdings, granting him valuable territory closer to the capital. Royal charters, penned by a harried Grand Maester Pycelle (now serving his third king), granted House Vorant exclusive rights to exploit newly "discovered" (by Vorhax's keen senses and geological surveys) veins of tin and copper in the foothills of his Stormlands domains, crucial for bronze production and further diversifying his industrial base. Most prized, however, was the unrestricted access he was granted to the Red Keep's libraries and the surviving Targaryen archives – a treasure trove of ancient lore, Valyrian knowledge (however fragmented), and Westerosi history that Vorhax intended to plunder for any scrap of useful information or forgotten power.
His Obsidian Guard detachment, the fifty elite soldiers he had "gifted" to Robert, now served as his unofficial intelligence agency within the Red Keep. Under the discreet coordination of Will, who had established a network of informants amongst the castle's servants and lesser functionaries, they fed Vorhax a constant stream of information regarding the formation of Robert's Small Council, the King's moods, and the political currents swirling around the Iron Throne. Jon Arryn, as expected, was named Hand of the King, a voice of reason and stability Robert desperately needed. Stannis Baratheon, Robert's grimly dutiful brother, was tasked with the thankless but vital role of Master of Ships, ordered to build a royal fleet capable of crushing any remaining Targaryen loyalists at sea. Vorhax noted these appointments with satisfaction; Arryn was predictable, Stannis an implacable but currently occupied foe.
One of the first pressing matters for the new king was the ongoing Siege of Storm's End. Robert's ancestral seat was still encircled by the vast Tyrell host, its garrison under Stannis (before he was called to King's Landing, then later replaced by other loyal knights, though Stannis's earlier steadfast defense was what held it) slowly starving. King Robert, eager to relieve his birthplace and display his new royal authority, tasked Lord Eddard Stark with leading a powerful force south.
Vorhax, when consulted, offered a significant contribution of Stonefang iron – enough to forge new spearheads and arrowheads for Stark's entire relief army – and a vast tribute of grain from his bountiful Crow's Nest harvests to resupply the beleaguered castle. He declined, however, to commit a large contingent of his own elite troops, citing the "urgent need to pacify and secure his newly granted Crownlands territories and ensure the King's Peace is maintained against any lingering loyalist remnants or opportunistic bandits." It was a plausible excuse. His true motive, as always, was the preservation of his irreplaceable Obsidian Guard. He did, however, dispatch Brandon Snow and fifty of the Wolf Brigade to accompany Lord Stark, a symbolic gesture of support and a means of having his own eyes and ears present during the relief. He also provided Ned Stark with surprisingly accurate maps of the Tyrell siege lines around Storm's End, courtesy of Nyx's daring reconnaissance flights – information that would prove invaluable.
The Siege of Storm's End was lifted without further bloodshed. The Tyrells, hearing of Rhaegar's death, Aerys's fall, and the approach of Ned Stark's formidable army armed with fresh steel, had no appetite for a pointless battle against the victorious rebels. Mace Tyrell and Paxter Redwyne bent the knee, swearing fealty to King Robert. Stannis Baratheon, who had endured the siege for the better part of a year with grim fortitude, was lauded as a hero, though Vorhax's agents reported he was privately bitter that Robert later granted Storm's End itself to their younger brother, Renly, bestowing upon Stannis only the barren, storm-swept island of Dragonstone. This slight, Vorhax knew, would fester.
With the mainland largely secured, King Robert's gaze, and his burning hatred, turned towards Dragonstone, the last Targaryen stronghold. Queen Rhaella, Prince Viserys, and the newborn Princess Daenerys were there, protected by a handful of loyal knights. Stannis, as Master of Ships, was commanded to build the new royal fleet with all speed and sail to Dragonstone to capture or kill the remaining "dragonspawn."
Vorhax monitored this situation with intense interest. His visions had been clear about Daenerys Targaryen's future significance – a destabilizing force, a catalyst for future wars he intended to exploit. Her death now would alter those future probabilities. He subtly tasked his burgeoning network of Essosi contacts, cultivated through his clandestine Stonefang trade, to gather any intelligence regarding Dragonstone's defenses and the plans of Ser Willem Darry, the loyal knight charged with protecting the Targaryen children. He made no overt move to interfere, but he desired foreknowledge. He noted, with a Sith's appreciation for the currents of fate, the great storm that smashed Dragonstone on the night of Daenerys's birth, sinking much of the Targaryen fleet anchored there, and Rhaella's subsequent death in childbirth.
