Chapter 17: Breakdown

William was busy overlooking the placing of the cannons, and the moment all three of his ships, The Quiet Wolf, which was the man of war and his two brigs Howler and Growler were finally finally finished he felt like he had actually achieved something when House Stark's flag was raised high on the trio of ships. The men had cheered aloud, and the ran to their assigned positions on the ship, and William was glad to be one of them, taking charge of the Quiet Wolf. When the sails on all three masts dropped down, revealing the prowling wolf on the sails as it flapped gloriously in the wind.

"My Lord Captain! Your orders?" One of the men asked.

"Send a signal to the Howler! Tell them to fire their starboard cannons!"

The three ships halted just off the coast, where King's Landing could still be seen, the Red Keep towering above the slums and manses of the largest city in Westeros. Anchors were dropped and all eyes were on the Howler, and there was a crashing like the sound of thunder as the cannonballs ripped through the air, the cannons spitting fire as the shots stormed out through the air and landed into the ocean.

The sight was a magnificent one, and the entire crews on all three ships cheered and roared as the cannons didn't backfire and blow them up. The cheering was even louder though, when the The Quiet Wolf unleashed its full payload of cannons from the front of the ship. The ships ripped through the sea winds, the crews singing a loud shanty as The Quiet Wolf slid gracefully over the water.

The demonstration of all three ships took just over half of the day, The Quiet Wolf and its sister ships had shown their newly found effectiveness to the Westorosi, mainly showing the effectiveness of the cannons. All William had to get them to work on was the synchronicity on reloading and firing the cannons, and there was only one small case of one of the deck rats forgetting to clean out the cannon before adding another cannonball, which somehow resulted in one of the cannons refusing to fire, until the worst possible moment, where the same deck rat stood in front of the cannon, which then fired sending him flying through the hull of The Quiet Wolf with an oversized hole in his chest.

Soon they got back to the hidden hideout for the Stark Fleet, and the men soon began to get to work on fixing the man sized hole in the starboard and refilling the stocks of cannonballs in the lower decks. He was just about to get to the Red Keep when a Stark soldier, Ryman, had ran up to him.

"Sir Will, Sir Will!" He yelled frantically, the sweat dripping off of his forehead.

"Ryman? What is wrong? What has happened?"

"It's Lord Stark! He's been injured on his way back to the Red Keep!"

X-X-X

Ned could not remember much of what had happened right outside of Littlefinger's brothel, but he could definitely remember that Robert had gone and sired another bastard with one of the whores there, and he could remember Jaime Lannister confronting him just as he was about to leave. He had accused Ned of ordering Catelyn Stark of kidnapping the Imp, before his group of soldiers murdered his own, and he remembered seeing Jaime brutally kill Jory.

He had tried to fight back, he fought as hard as he could but it had been a long time since him and his old bones had been a proper fight, and it had been even more of a shock to his body when he realise he could have possibly kept up with the younger Lannister before he had a spear shoved through the back of his leg.

What Ned didn't remember was fainting onto a soft cosy bed, still under the effects of the milk-of-the-poppy Grand Maester Pycelle must gave given him when he somehow reached the Red Keep. He could barely feel his leg, he couldn't even try moving his own toes. He felt useless. If one could not even walk on their own, how could one even try doing anything else? When he thought of that, he could not help but also think of his own son, Bran. How the child had wanted to be a famous knight, how he wanted to squire of Sir William shortly after he had arrived, and how he wanted to become a member of the Kingsguard, but now his dreams were crushed, to be confined to a bed, with only a very small chance of even gaining a modicum of movement in his legs.

"My lord? Lord Stark, can you hear me?"

Ned could only just hear William's voice, and was as soft as whisper, and it was easily overpowered by the bickering or arguing of King Robert and Queen Cersei. Although the arguing was loud, William was just close enough so Ned could hear his voice, and could see his face when it wasn't being blurred out by the effects of the milk-of-the-poppy.

"Will? Is that you?" Ned asked.

"Aye, my lord, it is. I had heard you had been attacked on the way to the Red Keep whilst I was testing our… little 'project'." William whispered the last few words, as the two royals were not aware of the Stark's side project.

