Jacqueline picked the hem of her skirt up higher to avoid the small puddles that dotted the floor as her small heels clicked against the stone. Ser Antario had advised her against going down to the black cells, claiming it wouldn't be a wise or safe decision. But she had to speak with Lord Stark about what he said in the throne room the day before. Your son has no claim to the throne. The words had kept her up all night and she needed an explanation. The gaoler had tried to argue with her when she demanded that she be allowed to see Ned, but the old man had given in once she threatened to have him killed. Jacqueline wasn't sure if her threat was empty or not.

Even after spending just one night in the black cells, Eddard Stark looked to be just a ghost of the man Jacqueline had first met in Winterfell a few months ago. Than man sat in the corner, legs spread out in front of him. Both arms and legs were shackled and chained to the wall behind him. Sweat clung to his brow and dark hair, though she wasn't sure if it was from the heat of the small enclosed cell or if the Lord of Winterfell had a fever from his injured leg. Antario had told her how he injured it. Jacqueline was slightly surprised that Jaime hadn't killed him. Looking down at Ned as his eyes adjusted to the glow of the torch Jacqueline carried in her hand, she wished she had thought to bring him food or water. His skin was paler than normal and his grey eyes were tired and weary as they finally recognized her in the darkness.

"Lady Jacqueline." His voice was soft but the authority he has once commanded was still there, for all the good it did him down in a cell.

She bent down, bringing herself and the light closer to him. "Lord Stark, I've come to ask you a question." She spoke quietly and quickly, unsure of how long she would be allowed spend in the cells before someone came looking for her. "What did you mean about Joffrey? About his claim to the throne?" Despite her soft tone, Jacqueline's words still echoed off the stone walls of the cell.

"Joffrey isn't a true Baratheon." Jacqueline heard him but the meaning of the words took a moment for her mind to process. Joffrey wasn't Robert's son. The meaning should have shocked her but it didn't. Instead, they made her happy. The malicious little boy wasn't her nephew. He wasn't Robert's son or his heir. Quickly, her mind wondered to Tommen and Myrcella, who looked so much like their older brother and mother. All blonde and green eyed; something that was uncommon in the Baratheon family. So uncommon that it never happened.

"And Tommen and Myrcella?" Jacqueline decided to ask.

Ned shook his head. "Stannis is heir to the throne, not Cersei's children."

"Do you know who the father is?" It didn't make a difference, but Jacqueline was curious. It must have been someone Cersei sincerely loved, to risk her life to carry on an affair with a man for nearly twenty years and to pass his children off as Robert's. But Jacqueline couldn't think of such a person…

"Her brother, Ser Jaime." Ned's words nearly caused Jacqueline to drop the torch. That couldn't be right. It wasn't possible. Cersei was his sister. It wasn't right. But in a way it made sense. As a member of the Kingsguard, Ser Jaime had an excuse to be with the Queen in the capital, instead of with his father at Casterly Rock. They could easily be alone together and no one would question it. And there was no one else, apart from her own children, who Cersei cared more for than her twin brother. The truth nearly caused Jacqueline to empty her stomach on the stone floor. But she managed to push her mind from the Lannisters to her own family.

"Does Stannis know about this?" She asked, trying to keep her mind from slipping away to the last time Jaime and her had met.

Lord Stark nodded his head. "Yes, so did Jon Arryn." Jacqueline went quiet after that, trying to order her thoughts. With Robert gone, Stannis was the rightful king. Cersei's children were evidence enough for her. But Stannis was at Dragonstone and Cersei would never give up the throne, not now that she had her son sitting on it. "You should leave the city, my lady. It is not safe for you." Ned's voice broke through her thoughts.

"Is that why Renly left for Highgarden?" She asked.

"Renly wants the throne for himself. I believe he went to the Reach to win the Tyrells' fealty." The news made her even more bitter towards her brother. He abandoned me so he could crown himself? And did he know that by doing so, he was usurping Stannis's birthright and not Joffrey's? Renly's relationship with Stannis was nearly nonexistent; Stannis had never managed to get over Robert's decision to give Storm's End to Renly and not himself. But Jacqueline never believed that Renly would go as far as denying Stannis the throne that was apparently his. "Are my daughters safe?" Ned asked quietly, changing the subject.

Jacqueline made a face, becoming slightly uncomfortable. "Sansa is being kept in the Tower of the Hand with that other girl. Jeyne, I think her name is. I am unsure about Arya. I don't think anyone has seen her since yesterday. But the rest of your household has been killed. Including the girls' septa." She remembered seeing the bodies as Antario escorted back to her room after Ned's arrest. The floors of the Red Keep hadn't been so bloody since the Sack of King's Landing and such carnage was unnecessary in Jacqueline's opinion.

The concern showed on Ned's face and Jacqueline pitied him. He didn't deserve to be here, thrown into the dark cells beneath the castle. Nor did his young daughters deserve to live as hostages in a place that was once to be their home. What Cersei planned to do with the Starks, Jacqueline had no idea. Holding them until Lady Catelyn returned Tyrion Lannister seemed the most reasonable option Cersei had before her, but the Queen had never really been a reasonable woman. The severity of the situation had quickly advanced beyond the abduction of one dwarf; the king was dead and an incestuous bastard had illegitimately assumed the throne. Everyone's future seemed uncertain now.

Jacqueline stood up to her full height. "I cannot leave the capitol, my lord. I fear if I try to leave, the Lannisters will throw me into a cell just like you." She was certain that she was being followed, and the Queen was certainly aware of her visit to the black cells by now. "But I will try to watch out for your daughters, as best I can. It is the least I can do to honor the friendship you had with my brother." With the final promise, Jacqueline turned and left Lord Stark once more in the darkness.