[King's Landing]
As she had mentioned to her father, Arya was in fact chasing a cat through the Red Keep.
"Come on. I'm not gonna hurt you." She tried.
[King's Landing -- Chambers of the Hand of the King]
Ned Stark is seated at his desk listening to Lord Varys who walks around securing the windows and doors so they could sit down for a private conversation.
"How is your son, My Lord?"
"He'll nevr walk again."
"But his mind is sound?"
"So they say."
"A blessing then. I suffered an early mutilation myself. Some doors close forevr ... others open in the most unexpected places. May I?" He gestured to a chair. Receiving a nod, he sat.
"If the wrong ears heard what I'm about to tell you, off comes my head. And who would mourn poor Varys then? North or South, they sing no songs for spiders. But there are things you must know. You are the King's Hand and the King is a fool ... your friend, I know, but a fool ... and doomed unless you save him."
"I've been in the capital a month. Why have you waited so long to tell me this?"
"I didn't trust you."
"So why do you trust me now?"
"The Queen is not the only one who has been watching you closely." Varys informed him. "There are few men of honor in the capital. You are one of them. I would like to believe I am another, strange as that may seem."
"What sort of doom does the King face?"
"The same sort as Jon Arryn. The tears of Lys, they call it. A rare and costly thing, as clear and tasteless as water. It leaves no trace."
Ned quickly rose, turning his back to Varys and walking over to the open-air entrance to the balcony.
"Who gave it to him?"
"Some dear friend, no doubt. But which one? There were many. Lord Arryn was a kind and trusting man. There was one boy ... all he was he owed to Jon Arryn."
Ned turned to look at Varys. "The squire, Ser Hugh?"
"Pity what happened to him, just when his life seemed to be going so nicely."
"If Ser Hugh poisoned him, who paid Ser Hugh?"
"Someone who could afford it."
Ned walked back to his desk and placed his hands on the chair back. "Jon was a man of peace. He was Hand for 17 years -- 17 good years. Why kill him?"
"He started asking questions."
Which is exactly what Lord Stark had been doing.
Elsewhere in the Keep, Arya Stark was still chasing a cat through the dungeons. She stops suddenly and stares at a statue of a huge dragon's skull. As she explores, she hears two men approach. Quickly, she hid within the dragon's open jaws so she could listen.
"He's found two bastards already. He has the book. The rest will come." Varys told his old friend, Magistar Illyrio Mopatis.
"And when he knows the truth, what will he do?"
"The gods alone know. The fools tried to kill his son. What's worse -- they botched it." Varys closed and locked the corridor gate. "The wolf and the lion will be at each other's throats. We will be at war soon, my friend."
"What good is war now? We're not ready. If one Hand can die, why not a second?"
"This Hand is not the other."
YOU ARE READING
Silver Stag
同人小说Aelinor Baratheon stands out in her family. She doesn't have the golden hair and green eyes of her mother and younger siblings. Nor does she have black hair and blue eyes of her Baratheon father. Much to her father's disdain, she inherited her grea...
