Catelyn
Lord Titus Peake stood before them. His arms and legs were fettered as he was brought before them in the throne room.
His daughter, Lenora, and son, Tywald both stood before them as well, wearing fetters, though his younger son, Gerold had fled. The son must have resisted because he had a broken nose and bruises on his face to show for it, while Lord Titus must not have put up a fight.
Even so, there was no masking that they had been in the Black Cells for several days.
Catelyn looked around. The King and his council were all present along with four of the knights of the Kingsguard, and many other nobles had come in attendance as the Lord of Starpike was to be put on trial.
"My lord, you stand accused of having one of your men at arms attempt to kill the Hand's own daughter, and the betrothed of Prince Joffrey," Lord Varys said with a touch of pity in his voice.
Lord Titus grunted at his chains.
"Do you deny it my lord?" Ned asked him. Her husband wore full armor today, and even had Ice with him, no doubt ready to be used.
"I deny it… Yes…" the Lord spit out. "I would have a trial by battle."
Catelyn saw a grim look upon Ned's face. They had expected he would, but it did not change her thoughts on it.
"That is your right. I will face your champion within the hour," Ned told him. She had begged him not to, telling him that it would've been more customary for Ser Illyn Payne, the King's Justice, or one of the knights of the Kingsguard to stand as the Crown's Champion, but he had insisted. He had been raised to believe the man who passes the sentence should swing the sword after all, just as he had raised their sons.
"I shall stand as my own champion," Lord Titus announced.
"So be it," Ned said, while some of the guardsmen began to step forward to release Lord Titus from his chains.
"I'd have my sword too," Lord Titus said, demanding his Valyrian Steel longsword, Orphan-Maker. One of the serving men offered it to him, who took it gladly, and he drew it from its scabbard. Though unarmored, he seemed like to face Ned then and there.
Ned called for Ice, which Edmund and Elmar were quick to bring forward. Ned already wore his armor, and once he had the sword, he rose from his seat, ready for battle.
Lord Titus stood ready as well, prepared to face Ned, and with little ceremony, the duel began.
Catelyn knew that Ned did not often wield Ice, save for special ceremonies. There were other lords of Winterfell that she knew of, like Lord Cregan Stark, who had once faced the Dragonknight wielding the sword, but Ned had saved the sword for trials, war, and execution.
Ned made the first swing at Lord Titus, bringing his sword down over Lord Titus's head. Lord Titus was older than Ned, having seen at least fifty name days, and his hair was completely grey, or white. Her husband was larger too, and seemed even in his armor to be more nimble as the two great Valyrian Steel Swords clashed.
When their swords met, it made a sound unlike any common sword swinging, sending loud echoes throughout the hall that rang in Catelyn's ears.
Lord Titus was not armed, and wielded a longsword rather than a greatsword as Ned did, which Catelyn thought was folly. She didn't know much of sword fighting, but she had seen many fights in her life.
Her father and uncle were larger men and often dominated their smaller foes, as was Ser Arthur Dayne. Even the Kingslayer in what few duels she had seen him fight, was larger and stronger.
But Lord Titus tried to dance from each of Ned's swings, leading him about the whole hall, leaving him. Her husband made swing after swing at him, though more and more Lord Titus simply evaded them without even needing to parry, and they had gotten slower and slower.
This wasn't like most duels Catelyn had seen, where often the men boasted back and forth, or taunted one another as they fought. The two men remained silent, not even letting out battle cries, as they went back and forth.
Lord Titus had backed closer and closer to the front doors, which had caused the men at arms there to draw their swords to prevent him from fleeing the throne room, though his focus seemed solely on Ned.
It was there the tides seemed to change, with the Lord of Starpike finally making a swing at Ned, a slash at Ned's left hip. Ned was able to block it, but the Reacherlord began to make strike after strike, with Ned parrying seemingly three blows for every one he gave.
The men of the Hall were cheering her husband, and giving calls of encouragement, but Catelyn began to fear as her husband seemed to be losing, when Lord Titus finally managed to land a blow, with a savage swing down on Ned's left shoulder.
Catelyn could only watch as her husband's sword began to drop. The blow had not pierced Ned's armor, but he must have been hurt all the same, though as Lord Titus began to prepare for a killing blow, a sword came out of the man's lower back.
Ned rose, and began to pull a now bloody Ice from the man's stomach, and Lord Titus remained on his feet for a moment before he began to fall over.
Her heart began to slow down a little, as she realized that Ned had won.
Edmund and Elmar began to rush over to him, and began to tend to her husband, and soundly the echoes of the swords clashing was replaced by the sudden chatter of everyone in the hall. Ser Loras Tyrell had grabbed the Valyrian Steel sword, Orphan-Maker, from near Lord Titus, and had gone to the throne, asking the King's leave that he may take the sword for himself, which the king consented too.
Lord Titus was guilty, Catelyn realized, or at least the gods had deemed him so. In the Eyes of Gods and Men, he had ordered one of his men to kill Sansa.
Catelyn wondered how the man could've been such a great fool as to use his own man to kill Sansa, but it didn't matter. She caught a glimpse of the queen who did not seem pleased, before she walked out of the throne room.
Her children next to her seemed to be relieved too, though Catelyn didn't let them rush over to their father as she knew they wanted to.
After Ice had been cleaned and was sheathed, Ned left the hall too, making no doubt for the Tower of the Hand to remove his armor, followed by a handful of Winterfell men at arms.
