A/N: Standard disclaimer here. I don't own ASOIAF and only write for fun.

Eddard

Eddard Stark opened his eyes and groaned. He had been tired from all the riding he had done, and decided to take a nap before he faced the King and his Queen. The moonlight that streamed through the tall windows let him know he had failed is his goal to sleep until morning. Somethings would never change.

"The king left orders," Vayon Poole told him after he handed him a cup of water. "He would speak with you, my lord."

Ned sighed. "Tell him I'm too tired to come to him. If he wished to speak with me, I should be pleased to receive him here. Summon Jory for me before you go."

Jory stepped into the bedchamber a few moments after the steward had taken his leave. "My lord."

"I have been gone for six days," Ned said. "How are my daughters?"

"Safe and sound," Jory responded and Ned sighed. It was a risk chasing Jamie Lannister and leaving them here, but in the last life when he was injured and out of it, nothing had happened to his girls. He was confident that with more Stark men here to guard them, that nothing would happen this time either.

"Sansa has prayed every day for your safe return. Theon Greyjoy had stuck by her side and made sure nothing bad would happen to her."

"And Arya?" Ned asked.

Jory smiled. "Arya is Arya my lord."

Ned nodded. "Soon I will have my daughters and most of my household on a boat headed to White Harbor. It should be ready soon."

Jory grimaced. "It looks like the ship will not be ready for another fortnight at least my lord. An accident occurred, causing damage to the ship and the captain said he would need that time to make the repairs."

Ned cursed silently. It was no accident. Someone must have grown suspicious that a Manderly ship was sticking around the harbor. They must have guessed that he was trying to get my girls out of King's Landing. "Send men to guard that ship night and day. I will have no more accidents."

Jory nodded, the frown still attached firmly to his face, "There is something else you should know my lord."

"What is it?" Ned asked him, but Vayon Poole had returned before he could speak. His steward bowed low. "His grace is without, my lord, and the queen with him."

Ned rose from the bed, and nodded. "Send them in, and leave us. What we say should not go beyond these walls."

"Your Grace," Ned said as Robert entered the room. He knelt before him and waited for Robert to tell him to rise.

"Get up Ned," Robery said gruffly and when Ned rose he spoke, "where the hell have you been?"

"As I am sure you have heard," Ned began. "Ser Jamie Lannister attempted to ambush me in the streets of King's Landing. Had the members of my household guard not outnumbered his, he would have attacked me. I did not want to cause more of a scene in your city than we already had, so I waited for him to leave before I took some members of my guard and gave chase."

"What gives you the right," the queen snarled. The truth was that he never really chased Jamie. He just gave the appearance that he did. He wanted to follow his original life now, perhaps more than ever, as closely as possible. He had six days and seven nights to kill.

"Quiet, woman," Robert snapped. He poured Ned a cup of wine. "I needed you Ned."

"For what? Pycelle's trial is not for another two days. When I could not track Jamie, I made sure to return so I could judge his trial."

"Pycelle is dead," Robert responded coolly. "The only healers we have here are his apprentices. They say it looked natural. They say the stress of being locked up in the black cells caused his heart to give out. Good riddance, he could have saved Jon and he didn't."

"Surely you do no think it was a simple heart attack," Ned asked. "Whoever did this knew that Pycelle might have had answers and did not want him to talk."

"That old mans death is not of great importance," Queen Cersei spat. Ned was confident who killed the maester. "The citadel has already elected another Grand Maester and he will arrive within a moon turn. What is more important is what your wife had done."

"My lady wife is blameless, Your Grace. All she did she did at my command."

"I am not pleased, Ned," Robert grumbled.

"By what right do you dare lay hands on my blood?" Cersei demanded. "Who do you think you are?"

"The Hand of the King," Ned responded politely. "Charged by your own lord husband to keep the king's peace, and enforce the king's justice. Besides, when we were in Winterfell, you seemed not to care for your brother much, why now?"

"How dare you," Cersei began.

"Silence!" the king roared. "You have asked him your question, and now he has answered it." Cersei subsided, though her fury was still etched harshly in her features, and Robert turned back to Ned. "Keep the king's peace, you say? Is this how you keep my peace, Ned? There was almost a drunken fight in my streets Ned, and a key prisoner has died on your absence."

"You blame me for the failures of the other members of the council?" Ned asked. "Surely someone other than me should have been smart enough to order more men to protect him? I did not think I was needed for such a trivial task."

"Which is exactly why I needed you!" Robert roared. "You leave for six days and this is what happens! I don't give a damn about the imp. I don't give a damn about the Kingslayer! Hell you even convinced me to not give a damn about that dragon whore across the sea! You were supposed to be focused on finding out what happened to Lord Arryn, yet you let this stupid quarrel with the Kingslayer distract you from that path, and in the chaos, Pycelle is dead. Another man in my castle poisoned is what you would have me believe. How does that make me look?"

By the time he was done, the king was red faced and panting and suddenly, Ned was starting to second guess himself. Maybe trying to stick to this timeline wasn't the right move here. Maybe Robert was right. He didn't think they would kill poison and kill Pycelle so soon after they had done the same to Jon Arryn. He had underestimated them for the last time.

Ned sighed, and had the grace to look ashamed. He would not argue with Robert anymore that night, so he just nodded grimly at him. Robert sighed as well. "Did you at least catch him?"

