I do not own Game of Thrones, A Song of Ice and Fire, or any of their affiliates. If I did then the books would be done already (though sucking way more) but the show would have ended on less of an idiot note. Not sure if the tradeoff would be worth it though.
"Talking"
'Thinking'
AN: For setup this occurs in episode 7 of season 1 right before Ned goes to confront Cersei at the end.
"Lord Stark!"
Ned Stark turned at the shout of the messenger. He had been walking through the Red Keep deep in thought about all the things he had learned these past few weeks when the messenger came running up to him. His guards immediately went to their swords in case he was a threat to their lord.
"Stop!", a guard yelled as he placed a had on the lad's chest to hold him back.
"No, all right.", Ned said to calm them. "It's all right. Let him through."
Wasting no time the messenger immediately began speaking. "Lord Stark, King Joffrey and the Queen Regent request your presence in the throne room."
"King Joffrey?", Ned asked suspiciously.
"King Robert is gone.", the messenger in a mournful tone. "The Gods give him rest."
Ned looked down in shock at the information. He sent the messenger away as he turned to walk away. Not long after he had walked he heard the bells begin ringing, almost as if they were waiting to confirm to him the messenger's words. He knew it was simply bad timing but it still was ominous to him. Especially given what he had been planning.
Not too far from the throne room he turned a corner and saw Baelish and Varys walking towards him, as well as a good number of the City Watch behind them. He even saw their commander Janos Slynt among them.
'Very good. This will make things much easier.', Ned thought with a pleased smile.
"All is accomplished. The City Watch is yours.", Baelish said with a smile.
"Good. Is Lord Renly joining us?", Ned questioned both men.
Varys and Baelish shared a look that told him he wouldn't like the answer.
"I fear Lord Renly has fled the city.", Varys said. Ned was surprised and looked to Baelish to confirm this. Baelish had a resigned look on his face that let him know it was true. Still, he listened to Varys to learn the details. "He rode through the Old Gate an hour before dawn with Ser Loras Tyrell and some 50 retainers. Last seen galloping south in some haste."
There was a few seconds of tense silence as Ned processed this new information but as quick as it came it was gone. With a resolute nod he began walking towards the throne room, the lines of guards falling into step behind him.
As they were walking he pulled Baelish aside to talk to him without anybody listening.
"Lord Baelish, I need you to hold onto something for me.", Ned said. He pulled out a rolled up and sealed piece of paper and handed it to Baelish. Baelish was about to look at it but was quickly stopped by Ned. "Not here! This is Robert's decree naming me regent until his heir can take the throne. I need you to keep it safe before we confront the Queen Regent. I do not know what Cersei has planned but I do not trust this document in her hands."
Littlefinger was silent for a second before his smile seemed to get wider. "You honor me Lord Stark. I am not sure if I am worthy of such a task."
Ned gripped his shoulder as he said with a smile, "Cat is my wife and I have come to love her and listen to her reasoning. If she considers you a friend then I trust you as well as I trust her decisions."
"Then I will try my best to live up to the trust you have placed in me", Baelish said.
"I'm sure you shall."
With that they turned to rejoin the group.
Ned's body was as tense as a bowstring as he stood before the doors leading into the throne room. Even Janos standing beside and proclaiming that the City Watch stood behind him did little to ease his fears.
'If this goes poorly who knows what will happen', he thought. 'I pray at least Arya and Sansa stay safe.'
The thought of his children steadied his hand and steeled his resolve. He repeated each of their names in his head like a mantra. 'Robb, Jon, Sansa, Bran, Arya, Rickon'. The thought of any of them being in danger gave him the courage to walk through the doors as they were pushed open.
As soon as he stepped in the tension in the air was immediately apparent. Gold Cloaks lined every wall and all the Kingsguard save for Ser Jaime stood at attention at the foot of the throne. And on the throne itself sat Joffrey, with his mother sat beside him.
"All hail His Grace, Joffrey of Houses Baratheon and Lannister, The First of His Name, King of The Andals and The First Men, Lord of The Seven Kingdoms and Protector of The Realm.", a steward announced as Ned marched to the foot of the throne with his men behind him.
