A few days later, Petyr arrived.
"Lord Stark." Littlefinger stood outside the cell, a sympathetic expression on his face. "I am truly sorry to see you like this."
"Save your tricks, Baelish," Eddard said coldly.
Petyr sighed. "I am not here to perform; I am here to help. Lord Renly has returned to Storms End and crowned himself King. Lord Stannis is also gathering armies on Dragonstone. Both of them claim that Joffrey on the iron throne is merely an incestuous bastard. War is imminent, my Lord, and you? You can only wait here to die."
"What are you trying to say?"
"Plead guilty." Petyr lowered his voice. "Publicly confess to treason and swear fealty to Joffrey. In exchange, you will be allowed to join the Nights Watch. This is your only chance to live. Furthermore, the Seven Kingdoms should avoid conflict now; don't forget, our true enemies are the Targaryen who are eyeing us greedily across the Narrow Sea."
"What if I refuse?"
"Then you will be executed. Then war will break out, and your daughters..." Petyr did not finish, but the meaning was clear.
Eddard fell silent. Honor told him he should stick to the truth, even at the cost of his life. But his sense of duty told him he should listen to Petyr, avoid war, and protect his children.
That night, he dreamed of Robert, Lyanna, his father, and his elder brother. They were all in the crypts of Winterfell, watching him silently. When he woke up, he had made his decision.
Three days later, Eddard was brought to the square in front of The Red Keep. A high platform had been erected there, crowded below by onlookers. Joffrey, Cersei, and members of the Small Council sat in the stands.
Of course, Sansa was there too. The girl's normally pale face was slightly flushed with the news that her father was about to be spared.
Eddard was escorted onto the platform by guards. He was still wearing his tattered Northern clothes, and the injury to his leg made him walk with a limp.
Grand Maester Pycelle read out his "crimes": treason, conspiracy to usurp the throne, spreading rumors to slander the Royal Family... Then, Joffrey stood up. The young King wore magnificent clothing embroidered with the Roaring Lion on one half and the stag on the other, and the crown on his head shone in the sunlight.
"Eddard Stark." His voice was sharp and arrogant. "Do you confess to committing these crimes?"
Eddard raised his head and looked at Sansa. His daughter's eyes were full of pleading. He then looked at Cersei; the Queen's face was expressionless. Finally, he looked towards the northern sky, where his home and family were.
"I confess." His voice echoed across the square. "I plotted to overthrow the rightful King, and I spread rumors about the Queen and the Prince. I betrayed my King and my friend."
A murmur immediately rose from the crowd. Joffrey displayed a satisfied smile, and Cersei nodded, also smiling.
"According to the law," Joffrey announced, "treason is punishable by death. But out of mercy, and because of Lord Stark's past service, I have decided to commute the sentence. Eddard Stark shall be sent to The Wall to join the Nights Watch, serving for life."
The crowd erupted in cheers. Eddard also felt a sense of relief; at least he had saved his life and his children.
But just then, Joffrey suddenly said, "Wait."
The square fell silent.
"I have changed my mind." Joffrey's green eyes gleamed with cruelty. "Treason must be cleansed with blood. Behead him, Ilyn Payne."
One of the Kingsguard, a Knight who never spoke, stepped forward. In his hand, he held a massive greatsword, which was "Ice," the valyrian steel greatsword long passed down through House Stark.
"No!" Sansa screamed. "You promised! You promised to send him to The Wall!"
Cersei also stood up, her expression changing slightly. "Joffrey, you..."
"I am the King, and I decide what happens to traitors." They had completely underestimated the cruelty and arrogance that had grown in Joffrey's heart due to long-term suppression, distortion, and the sudden acquisition of absolute power.
Eddard watched all this and suddenly felt peace.
This is The South, this is the Game of Thrones. He lost, completely and utterly.
He was pressed onto the Execution Block. In his final moments, he seemed to see Arya, squeezed into the crowd, wearing dirty clothes, her face full of tears and rage. He wanted to smile at her, but it was too late.
The greatsword fell, and Eddard's head rolled away.
Blood stained the platform red.
Sansa's terrified scream pierced the sky, and then she fainted.
The crowd in the square descended into chaos; some cheered, some were terrified, and some were silent.
Joffrey stood up from his seat, a flush of excitement on his face. "Did you see that? This is the fate of traitors. Hang the body on the City Wall and stick the head on a spear point. Everyone must see it."
Having said that, he left immediately, leaving behind only the headless corpse.
On the platform, Petyr lowered his head. No one saw the fleeting smile at the corner of his mouth.
Varys watched everything that happened, letting out a soft sigh. Then he also turned and left, disappearing into the streets of King's Landing.
Amidst the chaos, no one noticed a small figure in ragged clothes darting through the gaps in the crowd, finally disappearing into the depths of a narrow alley. That was Arya. After Eddard was captured, she avoided the search with the help of a mysterious person, who hid her in the complex Secret Passages of The Red Keep. Even Petyr, who had intended to find her, could not discover her.
She crawled into a hidden dog hole, traversed a narrow passage, and finally returned to her hiding spot piled with discarded wine barrels. She curled up in the corner, trembling, not from cold, but from anger and sorrow.
She wanted to kill them: Joffrey, all the Lannisters, and everyone who stood on that platform.
On the docks of White Harbor in The North, a merchant ship flying the House Manderly's Merman Sigil was unloading cargo. Jon Snow stepped onto the solid dock, and the cold Northern sea wind made his body, which had just grown accustomed to the Southern warmth, shiver.
His father had initially ordered him to return immediately after delivering the letter to Renly, so after hearing Duke Renly's explanation, he rushed back with Renly's secret letter and a Knight from Stormlands, planning to persuade his father to leave King's Landing quickly.
Unexpectedly, near The Red Keep, they encountered a Lannister Patrol. They clashed with the Patrol, and the Knight was killed immediately. Jon himself, panicking, fled into the maze-like alleys of King's Landing and finally hid in a Brothel.
That happened to be Lord Petyr's property.
Littlefinger seemed to have just finished a business deal, his face bearing his usual half-smile expression. "Look who it is? Why has the Wolf Cub of Winterfell come to a place like this? What, are you looking to taste the flavor of a Southern Girl?"
Laughing, he had someone bandage Jon's wounds and change his clothes. After listening to Jon's account, he frowned.
"Your father is a very stubborn man." Petyr drank his wine. "If you return to The Red Keep now, you'll be walking straight into a trap. The Lannisters have surely set their net."
"But I must go back and warn Father," Jon said eagerly.
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