Chapter 15 - Finishing up in the Throne Room

- In the throne room of King's Landing -

Ned had just spoken about continuing with the task given to him by the unknown sorcerer when Jon Arryn interrupted.

"Lord Eddard Stark," Jon Arryn interrupted. "I understand you owe this sorcerer for not taking the life of yourself and your bannerman to give you this task, but do you think it would be wise to complete their task? Who knows what this sorcerer could do. Does he worship either the Old Gods or the New?"

"My Lord Hand, I have a feeling if I did not complete the task given to me, I would have much worse happen to the rest of my family and betrothed. Instead of risking them, I would prefer to handle the quite simple task I have been given."

This forced the Lord Hand to be quiet as if he said anything as he also couldn't say he would risk the life of his own family and betrothed to complete something that, from the sounds of it, sounds like a simple task.

"I have been tasked with informing the court of the following words from the sorcerer himself," Lord Stark unfolded another paper from the original folded papers in his hands and began to read. "While I was in the capital conducting other business, I was privy to the actions of one Ser Jaime Lannister. Due to his actions, not only were the lives of thousands spared, but he indirectly saved mine own life. In that respect for his incredible deeds above and beyond the calls of duty, I would gift him a sword worthy of his deeds. I entrust Lord Eddard Stark to present to Ser Jaime Lannister, amidst the witness of the Lords and Ladies of Westeros, a weapon that would rival those from the Age of Heroes."

At that proclamation, Lord Reed strode towards Jaime Lannister with the long-pillow holding the sheathed weapon in place. Without request, he bowed down in front of Ser Jaime, holding in front of him the pillow, bringing the weapon to receiving height of Jaime. If more had been paying attention, they might have been surprised that a Lord of a land was bowing to another; however the people were more interested in the weapon that the bowing Lord presented on the pillow.

Jaime, along with the rest of the crowd, looked in apprehension of the weapon.

"Ser Jaime, are you not afraid to receive such a weapon from an unknown source as a sorcerer?" Jon Arryn interrupted. In his mind he thought if maybe there was hesitation from the knight, he might be able to confiscate the weapon and investigate it further to see if it had a special property that would give someone of his choosing an advantage in battle. Maybe state how something made with sorcery would be against the Seven.

"My Lord Hand, if someone as this sorcerer wanted me dead or harmed I could have easily been dispatched by the fiend; as Lord Stark's recount of the unknown man's martial prowess can attest to," Jaime answered.

Jaime looked onto the hilt of the sword. He took notice of the fine details in the hilt and guard as the sword and sheath lay on the pillow. There was a red leather strip covering the grip of a golden handle and a golden guard above. Within both the pommel and the guard were two, twin red rubies that seemed to glisten in the sunlight streaming through the room.

"Lord Stark," Jaime asked. "Have you seen the blade before? Do you have any thoughts on it?"

"I must apologize Ser Jaime, however I was informed of enchantments on the blade so it is attuned only to you. I did not want to risk either the sword's ire, nor the sorcerer. Otherwise, the only information I was given was the metal it is made out of is one of the sorcerer's invention, that rivals valyrian steel, and currently is the only sword of its kind in existence in both Westeros and the Free Cities"

"Imposs-" Robert Baratheon started to say but stopped himself. Magic was supposedly involved after all. Would it be too far-fetched for magic, a force unknown and all powerful, to be able to do something like described? And a metal that rivals valyrian steel? Something even more rare than the rarest metal on earth. It is something to be envious of.

"Your Grace," Ser Jaime turned to Robert. "May I unsheathe the blade for all to look upon?"

The room quieted now as all eyes turned to Robert Baratheon for his approval. He looked on and quickly nodded, also wanting to see this supposed 'weapon rivaling those from the Age of Heroes.'

Jaime carefully picked up the sheath from the pillow. Lord Reed stepped back once Jaime had a handle on the weapon. Jaime looked upon the sheathed blade and noticed that the size and shape mimicked the sword he had brought to the secret meeting with Lord Stark and Hanko.

That is why they brought the blacksmith to the meeting. I have a feeling the blood I donated was used to attune the sword as Ned called it.

Jaime carefully gripped the leather-bound handle. As he gripped it in his right hand, the leather seemed to form to his touch and grip. The feel seemed...just...right. As to not startle anyone, he slowly pulled the sword from the sheath. The rainguard slid out of the sheathe, and he noticed the sword past that seemed gold in color. About an inch along from pulling the sword out he abruptly halted.

From underneath the lip of the sheath, he noticed almost imperceptibly, a red glow. It astounded him more than anything.

A weapon that gives off light even during the day, just what in the Seven's name have you gifted me Hanko?

It didn't take long for him to notice the rest of the room completely quiet and the Lords and Ladies getting almost impatient at the wait for the reveal of the sword. He decided to get it over with and drew the sword out fully in a flash. The surrounding guards put their hands to their own hilts in automatic response, but everyone stilled as they took in the look of the sword.

