Chapter 32: You Can See The Trouble Start
The floor of the Great Sept of Baelor was cold. Summer might be battering the gates outside, but inside the Great Sept, it was freezing. Jon tried his best to ignore the cold, but it was biting. At his side, Ghost slept. That was a comfort, during the night, Ghost had whimpered but Jon had been unable to do anything, given the vigil he was meant to hold.
The King had summoned him two days' ago to tell him that he would be knighted. Jon had been surprised and thrilled. This was everything he'd ever wanted. To be something, to achieve something. To remove the stain of his bastardry, and now that he was to be knighted he could finally set out to achieve something.
He had considered taking a new name, Tyrek had told him he could-for some reason his friend wasn't being knighted at the same time-but he had decided against it. He had been born a Snow. He would use his last name to inspire himself to great feats. He would own it. He would make it his own and Lady Stark and Theon and everyone else who had insulted him because he was a bastard would know his worth.
A bell tolled somewhere in the Sept, signalling that his vigil was about to end. He strengthened his resolve as Ghost awoke at his side. The direwolf rose slowly and stretched before staying still. Jon exhaled. The moment felt like an age, but eventually he heard the hymns. The singing of the Great Choir, the incense and much more. As it got closer, Jon could see the King striding forward, his belly hanging over him, his skin pale-was he unwell-Father was at his side, Father looked happy. Then came the Crown Prince and Prince Tommen-the latter looked scared-and then came Jon's brother and sisters and the remainder of the court.
Surprisingly, Sansa shot him a smile when she got to the place where the family would watch. He smiled back tentatively. Sansa had never smiled at him before. But there she was, smiling. She seemed much happier now. Perhaps it was due to the fact that they were due to leave for Winterfell in a few days' time. Jon had been surprised when the King had told him, and when father had confirmed it. Father would be staying here to sort things out, but the rest of them would be returning.
He couldn't make sense of it. But he hadn't protested. The King had ordered him to go after all.
"Jon Snow." The King said, his voice echoing in the Sept. Jon looked up.
Despite his bulk, or perhaps because of it, the King looked intimidating, like a combination of the Father and the Warrior together.
"You have come before the Seven and before us all to accept the vows and responsibilities of knighthood. Is that correct?"
"It is." Jon said, fighting the urge to add a Your Grace onto his sentence, he had been told by Tyrek that one did not address the King in such an instance, more that, one was addressing the Father and the Warrior, who the King was supposed to represent.
"And do you know the vows you are to swear?" The King asked.
"I do." Jon said, he had spent the past two days memorising every line of them.
"Then swear them." The King commanded.
Jon took a breath then began. "I, Jon Snow, son of Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North, do hereby swear before The Father, the Mother, the Warrior, The Crone, The Maiden, The Smith and The Stranger to protect the weak and the innocent. To uphold the King's law and to ensure that justice is brought to all those who need it."
That was the first part of the oath, now he moved to the second part.
"I swear before The Warrior that I shall fight the good fight and ensure that evil and sin never do triumph. I swear that my sword will always fight for justice, and it shall not rest until justice has prevailed."
"I swear before The Father that I shall protect all of his creations, great and small. Mercy and clemency shall be my intention and where that cannot be offered, I shall strike true and firmly."
Then came the final part of the oath.
"I swear before The Mother and the Maiden that all who are weak and innocent shall have my sword. They shall not know fear so long as I live and breathe. This I swear."
A silence followed, Jon wondered why The Mother and The Maiden were the last part of the oath. Tyrek had not been able to explain why nor had Father, nor had the books that Jon had read. It seemed to have been part of the oath from the very beginning.
The drawing of a sword from a sheathe drew Jon back to the present.
The King held the sword in both hands and tapped his left shoulder. "I, Robert, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm, do hereby acknowledge the vows that Jon Snow has sworn."
The sword tapped Jon's right shoulder. "I acknowledge that he has sworn them in good faith and with full intention of upholding them. And I recognise that he is a true companion to the Warrior."
The King raised the sword up and kept it hovering above Jon's forehead. "I do hereby name you, Ser Jon Snow, a Knight of the Seven Kingdoms."
With that the King sheathed his sword, a cloak was wrapped around Jon and he rose and spurs were handed to him, alongside a sword that glittered in the sunlight. Jon looked at the King and smiled, his heart filled with pride.
