The small party arrived in King's Landing a day after Lord Eddard.
They came around a back entrance to the city.
Willas and Catelyn had to take extra care, hiding their hair. Catelyn hid hers beneath a scarf, while Willas wore a loose, hooded cloak. Tully hair could give them away in seconds.
"Fewer eyes back here, my lord, my lady," Rodrik said. "But still too many."
"It's nine years since I've set foot in the capital, and Willas five," Catelyn answered. "No one knew who I was the last time I came, and Willas was a boy then."
Dust surrounded them when they entered Flea Bottom.
Smallfolk ran about, children chasing each other and dressed in rags. They parted when two guards rode out into the street.
"My lord, my lady," Rodrik said softly.
"Welcome to King's Landing, Lady Stark, Lord Willas. Would you mind following us?" one asked.
"I would," Catelyn replied. "We've done nothing wrong."
"We've been instructed to escort you into the city."
"Instructed? I don't know who's providing your instructions, but- -"
One of them gestured with the letter in his hand, holding it out to her. "Follow me, Lady Stark, Lord Willas."
Catelyn took the letter, reading the outside. She let out a sigh before exchanging glances with Rodrik and following.
The guards led Catelyn, Rodrik, and Willas to a brothel, up a winding set of stairs and into a lavish room. Whores sat on either side of a man. "Cat!" the man said with a smile.
He turned to look at the whores. "Go on," he urged them. "Go upstairs."
One of them slowed when she passed Willas, and she smiled at him. He watched her walk away, a faint smile on his lips as well. He only looked away when Rodrik grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around to face the man.
When the whores had gone, Catelyn was free to unleash her anger. "You little worm!" she cried, hurling the letter at him. "You take me for some back-alley Sally you can drag into a- -"
She was silenced when the man began to snap his fingers, trying to urge a half-dressed whore away from the door. Willas's eyes went wide. "Seven hells," he whispered, and for moment he could understand why Theon spent most of his times in brothels.
Rodrik turned him away once more, hissing in his ear. "Look at the floor, Will."
"I meant no disrespect, to you of all people" the man said to Catelyn.
"How dare you bring me here!" she snapped. "Have you lost your mind?"
"No one will come looking for you here. Isn't that what you wanted? I'm truly sorry about the locale. Though, it does seem your nephew is enjoying it."
Catelyn ignored the second comment. "How did you know we were coming to King's Landing?" she demanded.
The man raised a hand to the door. "A dear friend told me."
"Lady Stark," a second man greeted as he entered the room. "Lord Willas."
"Lord Varys," Catelyn greeted.
Willas may not have recognized the first man, but he knew the second. The Master of Spies, Lord Varys. But it was easy for Willas to see the familiarity between the first man and his aunt. The first must have been Lord Petyr Baelish.
Varys stepped toward Catelyn. "To see you again after so many years is a blessing," he said, taking her by the hands. "Your poor hands."
He looked to Willas then. "And that poor arm of yours. Does it cause as much pain as the leg?"
Willas hesitated before he answered. "More pain, actually," he answered.
Catelyn looked at Varys. "How did you know we were coming?" she asked.
"Knowledge is my trade, my lady," he answered. "Did you bring the dagger with you, by any chance?"
Varys took note of the look Catelyn and Rodrik shared, and he released a chuckle. "My little birds are everywhere... even in the North," he said. "They whisper to me the strangest stories."
Rodrik slid the dagger free, handing it off to Varys. "Valyrian steel," the spymaster noted.
"Do you know whose dagger this is?" Catelyn asked.
"I must admit I do not."
Petyr chuckled from behind them, and everyone turned. "Well, well, this is an historic day," he said. "Something you don't know that I do. There's only one dagger like this in all of the Seven Kingdoms. It's mine."
Willas felt himself tense. "Yours?" he stated.
Petyr only smiled and continued speaking. "At least it was, until the tourney on Prince Joffrey's last nameday. I bet on Ser Jaime in the jousting, as any sane man would. When the Knight of the Flowers unseated him, I lost this dagger."
"To whom?" Catelyn asked.
"Tyrion Lannister. The Imp."
Petyr allowed Willas, Catelyn, and Rodrik to stay in the brothel while he went to a meeting of the Small Council. He promised he would bring Lord Eddard back to see them.
In the meantime, Catelyn put Rodrik in charge of Willas, making sure that the boy didn't stray to the whores that were all around him. They were only lucky that Petyr gave them a private room to wait in, rather than stay in the open, surrounded by the whores and their customers.
They sat in near silence, until a commotion sounded from below. Catelyn and Willas moved to the window, looking out to find Eddard, and hand around Petyr's throat as he pinned him to the wall. "Ned!" Catelyn snapped.
Eddard looked up, his eyes wide with surprise. Willas almost laughed as his uncle released Petyr, hurrying into the brothel.
Plans needed to be discussed about how to deal with the matter of the Lannisters, and whether Willas liked it or not, Petyr was going to be a part of those plans.
"The mere suggestion that the queen's brother tried to kill your boy would be considered treason," Petyr explained.
"We have proof," Catelyn tried to argue. "We have the blade."
"Which Lord Tyrion will say was stolen from him. The only man who could say otherwise has no throat, thanks to your boy's wolf."
Catelyn could see her husband's anxiety about working with Petyr. She turned to him, smiling gently. "Petyr has promised to help us find the truth. He's like a little brother to me, Ned. He would never betray my trust."
"I'll try to keep you alive, for her sake," Petyr said to Eddard. "A fool's task, admittedly, but I've never been able to refuse your wife anything."
"I won't forget this," Catelyn told Petyr. "You're a true friend."
Petyr smiled. "Don't tell anyone. I have a reputation to maintain."
Even with the kindness he was doing them by helping, Willas was not entirely sure that they should trust Petyr Baelish.