"What of my men? Did any of them survive?"

William gave a sad sigh. "Sadly not. Jory was dead instantly, and any of the rest that tried to fight were dead before the goldcloaks could get there. You were the only survivor. Do you remember what had happened?" Will asked.

Ned could remember perfectly clear what had happened, what had been said, and he had found another clue that could have helped him track down the killer of Jon Arryn. "We'll speak later." Ned mouthed, and the two watched as the married couple kept on egging each other on as the argument continued.

It had been a very harsh argument, and Will was quick to assume that the two were not in a very happy marriage, in private or in front of an entire court. Robert's word was law, and Robert's word was always the final one. Needless to say, if Westoros was under Cersei's rule, it would not be as peaceful as she would try and make it out to be. Especially considering that Robert had managed to keep every single kingdom from ripping and tearing at each other's throats, and had quelled one rebellion swiftly, he had set a good record, one that everyone doubted Cersei could beat.

Cersei thinks too highly of herself…

Can you blame her? She is the Lioness of House Lannister, she should think highly of herself.

Everyone had heard of her father, Lord Tywin Lannister, the Lord of The Rock. The Old Lion was not a man to be trifled with, at any cost. His father, Lord Tytos was a gentle and weak man, and his own bannermen mocked him when they were deep in their cups.

Needless to say, Tywin did not like that one bit. As soon as Tytos died, his heart having stopped as he made his way to his mistress' own solar, Tywin took total control. Tywin was enraged when his father gave the hag that was his mistress some jewellery that was his mother's. He had the mistress stripped naked and walked throughout the streets of Lannisport, and he made sure that she was punished accordingly after her brutal humiliation, being banished from the Westerlands forever.

Both Will and Eddard watched as the King and Queen kept on bickering, almost as if they were trying to see how far they could get the other before they exploded with anger and fury. Cersei managed to break Robert first, it seemed.

"If you are not going to punish their actions accordingly, I will get Jaime and Father to do it instead. I never thought that you could be so blind, maybe you should wear the dress, and I the crown." Cersei stated.

Cersei thought that that would silence Robert, or at least get him to explode with anger and storm off so she had a good reason to get her father involved, but Robert gave her an even better one. He gave her a look of complete rage, and his meaty hand flew towards her, slapping her hard across the face. The blow left a huge red mark on her cheek, but she did not shout or cry or storm off in anger, but instead she stood completely still, before looking at Robert with a look of complete hatred.

"I shall wear this like a badge of honour." She said.

"Then hurry up and leave, before I honour you again." Robert replied.

Cersei hitched up the parts of her dress that were dragging behind her and hurried out of the room, leaving Will, Robert and Eddard with the room to themselves. Robert sighed, and fiddled with the badge of the Hand of the King before tossing it back to Eddard.

"Robert… I am not…"

"Just take the bloody badge and be the Hand, before I pin the damn thing on Jaime Lannister!" Robert yelled before storming out of the room.

Will looked at Eddard, and Eddard looked at Will with a look that was not surprised at all. Being the Hand of the King, Eddard had seen a lot more of the King and Queen a lot more than William had, and that was even when William had become the unofficial Master of Ships for Eddard. William had been shocked when he realised that the marriage between the King and Queen was a complete and utter failure.

"How long have they been like this for, my lord?" Will asked.

"For as long as I can remember. When they first married, they were as happy as can be, and then I left for Winterfell. A lot can happen over sixteen years."

"You don't say."

"William, listen to me. King's Landing is no longer safe for us. We are in grave danger, and if we don't leave soon, I am afraid we will end up just like Jon Arryn."

"Shall I round up the retinue, my lord?"

"Yes, tell them to pack up everything they can and tell them where the ships are. I need to get to court, and once that is finished, we will need to talk to Sansa and Arya."

"Yes, my lord. I shall get right to it."

X-X-X

Ever since William had began his own project for her father, the training lessons had become less and less frequent. Her own lord father had realised this and got her another trainer, who she had been told was the former First Sword to the Sea Lord of Braavos. His name was Syrio Forel, and he had a very different style to William. He was odd, yet funny and charming. He was serious about the training however, and he was teaching her a technique named 'waterdancing'.

