Chapter 3

In the following weeks concluding the thrice accursed tournament, Caspian kept a close eye on the Starks. He was pleased to see that Sansa had taken subtle effort to distance herself from Joffrey but his brother was too stupid to notice.

She kept herself sequestered in the Tower of the Hand and kept her head low. Caspian was slightly pleased that she seemed to have taken his advice. While no alter motive, it somewhat make the naive girl aware of King's Landings true nature.

In the meantime, the small council continued to meet at the behest of Lord Eddard who seemed more and more disgusted with each meeting. Caspian knew he had tried to speak with the king about the out of control debt but each time Robert rebuffed his attempts at resolution causing chaffed feelings and bitter words.

Caspian couldn't really blame the new Hand for his frustration. Robert had spent over a decade beggaring the realm and had now left it to other lesser men to pick up the pieces.

The second prince also noticed that Stark seemed to have made it a habit of visiting the streets of King's Landing and frequenting several unseemly places that included a blacksmith's shop as well as several brothels.

He had gone with Jory Cassel and on occasion Lord Baelish, but Caspian wasn't such a fool as to think that the man had gone to the brothels seeking out the main purpose of its establishment.

He knew that Robert had several bastards all over Westeros as well as several in King's Landing although he had never seen him.

It was one of the reasons his mother hated him so much. She had said that she didn't know which voice was louder, the one that came from his upper or lower mouth. Caspian was inclined to agree with her, but she didn't need to know that.

However he was more interested in what the Hand thought of all of this, because, it seemed like Eddard Stark was drawing connections in this web woven around King's Landing. And as he connected the silvery lines of deceit, Caspian was sure he would draw close to the spider that had woven it and would not know how to fight it.

Perhaps Lord Stark would find out that his siblings were bastards and perhaps not. Either way, Caspian knew that the new Hand would not rest until the mystery had been uncovered.

Caspian did not know of course that Stark's investigation had more to do with the attempt surrounding his son Bran as well as the royal bastards than simple curiosity.

He didn't know that Stark was investigating the Lannister's supposed role in the near murder of their son, particularly that it was thought that the imp had something to do with it.

He would know soon enough however.

But that was also the day when he first heard the name of Daenerys Targaryen among the men of the small council. Robert had received word that she had been sold by her brother to a Dothraki Khal in Pentos across the Narrow Sea. This of course infuriated him because Robert hated anything Targaryen and had cursed throughout the last decade that some of the dragon spawns had escaped the sword.

Viserys and his sister had been spirited across the Narrow Sea to the free cities by loyalists and had remained out of his hands ever since. But the fact that she had been married to a Dothraki Khal was news that caused many a concerned whisper.

The Dothraki were a horde of barbarians that lived across the Narrow Sea and lived for their horses. They were nomadic tribes who called not one city their own but Vaes Dothrak. The Dothraki were spoken of to frighten children to obedience but everyone in King's Landing were aware of how ruthless and fierce they were. They were called brutes and savages who raped and pillaged women and children and obeyed only power and number. But were clear in hierarchy with Khal being absolute leader and to destroy the khalsar, all one needed to do was kill the Khal.

Robert was furious that the dragon whore had been united to a force that could potentially return the Targaryens to Westeros. He was apoplectic that morning at the small council. This occurred a few months after the arrival of the Starks to Kings Landing and Caspian had properly assessed the situation.

Caspian sat quietly in the back of the room on his stool observing while Robert raged and slammed his fists against the tables demanding that they put together a force to go and deal with the dragon whore and her brother before she bore the Dothraki Khal an heir and they had horsemen crawling over Westeros.

As adamant as Robert was that she be killed however, Caspian noted with interest that Lord Eddard Stark was just as vehement that she be spared. He claimed she was just a child and that he had failed to stop the massacre of the Targaryen children years earlier and he would not do so again.

The more eloquently he spoke, the redder Robert's face grew until Caspian feared he might literally explode from his fury.

All the while, the lords of the small council remained wisely silent. Looking at Littlefinger, Caspian could tell that he had no opinion of whether or not the dragon girl was killed. It didn't matter to him, but then he carried on as if nothing ever did.

Finally Lord Stark got to his feet, pulled the badge that called him Hand from his robes and slapped it down on the table in front of the king.

Caspian watched as the Stark Lord told him to send whoever he would after the girl but that he would not be party to murder. He stormed from the small council and Robert called insults after him.

Caspian waited until everyone else was distracted before he slipped out of the room and hurried after Eddard Stark who was seemed intent on returning to the tower of the Hand.