"I command the Council to make all necessary arrangements for my coronation.", Joffrey announced. "I wish to be crowned within the fortnight. Today I shall accept oaths of fealty from my loyal councilors."
Ned could feel the eyes of everyone in the room on him. He could see the haughty and almost disinterested expression on Joffrey's face, as well as Cersei's smug look with a calculating gleam in her eye.
That is why he felt a slight smug glee when he saw nearly everyone's surprised look as he bent his knee and bowed his head before the King.
"Aye Your Grace. I Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Warden of The North, do pledge my loyalty to King Joffrey, First of His Name. May I serve you loyally, as I served your father King Robert before you.", Ned declared.
He could almost feel the tension in the room be replaced by suspicion and unease. He looked up and saw his dumbfounded look and for a second Ned thought about how stupid he looked. But he quickly pushed thought aside to focus on more important things, like Cersei. Though she covered it well even she couldn't fully hide the confusion she was undoubtedly feeling.
He quickly took a look back at those behind him. His guards had shocked looks on their faces as did Janos and the Gold Cloaks, though the latter was also tinged with worry. Varys' face seemed as blank as ever though Ned thought he could detect a slight upturn of his lips. Littlefinger's smile had been wiped from his face and for once he looked out of his depth.
'Good. They all seem confused. Time to go in for the kill.', Ned thought.
He focused forward again as Joffrey began to speak.
"Thank you Lord Stark. Your pledge is...most appreciated.", Joffrey said, though he still seemed a little unsure.
"Thank you Your Grace. I also offer my condolences for the loss of your father. He was a great friend to me.", Ned said sadly as he bowed his had. Though as he looked back up his face had turned serious. "Though I feel I must offer my apologies as well."
"And why would that be Lord Stark?", Joffrey asked.
"As Hand to your father I failed to adequately serve and protect him as I should have.", Ned said.
"What do you mean by that?", Joffrey asked suspiciously.
"I mean that as Hand I conducted investigations into suspicious matters that came to my attention and uncovered treacherous plots.", Ned declared. He could see that Cersei was now looking at him with suspicion but he ignored that. "Plots that sought to destroy the trust and friendship between House Stark, House Baratheon, and House Lannister and bring ruin to our Houses."
The tension had returned and the people around began murmuring. Even Joffrey had turned incredibly serious at his words but it was Cersei who spoke next.
"This quite serious information my lord. And yet you are only bringing it to light now. I find that quite curious.", she said. Despite her words her tone wasn't openly hostile, though it wasn't kind either. It sounded more like she was still trying to figure him out.
"Aye My Queen. I tried to stop this plot in order to save King Robert, but I failed.", Ned said. "But I hope to better serve King Joffrey. For I have uncovered the perpetrator behind these crimes."
"Who would dare try to betray their King?", Joffrey all but shouted.
Ned had a smile on his face that he quickly hid as he turned around towards the true traitor. "Petyr Baelish Your Grace."
Littlefinger's eyes widened as the murmuring grew louder. "Your Grace, I-I assure you that..."
"Quiet Baelish!", Joffrey snapped. "Explain yourself Lord Stark."
Ned steeled himself as he began to speak. "Before I left Winterfell a raven came for my wife from her sister Lysa Arryn, Jon Arryn's widow.", he explained. "In it Lysa claimed that Lord Arryn was murdered and that House Lannister was responsible.
Immediately he could tell that both Joffrey and Cersei were livid.
"Lies! False words meant to slander my house!", Joffrey yelled.
Cersei was calmer but no less angry. "I assume you have proof of this message, or are we to merely take your word?"
"I do Your Grace." Ned said. 'Thank the Gods I convinced Cat not to burn the note.', he thought with relief as he handed it to Ser Barristan.
Cersei snatched it out of Barristan's hands when he brought it and quickly scanned the message, her face getting angrier as she read. "This is undoubtedly Lysa's hand but I wonder why she would spread such slanderous lies."
"And why you didn't bring this to my family's attention immediately Lord Stark.", Joffrey stated menacingly.
