Chapter 52

Ned Stark stormed toward his room within the Tower of the Hand. His men flanking him as he entered the room where he was living in while serving as Hand. He couldn't believe his wife would be so foolish. He didn't want to believe it. He shouldn't believe it. And yet the evidence of Aegon's powers, seeing what could happen, and the place where it would happen if events prior to it were unaltered came into play. The description of what Aegon told him and the Small Council in vivid detail could not be ignored. Disputed? Yes. Even Aegon said the future was always in motion. But ignored? No. To ignore it was to invite certain death and doom.

~ "Go to the Tower of the Hand Uncle. See for yourself what I told you is true. It will be the only real time you will and ultimately come to believe what I have told you in the Small Council chambers is what the future holds for us, if we are not careful. What you will see, what you will read, and will hear from your wife will remove whatever doubts you still possess Uncle. It will be bitter truth, but truth you must experience to endure this life, and do your duty as my Hand." ~

Shaking the memory from his mind, the Hand of the King reached the door, opening it with such force, it made a loud, almost smashing sound, Upon entering, he saw his wife in the chair, in front of the desk where he worked as Hand. In front of her, there was the paper, ink, and quill in hand to write with. Her face was one of shock, surprise, and above all else...fear. They were bloodshot, eyes filled with tears, the fear in them increasing, as they looked from him to the paper she was writing on. The truth of it clear as day to him despite not seeing just yet what was on the paper.

Moving quickly, Ned had stopped Cat from trying to destroy the message she was writing just in time, and his men now moved to flank the woman to keep her in the chair.

What he read filled his heart with rage and despair.

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Lord Walder Frey,

As you have no doubt heard, the Targaryens have returned to the Iron Throne once more, punishing those who have fought against them during Robert's Rebellion. My own House being one of them. It won't be long before the new King turns his attention on you as well despite your army coming to Robert's aid when the war was coming to an end. I have met this dragon. I know how he thinks and acts. He will come for House Frey because of how it is tied to mine by oath. Whether he attacks by using his vile sorcery or three dragons, I cannot say, but he must be stopped. So I propose a secret alliance and a means to strike the dragon down to ensure our own Houses do not fall completely to ruin under the new King's wrath.

As Roose Bolton is going to be married to one of your daughters at the Twins, I suggest our three Houses unite to take the dragon's head. All of them. The King, his Aunt, and even the future Queen Margery Tyrell if possible. A proper trap can be placed during the wedding and the ambush will allow us to remove the strength of the dragon when they least suspect it.

I have no doubt Lord Frey, that this lethal strike against House Targaryen will help in appeasing you for the slight the King has given for annulling the promises marriage between House Stark and House Frey with my eldest son marrying one of your daughters as we discussed. Once removed from power, Lord Stannis will take the Iron Throne and have him rule properly over the Seven Kingdoms. With our actions bringing him the Iron Throne, he will pardon us for any crime others will see we committed to achieve it.

My only condition to this scheme being carried out, is that my children and the rest of my family be spared from the attack when we attend. I will even try to make them leave early to ensure they are not informed or try to stop it from happening. I have also enlisted the aid of Theon Greyjoy, who seeks revenge for the loss of his kin despite everything and-

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Ned stopped at the part of the letter which was incomplete knowing this was when he had entered the room to his wife's complete surprise. No doubt she assumed he would be busy with his duties as Hand and on the Small Council to come back here in time to see her in this position.

"Why? Why write this? Why are you doing this to Aegon?" asked Ned while Cat still had tears running down her face.

"You know why I did this Ned. I did this to obtain justice. Justice for my House. For my family. The family I lost. For the family he robbed me of when he killed by Father, my sister, and sending my brother to the Wall," answered Cat while Ned looked away from her.

"Family members who were guilty against House Targaryen and the Crown. Actions that you know were wrong Cat. Your own Father conspired against them with Lord Arryn. Lied, schemed, plotted, and planned to dethrone the dragon in a quest for greater power they should have never attempted to obtain," countered Ned while his wife glared at him.

"He didn't have to kill my sister or her child. And what about sending my brother away to the Wall?" asked Cat while Ned glared back.

"Your sister helped in the conspiracy that plunged the Seven Kingdoms into a senseless war Cat. She made sure my sister's messages never reached the other Lords informing them of her marriage to Rheagar. Your brother openly supported your Father's plans and schemes while making it known to everyone in court about how he would try to rebel against the Crown," answered Ned while Cat scowled further.

"That doesn't justify killing young Robin. He was a boy Ned. How do you justify that?" asked Cat with Ned being silent for a moment.

"Your sister scorned him. Ignored the command to come to court. And admitted to killing her husband while having an affair with Lord Baelish. She gloated and all but spit in the face of the Crown. A price had to be paid for her crimes outside of her own life. Besides, Robin wasn't Lord Arryn's son. He was a bastard and as I recall, you have always hated bastard children. So why do you care for this one bastard now?" replied Ned at last with Cat glaring harder.

