One after the other the groups that left slowly filtered back in, faces stoic and hard to read. Jaime and Tyrion were alive again by the time they returned and observed their mother closely. She did not say much, not even when Tyrion asked if all was good. She merely nodded her head. She did make a beeline for her grandchildren though, who still looked shocked and shook in fright from the sight of their father.
No, not their father.
King Robert wasn't their father. Their uncle was their father, which was fucked up.
Myrcella stared wide-eyed at the King, who for all her life she called her father. The man did not even look at her as he retook his seat. Myrcella was used to being ignored by him as he had done so frequently back home. But there were moments he had been kind to her, even gave her gifts she quite enjoyed. The ignorance right now was different, and she was certain there would be no more kindness from the man.
"Myrcella" Tommen whispered to his elder sister, "what's going to happen to us now?"
The boy was afraid, shaking in his boots. It was a wonder that he hadn't soiled himself yet. He was just a kid. They both were.
"You are both going to be fine" Shireen, still standing with the two, whispered to them.
"We're bastards," Myrcella said softly, the words getting caught in her throat, "and our mother lied to the King about us. What if-"
"The King won't" Shireen spoke with a confidence that surprised Myrcella. How was the girl so sure her fa- the King… the King wouldn't harm them? He had killed both her uncles and almost her grandmother to get to them. Well, one uncle and her father. And he has been hell-bent on the death of Daenerys for a while now. How was she so confident?
"Your grandmother had gone with Lord Stark and Father. The King loves Lord Stark like a brother and my Father is his brother. Neither of them would let anything bad happen to you or Tommen because you two did nothing bad."
Myrcella's eyes fell on Lord Stark, who was talking to his wife, and then to Lord Stannis who was watching them with his usual sternness.
"I hope you're right" Myrcella muttered.
"I know I am," Shireen said with her chest puffed out. "Now let's sit down and watch the rest."
"I… don't want to sit here," Tommen said so softly that the girls almost didn't catch his words. They looked at him and saw him shooting nervous glances at Jaime Lannister, who was doing his best to not look at them.
"We can sit elsewhere" Myrcella took her brother's hand. She looked around for places she and Tommen could possibly sit. The decision was an easy one. There was only one person who they could sit beside and not be judged. One person who is the same as them.
Myrcella took Tommen by the hand and went to Jon Snow.
"Is it alright if we sit with you?" the Princess asked.
No, not a princess.
She was a bastard.
Like Jon Snow.
Jon Snow blinked in surprise before nodding gently. He shifted his seat around with those he was sitting so now he was in between Arya and Myrcella, Tommen sitting on Myrcella's other side while Shireen sat on Tommen's other side.
She was there to support the two.
Stannis couldn't help but feel proud of his daughter for it. The children meant little to him, but his daughter meant everything. It was warming to see her be so open-hearted even after her affliction.
"What happened to your face?"
Stannis did not miss the flicker of a downcast look on his daughter's face at the question. Nor did he miss the gentle smack on Arya Stark's head by Jon Snow.
"That was rude" Jon said to Arya sternly.
"I was just curious" Arya muttered rubbing her head.
She received a frown from her brother.
"I'm sorry for asking" the girl finally muttered to Shireen, who shook her head with a smile.
"It's greyscale. It's not contagious anymore so don't worry" she explained.
Arya poked her tongue out at Jon Snow, who rolled his eyes.
Jon looked up feeling as if someone was looking at him. His eyes met Stannis' and the mad nodded at him. Jon nodded back a little confused. He also met Rhaegar's eyes, who was looking at him oddly.
Jon looked away from the man and focused on the scene playing before him.
[Trumpets sounds from the Lannister camp. Going inside a tent, we see Tywin Lannister sharpening his knives, preparing to skin a deer, while Jaime Lannister starts reading the received letter from Ned Stark.]
"That is not ominous at all" Tyrion muttered. He was not a man who believed in signs and shit. But with all that was happening around him… well he wasn't about to ignore it any longer.
"Summoned to court to answer for the crimes of your bannerman Gregor Clegane, the Mountain. Uh, arrive within the fortnight or be branded an enemy of the Crown. Poor Ned Stark. Brave man, terrible judgment."
