The Dragons of Winter
Chapter 16
Eddard
Ned Stark's eyes grew wide when he read the page titled 'House Baratheon';
Joffrey Baratheon - golden haired,
Tommen Baratheon - golden haired,
Myrcella Baratheon - golden haired.
All of a sudden, his thoughts began to rush around his head at the truth of the Queen Cersei Lannister and her brother, Jaime Lannister.
Bran saw them together, and they pushed him out of the window… Robert's children are not his children, they are not princes nor princesses, but bastards not worthy of the throne that their supposed father sits on.
The Lannisters tried to kill my son!
Ned hastily stood up from his desk, covered heavily in books and pieces of parchment, dripping with evidence.
Robert is leaving on the morrow to hunt bore and to drink wine…
Ned knew he had to tell him, and he knew that he had to tell him as fast as he could, before it was all too late.
But then, something inside of his caused his to think of the children, and Ned stopped in his tracks. Yet that image switched to another; Tywin Lannister presenting Aegon and Rhaenys Targaryen in Lannister cloaks, battered and hacked to pieces.
With that, Eddard continued to walk onwards to Robert's solar.
Arya
'Lock your door, don't leave your chambers unless it's your father- and only your father at the other side of your door.' Her septa's words rang in Arya's head, masking out the sound of Sansa crying under the sheets of the bed- almost.
"Will you shut up for once Sansa?" Arya hissed once her sister's whimpering had become too much.
Arya leaned her ear against the door once more, trying to hear what was happening down below in the Throne room. She couldn't make out much, but Arya was certain that men were fighting, due to occasional slash or scream that would make Sansa begin to cry again. After another audible shout echoed around the keep, Arya's sister cried out. She was ready to snap at her sister and bark at her, but something inside of Arya caused her to do the opposite.
"Sansa?" Arya watched as Sansa's red tresses and blue watery eyes peaked from under the covers, her hands visibly shaking, "I'm sorry for shouting at you, you're only scared."
Sansa blinked, clearly surprised at Arya's kindness; she blinked even more when Arya extended her hand out to Sansa and sat down beside her sister.
"Thank you Arya." Her sister replied, grasping onto her hand tightly.
"Let's stay together Sansa, father told me that this is a dangerous place where people plot and scheme, a place where people stab each other in the back." Arya told her sister, who to Arya's shock hesitated before nodding, "Please don't trust the queen, or your stupid prince. Don't trust anyone here, Sansa."
"Bu Joffrey, he's my one and true lo-!" Sansa recited, her voice had stopped shaking.
"Sansa! YOUR STUPID, IDIOTIC GOLDEN PRINCE DOESN'T CARE ABOUT YOU AND HE IS A LITTLE SHIT SO STOP FUSSING OVER HIM!"Sansa flinched at her harsh words that even Arya didn't know were inside of her, yet Arya could still feel her sister's unyielding grasp ever present on her hand.
After a long silence of Sansa trying to think, Arya's sister finally spoke up, "Joffrey… isn't Kind-I suppose." She sounded like she was being held at knife point by the way she said the words. Like they were bringing her pain.
"We'll stay with each other now."
Eddard
The Lannister soldiers were sprawled over the floor, the colour of the stone tiles matching their crimson cloaks. However, it was no great victory; Cersei, Jaime and the children were gone, smuggled out of the city in the heart of the fighting.
Soldiers, killed for nothing, Ned Stark thought bitterly.
Ned slotted Ice back into its sheath, wanting to put away all of the violence and bloodshed that was currently stinking the air. Robert wasn't done however, his friend was furiously shouting at his kingsguards, bellowing furious, meaningless words at anyone and everyone.
"THE LANNISTERS HAVE ESCAPED!" Ned's friend thundered," THE YELLOW HEADED SHITS! KILL THEM, KILL THEM ALL!" My friend? Robert's reaction brought his mind back to that time in the throne room; "They're dragon spawn, they deserve to be killed!"
"They were children! No child deserves to die, lest the way they did!" Was what Eddard had responded before leaving his friend on the throne.
Yet this time, Lord Eddard Stark simply stood there, watching his friend deteriorate before his own eyes.
Daenerys
The warm sun warmed her skin as she watched the waves lap against the walls of the castle. Rhaeanna sat beside her on the balcony, alongside Jon, Viserion and Rhaegal. She could recall standing on the balcony with Viserys, but then she had been too focused on not angering her brother to notice the small details of the city. One-minute detail that caught Dany's eye was a small ship that slipped underneath the castle. To her surprise, she noticed the Magister exit the boat and quickly enter the castle.
"The magister hasn't been here for weeks…" Daenerys began flatly.
Jon nodded his head.
"He slipped out and we didn't even realise…" Daenerys looked at Jon, who was muttering something under his breath over and over again, "What are you doing?"
"Noting down a potential exit… in case we'd ever need to leave this place in a hurry." Jon explained, not allowing his grey eyes to leave where the ship had been.
Jon's words made one part of her feel sad; in Winterfell, Jon had been a bastard. No hidden agendas, no worries and certainly no one wanting him dead. Yet now Jon has to worry about potential assassins sent by the Usurper, Robert Baratheon.
I am no Stark, but Jon is not a summer child anymore, and winter is coming.
Varys
One Moon Later
"IT'S CHAOS OUT THERE!" The king bellowed, his golden crown falling from his head in his rage, "Tywin fucking Lannister is pushing us back to Kings landing and soon the old cunt will be at our door, wanting our ugly heads on bloody pissin' spikes!" Robert yelled as he clumsily set his crown back onto his black unkempt hair.
Varys watched the others sitting at the table; all faces were neutral, silent and secretive, all except one.
