Author's Note: Thanks for the nice reviews cause they make me want to write even faster so y'all get to see what happens next! A sad entry here but it was necessary. A bit of a longer chapter as well as the next one is the shortest so far.
Amarah sat in her room reading some of sort of history book on the kings of Westeros. She had become bored late in the afternoon after all of her duties were fulfilled for the day so she decided that instead of sewing or gossiping with her handmaidens she would pursue a more scholarly endeavor. However, as her eyelids drooped lower while reading the less-than-fascinating tale she was beginning to regret that decision. Just as she was about to give up reading the book entirely her concentration was interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Come in!" she called loudly enough for whoever it was to hear.
She did not expect her Uncle Renly to be the unexpected visitor. His handsome head poked through the door looking for her. He looked terribly dirty and bedraggled, not his usual appearance at all. When his eyes met hers, her blood ran cold. Something here was terribly wrong.
"What is it?" she asked, the book fallen to the floor forgotten.
"We were out hunting. It was a wild boar. There was nothing…" he couldn't continue on, just stared at her with a helpless, lost expression. The King had gone out on a hunting party the previous day as it was his habit to disappear from the castle whenever something had occurred to upset him. This latest trip was the result of Jaime's attack on the Stark men and Ned's subsequent injury.
Instantly realizing what had happened, Amarah started towards the door past Renly without needing any further explanation. She ran to her father's chambers as it the fires of the seven hells nipped at her heels urging her on. Renly was somewhere behind her but she paid him no mind. It suddenly felt as if all the air had been sucked from her lungs and she was suffocating under some tremendous invisible force. This could not be happening she told herself over and over, hoping that if she said it to herself enough times that would make it true.
She stopped in front of her father's chambers with an abrupt halt. Forcing her breathing to a slower pace, she strove for some appearance of normalcy before she entered. Going into hysterics would hardly be of any help to her or her father now. Slowly she pushed open the large, wooden door fearing what sight would meet her on the other side.
It appeared Uncle Ned had beaten her to the King's bedside as he was already sitting next to her dying father. Approaching the bed slowly, she made not a sound. Her mind was running in a thousand different directions. Death was simple to deal with when it was expected, but she never could have predicted this. Just a few days ago she had been standing in this very room with him while they argued back and forth. He had been his usual grumpy self and she had taken the fact for granted that he would remain that way until she was ready to let him go.
"There you are" he groaned. "What took you so long, girl?"
She didn't say anything. She didn't know what to say. Reaching his side, Amarah took the chair that Ned had vacated for her. Reaching to take her father's hand, she found herself at a complete loss for words. A strange position to find herself in, but there it was. Amarah Baratheon did not know what to say to her own dying father. It would have been humorous were it not so tragic.
"What?" he asked her. "Nothin' to say? No reprimands that I shouldn't have been drinkin' on the hunt in the first place?"
She gave him a tight smile and squeezed his hand. "You shouldn't have been drinking on the hunt in the first place."
He gave an amused "humph" at that. "You were always so clever, my girl. Well, you'll have to stay clever on your own I'm afraid. I won't be around to keep you sharp anymore."
"What happened?" she asked ignoring his half-hearted attempt at humor.
"A wild boar stuck me clean through" he said with a dissatisfied frown. "Gods! Years of survivin' wars and a rebellion, and I'm killed by a pig. The seven must have a cruel sense of humor."
"Father" she spoke seriously. "Do you wish to talk with me about the cruelty of the gods on your deathbed?"
"No, my girl." He was silent for a moment after that while he gathered his thoughts. After a few moments she saw a single tear form in the corner of his eye but she quickly wiped it away before it could fall. She didn't want to see him cry for her because she did not deserve his tears. She felt as if she should be sobbing uncontrollably or begging him to hold on, to live. But she couldn't summon any of those feelings. All she could feel was a sort of numbness that began in her fingers and worked its way to her heart. She had never felt more broken.
"I'm sorry, my girl" his voice finally broke the silence. "I should have been a better father for you, but I was selfish. I chose to leave you to be raised by others when I should have taken the responsibility myself. I was afraid and chose the easy way out but you paid the price for my cowardice. You may not love me, daughter, but I do love you truly. Ever since the day the maester placed your small, wrigglin' body in my arms, I loved you. Not because of who your mother was but because you were a piece of both of us. My girl."
"Father" Amarah shushed him before he could say anything else. "You don't need to say these things to me. I understand." And she truly did. She supposed her inability to express her feelings was a trait she and her father had in common. However, she would try to tell him what he needed to hear before he passed on. He deserved that much from her.
"I was angry at you" she confessed. "But I don't hate you. I was only angry because I did love you and I felt betrayed. I confess I did not always like you but I have always loved you" she finished repeating her earlier words to Arya. Little did she know at the time the advice would prove more helpful to her instead.
The King nodded his head in acceptance. "You're strong" he finally said after he realized she would say nothing else. "You will need to stay strong after I'm gone. It won't be easy for you. Don't think I don't know Cersei and Joffrey have no fondness for you. That's probably my fault as well, but it's done now. You'll have to be stronger than ever for me, my girl. Don't let those blonde haired shits bully you or break you. Stay my strong girl."