Bran walked quickly, Arya's hand in his, Summer and Nymeria bounding at their side. Sansa was in the front with Jon and Father led the way. It was dark, but not pitch dark, but the sort of dark one got when it was somewhere between day and night. They were heading to the dock, where they were to board a ship that would take them to White Harbour and from there to home.
Father hadn't explained why they were going home. Or rather why everyone but him was going home. All he had said was that he wanted them to go home and that he would explain later. He had thought Arya of all people would protest; she didn't like being kept in the dark. But she hadn't. She'd agreed. As had Sansa, though that was less of a surprise. Sansa had been waiting to leave since she'd told father the truth about Joffrey.
Joffrey…Bran wondered how the Crown Prince would react when he learned that his betrothed had left. Was Sansa still his betrothed? He'd overheard Father telling Sansa that he and the King had broken the betrothal. But there had been no announcement of that at court the other day. And Joffrey hadn't seemed as if he had known during the feast that had been held to celebrate Jon's knighthood.
It was all very confusing, and Bran was not sure what to make of it. Something was going on, of that he was sure, but what, he did not know. They turned a corner and the dock was there before them. As was a towering figure. Mors Umber, who'd come south with them was going back north with them it seemed.
Bran liked Mors, he was a friendly giant. Old, older than the GreatJon, who was his nephew, and bulkier-was that a word-than the King. He terrified most people. But not Bran. Bran knew he was kind.
"Is it all ready?" Father asked Mors when they stopped before him.
"Aye, my lord. Everything is prepared." Mors replied.
"Nobody saw you?" Father asked.
Are we running away? Bran wondered, and if they were, why were they running away?
"No, my lord." Mors said.
Father nodded. "Good." With that the conversation stopped until they got to the ship. Bran saw that it was called The White Merman. He also saw that their things were already on the ship. How that had happened he didn't know, but he supposed that would explain all the movement that had happened yesterday.
They got onto the ship, the direwolves jumping on from the dock, whilst the rest of them got on using the platform ladder-was that the right word-once they were on Father nodded to Mors who walked further down the ship. Once he was gone, Father looked at them all and said.
"I know that this might be confusing. I have not had the time to explain as best as I wanted to. But I will try to explain now."
Bran frowned wondering what father was going to say. What he did say surprised him, and from the expressions on his siblings' faces, it surprised them as well.
"I will not lie to you; you are all old enough to understand what is happening. The King intends to disinherit Prince Joffrey and name Myrcella as his heir. I am sending you all to Winterfell because it will not be safe for you here once the King has done this. It will not be safe until everything has been secured and it is safe for Myrcella to come south."
"What about you?" Bran found himself asking.
"I have taken steps to ensure my safety. But the thing that matters most to me is that you are all safe." Father replied. "I need you all to look out for one another, do you understand? No fighting and quarrelling. You are to trust one another and to trust Mors. Once you get to White Harbour you will travel to Winterfell and from there your mother will tell you what to do."
Bran nodded, as did Arya and Sansa.
Jon however, asked. "What about me?"
Bran watched as Father walked right up to Jon and hugged him before saying. "Winterfell will always be your home, son."
He pulled back then and looked at them all, Bran felt a tear forming in his eye and he didn't know why. He pushed it away.
"Be safe." Father said and then he was off the ship.
The last Bran saw of his father as the ship pulled away was of him standing on the dock, a lone figure in the distance.
Ned looked at the letter that he'd received from Mors. It had arrived a few days' ago.
Some difficulty getting past Dragonstone, but other than that all well. We are on track.
Dragonstone. What was Stannis Baratheon planning? What was he doing? He hadn't answered any letters or summons or anything. It had been complete silence from him for months now and Ned was concerned.
"You do look awfully concerned, my lord." A voice said. Ned looked up and saw a figure standing before him dressed in the uniform of a household servant.
"What are you doing here, Varys?" He demanded. Clearly something was happening, otherwise the eunuch wouldn't have come here.
The eunuch simpered, but when he saw that Ned was in no mood to play, he changed demeanour. Becoming serious, his back straight. "It is good that you managed to get your children away from King's Landing. The Queen was outraged when she learned."
Ned didn't even act surprised that the eunuch knew. Indeed, he had wondered why the man hadn't come through sooner. "Has she said that she intends to do anything about it?"
"No. The King told her what was done was done. But instead, what she did do is send Ser Jaime to the Westerlands with some forty Red Cloaks." Varys said.
"She sent her brother to the Rock?" Ned asked. "Why?"
