Eddard stared at the skies above.
The stars formed shapes that the Maester at the Vale had taught him of, but he did not remember their names - just their forms, ones that never wavered - as long as he knew when to look up. With his eyes turned high, he could be at Winterfell; he could be at the Vale. The sky was always the same, and he could pretend that he understood where home truly was.
He'll never understand why his father sent him to foster in the Vale, but he felt grateful for it in so many ways. And even with some visits home, for so many years the Eyrie was all he knew. Jon Arryn became a father and Robert a brother.
It did not replace Rickard Stark or Brandon, or Benjen and Lyanna. But still. Where was home?
Questions and ruminating on home were easier to mull than the torrent of news that had swept over him in the past two months.
Lyanna kidnapped.
Father dead and no word of Brandon.
Then Brandon was alive! And the King was dead.
Madness.
They had camped not far off from the Kingsroad - he, Robert, Lord Arryn with some of their guards and men. They were making good time already since they left Riverrun. The last comfortable bed they'd had was at the Inn at the crossroads. Hoster Tully had accompanied them from his keep to the inn and stayed with them for the night before planning to return home in the morn. And that was where another tide threw itself upon him, leaving him floundering yet again, struggling to breathe, to understand, this new world he found himself in.
Robert was inside, a serving wench on his lap, as he caroused with some of the other men. Ned had gone outside to relieve himself and just rest his mind from the headache of it all. As he walked back from the woods, he heard voices and stopped in his tracks, hiding his presence.
"I am glad Elbert lives, Jon. But we must think of what comes next - you and I both know Aerys being dead changes everything," he'd heard Lord Tully say in the shadows by the horses.
"Of course it does, Hoster, I'm not a fool," Jon whispered with a hiss. "The Prince is not a suitable option, of course. But it won't be as straightforward with Aerys gone so quickly."
Hoster raised his head with a confident look in his eyes. "We still make the turn we had already spoken of - with Robert."
"How can we? And I haven't told him yet," Jon murmured. "I'm not sure how he will respond."
"What could the boy be opposed to?" the Lord of Riverrun asked incredulously. "He would be King!"
Eddard had stumbled backwards, feeling like he had lost his footing.
Robert as King?
That couldn't have been what his father wanted, could it? That would have made Lyanna a queen. Surely their father could not have meant for that? She was as much meant for that as he was a King's Hand. And was there not a young babe, the son of Elia Martell and Rhaegar? What of him?
"Where is Tywin?" Jon asked quietly.
"Still sequestered at the Rock. He's yet to make a move," Hoster grumbled. "His loyalties are yet to be known. As always. And he'll want compensation - and I speak not of money, we both know that."
He watched Jon closed his eyes with a sigh. "Hoster, the boy is mad about the Stark girl. He won't take the lioness - nor either of your girls."
Tully fixed him with a stern glare. "We'll have to wait and see. In any case - don't think Tywin will pass up the chance to finally get his blood on the throne - even if it takes a Baratheon by Targaryen a few generations removed."
Ned listened to them speak in their whispers and strategies to sculpt the future. He rubbed his face with his hands, trying to rid himself of the deluge of a conspiracy he could not wrap his head around. He also felt like a fool, forgetting that Robert's grandmother was a Targaryen. He supposed everyone else did too - until it was convenient to remember. He made his way back to the Inn, his mind spinning with questions of plans and plots - and his family split across the whole of Westeros.
As he stared at the skies now at their camp, all of it made him think of a game he had been introduced to at Harrenhal. They had not passed it long ago. Though he would not let his thoughts dwell on all the troubles that had begun there.
The Dornish contingent had brought a game with them - and listening to Jon and Hoster speak had made him feel like he was playing it - cyvasse, she had said it was called.
Ashara had laughed at him - soft and light as the moon - when he was forced to play.
"Oh, Eddard," she had said with a small chuckle. "I'm not sure how well you would take to what you call the South."
He'd gazed at her, trying to remember not to stare too hard - though failing. "Oh? Why is that?"
She tilted her head to the side, studying him - but there was warmth there. "Because one must learn to think as though they are playing this game if they are to survive here."
"I think you are right, my lady."
"It is best to study this game before playing, but there was no time, I suppose," she said, looking at the board before looking back at him.
His eyes looked at the pieces before him, only seeing figures from Old Nan's tales. "Still," he told her. "I'm not sure I'm made for such play - unless I had help." A large smile crossed her face before looking to the board as she made her next move.
After Brandon pushed him to dance with her, she had shown him this game. He had never made any sense of it. But still - everything had seemed so simple then - before a crown of blue flowers threw everything into chaos.
He used to like winter roses - now it only felt as though they symbolized darkness and uncertainty.
"Ned!" Robert's booming and muddled voice called out to him, breaking him out of the maze of his thoughts. The Baratheon lord stumbled over to him as the fire danced around the campsite. "What are you staring at? The sky won't talk back to you."
Ned sighed. The smell of wine and sweat assaulted him, and he could only gaze at his friend, his brother by bond though not blood, with pity and frustration. This was how he was after he returned to the Eyrie following the death of his parents. I suppose we all respond to grief in our own way.
"I was just having a think, that's all, Robert," he told him with a weak smile.
"You think too much, Ned!" Robert bellowed with a laugh.
Eddard now wondered if he didn't think enough.
His eyes turned to his friend then, who had grown quiet, staring at the ground. Ned played a hand on his shoulder softly. "Are you well, Robert?"
His friend shook his head, as though he were waking up or lost in some mists. He blinked at Ned for a few moments. "Where do you think Lyanna is, Ned? Why did Brandon not say more of her in his letter?"
Brandon's letter. It had been a gift. The relief and pure, unadulterated joy Ned felt to know his brother was alive - he had no words.
After hearing their conversation and as they rode along the Kingsroad, Eddard found himself wondering if Jon and Hoster Tully were truly happy that Brandon was still alive - but he banished the question away. The Riverlands lord had called his brother a 'gallant fool' and wanted Ned to marry his daughter as soon as news came of their father. But he had refused, saying they did not yet know Brandon's fate and he could not yet take his brother's place.
Catelyn, Winterfell - that was for Brandon, not him.
"I don't know why Brandon did not say more of Lyanna, Robert," Eddard answered gently. "But it must be enough for now to know that she is safe and alive - just as he wrote." It was all his brother had written of their sister - though how he knew, he said not.
"Yes, yes," he said, nodding his head quickly. "You're right. Brandon is alive, Aerys is dead. And we'll find Lyanna soon." The softness in his eyes disappeared, replaced by an intense blue storm. "Then Rhaegar is mine."
As they walked back to their tents, Eddard had the distinct feeling that nothing would be as simple as Robert's words - and that they were all pieces being moved by forces beyond they truly did not understand.
He looked up at the sky before retreating to his tent for the night - the shapes were still there, still the same. At least he could hold onto that.
Sorry that was so short. I hadn't planned on an Eddard chapter and then it just came out today. Also I think cyvasse was actually not in Westeros this early but..I'm rolling with that for the time being. Aiming to start updating this fic once a week depending on RL so hope you'll forgive me for this short chapter (and any typos/mistakes)!
