I do not own Game of Thrones!
He had finally come to terms with the fact that there was nothing left of his old friend in the man he called his king, and any loyalty he felt for Robert had all but vanished. The final straw was when Robert ordered assassins to murder a young girl and her unborn child, an order the council seemed more than happy to carry out. He had tried to quit, had thrown the hand of the king pin back at Robert, telling him that he would have no part in murdering a girl, and Robert had ordered him to stay, and then had left on a hunting trip. It would be the last hunting trip Robert would ever go on, the man was gored by one of the boars he so loved to hunt.
Ned stormed into the Tower Of the Hand, barking orders to his household, and wondering how things had gotten as bad as they had. The king had just died, and while normally he would have headed straight to the throne room to claim the throne for the rightful king, Robert's brother Stannis, he had instead listened to Ser Barristan's advice to get him and his family out of there. He had no doubt that the queen would seize the throne for Joffrey, nor did he trust the gold cloaks to be on his side like Lord Baelish had promised, as he was sure the queen and her father had men placed in their ranks over the years. He figured it would be best to get his children and household out of the city and back in the North, and then decide from there whether to involve the north in the squabbles for the Iron Throne, or if he should take what Lord Tyrion said about the Nights King to heart and ready his men for an army from the north.
"Jory, I need you to find a man you trust implicitly, and have him book passage on the quickest ship to can find. he needs to sail to Pentos and find Jorah Mormont, have him make sure this finds it's way into his hands and only his hands." He told his captain of the guard, as he handed him a sealed scroll. He had to do everything in his power to try and prevent the assassination attempt, and the only way to do so would be to warn the man he had protecting the young princess. He had been surprised when word had reached him of the prince's death, but after hearing tales of the child growing up it was plain as day that the boy had suffered from the Targaryen madness.
Not long after Jory left and he could hear the sound of men in armor marching down the halls toward him, and he reached for Ice, ready to do what he had to in order to protect his children. He had expected the men to knock on his door, so was surprised when instead it splintered and men in red cloaks came pouring in. What's more, is he was sure Robert had ordered the Lannister soldiers to return to the Westerlands, but obviously they were not as loyal to the king as they were to the queen.
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Jon startled when he heard the knock on his door, and glanced back at his dragons in fear. Those who knew about the two animals were not in the habit of knocking. Apparently these men weren't either, as seconds later the door splintered, and Ghost was on his feet snarling at the men in the red cloaks. Quickly he grabbed his sword, ready to defend himself as well as his wolf and dragons. He could hear one of the men scream as Ghost sunk his teeth into his arm, and the saw the rest of the men had already had their swords out. They were obviously not here on friendly business.
They didn't even try to talk to him, instead came right at him with their swords raised. They were not expecting to be ambushed from behind by a contingent of Stark guards lead by Ser Barristan Selmy of all people. Once all the Lannister men were dead the old knight turned to him, "Get your dragons boy, we must be going, and don't have time to waste." Jon nodded, scooping the two small dragons into a pack he could easily swing up onto his back, thankful they were still small enough to fit in it.
He was surprised when the old knight took up the protective position in front of him, but did not question it, instead he kept his guard up and helped the old knight and Stark men fight their way through the castle. Only stopping when they heard wolves howl, though the howls were coming from different directions, "You, go that way, protect whichever of my sisters you find, Ser Barristan and I will go this way." The old knight nodded, and the group split up, each going in the direction the howls had come from.
They arrived in Arya's dancing room just as his little sister was darting out the door, "Follow her, I'll stay and help the dancing master, go, hide in the tunnels under the keep and we will come find you." Ser Barristan said, and Jon took off after Arya, finally catching up to her and Nymeria as they exited the keep through the stables, and he saw her bend down to pull needle from her spilt trunk.
"Quick, we must go!" He called, pulling her along behind him, back into the keep and down into the tunnels below. The two ended up hiding down behind one of the large dragon skulls, waiting for Ser Barristan to come for them, ducking down when they heard voices.
"Are you sure this is where we were supposed to go?"
Jon stood at the sound of the familiar voice, "Sansa?" Sure enough she and Lord Tyrian came around the corner, the majority of the guard that Jon had sent off for her were with them. She smiled in relief when she saw him, and rushed to throw her arms around him.
"Septa Mordane and I had been heading outside for fresh air when Lannister guards came for us. Luckily Lord Tyrion showed up, and threatened them, telling them their lord, his father, would be angry with them if they were to hurt his betrothed. It was enough to make them head back to the queen as she is the one who gave them the orders. It was then Lord Tyrian told us to come down here, and the rest of the guards showed up, but why come here?" She asked, obviously confused with the situation.
"This is the easiest place to smuggle you out of the city." Ser Barristan said as he came around the corner, the dancing master, another contingent of Stark guards behind him, Lord Stark with them leaning heavily on a young boy who was built like nothing Jon had ever seen. He imagined that King Robert would have been built like this boy when he was younger, if the stories about him were true.
