Chapter 14 Chapter Thirteen Ed

When the king summoned him, it was not yet dawn, and the world was silent and gray. Alyn shook him softly from his sleep, and Ned staggered sleepily into the pre-dawn morning to find his horse saddled and bridle, and the king himself on his horse.In his thick brown gloves and heavy fur cloak, Robert looked like a big bear on a horse. "Stark, wake up!" he shouted, "wake up soon, we have important national affairs to discuss." "As you order," Ned said, "Your Majesty, please enter the tent." Alyn raised the curtain upon hearing this. "No, no, no," Robert's breath was steaming in the air-conditioning: "There are too many people waiting in the camp, I'm afraid the walls have ears. Besides, I want to go out for a walk, and experience the scenery of your Northland by the way." Only then did Ned see Ser Boros and Ser Meryn followed the king with a dozen guards.It seems that there is no other way than rubbing sleepy eyes, changing clothes and getting on the horse.

Robert was galloping on his black chargehorse, and Ned had to keep up.He asked a question as he rode, but the wind blew his voice away, and the king did not hear him.Ned said nothing after that, but rode quietly.They immediately left the king's road and rushed into the vast plains thick with black mist.By this time the guard was some distance away from them, and they could no longer hear their conversation, but Robert still did not slow down. The king did not slow down until they climbed a low ridge, and they were miles to the south of the camp.Ned followed Robert, flushed and beaming. "Damn it," he cursed, laughing, "it's a hell of a fucking ride out in the open like a man! I tell you, Ned, that slow trot would drive a man crazy." Rau Bob Baratheon had never been a patient man. "Look at the creaking and moaning of that goddamn wheel palace, looking like it's climbing a mountain when it encounters stones... If that damn thing dares to break another axle for me, I promise to set it on fire, and then Cersei will follow!"

Ned laughed. "Then I'd be happy to light a fire for you." "Well said!" The king patted him on the shoulder, "I really want to leave them and just ride like this." A smirk crept across Ned's lips. "I believe you are serious." "Of course, of course," said the king. "What do you think, Ned? We're just two knight-errants with swords in the rivers and lakes. Soldiers will stop us, and water will flood us. At night, we will find a farmer's daughter or a hotel maid to help us raise our beds." " "That would be all well and good," said Ned, "but now, my lord, we have responsibilities... not just to the kingdom, but to our children, and I have my lady, and you have your queen, and we He is no longer the young man he was back then."

"You're never young, boy," muttered Robert. "Never mind. But once... what's your little girl's name, Becca? No, she's mine, God bless her, over there." Black and bright hair and sweet big eyes, if you are not careful, you will find it hard to extricate yourself. Your name is...Yarina? You mentioned it to me once, or is it Meryl? You know which one I said, right? The mother of your illegitimate child." "Her name is Vera," Ned said politely but coldly. "I don't want to talk about her." "Yes, it's called Vera." Robert chuckled. "She must be not a simple girl who can make Lord Eddard Stark forget his honor for a while, even if it's just for an hour. You never told me What does she look like...?"

Ned pursed his lips angrily. "I won't tell you again. Say no more, Robert, if it's for our sake. I've humiliated myself before gods and men. Humiliated Catelyn." "By gods, you didn't even see Catelyn that many times." "I have married her and she is pregnant with my child." "Ned, you're too strict with yourself. You always behave like that, damn it, no woman wants to sleep with St. Baelor." He patted his knee. "Forget it, if you don't want to talk, I won't Barely. But sometimes seeing you with prickles all over your body, I think you should really use a hedgehog as your family emblem."

The golden fingers of the rising sun in the east penetrated into the misty white mist in the morning, and a vast field unfolded in front of the two of them, except for the long and low scattered hills, there were patches of bare brown flat land.Ned pointed to the king. "This is the Burial Mound of the First Men." Robert frowned. "Have we ridden into the graveyard?" "The north is full of graves, Your Grace," Ned told him. "This is an ancient land." "It's a dead cold place, too," complained Robert, drawing his cloak tighter, as his entourage pulled up their horses behind them and stopped on the ridge. "Well, I didn't bring you here to discuss the tomb and your bastard. Lord Varys sent a letter from King's Landing last night, here." The king pulled a piece of paper from his belt and handed it to Ned.

