personal6

Chapter 21

The road to the South

Eddard POV

It was an hour before dawn when I was shaken awake by Alyn. Stumbling at the morning chill, still groggy from the sleep, to find a saddled horse and King on another one. Robert was wearing a hood that covered his ears, a heavy fur cloak, and thick gloves. If I didn't know better, I would have thought it was a bear sitting on the horse.

"Up, Stark, up," Robert calls me. "We have matters of state to discuss."

"By all means, come inside, your grace," I reply as Alyn lifts the flap on my tent.

"No, no," Robert rejects with every word, steam coming from his mouth. "The camp has many ears. Come ride with me."

Looking at the saddled horse, ser Boros, and ser Meryn with dozen guards waiting behind the King. I could only rub the sleep from my eyes, get dressed, and mount up.

Robert set the pace on his huge black destrier. I rode beside him, questioning him, but the wind blew the words out of Robert's ears. After that, we rode in silence. After leaving the Kingsroad to the plains dark with the mist, the guards had fallen some distance from us. Still, Robert would not slow down till we left the guard out of sight.

"Gods, Ned, it feels good," Robert swore, laughing. " Finally riding how a man should. I swear, Ned, that damn wheelhouse will drive me mad. The way it creaks and groans, I swear with it breaks another time, I will burn it."

"Ser Edmure would gladly light the torch for you," I laugh with Robert. "With the way he looks at the Wheelhouse, I thought he would already burn it to ash."

"Ha, I would not be surprised that he would burn it with my wife still inside," Robert Comments. "They only met a couple of times, and they get along like a cat and a fish."

"Then it is good that Edmure isn't just like another fish," I respond.

"Yes, the Redfish is more than a match for my wife," Robert remarks. "Sometimes, I envy him, riding through the seven Kingdoms, to the South of the Dorne and now to the North. What do you say, Ned? Let's take a pair of horses and just ride with nothing but a sword in our hands, a common farm girl to warm our beds."

"Would that we could," I reply. "But we are the boys anymore. Now we have our duties, your grace, to the realm to our children. I to my lady wife and you to your Queen."

The rising sun lightens the lands through the white mist, revealing the plains-filled flatness here and there. But it only shows long and low hummocks more clearly.

"The borrows of the First Men," I motion to Robert.

"Have we ridden into a graveyard?" He asks with a frown.

"These borrows are everywhere in the North, your grace. This land is old." I answer.

"And cold," Robert grumbles.

"It is warmer than ever. Now filled with livestock that would last us a winter," I reply with a small smile.

"Well, I have not brought you here to talk about your land. There was a rider last night, a message from Lord Varys," Robert informs me, handing the letter.

"What is the source of this?" I ask after reading the letter.

"Do you remember ser Jorah?" Robert asks.

"Would that I forget him. If only he asked for my support, then he might still be a knight of the bear island," I lament.

"Well, now he is in Pentos, anxious to earn royal pardon to return to his lands," Robert informs me. "Lord Varys makes good use of him."

"A slaver turned to a spy," I remark with a bitter smile. "I rather see his corpse or in black."

"Besides ser Johar, what do you think of the message?" Robert questions me.

"Daenerys Targaryen has wed some Dothraki horse lord. What of it? Shall we send her a wedding gift?" I ask back to him.

"A knife, perhaps. A good and bold man to wield it too," He remarks.

"Your grace, she nothing more than a child," I tell him slowly. "You are not Tywin Lannister to slaughter innocent children."

"And for how long will this one remain innocent?" Robert asks. "I will kill every Targaryen I can get my hands on until they are as dead as their dragons, and then I will piss on their graves."

"You can't get your hands on this one, can you?" I ask.

"No, gods be cursed, some pox-ridden Pentoshi cheesemonger has the girl and her brother walled in his castle," Robert curses. "And now he haded them to the Dothraki. I should have killed them years ago, but Jon would not let it happen."

"Jon Arryn was a wise and a good Hand," I comment.

"This Khal Drogo is said to have hundred thousand riders," Robert remarks.

"Even if he had a million, he and his riders are beyond the sea. The barbarians hate the sea and have no ships to traverse them," I explain to him.

"Jon would have said the same," Robert sighs.

"And he would be right," I add.

"And what if the Barbarians cross the sea?" Robert questions me. "What if that prat Viserys challenges me for the throne?"

"Then we will throw them back," I answer. "I promise you, Robert, Viserys will never have the Iron Throne. And when you chose the new Warden of the east, there will be nothing to fear for you."

"For the last time, I know the boy is your nephew, but he is just a sickly boy. With Targaryens climbing to the bed with Dothraki, I would be mad to rest quarter of the realm to his shoulders." Robert groans.

"If Robert Arryn will not do, name one of your brothers. Stannis proved himself at the siege of Storm's End, surely." I respond prepared. "Unless you have already promised it to another."

"And what if I did?" The King asks.

"It is Jaime Lannister, is it not?" I question him with the hope that I am wrong.

"Yes," After few moments, Robert answers with one hard word.

"The Kingslayer," I say. "I have no right to question you, but Edmure won't be pleased to hear this, not speaking of other lords of the Vale."

"It is what it is," Robert replies. "We are done for today."

The King leaves on his horseback to the camp. Damn you, Robert, what am I to do?

…

In passing weeks, Robert refused to talk about the matter any further. It was up to me to inform Edmure of the new Warden of the East. To my surprise, he took it calmly. "An empty title, he won't have any say in the Vale, even if it's by the King's command," He said.

