All eyes were on him and for the first time, Varys had no plans for it. Varys was the kind of person who had an alternative for every plan he made, in case those plans ever fell off. This has never happened before, this was part of no plans.
He really hated magic.
"It's all a ruse, your grace" Varys lowered his head. Multiple plans were going through his head, multiple alternatives of alternatives. Perhaps he should be honest, or honest to a degree. "Illyrio is a childhood friend of mine… and hails from the line of Viserra Targaryen."
The 'revelation' made many gasp. A half-truth that bordered on a lie. It was not Illyrio who was the Targaryen descendant, it was his dearly departed wife Serra… Varys' secret sister. They need not know that.
"Illyrio was displeased with the state of the Aerys Targaryen, so he pulled some strings that got the mad king's attention on me. He feels that as a descendant of the Viserra Targaryen, he is entitled to make sure the Targaryens do not devolve into mad kings and cursed princes. I was sent with only a single purpose, to depose Aerys and put Rhaegar on the throne."
"Bullshit" Rhaegar spat. "All the plans that I ever made were thwarted because of you! You're the reason my father began distrusting me!
"I can assure you Prince Rhaegar, if your plans were half a good one I would have supported them," Varys said coolly. "I also needed to keep up appearances, hence me thwarting your half-baked plans."
While Rhaegar looked livid at being insulted, Ned narrowed his eyes on the man.
"So now you wish to put Viserys on the Throne, is that it?" he asked.
"Illyrio would want Viserys on the Throne, so the Targaryen King is indebted to him and he might exercise a degree of control over Westeros."
"And you?" Jon Snow questioned, equally suspicious as his father/uncle.
"No. While I began as such, I have come to realize that any seed of Aers Targaryen would be poison on the Throne. And King Robert has done a fine job on the Throne, albeit it was his Council that did it, it is to his credit for choosing them. The realm is better in his hands than Viserys Targaryen. My being here and witnessing his unravelling is proof enough of that."
"Yet you make him believe otherwise?" Stannis questioned.
"I have to keep an eye on the Targaryens for his Grace somehow. Illyrio has proven to be a good spy. Albeit one who is not aware that is one."
"I don't believe you" Renly narrowed his eyes.
"Believe me not if you must, but I have spoken the truth and nothing but."
"Enough talking. We keep watching and we'll find out on our own" Robert grunted, glaring daggers at Varys.
They all looked displeased, but all took their seats once more. Varys was the last to do so, his trademark smile now missing.
"I fucking hate magic" the bald one whispered, earning a snort from Gendry who had overheard him.
[Varys enters the Throne Room, where Baelish is standing, looking at the throne.]
"Great, two worms together" Renly muttered.
"The first to arrive and the last to leave. I admire your industry."
"You do move quietly."
"We all have our qualities."
"You look a bit lonely today. You should pay a visit to my brothel this evening. First boy is on the house."
"The children do not need to hear this filth" Vatelyn stated angrily.
She received no replies.
"I think you're mistaking business with pleasure."
"Am I? All those birds that whisper in your ear, such pretty little things. Trust me, we accommodate all inclinations."
Everyone threw Varys looks but he shrugged them off with a smile.
"Oh, I'm sure. Lord Redwyne likes his boys very young, I hear."
Olenna stiffened and blanched. For fuck sake! Was she going to learn unsavoury shit about her family now?
"I'm a purveyor of beauty and discretion, both equally important."
"Though I suppose beauty is a subjective quality, no? Is it true that Ser Marlon of Tumblestone prefers amputees?"
"All desires are valid to a man with a full purse."
"And I heard the most awful rumour about a certain lord with a taste for fresh cadavers. Must be enormously difficult to accommodate that inclination. The logistics alone... to find beautiful corpses before they rot."
"Strictly speaking, such a thing would not be in accordance with the King's laws."
"Strictly speaking."
"Jon remember to look into Littlefingers businesses for me. I want to know what else this shit has been doing that's not in accordance with my laws" Robert grunted.
"Of course" Jon Arryn sighed. He would have done so regardless. Petyr has given him much to think about, and a lot more to look into.
"Tell me. Does someone, somewhere, keep your balls in a little box? I've often wondered."
"Do you know, I have no idea where they are? And we had been so close."