Eunuch Varys is the king's chief intelligence officer, formerly serving Aerys Targaryen and now serving Robert.Ned opened the scroll apprehensively, thinking of Lysa and her horrific accusation, which luckily had nothing to do with Lady Arryn. "Where is the source of this news?" "Do you remember Ser Jorah Mormont?" "I'll never forget that fellow," Ned blurted out.The Mormonts of Bear Island have a long history, proud and honorable, but their domain is remote, cold and barren. Ser Jorah intends to sell the captured poachers to slave traders in Tyrosh in order to increase his income.Since Mormont is a vassal of the Starks, it would be tantamount to tarnishing the reputation of the entire North.So Ned traveled thousands of miles westward to Bear Island, only to find that Jorah had already fled by boat, to a foreign country beyond the legal sanction of "Ice" and the king.It has been five years since the incident happened.

"Ser Jorah is in Pentos, anxiously awaiting a royal pardon to cross the sea," Robert explained. "Lord Varys has used it to his advantage." "Human traffickers are spies again?" Ned said in disgust, handing the letter back. "I'd rather have him turned into a corpse." "Varys thinks spies are far more useful than corpses," Robert said, "but Jorah aside, what do you think of that?" "Daenerys married a Dothraki horse king, so what? Should we send a wedding present?" The king frowned: "I think it's better to give a knife. A sharp and good knife, held in the hands of a brave man."

Ned didn't feign surprise.Robert's hatred of House Targaryen was almost insane, and he still remembers the violent altercation between the two when Tywin Lannister offered the corpses of Rhaegar's wife and children as a token of fealty.Ned thought it was murder, but Robert said it was an inevitable tragedy in war.When he argued that the young princes and princesses were nothing more than babes, newly-crowned Robert replied, "I don't see any babes, only dragonspawn." Even Jon Eyre Lin couldn't quell the dispute either.Eddard Stark left angrily that day and led the army to the south alone to fight the last battle.It was later because of Lyanna's death that the two reconciled.

But this time Ned didn't lose his temper. "Your Majesty, she is just a child. You will not kill innocent people like Tywin Lannister?" It is said that when they dragged Rhaegar's youngest daughter out of bed to die, she cried with tears in her eyes.His son was nothing more than a swaddling baby, but Lord Tywin's men tore him from his mother's chest and slammed him headfirst against the wall. "Who knows how long she'll be innocent?" Robert's voice rose. "It won't be long before this 'child' will spread her legs and breed a dragon's legacy to trouble me."

