Jaime Lannister is lingering in front of the throne.
"The Capital. So there wasn't anything of importance that happened in between" Hoster Tully gruffed, arms folded over his chest. It was a relief to him.
Jaime Lannister: Thank the gods you're here, Stark. About time we had some stern northern leadership.
"Is he being genuine or is that sarcasm?" Ashara whispered the question to her brother.
"A little bit of both" Arthur answered. Jaime Lannister was never wholly one or the other.
Eddard Stark: Glad to see you're protecting the throne.
Jaime Lannister: Sturdy old thing. How many kings' asses have polished it, I wonder? What's the line? The King shits and the Hand wipes.
"Who comes up with these sayings?" Elia muttered, cringing at the use of those words.
"Probably the small folk. They do not have anything to uphold as the highborn" Doran suggested.
"Or some really foul-mouthed highborn that really don't care what anyone thinks" Oberyn injected.
"I can think of one such highborn" Doran suggested, making his brother smirk.
Eddard Stark: Very handsome armour. Not a scratch on it.
"Isn't that a good thing?" Lyanna questioned. "Since his armour is so fresh it means that the times have been peaceful and as such he didn't need to fight."
"It could mean that" Ser Barristan explained. "But it could also mean that Ser Jaime did not take his duties seriously and stayed away from any conflict. Which knowing Ser Jaime would be entirely wrong. So it is probably as you say, Lady Lyanna."
Jaime Lannister: I know. People have been swinging at me for years, but they always seem to miss.
Eddard Stark: You've chosen your opponents wisely then.
Jaime Lannister: I have a knack for it. It must be strange for you to come into this room. I was standing right here when it happened. He was very brave, your brother. Your father too. They didn't deserve to die like that. Nobody deserves to die like that.
"It happened here?" Brandon sat a little straighter. "How exactly did we die?" It couldn't be a trial by combat if it was in the throne room."
"Lord Rickard demanded trial by combat" Raven explained, "and the king granted the request. He armoured himself as for battle, thinking to duel one of the Kingsguard. Instead, they took him to the throne room and suspended him from the rafters while two of Aerys' pyromancers kindled a blaze beneath him. The king told him that fire was the champion of House Targaryen. So all Lord Rickard needed to do to prove himself innocent of treason was not burn. You were there, hands chained behind your back, and a leather cord wrapped around your neck, attached to a Tyroshi device that would tighten the cord as it was pulled on. Your legs were free, and your sword was placed just beyond your reach. You were forced to watch as your father burned alive in his own armour, and in attempting to get to your sword so you could save him, you strangled to death"
"That's-" Lyanna sobbed, too horrified to even finish what was on her mind. Beside her Ned wrapped his arms around himself, his nails digging into his skin and eyes wide in horror. Brandon had gone ash white, eyes white in his horror. Similar expressions of varying degrees of horror and outrage were on the faces of everyone that heard.
"Father I-" Brandon began but got cut off when he was cuffed on the back of his head.
"Idiot boy" Rickard Stark snarled. "You shouldn't have tried to save me there!"
"You were in that mess because of me!" Brandon howled, sobbing as the emotions finally got the better of him. "If I hadn't run off to challenge Rhaegar like that you would have been alive still and things wouldn't have been so dire!"
Rickard's gaze softened. He brought his eldest in for a tight hug. "Foolish boy, you only did that to protect your sister. As I had done to protect my son. If such a thing happens again, you will not try to save me. This goes for both of you as well" Rickard looked at his other two children for this one too, still holding onto his eldest, "you will not intervene. I have lived a long life, a long and fulfilling life. It will bring my soul peace knowing that my children are alive and thriving even if I'm gone. Understood?"
"Yes, father" all three of them nodded their heads, wiping away at the tears that fell from their eyes.
"Lord Stark" Rhaegar had come before The Stark family, looking at the man stoically. He went to bent his back and bowed to the man, much to his surprise. "I am terribly sorry that my father's madness ruined yours and your children's lives. I swear that I will not let that happen this time."
"Raise your head. It's unbecoming of a Prince" Rickard gruffed. Rhaegar lifted his head and straightened but he could not meet his eyes.
