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Ned studied the eunuch’s face, searching for truth beneath the mummer’s scars and false stubble He tried some more wine This time it went down easier "Can you free me from this pit?"

"I couldbut will I? No Questions would be asked, and the ansould lead back to me"

Ned had expected no more "You are blunt"

"A eunuch has no honor, and a spider does not enjoy the luxury of scruples, my lord"

"Would you at least consent to carry a e out for ladly provide you with paper and ink, if you like And when you have written what you will, I will take the letter and read it, and deliver it or not, as best serves my own ends"

"Your own ends What ends are those, Lord Varys?"

"Peace," Varys replied without hesitation "If there was one soul in King’s Landing as truly desperate to keep Robert Baratheon alive, it was hed "For fifteen years I protected him from his enemies, but I could not protect hie fit of madness led you to tell the queen that you had learned the truth of Joffrey’s birth?"

"The madness of mercy," Ned admitted

"Ah," said Varys "To be sure You are an honest and honorable et that I have lanced around the cell "When I see what honesty and honor have won you, I understand why"

Ned Stark laid his head back against the da "The king’s winedid you question Lancel?"

"Oh, indeed Cersei gave him the wineskins, and told hied "A hunter lives a perilous life If the boar had not done for Robert, it would have been a fall froone astraythe forest is the abbatoir of the gods It was not wine that killed the king It was your ive ods," Varys said, "I expect they will The queen would not have waited long in any case Robert was beco unruly, and she needed to be rid of him to free her hands to deal with his brothers They are quite a pair, Stannis and Renly The iron gauntlet and the silk glove" He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand "You have been foolish, ed you to support Joffrey’s succession"

"Howhow could you know of that?"

Varys smiled "I know, that’s all that need concern you I also know that on the morrow the queen will pay you a visit"

Slowly Ned raised his eyes "Why?"

"Cersei is frightened of you, my lordbut she has other ene the river lords even now Lysa Arryn sits in the Eyrie, ringed in stone and steel, and there is no love lost between her and the queen In Dorne, the Martells still brood on the murder of Princess Elia and her babes And now your son marches down the Neck with a northern host at his back"

"Robb is only a boy," Ned said, aghast

"A boy with an ar’s brothers are the ones giving Cersei sleepless nightsLord Stannis in particular His claim is the true one, he is known for his prowess as a battle commander, and he is utterly withoutas a truly just onstone, but I ager you that he’s gathered ht Starks and Tullys, Lord Stannis will land, proclai, and lop off her son’s curly blond headand her own in the bargain, though I truly believe she cares more about the boy"

"Stannis Baratheon is Robert’s true heir," Ned said "The throne is his by rights I would welcome his ascent"

Varys tsked "Cersei will not want to hear that, I pro head will reged so sweetly, it would be a shaiven your life back, if you’ll take it Cersei is no fool She knows a tame wolf is of more use than a dead one"

"You want , butchered my men, and crippled my son?" Ned’s voice was thick with disbelief

"I want you to serve the realm," Varys said "Tell the queen that you will confess your vile treason, command your son to lay down his sword, and proclaim Joffrey as the true heir Offer to denounce Stannis and Renly as faithless usurpers Our green-eyed lioness knows you are a ive her the peace she needs and the tie to carry her secret to your grave, I believe she will allow you to take the black and live out the rest of your days on the Wall, with your brother and that baseborn son of yours"

The thought of Jon filled Ned with a sense of shame, and a sorrow too deep for words If only he could see the boy again, sit and talk with hirey plaster of his cast He winced, his fingers opening and closing helplessly "Is this your own scheue with Littlefinger?"

That seemed to amuse the eunuch "I would sooner wed the Black Goat of Qohor Littlefinger is the second doms Oh, I feed him choice whispers, sufficient so that he thinks I am hisjust as I allow Cersei to believe I am hers"

"And just as you let me believe that you were mine Tell me, Lord Varys, who do you truly serve?"

Varys sood lord, how ever could you doubt that? I swear it by my lost manhood I serve the realm, and the realm needs peace" He finished the last sine, and tossed the empty skin aside "So what is your answer, Lord Eddard? Give me your word that you’ll tell the queen what she wants to hear when she co"

"If I did, my ould be as hollow as an empty suit of armor My life is not so precious to me as that"

"Pity" The eunuch stood "And your daughter’s life, my lord? How precious is that?"

A chill pierced Ned’s heart "My daughter"

"Surely you did not think I’d forgotten about your sweet innocent, my lord? The queen most certainly has not"

"No," Ned pleaded, his voice cracking "Varys, gods have hter out of your schemes Sansa’s no more than a child"

"Rhaenys was a child too Prince Rhaegar’s daughter A precious little thing, younger than your girls She had a small black kitten she called Balerion, did you know? I alondered what happened to him Rhaenys liked to pretend he was the true Balerion, the Black Dread of old, but I iht her the difference between a kitten and a dragon quick enough, the day they broke down her door" Varys gave a long weary sigh, the sigh of a man who carried all the sadness of the world in a sack upon his shoulders "The High Septon once told me that as we sin, so do we suffer If that’s true, Lord Eddard, tell mewhy is it always the innocents who suffer ame of thrones? Ponder it, if you would, while you wait upon the queen And spare a thought for this as well: The next visitor who calls on you could bring you bread and cheese and theyou Sansa’s head

"The choice, my dear lord Hand, is entirely yours"