Blood and Shadows (Game of Thrones)

Robb

Winterfell had become much quieter since father, the girls, and Jon and Jeyne had left. There was less hustle and bustle about his home, it was almost eerily quiet, and then someone had sent an assassin to try and kill Bran, and mother had gone to King's Landing to tell father about the attack and bring the people behind the attack to justice. Despite this there was much work that still needed to be done around Winterfell, and as such Robb found that he spent most of his waking hours talking with the men of the castle seeing to restoration work of the library tower, and taking daily reports from the guards and Theon about the security in the castle, he did not wish for there to be anymore unsuspecting attacks on himself or his family.

All of this work often meant that he had very little time to actually spend with either his wife or his baby brother Rickon. As such though he was very grateful for Alys and her understanding, she spent most of her day with Rickon making sure that he went to his lessons and generally stayed out of trouble. Of course, when they both had some spare time in the evenings once dinner had been had and Rickon had been put to bed, they spent time with each other and coupled. It was quite a nice experience and Robb could now fully understand why Theon would often speak about it so often. As of yet though their coupling had yet to produce a child, but Robb was not too concerned about that for they had plenty of time, and with father still alive, they would not need to have children for some time. No Robb liked to spend the time he had with his wife, merely enjoying her body simply because he could and because he liked her, a lot. He had known Alys since they were six when she had come with her father when Lord Karstark had come visiting for "official business" she had since told him that he had come there hoping to get a betrothal between her and him. Of course that had finally happened some years later when he had turned ten and three.

Since then she had spent more time visiting Winterfell and he had gotten to know her. His wife was a very good looking, and very energetic. She reminded him of a slightly older version of Arya, albeit a much more prettier and of course nicer version of Arya, and she was of course not his sister. "What are you day dreaming about husband?" he heard his wife ask, amusement evident in her tone.

Robb grinned wolfishly and said. "Why you of course wife, come here." And with that he pulled her flush against him, and titled her head up and kissed her full on the mouth. He did not care that they were standing in the middle of the hall and that someone could see them, it seemed neither did his wife for she responded eagerly to his kiss and when he put his tongue into her mouth she groaned appreciatively, and then their tongues were locked together and he groaned into her mouth. Alys was the one to break the kiss, pulling away and grinning slyly when he groaned in protest.

"Now, now Robb. We can't have your reputation sullied now can we? Lords of Winterfell are meant to be grim and solemn, it would be bad for your image if people knew that Lords of Winterfell actually had some feelings." She laughed.

Robb grinned again, but also blushed and was about to respond when Maester Luwin came approaching from Bran's room. The maester was breathing heavily, and he took a moment to stop and collect his breath. Then he spoke. "My lord, I came as soon as I could. I think you might want to come to Lord Brandon's room."

He felt his chest tighten then, Alys came and squeezed his hand reassuringly and asked. "What's happened? Is Bran okay?"

Maester Luwin nodded and said. "He has woken, my lord, my lady."

Robb looked at Alys and smiled at her. Then he looked at Maester Luwin and told him to lead the way. He and Alys followed Luwin to Bran's room, where Old Nan was sitting fast asleep in a rocking chair beside the bed. Bran was lying propped up with his head against a pillow, his direwolf lying stretched out across the foot of his bed. Robb looked at Bran and smiled. "Bran! How are you feeling?"

Bran looked like he wanted to cry. "I can't feel my legs Robb. Why can't I feel my legs?"

Robb sighed, Alys squeezed his hand reassuringly and he spoke. "You fell Bran, you fell from the broken tower."

Bran looked indignant as Robb suspected he might. "I didn't fall! I never fall!"

Robb sighed again and this time said in a more comforting tone. "You did Bran, but it's not your fault."

Then Bran looked up from where he was on the bed. Robb turned to see Maester Luwin walking into the room with Rickon, who immediately bounded up and hugged Bran, Shaggydog nipped playfully and Bran's as yet unnamed direwolf. Bran looked at Robb again and asked in a small voice. "Where's mother Robb? I remember her being here, I heard her speak to me. I thought she would be here?"