"Attacking him was stupid. Lannisters don't act like fools."
[Tywin eyed his son.]
"Are you gonna say something clever? Go on, say something clever."
"So he hasn't changed" Joanna muttered. But even as she said the words, she couldn't help but take all of him in, her husband, the man she loves. He was colder now, colder and older. The man always had a wall around him, and it was still around him but stronger now.
"Aunt Genna used to say that Father's smile died with you" Jaime whispered to his mother.
It only made her heart ache more.
"Catelyn Stark took my brother."
"Why is he still alive?"
"Tyrion?"
"Ned Stark."
"One of our men interfered, speared him through the leg before I could finish him."
"Why is he still alive?"
"It wouldn't have been clean."
Ned discreetly threw a look at Jaime Lannister, who was looking at his children. Perhaps there was a kernel of honour in the man after all.
"Clean... You spend too much time worrying about what other people think of you."
"I could care less what anyone thinks of me."
Tyrion snorted.
"I love you Jaime, but you're the one that cares most about what people think about you. It should be Cersei about herself with how self-important she is, but it is you."
Jaime cuffed his brother with a roll of his eyes,
"Now that's what you want people to think of you."
"It's the truth."
"When you hear them whispering "Kingslayer" behind your back, doesn't it bother you?"
"Of course, it bothers me."
"As it should" Ned Stark whispered under his breath.
"The lion doesn't concern himself with the opinions of the sheep. I suppose I should be grateful that your vanity got in the way of your recklessness. I'm giving you half of our forces. 30,000 men. You will bring them to Catelyn Stark's girlhood home and remind her that Lannisters pay their debts."
Catelyn flinched. 30,000 men… that would easily overpower Riverrun…
"I didn't realize you placed such a high value on my brother's life."
"He's a Lannister. He might be the lowest of the Lannisters, but he's one of us. And every day that he remains a prisoner, the less our name commands respect."
"So the lion does concern himself with the opinions of…"
"No, it's not an opinion, it's a fact! If another House can seize one of our own and hold him captive with impunity, we are no longer a House to be feared. Your mother's dead. Before long I'll be dead. And you and your brother and your sister and all of her children. All of us dead, all of us rotting in the ground. It's the family name that lives on. It's all that lives on. Not your personal glory, not your honour, but your family. Do you understand?"
[Jaime nods gently.]
"You're blessed with abilities that few men possess. You are blessed to belong to the most powerful family in the kingdoms. And you are still blessed with youth. And what have you done with these blessings, huh? You've served as a glorified bodyguard for two kings. One a madman, the other a drunk. The future of our family will be determined in these next few months. We could establish a dynasty that will last a thousand years. Or we could collapse into nothing, as the Targaryens did. I need you to become the man you were always meant to be. Not next year. Not tomorrow. Now."
[Submissive as he looks, Jaime walks out of the tent.]
"He hasn't changed much" Joanna muttered to herself before running a hand over her face. She had hoped that Tywin would become more caring once the children came. It seems he's become worse. It seemed all the bad things she thought of him had become a reality.
[Back at a garden in Kings Landing, we see Queen Cersei approaching the sitting Ned Stark.]
"You're in pain."
"I've had worse, my lady."
"Perhaps it's time to go home."
"The South doesn't seem to agree with you. I know the truth Jon Arryn died for."
"Ned…" Brandon the Elder turned to his brother with a wide-eyed disbelieving look.
"It's only right I give her the chance to run," Ned said calmly. He understood what he was doing in the future.
"All you're doing is giving her time to plan to foil your plans and do worse," Lyanna said sharply.
"Cersei wouldn't put the lives of her children at risk in doing so," Ned said confidently. A confidence not shared by his siblings.
"Do you, Lord Stark? Is that why you called me here, to pose me riddles?"
"Has he done this before?"
"Jaime would have killed him."
"I would have" Jaime muttered.
"My brother is worth a thousand of your friend."
"Your brother Or your lover?"
"The Targaryens wed brothers and sisters for 300 years to keep bloodlines pure."