The group hunkered down behind the skulls, hearing the sounds of people moving through the keep, obviously looking for them. Jon counted the men left, and knew they had lost around 15 men in the flight from the keep, and wondered how many more would be lost before they were safely from the city. It was hard to tell how long they were down in the tunnels, waiting for it to be safe to leave. Down here they couldn't see the sun, and were brought food once in a while that they tried to ration over a set period of time.
"It is time for you all to go." Came a soft voice, and Jon saw the eunuch, Lord Varys, standing at the opening of a tunnel Jon hadn't even seen until then, "If you follow this tunnel it will take you just outside the wall, Lords Stark and Lannister, Ser Barristan, along with the children will be able to join a man from the Nightswatch as he heads back North, the rest of you I suggest follow at a distance and try not to be seen as a group this size would only draw attention."
He lead them through the tunnel, and wished them luck at the end of it. The man from the Nightswatch was sitting just outside the gate with a group of young boys and three men locked in irons. "I appreciate this Yoren," Jon's father said as he shook hands with the man and was helped into the seat of the wagon. He had taken a blow to the leg while fighting his way down to the tunnels, and so had trouble walking.
Jon helped Sansa and Lord Tyrion into the wagon carrying supplies while the other boy, the one who had been helping support his father, Gendry, helped Arya. Then the two of them walked along the wagon, Ser Barristan never far from Jon's side, which he did not understand, but enjoyed non the less. He enjoyed learning from the man, and listening to stories of the dragon kings from the past. He had noticed how the man would clam up when he spoke of Rhaegar Targaryen, always seeming happy to share his memories, and barely stopping himself when he remembered what he had done to Jon's aunt.
Finally he told the man he wanted to hear about the dragon prince, hoping that maybe he could decipher how a man that everyone said was shaping up to be a kind and just ruler could them turn around and kidnap and rape a woman. He had always thought that the whole situation did not make sense, and just figured people just overlooked the cruelty in the dragon prince. However, the more he heard from the old knight, the more he had to wonder about how a man that seemed to be very concerned about the good of the realm could them turn around and do what he did.
It was just a couple days into their journey when they were stopped by a few Lannister guards looking for Gendry of all people. Yoren told them off to leave the group alone, but the men refused to listen, and in the end lost their lives to the swords of Yoren, Ser Barristan, and his father. After that they increased the speed at which they were traveling, knowing more guards would be coming after them.
During the journey he had taken to training the boys headed for the Nightswatch, along with training Gendry to use a sword. He found he enjoyed the company of the larger boy, and was happy that he didn't seem to mind Arya tagging along with them. Gendry had been offered a position in his father's household as an apprentice to the Smith there, which Gendry had happily accepted.
Jon had never been more relieved than when he had seen Riverrun come into view. He had met his mother's family once, and while he remembered his uncle as being not quite the brightest of men, he had liked his grandfather. He remembered the men had taken a while to warm up to him, but his mother had not allowed them to treat him any different than the children she had birthed herself, and eventually the men had warmed to him.
He and his father were not surprised to learn that the queen had seized the throne for Joffrey, nor that Stannis and Renly had called their banners to fight for the throne themselves. What had surprised them was the new that they had all been taken prisoner had been sent out, and Robb was now marching south with their army to try and free them.
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Cersei looked out from her position next to the Iron Throne. She was relishing in her victory over the people who had done everything in their power to shame her. They had taken her children from her, taken Jamie from her, taken her freedom from her, but in the end it was their arrogance that had been their downfall.
Robert who only cared for his drinking and whoring never actually made sure she had actually followed his orders. He never made sure she had sent the Lannister guards back to the rock, he had never noticed the housing she paid for them from the crown's treasury, courtesy of help from Petyr Baelish.
Nor had he noticed the morning doses of moon tea brought by her handmaidens each morning. The fools fear of her father and destabilizing the realm had led them to keep Joffrey as Crown Prince, and allowed her to put him on the throne when Robert succumbed to his injuries, injuries caused by her encouraging her cousin Lancel to continue keeping the kings cup full had caused.
There were only two things that she did not think of with pride, the first being that Lord Stark and his household had disappeared along with Ser Barristan and her demon brother. She hated to think that the man would get away with how he had caused her treatment, and not be punished for it. That she could not take his children from him, the way hers had been taken from her.
She could care less about Ser Barristan, his leaving opened up the position of Lord Commander of the Kingsguard which she had already had Joffrey name Jamie to. Her brother would arrive with their father when he came to take the position of Hand of the King. It also allowed Joffrey a position for his dog and kept her son happy.
Her anger at her brother's escape almost equaled that of the anger at the Starks escape. She had dreamed of making him for killing her mother for years. Oh how she dreamed of having Joffrey try him and then execute him.
The other thing she was not proud if is how her son handled Robert's bastards. She believed that children should only be hurt if it was absolutely necessary, and she did not see killing them as necessary for whatever her goal for Joffrey's reign was. She also did not dwell on this train of thought either...after all, they were just bastards.
