iron throne of ice and fire

Chapter 159 Long Night

Father, brother, sister... Ed Stark has bid farewell to many of his close relatives. Those people have been gone for a long time, and every time he thinks of them, his heart is still filled with unspeakable bitterness.

Robert, his friend, his siblings...another close relative was about to leave him. Ed closed his eyes in pain, his heart felt like a knife.

Winter is coming... Duke Eddard opened his eyes. It was not yet time to allow him to be immersed in sadness. His eyes gradually became sharper.

The maid was carefully wiping Robert's face. Lord Eddard took a deep look at his sleeping friend, as if to imprint Robert's appearance deep in his heart.

Once things here are dealt with, he will immediately leave King's Landing, which is full of painful memories, and he will mourn his old friends in the godswood in Winterfell.

Duke Eddard turned around and asked Pycelle, "How long can he live?"

Pycelle replied with a serious face: "Prime Minister, I will do my best to treat him, but the king's injury is too serious. I can only relieve his pain. The rest... can only be left to the gods. May the gods kindness."

Although he clearly knew the answer, Duke Ed couldn't help but feel pain in his heart when he heard the answer.

"Look after the king."

Duke Ed confessed and strode towards the door. Before opening the door, he couldn't help but look back at his old friend on the bed.

God bless... Duke Eddard withdrew his gaze.

…………

Outside the king's chamber door, the captain of the Kingsguard stood loyally on duty.

Lord Eddard said: "Ser Barristan, Robert has just drank the milk of the poppy. No one is allowed to disturb his rest without my consent."

"As you command, Prime Minister."

The old and strong Ser Barristan seemed much older: "I have failed in my sacred duty."

Lord Eddard thought of the old days... When hunting wild boar, Robert would always stand still without flinching with a spear in his hand. He would often curse loudly when the wild boar charged, just waiting for the wild boar to almost jump on him. Only then did he stab him to death with a precise and neat shot.

Duke Eddard reached out and patted Ser Barristan on the arm and said, "Ser Barristan, the king has told me the reason... No matter how loyal the knight is, he can't stop Robert who is drunk."

Ser Barristan still could not forgive himself: "King Robert was too drunk to stand when we drove the boar out of the den, but he still asked us to stand aside, but I foolishly followed the order."

Renly said sadly: "No one can disobey my brother's command."

Lord Eddard silently patted Renly, who looked exactly like Robert. He was right. No one could stop Robert at that time, not even if he was present.

Varys stepped forward from behind Duke Eddard. He nodded slightly before saying, "Sir Barristan, I'm a little curious...who brought this wine to the king?"

Barristan frowned and said, "King Robert drank the wine he carried in his own wineskin."

Varys linked his arms with a strange smile on his face: "Then I'm even more curious. Can a bag of wine make King Robert unsteady? His drinking capacity is known to all the seven countries."

After Wallis finished speaking, everyone present could not help but frown. This was indeed a point of doubt.

Without waiting for everyone to think deeply, Barristan explained: "Varys, His Majesty must have drank more than one bag. As long as he opens his mouth, his attendant will give him a new bag. I have not counted the specific number, but I Knows a lot.”

Varys nodded, and his smile became natural: ""What a good boy who is loyal to his duties. King Robert will never worry about running out of wine. "

He added: "Ser Barristan, can you tell me which squire will be attending you that day?"

Before the old knight could speak, Duke Renly's eyes moved slightly and said: "Varys, the squire that day is Lancel of the Lannister family."

Varys first nodded to Lord Renly in thanks, and then sighed: "So it's him, King Robert's new squire, the son of Ser Kevan Lannister, the nephew of Lord Tywin, and the cousin of Queen Cersei.

Lancel is a strong boy. I really hope this good boy doesn't blame himself too much. Children are always very fragile in their innocent youth, which I know very well. "

Everyone must believe that Varys once had a boyhood, but they all doubt whether the Octopus Spider was innocent.

Everyone stopped talking and left one after another.

…………

The whole journey was speechless, and when Duke Eddard was about to reach the Hand's Tower, Renly's voice came over.