"Why are you a eunuch?" Bran asked, earning a sharp hit on the arm from his mother and a look from his father.
But Varys simply smiled at the boy.
"I was born a slave in Lys and was apprenticed as an orphan to a troupe of mummers. During one of their shows in Myr, a sorcerer bought me. He cut off my cock and balls for some spell he wished to perform."
"Was he able to perform it?" Arya asked, over all the looks and sounds of horror coming from a few. Not many of them truly knew the story of how Varys came to be a Eunuch.
"I don't quite remember it" Varys shrugged. "It was so long ago."
"Enough talk. We continue watching" Robert looked green in the face.
"But enough about me. How have you been since we last saw each other?"
"Since you last saw me or since I last saw you?"
"Now the last time I saw you, you were talking to the Hand of the King."
"Saw me with your own eyes?"
"Eyes I own."
"Council business. We all have so much to discuss with Ned Stark."
"Everyone's well aware of your enduring fondness for Lord Stark's wife. If the Lannisters were behind the attempt on the Stark boy's life and it was discovered that you helped the Starks come to that conclusion... To think... A simple word to the Queen..."
"Why exactly are we watching this part exactly?" Oberyn questioned with a disgruntled look.
"Why are we watching any of it?" Doran asked with a roll of his eyes. "Patience brother, we might learn something useful in this" he added.
Oberyn muttered his displeasure, words spoken only for himself.
"One shudders at the thought. But you know something? I do believe that I have seen you even more recently than you have seen me."
"Have you?"
"Yes. Earlier today, I distinctly recall seeing you talking to Lord Stark in his chambers."
Ned's eyes flew wide in horror.
"He wasn't in the chamber" Ned pointed out with a growl.
"Maegor built many secret passages in the Red Keep, Lord Stark. He was as paranoid as the Mad King" Varys said with a smile.
"And you will divulge the location of each" Robert grunted in anger.
"In private, your Grace. Else it might be harder to keep an eye on plots from within" Varys answered back with a tight-lipped smile.
Robert grunted but said no more.
"Was that you under the bed?"
"And not long after that when I saw you escorting a certain foreign dignitary... Council business? Of course, you would have friends from across The Narrow Sea. You're from there yourself, after all."
"He knows yet he says nothing to me!" Robert gripped his chair tightly. "Is my council full of self-serving pompous asses?!"
"It might be wise to rethink your entire council once you return" Ned suggested, throwing an apologetic look to Jon, Stannis and Renly. Jon and Renly returned the smile while Stannis looked as emotionless as ever.
[Scene changes to Arya exiting a tunnel outside of King's Landing, at the beach of Blackwater Bay. She heads to the city's gate but is stopped by two guards.]
"Off with you. No begging."
"I'm not a beggar. I live here."
"D'you want a smack on your ear to help you with your hearing?"
"This is why you act like your station, little sister. Otherwise, they'll mistake you for rif rafs and lesser people" Sansa said haughtily.
"The only thing separating them from us is that we were born into privilege and they weren't" Arya scoffed.
"I want to see my father."
"I want to fuck the Queen, for all the good it does me."
"You want your father, boy? He's lying on the floor of some tavern, getting pissed on by his friends."
"My father is Hand of the King! I'm not a boy. I'm Arya Stark of Winterfell and if you lay a hand on me, my father will have both your heads on spikes! Now are you going to let me by or do I need to smack you on the ear to help with your hearing?"
"They are not going to believe you just because you put more force in your tone, girl" Renly scoffed.
[Quick cut to Arya standing in front of Ned at his desk.]
Renly smacked his forehead loudly. He'll need to see to these men and their laxness in guarding the castle.
"You know I had half my guard out searching for you? You promised me this would stop."
"They said they were going to kill you."
"Who did?"
"I didn't see them, but I think one was fat."
"He won't believe you like that" Jon Snow shook his head.
"Oh, Arya."
"I'm not lying! They said you found the bastard and the wolves are fighting the lions and the savage... something about the savage."
"He'll believe her now" Robb barked a laugh.
"Where did you hear this?"
"In the dungeons, near the dragon skulls."
"What were you doing in the dungeons?"
"Chasing a cat."