"How do I die?" Lyanna asked, voice shaky and raw with emotions.
"You will see, soon" Raven looked away from her.
Eddard Stark: But you just stood there and watched.
Jaime Lannister: 500 men just stood there and watched. All the great knights of the Seven Kingdoms. Do you think anyone said a word, lifted a finger? No, Lord Stark. 500 men and this room was silent as a crypt. Except for the screams, of course, and the Mad King laughing.
"Cowards" Brandon snarled, the 'wolf blood' in him boiling in rage and disgust.
"They won't" Rhaella commented, her hand gripping at the skirt of her dress tightly. "The people up there care only for themselves and no one else. And my husband is not someone they would want to cross."
"Cowards" Elia muttered under her breath, her eyes burning in disgust at the action of her father-in-law.
Jaime Lannister: And later... When I watched the Mad King die, I remembered him laughing as your father burned... It felt like justice.
Eddard Stark: Is that what you tell yourself at night? You're a servant of justice? That you were avenging my father when you shoved your sword in Aerys Targaryen's back?
Jaime Lannister: Tell me... If I'd stabbed the Mad King in the belly instead of the back, would you admire me more?
Eddard Stark: You served him well when serving was safe.
"You broke your oath," Ned said blankly, looking at the cub of Lannister.
"I did" Jaime stated calmly, his eyes not shining in the way they normally would. Ned said nothing more, but a look of understanding was shared between them. This Ned did not face the problems that his future self would face with Jaime, with The Lannisters. This Ned saw Jaime killing the murderer of his father and brother. This Ned would accept it and would be grateful for it.
The scene changes to what was clearly a brother, and Catelyn being welcomed by a rat-faced man.
"Is that Petyr? What is he doing at The Capital? And in such a place?"
"He was the Master of Coins at this point. The brothel is his establishment" Raven explained.
Petyr Baelish: Cat! Go on. Go upstairs. (to his whores)
Catelyn Stark: You little worm! You take me for some back-alley Sally you can drag into a…
Two naked whores interrupt, and Baelish snaps at them to leave.
Petyr Baelish: I meant no disrespect to you of all people.
"It seems he still holds onto those feelings for you that he had" Edmure whispered. He did not like the sound of that, of this Petyr in general. Beside him, his father shared similar feelings about the man. The boy had already done his deed with his youngest daughter and the man had banished him back to the fingers. After sending Lysa off to some family to marry into maybe he should bring the boy back and keep a closer eye on him.
Catelyn Stark: How dare you bring me here! Have you lost your mind?
Petyr Baelish: No one will come looking for you here. Isn't that what you wanted? I'm truly sorry... about the locale.
Catelyn Stark: How did you know I was coming to King's Landing?
"How did he know?" Ashara questioned.
Petyr Baelish: A dear friend told me.
Varys: Lady Stark.
"That would be how" Oberyn pointed out.
"He's serving Robert now I see" Rhaegar muttered. He did not like the spider much, and he planned on sending the man back once he took the throne.
Catelyn Stark: Lord Varys.
Varys: To see you again after so many years is a blessing. Your poor hands.
Catelyn Stark: How did you know I was coming?
Varys: Knowledge is my trade, my Lady. Did you bring the dagger with you, by any chance? My little birds are everywhere. Even in the north. They whisper to me the strangest stories. Valyrian steel.
"That does not sound good" Lyanna muttered. Eyes everywhere, all that knowledge about secrets behind closed doors, she shuddered to think what a man would do with so much power.
Catelyn Stark: Do you know whose dagger this is?
Varys: I must admit I do not.
Petyr Baelish: Well well, this is a historic day. Something you don't know that I do. There's only one dagger like this in all of the Seven Kingdoms. It's mine.
"It's his?!" Catelyn asked in shock. She saw Jaime push Bran so she did not doubt her future self's theory that The Lannisters did it. But the assassin, could it have been Petyr? Why would he do that? What did he have to gain?
Catelyn Stark: Yours?
