Tensions Rise:

It hadn't been that long since the Tourney of the Hand and Eddard was glad that it was over. Now he might finally try and do his duties as Hand of the King. He was not use to the plots of the South and he had learnt from Littlefinger that the Queen had spies everywhere along with Littlefinger and Varys the Spider. Many of the important people had spies which spied on people who called them enemies. In the North, there was none of this spy business where the lords spied on each other though there were lords that hated each other.

Right now, Eddard was in his office as Hand of the King as he tried read through some papers. Varys the Spider was also in the room "How is your son my lord?" he asked as he closed a shutter on a window

"He'll never walk again" Eddard replied as he signed some papers. He had a lot of work to do since King Robert didn't do anything as King. A large tome also sat on his desk, it was a book he had gotten from Grand Maester Pycelle, this book had been read by Jon Arryn before he died and Eddard thought that it might explain why he had died. He feared that the Lannisters would have something to do with his death and there might be something in this book which showed that Jon Arryn knew something that would get him killed.

"But his mind is sound" Varys added

Eddard sighed as he looked up from his work "So they say" he stated

Varys closed the other shutter "A blessing then" he said "I suffered mutilation myself" he looked at Jory as he closed the door to Eddard's office "Some doors close forever, others open in most unexpected places" he then pointed to a seat "May I?"

Eddard sighed and nodded, he was getting annoyed with Varys' riddles. Varys then sat down on the chair opposite from him.

"If the wrong ears hear what I'm about to tell you" Varys claimed "Then off comes my head, and who would mourn poor Varys then. North or South, they sing no songs for Spiders. But there are things you must know, you are the King's Hand and the King is a fool. Your friend I know but a fool and doomed unless you save him."

Eddard was shocked at this; Varys was saying that there was a plot against King Robert "I have been Hand of the King for month" he hissed "Why have you waited so long to tell me."

"Because I did not trust you" Varys claimed

"So why do you trust me now?" Eddard demanded

"The Queen is not the only one who has been watching you closely" Varys answered "There are few men of honour in the capital and you are one of them. I would like to believe that I am another, strange as that may seem."

Eddard looked at Varys "What sort of doom does the King face?" he asked

"The same sort as Jon Arryn" Varys replied "The tears of Lys they call it. A rare and costly thing, a clear and tasteless as water it leaves no trace."

Eddard sighed as he stood up from his chair and went towards the balcony "Who gave it to him"

"Some dear friend no doubt but which one" Varys stated "He had many; Jon Arryn was a kind and trusting man. There was one boy; all he owes was to Jon Arryn"

Eddard turned around and looked at Varys; he knew who he was talking about "The Squire Ser Hugh?" he questioned

"Pity what happened to him" Varys claimed "Just when his life seemed to be going nicely. But he was knighted right after Jon Arryn died and he had the gold to buy the armour. Someone could have offered him that. And then he was killed in the Tourney, a good way to get rid of the evidence."

Eddard then wondered something "If Ser Hugh poisoned him, then who paid him?"

Varys shook his head which said that he did not know "Someone who could have afford it"

"Jon was a man of peace" Eddard hissed "He was Hand for seventeen years, seventeen good years. Why kill him?"

Varys looked at Eddard seriously "He started asking questions" he stated

...

Later, after his talk with Varys, Eddard decided he needed to see Astrid and talk to her. He found Astrid lying on her bed in her room as she was reading a book on the History of the Kings of Winter. Astrid had always been fond of the stories of the ancient Stark Kings and how they conquered the North but by bit.

Astrid turned when he heard her father enter the room and turned to see him "Moring father" she greeted

"Morning Astrid" Eddard greeted "You don't mind if I come in?"

"Come on in" Astrid said as she sat her on her bed and looked at her father. She could see a face of concern on his face "Is everything alright father?"

"I'm fine" Eddard replied "I've just got a lot on my mind and I fear for the King's Life."

"You fear the King is in danger!" Astrid gasped

"I have suspicions but no proof" Eddard replied "I'm starting to fear that the Lannisters are plotting something against the King"

Astrid looked at her father "Father, I may not know Tywin Lannister personally but knowing what he has done in the past, he won't take accusations like that kindly. I read what he did to Houses Reyne and Tarbeck. What he did was harsh but also necessary to bring order, he rebuilt House Lannister and will not allow what he's built to collapse because of accusations."

