Chapter 30
Joffrey was frustrated. He was the King. And yet he had been stripped of all power by his mother and his uncle, who now ruled in his stead, along with that Northern savage. They wanted him to wed that red-haired harlot, all because of some petty traitors.
Fools. All of them, and ever since Uncle Kevan had come to the capital, he had been confined to his chambers, as they all ruled in his stead. Traitors. All of them.
He would not forget this. He would forget nothing, and once his uncles were dealt with, he would see to them all. He would...
KNOCK! KNOCK!
And he found his thoughts interrupted by a slight knock on his door, as he raged.
"Who is it?" and for some reason, the door was pushed open, as that red-haired bitch walked into his room, and to think her mother wanted him to marry this savage.
"It is me, your grace..." she spoke softly, as Joffrey's nostrils flared, and just then an idea came into his mind to teach them all a lesson. They thought they could control him. Him.
The King.
"Close the door...."
.
.
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EDDARD STARK
Coming to the capital had been a mistake. That much had been obvious to him the second he had stepped into the city, and with Robert gone, it was obvious that he would find no friends in the city.
He could have turned back then, but he chose to stay for his friend's funeral, hoping still to honor the promise he had made to his friend in his dying moments, but much had changed since then.
Even before they could bury his friend, the drums of war began to ring all over the capital, and he wondered if this was prophecy, for war followed a Stark's footsteps whenever he made his way to the South.
He had hoped to be different, but the fates had other plans. Both Stannis and Renly had declared themselves as Kings, as Stannis accused the Lannister Queen of incest and adultery.
Robert had not spoken well of their marriage, and his infatuation for his whores was well known. He had fathered over a dozen bastards, and yet Stannis claimed that all of Cersei's children were products of incest.
It was a terrible claim, and the Queen had been quick to rubbish the words, but in the end he was made to wonder just how much could he trust the Lannisters. Then there was the matter of the second Prince, Steffon, who had been mysteriously captured by Stannis somehow.
He was told that the Prince was heading to Braavos to deal with the Iron Bank regarding the massive debt of the Crown, though the rumors painted an entirely different story.
They spoke of treason, and assassination. They spoke of dead bastards, and cruelty. Robert had confided in him about his son's and their rivalry, and how he was much perturbed by his eldest's behavior, often wondering if it just might be best to replace him as heir.
The move would be a great scandal, and the mere fact that even Robert had bene forced to consider it did not sit well with him, and the rumors he had heard about the Prince since walking into the capital did not paint a good picture as well.
Robert had hoped that a comely wife could help his eldest son change, but Eddard wondered if the match would be even suitable for Sansa at all. Even if only half of the rumors he had heard about Joffrey were true, then he would never let the boy marry his daughter.
Still, the Starks were alone in the capital, and the city was overrun with Lannister men. With Robert dead, and Renly fleeing the city, the city was ruled by Lannister swords, and open defiance could put the lives of his children in much danger.
Still, he was not completely helpless. With Renly marching towards the city, and Stannis keeping one of the Princes hostage, the Lannisters needed them more than she needed them.
Right now, the only thing standing between House Lannister and absolute annihilation was House Stark, and their alliance with House Tully of Riverrun, for it was not for that threat that Renly Baratheon would march to the capital and do unto the Lannisters what they had done to Queen Elia and her children.
The Queen knew that as well, it was why the hostility she had shown him and his kin at first had vanished, and now he found himself sitting on a newly assembled Small Council, as the capital prepared itself for war.
"How many men do we have?" he asked, and it was the Master of Coin who answered.
"Twenty thousand, along with that, we have five thousand Gold Cloaks," and that would not be enough. Not at all.
"The Gold Cloaks are not an army," Eddard added.
"Aye, but they will fight hard for the King, my lord," and Janos Slynt was a wholly incompetent man, and yet he was the lord Commander of the City Watch. The man was corrupt, and Eddard would have loved to have a man more loyal to him in that position, but he had struck a rather delicate balance with the Lannisters, and he did not wish to break it.
Not on the precipice of war.
