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XVI

Treason

It just didn't sound true.

If someone had told her a week ago that she would wake up one morning and her father would be dead, her brother the king, and Ned Stark thrown in the dungeons for treason, she wouldn't have believed it. Following the night of her father's death, she had stayed abed all day with her handmaidens, listening to their conversation mindlessly as she tried to forget the death that she'd witnessed the night before. Desmera had stayed by her side all day, arriving at sunrise. Rhea was in and out, eagerly fetching more food any time they'd eaten their fill. Joanna's cousins Cerenna and Myrielle, on the other hand, had only come to visit in the morning before some court intrigue drew them out of the room all day.

They'd returned around dinnertime, eyes alight. Joanna had just found the energy to get up from bed, stretching her stiff limbs and stepping out into the fresh air and sunlight of her terrace. She paid no mind to her cousins' chatter behind her, enjoying only the noise it created to fill the quiet in her head. The waves crashed against the rocks below her balcony, and she leaned against the railing, raising herself up onto the tips of her toes to see the swirling water below. She enjoyed the salty smell and the cool, coarse wind on her face. It invigorated her after spending the day hidden beneath the covers of her bed with her windows drawn.

"Don't you want to hear, Joanna?" Cerenna asked, stepping out onto the terrace with Myrielle and Desmera behind her. "It's all anyone's talking about."

"My father's death?" she asked dryly. "I've heard about it."

"It's not that," Myrielle said gently, somewhat defensive. "It really is important. Lord Stark got arrested for treason today."

"Treason?" She turned to look at Desmera and cousins to see if they were joking. Joanna wasn't really in a mood for jokes right now. But all three girls looked serious, the scandal of the news written on Cerenna's face. "How could Ned Stark have been arrested for treason?"

"Well…" Myrielle shifted on her feet, looking unsure. "No one's really sure. I heard a rumor that he may have had a hand in killing the King."

"Piss off," Joanna huffed, turning away. "That's not true and you all know it."

"She was only telling you what the rumor was," Desmera defended. "I heard it too. I've heard all sorts of rumors today, but I don't think anyone really knows the truth."

Joanna was quiet, thinking. It sat entirely wrong in her stomach to hear that Ned Stark had been arrested for treason. What could he have done to incite the king's wrath? She supposed that with Joffrey as king now, it didn't have to be much. Or was this a belayed arrest, ordered by her father before he'd died? She couldn't imagine it was. If her father had wanted Ned Stark arrested the night before, he certainly hadn't shown it. Whatever Ned Stark had done, perhaps it had something to do with why he wanted to send Sansa and Arya back to Winterfell. That had been some days ago now, and they hadn't left yet. She had thought that Ned Stark changed his mind.

It did make her wonder about Sansa and Arya and the rest of the Stark household. What would they do now that their head was imprisoned? Would they go home? Joanna almost hoped they did. As much as she would despair in Sansa's loss, it would surely be better for her to leave now that Joffrey was king and there were far fewer people to tell him no.

A spray of water from the crashing waves splashed her face and she flinched out of her thoughts. She turned back to her handmaidens beside her.

"What do you think really happened?" she asked them. The three girls exchanged a look with each other before Desmera shrugged.

"I heard that Ned Stark was trying to take over the throne," she said. "I heard that he arranged a plot to kill Joffrey. I don't believe that, but…"

"But?" Joanna pressed. Desmera seemed to hesitate before she shrugged again lamely.

"If I was in a position to take power away from Joffrey, I'd certainly try. Wouldn't you?"

Joanna supposed she would. She agreed that an assassination plot didn't sound likely, not for Ned Stark, but perhaps there was some truth in the rumor. She would certainly be happier for having Ned Stark on the throne over her brother, and she was sure much of the kingdom would feel the same if they knew what Joffrey was truly like.

She rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands, wishing that she could wake up from this dream that she seemed to have fallen into. The entire day still didn't feel real; only the wind on the face and the occasional splash from the waves below assured her that she was truly awake.

"None of this is right," she said. "Father was supposed to die old and fat in his bed. And then somebody else would take the throne. I don't know who…I don't know… I don't know what I imagined. But it wasn't this."

Myrielle stepped forward to place a comforting hand on Joanna's shoulder.

"I know," she soothed. "Life will feel normal again soon. You just need to give it time."

The opening of the door caught the attention of all the girls, and they saw Rhea leading in the servants who had come to bring their dinner. Joanna took a deep sigh, stepping away from the railing and leading her friends back inside.

"Any news?" Cerenna asked Rhea, who shook her head.

"It's all the same rumors over and over," she replied. "They get wilder and wilder as the day goes on."

Joanna sat at her table and let her chief servant, Dorcas, set out her meal.