"Cat believes that the Lannisters are behind Bran's fall from the tower and also the attempt on his life when he was asleep" Eddard revealed "The dagger that was found on the assassin was an expensive dagger with a Valyrian steel blade and dragonbone handle."

"That is an expensive dagger" Astrid stated "But who did the dagger belong to."

"My wife's old friend Petyr Baelish claimed that the dagger was his but he lost it to a bet" Eddard replied "He said that he lost it to Tyrion Lannister"

"Tyrion Lannister?" Astrid questioned "I don't think Tyrion would have anything to do with Bran's fall, he was drunk after the feast, he was found in the stables passed out. And he has nothing against the Starks so why would he try to hurt Bran"

"I don't know but Catelyn believes that he was the one who sent the assassin after Bran" Eddard stated

"Then she better be careful" Astrid hissed "If anything happens to Tyrion then Tywin will attack the Riverlands. Then we will be on the brink of a Civil War."

"Then let's hope it doesn't come to that" Eddard sighed "By the way, where are your sisters?"

"Sansa with Septa Mordane doing needlework" Astrid replied "They keep talking about how Sansa must be when she marries Joffrey. Sansa was scared that she wouldn't be a great wife or queen and that she would only give birth to girls and no boys." Astrid then sighed "But she started getting a bit rude and arrogant. She doesn't seem to care for anyone but herself anymore. And Arya decided to go and do some exploring. She was a bit board so she wanted to explore the Keep"

"You allowed Arya to go off on her own?" Eddard hissed

"She'll be fine" Astrid replied "Arya can look after herself and I told her not to leave the Red Keep. I know that the city is not safe and that the city is full of beggars and thieves."

Arya had indeed on off to do some exploring. She had wanted to explore the secrets of the Red Keep. She had wandered down some stairs and she found herself in a dark room that only had a few small torches for light. She struggled to see properly but she gasped when something caught her eye. It was a large skull of a dragon and it was as big as a wagon and even bigger than that. The teeth were as long as swords and the jaws looked like they could swallow an auroch whole. Arya had read stories about the Targaryen dragons with Astrid and she believed that this must have been the skull of the largest of the Targaryen Dragons, Balarion the Black Dread. The dragon that had belonged to Aegon the Conqueror and was the largest of any dragon that lived, living to the age of 200 before dying of old age. Arya believed that this was Balarion or it could be the skull of Vhagar, the dragon that belonged to Aegon's sister Visenya. After Balarion died, Vhagar became the largest dragon and a veteran of fights and would die in the Dance of the Dragons civil war over the Gods Eyes. Vhagar's skull was recovered and brought back to the Red Keep.

Arya ran her fingers along the teeth of the dragon's skull but she heard voices and she hid inside the jaws of the skull to hide so she would not be seen. She heard two voices and she tried to see who it was though she couldn't see them properly but she saw that one had a bald head and the other one had an accent from Braavos. She tried to hear what they were saying but it was difficult to see.

"He's found one bastard already" the bald man said "He has the book, the rest will come"

"And when he knows the truth, what will he do?" The man with the accent asked

"The Gods alone know" the bald man stated "The fools tried to kill his son once and botched it. Soon the Wolf and the Lion will be at each other's throats and war will start"

"What good is war now?" the other man said "We're not ready. If one Hand can die, why not the second."

Arya widened her eyes, these men were talking about killing her father.

"This hand is not the other" The bald man stated "He may be able to keep the peace for now but he can't forever."

"Khal Drogo will not invade until his son is born" The other man said "Such is the way of these savages."

"Maybe I can help speed things up a bit" The bald man suggested "And if we have to resort to our other plan then we can. But he will need someone to help him and I have the perfect person in mind. That Wolf Girl, the Stark's oldest daughter, she's a warrior and if there is anyone who can shape that boy, it is her but trying to get her to help will be difficult"

Then the men walked away and Arya could not see them but they had locked the door which she had come down before. She looked down the passage where the two men had gone and decided that she had to find another way out that way. But now she could see that Astrid was in danger and she had to warn her.

The Stark Household was all worried. Astrid had gotten ready to start another training section with Arya but there was no sign of her. The Stark Guards had all gone off to try and find her but they had searched all of the Household and there was no sign of her. Astrid was both cross and proud of her. Astrid was cross as she had told Arya not to go too far but also proud about how brave she was. Most of the Stark Guards had gone searching for Arya and Astrid had joined them. She was searching the courtyard when she saw two Gold Cloak arguing with a lad who was filthy. But when Astrid got a closer look at the lad, she saw that it wasn't a lad at all but a girl. The girl had gotten covered in dirt.