"Lord Stark," he called out and the Lord of Winterfell turned around at the sound of his voice. His face was still hard from the argument with Robert and anger blazed in his eyes that had yet to cool. His hands were clenching and unclenching and he seemed to be trying to cool his rage.

He gave Caspian a stiff nod. "Your grace."

Caspian came to a stop at his side. "My father is a vindictive sort my lord. You should be careful around him."

Stark continued walking, forcing Caspian to keep pace with him. "I have no fear of Robert Baratheon, your grace. But I do fear for the man he has become. The man I knew would never have allowed himself to beggar the realm and stoop to the murder of children. Lyanna is gone but her absence has addled his brain beyond repair."

It was the most Stark had ever said to him and Caspian found himself wondering on how to answer.

"I'm afraid the man you once knew is gone Lord Stark," he said finally as they crossed the courtyards. "Your sister broke something in him that my mother was never able to repair."

Ned stopped and looked down at the second prince. He was only fourteen but he had a feeling he was going to be as tall as Robert was when he was a young man. He and the crown prince couldn't have been more different and after his weeks of careful study and investigation he had reached the conclusion that there was only one of the royal children who was trueborn. After seeing Robert's bastard in King's Landing he had compared him silently to Caspian and noted that the similarities between Gendry and Caspian compared to the differences between Caspian and Joffrey were day to night.

He hadn't wanted to believe it because that would mean that treason would have been committed but it was staring him in the face all along. Prince Joffrey, Tommen and Princess Myrcella were Waters and the only true heir to the throne was standing in front of him.

Joffrey was a cruel boy, but Eddard knew next to nothing about Caspian though the boy's quiet and sharp nature reminded him in part of Tywin Lannister. His dealings with the prince were null, but Arya spoke very highly of him and called him a friend.

He seemed to have been the only one she had made in King's Landing and Ned was subtly grateful for it. So far he was the only one who had any sense of decency among the royal children. And he would live out his days as a prince as opposed to the king he should have been if he were born first.

A damn shame.

The boy in front of him would have made a decent king, perhaps even a great one if he ruled for long enough.

"Why do I feel as if your words carry a double meaning?" Ned asked as they reached the courtyard where the Tower of the Hand was situated.

"Nothing gets past you does it Lord Stark?"

Ned stopped and turned to him. "No and I don't think anything catches you off guard either. Tell me, why did you come after me?"

Caspian sighed. His mother said that the Starks weren't to be trusted but she said that about everyone who wasn't a Lannister. She fancied herself subtle but Caspian had known her for almost fifteen years and she was nothing of the sort to him. In fact, she mistrust everyone but her children and her brother Jaime.

He had wanted to distance himself from the Starks but keep an eye on them at the same time. Because he sensed that perhaps Lord Stark would be able to turn the realm around before Robert had succeeded in beggaring it.

But if Jon Arryn had failed how could Ned Stark convince the fat king?

"You're treading on thin ice my lord," he said finally. "I hope you realize you do have spies on you from every corner in this place. And my mother is not the only one that is watching you. That's why I chose to come after you when I did."

He pointed to the grove of trees across the courtyard to the right of the tower. "There is always someone watching who enters the tower and who leaves it from that place. No one is there now so I felt it was safe to speak with else word gets back to my mother."

"You fear her?" Ned asked raising an eyebrow.

Caspian gave him a grim smile. "I watch my words with her. She won't do a thing to me but the same does not hold true for you. You have many enemies here Lord Stark. If you are going to leave, I would do it quickly and without delay. Take your daughters and return north and don't look back."

Ned looked at the boy, trying to contain his surprise. Caspian Baratheon was his father's son but he also had Lannister blood in him and Lannister's showed no mercy. He couldn't remember the last time he had spoken to a benevolent Lannister and this one was only a boy.

Caspian saw the look on his face and hurried to correct him. "Don't mistake this warning for compassion my lord. I fear what my brother will do when he's ascended to the throne and so should you. You need to be very, very careful."

He gave the former Hand a curt bow and hurried back into the palace. Just in time it seemed for the moment he was inside the doors a small figure appeared in the grove of trees, ready to take its place for the watch.

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Despite his warnings, Caspian was displeased. Not long after when the former Hand exited the Tower with Petyr Baelish leaving a guard stationed at its doors. He watched as they exited the palace and descended into the streets of Kings Landing before taking a worn out cloak and following them at a distance.

He couldn't really understand where this curiosity was coming from but he knew that his mother didn't trust Stark and he didn't trust Baelish for that matter, only a fool would. And he wanted to make sure that Stark wasn't getting himself into more than he bargained for.

Lack of sworn sword on him allowed him to slip past guards in Red Keep and follow Stark. Of course, that his thought proved true when he dodged around sell swords and merchants and street urchins playing in the gutter to keep them within sight.