"I had just been named Hand of the King by Robert and though I had yet to take up official duties I still felt it was my duty to protect His Grace from enemies., Ned said. "Even if just a suspicion I had to investigate any possible accusations, no matter how ludicrous."
This seemed to temper Joffrey's anger but he still had an air of rage about him. "I assume you had more to go on than the delusional ramblings of a raving woman.", Joffrey demanded.
"Of course Your Grace.", Ned said. "You may recall that my son Brandon was severely injured while climbing in Winterfell."
"And we are pleased to hear that he has recovered. That we are saddened to hear that he has no recollection of what happened and will never walk again.", Cersei said.
"Your concern is most appreciated My Queen. But what you may not be aware of is that not long after I left an assassin tried to kill my son in his sickbed.", Ned said gravely. "An assassin who used this blade, a dagger made of valyrian steel with a handle of dragonbone."
With that he pulled out the knife in question. He delighted in seeing the shocked look on Littlefinger's face as he saw it. 'You slimy bastard never thought I would lift this from your rooms did you?'
"Valyrian steel? There are few who could claim to own something that valuable. And fewer still who would hand it over to a mere killer.", Barristan stated in a shocked voice.
"Those were my thoughts when Lady Stark brought it to me hoping I would know. It could have been used as payment for the deed.", Varys stated. "But still it seems like quite a high price, especially for just killing a young boy."
"Lady Stark brought it you say?", Joffrey asked.
"Yes Your Grace. She came to King's Landing to find answers and brought the blade to Varys and Baelish.", Ned explained. "Varys didn't know but Baelish claimed that it was his knife but that he lost in a gamble to Tyrion Lannister."
"Preposterous. My brother may be the lowest of the Lannisters but he would not be so dumb as kill someone with a valuable knife that could be traced back to him.", Cersei said indignantly. But she was now looking at Ned like he was a puzzle she had figured out.
"That was my thought as well Your Grace. It did not at all seem logical.", Ned said. He looked down with a shameful expression as he said, "Unfortunately my wife Catelyn was more trusting of the words of Lord Baelish. This is what compelled her to take Lord Tyrion into custody, for which you have my deepest apologies."
"If I recall you told my brother Ser Jaime that you gave the order to arrest Tyrion.", Cersei accused.
"A necessary lie to protect my wife from her rash and foolhardy decisions Your Grace. Surely you can understand my reasons.", Ned implored. Cersei couldn't help but agree.
'Though it seems Ser Jaime never mentioned that I assured him Tyrion was fine and already free. Luckily it was actually true or else there would have been a bloodbath in the streets.', Ned thought in relief.
"As I was saying though, after telling us about the knife Baelish was all too happy to keep giving me information. Information that always seemed to show that House Lannister was an enemy to my house.", Ned said. He turned and made sure to look Cersei in the eye as he said, "He even tried to convince me of the lie that King Robert's 3 trueborn children were actually bastards."
With that the room exploded with voices.
"How utterly insane! Accusing the royal heirs!", Pycelle shouted as if he himself had been insulted. "I examined them when they were but babes and can safely say they have as much of the strong Baratheon blood in them as any that came before!"
"Silence!", Joffrey yelled, bringing a calm to the room. "If what you say is true Lord Stark then Baelish has been spreading treacherous lies."
"His treasons go farther than mere words Your Grace. For I have learned that he conspired with Lysa Arryn to kill her husband Lord Jon Arryn with tears of Lys when he discovered their plans.", Ned said.
"These are lies Your Grace! Baseless accusations that..."
Joffrey gestured to Ser Meryn Trant and Sandor Clegane and they immediately went and held down Baelish in order to quiet him.
"These are very serious accusations Lord Stark. I assume you have proof?", Cersei asked.
"Indeed I do. For when I conducted a search of his dwelling I noticed a note addressed to the Lady Arryn. Unfortunately I couldn't grab it at the time.", Ned said. "But I saw him take that letter before he came here and I know he has it on his person right at this moment."
"W-what? No I...!"
"Search him now.", Joffrey ordered. Baelish protested as Clegane and Trant began searching him.