"Having said that," Ned said, "the murder of a child is... heinous..." "Heinous?" cried the king. "What Aerys did to your brother Brandon is heinous. It is heinous to think of your late father's death. And Ray And... how many times do you think he raped your sister? Fucked her hundreds of times?" His violent jumps made the saddle horse neigh uncomfortably, and the king jerked the reins, telling the horse to be quiet, and pointed angrily. Looking at Ned, "I'll kill every Targaryen with my own hands, exterminate; I'll teach them to die cleanly like a dragon, and finally piss on their graves." Ned knew well enough not to contradict the king for his anger.If all these years can't extinguish his flame of revenge, I'm afraid his words won't do much. "You can't kill this one yourself, can you?" he said softly. The king pouted angrily. "It can't be helped, God damn it. Some goddamn Pentos peddler hid them brother and sister behind a wall with a bunch of eunuchs in pointy hats, and now he's selling them to the Dothraki. .When it wasn't easy to kill them years ago, I should have done it, but Jon is as mean as you. But I'm more stupid, and I listened to him." "Jon Arryn is a brilliant and wise Hand." Robert snorted. "It is said that this Khal Drogo has an army of one hundred thousand men, what will Jon think when he hears it?" "He would say a million men have nothing to fear as long as the Dothraki stay across the Narrow Sea?" Ned answered quietly. The king shifted restlessly in the saddle. "Maybe so, but the Free Cities have plenty of ships. Ned, I tell you the truth, I don't like this marriage at all. People in the kingdom still call me 'Usurper'. Have you forgotten how many rich and famous families there were back then? Rise up and fight for House Targaryen? They stand still now, but if they get the chance, they can't wait to kill me and my son! If this beggar king comes across the sea with an army of Dothraki, these traitors Definitely support him." "He won't cross the sea," Ned promised. "And if he does come, we can drive him back together. When you appoint a new Warden of the East—" The king groaned, "I say it for the last time. I will not let the little Arryn be the Warden of the East. I know the boy is your nephew, but now that the Targaryens are sleeping with the Dothraki, I am mad." Only then will he hand over the heavy responsibility of commanding a quarter of the kingdom's army to a frail and sickly boy." Ned had known he would have this answer. "But someone must come out to be the Warden of the East. If Robert Arryn is not good enough, let one of your brothers take over. Stannis showed his talents at the Siege of Storm's End , I believe he should be fine." He let Stannis' name hang in the air for a moment, and the king frowned and didn't answer, looking uncomfortable. "Of course," Ned continued softly, watching what happened. "It's a different story if you've committed the position to someone else." Robert was surprised at first, but then displeased. "What if that's true?" "Jaime Lannister, isn't he?" Robert put his horse on his belly and galloped toward the barren mound below the barren hills, Ned close behind.The king rode by himself, looking straight ahead. "Yes." He finally opened his mouth, as if he wanted to use this word to end the discussion. "Kingslayer," Ned said.So all the rumors turned out to be true.He knew very well that he had to be careful with his words at this moment. "He has ability and courage, there is no doubt about it," he said cautiously, "but Robert, his father was the hereditary Warden of the West, and Ser Jaime will inherit his father's office sooner or later, and the power of the East and West should not be lost. into the same hands." He didn't say what he really wanted to say: that half the kingdom's strength would fall into the hands of the Lannisters. "It's not too late to wait until the enemy shows up," the king said stubbornly. "Now that Lord Tywin is staying in Casterly Rock, I don't think Jaime will take over the position too soon. Don't tell me about this, Ned." If you want to fight, if you say it, it will be hard to take it back.” "Your Majesty, please forgive me for being blunt." "I can't stop you anyway," muttered Robert.They rode through long brown grass. "You really trust Jaime Lannister?" "He is my wife's twin brother and the sworn Kingsguard. His honor and disgrace depend on me." "Didn't his life and death also depend on Aerys Targaryen?" Ned pointed out bluntly. "What reason do I have to distrust him? He has never disappointed me once in what I asked him to do. Even my current throne was won by his sword." It is his sword that has stained your throne, Ned thought, but did not allow himself to say it. "He swore to protect the king with his life, but he cut the king's throat with a sword." "Damn it, someone has to do it?" said Robert, reining in the horse by an old barren grave. "If he didn't kill Aerys, then either you or I." "We are not the Kingsguard sworn to death," Ned said, and he decided it was time for Robert to hear the truth. "Your Majesty, do you still remember the Battle of the Trident River?" "That's where I earned the crown