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The courtyard's clamor fell into eerie silence after Ned and Robert left.
Lynn leaned in the pillar's shadow. Watched those two figures vanish into the crypt's entrance.
One was his nominal sovereign. One was his temporary protector.
These two menâbrothers and comrades both. And both walking into the abyss.
Queen Cersei Lannister's smile had long disappeared. Her eyes full of fury.
She stared toward the crypts. That gazeâas if to burn that dark entrance to ash.
Jaime Lannister stood beside her. Face wearing a careless smile.
He used his gloved hand to pat the Queen's tense shoulder lightly. Movement intimate and ambiguous.
"My dear sister, why rage over a dead woman." His voice was low. Tinged with mockery.
"The King must have some harmless hobbies."
Cersei said nothing. Just withdrew her gaze. That cold stare swept the entire courtyard. Finally landed on those Stark children.
Especially Sansa.
The crypt's stepsâwet and slippery from melted ice and snow.
The crypts were always warmâWinterfell sat upon hot springs.
Ned and Robert walked among House Stark's generations of dead. Footsteps echoing in the crypts.
Torchlight danced in narrow passages. Stretched their shadows long and twisted.
The air smelled of dust mixed with cold.
Robert Baratheon said nothing. Just wheezed heavily.
His obese body looked clumsy on the narrow stone steps.
Ned followed behind. Equally silent.
He could feel the oppressive emotion radiating from the King. Not the majesty of ruling kingdoms.
But a heavy griefânearly crushing.
They passed rows of Stark ancestor statues. Those cold stone figures gripped iron swords. Quietly watched visitors.
Soon, they stopped before three side-by-side stone coffins.
This statue was Ned's father, Rickard Stark. Sat solemnly. Stone fingers gripping the sword laid across his knees.
The two coffins beside him were his children. One was Ned's eldest brother, Brandon.
The other was Ned's sister, Lyanna. She died at sixteen.
Now, only Ned's brother Benjen survived.
Robert knelt before Rickard's statue. Bowed his head respectfully. Then stood.
"Jon Arryn is dead." Robert's voice suddenly broke the suffocating silence.
Ned paused. "I know, Your Grace."
Robert turned. Firelight illuminated half his face. Those eyes bloodshot.
"I respected him." "Though I don't know how he died." "But I knowâI'm surrounded by vipers, Ned."
"Liars, cowards, and fawning wretches." "I can't trust anyone."
Robert's gaze locked onto Ned's face.
"I want you as my Hand."
Not a request. A command.
Ned's heart sank.
He thought of Catelyn's worries. Of Winterfell's peaceful years. Of his children.
He wanted to refuse.
So he knelt. Spoke tactfully. "Your Grace, I'm a Northman." "I don't belong in the South."
"Listen, Ned." Robert stepped forward. His massive shadow nearly engulfed Ned completely.
"I'm not here to negotiate." "I need someone I can trust with my back." "In all the Seven Kingdoms, I only trust you."
"And me? I'll eat, drink, and fuck to my heart's content."
"Damn it, Ned, stand up."
Robert pulled Ned to his feet.
"You helped me win that damned Iron Throne. You should help me keep it, shouldn't you?"
"We were meant to rule this kingdom together." "Should have joined our housesâif your sister Lyanna had lived."
"Fortunately, it's not too late." "I have a son. You have a daughter." "They'll continue this."
Ned avoided Robert's gaze. "Jon's son..."
Robert shook his head quickly. "He's six! Let him inherit the Eyrie!"
Ned was surprised. House Arryn had been Wardens of the East for generations. This should be hereditary!
Robert explained. "A six-year-old can't be Warden. He can't command armies."
"If not, wait a few years until he grows up. Give it back to him then!"
Robert had spoken. Ned knewâHouse Arryn had been arranged. He'd probably been arranged too.
The King's willâcannot be defied.
"I obey your will, Your Grace." Ned's voice was low.
Robert grew angry. "Damn it, Ned, stop calling me Your Grace." "Call me that again and I'll beat you to death!"
Ned showed a helpless smile.
After this interruption, the grief on Robert's face dissipated somewhat. Replaced by weariness.
Robert turned. Faced another statue.
Lyanna Stark.
The craftsman's skill was excellentâfroze her girlhood appearance forever in stone.
Even as a cold statue, it couldn't hide that northern wildness and beauty.
Robert reached out. That massive hand that once wielded a warhammer now trembled slightly.
He used rough fingertips to gently stroke Lyanna's cold cheek.
"Why put her in this damned place? She should be with blue skies and white clouds..."
"Ned... I dream every night." Robert's voiceâsoft as a sigh.
"In my dreams, I kill him again and again." "Rhaegar."
"With my warhammer, I smash open his fancy armor. Shatter every bone." "Again and again."
In the cryptâonly torches crackling.
"You already killed him, Your Grace." Ned reminded softly.
"Did I?" Robert withdrew his hand. Grief on his face instantly replaced by bone-deep hatred.
"But it's not enough!" "As long as one Targaryen lives, I can't sleep soundly!"
His voice suddenly rose. Echoed through the crypt.
"That Viserys." "And his sister, Daenerys." "They're alive, Ned!"
"They hide across the Narrow Sea. Breeding like cockroaches. Waiting to return and take everything from me!"
Madness burned in Robert's eyes.
"I want them dead." "I want to erase the Targaryen name from this world completely."
Ned felt a chill. That chill rose from his feet. Spread through his entire body instantly.
Colder than the North's most bitter wind.
Kill innocent children? This violated everything he believed inâall honor and principles.
He opened his mouth. Wanted to say something.
But Robert glared at Ned.
"You've forgotten!" "The Mad King roasted your father alive!"
"He put Brandon in a strangulation collar right across from the brazier. Your father's screams made your brother desperately lunge forward!"
"The louder your father screamed, the more your brother couldn't help moving forward to save him. Finally your brother strangled himself to deathâdied before your father!"
"All the courtiers were forced to watch. Cowards dared not speak. And those loyal menâanyone who dared speak was hacked to death or exiled!"
"Ned!" "Have you forgotten all this!"
Looking at Robert's face twisted with rageâall Ned's rebuttals stuck in his throat.
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