"I do not know, my lord. However, I can hazard a good guess." Varys replied. Ned gestured for the man to continue. "She has either learned of what her husband intends to do and is planning to find a way to fight it, or she is concerned about why you have sent your children away and is intending to cause a scene."
"Raising an army from the Westerlands is not causing a scene, it is treason." Ned said simply.
"Ordinarily, I would say yes. But, given the King's health and given that she has won Baelish over to her side, I would say, she is making moves." Varys said.
Ned frowned. "Baelish is on her side?" He had thought that old shit would side with him due to Catelyn. But apparently not.
"Indeed so, my lord. It seems that they reached some sort of agreement. My little birds tell me that it has something do with payments that the Queen made at the start of her marriage to the King, or shortly after it, to a smithery and to an orphanage. It seems the Queen was quite surprised when Baelish told her he knew about those payments and thus they have reached an agreement. He will remain Master of Coin in the new reign, and he will give her unfettered access to funds."
"What funds?" Ned demanded. The crown was in debt, serious debt.
"His own personal funds." Varys answered. "That he has made from his various, shall we say ventures."
Ned exhaled. "What else have you learned?" He would need to have Baelish arrested the moment things got to the dangerous point.
"The skirmishing between the Westerlands and the Riverlands has increased. It seems it's now no longer about this border dispute, but instead has expanded. I had originally wondered with Ser Jaime had been asked for by his father to handle that matter, but now I think this matter might be another issue all together." Varys said.
"And what might that be?" Ned asked, dreading the answer.
"It may well be Baelish's doing. He has after all been funding the men on the Riverlands side who started the skirmishing. Vance, Piper etc. young men who are great friends with Ser Edmure, and are all hot headed. All of whom have ties to Baelish through trade."
"Why?" Ned asked. "What benefit does he get from this?"
"Chaos, my lord. He believes Chaos is a ladder and the only way to succeed is to climb the ladder." Varys said.
"To what end?" Ned asked.
"To have you come to the rescue of the Tullys and to start a war that you cannot stop, between yourself and the Lannisters. I believe he has wanted that sort of chaos since the moment you married Lady Catelyn, maybe even earlier. Maybe from the time your brother was betrothed to her." Varys said.
Ned stared at the eunuch, certain things fitting into place and beginning to make a lot more sense. Including that note.
"Why?" He asked.
"Because he is in love with your wife." Varys said simply.
The pain was a crawling intensity. It was eating him up inside. He'd gotten worse quicker than he had thought. But perhaps that was just how it was meant to be. This was his time.
"Your Grace, Lord Eddard is here."
"Show him in." Robert commanded. He had one last thing he needed to say to Ned, then he could go.
Ned entered and knelt at his side.
"You look like shit." Robert said. His friend laughed but didn't say anything.
"It's good that your children got away from all of this." Robert continued. "I know you didn't want to come south and I apologise for the mess I am leaving you. But there is no one I trust more than you. If I leave things in Cersei's and Joffrey's hands we will have a rebellion up in no time."
Ned looked as if he wanted to say something but didn't, so Robert decided to say it for him. "I know the Kingslayer has been sent to the Westerlands. I know why Cersei has done it. I also know the Riverlands are a mess. So, that's the first place you should focus on. You will have the authority of the Crown behind you to ensure no war breaks out. If you act quickly."
"And act quickly you will need to. Your men are sizeable, but you will need to work with Renly and his friends, and you might need to bring whatever birds Varys has together. Cersei cannot be allowed to work faster than you. Do you understand?"
"I do." Ned said.
Robert nodded. "Good, now when Myrcella comes south, tell her I am sorry that I couldn't be there for her. Tell her I am sorry to have left her with so much shit. But also tell her that I am confident that she can fix it and that with you at her side helping her, the Kingdom will enter a glorious new era."
Ned didn't speak.
Robert continued, there was one last thing he needed to say to his friend before he left. He opened his mouth to say it but the words that came out were completely different. "Oh, and when you get the chance remove Baelish. The fucker has been saying all sorts of nonsense about your wife for years. He never said it in front of me, he was too smart for that, but the rumours always found their way to me. I told Jon to tell him to knock it off, but Jon never did. You're going to want to cut his tongue out, or finish what Brandon started."
Ned nodded.
Robert could feel his power dripping away, he closed his eyes, his breathing got heavier.
"I'll tell Lya that you say hello, and that you've kept your promise to her." He chuckled as he heard Ned gasp. He didn't respond though, Lya was calling him and this time he'd answer. Gods how he'd waited for this.