32. Respect

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"You should be the Hand."

"Gods forbid," Jaime replied lazily. "It's not an honor I'd want. There's far too much work involved." Bran hung, listening, suddenly afraid to go on. They might glimpse him, if he tried to swing by he did not want to risk it. So he hung nervously.

"Don't you see the danger this puts us in?" Cersei hissed. "Robert loves the man like a brother."

"Robert can barely stomach his brothers. Not that I blame him. Stannis would be enough to give anyone indigestion." Jaime corrected.

"Don't play the fool. Stannis and Renly are one thing, and Eddard Stark is quite another. Especially since his mother came back from the dead, who the hell is that woman? Robert will listen to Stark and that imposter. Damn them both. I should have insisted that he name you, but I was certain Stark would refuse him." Cersei grumbled out.

"We ought to count ourselves fortunate," Jaime corrected. "The king might as easily have named one of his brothers, or even Littlefinger, gods help us." He muttered. "Give me honorable enemies rather than ambitious ones, and I'll sleep more easily by night."

They were talking about Father, Bran had realized, and Hayley, why were they sounding so mean and cruel, his father was wonderful and he already adored Hayley.

"We will have to watch him carefully, the both of them. I dont trust that imposter nor an honorable man." Cersei sneered.

"I would rather watch you," Jaime corrected pulling his twin closer. "Come back here."

"Lord Eddard has never taken any interest in anything that happened south of the Neck," Cersei spat. "Never. I tell you, he means to move against us. Why else would he leave the seat of his power?"

"A hundred reasons. Duty. Honor. He yearns to write his name large across the book of history, to get away from his wife, or both. Perhaps he just wants to be warm for once in his life."

"And what do you think?" Hayley pondered. "Honestly about the wall and all that bull shit?"

"It's honorable." Jon corrected.

"It's bullshit." Hayley corrected. "I was reading a grimoire of stark history and such and came across the men in black. You know thats a damn good movie- Movie what the hell is that? Right." Hayley answered for him. "But anyways, it sounds like a shit situation. All of it."

"I have no place here without Lord Stark." Jon corrected.

"Thats bullshit too. Dont bullshit me." Hayley demanded.

"It is true. I'm a bastard. I have no place at winterfell. I am not a stark."

"I tell you, he loves me not." Cersei corrected Jaime.

"And whose fault is that, sweet sister?"

Bran knew he should not hear this, should not be listening that his ears and eyes were not meant for knowing what these two were speaking about. Clearly they chose the old tower far away for a reason. They didnt want anyone to hear them complaining about the king, about his father.

"You are as blind as Robert," Cersei drawled.

"If you mean I see the same thing, yes, I see a man who would sooner die than betray his king."

"He betrayed one already, or have you forgotten?" Cersei countered. Jaime scoffed a breath, he wanted a good fuck, not a yelling match. "I don't deny he's loyal to Robert, that's obvious. What happens when Robert dies and Joff takes the throne? And the sooner that comes to pass, the safer we'll all be. My husband grows more restless every day. Having Stark beside him will only make him worse." Bran shifted anxiously his grasp slipping he needed to get down, he needed to run and hide and tell father.

" He's still in love with the sister, the insipid little child. How long till he decides to put me aside for some new Lyanna? Or his own mother?"

"You have a place here, you have a place wherever you want. You just have to claim it." Hayley declared.

"It's not the easy, Lady Hayley, no one respects me." Jon declared.

"No one is gonna respect you until you show them who you really are." Hayley declared.

"But-"

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"But-"

"No buts Jon." Hayley demanded. "Being respected and finding yourself, that doesnt involve hiding away a million miles away from society Jon. YOu want to make a difference, you stand up and you show them all who you are. Who you really are. Not a Snow, not a Stark, You. Jon, you." She tapped a finger to his chest.

"Come here and be quiet." Jaime demanded. Bran swung around, hanging upside down as he tried to get up but was failing. The world looked strange upside down. A courtyard swam dizzily below him. Bran looked in the window. Inside the room, a man and a woman were wrestling in Brans eyes. Naked... and wrestling? He couldnt tell who they were but then Bran realized they were kissing. He watched, wide-eyed and frightened, he knew he really shouldnt be seeing such things, his breath tight in his throat. The man had a hand down between her legs, and he must have been hurting her there was Bran's only thought, because the woman started to moan, low in her throat.

Bran wondered if he should get help but he was in a bad position to do anything but hang at the moment.

"Thank you." Jon whispered.

"So no wall?"

"I didnt say that." Jon corrected. "But I will think about what you said. Truly... thank you."

Would've, Could've, Should've // Ned Stark // Hayley MarshallWhere stories live. Discover now