"How about you?" she asked. Dorcas looked somewhat surprised to be brought into the conversation, used to years of being nothing more than a fly on the wall. "What have you heard about Ned Stark's arrest?"

"It's not my place to say," Dorcas replied swiftly.

"Come on," Joanna pushed. "Surely the servants have heard more than the rest of us have."

"It's like Lady Royce says, princess," she said. "The rumors only get stranger. Everything but the truth is making its way through the keep right now."

Joanna hummed thoughtfully, turning back to her food. Spending the entire day in her bed eating all the pastries and lemon cakes that the servants could bring her hadn't given her much of an appetite, but she nibbled at some pork nonetheless to keep her handmaids and servants from pestering her, as though skipping dinner after a day of eating desserts would make her starve to death.

"I did hear, however," Dorcas started slowly, hesitantly. All of the young ladies sat at the table looked up at her. She looked around at each other them, clearly unsure if she should continue. When Joanna raised her eyebrows at her silence, she sighed. "It wasn't just Lord Stark. All of the Stark household were killed, even their septa."

"But what of the girls themselves?" Joanna asked, her heart falling into her stomach. "Joffrey couldn't –"

"Lady Sansa is with your mother, last I heard," Dorcas replied quickly.

"And the other one?" Myrielle asked. "The little one, what was her name? Anya?"

"Arya," Joanna said. Dorcas worried her lip.

"All servants have been told to look for her," she said. "I took that to mean that no one knows where she is."

Joanna set her fork down and slumped down in her chair.

"Seven Hells," she sighed.

"I can't believe it," said Desmera, lowering her fork as well. The others around the table picked at their food, not seeming to have much of an appetite anymore.

"I'm sorry," said Dorcas. "I shouldn't have said anything, my lady. I never meant to disturb you."

"I'd rather know now than find out later," Joanna replied with a wave of her hand. Dorcas bowed her head and exited the room with the others who had come to serve them. Cerenna sighed glumly, letting her fork drop to her plate with a loud clatter before she crossed her arms over her chest.

"King's Landing was never like this before everyone left for Winterfell," she said with a deep frown. Joanna frowned as well, suddenly feeling very deeply that she wished they had never gone North.

"It wasn't," Myrielle agreed. "I think the Starks brought the trouble with them."

Joanna shook her head slowly. No, that wasn't right. The Starks came to King's Landing armed only with their clothes and a reserved attitude. Whatever it was that was stirring trouble in King's Landing was already there, or perhaps it had appeared in their absence. She couldn't see how the Stark family's reservations could kick up so much unrest. Although, she admitted to herself, she never saw what Ned Stark was like in the meetings of the small council.

"Even if the Starks caused all this," she said, crossing her arms tightly over her chest with her mouth set in a thin line, "I don't think it's going to leave with them."

Since her father's death, Joanna's handmaidens did their best not to leave her alone. They seemed to work in shifts, her cousins often coming by in the morning and early afternoon, with Rhea and Desmera taking the less desirable shifts in the evening time. Shortly after dinner, Rhea and Joanna set themselves up in the comfortable lounging seats with their samplers on their laps. In the past few days, Joanna had warmed up to the loathed pastime, enjoying how the meticulous nature of needlepoint allowed her to focus on something other than the unrest that was happening elsewhere in the Red Keep.

Deep orange light from the setting sun cast long shadows across the room, and aside from the quiet pull and crash of the waves below her balcony, it was quiet. Occasionally a gentle breeze swept in, rustling the curtains and the leaves of the ivy that climbed up the trellis that lined the sides of her balcony. It was the most peaceful that Joanna had felt in quite a while, the longest she'd gone without thinking of her father's death or the circumstances surrounding Ned Stark's arrest.

And it didn't last. A knock came at her door before long, and Joanna looked up from her embroidery in time to hear the Kingsguard at her door announce that Sansa Stark had come to see her. Not minding the interruption, Joanna called for her to be allowed in. It was only once Sansa stepped inside the room, looking as small and meek as a little dormouse, that Joanna realized that something was wrong.

"Princess," said Sansa softly with a gentle curtsy. She was always polite, and minded her manners better than anyone Joanna knew, but she wasn't usually this formal. Joanna frowned.

"Lady Sansa." She stood, setting her sampler to the side. She observed Sansa, the way she avoided looking directly at her. She turned to Rhea, who was looking at Sansa with confusion, and placed a hand on her cheek. "Thank you so much for your company. I'd like to speak with Sansa alone."

"Of course," said Rhea, standing and hugging Joanna briefly before brushing past Sansa to leave. Once the door was firmly closed, Sansa took another step forward.

"What's bothering you?" Joanna asked. She moved around the chairs to stand in front of Sansa, taking her hands gently. "Is it your father?"