He was a little surprised when Baelish led the Stark to a brothel about ten minutes from the castle and the two ducked inside before making sure that people weren't watching them. They needn't have worried, men entering brothels were more normal than horses strolling the streets. Caspian didn't dare enter himself but crouched low behind a barrel in an alley across the street so he could wait until they came out.

But he was moderately alarmed when a contingent of armed soldiers bearing the Lannister lion came trotting down the street and surrounded the entrance to the brothel. And leading them…..was his uncle Jaime.

Caspian swallowed hard and pulled the hood of his cloak up higher, gripping the sword at his waist. He didn't dare reveal himself and looked behind him every so often to make sure that the circle of soldiers hadn't set up a wider perimeter.

He didn't know what his uncle Jaime was doing here but the host that he had brought with him would certainly suggest that he wasn't here for a tumble between the sheets. Sure enough about ten minutes later when Lord Stark came out alone, Caspian watched in alarm as his uncle accused him of taking Uncle Tyrion hostage.

This was news to Caspian as he had assumed his uncle would be making his way back to King's Landing by now.

Jaime demanded the release of his brother to which Lord Stark responded by claiming that he had sanctioned his wife to take him captive to answer for crimes against the attempted murder of Bran Stark.

Caspian's anger at his beloved uncle's capture then changed to one of confusion. There was no way Tyrion could have pushed Bran. What motive could he have had?

He was just pondering this more carefully when the sound of swords being drawn caught his attention and he watched in increasing alarm as words turned to blows and Lord Stark and his Bannerman were attacked on all sides.

Having suffered from a leg injury earlier in his life, Lord Stark didn't favour his left leg as much and it showed. Still an excellent swordsman, he managed to put up a fight but was stabbed in the leg from behind by one of Jaime's men.

He poked his head about from behind the barrel just in time to hear Jaime demand that Lord Stark order his wife to release his brother before taking his men and leaving.

Caspian stayed behind the barrel for a moment with his heart pounding wondering what to do and what had just happened. Logic would dictate that he would process what he had seen and return to the castle with all haste before someone saw him and reported to Varys and thus his mother that he was there.

However, seeing the man bleeding there in the middle of the street, Caspian realized that if he left him there someone might finish him off. Plus this might be an opportune time to obtain some more information that he didn't have before.

Cursing the stag part of himself, Caspian waited to make sure that no one was watching and that the street was indeed empty before he dashed forward to assess Lord Stark. He should have known that Stark was aware enough to notice him and who he was the moment he drew near.

"Prince Caspian," Stark rasped the moment Caspian dropped to his knees by his head, cloak still half covering his face. "What…how….."

"Keep still," Caspian hissed interrupting him. "How on earth you got yourself into such a fix is beyond me. If Baelish asks you to go anywhere with him you get as far away from him as possible. The man has no honor, where was he when you and your guards were facing down the Lannister guards?"

He stopped talking when he saw that Stark's eyes were starting to glaze over, a characteristic form of bloodloss. He cursed and stole over to the dead Jory Cassel and took his cloak from his shoulders before tearing it in half and using part of it to stuff the wound and the other half to hold it in place before helping him to his feet.

"Why are you doing this your grace?" Stark asked as the second prince helped him into the alley.

Caspian glanced back at the scene behind them in which all of the Stark guards were dead including Jory Cassel. Although their deaths were unfortunate and he didn't really like the scene he was leaving behind, there was nothing he could do for them now.

"Because I value balance Lord Stark," he said quietly as he could while the two of them hobbled slowly down the alley way. "I know these streets and it wasn't hard to follow you and Lord Baelish. What I want to know is why?"

He wasn't quite expecting the Stark Lord to say anything so it surprised him a little when Eddard spoke up.

"You remind me of a young Robert," he said finally. "Did your uncles ever tell you that he was a benevolent man in his youth?"

Much as Caspian wanted information, he had never really know facts about his father that weren't soaked in hate courtesy of his mother or inked in chronicles of rebellion, so with an effort he stymied his desire for knowledge.

"No," he said. "No they didn't."

"I grew up with Robert in Vale," Stark went on as they shuffled through the back alleys of King's Landing. "We were as close as brother's he and I. There were times when I knew he would make a good and just and honourable lord of Storms End. You are like him I think."

Caspian gave a short grim laugh. "You give me too much credit my lord. I desire information not honor. If it ensures that I stay safe and my siblings stay safe than I'll do what I have to do."

"I take it that your older brother is not included in that equation."

Caspian kept silent because Stark had observed him as much as he had observed him and there seemed to be a mutual understanding between them.

