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Eddard

The summons carey

Alyn shook hihly froy fro already loves and a heavy fur cloak with a hood that covered his ears, and looked for all the world like a bear sitting a horse "Up, Stark!" he roared "Up, up! We have matters of state to discuss"

"By all means," Ned said "Come inside, Your Grace" Alyn lifted the flap of the tent

"No, no, no," Robert said His breath steamed with every word "The camp is full of ears Besides, I want to ride out and taste this country of yours" Ser Boros and Ser Meryn waited behind hi to do but rub the sleep from his eyes, dress, and e black destrier hard as Ned galloped along beside hi to keep up He called out a question as they rode, but the wind blew his words away, and the king did not hear hisroad and took off across rolling plains dark with uard had fallen back a small distance, safely out of earshot, but still Robert would not slow

Dawn broke as they crested a low ridge, and finally the king pulled up By then they were miles south of the main party Robert was flushed and exhilarated as Ned reined up beside hiet out and ride the way ais enough to drive a man mad" He had never been a patient man, Robert Baratheon "That da every bump in the road as if it were abreaks another axle, I’ to burn it, and Cersei can walk!"

Ned laughed "I will gladly light the torch for you"

"Goodclapped him on the shoulder "I’ve half a "

A smile touched Ned’s lips "I do believe yousaid "What do you say, Ned? Just you and sroad, our swords at our sides and the gods knohat in front of us, and hter or a tavern wench to warht"

"Would that we could," Ned said, "but we have duties now, eto the realm, to our children, I to my lady wife and you to your queen We are not the boys ere"

"You were never the boy you were," Robert grumbled "More’s the pity And yet there was that one tiirl of yours? Becca? No, she was one ofeyes, you could drown in them Yours wasAleena? No You told me once Was it Merryl? You know the one I mean, your bastard’s mother?"

"Her name was Wylla," Ned replied with cool courtesy, "and I would sooner not speak of her"

"Wylla Yes" The king grinned "She must have been a rare wench if she could et his honor, even for an hour You never told me what she looked like"

Ned’s er "Nor will I Leave it be, Robert, for the love you say you bear ht of gods and men"

"Gods have mercy, you scarcely knew Catelyn"

"I had taken her to wife She was carrying my child"

"You are too hard on yourself, Ned You alere Damn it, no woman wants Baelor the Blessed in her bed" He slapped a hand on his knee "Well, I’ll not press you if you feel so strong about it, though I swear, at ti as your sigil"

The rising sun sent fingers of light through the pale white mists of dawn A wide plain spread out beneath them, bare and brown, its flatness here and there relieved by long, low hu "The barrows of the First Men"

Robert frowned "Have we ridden onto a graveyard?"

"There are barrows everywhere in the north, Your Grace," Ned told hiruuard had reined up well behind the you out here to talk of graves or bicker about your bastard There was a rider in the night, fro pulled a paper from his belt and handed it to Ned

Varys the eunuch was the king’s master of whisperers He served Robert now as he had once served Aerys Targaryen Ned unrolled the paper with trepidation, thinking of Lysa and her terrible accusation, but the e did not concern Lady Arryn "What is the source for this information?"

"Do you reht forget him," Ned said bluntly The Mormonts of Bear Island were an old house, proud and honorable, but their lands were cold and distant and poor Ser Jorah had tried to swell the fa some poachers to a Tyroshi slaver As the Mormonts were bannermen to the Starks, his cri journey west to BearIsland, only to find when he arrived that Jorah had taken ship beyond the reach of Ice and the king’s justice Five years had passed since then

"Ser Jorah is now in Pentos, anxious to earn a royal pardon that would allow hiood use of him"

"So the slaver has become a spy," Ned said with distaste He handed the letter back "I would rather he become a corpse"

"Varys tells me that spies are more useful than corpses," Robert said "Jorah aside, what do you aryen has wed so gift?"

The king frowned "A knife, perhaps A good sharp one, and a bold n surprise; Robert’s hatred of the Targaryens was a ed when Tywin Lannister had presented Robert with the corpses of Rhaegar’s wife and children as a token of fealty Ned had named that murder; Robert called it war When he had protested that the young prince and princess were nohad replied, "I see no babes Only dragonspawn" Not even Jon Arryn had been able to calm that store, to fight the last battles of the war alone in the south It had taken another death to reconcile therief they had shared over her passing

This tiirl is scarcely hter innocents" It was said that Rhaegar’s little girl had cried as they dragged her from beneath her bed to face the swords The boy had been no more than a babe in arms, yet Lord Tywin’s soldiers had torn hiainst a wall

"And how long will this one rerew hard "This child will soon enough spread her legs and start breeding ue me"

"Nonetheless," Ned said, "the murder of childrenit would be vileunspeakable"

"Unspeakable?" the king roared "What Aerys did to your brother Brandon was unspeakable The way your lord father died, that was unspeakable And Rhaegarhow many times do you think he raped your sister? How rown so loud that his horse whinnied nervously beneath hi the anier at Ned "I will kill every Targaryen I can get ons, and then I will piss on their graves"

Ned knew better than to defy him when the wrath was on him If the years had not quenched Robert’s thirst for revenge, no words of his would help "You can’t get your hands on this one, can you?" he said quietly

The king’s ods be cursed Soer had her brother and her walled up on his estate with pointy-hatted eunuchs all around them, and now he’s handed them over to the Dothraki I should have had theet at them, but Jon was as bad as you More fool I, I listened to hiood Hand"