He dashed into the room without waiting to be announced, breathlessly. His guts were twisting in apprehension. The other members of the council turned to look at him.
"What about my wife?", he asked without wasting any more time on a greeting of some sort.
"Calm down, Ned!", Robert insisted, "Come here, sit down, have a drink."
With nervous steps he came to sit next to him. But instead of filling his glass he repeated his question, fighting for a little more control over his tempers: "What's this news about my wife?"
Petyr explained: "We got word that she has released Tyrion Lannister and is now on her way back to Winterfell."
Ned closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh of relief: „Thank the Gods…"
"While it is a fortunate turn of events, without a doubt, that someone has apparently been able to talk some sense back into your lady wife, Lord Stark", Jaime said, "I'm afraid this change of heart might have come a little too late…"
His face darkened again into a deep frown.
"What do you mean? And what are you doing at a council meeting, anyway?"
But Jaime only cared to answer his first questions: "Well, my lord father was not too happy to have his son taken a prisoner… by a woman, of all people. He will already have taken means to put her in her place, I'm sure."
"She has released him, what else do you want?", Ned replied in a sudden fury, "She is with child! In that condition, women can come up with the strangest ideas, you know that just as well as I do. She wasn't herself when she took him, she has done nothing wrong! Your lord father will make a huge mistake if he does her any harm."
„Oh, will he, really? Considering in particular the matter we discussed last time, I shouldn't think so. I even prefer to believe that he would be doing the realm and all of its people a massive favour."
Robert sensed his friend losing it again, so he intervened quickly, dismissing the subject: "Jaime, we've already talked about that. The woman will live. I don't want her blood on my hands nor on yours."
"Indeed, killing Lady Catelyn would seem a little harsh to me, too, if I may say so", Petyr objected.
"Yes, Littlefinger, we all know that", Jaime said, "But thank you for the reminder! And I'm not talking about killing her. But she needs to be punished. For what she has done to my brother, to my family… and also, for all the shame she brought on our dear friend Eddard and the house Stark."
"She will not be punished for what she has done to your brother and to your family, this is a command from your king! And whether or not she will be for what she has done to Lord Stark is up to himself to decide."
He looked over to Ned, took a deep breath and continued in a softer voice: "However… I'm not so much worried about her as about the babe."
"To redeem myself", Jaime remarked pretentiously, "may I just remind you all that we wouldn't be in this situation if the council would have listened to my proposal to simply castrate Lord Stark after his last son was born."
"I did listen", Petyr murmured, "Very carefully…"
"Robert…", Ned urged, ignoring them both, "The child's not mine! It's not the seventh."
"What's the matter, then?", the king required, "Why are you so worried? It's your woman's bastard, for cryin' out loud! There's no more shattering a humiliation for a man than that. We could make an end to it before anyone takes notice. We've got experts here in King's Landing… I'm sure, Catelyn can handle it. And she will even understand! She must know how fortunate she is to have all the children that she bore living and growing, even the crippled one that fell from a tower!"
Ned could barely keep it together as he looked him in the eye and hissed: "How do you know what my wife can and cannot handle? She will be devastated! Killing her child would be the greater punishment for her than if you'd take her own life. I beg you, Robert… There is nothing to be frightened by! This child has nothing to do with the prophecy. Leave my wife in peace! Jaime was right… I have brought her a bastard… So she has the right to have one as well."
For a moment he thought that he had finally reached his friend's heart. But then Robert slammed his fist on the table and roared: "This is madness, Ned! How can you be so sure about that? How can we be so sure that you don't know more than you're telling us? It's all too much of a coincidence, Ned. 'The dragon will return and unite with the wolf, to rule and to conquer with ice and fire' - that's what the prophecy says. Daenerys, the dragon, breeding her little half-horse-half-human scum protected by the Dothraki across the Narrow Sea, at precisely the same time as the wolf lady of Winterfell? Ice and fire, Ned… Ice! 'Winter is coming'… Does that sound familiar to you? Isn't that what you've been boring people with for years? Let me tell you something: No one ever cared or even knew what you meant. Until now…"
Before Ned could answer, and he did not know how subservient he could have made it sound, Varys cleared his throat and raised his voice for the first time: "If I may interrupt, Your Grace, since the dicussion seems to be heating up… I will just say that we probably don't have to worry about the matter for much longer. It might eventually resolve itself."
"Why?", Robert asked what Ned did not dare to.
"I have heard from someone who saw her recently on her journey. She's looking like the Stranger himself. The poor thing caught a fever on the road. Barely able to mount her horse. They say she's going home to Winterfell to bid her farewell."
Ned felt the words stab deep inside his chest like a thousand swords, draining all life from his body. He remembered how he used to hold her last time she had the fever. Later she would tell him that she would not have made it through without him by her side. He knew that it was true. So now the fever had returned. And who would hold her now?
"Alright, then. This should be enough for now", Robert sighed as he saw that his Hand had already left them moments ago.
He got up and firmly patted his shoulder as he passed him on his way out: "Just go… Get some rest!"