[Scene changes to Catelyn, Tyrion and her men arriving at the Vale, they're met by a group of guards.]
"You're far from home, Lady Stark."
"To whom do I speak?"
"Ser Vardis Egen, Knight of The Vale. Is Lady Arryn expecting your visit?"
"There was no time to send word."
"May I ask, my Lady, why he is with you?"
"That's why there was no time. He is my prisoner."
"He doesn't look like a prisoner."
"My sister will decide what he looks like."
"Yes, my Lady. She will at that."
"You don't have any in the Vale either" Oberyn leaned to look at Tyrion.
"No doubt Lady Lysa had her say about my blood and I" Tyrion shook his head.
[Scene now changes to the small council meeting with everyone on the council, as well as King Robert.]
"If Roberts is there, things are not going to be pretty" Renly whistled. It was rare for his brother to make himself available in a meeting.
"The whore is pregnant."
"I don't think that calls for a Council meeting" Theon muttered. "Just slip in the tea and it's taken care of."
Yara shot him a look, but the corner of her mouth was twitching.
"You're speaking of murdering a child."
"But the child isn't even born yet. Surely that makes it okay to deal with it" Robb made his thoughts known loudly.
"This is not a conversation to be had here," Catelyn said sharply.
"Besides, I don't think King Robert means what you think he means" Jon Snow whispered to his brother.
"I warned you this would happen. Back in the North, I warned you, but you didn't care to hear. Well, hear it now. I want 'em dead, mother and child both. And that fool, Viserys as well. Is that plain enough for you? I want them both dead."
"Oh…" Robb muttered as the entire hall fell into silence.
"She is just a child Robert" Lyanna said in horror.
"It's not her that's the problem, my lady. It's what she will bring forth" Renly spoke up, his voice oddly serious. "Viserys is a loose cannon and nobody will support his claim if he stakes it. But if Daenerys were to birth a son, that right there is someone the people will back no matter who his father might be. He will have King's blood in him, that will be enough for them all. What is the life of one child against that of every child who will die or lose family should a war break out?"
"Speak as sweetly as you may, Renly, but murder is still murder and I can't abide by it no matter how you put it forward" Ned spoke, venom and ice in his voice.
"Well, we'll see who's right and who's wrong then. We're here for that after all" Robert cut in, glaring at everyone involved in the argument. "So shut up and keep watching… And pray that she gives birth to a girl or miscarries."
Daenerys heard them all in horror, clutching her belly. She wanted no part in all this politics. It was her brother, not her! She could promise them her cooperation, and swear she or any children she might have will not stake their claim. Yes, that will definitely help.
A hand on her shoulder made her look up. Rhaegar was red-faced from anger, and the hand on her shoulder was squeezing her tightly.
She decided to keep quiet and not add to her brother's anger.
"You will dishonour yourself forever if you do this."
"Honor?! I've got Seven Kingdoms to rule! One King, Seven Kingdoms. Do you think honour keeps them in line? Do you think it's honour that's keeping the peace? It's fear! Fear and blood!"
"You're sounding like my father" Rhaegar grits out.
"Careful now, Rhaegar. I might have been wrong about you and Lyanna, but make no mistake I will smash your chest back in for those words" Robert glared at the man.
"Calm down" Elia hissed, pinching her husband's arm. "You have no support here" she added with a look.
Rhaegar kept his head down, but his blood still boiled from anger.
"Then we're no better than the Mad King."
"Careful, Ned. Careful now."
"You want to assassinate a girl... Because the Spider heard a rumour?"
"No rumour, my Lord. The princess is with child."
"Based on whose information?"
"Ser Jorah Mormont. He is serving as adviser to the Targaryens."
"He's an informant?"Ned glared at the Spider.
"He is not," Varys said with a frown. "But I can see how and why he would be. He's desperate to return home."
"You would believe the words of a traitor?"
"The words of a desperate man is often the truth, my Lord. I know this from personal experience."
Ned spat at the man's words.
"Mormont? You bring us the whispers of a traitor half a world away and call it fact?"
"Jorah Mormont's a slaver, not a traitor. Small difference, I know, to an honourable man."
"He broke the law, betrayed his family, fled our land. We commit murder on the word of this man?"