Lord Stark clearly appeared to be in deep thought, trying to plan their next move like he was the King himself- which in truth was what he was doing, ruling instead of his friend.
"SOMEONE SPEAK UP!" The king's familiar voice echoed around the chambers.
Varys was surprised to hear that it was not Lord Stark speaking, but Petyr Baelish instead, "Your grace, may I suggest that I marry the Lady Lysa Arryn? We have known each other since we were children, alongside Lady Catelyn Stark, as you will know my Lord Hand. She is widowed, and ruling the Kingdom of the Vale on her own. By marrying her, we would receive the knights of the Vale, of which there are 40 000."
Varys watched Ned Stark's brooding response, and then the King's, "I always knew you wanted to fuck Lysa Arryn." Was how the King replied, even letting out a chuckle despite how serious the matter at hand was. Everyone else remained still, with frozen masks on their faces- even Eddard's, interesting.
Petyr Baelish is up to something, Varys noted as well, knowing to stay ever cautious with Baelish.
"That would be inappropriate." Varys heard the old Grand Maester's frail voice stammer, "Lady Lysa was born a Tully, and you… the son of a small Lord."
"And yet, here I sit, amongst people of wealth and power. Sickly little boys can sometimes become powerful men." Baelish's stern face still remained a mask that refused to slip, but Pycelle's white hairy eyebrows furrowed in annoyance and Varys could see him slowly clench his scarce and loose teeth.
"Silence, both of you!" Robert commanded, his face turning a dark shade of pink, "Littlefinger, I grant you to marry Lysa. I will give you leave tomorrow night; I hope you have a guard to escort you."
Varys had been with Petyr Baelish for some time, enough to tell when the man felt pleased and accomplished, despite I being invisible to everyone else at court. He could see then how he lowered his eyebrows in content before raising them again and lifting his head up ever so slightly. Then, Varys noticed something perplexing; Petyr was flicking his eyes from Robert to Ned, like he was trying to calculating something to make his next move.
It looks like for once that Baelish is doing my work for me…
"My King, there's another issue I wish to discuss." Petyr said, his eyes quickly darting to the Lord Hand before fixing themselves onto the King.
The King said nothing, but he nodded to Varys in agreement.
"My little birds tell me many odd things your grace… one of them being told to me just this morning." The spider waited for Robert's fists to clench and for his attention to be fully focused on him before continuing, "They whisper such strange tales, like of Viserys Targaryen being killed and of dragons being born… three of them, your grace."
The small council chambers were filled with the King's hollering and bellowing instantly after he had finished speaking, causing the King's guards to flinch and even step back in caution
"Soon the mad dragon whore will be crossing the narrow sea with three ugly beasts capable of burning castles to the ground!" Robert Baratheon roared while Eddard Stark looked to his feet, a cold frown plastered across his face, Baelish saw it too, Varys noted to himself as he watched Petyr's eyes pass onto the Lord Hand.
Ned Stark's head snapped up however when the King called his name with a pink face and clenched fists, "NED! Jorah Mormont was unsuccessful in killing Daenerys Targaryen, but Viserys seems to have found his grave. I want you to finish the job and kill that crazy bitch Daenerys."
"She is nothing more than a child." Was all he responded with, but his eyes were filled with grief and anger, telling a different story.
Robert, oblivious to his friend's expression, continued to bark at Eddard Stark, "Children of mad Kings don't deserve the treatment of an ordinary child. Have you forgotten what the Targaryens did to your father and brother? What that fucking prince Rhaegar did to my Lyanna- your sister?"
"Killing a child unresponsible for the crimes of their father and brother makes you no better than those who performed them."
Everyone else were frozen in their seats, except from the hand and the King, both full of rage and standing from their chairs.
"Careful Ned! Careful…" Robert said, but it was too late; Lord Eddard Stark had removed his pin from his tunic and was pacing out of the room, leaving everyone to watch in shock while Robert threatened his lifelong friend who had gone from sight, the pin falling off the table as Robert shook it.
Eddard Stark
His footsteps echoed through the tower as he hurtled up its stone steps.
My daughters… was all he could think. My daughters! My daughters! It was like when he had been rushing up the stairs of the tower of joy, looking for his dear sister Lyanna. Instead, I found her in a bead of blood, with a babe in her bloody arms.
"Sansa, it's your father!" He listened as his daughter opened the door and appeared in front of him, dressed in a northern dress and her hair in a simple northern braid.
"What is it father?" She asked, anxiety thick in her small voice.
Eddard Stark noticed that Arya was also in Sansa's bed chambers, perching on the bed, her face matching Sansa's. The two have been getting on very well since the Lannisters escaped…
"I am Hand of the King no longer…"
"Why?" Sansa demanded.
"The King commanded me too assassinate Daenerys and her dragons, I refused." Ned told the two, unable to find kinder words for them.
"OH I HATE THAT FAT KING!" Arya yelled, before Sansa told her to 'shut up'. It made Ned chuckle slightly, despite the grave atmosphere that remained thick in the air.
"Arya, Sansa, Kings landing is safe no longer. We need to leave."
Littlefinger
Lord Stark had been gathering his things all night, but he hasn't departed yet. Petyr knew this was his chance to tell the King something about his lifelong friend;
something concerning a bastard and a dragon.
NOTES
So, A LOT has happened in this chapter so I hope it doesn't sound very rushed. Next chapter there will be more Pentos POVs due to the lack of them in this one… (sorry !)
Also, please review as all of your comments really help me write and many of them make me smile!
PS: I'm going on holiday for 4 weeks, so I don't think I'll update. I'll try to though haha xx