on my head, how could I forget?" "You were wounded in the duel with Rhaegar," Ned reminded him, "so when the Targaryen army broke up, you entrusted me with the pursuit. Rhaegar's remnants fled back to King's Landing, and we followed Aerys is guarding the Red Keep with thousands of dead men, and I thought the gates must be tightly shut." Robert shook his head impatiently and said, "It turns out that our people have already occupied the castle, so what?" "Not ours," Ned said impatiently, "the Lannisters. It was the roaring lion of the Lannisters flying over the battlements, not the crowned stag. They took the city by trickery." of." At that time, the flames of war had been raging for nearly a year, nobles big and small had voted under Robert's banner, and many were still loyal to House Targaryen.The powerful Lannister family of Casterly Rock, which has been guarding the west for generations, has always stayed away from the battlefield, ignoring the calls of rebels and royalists.In the end, when Duke Tywin Lannister led 12,000 elite soldiers to appear before the city of King's Landing to express his intention to serve the king, Aerys Targaryen must have thought that his life was not worth giving up.Then the mad king gave his last mad command, and opened the gates wide, and let the lions in. "Targaryens are also associated with trickery," said Robert, his anger rising again. "The Lannisters are just treating their own people in their own way. Targaryen is going to die, and they will die." "You were not there," Ned said bitterly.This lie has been with him for fourteen years, and it still haunts him in his dreams. "There was no honor in that battle." "Fuck your mother's honor!" Robert yelled, "What kind of bullshit honor does Targaryen know? Go and ask Lyanna in the vault of your old home, and ask her what dragon's honor is!" "You avenged her at the Battle of the Trident." Ned pulled up beside the king.Promise me, Ned, she whispered so before she died. "But it can't bring her back to life," Robert said without turning his head, looking into the gray distance. "Gods be damned, I only wanted your sister, and they forced me a bullshit crown... so what if I won the war? I just want her to be safe... back in my arms, and everything will be the same. Nai De, let me ask you, what good is being a king? Doesn’t the gods mock you equally whether you are a king or a cowherd?” "Your Majesty, I can't answer your question for the gods... I only know that when I rode into the Great Hall of the Red Keep," Ned said, "Aerys was lying in a pool of blood, and the keel on the wall looked at him coldly. Serving the Lannisters, Jaime, in his armor of bright gold, the white cloak of the Kingsguard, and his golden sword, is still vivid in my mind. He sits on the Iron Throne, towering over all the warriors , under the lion-head mask, majestic and majestic, so high-spirited!" "It's well known!" the king complained. "I was on horseback, and as I rode into the main hall, through rows of dragon skulls, I had the feeling that they were looking at me. Finally I stopped before the throne and looked up at him. He held his golden sword across the The king's blood dripped from the point of his sword on his thigh. My men poured into the hall, and the Lannisters retreated. I didn't say a word, just stared at him as he sat The appearance on the throne, waiting patiently. Finally he stood up with a smile, took off his helmet and said to me: "Stark, don't worry, I'm just warming our seats first. But this chair may It's not very comfortable to sit on!'" The king threw back his head and laughed, and his laughter set off a flock of crows that roosted in the long brown grass nearby, and they cawed and flapped their wings into the air. "You're telling me not to trust that Lannister boy just because he sat on my throne for a few minutes?" He laughed wildly again. child." "Whether he is a child or an adult, he has no right to sit on the throne." "Perhaps he's tired," Robert excused him. "Killing a king is hard work, and there's nowhere else to lay your ass in that damned hall. Well, he's right, in every way, Those are hideous and uncomfortable chairs." The king shook his head. "Well, now that I know of Jaime's dark deeds, I will forget about it. Deceitful deceit is disgusting. It's all about counting pennies. Come on, let's ride for a while, you used to be very good at riding, and let's try the wind in your hair again. "After speaking, he rode his horse forward again, and walked away, crossing the tomb, the horse's hooves splashed like rain and mud behind him. Ned did not follow immediately.He has exhausted his lips and tongue, and at this moment, he only feels a boundless sense of helplessness in his heart.He questioned more than once what he was doing, and why he had gone through this experience.He was no Jon Arryn to restrain the king's wildness and teach him wisdom.Robert would have his way in the end, as always, and nothing Ned could say would change the fact.His home is Winterfell, sad Catelyn, his son Bran. But after all, everything can't be as expected.Eddard Stark made up his mind, kicked the horse's belly, and ran to the king.