Ned's letter reaches people, and causes consequences...
TYGETT
"I have news from Eddard Stark," he said to Gerion and Genna as they sat in Tywin's old solar. Now Tyrion's in theory. He breathed in, harshly. Gods, this was tough to read. "King's Landing is naught but ash and… And… Tywin, Kevan and Jaime are dead."
Gerion fell back in his chair, looking lost, whilst Genna's eyes widened and watered.
"He has to be lying," Gerion stood up and paced. "They… They can't be dead."
"Eddard Stark has already earned a reputation for taking his foster's words seriously," Genna said, quietly, turning to look at their brother in the eye. "He wouldn't lie, this is almost too preposterous to be a lie, even."
"He adds," Tygett continued, swallowing as he did. "That only a hundred people have survived, and none of the buildings, documents or any other important items survived the blast. He also councils us to get ready for a missive calling for a Great Council."
"Who could they name King, Viserys? The boy from same family that burned King's Landing?" Genna snorted in derision.
"...They're probably calling for Robert Baratheon to be king," he pointed out. "He is both the blood claimant, and he has the throne by right of conquest."
"Conquest? He has no capital to rule from!" Gerion exclaimed. "Worst than that, he doesn't even have a damned throne to sit on!"
"...He does have the Tullys, Starks and Arryns under his banner. He also will probably be able to negotiate with those gods be damned Reachlords." Tygett retorted. "The Dornish have always wanted independence, and now they can have it."
"We're thinking far too simply," Genna spoke. "We are still one of the wealthiest kingdoms in the Seven Kingdoms-"
"Being ruled by a child," the youngest of them interrupted, causing Genna to glare at him harshly.
"That doesn't matter," he said. "I will have to be Regent anyway. This will give us time to solidify the Westerlands, and let us give the best possible education for Tyrion."
His sister gazed at him as if he was a curious thing, which made him scowl. Just because Tywin was the one who crushed the Reynes and Tarbecks, didn't mean that he didn't know how to run a lordship.
"What about Cersei?" Gerion asked. "She will be heartbroken by the news… I don't want her to take this out on Tyrion - the boy is already too bookish and withdrawn."
"I'll take care of her," their sister stated. "She listens to me, even if reluctantly."
"And what shall I do?" Gerion questioned, with a raise of his eyebrow.
"Help me with managing the Kingdom, smoothing over ruffled feathers…" Tygett replied, looking at his brother searchingly. "I know that I am not the most charismatic man in the world, which is why I need you."
"So, are we now a council of three, managing the Westerlands from this solar?" Genna japed.
"It's natural, isn't it? It used to be Tywin and Kevan, and now it is us. It fits, methinks." Tygett replied, seriously.
"...I pray to the gods that we don't mess this up," he heard Gerion mutter, and he found himself reluctantly agreeing with him.
Was he heartless, he thought, as he heard Genna weep, and Gerion comfort her, that he felt a cold determination come over him?
RANDYLL
"Lord Mace has called all of the lords to meet with him outside of the walls of Storm's End. A letter from Eddard Stark has come, and Lord Mace wishes to read it with you and the other lords." One of his pages stated to him, bowing his head to the floor.
With a small grimace and a nod, Randyll began to put on his leather armor, and grabbed Heartsbane. One had to be prepared for anything after all.
As he glanced over the lords still feasting, and as he spied Baratheon's men standing on the battlements, starved but ready, he felt a surge of disgust rise at his own countrymen's lack of awareness. He was aware of the effect it had on their morale, however, and thus coldly discarded the thought.
"Ah, Lord Tarly!" Lord Mace exclaimed. "You were the last one to arrive, come, let us read what the rebel has written for us, today!"
"I was merely resting my lord," he said apologetically, yet neutrally.
"Well? Page? Would you please read it?" Mace asked, kindly if slightly arrogantly at the soft-faced boy. Randyll had never been particularly fond of him, but he was Mace's preferred server.
"O-okay, milord," the page said, unfolding the letter. "'I, Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell, address this letter to every lord in the realm. You may not believe me at first, but I swear on my word as a Stark, and on my fostering under Jon Arryn, that all I state here is true. It is rather tough to put this into words, but I shall try my hardest.
"Two days past, I was chasing the remnants of the Targaryen army, after their defeat at the Trident. As I approached the capital, I witnessed the catastrophic destruction of King's Landing, caused by wildfire, and its inherently unstable properties. The city is naught but ash, with nothing left but scrapped remnants of past city dwellers. I have no idea, why they were there. I am under the impression that Aerys, in his madness and obsession with wildfire, placed caches of the substance all around the city.
"Witness statements from the few survivors that we found back this up - they tell me that Aerys had been asking the pyromancers and local labormen to transport barrels of the stuff all around the city. When I had first seen King's Landing, I had seen Lannister banners being carried by bannermen in the city itself, and suspect that they were sacking the city in Robert's name, due to the fires I witnessed before the explosion of the wildfire. This is again, backed up by the same witnesses, who tell me that the Lannisters had already burned down a large portion of the south side when they had escaped, immediately before the wildfire explosion.
"I have found no bodies, and thus have deduced that the entire Lannister army, the city itself, except for the hundred or so survivors have been destroyed in the blast,
I can only give my solemn condolences to those who have lost people to this terrible action, at the end of an already bloody war.
"Signed, Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell.'"
Silence reigned for barely a few seconds, when a clamor of activity exploded in the clearing.
"The rebel must be lying! He has no proof! This is simply preposterous!" One of them shouted.
"Quiet, quiet!" Randyll bellowed, silencing them all in an instant. "We must consider this in full for a moment. Send scouts to the Crownlands, interrogate the lords of the Crownlands, and verify this information. This is what we must do. Do we have the permission of Lord Mace?"
"Y-yes, yes, you do!" The man quivered, causing Randyll to wrinkle his nose in disgust. This was his liege? He had stayed silent when the man had taken glory for his victory, knowing that it was an attempt to boost morale, and to keep his own position higher than his.
Now, he was starting to doubt his own duty.
Banshing the traitorous thoughts, he quickly gathered all of the lords who were willing to assist him in his endeavour, and began making plans.
For if Eddard Stark was correct, this meant that the political landscape, which had been stable for now, would be horrifically shaken up. The Tyrells had, after all, been brought into power by the Targaryens, and if they had truly been dethroned in such a manner…
He had a feeling that he might not enjoy these next few years. They were far too interesting, for him at least.
DORAN
It was when the letter had first arrived, by raven from Eddard Stark, especially addressed to him, that Doran had first felt something was wrong.
As he read over the letter, he felt his anger rise irrationally, as he thought that the man was describing too much of what happened in King's Landing, when he saw attached to the letter, was a small burnt bell, engraved with a sun looming over a red dragon's head that was only noticeable because someone had taken the time to remove the soot.
It was Rhaenys'.
The Prince of Dorne started sobbing uncontrollably, as the loss set in.
_BREAK_
Randyll's POV was a near total experiment. I tried to make him a bit more three dimensional, but I don't think I managed it.
Tygett is definitely going to be a recurring POV character. Maybe not as frequently as Ned, who is the de facto "protagonist", but that's kinda a given. The reason why the Lannisters don't doubt Ned as much as the Reachlords do, is twofold - they knew of Tywin's plans to attack King's Landing, and also, they are just a tiny bit more savvy in terms of Ned, then the Reachlords are.
Doran, is definitely going to be the wildcard character for the moment. Did Ned do the right thing, sending that bell to him? Well, only I know, but I guess that you guys could guess.
Another thanks to MartialLaw for beta-ing this chapter.