Robb felt his heart tighten, Bran sounded so scared and frightened. "Mother was here Bran. She stayed beside your bed for as long as she could. But she had to go and see father about something. She'll be home soon." He couldn't tell his brother the truth as to why mother had gone south. Not yet atleast, not until Bran was better, not until he felt better, of that much he was certain of.

"Oh," Bran said and he sounded so small and tired.

"We'll be back later, shall I leave you here with Nan and Rickon?" Robb asked.

Bran nodded and then said something in such a quiet voice, that Robb wasn't sure what he had said and so he asked his little brother, and Bran responded. "Summer, my direwolf is called Summer."

Robb nodded then walked out of the room with Alys, to go and think about other things. As the days passed and turned into weeks, and still mother did not come back to Winterfell, Robb began to worry but Alys said that perhaps she was simply spending time with Sansa and Arya as well, and so Robb did not think too long and what her continued absence might mean. Bran continued to improve, he was no longer so frail as he had been when he first woke up, he no longer slept for most of the day, and was able to travel about the castle on Hodor's back, he seemed to be in a better mood because of it, though Robb knew that Bran still felt sad that he could no longer walk nor climb. Bran could not remember much of what had happened before he had fallen, he remembered climbing the broken tower, but he had no memory after that, not until he had woken up in his bed.

Robb had asked him twice, and then after the second time had gone to Maester Luwin and asked him his thoughts on the matter. The maester said that it was not unusual for a person who had experienced a shock or a traumatic even to have memory lapses, and Bran's fall certainly classed as a traumatic experience and so Robb let it slide, determined to wait for mother to come back from King's Landing until he asked any more questions, if all went according to plan mother would come back with the answers and they would not have to worry about it anymore. Just to make absolutely sure though, Robb often went to the broken tower with Alys and Theon to see if there could be any clues as to whom or what might have caused Bran's fall.

Robb had spent many a time during his own childhood hiding and playing in the Broken Tower with Jon and Theon, and occasionally Jeyne when her health permitted it. It was a good place to hide, for no one really ever came there. As they looked around the edges of the tower where Jon had found Bran, they saw nothing of note, though Greywind did begin to whine softly the further up the tower they got. Until they were at the top of the tower, in a place that Robb knew had once been a solar, and there hidden amongst the rubble of the tower they found a single golden curl.

A few days after they had found the golden curl, Bran told him that Sansa's direwolf Lady had been killed, when asked how he knew this, Bran simply said that Summer knew that his sister was no longer there, and it seemed Greywind and Shaggydog knew this as well for they howled for hours, and then later that night a raven came from their father on the Kingsroad to tell them that there had been an incident on the Kingsroad involving Sansa, Arya, a butcher's boy and Prince Joffrey, and that Lady, Sansa's direwolf had been executed. Robb had the suspicion that there was something more to this story, and he had a sneaking feeling that it had more to do with Joffrey being a prick than his father let on. He still remembered how Joffrey had looked down upon Winterfell and the north, the whole time he had been here, and he also remembered how the prince had insulted Jon and Jeyne's mother as well as Jeyne, and he remembered how Jon had beaten the prince bloody, and then because the prince had run sobbing to his mother, Jon had been forced to go to the Wall with Uncle Benjen, when Robb had been convinced Jon would either stay in Winterfell or go back south with Aunt Ashara and Jeyne.

Then Tyrion Lannister came to Winterfell. Given what his mother had said, and the golden curl they had found in Winterfell, Robb thought that he could be excused for being suspicious of why the imp was in Winterfell, especially when he began asking Bran all sorts of questions. "My brother is not here for your questioning, Lannister." Robb said in his lord's voice.

The imp's eyes had quirked with amusement and he had then continued questioning Bran about his fall, and what he remembered about it, from the way he was asking his questions Robb got the feeling that perhaps the imp was blameless in the attack on Bran, and that perhaps he should bring his suspicions to him. A feeling that was further enforced when the imp presented a design for a saddle that would allow Bran to ride a horse comfortably once more. Robb tried to apologies for his earlier briskness by offering the imp a room in Winterfell, but the man declined and instead said that he would be spending the night in a brothel.