"Because I know that this bastard child was also a Tully despite everything. I know that even though the child was a bastard, it was my sister's child. I was an Aunt by blood," Cat shot back at him.

"So if I have had a bastard child with another woman, it is okay for you to hate said child to your heart's content. But so long as the bastard is without question from your House's bloodline, it is tolerated? Do you hear yourself? The hypocrisy behind it?!" asked Ned with Cat standing up from her chair and shrugging off the men on either side with anger burning with those Tully eyes.

"And what of you? You, who lied to me all these years! You, who claimed him as your bastard son. You, who decided to protect that boy instead of throwing him into the sea to die. You chose to protect that child, knowing what he was, who he was, and where he comes from on his Father's side of the family. You put all my children at risk with a boy, who could have had the madness within him like his Mad King for a Grandfather. What if he had the madness Ned? Would you have put him down? Ended his life?" asked Cat with her own anger rising with her voice.

"First off, Aegon was my sister's son. He was all that was left of her! I was not about to see him die after I had just fought in a war, only to see his Mother perish after bringing him to the world. She asked me to protect him. I made a sacred promise to her Cat. A promise I was bound to three times over! And as for your children, they are my children too. I would never endanger them. And Aegon would never had had the madness. He was not born from the repeated incest acts of House Targaryen. Those same practices which Aegon himself wishes to ban to ensure the madness does not return," answered Ned while Cat was still furious with him.

"And yet you allow his Aunt, who is born from such incest to take an interest in your son. My son! Because of this King, a promise of betrothal to House Frey was broken. You are lucky this didn't happen during the war with the Lannisters. They would have pulled their support and your son's chances in winning the war would be in jeopardy!" exclaimed Cat while Ned struggled to bring his temper into check.

"There is nothing wrong with Robb being interested in Daenerys Targaryen and in turn her being interested in him. Provided that is the case as you say. If anything, them being together further mends old wounds. History spoke of a time when House Stark and House Targaryen being united together helped create a lasting peace within the Seven Kingdoms for well over a century. I for one would like to see that happen again. And as for House Frey, you would see our son married to one of them? A House with no honor and sees to only bleed those around them dry of what they have in life? Your own Father knew this to be true when he japed and called the Lord of the Twins the 'Late Wader Frey' for not sending his bannermen until after Robert won the battle at the Trident. Besides, you had no right to do any kind of business with Lord Frey in negotiating on who Robb would marry in life. It was not your place to do so," replied Ned with Cat looking insulted.

"It is the way of things Ned. It always has been the way of things. The Fathers negotiate betrothals when it comes to their daughters. Mothers their sons," countered Cat with Ned shaking his head.

"Aye, when a girl is still a girl. When the boy is still a boy. Robb was not a boy when this happened. You wouldn't allow him to make up his own mind. You wouldn't allow him to perform his own negotiations. You had no faith in him. No trust in his ability to make the right decisions. And before you counter my words by saying Walder Frey would have outsmarted our son if he had gone to see the Lord of the Twins, Robb could have easily taken several Lords with him. Lords who were skilled to give our son proper counsel on these matters," replied Ned with Cat still looking irate over him questioning her actions.

"How can you say that? I love our son. I do trust him to do what is right. I merely wished to ensure his future with a powerful House was provided," countered Catelyn while Ned shook his head.

"And House Targaryen isn't a powerful House? A House, if married into, would tie us to the royal bloodline of Kings? You would have our son bound in marriage to a Frey over a Princess?" asked Ned with Cat looking away.

"Considering what your bastard nephew has done to my House? Yes!" stated Cat with her eyes filled with anger and rage.

"Your family members were punished because they deserved to be punished Cat. You could have easily been punished too if the King so wished it. But he chose to leave things alone as they were. And what did his act of mercy in sparing your life produced in the end? You seeking to betray the Crown as your Father, brother, and sister have done! To conspire and kill them at a wedding of all things! A WEDDING! I would think a woman, who followed the faith of the Seven would know just how disrespectful it is to allow such a thing to happen if it came to pass," said Ned with Cat looking away.

"Not when they don't follow the faith of the Seven," commented Cat while Ned scowled at her since she had tried multiple times to convert others in the North to her faith, but failed each time.

"And what of myself Cat? If I were attacked at this wedding, would you cry for me? Or just our children should they be attacked?" asked Ned with Catelyn looking at him again with narrowed eyes.

"My children would be safe. Safe from the dragon. Safe from his supporters. And safe to follow the true path I set for them," replied Cat with Ned reading between the lines.

He followed the Old Gods, as such, his life was not as important as their children. They could still be molded. Turned to her faith. Whether by manipulation or force, it didn't matter to her. She believed the Seven was the one true faith. The one faith that mattered and didn't care for any other despite knowing what it meant to marry a man from the North.

She also assumed their children would not be harmed at the wedding.

"And you assume the Freys and the Boltons will let our children live after the wedding? Or to be held as hostages to hold against the other Northern Lords?" questioned Ned while Cat looked insulted.