"We're almost there," Caspian said as he peeked around the corner of one of the alleys and saw the Red Keep in the distance.

So far they had been lucky and no one had seen them. It was normal to see wounded people in the streets of King's Landing and perhaps the strangest part of that was someone was helping the wounded person.

Caspian knew he was taking a big risk when he decided to follow Stark but as it was he knew that Stark knew something important with the way he had been going out into the city since he had arrived. He knew he has met with one of his father's bastards and there could be one of a few reasons as to why he had done this.

The first being that he knew that the rest of his siblings were bastards and he had gone with Baelish to confirm it.

The second was that he could be seeking out the reasons for Jon Arryn's death. However that could also be tied into the fact that Arryn himself might have known that his siblings were bastards for he had taken the same steps towards solving the puzzle that Stark was doing now.

The final result was that none of this would bode well for him and his siblings.

"Bastards," Stark said, his voice weak from blood loss and Caspian nearly came screeching to a halt before they stepped out of the alleyway.

"What did you say?" he demanded.

"Robert's bastards," Stark said faintly and Caspian could tell that he was losing him. "Jon knew too much. They must have had him killed."

"Who?" Caspian whispered.

"Lannisters."

The prince wasn't sure if the slip of the tongue was from blood loss or if he was making a true confession but decided at that point that it didn't matter.

He would get Lord Stark to just before the Tower of the Hand and then deposit him there so the spy would see him but not see Caspian. There was no way he wanted this getting back to Varys and his mother.

By this time, as they stumbled toward the gate leading to the Tower, Stark was losing consciousness from blood loss and Caspian was having a little trouble supporting his weight.

As soon as they were within sight of the Tower, Caspian deposited the Hand gently on the ground, looked around to make sure that no one had seen him, and ran.

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He learned later that Eddard had been discovered by a servant and later alerted the king who had seen that his old friend was personally cared by Grand Maester. Caspian lingered in the hall outside of the room behind a pillar waiting to see when his father and mother came out.

He heard his mother's loud voice, accusing Stark of kidnapping her brother. Robert muttered something and this was followed by the door being opened and shut with tremendous force before the sound of receding footsteps.

Caspian peeked out from behind the pillar just in time to see his mother retreating down the hall in the opposite direction, her long skirts billowing behind her. She would be in a snit all evening and there would be no talking to her.

Robert had remained in the room and Caspian wanted to wait until he left to see about sneaking in to talk to Stark himself. He had become a lot more underhanded and sneaky since the new Hand had been appointed and he had a feeling he would have be a lot more conniving before all of this was through.

Well at least now he had a reason as to why Tyrion had taken so long in coming back from the Wall. Although he was a little irritated that his favourite uncle was being detained, Stark must have had a reason.

No doubt Robert was demanding the man return his brother in law and trying to convince Lord Stark to take up the role of Hand again since he had summarily quit not three hours earlier.

That man is a fool, Caspian thought grimly. An honorable one but a fool no less. His honor is what is going to get him killed here. Deep down he rather liked Lord Stark. It was refreshing having someone here who wasn't afraid of the king or the queen to take charge.

He had hoped when he got here that Lord Stark might actually succeed in unencumbering the realm from all the debt it had accumulated over the years, both to his grandfather and to the Iron Bank. All the debt did was put Robert more and more into his grandfather's pocket and sink Westeros into more debt across the Narrow Sea.

But the man's investigative work would be the death of them all. He hoped his father had been able to convince Lord Stark to send a raven to his wife in the Vale to get her to release Tyrion.

Just as he thought this however, the door to the chamber opened and Robert walked out heavily. His face was red, a sure sign that he had been bellowing of course and started off down the hall in the direction his mother had gone in.

Caspian noted carefully that a guard hadn't been posted at the door so Lord Stark wasn't a prisoner…..yet. When the hall had gone silent once more, he darted across the hall and slipped into the room before shutting it silently behind him.

Eddard was awake and looked up at the sound before his eyebrows rose at the sight of Robert's son. "Your Grace."

"Leave out all these idle words," Caspian said as he came near to stand beside the bedside. "Is it true?"

Stark frowned. "Is what true?"

His leg below the knee was wrapped up and Caspian noted that the blood seemed to have stopped although the man did appear to be in pain.

"You know what I mean," Caspian said impatiently. "Did your wife abduct my uncle?"

Stark raised an eyebrow and Caspian knew he was looking at him the way he observed everyone else on the small council. "What of it?"

Cautious.

Caspian sighed. "I don't know where you seem to have gotten the idea that my uncle did something to your son, but whatever it is I can promise you he didn't do it."

Ned gave a grim laugh. "Forgive me your grace, but I'm not so inclined to trust the promises of Lannisters."

