Chapter Text
THE DAY THE KING DIED
After allowing myself the time to grieve, I stood and made for the door. I could not be certain how long I had stayed in the room, but it was clear that I had missed something.
In the distance, I heard the faint sounds of screams. Louder than that, I heard the rumble of footsteps throughout the Keep. My heart quickened as I hastened down the hall. Something had happened and until I knew what, I wanted to remain in the shadows. I reared back into the shadows as I saw a group of Lannister soldiers rush past.
“The queen wants both Stark girls alive if it can be helped,” the leader commanded.
My blood became ice in my veins. I froze, even my breathing paused for a split second. All it took was the realization that Ned had in fact talked to Cersei for my brain to put the pieces together. Cersei wanted Ned out of the picture and if that was the case, it was likely she wanted me gone as well.
I stuck to the shadows, trying to make my way to my chambers unnoticed. I had to stop and press myself as tightly to the wall as I could a few times. From what I was able to glean from soldiers running past me is that Ned was taken into custody, thrown into the Black Cells, and the men had orders to kill every Northman and capture the Stark girls.
My heart was beating in my ears as I finally saw the familiar doors to my room. I quickly entered, shutting the doors behind me gently. I ran to where I kept my weapons. Like always, I threw both my bow and quiver over my shoulders. I grabbed the belt with my sword sheath and wrapped it around my waist. I sheathed my sword then reached out to grab my thigh strap for my daggers, but froze as I felt cool steel touch my neck. I gulped. There hadn’t been any noise and the door was still closed. Whoever held this sword had already been hiding in my room when I entered.
“If you plan to kill me, then be done with it,” I growled.
“That depends. Did you conspire against Lord Stark?”
I quickly turned when Jory’s voice reached my ears. He was looking at me with a blank expression. I placed my hand on his blade, not caring that one wrong move would slice my skin.
“Jory, I would never betray Ned.”
Jory stared at me a long moment before his gaze softened. He pulled his sword away from me and sheathed it.
“No, I don’t think you would. Lord Stark trusted you with his life, so I’m inclined to trust you with it as well.”
“Why are you here and not with Arya and Sansa?”
“Lord Stark sent me to find you the second he was called to the Throne Room. He said the girls had men to protect them. I’m your assigned Northern guard, I suppose.”
I nodded, heart swelling that Ned ranked me the same importance as his daughters. I finished strapping my dagger holster to my thigh and grabbed the three daggers that would be hidden there. I showed Jory my cache and told him to take anything he needed. I grabbed a bag and threw a few tunics and pairs of britches into it. I grabbed a black cloak to throw around my shoulders.
The door flew open to show Sandor Clegane. I quickly drew my sword and held it out in front of me. Never lowering my weapon or taking my eyes off Clegane’s, I returned to Jory, standing in front of him protectively.
“The queen sent me to find you,” Clegane stated. He set his hand on the hilt of his sword. “And so I’ve found you.”
“So you found me,” I echoed. “What now?”
“I suppose I’ll have to take you to her. I really was hoping you were clever enough to find your way out of the Keep.”
I smiled softly. Jory reached for his sword, but I stopped him with my free hand.
“I thought of us as friends, Sandor.”
“As did I, Cass. But I’m just following orders.”
“And if I give you my own orders?”
Sandor laughed. “Wouldn’t be much of a hound if I wasn’t loyal.”
“At what point does a hound realize its owners won’t take care of it? Joffrey verbally abuses you daily, belittling you and dehumanizing you. Cersei will use you as a glorified weapon. I’ve always treated you well, haven’t I?”
Sandor kept quiet.
“Where are the Stark girls, Sandor,” I asked, lowering my sword ever so slightly.
“I took Sansa to Cersei-“
Jory tried to lunge towards Sandor, but I grabbed his arm and pulled him back.
“Cersei still wants her to marry Joffrey. She wants something to hold over Ned,” I concluded.
“Aye, keep the wolf tamed.”
“So she’ll let him live?”
