Bringing the Dawn [IN EDITING]

***XI.

Eddard Stark

King's Landing, 300 AC

The last time Eddard Stark had entered King's Landing, he swore to never set foot in the foul city again. Yet here he was, right back to the place where he first saw the man he considered a great friend for who he really was. How he had been blinded for so long was lost to him, but the past cannot be unwritten. When they were approaching, Sansa's eyes were wide in wonder and Arya was much the same but not as much as her elder sister. At least that was something that would work out, Sansa was always more southern than northern, and he knew she would bloom in court. Yet she would also be learning that life was not one of her songs she held so close to her heart soon too. The capital was crawling with spiders and lickspittles and people who would betray someone for as little as a loaf of bread the size of a fist.

Sansa had not spoken to him once since he had executed Lady at the King's command. The few times she looked at him her bright blue eyes held an ice in them he had never seen and he knew his daughter despised him for carrying out the order. It was the first time one of her fantasies was destroyed and she was not taking it well. At least it was not just him, it was Arya too. For if Arya did not have the sense to force Nymeria to leave (which she had confided to him in private) then Lady would still be alive. No more, he swore. He would get her alone to warn her of the dangers of the capital. She cannot go on with these thoughts and idealisations. He thought the capital may have changed since Aerys was killed as he didn't care for the smallfolk at all- taking them and burning them alive for his own amusement often.

So, to say he was shocked that the city seemed worse than then was an understatement. They were miles away when the putrid stench of shit reached their nostrils, both girls immediately gagging at it. The gates were better fortified which was to be expected as anyone can enter the city, but it did strike Ned odd that the guards were wearing red and gold. Were there no Baratheon men manning the walls? Perhaps they took it in turns every few hours. Once they had reached the Dragon Gate, all bundled out of their wheelhouses and dismounted from their horses to enter the streets. They could've been taken right up to the gates of the Red Keep but he wished to see how things had changed for himself. Also so the girls could see the capital for themselves from the streets and not overlooking from the windows in the Tower of the Hand.

It was strange to think this city was only a small fishing village three hundred years prior. Now, it was estimated half a million people resided within the walls. That was half the population of the North in its entirety. They were escorted through numerous streets, it not escaping his notice they were avoiding Flea Bottom, getting closer to the large red castle looming atop Aegon's High Hill. The last time he had been in the Red Keep was when he proclaimed Jon as his bastard and with his sister's bones in a chest, the time before that being when he and Robert argued over the murders of Aegon, Rhaenys, and Elia. Ned closed his eyes and breathed deeply, remembering Jon's words just before he left.

Don't do anything stupid, you're the only father figure I have.

He knew he would find no allies in these cursed streets. It wasn't unknown that everyone in King's Landing is a liar and nobody is to be trusted. The further away they got from Flea Bottom, the better the stench got and by the time they had reached the gates surrounding the castle, it was almost completely gone. Sansa and Arya were looking up in wonder at the large turrets and the bright red bricks which made the building stand out against the cream of most other buildings in the capital.

"Lord Stark, welcome to King's Landing. A raven arrived from Winterfell this morning and we have placed this in the Tower of the Hand."

He turned to his party before taking the first step into the gates and trying to ignore the horrible creaking noise as the gates were closed behind them to the city surrounding the Red Keep. The last raven he had received was worrying, and it set him on edge. Jon had apparently saw someone in the tower when Bran fell, and Catelyn found a clump of curly blonde hair that wasn't yet dirty- confirming it had not been there for long. Her telling him to be careful as she suspected something was going on. It took him reading it numerous times to get the hidden meaning of the letter, but it only set dread deeper into his mind.