Chapter 28-Lessons Unlearned!

Chapter 28

EDDARD STARK

Eddard had been in the city for less than a week, and already he was beginning to loathe it with all his heart. With each passing day, he saw the truth in Cregan's words as he experienced the depravity and politics of the people of the Red Keep.

He could see their gazes linger on him, trying to judge him, and he wondered if he would have been able to see it all without Cregan's warning.

Here in the capital, each conversation was a game, and each word a game. Eddard had never felt as suffocated and helpless as in these days. And it all made him wonder, just how his own son had spent years in these Halls surrounded by these people.

His duties as the Hand also troubled him much, as the realm had been without a Hand and a King for months as Robert rode to the North. So, he found himself saddled with months upon months of work that he needed to finish, along with ensuring that the preparations for Prince Joffrey's funeral were made adequately.

And he was busy dealing with one of these problems when the there was a knock on the door to his new solar.

"Yes," he asked, not looking up from the letter he was writing.

And so, as the door opened, he glanced up and was both surprised and somewhat angered as he saw the Master of Coin walk into his solar. He was dressed as impeccably as always, wearing a fine doublet with a half a cloak dropping down his shoulder. His thin mustache covered his lips, which were turned up in a condescending smile.

Petyr Baelish, Lord of the Fingers, had risen through the ranks rather astronomically and made himself an integral part of the Council. He was a humble man with humble beginnings who had risen through the ranks to become the Crown's master of Coin.

The man had tried many times to endear himself to Eddard with his honeyed words and gentle advice, and so convincing was he in his drama that many times Eddard began to question what he knew of the man.

I began to question Cregan's assessment of the tall, thin man who wore a pin fashioned in the form of a mockingbird over his shirt.

But then he remembered his crimes, remembered the Crown's ballooning debt, and he chose to stay quiet as he realized that this man was the one who had just tried to kill his son. That, this was the man who dishonored his wife and her sister and played a part in killing Jon Arryn himself.

"Lord Baelish, I was not expecting you at this hour," he greeted coldly. The man's blue eyes narrowed at his terse tone as he walked to the table and gave him a small, courteous bow.

"I know, but I wished to converse with you over a rather pertinent matter," and he raised a brow.

"And what matter may that be?" and he did not offer the man a chair, for he did not wish to suffer his presence any longer than was necessary to keep up this farce until Cregan and Robert returned.

According to Cregan, a small lord named Pety Baelish had made himself rather essential to the Crown and the Council for a while. He confirmed this fact over the week himself, much to his dismay. If Eddard was to arrest the man, he would need Robert's backing and proof of the man's crimes.

"This came from Dragonstone earlier," and Eddard frowned as he heard the name of the island, for there was but one man who was at Dragonstone.

"Lord Stannis sends his condolences on the death of Prince Joffrey but is regretful that he will not be able to attend the Prince's funeral," and that was both an insult and overture on the part of Stannis Baratheon.

He opened the missive himself and read its contents, and it was indeed just as Lord Baelish had said so.

Stannis Baratheon had excused himself from attending Prince Joffrey's funeral, something that was highly unusual.

"That is unusual of him," he commented.

"Not really," the Master of Coin added as Eddard looked up at the man who was still standing in his solar.

"All those who know Lord Stannis know him to be a bore. It is no surprise that he wishes to take no part in festivities and funerals," and he raised a brow. He was aware of Stannis's nature, but this was still an insult.

"Still, Joffrey was his nephew," he added, even though his heart questioned the words that had just come out of his mouth.

"Hmmm," the Master of Coin hummed as if begging him to question.

"I doubt Lord Stannis thought as such," and those words made him still as he slowly glanced up at the man and asked sharply.

"And what do you mean by that, Lord Baelish?" he asked, and the man did not answer immediately, casting a small glance towards the chair as if hoping that Eddard would have him sit down.

And when no such command came, the man frowned as he questioned once more.

"Have I offended you in any way, my lord?" he asked, and a small part of Eddard Stark wanted to summon his guards and throw the man into the Black Cells this instant, but he held his tongue and his anger as he raised a brow.