"That I can promise you" she replied without any hesitation. Yes, she would stay strong. For her father and for herself.
"Say our words" he said giving her hand a hard squeeze. "I want to hear you say them."
She hesitated an instant before understanding his request. "Ours is the fury."
"Again" he commanded more loudly.
"Ours is the fury" she repeated matching his loud, confidant voice.
He gave her a proud, satisfied look. "Don't you ever forget that."
Standing up to press one, final kiss to his brow she gave him a solemn promise. "I will never forget."
"I don't want you standin' over me while I waste away." He weakly brushed her off. "Best to say our final goodbyes now."
She moved to take his hands once again in hers and gave a brave smile. "Goodbye, Father." There was no trace of mockery or humor in her voice now. She knew these would be the last words she would ever speak to him.
"Goodbye, my girl." She did not stop the tear that fell from his eyes this time. She let him cry for them both. "My Amarah"
At these words he drifted off into sleep, and she somehow knew he would never wake up again. As she gazed at his sleeping face, she felt the overwhelming numbness slowly leak from her bones leaving an intense feeling of loss behind. Looking towards her Uncle who had witnessed the whole scene, she noticed a glimmer of moisture in his eyes that he was quick to wipe away. Handing him back his cane, she offered to walk with him to the door.
As soon as they had exited her father's chambers, she saw Renly rapidly approach Ned. Giving Amarah a hesitant gaze, Renly quickly requested if he could have a moment to speak with Ned alone. Already knowing his purpose, Amarah did not hesitate in granting his request. Before she was about to walk away, Ned lightly touched her elbow. She turned back to look at him with a questioning gaze.
"Go to my chambers" he told her in a low voice. "I need to speak with you there at once."
She nodded her head in assent, wondering what he wished to speak with her about. As she headed towards his apartments her brain tried to rapidly assimilate all that had just happened. Her father was dying and he would most likely be dead before morning on the next day. That did not give her much time to orchestrate a plan. She wondered how heartless she could be, plotting and scheming as her father lay on his deathbed, but she had made him a promise, a promise to stay strong, and she would do just that.
Amarah had been waiting in Ned's inner sanctum for a short while before she finally heard his return. She was still busy thinking of a plan of action when he walked through the door but nothing seemed to come to mind.
"What was it you wished to discuss with me?" Amarah asked half-distractedly once he had closed the door.
"Your right to the throne."
Her wandering gaze snapped to attention at his answer. "What do you mean?"
"Joffrey Baratheon is not the heir to the throne. You are Robert's only legitimate child. All three of the queen's children are the products of incest between herself and her brother Jaime Lannister."
"How did you find out?" she asked in surprise.
"All of Robert's children have black hair. You and those bastards John Arryn and I both visted are all black of hair, but the queen's children have blonde hair. Robert is not their father. The queen admitted it herself"
Amarah felt her blood run cold. "You told her you knew?" She could barely contain her horror.
"Yes" Ned replied. "I wanted to warn her to leave the city before I told Robert what I had discovered. The children shouldn't have to suffer for the sins of their parents."
"I told you to let it be! How could you be so foolish?" Amarah nearly shouted at him, still reeling from the shock that he had told Cersei he knew her greatest secret. Now there would be no stopping her.
"What are you talking about?" asked her uncle clearly confused.
"You should not have said anything to her." Amarah had risen from her chair and now paced the room in a state of near panic. "You should have kept it to yourself or gone straight to the King. By warning her you have cost my father his life. Do you think it a mere coincidence that he will die so shortly after your discovery about the Lannisters? She will ensure that Joffrey takes the throne now no matter what."
"I did what I thought was right" he defended his actions.
"Well it wasn't" she threw back in anger. She continued to pace about trying to think of the best plan of action in light of her uncle's egregious error.
"You already knew" her uncle finally comprehended. Her lack of surprise must have escaped his notice at first, but now she saw the understanding finally dawn in his eyes. "You knew all this time and you said nothing."
Oh yes, she knew. She had discovered the truth almost seven years ago when she had finally become old enough to understand the ways between a man and woman. And it had been a most rude awakening.
One night she had been wandering the halls because she couldn't sleep when she heard someone coming. Still being a bit shy of her surroundings and the people in them, she had quickly moved into a nearby shaded alcove to avoid being discovered. As she watched from the shadows, she saw Jaime Lannister walk by with a careless stride. Amarah had been struck by his golden beauty as she watched him unobserved. She remembered thinking when she first came to the capital that he was the handsomest man she had ever seen, but she was too shy to speak to the golden god. It was an immense pleasure to be able to view him so closely and unnoticed so that she could gaze to her heart's content.
However, as she continued to watch, he quietly approached a door on the other side of the passageway and knocked very softly. After a few moments the queen came out in the passageway to join him, much to Amarah's surprise. Cersei quickly looked up and down the hall to make sure they were unobserved and Amarah involuntarily shrank back further into the shadows. Once they were both convinced they were not being watched, the queen immediately pulled her brother into her arms and they kissed almost violently as Jaime roughly pulled up her skirts. Amarah did not see any more than that as both fell through the door shortly after and closed it with a loud thud.