Maybe if Will begins to train us again, we can learn regular techniques and continue with the waterdancing?

Syrio had been so serious about sharpening her skills and senses, that he had tasked her with finding and collecting every cat that roamed around Red Keep, and trying to stand on the very tips of her toes at the top of stairs, to work on her balance.

At that moment, she was hunting the very last cat that was roaming the halls of the Red Keep. From what Arya had heard, the cat that she was hunting had been the very same one that had thundered across a table, robbed an entire piece of chicken from the hands of the Old Lion of Lannister, Lord Tywin and then escaped. It seemed that this cat was very wise, and very crafty, but Arya had faith in her ability to catch the furry demon.

She was crouched on the cold floors, moving as slowly as she could possibly go, her eyes never left the feline, and the feline kept it's eyes on her. Soon the cat began to move, and Arya began to slowly follow them, and then the cat started running, and Arya jumped from her knees and began to run after the little cat, down a small flight stairs and into a very dimly lit room.

The room was filled with dragon skulls, each of them all different shapes and sizes. Some of them were as small as little puppies, and some were as huge as a fully grown cart-horse, and one stood above the rest, almost as large as the Queen's own carriage.

"The wolf and the lion will soon be at each others throats. We will be at war soon, my friend."

The wolf and the lion? Who are they, what are they talking about?

The voices began to get even louder, and Arya quickly jumped inside the mouth of the largest dragon skull, so she could not be spotted. She had given up all hope of finding that final cat, and she was now completely focused on getting out wherever she was, and finding her father. The two men had decided to stay near the dragon skulls, and Arya could do nothing but stay silent as the two men, both hooded, their faces concealed, kept talking.

"What good is war now? We're not ready, and if one Hand can die, why not the second?"

"This Hand is not the other."

"We both know Drogo will not begin his invasion until his son is born, we have time before the dragon returns. You know how the savages are."

" 'Delay', you say, 'Move fast', I reply. This is not a game for two players."

"It never was my friend, it never was."

X-X-X

It was another regular day, and Sam and Jon were busy freezing their balls off on guard duty, just looking down from the top of The Wall. Their positions would be given to them at the start of the next day, but until then, they were stuck on the top of The Wall.

Jon had not been able to sleep ever since he had come to the conclusion that he could always leave The Wall. He had always wanted to be a Ranger, just like Uncle Benjen, he didn't want to be a builder, and he definitely did not want to be a Steward. Somehow, Sam had no problem with being a Steward, but even Sam had said it himself, he was a craven, he couldn't fight, but he could read and write, a skill most of the men stationed at the Night's Watch did not have.

"I miss girls. Not even talking to them. I could never talk to them. Just looking at them, hearing them giggle. Don't you miss girls?" Sam asked?

Jon smirked when Sam spoke up about the topic. Jon had never really considered himself an expert on the subject of girls, he would consider Robb and Theon to be the experts in that subject. Jon was just lucky enough to have received a small kiss on the cheek from one of Sansa's friends, and even then, that was only once. He had almost been entranced by one of the whores that Theon had bought for him on his sixteenth nameday, Ros her name was, but he knew that he would not have been able to live with himself he had sired a bastard of his own.

"Do you miss them that much, Sam?" Jon replied.

"Sort of." He gaily replied. "I'm not a very good Watchman am I?"

"Nope." Jon said in response. The two started laughing as the two began to think of Sam actually trying to be a Watchmen, and even Sam himself couldn't keep himself from laughing at the thought.

The two men kept laughing until they saw a distant black spot approaching The Wall. It was moving fast, too fast to be a man, but it seemed to look like a horse as it thundered across the winter snows. Sam blew the horn for the first and final time, and the gates opened, with Sam and Jon rushing down to greet whoever had arrived. Jon had hoped that it would have been his Uncle Benjen, and if it was, then the next day Jon could be picked as a Ranger, and he would have been able to go out on missions with his uncle.

The two boys had rushed to the lift, and as slowly as the lift was, they made it down just in time to see the stable boy, with the horse in his grasp, yet the horse had no rider. Jon soon realised that the horse was his own Uncle Benjen's.