"Ned."

Duke Eddard paused and looked over. Renly's clothes were still covered in blood.

"Renly, you need to rest."

Renly shook his head with a bitter expression: "I'm not in that mood yet."

Lord Eddard patted Renly comfortingly and said, "What do you want from me?"

Renly glanced around and said, "Ned, I want to talk to you about something alone."

"it is good."

Lord Eddard believed in Lord Renly and agreed without hesitation, then waved the guards away.

Renly approached Lord Eddard and said, "Ned, could the testamentary letter sealed in clay be related to the regent? Has my brother appointed you as the Keeper of the Realm?"

He lowered his voice and continued: "Ned, I have thirty personal guards, as well as other knights and noble friends. Give me an hour, and I can give you a hundred people."

Lord Eddard stared at Duke Renly for a while and asked in confusion: "Renly, what are you doing with 100 people for me?"

Lord Renly said eagerly: "Ned, of course it is a pre-emptive strike! Act immediately while everyone is still asleep."

Duke Eddard's face turned a little cold, and he frowned: "Renly, what do you want to do?"

Lord Renly didn't notice anything strange about Lord Eddard. His eyes showed an excitement that Lord Eddard couldn't understand.

"We have to seize Joffrey from his mother as a bargaining chip. It doesn't matter whether he is a guardian or not. Whoever holds the king can command the Seven Kingdoms.

We also need to keep Myrcella and Tommen in our hands. As long as we have control of Cersei's children, she will not dare to act rashly.

Ned, when the time comes, the Royal Council will recognize you as the regent of the Seven Kingdoms and make you Joffrey's guardian..."

Lord Eddard interrupted coldly: "Renly, Robert has not yet died, and the gods may spare his life. If Robert dies, I will immediately convene a royal council to make the will public and discuss the inheritance." Things."

After a pause, he glanced at Renly, who had become unfamiliar, and then said: "I will not kill and bleed in Robert's last moments, and commit the crime of forcibly pulling a panicked child from his sleep."

Duke Renly was stunned for a moment, and his face flushed with anxiety: "Ned, now is not the time to delay, Cersei will definitely not stay there. If you don't take action in advance, when Robert dies, I'm afraid you will die. It will be too late and our situation will become very dangerous.”

Lord Eddard didn't want to continue arguing: "Then let's just pray that Robert doesn't die."

Duke Renly persuaded again reluctantly: "Ned, we must not deceive ourselves at this time. We are very aware of Robert's condition. We must not sit and wait for death!"

Lord Eddard said coldly: "Renly, sometimes the gods are kind."

Lord Renly stared at Lord Eddard, gritted his teeth and said, "Ned, the Lannister will not be merciful to us." After saying that, he flicked his cloak and strode away.

…………

"In the game of thrones, if you don't win, you will die."

Back in the Hand's study, Lord Eddard remembered the words Cersei Lannister had said to him that day in the godswood before she left.

Lord Eddard couldn't help but wonder, was it a wise move to refuse Renly's proposal?

Duke Eddard has no interest in political struggles, and he despises using children as a bargaining chip. If Cersei refuses to go into exile, but resists as Renly speculates, then he will need more than just one of Renly's pieces. One hundred people are far from enough.

Duke Eddard brought more than 50 people from Winterfell, 20 of whom he had sent to capture the bandits in the Reach. He only has about 30 people now. If it were normal times, these people would be enough to serve as him and two She is responsible for protecting her daughter, but now it is completely insufficient.

There are at least more than 300 Lannister red robes in the Red Keep... Lord Eddard thought of the children who lived with him in the Hand's Tower.

How will Cersei choose?No matter what choice she made, Lord Eddard decided to send the children back to the North first. He would not put the Stark wolves in danger.

…………

Dong Dong Dong Dong, after a quick knock on the door, before Duke Eddard could respond, Jory, who was always steady, pushed the door open in a panic.

"My lord, King Robert is dead!"

Duke Eddard's tall body swayed, and Jory hurried forward to support his lord.

damned!Before he could pray for Robert, who was more in love than his brothers in the godswood, Robert left forever.

