Kyle the Cat
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| Aliases |
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| Title | Ser | |||
| Allegiance | House Caswell | |||
| Born | Westeros[2] | |||
| Personal arms |
A silver cat facing to its left on a red field[3] (Gules, a cat contourny argent) | |||
| Book | The Mystery Knight (appears) | |||
Kyle, known as the Cat of Misty Moor or Kyle the Cat, was a hedge knight from Misty Moor.[1]
Contents
Appearance
Kyle was middle-aged, stout, and had flamboyant ginger facial hair. He wore formerly fine clothing, now tattered. He had good quality armor, but it was old and worn, with many dints and scratches.[1]
History
Ser Kyle once served House Caswell as a sworn sword. He claimed to have saved Lord Armond Caswell's life during the First Blackfyre Rebellion. He made the first sword for Armond's three-year-old son, Joffrey, carving a small wooden sword out of pine to fit his hand.[1]
Ser Kyle was one of several hedge knights headed to Lord Ambrose Butterwell's wedding at Whitewalls in 212 AC. He hoped to take part in the wedding tourney, and possibly win himself a place in service to a lord. Ser Duncan the Tall and his squire Egg, unable to stay at the old inn by the Gods Eye, found a hedge knights' camp in a ring of weirwood stumps. Kyle introduced himself and his fellows, Ser Maynard Plumm and Ser Glendon Ball, and they shared a meal and conversation about the politics of the day. During their talk, Kyle accidentally offended Ser Glendon when he referred to Blackfyre rebels as traitors, as Glendon claimed to be the bastard son of the great knight Quentyn "Fireball" Ball, who had supported Daemon I Blackfyre.[1]
As they waited for the ferry for the lake the next morning, Kyle tried to ingratiate himself with Lord Smallwood, who he claimed to know. At Whitewalls, Kyle looked to encounter Lord Joffrey Caswell, who fell asleep in his wine at the wedding feast. The morning after, Kyle had the luck to face Joffrey Caswell in his first joust of the tourney. Though it would be an easy win, Kyle planned to throw the match in order to compliment Lord Joffrey on his growth as a warrior, and become a Caswell man again. And so, though Joffrey's horse was slow, his lance was wobbly, and he barely struck Kyle's shoulder, the Cat fell off his horse into the dirt, just as planned.[1]
However, when Kyle came to Joffrey to pay the forfeit, and told him about how he had once made his first sword, Joffrey did not recognize him, and said there was no place at Bitterbridge for knights as feeble as Kyle the Cat had shown himself to be. He still took Kyle's arms, armor, and horse, since Kyle could not pay the ransom for them. Kyle expressed his regrets to Duncan, wondering what he would do at his age without a horse or arms. Though Dunk tried to reassure him, saying he would find employment soon, Kyle wished he had instead faced John the Fiddler, a chivalrous competitor who took no ransoms.[1]
During the tourney, the dragon egg meant to be a prize for the winner disappeared, and Ser Glendon was arrested for its theft. Duncan revealed in the great hall of Whitewalls that John the Fiddler was actually Daemon Blackfyre, Second of His Name, intended by his supporters to win the tourney, and that Glendon had been removed because he was a competitor who could not be bought off. Duncan demanded justice for Glendon, and while many in the hall claimed that all bastards were thieves and could not be trusted, Kyle supported Duncan's defense. Daemon agreed to joust with Glendon in a trial by combat to determine his guilt or innocence. When Glendon was brought up from the dungeons where he had been tortured, Kyle helped dress his wounds and got him ready for the lists.[1]
Glendon soon defeated Daemon, and the attempted Second Blackfyre Rebellion was dispersed by the surprise arrival of the Hand of the King, Brynden "Bloodraven" Rivers, and an army of riverlords and crownlands lords. Afterwards, Kyle waited for judgement, along with Duncan and Glendon. When Bloodraven questioned Dunk and Egg how they had been able to thwart the conspiracy all by themselves, Dunk said they had been helped by the hedge knights, including Kyle.[1]
Quotes
It's an old tale, the red dragon and the black. No sense for us to fight about it now, lad. We are all brothers of the hedges here.[1]
—Kyle, to Glendon Flowers
—Kyle, to Duncan the Tall
You're safe now. There's no one here but hedge knights, and the gods know that we're a harmless lot.[1]
—Kyle, to Glendon Flowers