It was golden in color, double-edged, with a larger fuller down the middle. Inside the fuller there were 'glyphs' they did not understand. The 'glyphs', or kanji to those in the room that didn't know, were bright and glowing red against the gold color of the rest of the blade.

"By the Seven," Lord Arryn spoke out.

Robert looked on at the blade in awe as well.

The rest of the Lords and Ladies in the room also added their own voices in awe at the spectacle of the blade.

"If I may Ser Jaime," Ned spoke up. Jaime turned to him with the blade still out in the open, gaining more gasps from the audience that didn't see the lit blade already. Ned continued. "From the little information I was given on the blade, the writing from the hilt, to the tip goes 'Lion, Pride, More, Than, Just, Roar.' I'm of the mind it is shorthand for 'A Lion's Pride is more than just a Roar.' From what I understand Pride in this case does not just mean the feeling, but also is the term for a group of lions."

Jaime smiled as he listened to Lord Stark and continued to look on the blade in fondness. Indeed, though my house motto is 'Hear Me Roar', there is more to the feeling of pride than to roar out your supremacy, but also the pride of having those close to you, have and hold council with, and to grow alongside.

"Thank you Lord Stark for your words, as they have helped me decide on the name of such an exquisite and unique blade."

The other Lords and Ladies all waited with bated breath at the reveal of the name given to the one-of-a-kind sword that has quite literally shaken the foundations of smithing for all of Planetos.

"I shall name the blade...Lion's Pride!"

- Later, King's Private Chambers -

"Damnit to the Seven Hells; I was hoping Ned would know where this sorcerer is." Robert jokingly lamented. "I would have asked for a commission on a hammer as well."

"Your Gr-" Jon saw Robert give him a chiding look. -"Robert, I think we need to talk about...a lot after that."

"What are you so uptight about Jon? Ned was just thanking a knight of the realm and clearing his name. Don't go start looking for schemes inside of schemes here."

"I can understand why he did it in front of the realm to clear Ser Jaime's name, but why at that exact moment?" Jon pointedly brought up. "Don't you think it is strange, the timing of the actions of both Ser Jaime and Ned?"

Robert looked away as he pondered. "I can understand Ned as he was probably just running late, but I can see what you mean when Ser Jaime decided to bring up his request. He probably thought by waiting until the last minute as I was in a hurry to leave, I would be more receptive to his request; just to get out of there." Robert looked to Jon. "We also know that Tywin was looking to make the same request, but from his look at the time, I don't think he meant to do it at that time. That tells me Jaime and Tywin didn't coordinate that."

"Which is interesting in its own way, but you still granted the request...why?"

"Why not?" Robert offered. "He offered up good points at the time, and to be fair, he would be right that anyone, nor I would fully trust someone who stabbed a King in the back already."

"So right after he brought up the reasons why he should be cleared of the Kingsguard; Ned comes forward and uses the same reason of killing Aerys to clear his name, assure us that the threat has been dealt with, and honor him with a title and gift him the sword from the sorcerer."

Robert's eyes grew sharp. "You don't think this was planned between Ser Jaime and Ned do you?"

"I think it was, and what was more, it was planned this way so Jaime could go back to being the heir to Casterly Rock with honors and give him a higher position in the eyes of all," Jon reasoned. "Think about it, now Ser Jaime is no longer part of the Kingsguard, but a highly decorated knight and future heir of the Rock that has strong ties to the North that are not by marriage. All of this after that oddly prolific speech by the known Quiet Wolf. Otherwise, there is one important thing we must realize."

"What?" Robert asked

"Ned decided to do all of those things in the throne room. Information that would otherwise shock the realm...without holding council with us beforehand."

Robert's eyes narrowed at that. "I was concerned about that as well. We might not have let Jaime leave the Kingsguard if we knew in advance what Ned was going to do afterwards. Afterall, now wielding a weapon like Lion's Pride would have made him a formidable symbol which we could have used to dissuade people from going against us."

"Yes," Jon agreed. "That is part of what disturbs me. Why would Ned not tell us of all this beforehand? It's like he doesn't trust us any-" Jon's eyes went wide. "You don't think-"

"No," Robert got up and started pacing. "He wouldn't have known about the letters. I made sure to burn them all. It wasn't hard either as I didn't like the contents anyway." He turned somber again as he thought about it. "Lyanna died as well so she wouldn't be able to tell him."

"What if she let something pass in her final moments?"

Silence permeated the room for a bit.

"Or it could all just be speculation, and Ned had this information thrusted upon him so he quickly made his way to the throne room." Robert offered lightly.

Jon rebutted. "What about the letter that all the Lords of the North signed for Ser Jaime? He had enough time to write that out and have them all sign."