"I am telling you I have no such letter!", Baelish said as he struggled. His eyes widened in understanding horror as Sandor pulled out the sealed letter. "No no, that document was handed to me by Lord Stark!"
"It does not bear Lord Stark's seal. It doesn't bear any seal.", Trant said.
"Your Grace I swear on my honor that this letter is no forgery or faslehood.", Ned declared.
"I can attest to that.", Ser Barristan said with a resolute look. "Lord Eddard would show honor to his worst enemy. If he says this is genuine then it is."
"Then let's have it.", Joffrey demanded. There was silence as he was handed the note and broke the seal to read it. When he was done he handed it to his mother.
"I can verify this is certainly Lord Baelish's handwriting.", Cersei said. Though she had a knowing look in her eye as she said it.
"And that is not even the worst of his crimes.", Ned said.
"What crimes could he have done that are even greater?", demanded Joffrey.
"Firstly, he is responsible for the death of King Robert by tampering with his wine.", Ned said. Shocked gasps came from those in the throne room, though Cersei's came slightly after everyone else's. "And, even more heinously, he tried to usurp the throne of King Joffrey utilizing the City Watch of King's Landing."
With that the room erupted into shouting.
"N-no Your Grace!", Janos yelled in sheer terror. "I w-would never presume to even think of such madness!"
"Yes Your Grace!", Littlefinger exclaimed in a panic. "It was Lord Stark who asked me to bribe the City Watch! He wanted to usurp the throne!"
"Really Baelish? I don't recall ever asking you to do any such thing.", Ned said. "In fact if I recall you came to me and offered to pay the City Watch to do so. With your own gold I might add."
Baelish opened and closed his mouth like a fish until Varys decided to speak.
"I can confirm this Your Grace. My sources have told me of the conversation in question and they have told me it happened as Lord Stark said.", Varys stated. "Furthermore, after Lord Baelish left Lord Stark he immediately visited Commander Janos Slynt and offered him a large amount of gold for his loyalty."
"Is that so Janos? A bit of gold matters more to you than the oaths you swore to the crown and to me?", Joffrey said with a thunderous expression. "Guards! Take him and Lord Baelish to the black cells. Maybe then we can loosen their tongues and uncover more of their deeds. And be quick about it, lest you all join them for following their orders."
Janos struggled and started crying as he was dragged away by his own men. "NO NO! I swear my liege! My loyalty has always been to you! And to the Lannisters my queen!"
"Wait. WAIT! Unhand me. Lord Stark!", Littlefinger yelled as he was being dragged away. Ned bade them stop so he may listen to him before he was placed in a cell. "You swore to me that I had your confidence. You swore it by your wife! Is this what your famed honor will allow? Is this what Cat would want?!"
"Aye Lord Baelish. I swore to you that I trusted you as well as I trusted my wife's decisions.", Ned said. He then let a smirk appear on his face as he said, "The thing is my wife hasn't really made the wisest of decisions, especially lately, so my confidence in her is not quite as high as it should be."
Baelish's face turned stark white as he heard that and was led away to the black cells.
"I think that should be the end of business for today. I shall retire to my chambers for now. No disturbances.", Joffrey said curtly.
The room began to clear out as he left, the Kingsguard following and the remaining City Watch filing out.
"Well this was very interesting. First Cregan and now you Lord Eddard.", Varys said as he approached Ned. "You Starks may not come to the capital very often but you sure make it interesting when you do."
With that he too left the throne room.
In the ensuing silence Ned thought he was alone, until he heard footsteps approaching him. He turned and saw Cersei walking towards him.
"My Lord Stark. I thought you were too proud to wallow with us here in the capital.", she said with a wide smirk. "But it seems you can lie as well as the rest of us. Years of practice perhaps? Something you are hiding from your wife?"
"I am no liar My Queen. I do my best to uphold the honor of my house and my people. That I can assure you.", He said. Cersei gave a little laugh like he had told a funny joke. "Truth mixed with a bit of lies however, well I am more than experienced with that."
"Interesting.", she said. "But which was the truth and which the lies?"
"The only lies I spoke today are the ones you already know to be lies.", he explained.
"Truly?"