“Cersei’s a bitch, but she ain’t stupid. She knows if she kills Eddard Stark, Joffrey will have a war to deal with. However, the kid is mad, Cass. If he wants the Stark dead then the Stark will die.”
I nodded slowly.
There’s not going to be a way for me to get Sansa out of the castle now. Ned I have a chance to save. I have to get him out of the dungeons.
“Do I have your loyalty, Sandor?”
Sandor glared at me.
“What do you want of me?”
“I want you to swear to me that you’ll protect Sansa Stark until your last breath. Even if she refuses and you have to take her out kicking and screaming, do it. Get her out of King’s Landing and take her to Winterfell the first chance you get. Be discreet and do not let anyone know your loyalty has shifted.”
“If I do this? How will you repay The Hound’s loyalty?”
I lowered my sword completely and approached the large man.
“Sandor Clegane, if you bring Sansa Stark to me in Winterfell, I will serve you your brother’s head on a silver platter. If she’s still a maiden, I’ll give you his cock and balls as well.”
Sandor grinned at that.
“Then I swear it, Cass. Get out of the city quickly. I heard the other Stark girl was with her dancing teacher.”
With that Sandor left. Jory and I exchanged a glance.
“Do you trust him?”
“I’m going to have to.”
Jory and I found our way to the Hand’s Tower in no time. We went the scenic route, which was relatively empty. We only had to duck behind a pillar a handful of times on our journey through the castle.
“FIND THE GIRL,” I heard bellowed as we neared the room that Arya and Syrio have their lessons. I heard the heavy thud of footsteps, but Jory was quicker to react. He grabbed me and ducked behind another pillar. He held his hand over my mouth his other arm held me firmly against his body. I wanted to resist, but when I saw the large man in armor approaching I thought better of it.
It was Meryn Trant, one of my least favorite Kingsgaurd. I knew he held no loyalty to House Baratheon and would likely capture me if I tried to speak to him. He was walking down the hall slowly, looking around as he did so.
“Come out, come out, little Stark girl.”
Another soldier appeared at the end of the hall.
“Have you seen the king’s sister? Cassandra Baratheon?”
“No, I thought that was The Hound’s job.”
“That fucking moron couldn’t find the bitch. Queen Cersei’s out for blood; she wants her head.”
My eyes widened. I was suddenly very grateful for Jory’s hand over my mouth. He most definitely stifled the tiny gasp that would have left my lips. We watched as the soldiers disappeared around a corner. When the sound of their footsteps became too light to hear, Jory released me and we continued into the room Trant had come out of. I softly cursed when I saw Syrio lying on the ground, blood beginning to pool around him.
“Syrio,” I said, falling onto my knees next to him.
“Ahhhhh, Cassandra. That man had no idea how to kill a man,” Syrio laughed. “You’ll need to stitch me up, but for now wrap it.”
I rolled my eyes but grabbed a chunk of my dress. I ripped a good sized chunk off and began wrapping Syrio’s wound. It was a lot of blood, but it seemed superficial. He was right, with some stitching he would be good as new.
“Where is Arya?”
“The girl ran when I told her to.”
“Well,” I said, looking up at Jory, “we know she’s good at hiding. We’ll have to search the city.”
“Clegane told us to leave King’s Landing quickly.”
“I just need time to figure out how to get Ned out of the dungeons. A few days. We can look for Arya and make a plan to save her father. Syrio, we’re going to need a ship. Does the Sealord of Bravos owe you any favors?”
Syrio just smiled in response.
For the next few days, Jory and I scoured the city. We wore all back, including cloaks that pulled over our heads and hid our faces. We never split up in fear of the other getting caught. It was dangerous and difficult seeing as the City Watch were also out looking for any Northern men, Arya, and myself. Jory and I had built a sense of trust along the way.
Day after day we never had any luck. We would return back to the little apartment we were able to find shelter in. It was near the Sept of Baelor which was a busy part of town, but the house went unnoticed. No one cared about the run down building. If the owners found us take shelter in there, it would raise issues, but from what I could tell the place had been abandoned for months.