"And if he's right? If she has a son? A Targaryen at the head of a Dothraki army… What then?"
"The Narrow Sea still lies between us. I'll fear the Dothraki the day they teach their horses to run on water."
"Do nothing? That's your wise advice? Do nothing til our enemies are on our shores? You're my council? Counsel! Speak sense to this honourable fool."
"The counsel isn't unwise" Jon Arryn whispered to Robert. "Just because a Targaryen sits at the head of a horde, does not make them an automatic enemy. How many of them would want to cross the sea? Overwater, their horses can't drink? The Dothraki are superstitious people and hardly do they move away from them."
Robert said nothing, but his face remained red from anger.
"I understand your misgivings, my Lord. Truly, I do. It is a terrible thing we must consider, a vile thing. Yet, we who presume to rule must sometimes do vile things for the good of the realm. Should the gods grant Daenerys a son, the realm will bleed."
"I bear this girl no ill will, but should the Dothraki invade, how many innocents will die? How many towns will burn? Is it not wiser, kinder even, that she should die now so that tens of thousands might live?"
"We should have had them both killed years ago."
"When you find yourself in bed with an ugly woman, best close your eyes, get it over with. Cut her throat. Be done with it."
"This is your council?" Ned threw Robert a disgusted look, "Men who tremble at the shadow of a girl and her unborn child?"
"Ned-"
"No! None of these men know honour or mercy! They've disassociated themselves from the rest so much that speaking of murdering a child and her unborn baby comes to them as easily as drinking water! You can never have a strong and honourable council with these men!"
"Ned!" Jon Arryn spoke now. "What happens in the future is still on us to decide. Sit, watch, observe and note. We will all speak after this."
Ned gave a stiff nod and looked away. Vatelyn patted his hand to calm him down, but there was no calming the hurt, outrage and anger in the man.
"I followed you into war - twice, without doubts, without second thoughts. But I will not follow you now. The Robert I grew up with didn't tremble at the shadow of an unborn child."
"She dies."
"I will have no part in it."
"You're the King's Hand, Lord Stark. You'll do as I command or I'll find me a Hand who will."
[Ned removes his badge and places it on the table in front of Robert.]
Robert fisted his hand till the arm of his chair cracked from the pressure. But even that did not make him stop, let alone calm down.
[At the Eyrie, Catelyn, her men, and Tyrion are all standing in front of Lady Arryn. Her son is sitting on her lap, breastfeeding. He is clearly too old to be doing so.]
Catelyn could only stare in shock at what happened to her sister. She had lost too much weight, had too many dark circles under her eyes and put on too much powder to hide it. And then there was the boy… why was she breastfeeding the boy at this age? None of this was healthy in the least!
Jon Arryn grew stone still, his ire building inside him. He had ordered Lysa to stop doing this. Had he been so neglectful that he did not notice? No, he needed to remedy this before the woman ruined his heir.
"You bring him here without permission? You pollute my home with his presence? Your aunt has done a bad thing, Robin, a very bad thing. You remember her, don't you? Isn't he beautiful? And strong too. Jon knew it. His last words were, "the seed is strong." He wanted everyone to know what a good, strong boy his son would grow up to be. Look at him, the Lord of all the Vale."
"What strength is there in a boy suckling his mother's teats?" Oberyn snorted.
Jon Arryn clutched the arm of his chair tightly.
"Lysa, you wrote me about the Lannisters, warning me t-"
"To stay away from them! Not to bring one here!"
"Mommy? Is that the bad man?"
"It is."
"He's little."
"He's Tyrion the Imp of House Lannister. He killed your father. He murdered the Hand of the King!"
"Oh? Did I kill him too? I've been a very busy man."
"It is quite convenient that all blame falls on Tyrion Lannister no matter the crime" Sansa muttered softly.
"It is" Robb agreed, eyes narrowed on the wall.
"For Lady Arryn to suggest something like this" Jon Snow whispered to his brother. "Do you think?"
Robb shot a look at Jon.
"She's my aunt" he hissed.
"And? You see her, don't you? Perhaps Lord Arryn wanted to separate her son and she took care of him" Jon Snow hissed back.
Robb could only glare. But his mind did not reject the idea.
And Jon was not the only one to think along those lines.