In a state of shock over what she had just seen, Amarah picked up the hem of her night dress and ran as quickly as possible back to her chambers before she could risk seeing any other unpleasant sights. Once she had returned to her chambers she promptly cast up her accounts into the chamber pot and continued retching until nothing else came but dry heaves. Slumping down on the cold, hard stone she tried to block the image she had just witnessed but she could not erase it from her memory.
She never told anyone what she had witnessed between the Kingslayer and his sister that night, but over the years she had been able to put the clues together to discover that her three royal siblings were in fact no relation to her at all. She had pondered bringing the information forward to her father or even the high septon but there had been a multitude of reasons why she chose not to.
Fear of the Lannisters, Tommen and Myrcella, a lack of real evidence, but mostly she had no desire to have that damn throne for herself. She didn't want power. No, all Amarah Baratheon had ever wanted was peace. So she was content to live in silence, even if that meant Joffrey would sit on the throne instead of her. She had hoped that by the time her father passed the crown she would be married with a brood of children running about in a keep far from King's Landing, far from the Lannisters reach. But her father's unfortunate accident had dashed all of those hopes.
She proceeded to pour out this entire tale to her uncle as he stood gazing at her in shock. She left out no detail and once she had finished he sat down behind his desk to contemplate all she had said. The room was silent as she waited to hear what he would have to say.
"Joffrey cannot sit on the throne" he finally answered. "Even if you do not want it, the throne must go to Robert's true family. It should go to Stannis."
Appalled by her uncle's choice of successor, Amarah could not help but argue. "Stannis Baratheon would make a terrible king. No one loves him or even likes him. If you want a successor to swing prejudice away from the Lannisters it must be one people will support."
"There is no other choice" he reasoned.
"Yes there is" she countered. "You could take the throne. In fact, you could have had it years ago after the rebellion. Take what is yours, uncle. You have thousands that are loyal to you and they would fight to the death to see you take the iron throne."
Ned shook his head in denial at her request. "I'm not a king Amarah. I don't want the throne any more than you do."
"You must do it" she pressed on. "Make plans tonight to leave the city and gather your forces in the North. Then we will be prepared to defeat Cersei Lannister. Take the throne for yourself, Uncle."
"I'm afraid I cannot" he stubbornly refused. "I am still Hand and I must see to my duty which is to serve the King. The rightful King. You do not have to challenge Joffrey's power if you do not wish it but Stannis has the next claim to the throne. I will send out a raven as soon as possible to tell him what I have discovered."
"You cannot stay in the city" she persisted. "Cersei has the power here. You will be able to do nothing unless you leave tonight to return to the North to gather your men. Support Stannis if you wish but you must leave now."
Ned shook his head in denial of her assertion that he leave. "I have already spoken to Baelish and the city guard is under my command. Also, I had Robert sign a decree stating that the crown will pass to his trueborn heir. Not Joffrey. He will not sit on the throne."
"You cannot trust Littlefinger" she tried once again to reason with him. "You must listen to me, Uncle! Do you think a piece of paper will mean anything to Cersei? She will place Joffrey on that throne regardless of whatever you say and she will denounce you for a liar. Just as she did when Jaime attacked your men and she placed the blame on you. The Lannisters have no honor like you. You cannot win this way."
"I won't play their games, Amarah. I will do this the only way I know how. You either support me or you do not."
Amarah struggled to produce some other argument to sway him, but she could think of nothing else to say. She was so tired. Tired of trying to reason with him and tired of trying to make him see things her way. Nothing she could say would change his mind. It gave her a heavy heart but she could not stand with him on this. She must act on her own.
With a sad shake of her head she gave him her answer. "I do not."
"Very well" he answered with a disappointed look that cut her deeply. "You must do what you think is best."
"Please be careful" she pleaded with him. "I cannot stay in this city for my own safety. Surely you must understand that."
"I do" he replied with a softer gaze than before.
"I can take Arya and Sansa with me if you would like" she offered.
He denied her this request as well. "I would rather they stay with my men where they will be closely guarded. They will be safer in the city with me."
Too weary to argue with him any more she moved to say goodbye. Enfolding him in a tight hug which he equally returned, she embraced him as if they were being parted forever. She knew even Cersei Lannister would not be so foolish as to kill a powerful lord like Eddard Stark but she feared for him and her cousins all the same.
"Goodbye" she whispered quietly before leaving without looking back. He said nothing but the loud click of the door latch was more final than any words he could have uttered. Pausing for a brief moment, she took in a deep breath to restore her lungs with much-needed air. Then she walked away. She knew what needed to be done.
Please review! This was a personal favorite of mine so far so I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts. I've always wanted some character to try to talk some sense into honorable Ned so Amarah got to fulfill that role. Even if unfortunately he is too stubborn to listen:( All comments are appreciated!