"The Targaryens are Valyrian Dragonriders and they needed to keep the magic in their line as undiluted as possible. Not because they wanted to fuck their siblings" the red-eyed man said with a scoff.
Jaime said nothing since he had nothing to say. Magic blood, that was a shit excuse.
"Jaime and I are more than brother and sister. We shared a womb. We came into this world together. We belong together."
Jaime smiled slightly at the words. She loved him and he loved her. Nobody was going to separate them, never.
"My son saw you with him."
"Do you love your children?"
"With all my heart."
"No more than I love mine."
"And they are all Jaime's."
"Thank the Gods. In the rare event that Robert leaves his whores for long enough to stumble drunk into my bed, I finish him off in other ways. In the morning, he doesn't remember."
Robert made a face, his face slightly reddening.
"You've always hated him."
"Hated him? I worshipped him. Every girl in the Seven Kingdoms dreamed of him, but he was mine by oath. And when I finally saw him on our wedding day in the Sept of Baelor, lean and fierce and black-bearded, it was the happiest moment of my life. Then that night he crawled on top of me, stinking of wine and did what he did, what little he could do, and whispered in my ear, "Lyanna".
"Robert-"
"I was drunk and grieving! I will not hear anything of this" Robert cut Lyanna off.
All the woman could do after was frown.
"Your sister was a corpse and I was a living girl and he loved her more than me."
"When the King returns from his hunt, I'll tell him the truth. You must be gone by then. You and your children. I will not have their blood on my hands. Go as far away as you can, with as many men as you can. Because wherever you go, Robert's wrath will follow you."
"It was foolish of you to warn her, Lord Stark" Renly Spoke with a shake of his head. "Snakes like Cersei need to be dealt with before they can bite you."
"I will not have the blood of her children on my hand," Ned said tightly.
"Cersei, not her children. I'm certain the children would have been taken care of and put aside for safety. Well, two of the three at least. Wouldn't mind seeing that shit Joffrey bite the dust."
Almost everyone in the chamber agreed with that sentiment.
No point in guessing who didn't agree.
"And what of my wrath, Lord Stark? You should have taken the realm for yourself. Jaime told me about the day King's Landing fell. He was sitting in the Iron Throne and you made him give it up."
"Because it did not belong to you, Lannister."
"I know," Jaime said with a frown. "I didn't tell Cersei about that day like this."
"Our sister has a thing where she listens to others but takes things as she chooses to take them, Lord Stark. No doubt this is what she heard and saw even if different things were said" Tyrion explained with a smile.
Ned Stark just shook his head.
"All you needed to do was climb the steps yourself. Such a sad mistake."
"I've made many mistakes in my life, but that wasn't one of them."
"Oh, but it was. When you play the Game of Thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground."
[Cersei walks off.]
"She's already decided you're better dead than alive" Stannis grunted.
"She wouldn't! My husband is the King's best friend, she wouldn't risk it, nor would she think it" Catelyn argued.
"You'd be surprised about the things my sister thinks, Lady Stark. And she's definitely decided to rid of Lord Stark" Tyrion added.
Ned and Catelyn both blanched at that.
[Seeing the wall from above, we see Jon and Sam walking towards the edge.]
"I miss girls."
Margaery raised an eyebrow,
"Not even talking to them. I never talked to them. Just looking at them, hearing them giggle."
"That makes more sense" The girl shook her head fondly.
"Don't you miss girls?"
[Both Jon and Sam are looking down and see a galloping horse.]
"Riders. The horn. We have to blow the horn."
"Why is he alone?"
"One blast for a Ranger returning, two for Wildlings, three for..."
"There's no rider."
[While the Wall's gate is being opened, the horse gallops inside the tunnel. Jon and Sam are rushing down, while the stable boy has caught the horse, bringing him towards Jon, Sam and Jeor Mormont.]
"That's my Uncle Benjen's horse. Where's my Uncle?"
"No…" Ned muttered as horror crept in and kicked all other emotions and thoughts out. Benjen was a Ranger and it was always a given that Rangers would die beyond the Wall with how much they encounter Wildlings.
But still.
Not his brother.
He was the last of the siblings he had.