It was one week into our searching when I finally had a bone thrown my way. The Night’s Watch man that told Ned about Cat taking Tyrion had made a reappearance. We bumped into him when trying to grab more food for our little trio. To my surprise, it was Jory he recognized.
“Aren’t you the man who was outside Lord Stark’s door staring me down? If you need any help with getting back North or anything really, know that the Night’s Watch owes a lot to the Stark family. Just let me know how to help.”
Jory looked down at me, silently pleading for me to take the lead for this conversation.
“It is good to see you again,” I whispered. “We should talk somewhere more private.”
The Brother of the Night’s Watch nodded and followed Jory and I. We found a secluded area to speak. It helped that the sun had already set; the streets were nearly empty. We huddled close in one of the smaller alleyways.
“It was Yoren, if I recall correctly?”
“Aye, my lady.”
“Yoren, you told Lord Stark that Benjen was as much your brother as he was to Ned. Do you still believe that?”
“I do. Like I said, the Starks have done a lot for the Wall. The Night’s Watch doesn’t involve themselves in politics, but the Starks will always have the support of us brothers in black.”
I silently regarded the man. He had honest eyes and I had a feeling in my gut saying to trust him. I internally sighed. I felt like I had been putting a lot of trust into people recently; I only hoped that none of it would come back to haunt me.
“No one has found the youngest daughter of Lord Stark,” I explained. “We’ve been looking since he was taken into custody but we haven’t had much luck. It would help to have another set of eyes looking out for her. You met Jon Snow? She looks similar to him. You should know her if you find her, and if you’re unsure I want to see them anyways.”
Yoren nodded as I spoke. He held out his hand. I clasped my forearm against his own.
“As long as you mean right by the Starks, I will do everything in my power to help. I only have another week here in the capital before I must return North.”
“Thank you, Yoren, truly. If you need to find me, light a torch near midnight at the base of the statue of Baelor.”
Jory ushered me along. I’ve learned the man did not like to stay in one place for too long. We made our way back to the market to see what merchants still had to offer for food. We found a baker about to toss some stale bread. He gave us a fair price on the less than his normal quality of loaves. A few stalls down was a vendor selling roasted boar. Once I heard Jory’s stomach grown just from a smell I knew that I was going to splurge on this meal. Jory deserved a full belly after the week he had endured.
After haggling the price down, solely for the sake of feeling like I had a mini victory, I coughed up the requested coin. Jory and I made our way towards the little house we were calling home. We knocked on the back door in a way that Syrio had showed us. The door opened almost immediately.
Syrio shut the door the instant our feet crossed the threshold. We all sat down at the table in the middle of what looked like a poor excuse for a solar. I divided the portions, giving Jory more off of my portion. I could live on the small amount; I wanted Jory strong enough to fight like a true Northman if we ran into any conflict. He glanced at me, his eyes showing me that he was thankful for the gesture. I smiled and turned to Syrio.
“We have someone else looking for Arya.” Syrio ignored me.
“I think you should let Jory and I go together tomorrow, Cassandra. I can see that you are getting little sleep.”
That’s an understatement.
“I agree with him,” Jory stated. “You need a break. You were sleepless at Lord Stark’s side and then again at King Robert’s side when they were injured. You need to catch up on rest.”
“If you two think I’m going to get even a wink of sleep while Ned is locked in a dungeon, then you’re both mad.”
Jory and Syrio exchanged a glance. They must have known that arguing was futile because they said nothing and continued eating. I picked at my portion. I hadn’t had much of an appetite since Robert had been injured. The stress of everything had been weighing too greatly on my shoulders.
I forced myself to eat; I knew that I needed to in order to function properly. Jory and Syrio each bid me goodnight as they retreated to their respective sleeping areas. They gave me the bedroom for the obvious reason of me being a high born lady. I sat at the table alone for a time, pondering the situation I found myself in. Once I started thinking about Robert, I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes.
My companions are right; I should try to get some sleep. If not, I’ll drown myself in emotions.
I stood up and ascended to my designated room. I flopped onto the bed and tried to sleep. As it had been the past few days, I instead spent the night tossing and turning.