25 Scramble

Kings Landing.

The Red Keep was in scramble mode.

King Robert returned from the hunt with a horrifying injury. He drank too much wine and thought he could take on a boar. Unfortunately, his spear missed its mark. The boar got him first.

Now the King was bedridden and only let a select few attend to him. Knowing he was at death's door, King Robert summoned his family, speaking to them one by one. After that formality was out of the way, he ordered everyone to leave him be.

"Let a man die in peace!" he told them.

That would be the last way anyone saw King Robert — on that deathbed with blood on the sheets and a terrible stench of death. The King had ordered for his body to be cleaned and prepared for the funeral immediately upon his death.

He wanted a funeral that's sung about for generations to come. That all started with the proper handling of his body. It is the main draw card, after all.

Time was of the essence. Lord Stark would become Lord Protector of the realm following the King's death, but many moving parts were still in play. The Queen was mustering her faction's strength, and Renly grew restless — even suggesting to Lord Stark that *he* should be made King, not Stannis.

Jory Cassel stood at attention inside Lord Stark's office.

Lord Stark signed a letter and sealed it with the mark of House Stark.

"You will sail to Dragonstone tonight. You will place this in the hand of Stannis Baratheon. Not his steward, not his captain of the guard, and not his wife. Only Stannis himself."

"Yes, my lord."

At that moment came a knock on the door, and Lord Baelish was admitted entry.

*GRRRRR!*

This prompted Vera to growl a deep and menacing growl.

Seeing this, Lord Stark suddenly felt uneasy, "And Jory,"

"Yes, my lord?"

"Take Vera with you. Never know what could happen."

After saying this, Lord Stark whistled and pointed at Jory, to which Vera understood and left Lord Stark's side, following Jory.

This gave Jory all the confidence in the world. Vera had already proven herself a valuable asset in deescalating situations. Some could even say that Jory owes his life to Vera.

"Now leave us."

That day, Lord Baelish convinced Lord Stark to muster the Gold Cloaks and formally depose Queen Cersei once and for all.

But when word came that the King had finally passed, barely anyone felt remorse for his death. Instead, it was a relief.

Lord Stark was part of the select few that mourned, but even he had to set that aside and do his best to play the Game of Thrones, albeit reluctantly.

The news came to Lord Stark suddenly when 'King Joffrey' and the Queen summoned him to the throne room. The bells rang throughout Kings Landing, sending their King's soul to the afterlife with song.

Lord Stark strode purposefully with 30 or so of his house guard. He found Lord Varys and Baelish waiting for him outside the Great Hall of the Red Keep.

"All is accomplished. The City Watch is yours," said Lord Baelish.

"Good," replied Lord Stark, "Is Lord Renly joining us?"

"I fear that Lord Renly has left the city. He rode through the old gate with Ser Loras Tyrell and some 50 retainers," said Lord Varys, "Last seen galloping south in some haste."

This information made Lord Stark grimace. Perhaps he should have taken Lord Renly's assistance when he had the chance. Now, Lord Stark had no choice but to trust in men whose allegiance goes to the highest bidder. The only thing going for him was that Lord Baelish had loyalty toward his wife, Lady Catelyn.

Trusting in Littlefinger turned out to be a terrible decision. The moment Lord Stark called upon the City Watch to help him reprimand the Queen and her bastard son, they turned on him.

"I did tell you not to trust me," Lord Baelish said as he held a knife to Lord Stark's throat.

His house guard was slaughtered right there in the Throne Room, and Lord Stark got whisked away to the dungeons.

Pandemonium ensued. The tower of the hand was raided and purged of any Stark loyalists. They even killed Septa Mordane. . .

Sansa was detained — found by the Hound before she could even do anything.

Arya was a different story, however. She had slipped away, despite the Lannister's desperate search.

Now the whole city was looking for Arya and Vera. The prior of which would prove to be complicated — the girl had more smarts than previously assumed. But the latter? How hard could it be to find a big black Bloodhound in Kings Landing?

Just as problematic, apparently.

First, they tried to intercept Jory on his way to the docks. But the damned beast Vera could sense their approach and warned Jory accordingly. They suspect Jory managed to escape Kings Landing before a true perimeter could be established. Either way, over a dozen men were executed or sent to the dungeons for this failure.

It was Vera that Queen Cersei was after. She had hostages to use against the Starks, but Joe Snow was no Stark.

This was the same man who did not tell his family about Jaime throwing Bran out of a window. If he wanted to protect his 'family', he would have acted long before now. Even if he did act, Cersei was unsure how effective he could be. Still, Joe Snow was uncertainty, and this uncertainty created anxiety.

Cersei needed something beyond the Stark children if the assassination attempt on Joe failed, she reckoned, and Vera was that something. The dog might not even amount to any leverage, but having her would be better than nothing.

Robb called the banners when word reached Winterfell. The North had begun their slow process of gathering their men.

This seemed to be the case everywhere in the country. Rumblings from Dragonstone. . . Whispers from the Stormlands. . . And the quick reaction from Lord Tywin, who had already gathered a sizable host with intentions of marching into the Riverlands.

The continent stirred with uncertainty.

[Chapter End]

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Regarding Chapter 0021: Tea Makes Tearful

Greetings all,

Just touching base re: Joe getting r**ped by Lysa.

Totally not a sentence I thought I'd be writing when I saw my first GoT episode, lol.

I understand this was a point of contention, and I appreciated those who shared their opinions.

Besides general reactions about the act itself being weird/random/in your face, the main point was wondering how on earth Joe could trust a woman he knows poisoned her own husband, and who Joe personally antagonized.

I was delighted with these questions as they showed people were engaging and thinking critically about the content.

The discourse surrounding r**e is still orientated toward blaming the victims for their stupidity/lack of awareness/whatever other reasons why it's *their* fault.

This cultural phenomenon was not likely to change with Joe. In fact, his privilege of growing up in a castle, knowing story events, possessing a dragon egg, etc. . , only amplifies such criticisms.

My explanation of things in the comments or replies, as some would appreciate, is impossible without diving into spoiler territory. Furthermore, I feel that citing exact moments, scenes, and chapters defeats the purpose of the reader crafting their own perspective about the content.

If readers decide Joe is stupid, or whatever, then that is their prerogative and I respect that. That is their experience with the story, yo, and I have no intention on changing it.

To those frustrated or confused, know that I make no attempts to diminish or undermine how you feel. You have been seen and you have been heard.

I have no intention of telling readers how they should digest information, nor do I feel that I owe anyone an explanation beyond what is made implicit in the story.

Make no mistake. Sometimes my patience loses itself, and I feel like posting the cliff notes of the entire plot, especially when someone has an inkling of what might happen and posts a juicy comment. This is easily one of the hardest things to deal with as a writer.

It is a shame, and I sometimes feel bad for Joe for being misunderstood. But that's life, I suppose.

-ssyffix