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[In Kings Landing Ned Stark walks with his men, while being called by a messenger.]
"Lord Stark!"
"Stop!"
"No, all right. It's all right. Let him through."
"Lord Stark, King Joffrey and the Queen Regent request your presence in the Throne Room."
"King Joffrey?"
"King Robert is gone. The Gods give him rest."
Ned stilled before shooting a look at his friend, his brother in all but blood. Robert looked back with a small smile.
[Ned seems petrified by the news. Shortly after, Ned arrives close by the Throne room, where Littlefinger, Varys and a few Stark men await him.]
"All is accomplished. The City Watch is yours."
"Good. Is Lord Renly joining us?"
"I fear Lord Renly has left the city. He rode through the old gate an hour before dawn with Ser Loras Tyrell and some 50 retainers. Last seen galloping South in some haste."
"Renly..." Robert growled.
"How the fuck would I know what I'm doing in the future?!" Renly snapped at his older brother.
Except he did know what he was doing. Such conversations always came up between him and Loras, about what they'd do in the event of Robert's death and with Renly having no support at court. Conversations he never divulged with anyone.
[When moving on to, the front of the Throne room, Janos Slynt and the Gold Cloaks await Ned.]
"We stand behind you, Lord Stark."
"I wouldn't trust him, Lord Stark" warned Tyrion. "The man isn't what you'd call 'honourable."
"I can tell," Ned said sourly.
"All hail his Grace, Joffrey of Houses Baratheon and Lannister, the first of his name, King of the Andals and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm."
"I command the council to make all necessary arrangements for my coronation. I wish to be crowned within the fortnight. Today I shall accept oaths of fealty from my loyal councillors."
"Who would say his father just died" Lyanna spat.
"Robert is not his father" Brandon pointed out.
"He doesn't know that! To him, his father died and he's not grieving but celebrating his ascension!"
"Joffrey is King now, he's allowed to be happy," Sansa said defensively.
"Not right after the death of his father" Lyanna snapped back, making the girl flinch. The older woman sighed and apologised gently to the young girl.
"Ser Barristan, I believe no man here could ever question your honour."
"Him jumping ships as he did would put his honour in question" Oberyn pointed out with a sharp smile.
Nobody tried arguing with him on that matter.
"King Robert's seal. Unbroken."
[He opens the letter Ned gives him.]
"Lord Eddard Stark is herein named Protector of the Realm, to rule as Regent until the heir come of age."
"May I see that letter, Ser Barristan? Protector of the realm. Is this meant to be your shield, Lord Stark? A piece of paper?"
[Cersei shreds Robert's letter to pieces.]
"Damned woman! I will have your head on a spike!" Robert roared in anger. How dare she disrespect his last words and wishes like this? Oh, she'll burn, he'll make sure she ad her abomination of firstborn burns.
"Those were the King's words."
"We have a new King now. Lord Eddard, when we last spoke you offered me some counsel. Allow me to return the courtesy. Bend the knee, My Lord. Bend the knee and swear loyalty to my son and we shall allow you to live out your days in the grey waste you call home."
"Please, take the counsel, my Lord" Catelyn whispered to herself.
"Your son has no claim to the throne."
Catelyn grits her teeth and closed her eyes in defeat. At least Petyr had made other arrangements. Her husband would be safe.
"Liar!"
"You condemn yourself with your own mouth, Lord Stark. Ser Barristan, seize this traitor."
"Ser Barristan is a good man, a loyal man. Do him no harm."
"You think he stands alone?"
[Sandor Clegane draws his sword.]
"Kill him! Kill all of them, I command it!" Joffery shouted
The video paused and the next question appeared.
Q. What will happen next?
A) Ned Stark captures Joffery and Cersei
B) Ned Stark kills Joffery and Cersei
C) Ned Stark is killed by Joffery's men
D) Ned Stark is betrayed by Petyr Baelish
"A) Ned Stark captures Joffery and Cersei" Brandon Stark answers
""D) Ned Stark is betrayed by Petyr Baelish"" Jon Snow and Varys answered together.
"Petyr is like a brother to me, how could he betray Ned" Catelyn growled at Jon who ignored her.
"Ned will never kill Joffery or Cersei otherwise I would have chosen that" Robert grumbles
Ned Stark: "Commander! Take the Queen and her children into custody. Escort them back to the royal apartments and keep them there, under guard."
"Men of the Watch!"
[The Gold Cloaks draw their swords.]
"I want no bloodshed. Tell your men to lay down their swords. No one needs to die."
"Now!"
[Suddenly, the Gold Cloaks switch sides and attack the Stark men. Littlefinger sneaks up to Ned Stark. He grabs him from behind, then holds a dagger to his throat.]
Catelyn stiffened in shock.
"I did warn you not to trust me."
Screens fades black.
Wrong answer by Brandon Stark he loses the next two chances for the right answer.
Congratulations to Jon Snow and Varys for right answers. Jon Snow becomes the strongest Warg and greenseer. Varys gets the regeneration serum capable of regenerating any limbs even after a long time.
Where there was expected chaos, silence reigned supreme as men, women and children processed what they had just witnessed.
It was only after Robb Stark swore vengeance loud and clear for all to hear that the rest of the Hall dissolved into chaos.
The Starks were rightly furious, cursing the backstabber to the seven hells irrespective of how old the cursers were. Nobody stopped the younger ones from cursing, even the silent ones joined in. Robert Baratheon joined right in, his curses more like promises he could fulfil as king. Jon Arryn called Petyr Baelish many things, none of them polite or for children to hear. Those who did not join in on the chaotic cursing of Petyr Baelish eyed the Starks with an almost "I knew this would happen' look," especially at Catelyn Stark who had been such a firm defender of her childhood friend.
The woman in question did not join in with the rest of her family. She stared, jaw slackened, eyes wide and hands trembling in disbelief. "He was my friend" she whispered to herself. She felt a hand on her shoulder and the world around her began to crumble.
With a strangled sob Catelyn shrugged the hand away and ran. She was not sure where she was running, but she needed to be away from all of these people.
The door was right before her, the wooden door with iron borders and latches. She slammed through it and kept running. She did not go to the chamber she'd shared with her husband or one of her children's chambers either.
She didn't even enter the door that led to that particular corridor.
Instead, she ran past it, ran past the multitude of doors that had taken a form of their own to represent who lived behind them. She kept running further from those occupied ones to the ones that were still empty, their doors bland and blank. Finally, she stopped, choosing a chamber that would be a stranger to her, one that she could isolate herself in and break.
It wasn't a chamber that was a stranger to her when she walked. Her cerulean eyes took in the all too familiar chambers, her chambers in Riverrun. The way the furniture was arranged, the large bed, the scent, all of it was the same as the day she had left her home for Winterfell.
Funny how she remembered all of that so clearly.
She struggled to the bed before collapsing on it.
She did not hold herself back from sobbing and crying this time. She buried her face in her bed and cried her heart out, sobbing and wailing. She didn't hear her door click open, so when she felt a hand on her back, she jumped and bolted away from the bed.
It was Ned.
He looked at her with kindness.
How could he look like that at her after what had happened?
"He was my friend" she whispered shakily.