Chapter 33: Beginning Of The End
Ned took a deep breath. Robert was dead, his funeral would take place in a few days' time. His friend, his brother, was gone. Ned hoped that Robert would find the peace that he had lacked in life. He hoped that if he found Lya that he would be happy. That they would be happy together in a way they had not been in life.
Robert's last words echoed in his head. He had known. He had known all this time and he'd not done anything. Maybe Ned had misjudged him, maybe he had misjudged everything. Perhaps now was the right time to tell Jon the truth. He exhaled. When this was over and done with, he'd tell Jon the truth.
A door opened and Jory spoke. "It's time, my lord."
Ned nodded. Time to sort everything out. Time to sort the mess out. Ned turned and walked out of the room, Jory at his side, they were joined by others. Big and burly Rickard Ryswell, Hothar Snow-rumoured illegitimate brother of Roose Bolton- Lord Harwood Stout, Harwin and scores of others. They marched alongside him, determined to carry out Robert's last will.
When they got to the entrance of the throne room, Ned saw that there were red cloaks guarding the doors. The men sneered at him but let him pass. He entered and he immediately knew that there was going to be a fight. Gold cloaks lined the walls, and where there were gaps, there were red cloaks. Some of the lords at court had brought their own men as well.
On the throne, Joffrey Baratheon sat, a crown atop his head. His mother was seated next to him, on a smaller throne. The Kingsguard stood before them. Ser Barristan was stood at the front.
"Ah, Lord Eddard." Cersei said, when Ned came to a stop before the Kingsguard. "Good to see that you have not fled, unlike that coward, Renly."
Ned didn't say anything, that Renly had fled was a blow, but nothing that couldn't be dealt with.
"I had thought there might be some trouble when you took your children and sent them off to Winterfell without so much as seeking the King's blessing."
"Robert and I agreed that they could return." Ned said shortly.
"You sent my son's betrothed away." Cersei said.
"We broke off the betrothal. Your son was beating my daughter." Ned said.
That caused a murmur to start in the court. No doubt some of the lords present were remembering the rumours of the Mad King.
The Queen snorted. "My son would not hurt a fly. You are lying, and she was lying."
"I saw the bruises myself. I saw what he did to her. I would not allow my daughter to be married to such a man." Ned snarled.
"My son would never hurt anyone. Your daughter must have done it to herself." Cersei said, her voice cold.
"My daughter would never hurt herself. There were witnesses, Ser Meryn Trant and Sandor Clegane saw what the boy did." Ned said.
"That boy you speak of is your King!" Cersei snapped. Ned noticed how the Red Cloaks put their hands to their swords, but the Gold Cloaks didn't, perhaps things weren't too far gone.
Cersei had just provided him with an opening though. "Joffrey is not the rightful heir to Robert Baratheon."
That got more of them murmuring.
"And what ever does that mean?" Cersei demanded.
Ned pulled out the paper, the document that Robert had signed. The paper he'd had copied and handed to Jon to give to Robb and to Cat.
He cleared his throat and read from it. "I, Robert Baratheon, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Protector of the Realm and Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, being of sound mind and body do hereby state that this is my last will and testament."
People started to murmur.
"I do hereby disinherit my son and heir Joffrey Baratheon; he is unfit for the crown and the responsibility it brings. Instead, I name my daughter Myrcella Stark nee Baratheon as my heir and confirm that she possesses the qualities needed to be Queen. I ask that she rule alongside her husband Robb Stark, heir of Lord Eddard Stark."
The murmuring got louder.
"Finally, as my daughter is underage, I do hereby name Lord Eddard Stark as Regent and Protector of the Realm until my daughter and his son should reach sixteen summers. I entrust the Kingdom and their future to his safety."
Ned finished, the murmuring had grown to a crescendo. The Queen looked surprised, Joffrey looked angry.
"There, in Robert's own words. Joffrey is not the King; Myrcella is the rightful Queen." Ned said.
"Let me see that." Cersei said, sticking her hand out.
Ned felt that handing the paper to her would be wrong, but he had to get the point across. He handed it to Ser Barristan who stepped onto the throne and handed it to Cersei.
The woman took one look at it and then tore the paper in half.
"Words on a page mean nothing. My son is the rightful King."
As if that had lulled him from his stupor, Joffrey roared out. "Arrest this man!"
Pandemonium erupted.
"Arrest this man!"
Barristan saw the Gold Cloaks and Red Cloaks move into action and he remembered the promise he had made to King Robert. He may have found Robert Baratheon to have been a drunk, lazy and a lesser man than Prince Rhaegar, but he had still been his King.
He had made a promise to the man, and he intended to see it through. He sprang into action, drawing his sword and moving to protect Lord Eddard.
"What is the meaning of this?" The Queen had spoken, her eyes glistening with something close to anger.
Barristan sighed. "I swore to uphold the King's will, Your Grace. His Highness is not the rightful monarch."
The Queen looked surprised. Prince Joffrey however was not. "Then you will die as well. Kill them all."
The words that echoed of the Mad King caused Barristan to know he had made the right choice. He could never serve a boy King who was like that. Not again.
Red Cloaks advanced. Barristan moved backward, waiting and watching. He knew not to strike first. That was the first lesson Prince Duncan had taught him all those years ago.
He waited. A heavy-set man advanced first his sword whirling in the air. Barristan snorted, the man was trying to show off and trick him. The moment a gap became apparent in the man's defences, Barristan moved into action. He swung hard and he swung true. The man crumpled.
Another man appeared, or rather two of them. Barristan turned the first man's parry into the second man's throat. He then cut the first man down, as the first man stared at his companion. Another man came at him then. Barristan danced around his blows, waiting to tire him out. When the man's swings started getting slow, Barristan struck. He swung hard, knocked the sword out of his enemy's hand and then ended him.