Petyr Baelish: At least it was, until the tournament on Prince Joffrey's last nameday. I bet on Ser Jaime in the jousting, as any sane man would. When the Knight of the Flowers unseated him, I lost this dagger.
Catelyn Stark: To whom?
Petyr Baelish: Tyrion Lannister. The Imp.
"I thought he was different from his siblings" Edmure muttered under his breath. Tyrion did not seem the kind of man to do something like that. It did not seem so.
"He is a Lannister. And he loves his family" Catelyn stated coldly, her eyes as hard as chipped ice.
The scene changes to the armoury of Castle Black, putting away equipment when a gang of guys jump him.
"Oh we're seeing Jon" Lyanna mumbled and perked up. She was curious to know how the boy was settling in. Rickard was curious as well, but not about how Jon was fitting in.
Grenn: You broke my nose, bastard!
"Kind of an improvement if you ask me" Brandon muttered.
Jon Snow: It's an improvement.
"The boy's all Stark" Brandon chuckled, his previous mood now lifting.
Grenn: If we threw you over the Wall, wonder how long it'd take you to hit.
Pyp: I wonder if they'd find you before the wolves did.
"I believe his wolf would get to them before they even have a chance to do anything," Ned said coldly.
"Are all of them like this?" Lyanna asked.
"The Watch has become an army of undisciplined boys and tired old men. There are less than a thousand of them now. They can't man all castles on the Wall, can't properly patrol the wilderness, and have barely enough resources to keep their men armed and fed" Raven explained.
Something to look into, Rickard thought.
Grenn: What're you looking at, half-man?
Tyrion Lannister: I'm looking at you. You've got an interesting face. Very distinctive faces. All of you.
Rast: What do you care about our faces?
Tyrion Lannister: It's just I think they would look marvellous decorating spikes in King's Landing. Perhaps I'll write to my sister, the Queen, about it.
"He stood up for Jon" Edmure stated, a little unsure about what to make of the Imp.
"Doesn't change what he has done" Catelyn muttered, glaring at the image of Tyrion.
Grenn: We'll talk later, Lord Snow.
Jon Snow: Everybody knew what this place was and no one told me. No one but you. My father knew and left me to rot here at the Wall all the same.
Ned's eyes softened and he felt sorry for the boy. His future self hadn't warned him, nor had anyone else. Benjen tried to keep him away without revealing much about The Watch but Ned had not done anything of the sort, and he felt the guilt from his actions.
"I'm sure even you weren't fully aware of it," Lyanna told him kindly, rubbing his back.
"I'm the Lord of Winterfell and The Warden of The North. I should know all of this. If I didn't then I've been neglectful. And if I did, I did not prepare Jon for it. Neither of which are good things Lya" Ned muttered, ducking his head and boiling in the guilt.
Tyrion Lannister: Grenn's father left him too... Outside a farmhouse when he was three. Pyp was caught stealing a wheel of cheese. His little sister hadn't eaten in three days. He was given a choice: his right hand or the Wall. I've been asking the Lord Commander about them. Fascinating stories.
"The Night's Watch, reduced to criminals, rapists, and boys who had to help their families somehow" Rickard couldn't help but laugh at that. How could The Watch have been reduced to something like this?
"I'm sorry father. It is clear that I have not done my duty as a Stark of Winterfell in aiding The Wall and The Watch" Ned mumbled out.
"All blame is not on you son. You can't force men to do something they don't want to" Rickard told him kindly.
Jon Snow: They hate me because I'm better than they are.
Tyrion Lannister: It's a lucky thing none of them was trained by a master-at-arms like your Ser Rodrik. I don't imagine any of them have ever held a real sword before they came here. Your brother Bran. He's woken up.
Catelyn knew that Bran would eventually awake, the proof was right before her. But still, she let out a sigh of relief when she heard it.
"Tyrion is… decent" Elia muttered in confusion. If he was the one to send the assassin, he wouldn't be half as caring as he is shown to be.
"Sounds like a plan to frame the little man" Doran mused to himself.
Scene changes to the courtyard of Castle Black. Jon is battling his brothers in black as Tyrion overlooks from the balcony. Jon continues to defeat them, he begins teaching them.