"I want to see my father!" the girl snapped

"And I want to fuck the Queen" one of the Gold Cloaks sneered "Do you know where you father is, he's lying on the floor of some tavern."

"My father is Lord Eddard Stark!" the girl snapped "Lord of Winterfell and the Hand of the King and if you two don't let me past right now then I will ensure that your heads are on spikes."

Astrid could see that this was definitely Arya "All right that's enough" she said which made everyone look at her "That is definitely Lady Arya"

"I'm not a lady!" Arya snapped

Astrid smiled "That is defiantly my sister" she stated and then she glared at the Gold Cloaks "And it's time for you two to clear off!" the Gold Cloaks didn't need telling twice before they left and Astrid narrowed her eyes at her sister "You are in a lot of trouble Arya, I told you not to leave the grounds!"

"I didn't mean too" Arya defended "I got trapped and then lost while exploring. I ended up outside the walls. But I need to tell father, I overheard something important. It involves you as well"

Astrid looked confused but she decided to take Arya to see their father.

Like Astrid thought, Lord Eddard Stark was not happy at all "Do you know that I had nearly all of my guard searching for you!" Eddard hissed "You weren't meant to leave these walls, what if you had been attacked?"

"I didn't mean to leave the walls" Arya insisted "I was exploring the Dungeons when I came across the Dragon Skulls of the Targaryen Dragons. I was intrigued by them but then I overheard 2 men talking and then they sealed the door and I had to find another way out. I don't know who they were but one of them had a bald head"

"Arya?" Eddard sighed

"I'm not lying!" Arya shouted "They were talking about how you have the book and found one of the bastards. Then one said that 'if one hand can die then why not the second' and they were saying something about a savage. They also said that the wolf and the lion will be at each other's throats soon." Then she turned to look at Astrid who was also in the room "And then they spoke about you as well Astrid. They spoke about another plan and they claimed that you could shape the boy."

Astrid looked a bit confused but before she could ask her more about this there was a knock on the door and Jory entered "Pardon me my Lord" Jory greeted "But there is a Night's Watchman here to see you"

"Send him in" Eddard ordered as he stood up, Jory then opened the door and a rough looking man wearing the Black Cloak of the Night's Watch entered "A name friend?" Eddard asked

"Yoren, if it pleases you" the man replied and then he looked "And this must be your son, he has the look"

"I'm a girl!" Arya snapped though she could have been mistaken for a boy since she was quite filthy

Eddard ignored his daughter and turned to Yoren "Did my brother Benjen send you?" he asked

Yoren shook his head "No one sent me" he stated "I'm here to find men for the wall, I hope to see if there is any scum in the Dungeons who might be fit for service."

Eddard looked at him "I'll find you recruits for your order"

"Thank you my Lord" Yoren stated "But that is not why I disturbed you now. Your brother Benjen, his blood runs black which makes him my brother as well. It's for his sake that I road here so fast that I damn near killed my horse. There are others riding, the whole city will know what has happened soon"

Eddard now had a worried look on his face "What will the city known soon?" he asked

Yoren looked around the room, "It might be best to say this in private" he said "The wrong people might be listening"

Eddard sighed and turned to Astrid "Astrid, take your sister to do some more training"

Astrid nodded and Arya left with her along with Jory. Arya turned to Jory as they walked away from Eddard's office "How many men does my father have here?" she asked

"Here in King's Landing?" Jory questioned "Fifty"

"You wouldn't let anyone kill him?" Arya added

Jory laughed "I will protect your father with my life" he said "It's my job to do so"

As soon as everyone left the office, Yoren closed the door and Eddard looked at him "Well?" he asked "What has happened?"

"It's about your wife my Lord" Yoren stated "She's taken the Imp; she arrested him at the Crossroads Inn.

Eddard looked at Yoren with a shocked and worried look in his eyes. He was worried that his wife would do something like that; she loved her children so much that she would do anything to protect them. But now she had taken Tyrion Lannister which wouldn't go down too well with his father Tywin Lannister. Now it seems that the seven kingdoms were about to go to war.

...

Astrid had taken Arya back for some more training and now she was training Arya how to find weak spots in her enemies. But she had noticed Arya was worried "Is everything alright sister?" she Astrid asked "You seem to be a bit worried for some reason."

"I just can't stop thinking about what I saw back in the dungeons" Arya replied "I keep thinking that someone is going to try and harm father."