Renly was not wrong. In fact, everyone had known for a long time that Robert would not survive the night, and Lord Eddard also knew it.

After a moment of silence, Duke Ed slowly said: "Jory..."

Benlang can't fall into sadness yet, he has the trust of his old friends.

"Jory, you ask Kane to hire a sea ship, the sooner the better."

"Arrange someone to bring the Archbishop here. Our king needs him. The matters there will be left to Duke Renly first."

"In my name, close all the doors of the Red Fort and no one will be allowed to leave or enter without my consent."

…………

After Duke Eddard finished explaining, Jory left as hastily as he came.

Duke Eddard sat quietly at the table for a while. He pulled out a blank piece of parchment and spread it out. He dipped the pen in ink, exhaled, and waved the quill.

To King Stannis of House Baratheon:

When you receive this letter, your brother, Robert I, has passed away.He was injured by a wild boar while hunting...

Lord Eddard stopped writing after writing the reason why Robert was seriously injured.

Stannis is the legal heir to the Iron Throne. He must come to King's Landing as soon as possible and sit on the Iron Throne to rule the kingdom.

Lord Eddard's quill moved again.

After carefully considering each word, Lord Eddard signed the letter at the end: Eddard Stark, Warden of the Realm, Prime Minister, Duke of Winterfell.

After writing the letter, Lord Eddard felt a sense of relief. His regency would be very short, and the new king would appoint a new hand, and he could return to Winterfell at that time.

The thought of returning to Winterfell made him temporarily forget the pain of losing his friend. He wanted to hear Bran's laughter again, go out to fly eagles with Robb, and watch Rickon play and play. He wanted to hold his arms tightly. My wife sleeps dreamlessly.

His current task is to stabilize the situation before Stannis arrives at King's Landing.

Stabilize the situation... Thinking of this, Duke Eddard became vigilant. He must not ignore Cersei's resistance. Out of honor... he could not leave the trouble to Stannis.

Stannis will definitely come with the army from Dragonstone, and Cersei and the three children will not escape by then... He understands Stannis's temperament, and Cersei and the three children will not escape death... …Cersei can’t be given any more time, at least those three children are innocent.

He has 30 people in his hands, and 10 of them need to be assigned to protect his children and leave first, leaving 20 people.

Including Renly's 100 men, they only have 120 people in total, while the Lannister Red Robes have more than 300 people.

Duke Eddard thought of Green, the kid with more than 200 blue robes.

Duke Eddard soon gave up his plan to contact Greene... No matter how good Greene was, he was still a child. He had already served Cersei, and he shouldn't have to make such a difficult choice at a young age.

It was already rare that Greene had been helping him out of inner honor. What he should do now was to remove Greene to prevent Stannis from being implicated because of Cersei after he sat on the Iron Throne.

Lord Eddard would keep Grimm and his blue robes out of trouble.

As for...whether Green would betray him, Duke Ed had not considered that possibility at all.

…………

Boom, boom, boom, knock on the door interrupted Duke Eddard's thoughts.

"My lord, Lord Janos Slynt wishes to see you." The voice of guard Kane came from outside the door.

…………

…………

Outside the Prime Minister's Tower, Green saw Janos Slynt leaving and walked towards the Prime Minister's Tower.

…………

Duke Ed looked at Green who came late at night with a slightly surprised expression.

"Did something happen?"

Green was wearing armor and holding his helmet in his left hand. He walked to the table and said, "Duke Ned, the atmosphere outside is very unusual. You have too few northern guards left. You need my guard."

Duke Ed looked at Green, whose face was full of concern, and he felt relieved.

"Green, something happened in the Red Keep. I hope you will leave King's Landing early tomorrow morning and go to...you go to Riverrun for me. Well...my wife's father is not in good health. I treat you as my own. My child, please take care of it for me."

Green sighed secretly. He was silent for a while and then said: "Duke Ned, there are no secrets in the Red Castle. This is something everyone knows."

"damned!"

Duke Eddard couldn't help but curse.

(End of this chapter)