Disclaimer: I do not own anything from A Song of Ice and Fire or Game of Thrones. Everything here belongs to George R.R Martin.

Chapter XVIII - Leaving the Capital

Ned POV

Promise Me Ned. Ned remembered that was what Lyanna said before she died. Ned remembered how Lyanna told him how Rhaegar and her eloped, how Rhaegar married her in the godswood. Ned wondered what he should tell Jon now, knowing that he could possibly die. Jon still had surviving siblings, Daeron and Daenerys. He remembered how he told Robert, how he told him not to kill Daeron and Daenerys, in risk of angering Dorne.

Ned was hungry, tired and thirsty, but he only thought about his family, are Alyssa, Sansa and Arya safe. He hoped for Alyssa and Arya's sake that she escaped the Red Keep and maybe Septa Mordane and had brought Sansa to safety. He thought about Lyanna, Brandon, Jon, his father, Benjen, Robb, Alyssa, Arya, Bran, Rickon and Sansa. From outside his cell came the rattle of iron chains. As the door creaked open, Ned put a hand to the damp wall and pushed himself toward the light. The glare of a torch made him squint.

"Food," he croaked.

"Wine," a voice answered. It was not the rat-faced man; this gaoler was stouter, shorter, though he wore the same leather half cape and spiked steel cap. "Drink, Lord Eddard."

He thrust a wineskin into Ned's hands. The voice was strangely familiar, yet it took Ned Stark a moment to place it.

"Varys!" he said groggily when it came. He touched the man's face. "I'm not…not dreaming this. You're here."

The eunuch's plump cheeks were covered with a dark stubble of beard. Ned felt the coarse hair with his fingers. Varys had transformed himself into a grizzled turnkey, reeking of sweat and sour wine. "How did you…what sort of magician are you?"

"A thirsty one," Varys said. "Drink, my lord."

Ned's hands fumbled at the skin. "Is this the same poison they gave Robert?"

"You wrong me," Varys said sadly. "Truly, no one loves a eunuch. Give me the skin." He drank, a trickle of red leaking from the corner of his plump mouth. "Not the equal of the vintage you offered me the night of the tourney, but no more poisonous than most," he concluded, wiping his lips. "Here."

Ned tried a swallow. "Dregs."

He felt as though he were about to bring the wine back up. "All men must swallow the sour with the sweet. High lords and eunuchs alike. Your hour has come, my lord"

"My daughters…"

"The older and younger girl escaped Ser Meryn and fled," Varys told him. "I have not been able to find her. Nor have the Lannisters. A kindness, there. Our new king loves her now. With your eldest daughter believed to be dead, Sansa is now betrothed to Joffrey. Cersei keeps her close. She came to court a few days ago to plead that you be spared. A pity you couldn't have been there, you would have been touched." He leaned forward intently. "I trust you realize that you are a dead man, Lord Eddard?"

"The queen will not kill me," Ned said. "Cat…Cat holds her brother…"

"The wrong brother," Varys sighed. "And lost to her, in any case. She let the Imp slip through her fingers. He is dead, probably, somewhere in the Mountains of the Moon."

"If that is true, slit my throat and have done with it." He was dizzy from the wine, tired and heartsick.

"Your blood is the last thing I desire."

Ned frowned. "When they slaughtered my guard, you stood beside the queen and watched, and said not a word."

"And would again. I seem to recall that I was unarmed, unarmored, and surrounded by Lannister swords." Varys looked at him curiously, tilting his head. "When I was a young boy, before I was cut, I traveled with a troupe of mummers through the Free Cities. They taught me that each man has a role to play, in life as well as mummy. So it is at court. The King's Justice must be fearsome, the master of coin must be frugal, the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard must be valiant…and the master of whisperers must be sly and obsequious and without scruple. A courageous informer would be as useless as a cowardly knight."

He took the wineskin back and drank. Ned studied the eunuch's face, searching for truth beneath the mummer's scars and false stubble. He tried some more wine. This time it went down easier. "Can you free me from this pit?"

"Of course I can." Varys stated. "But what is it in for me? I'm not a man of honor. I only served the realm."

"What do you want, Lord Varys?" Ned asked.

