"Domi, does His Grace know about this? I mean… does Robert know?"
Lord Eddard asked, his voice trembling.
"The king most likely has no idea. Our king is lost in wine and whores. When it comes to things he doesn't want to know, King Robert has always preferred not to see them," Domeric said slowly, rubbing his chin.
"Then I must tell Robert the truth behind Lord Arryn's death!"
"Absolutely not!"
Domeric stepped forward and blocked Lord Eddard's path.
"Domi, why are you stopping me?" Lord Eddard halted, his eyes filled with confusion.
"If you do that, you will be harming His Grace!
"Lord Eddard, think about it carefully. If they were able to murder Lord Arryn, could they not also murder King Robert?"
"They would not dare!"
"Why wouldn't they?"
Domeric lowered his dark eyes, his tone somewhat heavy.
"Someone once told me that two kinds of people live in the Red Keep. One kind is loyal to the realm. The other kind is loyal to themselves.
"But no one is loyal to King Robert!
"For the past fifteen years, this king has spent every day hunting, whoring, drinking, and watching tourneys for pleasure. He has never cared about his court or the people around him.
"When Lord Arryn was still alive, he could barely maintain the balance of power in King's Landing. But once he died, the Vale knights loyal to Lord Arryn withdrew to the Eyrie, and Lord Stannis also fled back to Dragonstone with his men…
"House Lannister now stands alone above the rest. His Grace has already become isolated."
After hearing Domeric's words, Lord Eddard closed his eyes and stood motionless. His face looked terrible, ashen as death.
"Robert must still have allies. He still has his younger brother, Renly Baratheon," Lord Eddard argued.
Domeric gave a teasing smile.
"Lord Renly hates the Lannisters, that much is true. But that does not mean he is willing to be loyal to the king. Those are two entirely different things."
"What about the small council?" Lord Eddard asked again.
"Grand Maester Pycelle is loyal to his hard-earned position. The master of coin, Littlefinger Petyr, is loyal only to himself."
"And the Kingsguard? They swore an oath to serve the king."
"Ser Barristan is loyal to his honor. Jaime Lannister goes without saying. The whole world knows how much his oaths are worth.
"The age when Ser Ryam Redwyne and Prince Aemon the Dragonknight wore the white cloak is long gone.
"Among the current seven Kingsguard, Ser Boros and Ser Meryn are Queen Cersei's loyal dogs. The others are not much better…
"If King Robert comes into conflict with the Lannisters, you will be his only ally."
Domeric paused slightly.
"Then what should we do now?" After a long silence, Lord Eddard opened his eyes.
"Lord Eddard, given the current situation, we must prepare for the outbreak of war!"
"The outbreak of war?"
Fear was written all over Lord Eddard's face. He seemed unwilling to believe it.
"Will matters truly deteriorate to that point?"
"They will. House Lannister has always been ambitious. Returning to King's Landing and establishing a Lannister dynasty has long been Lord Tywin's dream.
"We must do something, Lord Eddard.
"If we lose this battle, the consequences will be unimaginable. You know how cruel House Lannister is toward the defeated!" Domeric said solemnly.
Lord Eddard seemed to think of something.
Fifteen years ago, near the end of Robert's Rebellion, Tywin Lannister had tricked his way through the gates of King's Landing.
The scene of the Mad King, Aerys II, lying on the floor before the Iron Throne, barely alive, his blood slowly drying upon a gilded blade.
Rhaegar Targaryen's infant son, his bloodied head.
His little daughter, dragged from her mother's arms and smashed against a wall.
And their mother, Princess Elia, who had been brutally raped and murdered. The killer had been Tywin's foremost war dog, Gregor Clegane, the Mountain. Afterward, he had suffered no punishment at all…
Thinking of Tywin Lannister's eternally expressionless face, Lord Eddard shuddered. He did not want those tragedies to happen to him and his family.
"I will immediately write to Helman Tallhart of Torrhen's Square and Galbart Glover of Deepwood Motte, ordering each of them to send three hundred archers to assist in defending Moat Cailin. That should be enough to block any army from marching north through the Neck.
