"Why am I not surprised?"

Stannis did his best to control the annoyance in his voice as Robert told him of the plans he was setting in place. Jon Arryn had been dead for less than two days and Robert had declared that he would travel North to meet with Lord Eddard Stark.

"Ned has been a dear friend to me," the King reminded his brother as the two of them stood alone in the Throne Room. Ser Barristan Selmy had been sent by the King to find Stannis and bring him there. The knight had interrupted Stannis as he finished packing his belongings after intending to flee King's Landing.

"Yes, and I am sure he will be a good Hand too," Stannis replied, the distaste evident in his voice. "Do you intend to take the entirety of the royal party to the North? I doubt your Queen will be in awe with Winterfell."

"That is my plan," the King replied. "Damn you, Stannis. Why can you not be supportive of my decision?"

"Because you know how I feel about Lord Stark," Stannis reminded him. "You can bring him back here and he can sit on your small council. I intend to return to Dragonstone."

"And why is that?" Robert wondered. "You know that your place is here, is it not? I gave you permission to sit on my council-"

"-You may as well not have a small council," Stannis growled lowly. "You know nothing of what they do. Your Kingdom is in debt. A debt grander than you can begin to possibly imagine."

"What of it?"

Stannis ground his teeth together. Talking to Robert was like talking to a brick wall most of the time. The man had no care for anything other than his wine and whores. Stannis had grown tired of it. He had all the information he needed, yet he could not say anything to his brother.

Robert would not believe him. He never did. Besides, Stannis suspected he would be dead next by the time he brought the information forwards. No, he would go back home and wait there.

"Nothing," replied Stannis. "You go North and declare Lord Stark the Hand, but do not expect me to be here when you return. I have matters on Dragonstone to attend to."

"Do you not even want to come and see your daughter?" the King wondered as Stannis turned his back on him.

The Lord of Dragonstone closed his eyes and felt his mouth fall open slightly as he remembered his eldest daughter.

"No," Stannis called out, his voice cutting like cold ice. "Sarah is old enough to make it on her own until her wedding."

"You're at liberty to do as you please, Stannis," Robert said as his brother continued to move with haste. The doors pulled open and Stannis left the room, not realising that he would never see his brother again.

"Lord Stannis, a word if I may."

Stannis turned his head to look down the corridor, the sight of Varys troubling him. He'd never been taken with the likes of the eunuch or the coin master. He knew that they wanted power. It was all they ever wanted. Stannis didn't see them as serving a duty to the crown. No, he thought that they were tainting it.

"Lord Varys," Stannis replied, doing his best to sound polite yet curt. "What is it that I can do for you?"

"Perhaps you'd care to walk with me?"

Not really, Stannis thought. He followed regardless. His steps fell into sync with the bald man next to him as Varys spoke.

"My little birds have been talking, my Lord," Varys whispered. "They tell me of how you and Jon grew close. So close, in fact, that you had intended to take his son to Dragonstone with you."

Stannis did his best not to allow his face to grow heated as he heard the news. He kept his gaze straight in front of him as the two of them came to the flower garden and Varys stood in the middle of the rows of roses, his eyes wide and his lips taut.

"The boy is to go to Casterly Rock now," Stannis replied. "What of it?"

"There was talk of what you two were discussing. Some say that it was nothing, other's say you were plotting...plotting to overthrow the heir to the Throne."

Gulping, Stannis closed his eyes as Varys shook his head.

"Of course, no one would dare try to hurt you, my Lord." Varys said. "And if you intend to go and stay on Dragonstone then you should be safe enough, I suspect. Not many know that you were working with Jon Arryn. Poor man, I urged him to be safe."

"So you think that someone killed him?" checked Stannis with the eunuch.

"Oh, no one disputes that," Varys said. "Well, no one with inside information. The question is who."

"I think we all have an idea," Stannis said. "The Lannisters stand to lose a lot from this, do they not?"

Varys took a moment to look around to make sure that they were still alone. Stannis felt his hands ball into fists by his sides as he thought of someone poisoning Jon Arryn. The man was doing the right thing. His duty.

"I'd say so," Varys agreed with him. "Of course, all of the Lannisters now intend to travel North. I think we both know who is North."

Stannis's eyes opened wide as Varys nodded, lacing his fingers together as realisation dawned on him over his daughter.

"Sarah knows nothing," Stannis spoke. "I never confided in her."

"Oh, I do not doubt it," Varys said. "The girl was far too lovely to become involved in this mess...however...the Queen does not know that, does she? As far as she knows...well...your daughter could know what you know. Can you imagine what would happen then?"

Stannis didn't want to imagine. He didn't think that anyone could do that to his daughter. She had done nothing. She had not been involved in his business. Surely the Queen would know that.

"My question is," Varys said, "if Lord Arryn can die with no one suspecting anyone of murder, then can the same not happen to your daughter?"

"Only if she wants a war," Stannis replied. "Robert would never let her harm Sarah."

"He'd never let her hurt Jon Arryn either," Varys replied, his tone matter of fact. He moved his fingers to pick a rose from the garden, twirling it in his fingers as Stannis watched him.