Once Lord Tyrion had left the great hall, Robb began speaking with Yoren the man who had come the Wall. He asked him about how Jon was getting on and how uncle Benjen was doing. Yoren's eyes quirked with amusement and something that might have been pride when he spoke of Jon. "Lord Sand eh. Aye Lord Sand is getting on just fine. He's made a few friends I believe, an aurochs, a pig and a bunch of halfwits. But aye he's a good lad, stubborn too and proud, but quiet as well. Aye he's getting on fine. Your uncle Benjen, I could not say. He went out on a ranging before I left; last I heard he hadn't returned."

Robb thanked Yoren and then once dinner was done for the night, helped escort Bran and Rickon to bed, and listened as Alys told them both a story to help them sleep and then as they entered their rooms Robb voiced his thoughts from earlier in the day. "I think I might tell Lord Tyrion about our suspicions, what do you think my lady?"

Alys looked up from the mirror where she was brushing her hair for bed and said. "I believe you should mention the golden curl, but nothing more. Let Lord Tyrion figure it out for himself. But it is up to you Robb."

Robb smiled at her then and walked over to her and pulled the brush from her and began brushing her hair himself. As he brushed, he heard his wife hum and then she said. "Robb, I have something that I want to tell you."

Robb ceased brushing his wife's hair and put the brush on the table, and then looked at her. "Go on Alys."

Alys gave him a nervous smile then and said. "I think I might be pregnant."

Jon

The wall was not like anything he had expected. He had thought that the Wall would be just like it had seemed in the stories Old Nan had told him and his sister and cousins when they were children. He realised now that he had wanted it to be like that, so that he could justify why he had left his sister and his mother behind. After he had punched Joffrey and been brought before the king, he had been confined to his room, but then he had been called before the king once more, except this time the Queen was there as was Joffrey, and the little blonde haired shit, had lied to his father and mother and told them how Jon had attacked him like a savage and that he had merely been having a polite conversation with Jeyne. Jon knew that neither his uncle nor the king believed what the prince was saying and yet because Queen Cersei was there, the king had to believe what Joffrey had said, and had told Jon that it was a grievous thing to assault the heir to the iron throne, and that in the days of the Targaryens one who struck a royal would lose the offending limb, but the King's mouth had quirked with anger as he said the name Targaryen and Jon had hoped briefly that he would get free, but then the king had said that whilst he was no barbarian, Jon would have to suffer the consequences of his actions and would have to take the black.

Jon agreed to take the black, though that was no longer what he had wanted to do. He knew how ill Jeyne was, he knew that he was needed in Starfall if not Winterfell. His mother needed him there, to help her look after Edric, Allyria and Jeyne. His family needed him, and yet here he was stuck in the far north, stuck with thieves and rapists and men without honour and cravens. Here he was at the place where he had thought he could make a name for himself, and here he was stuck until the end of his days, for though he had not yet taken his vows he knew that he could not flee from the Watch not now, not now that he was here. He had learnt many things from his time in Winterfell, and he knew that he could not shame his uncle, he would not do that, his name might be Sand but the blood of the Starks ran through his veins and if this was to be his fate, so be it. He would accept it and he would do what he could to make the best of it. He only hoped that he could have time to visit his mother and Jeyne and perhaps attend Allyria's wedding.

He had gotten along well with Lord Tyrion. A bastard and an imp, what a company they made. Jon had found that he liked the Imp best of the Lannister siblings, whereas the Queen and the Kingslayer seemed to be full of them and considered anyone else not of their family to be beneath them, Tyrion was a laugh. He traded japes easily and gave as good as he got. And he was one of the few people who had not seemed to find Jeyne a pitiful girl in the King's party, something that had greatly endeared him to Jon, for Jon had even heard the king say something about Jeyne's ill health, and he had been so tempted to skewer the king for saying that, how dare the man, the fat oaf, the child killer question the worth of his sister.