Caspian raised an eyebrow. "What about a Baratheon? Would a Baratheon have left you in the street to die?"

It was a heavy question and Caspian would wait for an answer. Stark owed him at least that. The Hand's expression softened somewhat. "Perhaps that was a bit harsh."

He adjusted his position in the bed and winced as he put pressure on his injured leg. "If I may ask something though?"

Caspian nodded.

"Why did you do it? You owe me no allegiance. You could just as well have left me there to die."

Caspian smiled a sardonic smile, a smile he always had when he knew someone was toying with him or questioning him. "You were not as wounded as badly as all that my lord. My uncle speaks more with his mouth than his sword, but he is skilled enough that he knows how to wound a man without killing him."

He sat down on the stool next to the bed where Robert had been sitting. "But to answer your question. You are right. I owe you no allegiance and you owe no allegiance to me directly. I didn't bring you back to the castle out of the goodness of my heart. You know something, whether it's about the realm or about the last Hand who worked under my father or whether it's about myself and my siblings or my father's bastards. It appeared serious enough that I wanted to know what it was."

Ned regarded the prince for a moment. He was no more than four and ten years but he already was a man here at court.

"And what makes you think that I would tell you what it is that I know?" Ned countered. "You may have saved me but you're still a Lannister. I have proof that a Lannister tried to murder my son. If anything you should be the last person I should be trusting."

"I said nothing about trust Lord Stark," Caspian said, amused. "You northerners trust far too much for your own good. I'm not proposing an understanding built on trust. I'm proposing a trade."

Now Ned looked intrigued. "And what are we trading exactly?"

"Information. You tell me what it was that Lord Baelish took you to see and I will tell you who I think murdered Jon Arryn."

"You know it to be murder?" Stark asked sitting up sharply.

"Of course it was," Caspian scoffed. He had suspected it since the old Hand fell ill very suddenly and never recovered. Jon Arryn while of eighty namedays, was of good health but his sudden death was a whole lot suspicious.

Poison was a woman's weapon but he knew a Maester could use it as well and those who had access to a Maester.

"Very well then," Lord Stark said after digesting this piece of information. "Who do you say that it is?"

Caspian thought carefully about what he was about to do and every piece of information he had gleaned over the past year. His siblings were bastards with blonde hair and green eyes which only meant that his mother had had relations with another Lannister. But since there were only a few in the capital at the time of Joffrey's conception there were only two that sprang to mind.

The first was Cersei's cousin Lancel. He certainly looked the part for it and he had been in the Capital roughly around the time when Joffrey would have been conceived.

Caspian had wondered for a long time whether or not his siblings had all been born from the same man or different ones and it was the one piece of information he was never sure of. Joffrey and Tommen looked enough alike, but Myrcella's hair had always been a shade darker than theirs and instead of having their green eyes she had blue. It wasn't the Baratheon blue but it was blue nonetheless, and Lancel's eyes were same shade of blue. So that made Caspian all the more curious to see if his mother had in fact committed incest with a member of their family and conceived her children.

There was only one other candidate however and that was his uncle Jaime.

Caspian had thought long and hard about that one and as disgusted as it made him, it was the only logical explanation. Joffrey and Tommen resembled his uncle greatly and they had the same build as well as facial expressions. Caspian had seen pictures of his uncle in young age in The History of the Greater and the Lesser Houses, which his grandfather had given him for his name day two years earlier. And he remembered looking at the Lannister pictures which included his uncle Jaime who looked scarily like Tommen and Joffrey when he was young.

It was a truth he hadn't wanted to admit but had slowly come to it over the past few months since they had arrived back in King's Landing. His disgust had ebbed away slowly to cold hard realism. He was convinced that Myrcella wasn't Jaime's but he was willing to bet every coin in the realm that Tommen and Joffrey were.

It mattered not though, his sister was still a bastard.

"Jaime Lannister."

Ned reeled back on the bed. "You would accuse your uncle?"

Caspian said nothing for a time. His uncle had never liked him and now he supposed that it all made sense. He wasn't Jaime's child and any man that had lain with his sister. Jaime had hated Robert Baratheon and his brood. Perhaps that was why he had defended Cersei so fiercely. They were twins he knew, but this seemed to run deeper than that.

It was a misplaced sense of ownership and jealously about what he couldn't have. He supposed Jaime looked at Joffrey and Tommen and saw images of himself and when he saw Caspian, he saw the product of a man who had been with his sister that wasn't him.

"Your grace?"

Caspian realized he must have been silent for a while and hoped he hadn't looked as green as he felt.

"Yes," he said softly. "I would not be surprised if it was he who poisoned Arryn."