"No," Ned responded, not that he really tried. "He managed to evade me. He probably has arrived in Casterly Rock by now."

"Good," Cersei told the king. "My brother was not the cause of this quarrel. Lord Stark was returning drunk from a brothel. His has already admitted his men outnumbered Jamie and his guards, even as his wife attacked Tyrion the kingsroad."

Ned scoffed. "I was neither drunk, nor was I enjoying some whorehouse. I went there to have a look at your daughter. She looks exactly like that girl you fathered, when we were boys together in the Vale."

Again he watched Cersei as he spoke. Again she was a mask. In his previous life, he had brought up Baelish and asked the King to speak with him to vouch for him. This time he knew better, just as he should of known the last. That had been one of the many times Lord Baelish had blatantly told him he would betray him. He wasn't focused during his last life. He was more focused now.

Robert glanced at Cersei, "this is no fit subject for the queen's ears."

"Her grace will not like anything I have to say on this night," Ned replied. "I was hoping you would give me leave to bring the Kingslayer back to justice after the trial. Now that there would be no trial, I hope to leave tomorrow."

Ned knew Robert would deny him, and pretended to act upset when he did.

"No," he said. "I want no more of this."

"Is that your notion of justice?" Ned asked coldly. He was starting to become such a great actor. It wasn't as pleasing as he thought it might be. "He attacked your hand in the streets of your city. He must face the consequences."

The queen glared at her husband. "If any man had dared speak to a Targaryen as he has spoken to you-"

"Do you take me for Aerys?" Robert interrupted. Ned frowned. Aerys was mad. Robert was lazy and incompetent. He wasn't really sure, at that moment, which was worst.

"I took you for a king," Cersei began but Ned began ignore her. He knew what the Queen would say, so he had no need to hear it again. This time he waited for Robert to strike.

"What a jape the gods have made us two," she said. "By all rights, you ought to be in skirts and me in mail."

Purple with rage, the king lashed out, a vicious backhand blow aimed at her head. Ned caught it before it connected, and Robert looked at him with narrowed eyes. Ned shook his head and called for a guard. Ser Meryn Trant stepped into the room and Ned spoke. "The queen is tired. See her to bed please."

Cersei stared at him with cold calculating eyes but quickly left the room without another word. Robert yanked his hand away and reached for the flagon to refill his cup. He was quiet for a moment, brooding, his face in his cup. He finally downed it all before he filled it again.

"I suppose I should be thanking you," he said as he sat down. "That bruise would have been nasty."

"Aye," Ned responded. "What happened to you? The Robert I knew would never-"

"I know!" Robert cut him off. "Gods I know. You see what she does to me, Ned. My loving wife, the mother of my children. I should not have attempted to hit her. That was not… Jon Arryn never taught us to… that was not kingly."

By then he had downed another cup and filled it again. "I was always so strong … only you could stand before me. How do you fight someone if you can't hit them?"

"You should never had to fight her," Ned responded. "She is your wife."

"Gods!" Robert responded. "It is all so simple for you! I am not you Ned! I never wanted this. I wanted Lyanna."

It was sad really. Lyanna never wanted him but Ned was not cruel enough to tell him. Robert would die thinking what he thought. If there was some kind of afterlife, only then would he know the truth. Ned sighed. It was time to say goodbye.

It was strange, this time, knowing that this was the last conversation he would ever have with Robert. There was so much that he wanted to say, that he could say, that he wouldn't. If the gods had been kind enough to send him back earlier, perhaps he would have attempted to save Robert too but it was too late. Robert was not fit to be King, so he must die. He had accepted that decision a long time ago… or so he thought.

"You Grace," Ned said, in the end of it all finding his resolve crumbling. They had grown apart, but the man was still his friend. In the face of it all, he could not allow his friend to walk into his death unknowingly. "We must talk."

Robert looked up at him, and downed another cup. "I am sick of talking. On the marrow I'm going to the kingswood to hunt. Whatever you have to say can wait until I return."

Ned sighed. He had been ready to warn him, to tell him to be careful but Robert was still the same. His words were still the same. His actions were still the same. He couldn't save him. At this point, he wasn't sure Robert wanted to be saved.

Robert stood up, grasping the bedpost to steady himself. "Promise to keep the kingdom safe while I am gone?"

"I promise," Ned responded, the echo of his sisters voice pounding in his head like a drum.

A/N: I think I said that this chapter would be Bran? I lied. Sorry about that. In the books GRR writes chapters out of order. I decided, mostly so I could keep up with things, to try to tell things in order as much as possible which means the next chapter will be a Sansa, followed by the first chapter from Dany's POV. Then we would get Catelyn, and back to Ned. If all goes well, I'll post the Sansa chapter sometime in the morning.

Here, we see Ned doing his best to follow the path of his original timeline. I know some of you have asked me time and time again; Why? For what reason? What is the purpose? Because he knows what will happen, and thinks its the easiest way to get Jon on the throne to lead against the Long Night. Its that simple. I think some of you are overthinking it a bit.

Now, does that mean this story will follow cannon until the end? No. As I said before, Ned's changes will start to take effect really soon starting with the next chapter. His changes might even put his life in danger... who knows?

Anyway, as always I appreciate all your comments, follows and favorites. I never imagined I would get this response.

See you tomorrow!