It had been Tyrion who had turned the boys, the new recruits from trying to kill Jon, into some of his best friends. Tyrion had opened Jon's eyes to the reality of their situation, whilst he may have been a bastard, he had been fortunate to grow up in Starfall and Winterfell where he had received some very good tuition in swordsmanship and weaponry, whereas these boys had had little to none, and had no one to teach them. And Tyrion had told him his mismatched eyes serious for once, "Let us be honest here Jon. Allister Thorne is not the best of teachers. Should the wildlings ever strike south in great force, these boys will be the first ones to die. It would do them some good to have a teacher who did not hate them as such." He had looked at Jon then, and it had seemed like his eyes were looking into the depths of Jon's soul. Jon had agreed to change his approach to and had soon taken to showing his fellow recruits: Pyp, Grenn, Dareon, Halder and the rest, the lessons he had been taught by Ser Rodrik and his sister's sworn sword Ser Arthur. That earnt him the scorn of Ser Thorne, but it had also earnt him the respect and friendship of those who had formerly been his enemies and foes.

The Sam had arrived. Big, fat and with so many chins he could have beaten King Robert with them, Samwell Tarly came from the Reach the eldest son of Randyll Tarly Lord of Horn Hill, he had taken the black to spare his father the embarrassment of having a craven for an heir. Try as he might, Jon just could not seem to get Sam to fight properly without blubbering like a baby. Initially his friends had wanted to have some fun with Sam, but one quick word from him and they had all taken to Sam and were now protecting him from Thorne's brutality. He dearly hoped that Sam would learn quick enough, that in this place filled with rapers and thieves and men with no honour, it would do no good to be a craven, that was a lesson Jon had learnt the hard way and something he intended to make sure that Sam never had to suffer.

Before Tyrion had left the wall for his journey back south, Jon had received a raven from Winterfell writ in Robb's hand that told of how Bran was awake. It also mentioned of how an assassin had tried to kill Bran whilst he was still unconscious, and how Bran's direwolf- which he was calling Summer- had saved him and aunt Catelyn. Jon had been deeply concerned by that, and his concerns were heightened even more when he saw that Robb wrote that they suspected that the Lannisters had had a part to play in Bran's fall and may haps even the attempt on his life. Jon had spoken with Tyrion the night before the man was due to leave for the south, he had not mentioned Robb's suspicions, only that he hoped that Tyrion could do what he could to make Bran's life easier, now that he was awake. He also asked him to make some of his own enquiries as to why Bran fell. Tyrion promised him that he would do just that and would find a way to tell Jon what he had found. When he watched Tyrion leave the next day, Jon had felt slightly more comfortable with himself. He knew Tyrion would stay true to his word, he could only hope nothing ill befell him.

That had left Jon on his lonesome with his new friends. For his uncle Benjen had left the day before Tyrion had, to go on a ranging north of the wall to discover what had become of Wymar Royce and the ranging party he had led north of the wall some months ago. His uncle had left some two weeks ago, and had yet to return. Jon was not too worried though, for he had spoken to old Maester Aemon about some of the rangings that had happened in the past, and the old maester had told him that it often took many moons for a ranging party to return from the north, for they had to make especially certain that nothing followed them when they returned. A system that had been started by the first Lord Commander that old Aemon had served under, one Lord Commander Dayne.

It was getting closer to the time when the new recruits- including Jon- would have to swear their vows, and Jon was determined to do it in front of the heart tree in the godswood north of the wall. He might have been born in Dorne, but he felt more of a connection with the old gods, the ones he felt had true power, at least in the north. The Old Bear had read out where the recruits would be going, and Jon had been desperately hoping that he would become a ranger like his uncle Benjen, and so had been deeply disappointed when the Old Bear read out his name for the stewards. And then when he was told by old Maester Aemon that he would be the Old Bear's steward he had been even more disappointed. And then Sam had told him that meant that the Old Bear was grooming him for leadership, perhaps to be a future lord commander. Jon had looked at Sam then, at his friend's big smiling face and had felt like punching it, and punching it hard. He did not wish to be Lord Commander in the future, hell he didn't even want to be a man of the Night's Watch, the more he thought about it the more he was certain he wanted to be in Starfall with his mother and Jeyne. He missed them terribly, even more than he missed his cousins, though he did briefly wonder how Sansa and Arya were getting on in King's Landing, and whether or not Arya still had that little Bravo's blade he had give her.