"Peace," Varys replied without hesitation. "If there was one soul in King's Landing who was truly desperate to keep Robert Baratheon alive, it was me." He sighed. "For thirteen years I protected him from his enemies, but I could not protect him from his friends. What strange fit of madness led you to tell the queen that you had learned the truth of Joffrey's birth?"

"The madness of mercy," Ned admitted.

"Ah," said Varys. "To be sure. You are an honest and honorable man, Lord Eddard. Oftentimes I forget that. I have met so few of them in my life."

Ned Stark laid his head back against the stone wall and closed his eyes. His leg was throbbing. "The king's wine…did you question Lancel?"

"Oh, indeed. Cersei gave him the wineskins, and told him it was Robert's favorite vintage." Varys shrugged. "If the boar had not done for Robert, it would have been a fall from a horse, the bite of a wood adder, an arrow gone astray…It was not wine that killed the king. It was your mercy."

Ned had feared as much. "Gods forgive me."

"If there are gods," Varys said, "I expect they will. The queen would not have waited long in any case. Robert was becoming unruly, and she needed to be rid of him to free her hands to deal with his brothers. They are quite a pair, Stannis and Renly. The iron gauntlet and the silk glove." He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "You have been foolish, my lord. You ought to have heeded Littlefinger when he urged you to support Joffrey's succession. So you could've survived, the world needs an honorable man like you."

"How…how could you know of that?"

Varys smiled. "I know, that's all that needs to concern you. I also know that on the morrow the queen will pay you a visit."

Slowly Ned raised his eyes. "Why?"

"Cersei is frightened of you, my lord…but she has other enemies she fears even more. Her beloved Jaime is fighting the river lords even now. Lysa Arryn sits in the Eyrie, ringed in stone and steel, and there is no love lost between her and the queen. In Dorne, the Martells still brood on the murder of Princess Elia and her babes. No doubt one day, they will declare for Daeron Targaryen and his sister Daenerys. And now your son marches down the Neck with a northern host at his back."

"Robb is only a boy," Ned said, aghast.

"A boy with an army," Varys said. "Yet only a boy, as you say. The king's brothers are the ones giving Cersei sleepless nights…Lord Stannis in particular. His claim is the true one, he is known for his prowess as a battle commander, and he is utterly without mercy. No one knows what Stannis has been doing on Dragonstone, but I will wager you that he's gathered more swords than seashells. So here is Cersei's nightmare: while her father and brother spend their power battling Starks and Tullys, Lord Stannis will land, proclaim himself king, and kill her son and her, though I truly believe she cares more about the boy."

"Stannis Baratheon is Robert's true heir," Ned said. "The throne is his by right. I would welcome his ascent."

Varys tsked. "Cersei will not want to hear that, I promise you. Stannis may win the throne, but only your rotting head will remain to cheer unless you guard that tongue of yours. Sansa begged so sweetly, it would be a shame if you threw it all away. You are being given your life back, if you'll take it. Cersei is no fool. She knows a tame wolf is of more use than a dead one."

"You want me to serve the woman who murdered my king, butchered my men, and crippled my son?" Ned's voice was thick with disbelief.

"I want you to serve the realm," Varys said. "Tell the queen that you will confess your vile treason, command your son to lay down his sword, and proclaim Joffrey as the true heir. Offer to denounce Stannis and Renly as faithless usurpers. Our green-eyed lioness knows you are a man of honor. If you will give her the peace she needs and the time to deal with Stannis, and pledge to carry her secret to your grave, I believe she will allow you to take the black and live out the rest of your days on the Wall, with your brother and that baseborn son of yours."

The thought of Jon filled Ned with a sense of shame, and a sorrow too deep for words. If only he could see the boy again, sit and talk with him about Lyanna, but he needed to leave, so he said, "You want me to serve the realm."

"I want everyone to serve the realm, while the rich people are at war, the poor people are the ones who are really fighting." Varys said.

"Free me, let me go, and perhaps I could serve the realm." Ned pleaded. "Free my daughter Sansa too. Like you said, the world needs honorable men."