"Or perhaps this hostility is because of the little misunderstanding with young Lord Cregan?" he asked, making him frown.

"What misunderstanding?" he asked as the man waved his hand softly.

"It was nothing. Just when the young Lord was about to depart, the Royal Coffers were robbed of a significant amount of Gold," and he had heard about it from Cregan, though he did not know the details.

"To find the man responsible for this crime, a curfew was established, and all the carriages leaving and entering the city were searched. One of these carriages was your son's, who did not take kindly to the accusation. A mistake by the men to dare accuse your son of the crime, but I had thought the matter resolved as I had that man punished for his behavior," and Eddard remembered Cregan and Robert mentioning something like this, though he could hardly recall the detail.

"But I still wonder. You have been rather cold to me ever since your arrival, and so I wondered if it was because of that alteration. And if so, I humbly apologize to you and your son for the egregious behavior of one of my men. " He gave him a slight bow, and Eddard had to hand it to the man.

He was a mummer with his words. Though as he was learning all the people in this castle were mummers in their own way.

"I would never accuse a Stark of a petty crime like theft," and Eddard sighed and waved his hand.

"I am afraid you think too much, my lord. I have nothing of the sort on my mind," he spoke as the man raised a brow.

"Is that so? Then perhaps I have offended you in some other way, even though I am perhaps the only person in the city whom you can call on as a friend," as Eddard raised a brow.

"Can I?" he asked, and the man nodded.

"Of course you can. After all, I do hope that Lady Catelyn has made some mention of me over the years," and his blood boiled as he heard him mention the name of his wife with that mouth of his, but he stilled himself as he shook his head.

"I am afraid she has not," he denied, making the man frown.

"Is that so? Well, me and Lady Catle...."

"She may not have mentioned it, but I am aware of the circumstances of your youth and fostering rather well," and then he looked at his chest pointedly, reminding the man to know his place.

"And the troubles it all landed you in," and the man's lips thinned as he reached for his chest.

"Ahh, Lord Brandon was your brother. I still carry a memento of his to this day with myself," and Eddard shrugged.

"It would have been a lot better if you had remembered the lesson that had come with it." Those scathing words made the man still as Eddard turned away from him and began to finish writing the letter to Dorne, as he simply stood there watching him.

"Well, regardless, you may not think of me as a friend, but I have not forgotten the favor done to me by your lady wife and wish to repay it as such," and Eddard raised a brow.

"And how do you plan to do that?" he asked, not glancing up at all.

"By telling you that perhaps Lord Stannis's refusal is not as simple as it may seem at first," and his head slid up at that.

"After, Lord Jon Arryn and Lord Stannis were rather close with one another before the former's death, and Lord Stannis did leave for Dragonstone rather abruptly after his death," and the man's words made him frown as he tried to think of the implications of it.

And then he suddenly realized that he did not know that Eddard already knew of Jon's suspicions. That he already knew of the alleged treason.

"Is that so?" he asked, seeming rather interested in his words as the man nodded.

"Yes, one does wonder what would make a man so reluctant to attend the funeral of his own nephew. After all, blood and kin are the things that matter the most, in the end, even for a man as dour as Lord Stannis," and Eddard leaned back and rubbed his beard.

"Of course, and because I am your friend, I must mention that one of my people saw them frequent a rather famous shop on the Street of Steel, a smith, I was told..." he finished.

"...one who goes by the name of Tobho Mott..."

0000

CREGAN STARK

The rest of the journey back was rather uneventful, even though Cregan found himself rather anxious in the absence of the man, as he felt the Queen's continuous gaze lingering on him everywhere he went.

But a week later the stench came first, and then came in view the capital city where the fate of this world would be decided.

He had spent the entire journey contemplating his next set of moves, given that Joffrey's death, along with his own betrothal to Myrcella, had put him in a rather troubling situation.

