Chapter 36
EDDARD STARK
Eddard loathed himself as he sat in the Hand's office. He loathed himself for being so weak, for being so naive, that he could not even protect his own daughters. Catelyn had warned him about Lannister treachery, and yet he had failed to warn his own daughters of it.
And Sansa had suffered from his failures. His precious little Sansa.
If it were up to him, he would put a sword through that monster and let the stranger take him. But it was not so simple. They were in enemy lands, and the lives of his men and his children were in Lannister hands.
It loathed him to sit here and broker a peace with the very people who had ruined his daughter, and yet there was little else that he could do. It shamed him to admit it, but their fate was tied to the Lannisters.
If it were only his own life, then he would have drawn his sword the second he had heard the news of Sansa's troubles, yet he was forced to suffer this humiliation.
"Do you have no shame?" he taunted the man in front of him, and while Cersei may be Queen and her son may wear the Crown, everyone within the city knew who held the real power.
Kevan Lannister had come here in place of his brother, but the younger brother of Tywin Lannister was following his brother's commands to the letter.
The monster had ruined his daughter. He had taken her innocence, and yet now they were forcing him and his men to fight for that very monster.
"What happened to your daughter was a tragedy," the blonde-haired man admitted, yet there was no remorse in his voice.
"Joffrey is young and uncouth. The boy simply acted on impulse," and Eddard's fists balled up.
"Impulse! You call this impulse," and the man raised a brow.
"She was the one who went to his room," and Eddard raged.
"AT THE QUEEN'S ADVICE!" he roared, but the Lannister man remained unmoved, and they truly were heartless.
"You have no proof of that. Your daughter is no child. She made a mistake and so did Joffrey. There is no need to escalate this any further," and they lacked any sympathy or regret over the harm done to Sansa.
"By our agreement, we shall protect her innocence for your support in the war, and once the traitors are dealt with the betrothal between your eldest daughter and Joffrey shall be annulled, and both of them will be allowed to return to their homeland in return for some appropriate hostages of equal value," and Eddard ground his teeth, at the humiliation but in the end this was the only way he could protect them now.
The Lannisters outnumbered them more than a hundred to one, and they had no allies to call on here in the South.
Cruel as he was, Kevan Lannister was just as effective as his own brother. Within minutes of the incident, he had silenced the maids and the guards instantly, to protect Sansa's reputation, for he knew that they could use it in a negotiation.
Eddard's mistakes had cost her enough, and so when the man offered to salvage her reputation, he accepted the offer, for it was the least he could do.
The terms being offered were cruel, but there was little he could do when the enemy held a sword to his daughter's neck.
"These are very generous terms, my lord," and he scoffed at that.
"You call this generous?" he retorted, but the Lannister man simply raised a brow.
"It is little different than the terms you and Robert offered to the Greyjoys during the rebellion," and that was true.
"And once you consider your own wife and son's treason, then you will find these terms very reasonable," and now he was frowning.
"Treason?" he frowned.
"We have it on good authority that they set a parley with Renly Baratheon. There was even talk with the traitor about joining his cause," and now his eyes widened at that.
"You are lying," and the man shook his head.
"I am not. We even know of the terms discussed. The Spider was there as well, and has made common cause with the younger Baratheon brother, even though his true allegiance lies with the Eyrie in the West," and did not make much sense at all.
"Lysa?" he wondered, and the man shrugged.
"We do not know his true intentions yet, but it is obvious that the man is a traitor to the Seven Kingdoms. He revels in chaos and treachery, and yet your wife and son sat down with him for a parley," and that was a mistake.
A grave mistake, and now he understood how she had learned about the incident with Sansa. It all made sense now.
"It is not treason to sit down with one's enemies," Eddard defended his wife and son, even though they had made a grave mistake.
"I believe we are doing the same thing as we speak," and the golden-haired man said nothing as he simply looked him in the eye.
"Perhaps, but do know that if your son and wife dare betray us, it shall be you and your children who will pay the price for this treason..." and he was on his feet.
"You dare threaten my children," but the guards around him moved at once, as they reached for their blades.
"I merely speak the truth as it is," the man warned him as he stayed the guards with a gesture.
"Even if your wife and son make common cause with Renly and his men, we will still win this war. What becomes of you and your children after this entire rebellion is put down now rests solely on the actions of your wife and son," and Eddard ground his teeth as he answered.
"They will not betray my trust," and though he may seem convinced, he was not truly so certain.
"I hope so," the man agreed.
"For your and children's sake, that is," and in his life until now, Eddard had never faced a situation like this, and he wondered if this was how it felt to lose a war.
If this was how the Targaryens had felt? How the Martells had felt? How the Greyjoys had felt?
"I wish to speak to my daughters," Eddard demanded, and the man shook his head.
"You will meet them once Renly is dealt with," and he bit his lip.
"How am I to believe you when you have already ruined my eldest? I must see them for myself if I am to commit this treachery," and yet the Lannister man remained unburdened.
"Your daughters are safe. No harm will come to them, as long as they are in my protection. But you will meet them only once this war is over, and the enemy is defeated. Until then, they are our hostages," and Eddard wanted to scream at him.