We rested in Darry lands. Lord Darry wasn't kind to Robert and only let the royal and my own families stay in his castle. It would be fine if not for Arya's disappearance. It was already the third night that she went missing. I could not have any rest, not knowing if she was safe.

"Lord Stark," Jory calls me. "Lady Arya has been found."

"By the Lannisters?" I ask, leaving my chambers.

"No, my lord, it was Ser Edmure's man," Jory answers. "But the Queen's men were by the gates. She ordered for Lady Arya to be brought to her."

"What?" I ask with rage in my voice. "Damn that woman. Tell Sansa to join us in there too."

Jory led me to the Great Hall, where my youngest daughter stood, trembling in front of the Queen. Not giving a damn, I strode to her and hugged her. Looking over her, she looked fine but scared and hungry.

"You alright, darling?" I ask her.

"I am fine, hungry a bit. I only found some berries in the forest," Arya answers with a trembling voice.

"What is the meaning of this? Why was I not informed?" I demanded answers from Robert.

"How dare you to speak to your king like this," It was the Queen who answered me.

"Quiet woman," Robert roars. "Sorry, Ned, I didn't want to frighten the girl, but it seems to me it would be best to get this business over with."

"And what is this business you talking about?" I ask with anger rising inside me.

"You know full well, Stark. This girl of yours attacked my son. Her and her butcher's boy. That animal of hers tried to tear his arm off." The Queen says, stepping forward.

"Lies, she just bit him a little," Arya yells loudly. "He was hurting Mycah."

"Joff told us what happened," The Queen tells us. "You and the butcher boy beat him with clubs while you set your wolf on him."

"So the Crown Prince was beaten by a little girl, is that what you are saying, my Queen?" Edmure asks, stepping in front. "Why I am not surprised."

"It was the boy too, and that beast of hers who attacked me. I didn't have a chance to defend myself," Joffrey insists.

"That is not true. It was Joffrey who started it all," Arya cries out.

"Enough, one says one thing, another different thing, who I am to believe?" Robert asks.

"They were not the only present," I tell him. "Sansa come here, and tell us what happened."

"I don't know," she says tearfully, looking as though she wanted to bolt. "I don't remember. Everything happened so fast, I didn't see..."

"You rotten," Arya shrieks and flew to her sister like an arrow, knocking her. "Liar, liar, liar."

"Arya, stop it!" I tell her as Jory takes her from Sansa kicking.

"The girl is as wild as that filthy animal of hers," Cersei Lannister says. "Robert, I want her punished."

"Seven hells," Robert swears. "Cersei, look at her. She's a child. What would you have me do, whip her through the streets? Damn it, children fight. It's over. No lasting harm was done."

"Joff will carry those scars for the rest of his life." The Queen says with an angry voice.

"So he will. Perhaps they will teach him a lesson. Ned, see that your daughter is disciplined. I will do the same with my son." Robert replies after looking at his son.

"Gladly, Your Grace," I respond with relief.

"And what of the direwolf?" Cercei calls out. "What of the beast that savaged your son?"

"I'd forgotten about the damned wolf." Robert answers and looks at the guard.

"We found no trace for direwolves," Jory answers.

"And you probably won't," Edmure remarks. "Arya's wolf was probably scared away by the brave prince. And I let Sansa's go, hoping it would help in finding Arya."

"A hundred gold dragons, for whoever brings me their pelts," The Queen says.

"A thousand gold dragons, for whoever brings them to Riverrun, alive," Edmure responds. "The Lannisters are not the only ones who have gold, my Queen."

"How dare you to talk your Queen like this, Robert, say something," Cercei yells.

"I want no parts in this. It is not my gold you both are spending." Robert replies and leaves.

"Oh and, my Queen, these are my lands," Edmure informs Cercei. "Next time you sent someone to hunt in my lands, I only bring a corpse back."

With those words, he leaves too. Taking a look at my daughters, I bring them back to their chambers. On the way, I see the Hound bound to a pole with chains around him. His face was beaten bloody.

"I am disappointed in both of you," Inside the castle, I tell them. "Sansa, I thought I taught you better than to lie. And I know you didn't want to say anything against the Crown Prince, but lying isn't the answer, especially when your family needs you. I forbid you to see the Crown Prince until we reach the capital."

"But father," Sansa begins.

"But nothing, you will attend lessons with septa Mordane or be by your uncle's side," I interject before she could complain. "Am I understood?"

"Yes, father," She replies with tears in her eyes.

"And you, Arya, attacking your sister," I state, and she looks down. "For the rest of the journey to the capital, you will be by Sansa's side and do as she does. I am understood?"

"Yes, father," She replies with a low voice.

"What will happen to Lady?" Sansa asks worriedly.

"If the direwolves are found, they will stay in Riverrun, I am sorry, but they won't come to the capital, ever," I explain to them. "Let's hope your uncle's men will find them faster than the Queen's."

"Queen Cercei wouldn't do anything do Lady, she hasn't done anything," Sansa mutters.

"I am afraid that the Queen doesn't care. She wants both wolves to be killed," I inform Sansa.

"It's your fault," Sansa wails to Arya.

"Enough, Sansa," I calm her down. "It isn't her fault. The Queen didn't like the wolves from the start. And if you had told the truth, there be no reason to harm them."

After escorting them back to their rooms, I started to think of what a mess I was in. The Lannisters' hate for Edmure will hide me, at least, that is what Edmure said. Still, I am worried about what the future will bring. We are only on the road to the South, and it was bad already.