Royce Fairhart

## Appearance and Character

Lady Falyse is known to fondly liken her sworn protector, Ser Royce, to a feral dog. He does not have broad shoulders or rippling muscles. He is lean, sinewy, and rugged, built for battle, not boasting. His cold, hollow eyes appear grey at a distance, but are, in actuality, green and murky, like two fetid, festering pools in some dark, forgotten alley. The coarse, shaggy waves of faded grey-blonde hair that protrude from his battered helm match his brittle, wiry brows and the countless stunted needles of dry stubble that adorn his weathered face. His narrow, hooked nose is slightly crooked, having been broken precisely once when he was a boy, and his lips are thin and pale. His form is as harsh as his nature - though he has a distinct soft spot for children.

## History

Royce was born to Simon and Alyssa, a married couple in Weeping Town. Simon was a cobbler and Alyssa was a barmaid. Simon died in 357 AC, fighting for the crown in the War of White and Gold, leaving Alyssa and Royce to fend for themselves. To support himself and his mother, Royce became a petty thief.

Alas, Alyssa too died in 360 AC, stricken with consumption. Orphaned, desperate, and angry with the world, Royce turned to violent crime, earning a living through brute force. He eventually became a debt collector.

In 372 AC, Royce confronted Lord Gawen Tudbury, who had defaulted on his gambling debts. Recalling that Gawen had a daughter, he suggested that the Lord of Brownstone put her to work, potentially in one of Weeping Town's many brothels. This enraged Gawen and prompted a brief quarrel. Defending himself, Royce crushed Gawen's throat. While the lord choked on his own blood, his daughter, a girl of eight, emerged from the shadows and stabbed Royce in the leg, intent on avenging her father. Royce easily disarmed the girl, kicking her squarely in the chest, but was overcome with remorse. In her, he saw himself, an orphan reduced to naught but rage and pain. Repentant, he returned the knife to the girl, dropped to his knees, and bared his neck, offering her his life. Rather than killing him, however, she took him into her service. Her name was Falyse Tudbury, and she was Lord Gawen's only child and heir.

These events are described in verse below:

*His father died and rots forgotten*

*Beneath placid grassy fields*

*Leaving behind a son besotten*

*With crime and all it yields*

*At first he stole for his dear mother*

*Till the cold stole her breath*

*He swore he'd never love another*

*Nor would he fear his death*

*And so a boy became a man*

*And a man became a beast*

*And without the chains of loving hands*

*His wrath was free to feast*

*Of all the many men consumed*

*By his voracious ire*

*The last he so blithely entombed*

*Was himself a lord, and sire*

*While the young lord choked on broken bones*

*And Eygon claimed his gold*

*A girl emerged with eyes that shone*

*With fire, burning cold*

*In tiny hands she clutched a knife*

*Almost as big as she*

*And hoping to avenge a life*

*She slashed where she could reach*

*Eygon seized her by the arm*

*And stole away her steel*

*But he did to her no further harm*

*And his heart began to feel*

*He saw himself, a boy alone*

*Furious at the world*

*He felt compelled to then atone*

*For orphaning that girl*

*He fell to his knees and bared his throat*

*And returned the girl her knife*

*And decreed 'Though I am hardly worth a groat'*

*I offer you my life'*

*And so the girl took his offer*

*Though not as he intended*

*It was life, not death, he had proffered*

*And she needed to be defended*

*She placed her knife upon his shoulder*

*And then upon the other*

*She named him her sworn soldier*

*For she had no father, and no brother*

After saving money for a few months, Royce booked passage for himself and Falyse to return to Brownstone. Shortly thereafter, they moved to Storm's End, where Falyse was warded. Falyse's mother, Angelica Storm, was the bastard daughter of Lord Arlan Baratheon's uncle, Gowen, and was raised in Storm's End. As such, she and her family were welcomed as kin.

Royce remained with Falyse until 378 AC. During this time, he and Falyse's mother were intermittently entangled. She was unaware that Royce had murdered her husband, as Falyse had instead claimed that Royce was a personal friend of her late father, who had avenged his death. This lie wore at Royce, but he bore it, for Falyse's sake.

In 378 AC, Royce left Storm's End to fight for the fate of Westeros in the War of the Last Dragon. He was an able-bodied man with martial prowess and therefore had no choice in the matter. By the time he returned in 381 AC, he had been knighted for his service, and he had taken a deserter of the enemy into his care. She was a Myrish girl named Naemyra, one year younger than Falyse, who had come to Westeros as a medic in service of the enemy but was abandoned during a retreat. Royce protected her from Westerosi soldiers who intended to rape her, and she remained with him from then onward. Upon arriving at Storm's End, she became Lady Falyse's handmaiden and personal healer.

Shortly after the end of the war, Lady Falyse decided it was time to return home and assume her duties as Lady of Brownstone. Accompanied by Ser Royce, her mother, and Naemyra, Falyse returned to the island of Maid Monty and relieved her grandmother, Seryse Penrose, of her duties as regent.

In 382 AC, Falyse discovered Royce's affair with her mother. Adamant that her mother would not disgrace her fragile reputation with such promiscuity, she compelled the two to wed. To render him worthy of her mother, she granted Royce a guard tower and a negligible plot of land on Maid Monty, elevating him to the status of landed knight. He took the name Fairhart, in reference to his pale hair and Angelica's Baratheon heritage. Later that year, Angelica bore him a son, which he named Simon, in honor of his father.

Ser Royce Fairhart remains in service of Lady Falyse Tudbury, acting as her sworn protector, as well as castellan of Brownstone. He often fulfills the duties expected of a captain-of-the-guard and a master-of-arms as well.

## Recent Events

**383 AC, 1st moon:** Ser Royce accompanies his wife, stepdaughter, and company on a voyage to King's Landing. They visit Tarth and Stonedance along the way.

## Family

* Simon the cobbler, his father. Died in 357 AC fighting in the War of White and Gold

* Alyssa the barmaid, his mother. Died in 360 AC, stricken with consumption.

* See House Tudbury family tree for House Fairhart