chapter 159 part 2
Lord Renly stared fixedly at Lord Eddard and said through gritted teeth, "Eddard, the Lannisters will show us no mercy."
With that, Renly swung his cloak about him and strode away.
...
"When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground."
Back in his study in the Tower of the Hand, Lord Eddard recalled the words Cersei Lannister had said to him in the Godswood before she left.
Lord Eddard couldn't help but wonder if rejecting Renly's proposal was truly the wise thing to do.
Lord Eddard had no interest in power struggles and political maneuvering. Using small children as hostages was even more despicable to him. If Cersei refused to go into exile and instead resisted, as Renly predicted, then he would need more than Renly's hundred men. Far from enough.
Lord Eddard had brought over 50 men from Winterfell. Twenty of them had already been sent to the Riverlands to capture brigands. He now had only about 30 men left. In normal times, these men would be sufficient to protect him and his two daughters, but now, it was completely inadequate.
The Lannister red cloaks in the Red Keep numbered at least 300… Lord Eddard thought of his children staying with him in the Tower of the Hand.
How would Cersei choose to act? No matter what she chose, Lord Eddard decided to send the children back to The North first. He would not let the young wolves of House Stark remain in danger.
...
*Knock, knock, knock.* After a series of urgent knocks, before Lord Eddard could respond, the usually composed Jory pushed open the door and entered in a panic.
"My lord, King Robert has passed away!"
Lord Eddard's tall frame swayed. Jory quickly stepped forward to support his lord.
*Damn it all!* He hadn't even had the chance to pray for Robert, his brother in all but blood, in the Godswood, and now Robert was gone forever.
Renly had not been wrong. In truth, everyone knew that Robert would not survive the night. Lord Eddard knew it too.
After a moment of silence, Lord Eddard slowly began to speak. "Jory..."
The direwolf could not afford to be lost in grief; he had his old friend's final trust to uphold.
"Jory, have Cayn hire a ship. The sooner, the better."
"Arrange for someone to summon the High Septon. Our king needs him. For now, let Lord Renly be in charge of matters over there."
"In my name, close all the gates of the Red Keep. Without my consent, no one is to leave or enter."
...
After Lord Eddard finished giving his orders, Jory left as hastily as he had arrived.
Lord Eddard sat quietly at his desk for a while. He took out a blank sheet of parchment, smoothed it out, took his pen, dipped it in ink, took a breath, and the quill began to move.
*To King Stannis of House Baratheon,*
*By the time you receive this letter, your brother, Robert of the House Baratheon, the First of His Name, has passed away. He was wounded by a boar during a hunt…*
After writing the reason for Robert's fatal injury, Lord Eddard paused his pen.
Stannis was the rightful heir to the Iron Throne. He must come to King's Landing as soon as possible, sit the Iron Throne, and rule The Realm.
Lord Eddard's quill began to move again.
After carefully wording the letter, Lord Eddard signed it at the end: *Protector of the Realm, Hand of the King, Lord of Winterfell, Eddard of House Stark.*
After finishing the letter, Lord Eddard felt as if a great weight had been lifted. His regency would be very brief. The new king would appoint a new Hand, and then he could return to Winterfell.
The thought of returning to Winterfell made him temporarily forget the pain of losing his good friend. He wanted to hear Bran's laughter again, to go hawking with Robb, to watch Rickon play and make mischief. He wanted to hold his wife tightly in his arms and sleep a dreamless, peaceful sleep.
His duty now was to stabilize the situation until Stannis arrived in King's Landing.
*Stabilize the situation…* Thinking of this, Lord Eddard became vigilant. He absolutely could not ignore the possibility of Cersei resisting. Out of honor… he could not leave this trouble for Stannis.
Stannis would surely come with the army from Dragonstone. By then, if Cersei and her three children had not yet fled… he understood Stannis's nature. Cersei and her three children would all find it hard to escape death… He couldn't give Cersei any more time. At least those three children were innocent.
He had 30 men under his command. Of those, 10 would have to be assigned to escort his children away first, which would leave him with 20.
Adding Renly's 100 men, they would have only 120 men in total, while the Lannister red cloaks numbered over 300.
Lord Eddard thought of Glyn. That boy had more than 200 Bluecloaks.
Lord Eddard quickly gave up the idea of contacting Glyn… no matter how outstanding Glyn was, he was still a child. He already served Cersei; he shouldn't be made to bear such a difficult choice at such a young age.
It was already admirable enough that Glyn, out of his own inner honor, had been helping him all this time. What he should be doing now was extricating Glyn from the situation, lest he be implicated because of Cersei after Stannis took the Iron Throne.
Lord Eddard would make sure Glyn and his Bluecloaks were far away from the storm.
As for whether Glyn would betray him… Lord Eddard had never even considered such a possibility.
...
*Knock, knock, knock.* The sound of knocking interrupted Lord Eddard's thoughts.
"My lord, Lord Janos Slynt requests an audience," the voice of his guard, Cayn, came from outside the door.
...
...
Outside the Tower of the Hand, Glyn saw Janos Slynt leaving and strode towards the tower.
...
Lord Eddard looked at Glyn, who had come to visit him late at night, a somewhat surprised expression on his face.
"Has something happened?"
Glyn, clad in steel armor and holding his helmet in his left arm, walked to the desk. "Lord Eddard, the atmosphere outside is very unusual. You have too few guards from The North left with you. You need my protection."
Looking at Glyn's face, full of concern, Lord Eddard felt a warmth in his heart.
"Glyn, something has happened in the Red Keep. I hope you will leave King's Landing early tomorrow morning. Go to… go to Riverrun in my stead. Hmm… my wife's father is not in good health. I think of you as my own son, so go and visit him for me."
Glyn sighed inwardly. He was silent for a moment before speaking. "Lord Eddard, there are no secrets in the Red Keep. This is something everyone knows."
"Damn it all!"
Lord Eddard couldn't help but curse under his breath.
(end of chapter)