"We will need more men," he turned towards Lord Kevan Lannister, and he was the voice of power and reason here. The man had come here to replace the Queen's brother, who had been called back to the Rock because of his responsibilities as the heir, though Eddard smelled a plot here he was not being told of.
"Can Lord Tywin not send another host?" and the man shook his head.
"I am afraid not," the man answered, and he was a competent man, who had helped negotiate this short peace between him, and the Royal Family. The Queen had backed off from her sabotage, and he was allowed to gather a Small Council, and yet the matter of the Reagency still remained undecided.
Eddard had little desire for the power of a Reagent, yet he would not hand it all to the Lannisters while his own family's future remained uncertain.
"Lord Rowan has blocked the Golden Road and has cut off the capital from the West, and there are reports of movements along the Ocea Road as well," and that was not good.
"My brother is raising a second host as we speak, but he will not leave Lannisport undefended," and Renly had some good advisors at his back, and he wondered f this was the work of Lord Tarly, the only man to defeat Robert during the rebellion.
"Renly's armies have already reached Bittenbridge. He can march to the capital any time he now," and it was the sickly Master of Laws who cut through the silence.
"Forgive me my lord, but the Lannisters have already sent us fifteen thousand men," and he began to cough, and Eddard feared that he just might die here now.
Gyles Rosby was another one of Cersei's creatures, though at least he was somewhat capable.
"Perhaps it is time that we look to our other allies to do their part," and it was a jibe towards him, and his family. Allies they may claim to be, but the Lannisters trusted him just as much as he trusted them.
"Are you accusing me of treason?" Eddaard blustered as his fists balled up.
"Y..." but before the aged man could continue, Kevan Lannister cut in.
"No, my lord," he cut in as all eyes turned towards the Master of Coin.
"But it would serve us well to learn about the preparations being made at Riverrun. Our Houses will soon be bound by blood, and if we are to win this war, then we will need the Riverlands to play their own part," and he ground his teeth, and until he had the truth of the matter, he could only play along.
"My good brother has assembled a host of some ten thousand men, and my son marches towards the Riverlands with the same number of men," and that caused quite a stir, but there was some other news as well that he kept only to himself.
Troubling news from the Eyrie, but it would not serve him well to make any mention of that.
"That is good news indeed," and he had forgotten about the Grandmaester whose voice cut through the buzzing.
"A considerable force. Even if Lord Renly's host is as grand as they say, he will no doubt hesitate to enter the city lest he find himself crushed between the two forces," and while that was true, it was not only Renly that they needed to contend against.
"What of Lord Stannis? Has there been any news from him?" and the Grandmaester shook his head.
"The Queen wrote to him, seeking a parley, but he has offered no response. To accuse the Queen of such a crime. Heinous, I say. Absolutely heinous," and he wondered if there was some truth to his accusations, as he was reminded of Catelyn's words, and the strange letter that she had received.
"Let me write to him myself then," he offered.
"It will be of no use," Lord Kevan cut in.
"The man has lost his senses. There are rumors that he now worships a foreign god, and has let a Priestess of a Foreign Faith into his mind and bed," and he did not think of Stannis Baratheon to be such a fickle man, but faith had a strange power in itself.
"Words are meaningless to a man like that. He will only answer to strength," and again the eyes turned to him, but he had no answer for them now.
"I believe that will be all for today," and with that, he rose, and with a single nod, walked out of the Council Room, and even hours at the yard were not so draining, but just as he walked forward, he heard a sound of footsteps from behind him.
"Lord Stark," a familiar voice called out to him, as he turned and saw that the Master of Coin had stepped out after him.
"A word," and Eddard nodded as he dismissed his guards, as the Lannister man joined him. Kevan Lannister was the younger brother of the Lord of Casterly Rock, and in many ways, he was Tywin Lannister come again.
He was nothing more than a shadow of his brother, and he made no attempts to hide it. He could find many a flaws within the man, yet he was steadfast and reliable.
He had taken but a few days to set the capital right, and despite his status, he was even able to subdue the Queen and curb her powers.
"There are some things that we need to discuss," he added, as Eddard slowed down.