"At the same time, I will have Lord Wyman of White Harbor hasten the fortification of White Harbor and ensure it has sufficient troops.
"In addition, I will have Robb keep a close eye on Theon Greyjoy. If war truly breaks out, the Iron Islands fleet will be a great asset!"
Domeric could not help but shake his head inwardly.
Even at a life-or-death moment like this, Eddard Stark's measures were still far too conservative!
"That is nowhere near enough! We cannot simply defend passively.
"You should gather the armies of the North and prepare to respond to the unpredictable situation ahead."
Domeric's voice was firm.
Lord Eddard had already issued the command summoning Tywin to King's Landing in his capacity as Hand of the King. Now, most of the deadline had already passed, yet Lord Tywin had no intention of coming to King's Landing to attend some damn public trial.
Domeric guessed that, at this very moment, Tywin Lannister was gathering the armies of the Westerlands, preparing to stab straight into the Riverlands and beat House Tully to pieces.
If the Northern armies could be gathered in advance and enter the battlefield early, the Riverlands would not suffer losses as severe as in the original plot.
However, gathering the armies of the North was no small matter. One careless move could ignite a great war. It all depended on whether Lord Eddard had the resolve.
"This…"
Eddard hesitated. Defending the North and marching armies out of the North were two entirely different things.
The former was merely self-preservation. The latter would ignite a world-shaking conflict. Would Eddard Stark, who valued honor more than life itself, dare bear the blame for starting a war?
"Tomorrow, I will seek an audience with King Robert and tell him everything. At that point, I can only pray that Robert still possesses the wisdom he once had.
"As long as we stand with King Robert and drive the Lannisters out of King's Landing, perhaps matters will not become as terrible as we imagine!"
Hopefully.
Eddard said the word silently in his heart.
Domeric smiled bitterly.
If Robert truly had great talent and vision, then back when Lord Arryn and Stannis were still here, he would have suppressed the Lannisters long ago.
Why would he have needed to travel all the way to Winterfell to ask you for help?
Now that Lord Arryn was dead and Stannis had fled to Dragonstone, Robert was even more alone.
Why still place hope in such a man?
Domeric silently complained in his heart.
As for Lord Eddard's political innocence and stupidity, Domeric no longer felt like saying much.
After all, he had never placed his bet on Lord Eddard.
Regarding this cheap father-in-law of his, Domeric had always followed one principle: if he could carry him, he would carry him; if he could not, then he could let him fend for himself. Domeric had no desire to become a burial offering.
In the original storyline, after Lord Eddard obtained ironclad evidence of Queen Cersei's adultery, he actually went to confront Cersei directly and, on the grounds that he did not want to kill women and children, urged her to take her children and flee as quickly as possible…
A brain-dead move like that deserved to get him killed.
It was not that Lord Eddard was wrong to uphold the knightly tradition of not killing women and children.
Rather, when facing treacherous people who had no morality, you had to be even more treacherous than they were if you wanted to win, and only then could you protect your knightly ideals.
If you lost, you became a joke.
And so did everything you stood for.
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🏰🩸 GAME OF THRONES: SECRETS BENEATH THE DREADFORT
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🚨 SOMETHING IS BURIED BENEATH THE DREADFORT...
And perhaps it was buried for a reason.
The North is a land of old blood, older grudges, and secrets hidden beneath snow and stone.
But few places inspire more fear than...
The Dreadfort.
30+ chapters ahead are already available.
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🩸 THE DREADFORT HIDES MORE THAN BONES
🏰 Dark northern secrets
⚔️ Political intrigue
🐺 Westerosi power struggles
🩸 Bloodlines & betrayal
❄️ The brutal North
👑 Ambition & survival
💀 Mysteries best left forgotten
The North remembers.
But the Dreadfort?
🩸 The Dreadfort hides.
🔥 30+ CHAPTERS AHEAD.
👉 Go beneath the Dreadfort before the public readers reach the door.
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⚠️ The more Power Stones this novel receives, the greater its release priority!
❄️ Winter may be coming. The secrets are already here.