Unlike Joffrey, Tommen was not prone to cruelty and bouts of unreasonable rage—the boy was rather sweet and, in many ways, much closer to him and Myrcella than his own mother, Queen Cersei, who had spent most of her time with her precious Joffrey.

And then there was the matter of the throne and his own father. His marriage to Myrcella had put him in line of the succession as a consort, and if not that, his father was now Hand of the King.

Given Robert Baratheon's behavior, which made him practically the most powerful man in the realm, Cregan had his ear. He felt his resolve weaken as he thought of all he could accomplish through his influence, of how many lives he could save and how much better he could prepare these kingdoms for the calamity set to devour this entire world.

And the greatest hurdle for him in this entire thing was the Queen and her brother. For Joffrey had inherited his impulsive and cruel nature from her, and though she had not made a move against him yet, he knew that he had to be rather cautious around her.

She had suspicions about him, about his knowledge, rightly so in a way. But that meant that if given the opportunity, she would strike at him without any mercy.

Now, could he take that chance? Should he take that chance?

There were so many questions. And he had to make his decision rather carefully, because the game had changed with Joffrey's death, and now he had but his wit to rely on.

And as the retinue came to a halt in the yard, he saw Jon gazing at the Red Keep in awe, and he chose to walk up to his half-brother as he asked.

"So, are you impressed?" he asked as Jon's head snapped towards him.

"It's just so tall," and the Red Keep was indeed rather tall, and the servants came and began to take away their luggage and lead the Royal family to their chambers, as Jon and he were led by their house guards and taken towards the Tower of the Hand.

"And it smells so foul," he taunted, and Jon did scrunch up his nose.

"Is it always like this?" he asked, and Cregan nodded.

"Unfortunately, and it gets even worse in the Summers, but you do get used to it after a while," and he nodded at that as he walked beside him through the winding Halls and a slew of servants.

"You must know the castle very well," he asked, and Cregan nodded.

"I do know it better than most," and that was a lie. He knew it better than anyone. He had memorized most of the castle routes and tunnels through years of effort.

"The castle has many secrets. Maegor had all the workers who built it killed just to make sure that none of them would ever document any of them," and that was the cruelty of Maegor, and as they were led to the Hand's solar, the men led them into the room after a small knock.

Cregan and Jon walked through the door and saw their father sitting behind a desk with paper, books, and scrolls scattered all over it.

"You are here," he said as he looked up from the chair and smiled at them both.

"Yes, Father," Cregan answered as the man had them both sit down.

"Come sit, we must talk for a bit," and they both sat down Cregan could see the circles around his eyes, and his weariness was rather obvious to the eye as he began softly.

"How was the journey?" he asked, and after some more small talk about the journey without him, he turned to Jon.

"I want you to be extremely cautious, Jon. This is not Winterfell; this is the capital, and the people here are far more cunning and conniving than what they may seem like," and Jon nodded.

"I did not wish to bring you here, but now that you are, you must make sure that you do not bring any embarrassment to the name of the Starks," and Jon gulped nervously.

"I plan to make you squire under one of the Kingsguards. Lord Barristan is in need of a squire, but I have yet to bring it up with him. Keep to your training, and let me see if the man would be willing to have you as his squire," Jon's eyes widened at that claim, and it had been one of his own ideas.

"Thank you, my lord. I will not disappoint you," he said and he saw his father's lips thin as he spoke.

"Father. Call me father," and with that, he added softly.

"Now, you should go and rest. Cregan will show you the rest of the Keep later," and with a small nod, Jon stood up with much more enthusiasm and joy as he rushed out of the room with a jump in his step.

"Ha," and as the door closed behind him, his father sighed as he shook his head.

"I do hope that Ser Barristan is willing to take him as his squire," and Cregan nodded.

"He will. No boy his age can match Jon with a blade, and Ser Barristan values skill and hard work more than anything else. He will take him as his squire," and the Lord of the Stark nodded.

"Let us hope that you are right about this, just as you were about this place," and Cregan looked into the man's eyes as he slowly continued.

"You were right. The situation is far worse than I thought...."

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