Where is Uncle Benjen?

X-X-X

"Father! Father!" Arya yelled as she ran through the Stark's quarters in the Red Keep.

Since she had escaped the dungeons of the castle, and ran through the never-ending corridors to find her father, she had seen the Stark men and women who had travelled south with them throwing everything they could find into boxes and placing them on carts, as if they were ready to start heading north.

She had seen Will just enter her father's office, and she had just burst through the door to see the two discussing what would be happening.

"No! I will not allow you to do this! As your lord, I am commanding you!"

"And as your man, and your friend, I am declining!"

It was very rare a time when Arya would hear her father shouting, and it was every rarely that he shouted at all. It was even stranger when Arya had realised that her father was shouting at William, and William was shouting back at him.

"No! It is too dangerous for you to stay! You are coming with us!" Lord Stark yelled.

"You are going without me, the North needs you! It doesn't need me! You need to take Arya, you need to take Sansa, you take the men and women who are loyal to you and go home!"

Arya, being the bull-headed and brash girl that she was, charged into the room without a second thought, and the shouting soon stopped.

"Father, please stop arguing! I need to tell you something, and you both need to hear it!"

Arya had never even ran as fast as she had in her life, but when she had ran all the way from the docks linking the dungeons to the outside world, she knew she had to be the first to tell her father about what she had heard.

"What did you hear, Arya?" Will asked.

"I was chasing a cat, and while I was chasing it, it ran into the dungeons, so I chased it, because..."

"Syrio told you?"

"Yes, but I was chasing the cat, and I lost it. Then I heard two voices, and I hid inside the dragon skulls. They were talking about the wolf and the lion, and I heard them talking about assassinating the Hand…."

"Did you get to see what they looked like?" Lord Stark asked.

"No, there faces were hidden, but one of them was fat!"

"Arya..." Eddard placed his head in his hands and sighed.

"I'm not joking! I'm telling you the truth!"

Ned was silent, and so were Will and Arya. Ned started packing things into boxes, and he wrapped his sheath around his waist, placing his longsword in the sheath. He soon had one book in his hand and he had Ice in the other.

"William, I may be wrong at times, and this is one of these times. Where is the The Quiet Wolf?"

"She's in a hidden cove, just down the coast, if you go through the dungeons and go to the docks from there, go south for a bit, and you should find it, you won't be able to miss it. She is a beauty." Will said, with a small smirk.

"Take this book, and read it, and if you don't see what I see, look at the Baratheon line. Remember, the seed is strong."

"I will remember, my lord. Safe travels to you, maybe one day we will meet again."

"Hopefully, Sir William. It has been an honour to have you under my command."

"And it has been an honour to serve you as my lord. Goodbye, Ned."

What William had not been able to anticipate was Ned pulling him in for a small hug, for the small time that Will had been under Ned's command, he had done an amazing feat for House Stark, which would save their skin at the best of times, and give House Stark a major advantage in naval warfare, which it had needed for some time. When Ned pulled away, he said a quick goodbye and left the room, which left Will and Arya alone.

"Will I ever get to see you again?"

"Maybe one day, little wolf. When your older and probably a lot wiser, and maybe when that day comes you'll actually be able to beat me. You keep practising that waterdancing, little wolf, and never forget what I have taught you." Will answered.

"I won't."

"I don't doubt that you will, my lady."

"I'm not a lady!"

Arya bull-rushed Will gave him a tight hug as well, lasting a lot longer. It seemed to be one that was full genuine affection, something William had not felt in quite a long while.

"You better not die." Arya said.

"I won't. Just do me one thing, Arya."

"Yes?"

"Look after your sister. I know I'm meant to be her shield against people like Joffrey, the blonde little shit, but I won't always be there, like now. You might be her younger sister, but just make sure she stays safe, alright?"

"I promise."

X-X-X

Yes, my loyal readers and followers, I am alive and still updating. I wish I could apologise about how long I took finishing this, and it probably could be a lot better. Here we go, another chapter. It has been a very long time coming.

-The One Real Italian Stallion-