Then the day came for him to swear his vows. He rode out with Sam, Grenn, Pyp and Halder and several of the senior men of the Night's Watch past the wall and to the nearby Godswood. He knelt before the heart tree and before instructed to say the vows, said a quick prayer to the old gods, to his father's gods, to his uncle's gods. Please make me strong enough to accept this hand I have been given. Please give me the strength to do what is right. The old Bowen Marsh told them to say their vows, and as the wind blew in something fierce and caused the branches of the heart tree to sway, their voices rang out as unison. "Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, and father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honour to the Night's Watch, for this night and all nights to come."

Then when they had all said their words, Bowen Marsh spoke "You came here boys, rapers, thieves, and bastards. Rise now as men and brothers of the Night's Watch."

And so they did, they rose from their position next to the heart tree, Jon said a quick prayer and then their fellow brothers were there to congratulate them and welcome them officially to the brotherhood. As Jon shook hands and accepted congratulations, and even as he rode back to Castle Black he could not help the strange sense of foreboding that seemed to have recently have formed in his mind, as he had said his vows, he could have sworn he felt a chill creep up on him and he could have sworn he heard the wind whisper his name.

He dismissed the thoughts from his mind the minute he was back in Castle Black, and made his way to the Lord Commander's Tower and his own room. The Old Bear would likely have no need for him tonight. He fell asleep with the fire roaring in the hearth, and Ghost curled up next to him on the bed. When he awoke, the fire had died out and Ghost was at the door his teeth bared.

"What's wrong Ghost?" Jon asked, his eyes still groggy from sleep. Ghost just kept his teeth bared, and began pawing at the door. "What's wrong Ghost?" Jon asked again, Ghost kept pawing at the door, then turned to look at him and began whining. "Is there something outside boy?" Ghost turned back to the door and began nudging it with his head. Jon relented and opened the door, Ghost sped off down the hall. Jon called after him and raced after him, and found Ghost pawing at the Lord Commander's door.

He heard footsteps from the other side of the door. "Lord Commander? " Jon asked. There was no response. The footsteps seemed to be getting heavier, Jon called out once more, still no response, next to him Ghost whined louder and louder. Jon called out once more and when he got no response he put his whole body behind him as he shoved down the door. And what he saw scared him senseless. The dead black brother who had turned up outside the castle gates that morning, was walking around looking for the Lord Commander's room no doubt. Jon was so shocked he knew not what to do. Ghost however, it seemed did for he leapt into the air and Jon watched stunned as man and wolf went falling to the ground. Ghost ripped the thing's throat open, but all that did was annoy the thing more. It shoved Ghost off and staggered drunkenly toward Jon. Jon stood there frozen, watching the dead black brother advance toward him. Just as it was about to reach him, Ghost pounced on it from behind and brought it down.

Then Jon felt a cold hand grip him and turned to see the other dead black brother staring at him with ice blue eyes. Jon unfroze and shook the brother off and quickly drew his longsword, and began hacking and slashing at the creature but to no avail. Whenever he cut it, the creature simply kept moving toward him until it knocked the sword from his hand, and they fell to the floor wrestling each other. Jon feared he would be crushed under the sheer weight of the dead black brother- he had been a big man in life- close to him he heard Jon tearing into the other black brother, and out the corner of his eye he saw a lamp nearby that looked close to falling.

It took all his strength, but he managed to flip the dead black brother over his head and so that when he fell, the lamp fell onto him burning him instantly, and Jon watched as he staggered to his feet, as the dead black brother burnt and was reduced to ash. Ghost was still tearing into the other dead black brother nearby, but Jon saw the Old Bear standing in the doorway to his room still in a dressing gown a lamp in his hand, his eyes groggy. "What in the seven hells is going on?" the old bear asked, his voice laced with tired anger.

Before Jon could answer the dead black brother pushed Ghost off of him, and staggered drunkenly upward and toward the Old Bear. Jon tried to shout a warning but to no avail, it seemed his tongue had disappeared. Instead he lunged forward and took the lamp from the Old Bear's hand, and threw it at the advancing black brother. The dead brother caught fire, and Jon watched him burn and prayed that that would be enough, he looked down to see Ghost panting heavily beside him, and then the fire began to spread.