"You will watch your tongue! These men are Knights of the Vale. Every one of them loved Jon Arryn. Every one of them would die for me."
"If any harm comes to me, my brother, Jaime, will see that they do."
"You can't hurt us! No one can hurt us here! Tell him, mommy! Tell him!"
"And we thought Joffrey was the only spoiled brat we'd be seeing" Tyrion muttered to himself.
"Shh... Shh... Shh, my sweet boy. He's just trying to frighten us. Lannisters are all liars. No one will hurt my baby."
"Mommy... I want to see the bad man fly."
"Perhaps you will, my little love."
"This man is my prisoner. I will not have him harmed."
"Ser Vardis, my sister's guest is weary. Take him down below so he can rest. Introduce him to Mord."
[Mord throws Tyrion into a "skycell."]
Jon Arryn took a deep inhale to calm himself. There was much he needed to look through in his own home it seemed.
[Inside one of Baelish's brothels, Ned is speaking to one of the prostitutes. Jory and Baelish are in the next room.]
"She looks like him, don't she, my Lord? She has his nose, his black hair."
"Another bastard" Ned ran a hand over his face.
"Tell him when you see him, my Lord. If it please you... Tell him how beautiful she is."
"I will."
"And tell him I've been with no one else. I swear it, my Lord, by the old gods and new. I don't want no jewels or nothing, just him. The King was always good to me."
"When Jon Arryn came to visit you, what did he want?"
"He wasn't that sort of man, my Lord. He just wanted to know if the child was happy, healthy."
"She looks healthy enough to me. The girl shall want for nothing."
"Hard to do with you no longer acting as hand" Lyanna muttered. "Are you planning to take them to the North?"
"I'll let you know once that happens" Ned muttered.
Lyanna rolled her eyes.
[Ned breaks off from Mhaegen and enters the same room as Baelish and Jory.]
"Brothels make a much better investment than ships, I've found. Whores rarely sink."
"What do you know of King Robert's bastards?"
"Well, he has more than you, for a start."
"How many?"
"Does it matter? If you fuck enough women, some of them will give you presents."
Robert muttered something under his breath.
"And Jon Arryn tracked them all down. Why?"
"He was the King's Hand. Perhaps Robert wanted them looked after. He was overcome with fatherly love."
[Jory is staring at one of the whores, who flashes him her breast.]
Lyanna snorted.
"Jory!"
"My Lord."
[Ned and Jory leave the brothel with a few of Ned's men. They are suddenly surrounded by Jaime Lannister and his men.]
"Oh no…" Joanna hid her face behind her hands.
"Such a small pack of wolves."
"Stay back, Ser! This is the Hand of the King!"
"Was!... the Hand of the King. Now I'm not sure what he is... Lord of somewhere very far away."
"What's the meaning of this, Lannister?"
"Get back inside where it's safe. I'm looking for my brother. You remember my brother, don't you, Lord Stark? Blond hair, sharp tongue, short man."
"I remember him well."
|It seems he had some trouble on the road. You wouldn't know what happened to him, would you?"
"He was taken at my command to answer for his crimes."
"You fucking idiot!" Brandon the elder hissed.
[Jaime draws his sword, causing all of the men on both sides to draw their swords, except for Eddard.]
"My Lords! I'll bring the City Watch!"
"Come, Stark. I'd rather you die sword in hand."
"If you threaten my Lord again..."
"Threaten? As in, "I'm going to open your Lord from balls to brains and see what Starks are made of"?"
"You kill me, your brother's a dead man."
"Jaime Lannister: You're right. Take him alive! Kill his men!"
[A fight erupts, first Jaime's men throw spears straight into the chests of two of Ned's men. Ned draws his sword and moves towards Jaime, fending off several guards in the process. Jory gets to Jaime first. Jaime stabs Jory with a dagger straight through his eye. The fighting ceases and Ned moves forward to Jaime, Jaime's men all stop to watch the fight. The two fend each other off, as they break, one of Jaime's guards stabs Ned in the back of the leg with a spear, causing him to fall to the ground. Jaime is openly frustrated and knocks the guard out. He mounts his horse.]
"My brother, Lord Stark... We want him back."
[Jaime rides off on horseback and his guards follow suit.]