"Sansa is surrounded by ten Lannister guards everyday, your best bet is that you can get yourself out. Your daughter would become a hostage, but the Lannister will be clever enough not to kill her. I could help her, after all I am in the Small Council." Varys said. "That is your choice of course. Of course, this is the easy choice, the second choice is that you confess your crimes, however that could be dangerous, for an honorable man only. Others would immediately break their oaths. The third would be that your daughter could be hurt by Cersei."

"No," Ned pleaded, his voice cracking. "Varys, gods have mercy, do as you like with me, but leave my daughter out of your schemes. Sansa's no more than a child."

"This is not my scheme. This is the reality we live in." Varys replied. "You know Rhaenys was a child too. Prince Rhaegar's daughter. A precious little thing, younger than your girls. She and her twin brother Daeron had a small black kitten which they called Balerion, did you know? I always wondered what happened to him. Both Daeron and Rhaenys liked to pretend he was the true Balerion, the Black Dread of old, but I imagine the Lannisters taught Princess Rhaenys the difference between a kitten and a dragon quick enough, the day they broke down her door. Rhaegar's youngest daughter Daenerys was also a little girl, but she was smuggle to Dragonstone and spirited away. A young girl, younger than your daughter was, because she was baby, she still suffered more than any of your children. Your daughter would suffer either way, Lord Stark, no doubt tormented by Joffrey, however you have a life, choose wisely, you could go back to your son, your daughters, your wife, and Winterfell. Perhaps the Lords would be more willing to follow you and your son, and you may stop this war and serve the realm."

Ned pondered, this was a risky gamble, but he quickly made up his choice, "Get me out of here."

"And you shall serve the realm?" Varys asked.

"Aye." Ned said. "In the best way I can."

"You're an honorable man, Lord Stark." Varys said as to Ned's surprise, Varys took out a cane from his large pocket along with a knife. Varys handed it to Ned who took it and stood up and said, "Follow me Lord Stark, there is a secret passage, you would be sent to the Night's Watch where you would meet your family on the road to the North."

oOoOo

Small Council

"How could he escape?" Cersei demanded at the Small Council. Varys, Littlefinger and Pycelle sat in the Small Council, with an expressionless face. Lord Baelish looked nervous, of course rightfully so as he was the one who betrayed Ned Stark. "This is treason, I want his head."

"Your Grace, I will have my little birds find him." Varys assured Cersei. Cersei glared at Varys and said, "You do that. But now we have to deal with this situation. Damn that Northerner. Jaime is a hostage and those wolf bitches have escaped, we only have Sansa."

"Perhaps we could make have someone to be killed? Make him look like Ned Stark?" Petyr Baelish suggested as Varys spotted a nervous sweat on his forehead. Varys smirked, knowing that this does not go well with whatever plans Littlefinger has.

"Any fool can tell the difference between Ned Stark and some peasant." Cersei spat.

"It doesn't have to be a public execution, a private one, we only have to display his head. Make it look painful." Pycella said fraily.

oOoOo

Alyssa POV

Alyssa and Arya crouched around Baelor's statue. They watched as Joffrey, Sansa and Queen Cersei were in the stands. The smallfolks cheered and Joffrey held up his hand and said, "Lord Stark is a traitor to the realm. He conspired to take away my birthright. My beloved, Lady Sansa..."

Wow! Alyssa thought.How quickly does Joffrey change his thought.

"My beloved Sansa." Joffrey continued. "Has pleaded for her father's mercy." Sansa gave a small smile and Alyssa felt annoyed. Joffrey however continued, "But I could assure you, as long as I live, treason will never go unpunished. Ser Illyn Payne."

Ser Illyn Payne came out and held a bag, something round in there. Alyssa's eyes widened and grabbed Arya. Ser Illyn Payne took out a head and Sansa screamt. Alyssa and Arya let out a cry and Joffrey yelled, "I bring you Ned Stark's head."

Sansa fainted and Alyssa saw how mutiliated her father's head was, his eyes were carved out and he looked like he has been punched several times. Alyssa grabbed Arya as they went down the Baelor statue. They didn't care who stands between Joffrey and them, they want Joffrey to die. Suddenly, someone grabbed them and Alyssa yelled, "Let me go."

"Quiet!" Yoren snapped at her. "Both of you, I'm bringing you to your father."

Okay, in the real series, Ned Stark died. But I want him to be alive in this fanfic, because it would be very good for the ending.