Jon Snow: Don't stand so still. It's harder to hit a moving target. Except for you. You move too much. I could just hold my sword out and let you do the work for me.
"He's taking Tyrion's words to heart" Lyanna smiled.
"He isn't a bad teacher" Brandon mused. "Ser Rodrik has done well in teaching him then."
"Ser Rodrik has always been a loyal and capable fighter" Rickard muttered.
The scene changes to Irri braiding Daenerys hair and teaching her Dothraki. She feels Daenerys' breast.
Irri: Yes, Khaleesi.
Daenerys Targaryen: What are you doing?
Irri: When was last time you bleed, Khaleesi? You change, Khaleesi. It's a blessing from the Great Stallion.
"She's pregnant" Rhaella mumbled. It was both a happy and a worrying moment for the woman. On the one hand, her daughter was going to experience the blessing of motherhood. On the other hand, she was afraid of the risks she would have to go through. Especially when a fat Robert was at her heels and trying to kill her.
Irri: The Khaleesi wants to eat something different tonight. Kill some rabbits.
Rakharo: There are no rabbits.
Irri: Find some ducks, she likes ducks.
Rakharo: Have you seen any ducks, woman? No rabbits, no ducks. Do you have eyes in your head? Do you?
Irri: Dog then. I have seen many dogs.
"Why would she want to eat a dog?" Lyanna made a face.
"Meat is meat" Oberyn shrugged, having had a taste for dog back in his time with the second sons.
Jorah Mormont: I don't think she wants to eat dog.
Irri: The Khaleesi have baby inside her. It is true. She does not bleed for two moons. Her belly start to swell.
Rakharo: A blessing from the Great Stallion.
"The Great Stallion is their God right?" Elia questioned and Doran nodded his head.
Irri: She does not want to eat horse.
Jorah Mormont: I'll have the boys butcher a goat for supper. I need to ride to Qohor.
Rhakaro: We ride for Vaes Dothrak.
Jorah Mormont: Don't worry. I'll catch you. The horde's easy to find.
"I wonder what he has to do at Qohor" Rhaegar wondered out loud. What could a banished Knight have to do there? When the ones he'd sworn his sword to were not near there.
Scene shifts to Arya, who arrives at her "dance lesson" in King's Landing.
Syrio Forel: You are late, boy. Tomorrow you will be here at midday.
"He got a water dancer for her" Oberyn, leaned forward, excitement clear in his eyes.
"Arya caught his eyes" Elia informed her friend Ashara. "When something catches his eyes he's almost obsessive with knowing and doing something with it. In this case his interest in Arya Stark. He's excited about her progress.
Arya Stark: Who are you?
Syrio Forel: Your dancing master, Syrio Forel.
Syrio throws a wooden sword at Arya, but she does not catch it but drops it.
Syrio Forel: Tomorrow you will catch it. Now pick it up. That is not the way, boy. This is not a great sword that is needing two hands to swing it.
Arya Stark: It's too heavy.
Syrio Forel: It is heavy as it needs to be to make you strong. Just so. One hand is all that is needed. Now you are standing all wrong. Turn your body side-face. So. You are skinny. That is good. The target is smaller. Now the grip... Let me see. The grip must be delicate.
"It doesn't look like a Knight's way of fighting" Edmure made a face. He did not see the greatness in this style. A Knight could easily overpower them in any challenge.
"But it suits her" Catelyn spoke. She liked the look of this style, non of the brutality but all the grace of a dancer. She was interested in it.
Arya Stark: What if I drop it?
Syrio Forel: The steel must be part of your arm. Can you drop part of your arm? No. Nine years Syrio Forel was first sword to the Sealord of Braavos. He knows these things. You must listen to me, boy.
Arya Stark: I'm a girl.
Syrio Forel: Boy, girl... You are a sword, that is all. That is the grip. You are not holding a battle-axe. You are holding...
Arya Stark: A needle.
"I think you've found a good teacher for her" Brandon nodded to his brother.
"Aye," Ned smiled as he watched his daughter train.