Grand Maester Pycelle began to speak of the guilt of Lord Titus Peake, while some of Lord Titus's men were being pulled forward, each to be executed by Ser Illyn Payne. Catelyn had seen her husband execute another man a time or two, and Ser Illyn gave none of the same treatment that Ned did.
None of the men were afforded the ability to speak their last words, and most were executed without so much as a sentencing, while some men collected the bodies as they were executed.
Catelyn held her children close, so that they wouldn't see the execution, but she watched every single one. Some men cried, some gave angry looks and two called for mercy, from the King, from the Gods, from somewhere, before they all met the same fate.
By the end only two remained, Lord Titus's son and daughter. It was the man the brought forward first, who seemed to die with some dignity as Ser Illyn's sword came down, and removed his head from his body, before the girl was brought forward.
Catelyn saw that she was weeping, perhaps for what she had been witness to, perhaps for her father and brother, and perhaps for her own life. For a moment, Catelyn thought to do nothing, thinking that it was deserved, for her father had attempted to kill her daughter to make her a queen, but Catelyn couldn't, as she imagined if it were one of her own children that were being executed.
"Stop!" She called from the gallery, as men were beginning to force her down onto the block.
Much of the court was gone by now, after the duel and with few wanting to bear witness to the executions, but what few eyes remained all began to turn to her, most chiefly the members of the Small Council, and the King.
Catelyn stepped out from the gallery, into the main hall of the throne room. She didn't know what madness was driving her.
"My lady… This girl's father ordered a man to kill your own daughter, Prince Joffrey's betrothed. Surely her life must be taken for that," Lord Varys said, which Catelyn saw some members of the court nodded too.
She struggled to find words to answer when suddenly young Warren Manderly stepped forward. "For what crime, my lord?" He asked before he bowed his head to King Robert. "This was her father's crime, not her own, your grace."
Catelyn remembered what she had been taught of House Manderly, how they had been once proud lords in the Reach, before it was House Peake that drove them out. Surely the boy would've been glad to see Lady Lenora dead, but he didn't.
The king began to dismiss the few remaining members of the court, leaving only the Kingsguard, the King's Council, and members of Catelyn's household, as well as the few men who were still taking the bodies of those already executed.
By now Warren had moved to comfort Lady Lenora and moved her away from the headsman's block, towards the edge of the main hall. She still wept though, Catelyn noted, feeling pity for the girl.
"My lady, the girl is a threat to your own daughters, surely you would feel relief at her death," Petyr said when they were gone.
"Is she truly a threat my lord?" Catelyn asked him. "Her father in his ambition was for certain, but she is not."
"What would you do with the girl, my lady," King Robert asked, calling down from the throne.
"Spare her your grace." Catelyn didn't know what she was going to do with the girl, but it would be better if she lived, that much was certain.
The black haired king gave a nod back. "You have my leave then," he said, and Catelyn left.
She looked back to the gallery, but saw that someone from their household had already taken her children out of the throne room, and Catelyn began to walk back to the Tower of the Hand, followed closely by the Manderly boy and the Peake girl as well as the few remaining Stark men in the Hall.
When they finally made it to the Tower of the Hand, Catelyn entered, looking for Ned as she walked up each level. In time she found him, in the lord's solar, having removed his armor, and was dressed in one of his silk and linen tunics.
His eyes seemed to light up a little when he spotted her, and she bid him sit. "What happened after I left?" Ned asked her curiously.
"Ser Illyn… He executed Lord Peake's men and son…" Catelyn told him, seeing that Ned wasn't pleased.
"The girl?" He wondered.
"They brought her forward as though they were to kill her, though I stopped them…" She said.
Ned's shock was plain for Catelyn to see. "Where… Where is she now?"
"Ser Wylis's son… He brought her with him here, to the Tower of the Hand, my lord." Catelyn told him. "I do not think it wise to let her remain here in court…"
"No, I think not," Ned agreed. "Her brother fled to Starpike, and it may yet come to war. If he had any part in the attempt on Sansa's life, he will lose his head too."
Catelyn considered that for a moment. "That should make Lady Lenora the heir to Starpike then… House Peake once drove House Manderly out of the Reach…" She found herself laughing at the irony, though careful to not hurt herself.
Ned seemed to understand what she was saying, allowing Warren to marry the girl that House Manderly could claim Starpike in the south, where they had once ruled.
He called for Vayon Poole, the steward. "My lord?" He greeted when he finally arrived.
"Fetch me Warren, I would like to speak with him," Ned said.
"At once my lord," the steward said, before he turned and left, leaving Catelyn and Ned alone again, and Catelyn could only wonder how the rest of the realm would look on what had happened, and what was soon to happen.
Author Notes:
And another chapter is out…
Please do leave reviews and comments guys. The past few chapters I've only gotten one comment and one review each on them, and it can be a little frustrating. I enjoy hearing your feedback since it helps me gauge both how people feel about my writing, and because knowing how you guys fuel plays a key role in fueling my story and my ideas.
As a refresher, Warren is the 14 year old son of Wendel Manderly.
I published another series, just covering the lore alterations for this series, which I think have been mentioned a few times. Here's the link to it: /works/31051514/chapters/76708385
So far I've covered some details on the later life of Queen Rhaena as well as her twin daughters, and how they are different, so you can check that out if you're interested.
Two more chapters until the Tourney of the Hand.
Thank you guys for reading as always, and remember that all follows and favorites are more than welcome.
I don't own ASOIAF, never have and never will.