He looked over his shoulder and saw Lord Eddard fighting three men. The man who had killed Ser Arthur Dayne was a very a good swordsman. He handled the men effortlessly. A shout from the throne brought Barristan's attention back to where he needed it to be. The boy was barking out orders, demanding things be done. His mother seemed completely stunned.
A heavy-set figure approached him. "Lord Commander." It was a knight of the Kingsguard, Ser Boros Blount. "I have no desire to fight you."
"Then put your sword down." Barristan said.
"I cannot." The man replied and he advanced.
Barristan sighed. Boros was not a good swordsman, but he was a good man. Barristan blocked his first swing, he turned his second swing away, the third swing he managed to use to knock the sword out of his opponent's hands. He decided to let the man pick his sword back up. There was no sense in having a Kingsguard die like that.
The man took a breath and then swung hard at him. Barristan turned once and then again, parrying the man's blows. He had sparred with Boros many times, he knew that eventually the man would grow weak. He just needed to wait. The man kept hammering at him, Barristan parried his blows, waiting.
Around him the fighting continued. Some were barking orders, others were retreating. He hoped that they could succeed. Now that they had committed the only way, they could avoid the pitfalls was to avoid failure. And that meant defeating those ranged against them and capturing the Queen and the Prince.
Boros stumbled, as Barristan knew he would, and thus he seized the chance. Barristan lunged forward, using sheer strength to knock the man further off balance, he then went for the part of the man's body that was exposed and swung with all his might. He heard something that sounded like a crunch before blood cam spurting out. The man looked at him shocked before crumpling down.
Barristan didn't have time to mourn the passing of a fellow Kingsguard, for soon enough another one of his brothers was on him. This time it was Ser Meryn Trant. The man was a far better fighter than Boros. He swung and then held back. Barristan didn't engage. He waited. Meryn waited as well, around them all was chaos.
If he were fighting someone else, like Preston, then maybe he'd consider asking the man to reconsider, but Meryn was not like that. He was a monster. He did things that no sane person should do. It was a crime that he had ever been allowed to wear the white cloak.
As if he could read Barristan's mind, Meryn sprung forth. The man swung like a man possessed. Barristan managed to block a few of his swings but took hits elsewhere. He winced when the man managed to smack him on open and exposed skin.
Barristan pushed back. The dance taking them through the forward and the backward motion of chaos. Swinging through the temperatures and the slashing time of space. Barristan got lost in the trance. Soon enough they were fighting at the edge of everything.
He managed to land a few blows whilst taking a few. But as always experience and skill showed through. He managed to get Meryn down on the ground and was about to strike the killing blow when he heard a yell.
He stopped and turned around. Petyr Baelish had a knife pressed to Lord Eddard's throat.
It felt strange to be home. The last time Jaime had been in the Rock had been before Tommen had been born. Things hadn't changed that much though. There were paintings of them all as children and as young adults, before things had gone wrong. There was also a painting of Cersei at her wedding to Robert. But there was nothing after that.
Maybe Father had more within his own personal quarters, but in the quarters where Jaime was, these were the only images present. It was strange. Given what Father had striven for his entire life, one would have thought he would have publicly shown off the fact that his grandson was to inherit the throne. Or rather was King, depending on whether Robert was still alive or not.
How Robert had lasted this long as King was something Jaime had always been puzzled by. Not because of the lack of rebellions, the Greyjoy Rebellion had shown that Robert was a superb fighter. No, it was more that he was a useless King and that Father had always said he would've made a better King. Jaime supposed Jon Arryn living for as long as he had had put father off.
Nevertheless, with Robert dying, Father would soon get what he wanted. Assuming Cersei allowed him to. His sister had some strange ideas of ruling herself, in Joffrey's name, but with her power being completely her own.
He got up as the door opened and father and uncle Kevan entered.
"Jaime." Father said.
"How was your journey?" Uncle Kevan asked.
"It was quick." Jaime said. "I was surprised that I got sent out so quickly though." Cersei had come to his rooms in the White Tower and told him he needed to go.
"Well, things have reached a point." Uncle Kevan said.
"What point?" Jaime asked.
"The skirmishes with the Riverlands are going to become out right war." Father said.
Jaime felt as though he'd been hit. "Why?"
Father exhaled. "Because the things they are fighting over are irrelevant to what they are actually doing."
"Which is what?" Jaime asked.
"Trying to weaken our authority in the area and by addition make your sister look weak. I would say that this was something Eddard Stark wanted, but I do not think it is. Indeed, I think this is something that that fool Hoster Tully wants." Father said.
Jaime frowned. "Why would he want that?"
"For the same reason I wanted your sister to become Queen. Influence and power. Hoster gets things that Eddard Stark does not. King's Landing is home of the game of thrones. And to win the game you must have the most influence. So, whilst Stark is trying to keep things going steady, Hoster is using this situation with us to show that we no longer have control. That he can do whatever he wants because Stark is his son by marriage." Father said.
Jaime looked at his father and wondered if his father was unwell. There was the game and then there was this. "Do you know that this is Hoster Tully doing it?"
"Yes." Father said. "Vance, Piper, those others who are raiding into our border are all closely tied to Hoster Tully and his son. They have also always had a grudge against the settlement that my father reached with Hoster."
"And so you think that this is a good enough reason to go into full war?" Jaime asked.
"Yes." Father said. "And clearly, Hoster does as well. He has men mustering near the Golden Tooth. You are going to take the men we have mustering near there and march down, and then you are going to take Riverrun."
Jaime exhaled. "When do I leave?"
"Tomorrow."