The next day, the Lord Commander's tower was a shadow of what it had been before, parts of it had been burnt by the fire that had killed the two wights. Jon's hand had been burnt during the final fire, as he had tried to help the Old Bear out of the room and out of the tower. They had succeeded, but Jon's hand had been as black as Shaggydog by the end of it, thankfully it was his left hand, so it was nothing too serious. And Maester Aemon had treated it and bandaged it and had said that with some luck and some time it would be fit to use once more.

The Lord Commander was housing himself in another part of Castle Black for the time being, and so Jon was also housed there. He had been called before the Old Bear this morning and as such had been attending to him for most of the day, and yet Jon could not help but think that there was something more the Old Bear wanted to say to him, what it was though he was not sure.

He was surprised when he opened the Lord Commander's door and found Maester Aemon standing in the doorway being helped by Sam. "Jon Sand?" Maester Aemon asked.

"Yes maester I'm here." Jon replied.

The maester smiled. "Good, help me into the room. The Lord Commander wished for me to come here."

Jon nodded and moved to grab Aemon's other hand and helped him walk and sit down in a chair by the fire. The Lord Commander entered the room at that moment. "Ah Aemon, you're here good. Sit Jon."

So Jon sat, in a chair next to Maester Aemon, Sam went to leave but Mormont bade him stay. Mormont coughed and then spoke. "You did well yesterday Jon. Quick thinking and reactions. Good work."

Jon blushed. "It was Ghost my lord, not me."

Mormont laughed. "Aye where is your direwolf?"

"Gone hunting." Jon replied.

"Ah mores' the shame. I had something I meant to give him. Anyway that can wait. I have something to give you." Jon watched as Mormont brought forth a sword in a sheath, and then passed it to Jon. "Unsheathe it Jon." Mormont said.

And so he did. He gasped when he looked at it. It was a longsword that much was clear, but it was not as big as Ice was, but it was bigger than Mormont's own sword Longclaw. It was coloured pure silver steel, with ripples of flame across it, and on its pommel was the head of a direwolf, a white one. "It's beautiful," Jon said in an awed tone.

"Good. I'm glad you like it Jon. It's yours." Mormont said.

Jon looked at the Old Bear confused. "But my lord," he began.

"But nothing," Mormont interrupted him. "You did the Night's Watch a great service last night, and this is your reward, take it. Aemon tell Jon the story of the sword."

Jon turned to Maester Aemon, as the maester took a deep breath and began to speak. "The sword you hold in your hand Jon, is called Winter's Fury. It once belonged to a former Lord Commander called Brynden. He gave the sword to your great grandfather's brother one Brandon Stark before he left for a ranging. The Lord Commander told him that he no longer had need of the sword and that it was for Brandon to do with as he pleased. Brandon Stark was honoured by the gift and so wielded the sword for many a year, until he died during a ranging some twenty years ago. The sword has been kept in Castle Black ever since."

"And you wish for me to have it?" Jon asked confused.

"Yes. It was once a Stark sword, and it is only right that a Stark should wield it once more."

Jon wanted to point out that he was not a Stark, that he was not even a Snow, he was a Sand. But looking at the expectant expression in Mormont's eyes and the hopeful one in Sam's he could do nothing more than simply nod and say, "Very well then. I'm honoured." And that was how he came to have his own Valyrian Steel sword.

Eddard

The journey to King's Landing had been long and tiring and not without incident. When Bran had fallen, he had begged Robert to delay his departure for a few days, but his friend- no the king- would not hear of it. And so Ned had had to leave Winterfell, and his wife and his sons without ever getting to say a proper goodbye to them. Catelyn had wept and wept when it had come time for him to go, she had begged him not to leave to say here in Winterfell with her and their sons, to tell Robert to go to the seven hells, and he had had to gently tell her he could not do that, he had to find whoever had killed Jon Arryn and bring them to justice, he had to help Robert run the realm and lessen Lannister influence. She had sniffed then and bade him a cold farewell, it still hurt to think about it.