There was another pause as they both contemplated, before Robert chimed in with a grin. "Eh, Ned is my brother in all but blood, he wouldn't hurt us; his foster father and brother!"

Jon didn't take to Robert's lightheartedness. "Either way, since the West now has strong ties to the North, we should also make strong formal ties to the West." Jon raised a brow at Robert

Robert went somber once again. "...I understand. I might not like it, but I understand. You can bring the marriage alliance with Cersei up to Tywin"

"Good."

- Private Chambers of Tywin Lannister -

"What were you thinking?!" Tywin almost shouted at his son Jaime. "We should have discussed your plans earlier."

"I was informed of some things and there was a plan already in place. So I chose to go with that plan."

"Why is it when someone else tells you to do something you do it without question, but when I tell you to do it I get nothing but snark?"

Jaime sighed as he took in the angry snarl of his father. It was rare enough that Tywin Lannister actually showed emotions. He wasn't happy that it was in anger against himself though. "Look, there is a lot going on that I was made privy of only recently. I want to tell you, I really do, but I can't do it here...there are too many eyes and ears." Jaime looked at his father in earnest.

Tywin raised a brow at the insinuation. "...Indeed. We can talk about these...things somewhere else later. Do you have any thoughts of where and when?"

Jaime nodded. He took a piece of paper from the desk against the wall and used some ink to scribble out the same location he had used for the meeting with Ned and Hanko.

Tywin reviewed the address, and then used the nearby candle to burn the paper. "On another note, I've spoken to…'Lord Hand' about a possible marriage alliance between the West and the Crown."

Jaime couldn't hide his concern. "Wasn't this some time ago?"

"Indeed it was. However, they were waiting for confirmation of Lyanna Stark's life before doing anything. Now that she has been confirmed deceased, they will probably come back to the table about a marriage alliance with us. After all, we are the richest kingdom out of the seven kingdoms, and they just fought a long war. They need the gold."

Jaime frowned in disgust. "Understandable, are you going to send a raven to her?"

Tywin looked at his son with renewed curiosity. "Yes, but why do I get the feeling something happened between you twins?"

Jaime turned to his father before realizing what he thought. "Oh, I'm not mad at Cersei. There is something else I'm mad about, but again, I would rather bring it up...later."

Tywin still looked curious but nodded. "That sounds fine. In the meantime, stay for a bit before going through your normal arms training. I need to continue your former teaching of being a Lord Paramount…"

- At the Northern-Host encampment -

"I heard I've suddenly become a grand-orator," Ned bemused at what looked like his exact copy who just entered the tent.

Tiger

The copy was covered in steam before Hanko appeared. "My my; news really does travel fast even outside King's Landing huh?"

"Though I appreciate you attending that audience on my behalf, I don't know how my bannermen will think of me after that display."

Hanko shrugged. "Probably just that you were more talkative than normal. Nothing truly wrong with that right?"

Ned just shook his head with a chuckle. "So, what do we do now?"

"Well if it matters, Robert wanted to host a feast for you before you left. I had to decline on your behalf though under the guise of 'needing to put the North back in order after this chaos'."

"So I can finally go home," Ned sighed in contentment.

"Yes, there is a lot that needs to be done."

Ned almost sighed again in worry, but a frown did show itself. "Indeed, as for what you have shown me, there is much to be done." He looked back to Hanko. "I know you said you needed the whole week here both for Jaime's sword, and to loot all the wildfire. Did you get all the wildfire?"

"Yes, do not worry, it is stored safely where only Shi and I can access it."

"Good."

"Ned, I appreciate you being so trusting of me at the very least, but we really do need to talk about that as well."

"What do you mean?"

"You give trust away blindly almost. Even in the future that will no longer pass, you gave away trust blindly where it didn't need to be placed."

"I could say the same for you," Ned offered. "You just blindly trust me and the Northerners without so much as a second thought. Why else would you offer your aid to me and mine."

"That is because I have plenty of information already on you and yours before deciding to 'give you my trust' as you put it. We only met some weeks ago with brief interactions at that. I can understand if you were in the North dealing with your bannermen, but when dealing with others, especially in the South here, you must always be mindful; must always be alert. After all, look at where being too trusting has gotten you already."

Ned grimaced, looking away. "I understand."

"Good, now as for the North, I would recommend you keep an eye on the Whitehills and the Boltons."

Ned tensed up in defense. "You would tell me that some of my own bannermen are plotting against me?"

"I would tell you that Bolton would look for any weakness he can find and exploit it. Only others would join him if they see the opportunity benefit them more as well."

"I will keep an eye on them...while also keeping an open mind as I would not know why I would trust the words of someone making a remark that would potentially turn me against my own bannermen."

Hanko grinned. "You are learning indeed Lord Stark."

"I might be a slow learner, it's true, but I learn."