"Truly."
She looked at him in silence for a few seconds. "Well then, it seems Lord Baelish was more ambitious than even I realized.", she said.
"Aye. I have no clue what exactly he hoped to accomplish but it seems he had no intention of betraying just my house but yours as well.", Ned said.
"And the part about the death of Robert and our children's parentage?", she asked. He saw a hint of wariness in her features now. "You seemed rather resolute on the issue before."
"I was hoping you would see it my way but you were much more stubborn than I expected. And the prince and princess are too good for me to truly put them at risk.", Ned explained.
"An empty threat then?", she asked.
"Yes. And who am I to talk about hiding the parentage of children. I also did it to give you extra incentive to go along with my plan. Make Baelish a scapegoat for the crime.", Ned said. "Besides, I hated his stupid fucking smile and the way he looked at my wife."
"And it doesn't bother you, knowing I arranged Robert's death?", Cersei asked.
"I will not pretend to like it. In fact I was furious when I figured it was you and am still quite mad now. I loved Robert like a brother.", he said. Then he heaved a large sigh and said. "But maybe that blinded me to his faults. Robert was once a good man but he was a bad father, a terrible husband, and an even worse king. The years have only served to magnify his faults. and i don't think part of me ever truly forgave him for how he handled the deaths of Aegon and Rhaenys. No child deserves that. And his obsession with the Targaryens is worse than it ever was. He was my brother in all but blood but I do not feel like fighting a terrible war for his memory, He is dead and gone."
"Very wise of you Lord Stark.", Cersei said as they slowly began to walk to the doors of the throne room. "But you do know your troubles with Baelsih might not be over don't you? Given his station he will most likely be given the option to go to take the black. What then?"
Ned got the feeling she was testing him. Luckily he already knew this. "Aye. And in order to get there he needs to pass through The North. The North is vast and harsh and many a northman has fallen to the land. It's highly likely he won't even survive the journey to the Wall."
"That's very morbid of you Lord Stark, she said though she had a small smile. "Still you'd best be careful. Baelish has many friends who won't take kindly to his passing."
"They won't bother me once he's dead", Ned said matter of factly.
"Oh you honourable fool. Many people make use of Baelish's services and many more have their purses lined by him. You should be more wary.", Cersei said in exasperation.
"I may be honourable but I am no fool. What you just said are all incentives to keep him alive. But once he is dead what good does that all do?", Ned asked.
"What do you mean?", Cersei said as she stopped to face him. She seemed genuinely curious.
"Well these people who depend on Littlefinger for his services of their livelihood, what do they gain by killing me? They have no loyalty to Baelish himself so it's not like that will motivate them. It's not like there is any money in it either since Baelish will still be dead. In fact with him dead someone may be able to take his place and gain more power. And the others will simply work for the next powerful person with gold to spare.", Ned explained. "See, that's the thing that Baelish doesn't understand and that I hope you learn soon My Queen."
"What is that?", she asked.
"You need friends. People loyal to you.", he said.
Cersei smirked at that. "That's very cute Lord Stark but your northern honor won't really help you much.", she said.
"My honor may seem cute to you. But if I had happened to be arrested or killed down here...", he said with a hard look at her. "...then the whole of The NOrth would rise up in arms. Either to free me or avenge me."
"You think we couldn't fight off some northern brutes?", she asked.
"You may win, you may not. But it would not be an easy fight and it would be much more trouble than it's worth.", he said.
"Well I still don't need loyalty from my subjects. If my coin is not enough I will make them fear me so greatly they will not dare defy me.", Cersei said.
"The Mad KIng ruled through fear. That didn't end well for him.", Ned shot back. "It pains me to say this but you should learn something from your father."
"Everything I do I learned from him.", she said.
"Then you learned the wrong lessons. I do not like your father, in fact I despise the man, but he grasps what it is to rule. Lord Tywin has gold of course, much more than Baelish. And people certainly fear him as well. But is that all? Could he have gotten to where he is just because of that?", Ned asks. "No. He has the respect and loyalty of his men and his house. If he died people would ravage his enemies in his name. Even his children, who it seems all including you dislike him, would certainly avenge him."
