Page 6 (2/2)
"Lighting a fire," Catelyn told hied into it, then knelt over the cold hearth
"Maester Luwin--" Ned began
"Maester Luwin has delivered all my children," Catelyn said "This is no ti the kindling and placed the heavier logs on top of it
Ned crossed the room, took her by the arm, and pulled her to her feet He held her there, his face inches froe?"
Catelyn stiffened in his grasp "A warning," she said softly "If we have the wits to hear"
His eyes searched her face "Go on"
"Lysa says Jon Arryn was htened on her arm "By whom?"
"The Lannisters," she told him "The queen"
Ned released his hold on her arm There were deep red marks on her skin "Gods," he whispered His voice was hoarse "Your sister is sick with grief She cannot knohat she is saying"
"She knows," Catelyn said "Lysa is ie was carefully planned, cleverly hidden She knew ithands To risk so much, she must have had more than mere suspicion" Catelyn looked to her husband "Noe truly have no choice You o south with him and learn the truth"
She saw at once that Ned had reached a very different conclusion "The only truths I know are here The south is a nest of adders I would do better to avoid"
Luwin plucked at his chain collar where it had chafed the soft skin of his throat "The Hand of the King has great power, my lord Power to find the truth of Lord Arryn’s death, to bring his killers to the king’s justice Power to protect Lady Arryn and her son, if the worst be true"
Ned glanced helplessly around the bedchamber Catelyn’s heart went out to him, but she knew she could not take him in her arms just then First the victory must be won, for her children’s sake "You say you love Robert like a brother Would you leave your brother surrounded by Lannisters?"
"The Others take both of you," Ned muttered darkly He turned away from them and went to theShe did not speak, nor did the maester They waited, quiet, while Eddard Stark said a silent farewell to the home he loved When he turned away from theat last, his voice was tired and full of littered faintly in the corners of his eyes "My father went south once, to answer the suain"
"A different ti"
"Yes," Ned said dully He seated himself in a chair by the hearth "Catelyn, you shall stay here in Winterfell"
His words were like an icy draft through her heart "No," she said, suddenly afraid Was this to be her punishain, nor to feel his arms around her?
"Yes," Ned said, in words that would brook no arguovern the north in my stead, while I run Robert’s errands There must always be a Stark in Winterfell Robb is fourteen Soon enough, he will be a rown He must learn to rule, and I will not be here for him Make him part of your councils He must be ready when his time comes"
"Gods will, not for many years," Maester Luwin murmured
"Maester Luwin, I trust you as I would reat and ss he needs to know Winter is coravely Then silence fell, until Catelyn found her courage and asked the question whose answer she most dreaded "What of the other children?"
Ned stood, and took her in his ar," he said gently "He should stay here with you and Robb The others I would take with me"
"I could not bear it," Catelyn said, tre
"You must," he said "Sansa rounds to suspect our devotion And it is past time that Arya learned the ways of a southron court In a few years she will be of an age to marry too"
Sansa would shine in the south, Catelyn thought to herself, and the gods knew that Arya needed refineo of them in her heart But not Bran Never Bran "Yes," she said, "but please, Ned, for the love you bear me, let Bran remain here at Winterfell He is only seven"
"I was eight when my father sent me to foster at the Eyrie," Ned said "Ser Rodrik tellsbetween Robb and Prince Joffrey That is not healthy Bran can bridge that distance He is a sweet boy, quick to laugh, easy to love Let hi princes, let him become their friend as Robert became mine Our House will be the safer for it"
He was right; Catelyn knew it It did not make the pain any easier to bear She would lose all four of the Bran Only Robb and little Rickon would be left to her She felt lonely already Winterfell was such a vast place "Keep him off the walls, then," she said bravely "You kno Bran loves to climb"
Ned kissed the tears from her eyes before they could fall "Thank you, my lady," he whispered "This is hard, I know"
"What of Jon Snow, my lord?" Maester Luwin asked
Catelyn tensed at the er in her, and pulled away
Many e It cae, to learn that Ned had fathered a child on son He had a man’s needs, after all, and they had spent that year apart, Ned off at war in the south while she rehts were more of Robb, the infant at her breast, than of the husband she scarcely knew He elcoht find between battles And if his seed quickened, she expected he would see to the child’s needs
He did ht his bastard home with him, and called him "son" for all the north to see When the ere over at last, and Catelyn rode to Winterfell, Jon and his wet nurse had already taken up residence
That cut deep Ned would not speak of the mother, not so much as a word, but a castle has no secrets, and Catelyn heard hertales they heard from the lips of her husband’s soldiers They whispered of Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning, deadliest of the seven knights of Aerys’s Kingsguard, and of how their young lord had slain hile combat And they told how afterward Ned had carried Ser Arthur’s sword back to the beautiful young sister aited him in a castle called Starfall on the shores of the Su violet eyes It had taken her a fortnight to ht, Catelyn had asked her husband the truth of it, asked him to his face
That was the only tihtened her "Never ask me about Jon," he said, cold as ice "He is my blood, and that is all you need to know And noill learn where you heard that naed to obey; she told hi had stopped, and Ashara Dayne’s naain
Whoever Jon’sCatelyn said would persuade hi she could never forgive him She had come to love her husband with all her heart, but she had never found it in her to love Jon She ht have overlooked a dozen bastards for Ned’s sake, so long as they were out of sight Jon was never out of sight, and as he grew, he looked more like Ned than any of the trueborn sons she bore hio," she said now
"He and Robb are close," Ned said "I had hoped"
"He cannot stay here," Catelyn said, cutting him off "He is your son, not mine I will not have him" It was hard, she knew, but no less the truth Ned would do the boy no kindness by leaving hiave her was anguished "You know I cannot take him south There will be no place for him at court A boy with a bastard’s nameyou knohat they will say of him He will be shunned"
Catelyn arainst the mute appeal in her husband’s eyes "They say your friend Robert has fathered a dozen bastards himself"
"And none of them has ever been seen at court!" Ned blazed "The Lannister woman has seen to that How can you be so damnably cruel, Catelyn? He is only a boy He--"
His fury was on hiht have said more, and worse, but Maester Luwin cut in "Another solution presents itself," he said, his voice quiet "Your brother Benjen cao It seems the boy aspires to take the black"
Ned looked shocked "He asked to join the Night’s Watch?"
Catelyn said nothing Let Ned work it out in his own ladly would she have kissed the maester just then His was the perfect solution Benjen Stark was a Sworn Brother Jon would be a son to him, the child he would never have And in time the boy would take the oath as well He would father no sons who randchildren for Winterfell
Maester Luwin said, "There is great honor in service on the Wall, h in the Night’s Watch," Ned reflected Still, his voice was troubled "Jon is so young If he asked this when he was a , but a boy of fourteen"
"A hard sacrifice," Maester Luwin agreed "Yet these are hard times, my lord His road is no crueler than yours or your lady’s"
Catelyn thought of the three children shesilent then
Ned turned away frohtful Finally he sighed, and turned back "Very well," he said to Maester Luwin "I suppose it is for the best I will speak to Ben"
"When shall we tell Jon?" the maester asked
"When I ht before we are ready to depart I would sooner let Jon enjoy these last few days Suh, and childhood as well When the time comes, I will tell him myself"