Then there had been the incident in the Riverlands on the Kingsroad, with Arya, Joffrey, Sansa and the butcher's boy. Joffrey accused Arya and her direwolf of attacking him, and Arya said that Nymeria was simply defending her. They both gave counter stories, and Ned knew that Robert would be able to act against his heir in public, at least not with the Lannister woman present, and so he had asked Sansa to tell her side of the story. Ned had hoped that she might put her loyalty to her family before her feelings for Joffrey, but alas she was only a eleven year old girl, and she was scared too, and so she had spoken up for Joffrey much to Arya's discontent. The queen had ordered Lady executed, Ned had pleaded with Robert, such a measure was not necessary, Arya had already lost her direwolf, there was no need for Sansa to suffer, but Robert- the king- was so much different than Robert his friend. The boy he had grown up with would have never listened to Cersei Lannister, he would have been outraged at the injustice being heaped on Sansa, he would have refused to have Lady executed, but that Robert was not the same Robert that Robert had perhaps died when Lyanna had died. Robert allowed the execution to take place. Ned decided to do it himself, and Sansa he thought had not forgiven him for it, and that hurt too.

Throughout the rest of the journey to King's Landing his girls were not speaking to each other, Joffrey walked around with an arrogant swagger and the Queen seemed smug and happy with herself. The words Ashara had said to him before they had left Winterfell kept playing in his head- There is something wrong with that boy Ned. I know not what it is. But the fact that he would lie about something that we both know and that your child killing friend know happened, that is something not even Rhaegar or Aerys would do- Even though it chilled him to think of it, he admitted that her words did make sense. Joffrey had been beaten to an inch of unconsciousness by Jon when he had insulted Jeyne and Ashara, and Jon had had to take the black. Joffrey had done something wrong in the Riverlands, and the butcher's boy and Nymeria and Lady had paid for it. Ned saw the way Joffrey's eyes seemed to glow with menace whenever he spoke to Arya or Tommem or Myrcella, but when he was in front of Sansa and his lady mother he was the perfect gentlemen. Ned knew there was something wrong with the boy, but what it was he knew not.

They had arrived in King's Landing at roughly the same time that Jeyne and Ashara had arrived in Starfall- they had ridden with the Royal Party as far as Seagard, before boarding a ship and heading off to Starfall due to Jeyne's ill health- upon arriving in King's Landing Ned had found that he had his work cut out for him. He quickly discovered that Robert did not bother to attend small council meetings and instead preferred to spend his time drinking and whoring. It fell to Ned to deal with the huge debt that the throne had, it fell to him to settle disputes between this lord and that lord, and it fell to him to organise the foolish tourney that Robert had decreed be held in his honour as Hand.

All the while he was trying to find out more about who killed Jon Arryn, some of his investigations led him to speak with Pycelle about how Jon Arryn had suddenly fallen ill and whether or not poison may have been used. Varys told him to speak with Jon's former squire but that did not work out for the man was killed during the Tourney. Lord Baelish, a man Ned knew not to trust, led him down the path of looking at Robert's Bastards and pointed him toward a book he had been reading before he had died. A book about the heritages of the great houses and their lineages, at first it had seemed like nothing more than a dull read and he could not truly understand why Jon had been reading this book. Then Catelyn had come to King's Landing.

She came with a Valyrian steel dagger that she said had been used in an attempt to end Bran's life and hers the fact that she was still alive she said was mainly because of Bran's direwolf. She said that the man who had wielded the dagger had been hiding out in the stables of Winterfell for some time, and had likely come with Robert's party to Winterfell. Catelyn also told him that she believed that the Lannisters were behind Bran's fall and perhaps the attempt on Bran's life. Something that she became even more convinced of when Lord Baelish told them that the dagger in question had once belonged to him, but had since switched hands to belong to one Tyrion Lannister just before Robert had ridden for Winterfell. That had convinced Catelyn, but Ned still had his doubts. Why would Tyrion wish to kill Bran if he had visited him in Winterfell and given him a gift, it made no sense, there had to be another reason for it. But Catelyn had been convinced that it was the Imp who had done it, and so he had relented but he had begged her before she had ridden off to be safe and to be careful.

