He found a place to be by himself. To clear the emotional turmoil inside his chest and to think. A little courtyard surrounded by trees. He always felt calm and comfortable around trees, unfortunately they were a rare sight down south in and around the capital.

He sat down in the cool shade and buried his face in his palms, hiding from the world, expelling it from his senses.

He could see nothing but her face. Her smile. The smile on her lips when he had held her close, completely overwhelmed by the surprise of her visit to King's Landing. The smile she had given him just before she left again. It reminded him of the look on her face whenever she had told him that she was again carrying a child. He vividly remembered the moment she had told him about Rickon. He had been unable to think of what the birth of his sixth child would mean back then. He had been overflowed with joy, just like her. Good times, he thought. They might have been the happiest of his life. It had been the long days of summer. War was nothing but a distant memory. Their four older children were growing up splendidly, and they were together. As if nothing could tear them apart, ever again.

And there he was. Not even knowing how many leagues separated him from his love. Was she happy? Was she scared? Was she quietly humming to her unborn again, those songs that even Robb still remembered and cherished to this day?

If he could just hold her now. Like he had done when she was here. It was his fault all alone. All those years he had been meticulously watching the moon, night by night. And suddenly she had won him over with a single tender look from her steel blue eyes. A sea he could drown in, time and time again.

It took a while for him to notice the presence of his visitors.

"I do believe, congratulations are in order", Varys said after he had finally lifted his head to look at them.

Petyr added: "You Starks really are a fertile lot, aren't you… Impressive!"

„Unthinkable what could happen to your poor lady wife if the council found out that she had been here in King's Landing. Just a short while ago…"

They came to stand side by side right in front of him, looking down on him as he finally cleared his throat to speak.

"No one must know. Do you hear me?"

It was more of a desperate plea than the order of a man of power. He had never felt more helpless than this very moment.

"Why are you even so worried?", Varys asked, the very false compassion vibrating in his voice that he mastered so skillfully, "You certainly won't believe in the Prophecy of the Seven, do you?"

"I don't. But that doesn't matter as long as there are enough men with swords and daggers who do. Who else saw her when she was here?"

"A few of my girls", Petyr said, "But they have no idea who she was. And the two men of the City Watch who brought her to me."

He sighed: „And what about them?"

"They will not say a word unless I allow it."

"Even if a substantial reward is on the line?"

"This information is invaluable, that is true", said Varys, "But maybe not as crucial as one shall think. The queen and Ser Jaime will convince the king to take actions against your wife, regardless of the true identity of the child's father - just to be sure! If only for taking revenge for what she has done to their brother."

He frantically shook his head: "They must not… They cannot!"

"Oh, don't worry, Mylord! They might only take the child. She will lose an amount of blood… But she should be fine."

"Littlefinger!", he begged, not daring to listen to it, "You made a promise to her. You must help me protect her!"

"Rest assured that I will do the best that I can", Petyr nodded as they turned to leave again, "If I can… Not only for her. But also for the sheer joy of watching all the humiliating looks on people's faces you will earn when this alleged bastard child is born."

Ned did not respond. He did not even care. He remained sitting there, his hands clenched around each other in his lap.

"I just miss her so much…", he whispered, certainly more to himself than the other two.

But Petyr turned around to look down at him, and with a weary smile answered: "Dreadful feeling… isn't it?"