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After hearing Robb's words, Eddard suddenly slammed both fists against the wooden floor. The chains on his body rattled violently with the sudden movement.
"Those bastards… damned all of them!"
Seeing his father lose control for a brief moment and strike the ground repeatedly, Robb understood that it was nothing more than the release of all the pent-up emotions Edd had been suppressing since arriving in King's Landing and being thrown into the black cells.
After venting his anger for a while, Eddard gradually calmed. He took a deep breath, then spoke:
"It was Baelish who arranged all of this. He wants to provoke war between the Starks and the Lannisters.
When you return, tell Catelyn everything. Have her contact her father, Lord Hoster Tully.
Then join forces with the lord of Dragonstone, Stannis Baratheon, and help him take the Iron Throne."
Robb listened in silence to the plan his father laid out.
Then he shook his head and looked at Eddard with a steady gaze.
"Father, after seeing what has happened to you, I will never kneel before anyone again. Never."
"Robb, you…"
Hearing the absolute firmness in his son's voice, Eddard was stunned. He even raised his right hand as if to point at him, then stopped.
He wanted to rebuke him with everything he had believed in all his life, loyalty, honor, duty.
But when he saw the light in his son's eyes, and after everything he himself had suffered these past days, Eddard suddenly seemed to lose the will to speak. His hand slowly fell, and he spoke in a low voice:
"Since I arrived in King's Landing, I've come to understand many things.
That day in the gardens, Baelish pointed out the spies surrounding me. Everyone knew everything. I knew nothing.
When you asked me in Winterfell to build a network of information, you were right.
These past days, without any information, I was like a blind man, led step by step into the trap."
Eddard looked at Robb, who listened in silence, took a breath, and continued:
"Far from Winterfell, far from the bannermen who trust me, I can do nothing.
In King's Landing, I was surrounded and constrained on all sides. What use was it for me to be Hand of the King?
They only obeyed me because of Robert, the man standing behind me.
Now that he is dead, his will was torn apart by Cersei as if it were nothing at all.
The bastard she had with Jaime, Joffrey, now sits on the Iron Throne.
And I am here, waiting for death with the name of traitor hanging around my neck."
"Father, you are not going to die.
I promised Lord Varys that I would not take you out of here yet.
But at midday today, I will return to the black cells and take you out.
You can rest assured. I've already prepared the escape route."
When Eddard finished speaking, Robb answered immediately, finally revealing the true purpose of his visit.
"Escape King's Landing…
Robb, I believe you are capable of getting me out of this city.
But if I flee, the Lannisters will turn my supposed treason into truth in the eyes of the realm.
Eddard Stark will become, officially, a man who betrayed his king, betrayed his closest friend, and rose in rebellion against the crown.
And House Stark will bear that stain with me.
All the honor of my life, all the honor of House Stark, will be dragged through the mud… so that I may live a few more years burdened by endless guilt?
If that is the case, how will I face my ancestors in the crypts of Winterfell when I die?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Eddard raised his hand to stop Robb from interrupting and continued in a resolute voice:
"Robb, leave this place. Take your sisters and return to Winterfell.
Gather men and hold Moat Cailin. Strengthen White Harbor as well. If you do that, the Lannisters will never be able to force their way into the North.
I came to this because of my foolish mercy and the honor I clung to.
Robb… you are stronger than I am.
Protect your mother. Protect your brothers and sisters.
And if it is possible, I will wait here until you can clear my name and take me out of here the right way."
"Father…"
Knock knock knock!
Just as Robb was about to insist again, a series of knocks sounded on the wooden door of the cell. It was Varys, signaling that time was up.
"Say no more. Go find your sisters."
Understanding the meaning of the knocks, Eddard turned his face away and gestured for Robb to leave at once.
Knowing he could not change his stubborn father's mind in such a short time, Robb could only grit his teeth and turn toward the exit.
Hearing his son's footsteps fade away, Eddard looked back at him, his eyes filled with sorrow.
When the torchlight disappeared completely, the cell was swallowed once more by endless darkness.
The heavy door closed.
And in the darkness, a sigh escaped, heavy with emotions too deep for words.
"Ah…
My foolish boy… even if I abandoned all the honor of my life and fled back to the North… what would I do when I faced you, who refuses to kneel before anyone?
The North… now belongs to you.
Catelyn… I promised I would return soon.
Forgive me… I will break that promise."
Robb had no idea what thoughts were passing through his father's mind at that moment.
As soon as he stepped out of the cell, he found Varys with a tense expression, already pulling the hood of his jailer's uniform over his head.
"Hurry. The next shift of jailers should arrive at any moment."
Robb nodded and followed Varys back toward the secret passage.
"One will leave here. When we meet again, we will speak."
As he passed Jaqen's cell, the man, who had clearly been waiting for this moment, spoke with a smile.
Robb had no time to deal with him. He walked past without even slowing.
Creeeak.
As soon as Robb entered through the empty cell's passage, Varys immediately shut the wooden door behind him.
At that exact moment, the main door of the black cells opened from the outside, and a burly jailer in uniform, holding a torch, stepped into the corridor.
"Rugen, it's time for the смена!"
As soon as he entered, the jailer saw Varys in the corridor and called out loudly.
"Mm. I know. Here are the keys."
Varys replied in his hoarse voice, handed over the keys, and walked past him, leaving the black cells.
"Ahhh…"
After closing the main door behind him, the jailer let out a huge yawn.
The previous night, he had spent the whole night with prostitutes. He had been counting on the dull guard duty in the black cells to get some sleep.
"Hey, big man. Want to hear a secret?"
Jaqen stretched his hand through the small wooden slit of the cell and beckoned him.
"Put your hand in there again and I'll make sure you spend the rest of your life using only the other one."
Seeing that this prisoner, who had always been quiet and well-behaved, was acting strangely, the jailer drew his sword and threatened him.
"It's a secret worth at least a few dozen gold dragons.
Look… I already have one here."
As he spoke, Jaqen slowly opened his hand, as if performing a trick.
A gold coin appeared between his fingers.
Under the torchlight, the gleam of that gold dragon was hypnotic.
Greed filled the jailer's eyes. He walked up to Jaqen's cell and said loudly:
"If you're lying to me, you'll regret it!"
Reaching the cell, he placed the torch into a wall bracket, kept his sword in his right hand, and extended his left to take the coin.
The moment he took the gold dragon from Jaqen's hand, he felt something like a faint sting in his palm. A pain so slight it was almost nothing.
But consumed by the joy of seeing the coin was genuine, he paid it no mind.
Leaning closer to the slit, he asked eagerly:
"Speak. What's the secret?"
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