"Don't worry sister" Astrid smiled "I'm sure father will be fine. And if anyone tries to harm my family, I will strike back. I don't care if it took years but if anyone hurt my family then I would not stop until the culprits were wiped out."

Arya smiled and then they carried on training. They were doing it for some time until one of the Stark Guards that Astrid knew was Desmond.

"Astrid, Arya" he greeted "Your father sent me to get you two so you can start packing your bags."

"Pack our bags?" Arya questioned "Why?"

"Your fathers is calling all of the household" Desmond replied "We're going back to Winterfell"

"Why?" Astrid asked "I thought father was the Hand of the King?"

"He was" Desmond replied "But he's not Hand of the King anymore. He just resigned. He and King Robert have just had a disagreement over Daenerys Targaryen. The King wants to have her killed but Lord Eddard says that he will have nothing to do with it. He's resigned as protest."

"So where is father now?" Arya asked, her voice was filled with worry.

"He went with Lord Petyr Baelish" Desmond answered "He said he had something to show him. Jory went with him along with Heward and Wyl"

Arya looked at Astrid with a worried look which Astrid saw so she turned to Desmond "Desmond" Astrid stated "Go help Arya get ready, I'm going to make sure father is okay. Don't worry, I can look after myself."

So Astrid got her sword ready. She wore her leather armour and got her Direwolf Huntress ready and then they went into the city to find their father and make sure that he was safe.

...

After Eddard had resigned from his position as Hand of the King, he had been visited by Petyr Baelish who claimed that he could take him to the last person Jon Arryn spoke to before he fell ill. Baelish had taken him to one of his brothels and to one of his girls. The girl was quite young with red hair and looked quite pretty. She also carried a small baby which was one of King Robert's bastard children.

"She looks like him, doesn't she my lord" the girl known as Mhaegen claimed "She has his nose, his black hair."

"Aye" Eddard replied

"Tell him my lord next time you see if, if it please you" Mhaegen said "Tell him how beautiful she is"

"I will" Eddard stated

"And tell him that I've been with no one else" Mhaegen added "I swear it my lord, by the old gods and the new. I don't no jewels or nothing, just him. He was always good to me."

Eddard looked at her "When Jon Arryn came to visit you, what did he want?" he asked

"He wasn't that sort of man my lord" Mhaegen said "He just wanted to know if the child was happy, healthy"

"She looks healthy enough for me" Eddard stated as he shook one of the baby's hands.

Eddard then left Mhaegen alone and went back to see Baelish "I find Brothels a better investment than ships" Baelish stated "Whores rarely sink"

"What do you know of King Robert's Bastards?" Eddard asked

"Well he has more than you for a start" Baelish replied "If you fuck enough women they give you presents."

"Jon Arryn tracked them down?" Eddard questioned "Why?"

"He was the King's Hand" Baelish stated "Maybe King Robert wanted them to be checked over. See if they were happy. He was overcome with fatherly love,"

Eddard decided that he needed to head back to the household and pack "Come" he said to his men when he saw Jory eyeing one of the Whores "Jory!"

"My lord" Jory said and then they left the Brothel.

But when they got outside the Brothel, they saw a group of Lannister Guards approaching which surrounded them. Then Jaime Lannister came up on horseback "Such a small pack of wolves" he said as he dismounted his horse.

"Stay back sir!" Jory hissed "This is the Hand of the King"

"He was the Hand of the King" Jaime stated "He resigned as Hand of the King. I'm not sure what he is, the lord of somewhere far away."

Jaime and Eddard stared at each other as Baelish came out and glared at Jaime "What's the meaning of this Lannister?" he hissed

Jaime smirked at him "Get back inside where it's safe" he said "I'm looking for my brother, you remember him well don't you Lord Stark. Blond hair, sharp tongue, short man."

Eddard looked at Jaime "I remember him well" he stated

"It seems that he had some trouble on the road" Jaime added "You wouldn't know what happened to him?"

Eddard knew that word had reached the city about what his wife had done. He knew that he had to protect his wife so he lied "He was taken at my command to answer for his crimes"

Jaime smirked and then he drew his sword as did the Lannister soldiers with him. Jory and the other two Stark Guards drew their swords in response.

"My lords!" Baelish shouted and he saw that a fight was about to break out "I'll bring the city watch" he then ran back inside his Brothel.

Jaime then smirked and looked at Eddard "Come Stark, I'd rather you die with a sword in your hand."