"You should have brought them up at the Council," and the man scoffed.
"The Council is inconsequential. In truth, there are but few voices that matter," and his was the loudest of them, or rather yet Lord Tywin's was while he was the medium for it.
"What do you wish to discuss, my lord?" and the Lannister man slowed down, as they came and stopped at the training yard.
"The Marriage," and his mood soured at once.
"What of it?" and the man's nostrils flared as he saw through his guile.
"I believe it would serve the realm well to see our Houses tied together as soon as possible. Cersei has already made the preparations, and would soothe many a heart to have Joffrey and Sansa wed before the war begins in full," and he spoke of their hearts, for he would much rather see her unwed.
"I do not see any reason for it. Prince Joffrey is not lacking for heirs, and Sansa has not even flowered yet. Marrying them would be nothing short of cruelty," and the man's eyes narrowed.
"They need not consummate it as long as they speak their vows," and Eddard shook his head as he turned towards the yard and saw Jon sparring with a few squires.
Eddard had not been able to pay him much attention ever since they had come here, and yet it felt good to see him humbling those summer boys.
"I see no reason to waste time and energy on something so superfluous," and the Lannister man raised a brow.
"Joffrey is King," he reminded him.
"I find it rather strange that a man would not wish to see his daughter wed a King. Many a lords would die for that opportunity," and he shrugged.
"Then I am not one such lord," and the man seemed done with his games.
"Your reluctance makes us wonder where your loyalties truly lie, Lord Stark," and they lied with his family, but he could not say it.
"We are of the North, and we are no Oathbreakers," he countered, and in the end the man backed away.
"We shall see about that," and then the man followed his gaze, as Eddard remembered the missing face from his Small Council.
"I have not seen Lord Barristan for some time now," he whispered.
"Where is he?" and he was not the only one.
"I have not seen Ser Preston and Ser Arys as well," and the man evaded his gaze.
"Well, at least you are observant," he whispered, as he finally turned towards him.
"Where are they?" he asked again.
"Away," he answered briskly, as he heard another man come up from the training yard, and that was a strange answer. With war at their doorstep, only a fool would send away such figures.
Unless, and his eyes widened.
"Dragonstone," he guessed at once, and the slight stillness of the golden-haired man was enough of an answer for him.
"The Kingsguard are bound by oaths to protect the Royal Family. Cersei has sent them on a covert mission to infiltrate and rescue her son," and it was understandable, but foolish.
"The island is surrounded by Stannis's ships. They will die before they set foot on that isle," and the man shrugged.
"Then they will die keeping their oaths," and what more could he say to that?
"Ahh, Lord Stark," and he looked up and saw another one of the Kingsguard standing there, and he would have much preferred it if Cersei Lannister had sent him instead of those men.
"Ser Jaime," he greeted, and despite their troubling circumstances, that sinister smile refused to leave his lips.
"I am being told that your brothers have volunteered for a mission to rescue Prince Steffon," and the man nodded.
"Aye, they have," he answered, and he raised a brow.
"I would have thought that you would have been the first to volunteer, after all, the Prince is related to you by blood," and in a second, tension filled the air, as the Kingslayer's eyes narrowed.
"I would be very careful with my words if I were you, my lord," he warned, and before he could say anything more.
"He volunteered," Kevan Lannister cut in.
"But in the end, the Queen decided to keep him in the capital, given his fame and notoriety," or she did so because she knew that she was sending those men to their graves, and did not wish to see her lover dead.
"Speaking of that, I believe he has something to say to you as well, Lord Stark," and he frowned at those words, wondering what the Kingslayer would have to say to him.
"Me?" and the Lannister lord turned towards the Kingslayer, who nodded.
"Oh yes, I have been looking at the boys in the yard for some time now," and immediately he felt his breath become dry, as the Kingslayer turned towards the yard, his gaze going straight towards a boy battling two squires at once.
"And I have decided to take your bastard as my squire...." and before he could think of an apt response, another voice called after him.
"Father! Father!" and he turned to see Arya running towards him, with tears dripped down her face.
"It's Sansa...."
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