"She always did love roses, didn't she?" Varys said. "Beautiful things though...I can see why she spent so much time out here. It does have a tendency to take away one's troubles. Poor girl, she thought she'd escaped the lion's clutches, only for them to follow her."

Stannis watched as Vary wandered away and he took a moment to look at the roses before he moved and put his plan into action. He needed to get Sarah back to Dragonstone with no delay.

...

"You look absolutely fed up," Jaime spoke as he allowed his horse to trot next to Sarah's. She had been quiet for the entire day, covering her face with her hood. Jaime had watched her for some time before he decided to speak to her.

"I suppose I am," she replied to him. "I meant...well...I had a bad night sleep and I know it may have put me in a foul mood."

Jaime smirked and shook his head.

"You do know that it does not matter to me if you are in a foul mood?" he checked with her. "I suppose they come and go every now and then. You do not have to tread around your words all the time."

"No," Sarah shook her head, "I really do. What would you think of me if I truly told you how I felt?"

"I would tell you that I would be vaguely impressed with you," he replied to her. "I would also tell you that it would be normal of you to do so."

"I'm pissed off," Sarah finally admitted to Jaime and his eyes widened at hearing such foul language leave the little stag's mouth. She kept quiet before she lowered her eyes down to look at the horse, shaking her head as her hood fell from her head.

"Sorry," she quickly spoke. "I didn't mean to swear. I didn't really mean to be rude."

"Believe me, your uncle has said much worse in my company," Jaime replied to her, his eyes glimmering as he watched the little stag. "What is it that you're so pissed off about?"

"Everything," she admitted, looking back at the men riding behind her as they kept their distance, knowing better than to ride too close to Sarah. "The other night when those men...well...I did my best to defend myself, but I was useless. I did my best to outsmart them, and look how that turned out? And now I am going to marry some man who lives in such a cold place and I do not love him. What is the point of all of this?"

Jaime said nothing back to her, simply amazed that she had finally spoken her mind. She did nothing for a moment before looking to him, the tiredness apparent on her features. She looked pale and gaunt, nothing like her usual self. If anything then Jaime would say that she looked terrible.

"Sorry-"

"-Why do you apologise at every given moment?" Jaime interrupted her. "There is no need. You should not apologise for speaking your mind."

"Yes, but you do not want to hear what goes on in my mind," Sarah replied with a small smile. "No one has ever really wanted to know what I think before."

"You're a Baratheon," Jaime said. "I thought you imposed your opinions."

"I'm also half Florent," she reminded him. "My mother isn't known for imposing her beliefs."

Unless it is about the red woman. Sarah thought snidely.

"Well, I suppose you take after her then," Jaime replied. "You should concentrate on riding. You look as though you're about to collapse off that horse at any given moment."

Sarah smiled softly down to the ground before doing what Jaime had told her.

She spent the rest of the ride in silence before they made camp that night. Sarah found herself sat in her tent, reading by candlelight as she heard the ruffling of the flaps. She looked up and Ser Jaime entered, his hand holding a letter.

"This arrived from King's Landing," he told her. "I don't know how it managed to get here, but it did. I believe it is your father's scrawl."

Sarah practically snatched the letter from Jaime's fingers and tore into it, desperate to know what her father had to say for himself.

My eldest daughter,

I write this letter to you with grave concern, Sarah. I do not wish to indulge information with you. In fact, I wish to keep it from you in case this letter falls into the wrong hands. However, if you are reading this then you need to keep it from prying eyes. You must return home. Not King's Landing, but Dragonstone. It is the only place for you now. I am well aware that you will have questions, and I will answer them when I see you next. In the meantime, you must leave the camp in the middle of the night. No one is to know. Ride as far as possible down the Kingsroad, but keep an eye out. The King travels North and I do not wish for you to meet him on your return.

I have sent one of my trusted guards to meet you on your journey. He will bring you to the port of Blackwater Bay. That is where the Onion Knight will be waiting for you to bring you home.

I am aware that this causes confusion for you, but do not let it show. Remember who you are and do your best to come back. I await your return.

Your father,

Stannis Baratheon, Lord of Dragonstone.

Sarah finished reading the letter, admitting herself to be well and truly perplexed by what her father had told her to do. She supposed she shouldn't look so confused in front of Ser Jaime. He wouldn't think it wise.

"Something wrong, little stag?" Jaime asked from her and she shook her head.

"Nothing at all," she lied. "My father simply wanted to know of my health during the visit."

"How caring of the Lord of Dragonstone," Jaime said, his tone one of sarcasm as it entered Sarah's ears.

"Hm," Sarah weakly agreed, dreading going back on her own. What if she ran into trouble? Was her father expecting her to survive on her own? Could she survive on her own? She didn't know, but her father would never have told her to travel if it was not necessary. She only hoped that his trusted guard was closer to her than she thought.

Jaime knew instantly that there was something amiss as the girl folded the letter into two and he nodded his head at her, his hair falling into his eyes as he did so;

"I will leave you to sleep," he informed her. "We ride again early tomorrow morning."

"Yes, Ser Jaime," Sarah replied. "Thank you."

Jaime left the tent and stood outside, listening in for a few moments. He was well aware that something wasn't right. He did fully intend to find out.

...

A/N: Thanks to all of those who have read and to those who reviewed! I do hope you'll let me know what you think so far!