"Of course they would. House Frey is bound to my House despite it being weakened by the damn King. They wouldn't dare break their oath to my House," countered Cat with Ned sighing since his wife believed these men would honor their oaths and deals when they would gladly break Guest Rights at a wedding.

"And yet these two Houses would violate Guest Rights at a wedding. Anyone who does that would betray you Cat. Your House has been brought low, disgraced, and these two Houses have no honor if they plan to go through with it. Why would one honor their oath to your House and the other, who does not, follow the first?" challenged Ned with Cat not looking at him for a moment, her own mind clearly unable to answer his question, much less challenge his own challenge against her decisions.

"Life was so much simpler and easier when he was just a bastard," whispered Cat bitterly while sitting in the chair now, slumping her head in defeat.

"What?" asked Ned confused when he heard this while Cat just simply looked up at her husband now with more tears running down her face and eyes filled with loss as well as pain.

"King Aegon. Back when he was Jon Snow. It was so much easier to hate him. Hate him for what I thought he was. What the world said he was. What the laws of Gods and Men said he was to those of high born status. That he was born from lust and sin between two people not doing it for love. How he was a walking talking symbol of your unfaithfulness to me and our marriage. How he represented my fears of showing so much talent that you might legitimize him as a Stark and would name him your heir over Robb. I felt so happy to see him brought low. Brought down from whatever position he tried to reach in life. I wanted him to suffer for being born from your union with some nameless, faceless whore for a woman, and I did everything I could to ensure he never could rise above his station as a bastard," commented Catelyn while more tears fell and she cried some more.

"And now?" asked Ned curiously.

"And now? I hate him even more for what he has done. And yet, I can't hate him for the main reason I did in the past. Because he isn't a bastard. He isn't your son you had with some nameless, faceless whore for a woman. He is of royal blood. Legitimate in every way. He is the King of the Seven Kingdoms and his word is law. I can't call him a bastard like I did in the past. I can't even say he shouldn't be King. How can I? He ended the war with the Lannisters, exposed the vile conspiracies throughout the Seven Kingdoms, and brought justice to everyone who was wronged. And yet I still hate him! I hate him for not being what I thought he was. I hate him for what he has done, even though it was within his right to do. I can't stop hating the new King. Its all I have left. I have lost most of my family on my House's side and the one I have left won't even speak to me. Whether out of keeping what is left of our House honor intact or simply to spite me, I do not know," said Catelyn sadly.

"You still have your children Cat. They were and still are in your life. It is not too late to fix this," said Ned with Catelyn shaking her head.

"My children think I am an idiot and foolish. Robb was furious at me when I created the betrothal with House Frey. When the King nullified the marriage betrothal, our son was happy about it. When I told him this was wrong, he glared at me for even saying that. Sansa won't speak to me since I have spoken ill of Aegon long after he went missing as a boy. Arya is the same and refuses to listen to me about being a proper lady. I haven't seen Brandon or Rickon since the war started or ended. Even if I went back to the North, it wouldn't be the same since they no doubt heard of my House's actions, and wondering why things happened the way it did. Not to mention why I was so mean to Aegon when I thought he was your bastard. I can't go back to them Ned. I can't go back to them and see their eyes looking back with sadness, the disappointment, and the shame of having me for a Mother of such dishonor," replied Cat while Ned sighing while rubbing his eyes now in frustration.

"And this was your alternative? Conspiracy to kill a King?" asked Ned in a tired voice.

"All I have left is my hate Ned. What else is there for me when everything else is gone?" asked Cat while Ned not answering her.

"Aegon endured such things for well over a decade. Endured being scorned and laid low for being a bastard Cat. The least you could have done is endure such scorn from others for that amount of time, if not more. Had you done so, it would have things easier. But now, with your actions being what they are with this act of treason...I don't know what I can do," said Ned with Cat glancing at the paper in his hand.

"You could destroy letter Ned. Swear these men to silence. They are you bannermen. Not the King's," answered Cat while Ned shook his head.

"I can't. I won't. If I did, I would forsake my honor as a Stark. My loyalty to Aegon as his Hand. To ask these men of the North to betray him is not something I will ask them to do. And even if I did, Theon is being taken as we speak. If he doesn't name you now as one of the conspirators in this plot, the boy will confess soon enough," replied Ned before he motioned for his men to take Cat away.

Only after they left did Ned fall into the chair his wife sat in moments ago and sighed in defeat knowing his wife had wronged is nephew yet again. And this time, blood relation or not. Hand of the King or Warden of the North, Ned Stark knew he could not save his wife from whatever punishment Aegon commanded. No matter how much he wanted to plead and beg for him to show mercy to her.

It would not do any good. Aegon could no longer show mercy to her regardless of who asked for it. To do so would invite weakness. He already heard from Mace Tyrell what happened with Loras when he came back from dealing with Renly. Aegon would no longer give mercy or leeway to House Tyrell. Loras has burned through it all and Lady Olenna made sure the man heard it well enough from the most wicked tongue lashing she had ever given in her life.

The King could only show so much mercy before people believed him weak and a dragon had to be strong in all things no matter what.

Even against rebellious family members whether they were from blood or marriage.