Jory narrowed his eyes at Jaime "If you threaten my lord again!" he hissed

"Threatened?" Jaime questioned "As in if I threaten to open your lord from balls to brain to see what Starks are made of."

Eddard looked at Jaime "If you kill me, then your brother is a dead man" he knew that Catelyn would kill Tyrion if anything happened to him

Jaime smiled at him "You know what Stark, you're right" he then turned to his men "Take him alive, kill his men"

Jaime's men then walked towards Eddard and his guards. Two Lannister guards threw spears at them which impaled Heward and Wyl and killed them. Eddard and Jory then engaged the Lannister guards. They were able to dodge the attacks and kill a few of the guards. But then Jory attacked Jaime who locked his blade with Jory's and then Jaime pulled out a dagger from his belt which he thrust straight into Jory's eye. Eddard looked in horror as Jaime withdrew the dagger and Jory fell to the floor dead. Jory was the son of one of Eddard's friends from Robert's Rebellion, Martyn Cassel who died at the Tower of Joy in Dorne while trying to rescue Eddard's sister Lyanna.

Jaime and Eddard stared at each other until a loud growl was heard. Everyone watched as a large Direwolf jumped from the crowd and onto one of the Lannister guards. Eddard then gasped when he saw his daughter Astrid charge at Jaime with her two swords drawn.

"Astrid, what are you doing here?" Eddard shouted at her

"Protecting you!" Astrid answered "I won't let anyone hurt you!"

Jaime laughed "So the savage wolf makes an appearance" he stated

Astrid narrowed her eyes at Jaime and then she swung her swords around and pointed them at her "I always protect my family."

"That's not how a lady acts" Jaime laughed

Astrid smirked "I'm not a lady, I'm a she wolf, now let's see how good you are Kingslayer"

Then she and Jaime attacked each other with their blades while the other Lannister guards attacked Eddard. Jaime saw that Astrid was not like Jory who just recklessly attacked Jaime, Astrid knew how to find weaknesses in Jaime's position. Astrid also fought with two swords so she could strike from multiply directions. Astrid also ducked when Jaime tried to strike her head. Jaime and Astrid fought each other for a while until they locked blades together.

"You are a skill wolf" Jaime admitted "This is one of the best fights I've had in a while"

"I trained a lot" Astrid sneered and then she pushed forward which pushed Jaime back. Astrid then noticed two guards charging at her from different directions so Astrid jumped back which resulted in one of the Lannister guards impaling his spear into the other while Astrid quickly swung around and slashed the other one.

She and Jaime then stared at each other again before they attacked again. Jaime eventually able to knock Astrid back a few feet then he slashed his sword which knocked one of Astrid's swords from her hands. Now Astrid was fighting with one sword but she was still skilled

Jaime smirked, he hadn't had a fight like this for some time, many of the people he fought against in tourneys weren't that skilled and he had never fought in a proper battle before. But now he was having the greatest fight he had in years. The she wolf Astrid was clearly a skilled fighter and he had the personality to be the one who would protect her family. But the fight did not last forever but it ended before Jaime would have liked.

While Astrid was fighting Jaime, Eddard was fighting multiply Lannister Guards. He was a skilled fighter and was able to beat back the Lannister guards. But he was getting tired and when he saw his daughter fighting Jaime, he was worried that his daughter might get hurt, he had seen Jory get killed by Jaime. But when he got distracted, a Lannister pierced his leg with a spear causing him to cry out in pain.

Astrid heard her father cry out in pain and quickly pushed Jaime back and turned around and stared in horror as her father was pierced by a Lannister spear "Father!" Astrid yelled and then he ran towards her father and slashed the Lannister guard who had hurt her father.

Eddard Stark collapsed to his knees and was held by Astrid "Father, are you okay?" she asked Eddard just groaned in pain.

"A shame" Jaime said "That was such a great fight." He then narrowed his eyes at Eddard "Now, I want my brother back, and it better be done soon" Jaime and the rest of his men then walked away leaving Astrid with her father.

Astrid narrowed her eyes in hate at Jaime but was more concerned about her father "Just hold on father" Astrid said "I'll get you to a healer" Eddard just groaned in response.

Chapter end:

Notes: Well it's been a long time since I updated this story but I have one done. With my Dragon-X story finished, I have more time to work on this story as well as my others though I'm trying to get my Fictionpress story done. I also have a chapter of the Divine Empire done which I hope to finish within the week. There are a number of breaks in this chapter but that's because I'm only showing important scenes for Astrid.