"But why?" Ned asked. "If I had my guess I would have thought of someone closer to the King who might have had a motive, but not him."

He was careful not to mention his mother even though Caspian knew that that had been what he was thinking. Smart man.

"There are numerous reasons why uncle Jaime could be the perpetrator," Caspian said. "But I won't go into them now. Your turn."

He settled himself back in the chair and felt a little sick at what he had just admitted. He wasn't entirely sure that Jaime was behind it or if not Cersei prompted him but it mattered not. Every fact lead to danger for Lannisters and to prevent information from leaking, the former Hand was murdered. In eye of outsider, Lannisters were behind it and that was all that mattered. He might have been Lannister but he was also Baratheon and he was starting to be very glad of it.

Ned rubbed the side of his jaw and appeared to be wondering how much he should say. The earlier events told him that Caspian was probably one of the most trustworthy people in the keep and he had demonstrated it but the truths they were speaking of were too dangerous for any man to utter. It was a treasonous talk.

"Jon Arryn was looking into the king's bastards," he began. "I have my guess as to what for but he succeeded in coming to some conclusions before them. Many of those conclusions surrounded people in this citadel. He even had Stannis Baratheon support in this investigation"

He was keeping his responses vague but they both knew to whom he was referring. "It is my belief that he was preparing to voice these conclusions to the King when he was killed by a lion. Bran saw something he wasn't supposed to see that day on the tower and that was why he fell and that was why a man entered his chambers to kill him."

Caspian knew that the two were connected and he was beginning to be convinced that his mother had been with one of her Lannister men at the tower at that Bran had seen it and had been pushed so he would keep silence.

Thinking all of these things made Caspian feel dirty. He respected his grandfather, but some of the things he had done just didn't sit well with him. Oh yes, he had heard stories of what Tywin had ordered the Mountain to do in the King's Landing to Elia Martell and her children while Robert was at the Trident.

He respected his grandfather's cunning but he was not like him in cruelty and never would be.

He knew what his family was capable of. Incest…lies….murder….betrayal….

They were all corrupt and right now Caspian was still deciding which side of his family he wanted to be more like. He would ponder that question for next few years to come.

"Those are sound conclusions my lord," he said finally. "And what will you do if you find out that they are true?"

The Warden of the North was quiet for a time. "I would see that justice is done."

An ominous silence filled the chamber and Caspian suddenly didn't know what to say. He had come here looking for answers and he had gotten them. He was only worried about how it would affect his sister and youngest brother.

Cersei didn't trust the new Hand and was looking for any excuse to get him out of King's Landing. Whether that was alive or in pieces it didn't seem to matter.

"Thank you for the information Lord Hand," he said as he got up and walked toward the door.

"I may not take up the role again," Stark called after him.

Caspian turned at the door. "You will Lord Stark. Your honor compels you. And your sense of Justice. However foolish it maybe."

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Caspian was right.

Within the next few days, Stark recovered and wore the badge of the King's Hand on his tunic once more. He and Caspian didn't speak after that day in the chamber and neither of them had said anything about what transpired in the streets after Jaime Lannister left, but Caspian thought about it night and day.

He researched through The History of the Greater and the Lesser Houses and confirmed his fears. The only thing he needed hear now was hear from his mother's mouth but he wasn't a fool to think that she would ever tell him the truth.

He knew Robert was vindictive enough to kill her and all of his siblings. While he didn't care if Joffrey died or lived, Myrcella and Tommen were innocent and still dear to him. And he would see no harm come to them if he could help it.

He had kept his silence for them and no one else. What Lord Stark did with the information he had gleaned, the Seven only knew.

The Capital was like a keg of wildfire with a lit fuse these days though. Sooner it was going to explode and take them all with it. Caspian just hoped it wouldn't obliterate him and his dear ones too.

What he had told Stark was a half truth. He was pretty sure his mother had been behind the poisoning of Jon Arryn, as there was nothing Uncle Jaime wouldn't do for her. All facts and finding indicate that he had done it so that the heat would be thrown off Cersei and therefore the children he had fathered as well. However, he has few suspicion about role of some other courtier in regard to Lord Stark.

Since his conclusion, for past few months, Caspian had watched his uncle's interactions with Joffrey and Tommen wondering if there was some small chance that he was wrong. What he observed however that while Jaime was warm with all the children, he seemed to have a special smile for Joffrey and Tommen whenever he saw them.

And so Caspian's fears were confirmed.

Jaime had never been cruel to him, but he had treated him quite coolly since he was a boy, even being his nephew. As a child, Caspian had never noticed but ever since he had learned the truth a year ago, he had begun to see the subtle changes in his familial life.