"So what are you saying? That I should befriend every beggar and bootlicker who comes my way? Be a beacon of goodness and charity?", Cersei asked mockingly.
"I'm not one to hope for the impossible. But if you treat everyone like an enemy than eventually that's all you will have. And then you might soon find yourself without a head as well.", Ned said.
Cersei looked at him like with curiosity and just a hint of respect. "Who knew a northerner, let alone a Stark, would know so much about scheming.", she said with a smirk.
A smirk of his own appeared on Ned's face as he walked towards the door. "Do you think the Starks could have kept people like the Boltons at bay all these years simply because of our honor? You may think us northerners drunken barbarians but we hold our liquor quite well and we have great eyes and ears. We have to in order to survive in The North. You see, we have plenty of plots and schemes going on up north.", he explained. As he reached the doors and grasped the handle he turned back and said, "We just hide them much better than you."
Cersei actually laughed at that. "I think I might actually miss you when you leave here Lord Stark.", she said with a grin.
"Planning my departure already?", he asked.
"Oh don't pretend you don't hate it here. You are probably already planning your own departure.", she said. Ned could only nod in agreement at her words. "I assume you'll want to break off the engagement between Sansa and Joffrey."
"Which I'm sure you are VERY upset about.", Ned said. "And you will probably bring in your father as Hand to control that little shit."
"That is your king you are talking about.", she said in a warning tone.
"Aye, and he's a little shit. Even you can't deny that.", he said. Her silence was all the answer he needed.
"Well, until we meet again Lord Stark.", she said as he opened the doors and let her pass.
"Your Grace.", he said with a small bow.
As soon as he walked out of the throne room he took a deep breath in relief. Unfortunately he immediately regretted it as he was assaulted by the foul smell of King's Landing.
'By the Gods I need to leave this damn city. I've had enough of it for a lifetime now.', he thought. 'Arya will be glad though I may need to find her another instructor. Or maybe I can convince Syrio Forel to come with us. Sansa may be upset but I'll just find her another match. Maybe Mace's eldest.'
He pushed those thoughts to the back as he began walking to his quarters. There would be time enough to make those plans in the coming days. As well as others.
'Winter is coming soon and I have a bad feeling more bad times come with it. We need to be ready for whatever comes. The lone wolf dies but the pack survives.', he thought. 'I need to send a raven to Castle Black. I thought Jon would be safe there but now with Robert dead I am not as sure. The family needs to stand together in order to survive. I just hope he hasn't taken his vows yet.'
With these thoughts and others in his mind he set forth into the unknown, hoping his family would be safe.
A/N: Hey guys! I am back and not dead. I know my many fans are eager to read my stories again *crickets chirping* but first I must apologize for going so long with no updates. You are probably thinking, 'Dafuq is wrong with you bitch?', and to that I say 'Life bro'. I have been working and going to school that I just haven't had time for writing. And I am still in the middle of trying to rewrite my main story 'More Than Human' which left me feeling very unmotivated. But due to all the shit happening I finally have more time (even though my work won't freaking shut down even in a pandemic) and I am feeling inspired. Before I get to work on my other story I just had the inspiration for this and decided to knock it out real quick.
Btw I got really into GoT in 2018. I loved it but that means I was left gutted and betrayed by the garbage fire that was S8. I still love most of this show though and I have so many story ideas set in Planetos. To be clear, in this story not everything is magically okay. There are still plots afoot and my main girl Dany around (Jonerys 4ever), not to mention our boys Ned loose allegiance to the crown and the royal shit on the throne. But not sure if I will continue this storyline. But never say never. I just wanted to make a Ned that was honorable but wasn't above slumming it to protect his family. Book and Show Ned have demonstrated that mindest already and he hid his nephew for years even though it would put his life in danger. And I've always had the opinion that as sad as Brandon dying was, Ned was definitely the better choice as lord.
Anyway bye all. Hopefully you will hear from me soon
PS: I forgot to mention this but please leave a review if you can. Not only to say what you liked and didn't like and how I can improve, but also to say how much I suck balls. I don't have enough haters right now.