Sansa nodded gently. "After they arrested him, the Hound took me to see the Queen. Maester Pycelle and Lord Baelish and Lord Varys were there. They said my father was a traitor, that his treason made me an unfit wife for Joffrey –"

The more she spoke, the more worked up she was getting. Her breaths were coming quick and heavy, tears welling in her eyes. Joanna shushed her, pulling her over to her bed and sitting her down. Joanna rubbed her hands over Sansa's shoulders.

"It's alright," she said. "Tell me what happened."

"They said I had to prove that I wasn't a traitor," Sansa said, chin quivering. "They made me write a letter to my brother, to Robb, to come to King's Landing. They said that my father's fate relied on whether or not Robb will come to bend the knee."

Joanna frowned. She knew her mother's intimidation well, how her soft look of sharp disapproval made you want to do whatever you could to make her approve of you again. She didn't doubt that Lord Baelish and Lord Varys were staring her down with gazes equally as piercing, didn't doubt that Pycelle shared biting words to cripple her. She knew well that the people her mother surrounded herself with were no less vicious than she was.

"Sansa, what did they say your father did?"

"They said he plotted to steal Joffrey's rightful throne," she responded with a shaking voice. "But my father doesn't want the throne! My mother said he didn't even want to come here!"

Perhaps some of the rumors had their truth to them after all. Joanna remembered what Desmera said. If I was in a position to take power away from Joffrey, I'd certainly try. Wouldn't you? Wouldn't Lord Stark? Perhaps treason wasn't the worst thing in the world.

A sob broke from Sansa's mouth as she was no longer able to hold back the emotion that overwhelmed her. Joanna drew her close, wrapping her arms around the younger girl and letting her cry into her shoulder. She kept her arms tight around her, grip firm, as though to shield her.

"I don't know what to do," Sansa wailed. "I shouldn't have written that letter. What if Robb doesn't come here and they kill my father? What if he does come, and they kill him? They killed my Septa, and I haven't seen Arya –"

"Hush," Joanna bade. "Your brother is a man grown. He can handle himself, as can your father. And if your sister is gone from the Red Keep, then perhaps it's for the best. As long as you're alone here, Sansa, then your top priority must be yourself."

"I c-can't let them say those things about my father," she cried. "It's not true!"

"Does your father care more for your life or for his own?" Joanna asked. Sansa hiccupped, looking up at her with red eyes.

"For mine," she answered quietly.

"Then protect yourself first," she said. "You did the right thing writing that letter. You're in their good graces now, and it gave you the time to come here to me. Now, Sansa," Joanna placed her hand's on Sansa's shoulders and made sure that she was looking at her before continuing, "My mother is a hard woman to please, but she'll like you better if she thinks she can control you. I'll help you do whatever it takes to get your father out of prison and you both out of King's Landing. But until then, you need to keep her and Joffrey happy. Even if they make you grovel and say things you would never believe. Do you understand?"

Sansa sniffed, tears dripping down her cheeks, but she nodded. Joanna pulled her close again, rubbing her back soothingly.

"I don't know what's happening," Sansa said quietly. Joanna squeezed her tighter, letting out a long breath to keep herself steady. She was much less use to Sansa if she was a crying mess as well. Still, in the moment, she allowed herself to relax slightly and take even the smallest bit of comfort in the other girl's embrace. For just this second, this hidden moment they shared, they could be vulnerable together. She squeezed her eyes shut and took a long, shaky breath.

"I don't know, either."

A/N: Hello again friends! I wasn't expecting this chapter to take so long, nor was I expecting to get this out now, of all times. But I've been procrastinating something I desperately need to work on, and decided to take a look at this chapter which has been sitting half-finished in my drafts for months now in an attempt to get my writing juices flowing. They were flowing, alright, as evidenced by the fact that I smashed the rest of this out in about an hour.

As always, this is unbeta'd, so please be gentle if there's any mistakes! Please let me know if there's any glaring errors and I'll fix it soon as I can.

Huuuuuuuuge thanks to RandomFandoming, Lt-Spork89, EmzMikaelson, amelia, and FoAteAZombie for taking the time to review! Reviews are a super valued and vital part of the writing process and they help chapters come much easier (wink wink). I'd also like to thank everyone who's added this story to their follows and faves. It's really much appreciated! I know these chapters are slow coming (I'm a college student with lots to do, sadly, and not everything can be procrastinated so I can write) but I've already planned this story until the end and I'm way to attached and committed to stop until I'm done! So I really appreciate all of you for sticking with me and this story :)

Anyways! The drama is starting to ramp up! Shit is really starting to happen! I'm super super super excited to write what comes next, so hopefully you all are excited to see it! And I hope that this long overdue chapter was worth the wait. I'd love to hear what you all think!

Hopefully it won't be long before I get the next chapter out, but as always, never any promises with me. Nevertheless, thank you all so much for taking the time to read. I hope you liked it!

Until next time,

Rex