Jaime, though respectful did not pay as much attention to him as the other children, nor for that matter did he do the same for Myrcella.

Now Caspian knew why.

The whole thing made him feel ill to think about. So not only had his mother lied to him and stripped him of his throne so her bastard son could sit upon it but the bastard himself was a product of incest and a right lunatic as it were.

The more he thought about it, the angrier Caspian got until he had to physically remind himself every day after he spoke with Stark to calm himself because people were sure to know that he was angered.

And it was well known in court that very few things had been known to anger the second prince.

Uncle Tyrion has been released from Vale, but still hadn't returned from the Vale yet but that would include several weeks of travel and he wasn't counting on that happening just yet. No doubt the dwarf had had his bit of fun with them and was returning after whoring about for a bit in the east.

Caspian sorely missed his uncle's smart mind for he would know what to do. Caspian knew confronting his mother about the act of incest whether Tommen or Joffrey were from Jaime or Lancel or any other Lannister would be useless because she would deny it to her last breath.

And if she had killed a man to cover up this secret, how far would she go if one of her children knew the truth?

Caspian was pretty sure that she wouldn't kill him, but then again he had been sure that incest was something she would never do. So he kept his silence and fumed to himself about his mother, his uncle and whoever else she might have committed this disgusting act with. He ignored his siblings, went about his duties and tried to forget what he had reasoned in his head to be true.

The only one that was able to distract him was Arya who was improving her martial skills tremendously thanks to his help and that of her dancing master. Usually every afternoon, they would meet to spar and Caspian used that time and the steady clashing metal to forget his day and everything he had learned. After getting over her initial distrust of him and all things Lannister after what had happened on the King's Road, Arya had opened up a little.

She was a fierce little thing and often times Caspian wished she had been born as his sister instead. It wasn't that he didn't love Myrcella but he and Arya had more in common. They were fierce and proud and weren't afraid of people like his brother. Arya didn't care what the world thought of her and above all else she didn't want to be a lady. She wanted to be a knight if her father would let her or travel across the Narrow Sea to the free cities and make a name for herself using her sword.

There had been times when he was a boy where Caspian had dreamt the same thing. As a prince the crown hadn't held much glory for him and he had wanted to go exploring across the Narrow Sea through Braavos, Qohor, Pentos, Lys, and Volantis. In the secret places of his mind, he had wanted to travel the Smoking Sea where Old Valyria had once stood and see if there were in fact things that had been left behind since the Doom.

Dragons had always fascinated the prince and he had read story upon story to his uncle, when he was younger about Aegon the Conqueror and his sisters and their dragons. Tyrion had laughed and asked him if he wasn't sure that he wasn't a Targaryen himself.

This of course had caused Caspian to look even further back in the history books and saw that one of his ancestors on the Baratheon side had been wed to a Targaryen. This had mildly pleased him. But he couldn't tell anyone that as his father hated all things Targaryen.

"You're mad," Arya said in a no nonsense voice as she and Caspian went back and forth across the balcony after her dancing master had left.

"Am I?" Caspian asked vaguely. "And what makes you say that?"

"Your brow is furrowed," Arya pointed out. "Whenever we've fought in the past, your face is always smooth. You don't say anything and you don't smile. Something's bothering you."

She was astute to say the least. Caspian hadn't even known he had been frowning.

Arya hadn't taken kindly to the fact that his uncle had wounded her father and made that opinion known to him. She hadn't seemed to care if it would anger him but was surprised when it didn't. When she asked him why not, he had simply said that there were a few members of his family that he particularly like.

There was a mutual understanding between him and her about the people they didn't like in King's Landing and they spoke no more than what they had to.

"Hmm," Caspian replied.

Arya watched him carefully for a moment more but then decided to keep fighting and leave it alone. They bid each other farewell soon after and Arya departed for her chambers.

Caspian however stayed on the balcony and looked down into the courtyard to catch his breath after the fight. By Luck, he was privy to a conversation that he shouldn't have heard. Looking down into the courtyard with unfocused eyes, Caspian suddenly became aware that it wasn't empty.

To his surprise, Lord Stark was sitting on one of the benches analyzing a piece of parchment and seemed utterly focused on what he was reading. Caspian watched him for a moment but then realized he wasn't alone.

There was a woman approaching him and when Caspian blinked several times to focus his eyes, he saw with alarm that it was his mother.

What in seven hells does she want? He thought to himself.

She walked right up to Lord Stark and the two began their talk. Caspian was too far away to hear most of what they were saying, so he moved a bit forward without making noise. And by straining his ears, he heard enough.

And what he heard froze his blood.

"You're in pain," his mother said.