Beside him, Lyanna, Brandon and Rickard looked equally panicked. They were dead and missed their family, but they didn't want Benjen or Ned to join them anytime soon.
[Returning to Kings Landing, we see Ned and Tomard walking down a hallway. Renly running towards them calling...]
"Ned! It's Robert. We were hunting...a boar..."
The flicker of horror built with the addition of Robert. No… not him too.
[Surprised yet being shocked as he is, Ned walks towards Robert's chambers. Inside Robert's room, we see Cersei, Joffrey, Barristan Selmy and Maester Pycelle are all present. Robert speaks to Joffrey, who is sitting beside him.]
"I should have spent more time with you, shown you how to be a man. I was never meant to be a father."
"I'm not" Robert muttered sullenly. No sons to his name, no daughters either. Well, none that were legitimate. Not even his dying moments dulled that ache. The legacy of Robert Baratheon, dead in the mud.
"Go on. You don't want to see this."
[Joffrey walks out of the room.]
"My fault. Too much wine, missed my thrust. It stinks. It stinks like death. Don't think I can't smell it. I paid the bastard back, Ned. I drove my knife right through his brain. You ask them if I didn't. Ask them! I want the funeral feast to be the biggest the Kingdoms ever saw. And I want everyone to taste the boar that got me."
"Robert-"
"I'm dying Ned. It was bound to happen sooner or later" Robert waved his brother off with a sigh.
Ned bit his lips in frustration. For once, he wished Robert would take shit seriously that did not involve killing Targaryens.
"Now leave us, the lot of you. I need to talk to Ned."
"Robert, my sweet..."
Tyrion snorted. Trust his sister to still keep up appearances.
"Out, all of you!"
[On Robert's demand, everyone left except for Ned. As soon as the door shuts, Ned talks to Robert.]
"You damned fool."
"Paper and ink on the table, write down what I say."
"In the name of Robert of the House Baratheon, first of... you know how it goes. Fill in the damn titles. I hereby command Eddard of House Stark… titles, titles. To serve as Lord Regent and Protector of the Realm upon my death. To rule in my stead, until my son Joffrey comes of age. Give it over."
[Ned hands over the letter and quill. It is seen that Robert signs the letter.]
"Give it to the council after I'm dead. At least they'll say I did this right, this one thing."
"Aye, you did" Stannis muttered beside his brother. Lord Stark wasn't the worst choice with what Robert had at his disposal.
Robert eyed his brother from the corner of his eyes but said nothing. It wasn't a taunt, Stannis did not do taunts.
"You'll rule now. You'll hate it worse than I did, but you'll do it well. The girl, Daenerys. You were right. Varys, Littlefinger, my brother. Worthless. No one to tell me "no" but you. Only you. Let her live. Stop it, if it's not too late."
Rhaegar blinked, as did Daenerys. They both looked at Robert, but Robert did not look at them. Robert stared straight at the viewing wall, stone-faced and almost… bored.
"I will."
"And my son Help him, Ned. Make him better than me."
"I don't think that might be possible" Robb whispered to Jon over Arya's head, the boy nodding his head.
"I'll, I'll do everything I can to honour your memory."
"My memory. King Robert Baratheon, murdered by a pig."
Robert snorted. What a legacy he was leaving behind!
"Give me something for the pain and let me die."
[Ned walks out of Robert's chamber. Maester Pycelle, Renly, Varys and Barristan Selmy are waiting outside.]
"Give him milk of the poppy."
[Both Maester Pycelle and Renly re-enter Robert's chamber.]
"He was reeling from the wine. He commanded us to step aside, but I failed him."
"No man could have protected him from himself."
"I wonder, Ser Barristan, who gave the king this wine?"
"His squire, from the king's own skin."
"His squire? The Lannister boy?"
"Such a dutiful boy to make sure his Grace did not lack refreshment. I do hope the poor lad does not blame himself."
"What do you mean by that, Spider?" Renly turned to Varys sharply.
"I would like to guess I meant what I said. A dutiful boy, that Lancel, always listening to whatever order he was given."
For the sharper minds, they caught on to what Varys was saying, and some of them did not look too pleased.