While Stannis's fleet was still under construction, Eddard Stark, his duty at Storm's End done, rode south into Dorne. Officially, he sought to lift the siege of Griffin's Roost, an unnecessary task after the Trident. Unofficially, he sought his sister, Lyanna. Vorhax's intelligence network, though its reach into Dorne was limited, picked up fragmented whispers of Stark's journey, of a confrontation at a remote tower, of a fierce battle with three knights of Aerys's Kingsguard – Ser Arthur Dayne, Ser Oswell Whent, and the Lord Commander, Ser Gerold Hightower. Then, silence, followed by the news of Lyanna Stark's tragic death. Vorhax knew the official story would be one of grief and loss. But he also knew, from the intensity of his Force visions surrounding Rhaegar and Lyanna, that there was likely more to this than a simple rescue and a sad demise. He tasked Will with uncovering every possible detail, every rumor, no matter how outlandish, surrounding Ned Stark's actions in Dorne and the true circumstances of his sister's passing. The parentage of the bastard son, Jon Snow, that Ned Stark would later bring back to Winterfell, was a variable Vorhax was intensely curious about.
With an uneasy peace settling over the Seven Kingdoms under King Robert's often boisterous but increasingly distant rule (he was already more interested in hunting, feasting, and wenching than in the tedious details of governance, leaving most of that to Jon Arryn), Vorhax returned to his own domains. He now ruled a significant swath of territory, from the iron-rich cliffs of Stonefang to the fertile plains around Crow's Nest, and extending into valuable tracts of the Crownlands. He focused on transforming this region into an unassailable bastion of power and productivity.
The Stonefang Ironworks became legendary, its techniques and output unmatched. Vorhax, drawing on his vast knowledge, introduced primitive Bessemer-like processes for steel production, resulting in even harder, more resilient metals. He established specialized workshops for advanced toolmaking, for the production of his hawk-helms and the unique articulated plate of the Obsidian Guard, and even for the grinding of lenses for crude telescopes and magnifying glasses – tools that gave his commanders and scholars a distinct advantage.
Agriculture flourished under his draconian but effective reforms. New roads, built with a Roman-like efficiency, connected his key settlements, facilitating trade and rapid troop movements. A formal training academy for the Obsidian Guard was established at Stonefang, instilling not just martial skill but also the harsh, disciplined ideology Vorhax was subtly cultivating. His small fleet of black longships grew, their crews handpicked for loyalty and seamanship, their purpose ostensibly coastal defense and trade protection, but also covert intelligence gathering and preparation for future amphibious operations. His wife, Lady Anya, gave birth to a second child, a daughter this time, further securing the Vorant line. Vorhax acknowledged the child with the same detached pragmatism as he had his son, his interactions with his family always secondary to his grander designs.
The end of the war inevitably brought a wave of lawlessness to some regions – disbanded soldiers turning to banditry, displaced peasants, opportunistic reavers. Vorhax crushed any such disorder within his own lands, and even in adjacent territories, with swift, brutal efficiency. His Obsidian Guard became known as "Hawk's Talons," descending upon troublemakers without warning, their justice swift and final. Some neighboring lords, unable to control their own lands, quietly ceded authority or sought Vorhax's "assistance," further expanding his de facto control.
With Robert now firmly on the Iron Throne, a period of relative stability, however superficial, seemed likely for some years. Vorhax knew this "King's Peace" was an illusion, a brief interlude before the next great storm. His Force visions had shown him the Greyjoy Rebellion, still some years distant, and beyond that, the cataclysmic War of the Five Kings. These were the events he was truly preparing for. The Greyjoy Rebellion would be another opportunity to test his forces on a larger stage, to gain further favor with the Crown, and to acquire more resources, perhaps even naval power.
Late one evening, as Vorhax was in his sanctum beneath Stonefang, examining an ancient Valyrian text on dragonlore he had "liberated" from the Red Keep's archives, a coded message arrived from one of his Essosi agents. It confirmed that Ser Willem Darry, with a handful of loyal retainers, had successfully evaded Stannis's nascent fleet during the chaos of Dragonstone's fall (after the great storm had already wrecked the Targaryen ships) and had spirited the young Prince Viserys and the infant Princess Daenerys Targaryen away to the Free City of Braavos.
A rare, cold smile touched Vorhax's lips. The last known dragons (barring any secrets Ned Stark might harbor) were now in the wind, seeds of future chaos sown across the Narrow Sea. Stannis would be blamed for their escape, further embittering him and perhaps creating exploitable friction with his brother, King Robert.
Vorhax looked at the Valyrian scroll in his hand, its glyphs hinting at forgotten powers, at fire and blood. The Targaryen dynasty was broken, but its legacy, its potential, lingered. He, Darth Vorhax, the Hawk Lord of this primitive world, was a patient predator. The King's Peace was merely a time for him to sharpen his talons, to weave his webs, to gather his strength. The real game, the game for ultimate dominion, had many moves yet to play. And he held the advantage of foresight.
(Word Count: Approx. 4400 words)