Lord Stark looked at her for a moment and then got to his feet. "I've had worse my lady."

He was still respectful to her all things considered after her accusations and Caspian respected the man for that.

"Perhaps it's time to go home," she said. "The south doesn't agree with you."

Lord Stark looked at her for a long time and Caspian suddenly felt his heart rate speeding up because he had a feeling he knew what the man was going to say next.

"I know the truth Jon Arryn died for." Caspian bit the inside of his mouth so hard he drew blood.

"Do you Lord Stark?" the queen asked. "Is that why you've called me here to pose me riddles?"

You utter fool!

Instead, Stark looked closely at her and tapped the side of his face just below his eye. "Has be done this before?"

Cersei looked down at the ground as if shy suddenly. "Jaime would have killed him. My brother's worth a thousand of your friend."

"Your brother?" Stark asked. "Or your lover?"

And there it was.

Caspian sucked in a breath. The truth was out and there was nothing he could do to contain it any longer. The two of them stared at each other for a long time and Caspian could tell that Stark was waiting for her to deny it.

So her next words were like a nail in a coffin.

"The Targaryen's wed brother and sister for three hundred years to keep the blood lines pure," she said and Caspian was shocked because he realized it was the truth. Some small part of him had been hoping that he was wrong and that Jaime hadn't been the one to father his siblings.

But it was all true.

"Jaime and I are more than brother and sister," she said and Caspian swallowed the bile in his throat that had been rising. "We shared a womb, we came into this world together….we belong together."

It was deeper than he thought.

Stark was quiet for a long time and his face remained expressionless. When he spoke again though his voice had become even lower. "My son saw you with him."

It was a simple sentence but one that was ringing with accusation and pain for what had nearly happened. Caspian bit his lip and leaned closer.

Instead of even attempting to look contrite, Cersei asked another question. "Do you love your children?"

"With all my heart."

"No more than I love mine," Cersei replied.

"And they're all Jaime's," Stark said without question. "And Prince Caspian?"

The second prince's heart was pounding. He knew without question that he was Robert's but he needed to hear his mother say it.

"He is Robert's," Cersei said finally and Caspian let out a breath he hadn't even known he was holding.

"The rest are Jaime's, thank the gods," she said Caspian was shocked at the relief in her voice. Did that confirm his fears and mean that she didn't love him as much as his other siblings "In the event that Robert leaves his whores and stumbles drunk into my bed, I finish him off in other ways."

"You've always hated him," Stark said quietly.

"Hated him?" Cersei asked. "I worshipped him. Every girl in the Seven Kingdoms dreamed of him, but he was mine by oath. And when I finally saw him on our wedding day in the Sept of Baelor…..lean and fierce and black bearded. It was the happiest moment of my life. And then that night he crawled on top of me stinking of wine....did what little he could do…..and whispered in my ear Lyanna."

The bitterness in her voice could be heard by Caspian all the way up on the balcony. "Your sister was a corpse and I was a living girl and he loved her more than me."

Lord Stark was quiet for a long time. But his next words nearly sealed his fate.

"When the King returns from his hunt, I will tell him the truth. You must be gone by then. Except for Prince Caspian, he is the rightful heir. You and your children…..I will not have their blood on my hands. Get as far away as you can, with as many men as you can. Because wherever you go….Robert's wrath will follow you."

Cersei's next words caused Caspian unconsciously to shiver. "And what of my wrath Lord Stark? You should have taken the realm for yourself. Jaime told me about the day King's Landing fell. He was sitting in the Iron Throne and you made him give it up. All you needed to do was climb the steps yourself. Such a sad mistake."

Her tone had turned mocking, but Lord Stark didn't rise to the bait. "I've made many mistakes in my life. But that wasn't one of them."

"Oh but it was," Cersei said, her tone becoming even lower. "When you play the game of thrones you win…..or you die. There is no middle ground."

And then she turned and walked away from him. Lord Stark, leaning heavily on his cane turned and looked after her.

Caspian turned back to the balcony and sunk down to the floor, pale and disgusted from what he had learned. His mother all but admitted that he was the rightful heir to the Seven Kingdoms and she would deny it from him to keep her disgusting secret. He had finally heard the truth he had suspected but now had confirmation. And his siblings were all from his Uncle Jaime, even Myrcella.

Except him.

He looked down at Lord Stark once more who was still sitting in courtyard. You fool. Brave honorable fool! You have no idea what my mother will do to keep her children safe! Your days are numbered Lord Stark unless you leave right now!

He got to his feet finally and strode from the room, his mother's final words echoing in his head.

When you play the game of thrones….you win or you die. There is no middle ground.

She was right.

He didn't know it yet…..but Caspian had just become a player.