"One day you will pay for this cruelty," Eddard warned him, and the man raised a brow.
"This is no cruelty, Lord Stark. This is war, and I intend to win it for myself and my family," and Eddard sighed as he was denied his demand.
"I will not write anything more until you let me meet my children," he declared, and the elderly Lannister man ground his teeth, as silence filled the room.
"Then you shall meet your bastard, but no one else," and he would have much preferred to meet Sansa and apologize to her for his weakness and inability to protect her.
"No..."
"That is the offer, my lord. I would suggest that you take it before my patience runs thin," and then he was slowly led to his room, and the Lannisters had not put them in cells. Rather, they had been confined to their chambers while his men were put into the cells, at least those that had not been killed.
They had named the entire massacre a Baratheon plot and blamed it all on the traitors. Eddard found himself in his room as he pondered over all that he had learned today, and it was not all good.
He still remembered the letter Lysa had sent to Catelyn before he had come to the North, and within the city, it was widely speculated that the Spider and Baelish shared their sympathies for the Targaryens, and that it had been the bald master of Whispers who had orchestrated the traitor's escape.
Even without knowing his reasons, it was obvious enough that the Spider was a traitor, and if he was indeed speaking up for the Eyrie, then it could compel Catelyn to heed his word.
Still, he hoped that saner heads would prevail and stop her from making this mistake. Eddard had no love for the Lannisters, but the bastards held his daughters hostage, and the entire realm knew well about Tywin Lannister's cruelties.
None of them had forgotten the sack and how it had ended for the Targaryen family. Still, he was intent on doing his best to protect his daughters, and then some few hours later the door to his room slid open as Jon walked in.
"Father," he began as he rushed towards him.
"Jon, my son," and he was nothing less, as he wrapped his arms around him.
"How have you been?" he asked quietly, and Jon shook his head.
"Fine, but they refuse to let me out of my room at all. What happened?' he asked, and it was time to tell him the truth, and so he did.
And he was just as enraged as he heard those words.
"Yet still, we are allying with the Lannisters," he asked with some disgust and rage.
"I have no choice," and it pained him to admit that.
"We have no allies to call on, and they hold your sisters as hostages," and Jon's fists balled up at that.
"I called you here for sooner or later I will be called upon to lead the armies," and with that, he would be away from his daughters.
"When that happens, I want you to protect your sisters," and perhaps it was irony that he was asking the boy to do the very thing his mother had asked of him.
"Protect them. Please," and Jon nodded heavily.
"I will. I promise," and then his eyes hit the floor, and Eddard knew the question spinning in his head. He knew it well.
It was the same question he had asked him a dozen times, and each time Eddard had thought him unprepared for the answer, and this was no different.
But still, he owed the boy the truth. He owed him that at least.
"I know what you want to say," and those eyes widened at his words, as he placed a hand on his shoulder.
"You wish to know of your mother," and he nodded hesitantly.
"I do," he answered.
"Then you will have the answer when I return from the war," and he protested.
"Why? Why do you still deny me this?" he pleaded weakly, and it pained him to see his pain.
"Everything I do, I do for your protection, my child," and he rubbed his head.
"The answer. You are simply not ready for it yet," and the boy ground his teeth.
"But war..." he hesitated to say the words, and his lips thinned.
"In that case, you should seek my old friend Howland Reed," and those eyes widened.
"Lord Reed?" and Eddard nodded.
"Aye, in case of my death, he shall give you the truth. But know this, my child, no matter what happens, you shall always be my son. Always," and he would only ever understand the weight of these words upon learning of the truth, and he could only hope that it would bring him calm and peace rather than war and turmoil.
.
.
.
Miles away in the West, Tyrion Lannister walked into his father's tent and found him raging.
"That idiot!" he roared, and he had never seen him in such rage.
"What happened?" he asked, as those green orbs settled on him.
"You were right about the boy," and he smiled.
"As delighted as I am upon hearing that admission, I would still like to know which boy you speak of?" Tyrion quipped as he slid onto one of the seats.
"My grandson. The King," Tywin Lannister snarled, and the Lord of Casterly Rock never snarled.
"The boy may have just cost us the war," and that would be rather difficult to do, given that they had Renly's armies surrounded from three sides.
"How?"
"He defiled the Stark girl," and for a second, he could not believe his ears.
"What!"
"Yes, and not just that he tried to make a spectacle of it," and the Old Lion then began to pace.
"The Stark men revolted the second they heard of the news. Thankfully, Kevan was there to contain the damage, but I fear that it might be too late now," and he had expected nothing less of Joffrey.
"I warned you about him," Tyrion added, but the Old Lion would never admit that his imp son was right.
"He is a monster," and Tywin Lannister knew that.
"I have written to Marbrand, and have ordered him to bring his host to us," but that would leave Lannisport undefended.
"Lannisport will burn," and his father ground his teeth.
"Then let it burn. Casterly Rock has never fallen to a siege, and it will not fall now. We must turn and ride to the capital at once," but that was easier said than done.
"That is wise, but one must wonder how many men would truly fight for a King like that," and Tywin Lannister said nothing as he sipped his wine, and he could see the Old Lion's mind race before he came and sat down in the chair.
"Tell me of Tommen...."
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