Then Varys had brought news from across the narrow sea that Danaerys Targaryen was pregnant, and Robert had wanted her killed. Ned had argued fiercely against it, they were not child killers; Danaerys Targaryen was an innocent girl who had done no wrong against Robert or Ned. She had not been the one to steal Lyanna away in the dead of the night, she had not whispered sweet words filled with love his sister, she had not been the one whose actions had caused the realm to bleed fifteen years ago, why should she pay the price then for her brother's folly? Robert would hear none of it, ever since they had heard that Rhaegar had taken Lyanna all those years ago, he held a deep seated hatred for all things Targaryen, a hatred that had not cooled even after fifteen years of peace on the Iron Throne. He said he wanted the girl, her child and her brother dead and he wanted them dead now. Ned could not believe what he was hearing, the Robert Baratheon he knew was not a child killer, but then he thought on what Cat had told him in Winterfell those many moons ago, the Robert who sat before him drinking and arguing and bellowing was not the Robert he had known as a boy, was not the man who he had fought beside during the rebellion, this man was a stranger to him and he wanted nothing to do with him. So he told Robert to do as he saw fit, and told him that he was resigning the handship.

Robert blustered and bellowed, but Ned walked out of the council chambers with a much freer conscience than he had walking into it that morning. He had asked Vayon to go looking for the fastest ship that could take himself and his girls home. And he had thought perhaps on the way back they could stop in Dragonstone and he could speak with Stannis Baratheon and see what it was that he and Jon Arryn had been researching when Jon had died and Stannis had fled. Then Littlefinger had come and told him that he had something of import to show him, something to do with why Jon Arryn had been killed.

He led him to a brothel where a babe was suckling on her mother's teat. The babe was named Bella and there was no mistaking whose child she was. Robert's dark hair and blue eyes were evident in her face and Ned was taken back in time to the Vale and a similar girl whose name was Mya and whose mother had been some serving girl Robert had bedded at a feast, and soon forgotten about. "Are you well looked after child?" Ned asked Bella's mother. She was no older than Lya had been when she had died in a bed of blood.

"Yes, but please my lord tell him I've been with no other since, tell him I love him and that Bella loves him. You'll tell him won't you?" The girl asked. "Promise me you'll tell him." Promise me Ned.

Ned shivered in the warm summer light. "Aye I'll tell him."

Littlefinger led him out of the brothel and then turned to him. "Do you see it now, do you understand why you must stay here, why you cannot leave?"

Ned looked at the man, at Cat's friend he wanted to reply but found he could not and besides by the time he found the words to speak, another man was calling him.

"Lord Stark, what a delightful surprise." It was Jaime Lannister dressed gilded golden armour the lion of Lannister.

"Ser Jaime," Ned began. "What can I do for you?"

"I would have words with you." The man replied.

Ned looked around him, "Do these words require you to bring twenty armed men, can we not have discussion like civilised men?"

"That depends my lord," the Kingslayer replied.

"Depends? On what?" Ned asked.

"On why your wife has taken my brother hostage to the Vale."

Ned groaned, Cat what have you done, "Because I asked her to." He said.

"Very well then," Jamie Lannister drew his steel.

"I'll get help," he heard Littlefinger say.

Ned drew his own sword. Then it was the dance of steel on steel, a dance he had not had since the Tower of Joy. His sword clashed with Lannister men's swords he cut the throat of one man, he pierced the chest of another, he gutted the third. Beside him Jory Cassel, Wyl and Hullen fought the Lannister men. He had a distant memory of six wraiths fighting in the heat of Dorne many years ago, but he was torn from his memory by the sound of screaming he turned to see Hullen fall to the ground a sword through his throat. Wyl soon fell as well.

Jory was next; the Kingslayer pierced his throat with his gilded sword and tore him in two. Ned felt the rage, wolf's blood that he had never truly suffered from- not like Brandon and Lya- take a hold of him then, and he fought like a man possessed. He hacked and slashed at the Kingslayer; he nicked and dented the man's armour, just as the man nicked him. He cut the man across the check and was just about to lunge in for another strike when he felt a sharp pain in his leg, one of the Lannister men had buried their spear in his left leg.

He was forced to kneel down on the ground. He saw Jaime Lannister kill the offending man and then he felt the cold steel of the man's sword on his throat. "You have been warned Lord Stark."

The man rode off then galloping on his warhorse, perhaps back to Casterly Rock, Ned knew not, nor did he truly care. His leg hurt to high hell, he fell over trying to get to Jory, that was how Littlefinger and the City Watch found him, spread eagled on the ground his hand near Jory Cassel's face, blood pouring from the wound in his leg.