Lord Eddard Stark
Dornishmen and Dornishwomen had come in the army that Prince Oberyn had brought with him from Dorne, his bastard daughters Obara, Nymeria, and Tyene had come as well. They had exchanged curt acknowledgements to one another, the wounds of the rebellion had not healed the anger the Dornishman clearly felt toward him. Toward Lyanna. They had not spoken since the betrothal agreement between the King and Princess Arianne, a celebration had been held and Princess Myrcella had been kept in the castle, to be sent to the Faith when the time was right. There had been no response from Robb, despite the letters he continued to send him, and Ned felt as if a part of him was being cut out every time there was no response. Other northern lords had agreed to swear their swords to the King, and had slowly moved from the capital, but there were nowhere near enough, that they had not been hounded was a surprise.
The northmen who had agreed to come and fight for him were now in Storm's End, around one thousand of them, and they were asking questions, questions he had decided he needed to answer. "You have come to fight for your rightful King my lords. I know that it might seem strange, for me to ask this of you, having been thought dead for nearly two years, but I remind you of the oath you swore. King Aegon is the only one who can do anything about improving the kingdoms, he has the will and the drive to do so. Prince Aemon wants the throne only because he sees it as his right, nothing more."
"And yet Prince Aemon sits the throne now, and has actively gone about doing things. Your King sits here cowering behind the walls of Storm's End as if he is some sort of coward." Ser Donnel Locke replies.
Ned sighs. "Prince Aemon took the throne yes, over the bodies of many good men and women. He shows not a lick of mercy or common sense. Do you truly think he will allow you to go about living your lives should he remain on the throne? He will do exactly as his father did and demand more and more from you, until such a time as you have nothing to give, then he shall kill you and those you care about." Those same words were said by his own father about King Aerys, and they turned out to be true.
"Your son seems to disagree with you my lord. He seems to have become quite the loyal servant of Prince Aemon, and he has been rewarded for it." Lord Flint points out, something in his tone suggesting he does not agree with that.
Not for the first time, Ned feels a sharp pain at the mention of his son's name. Cat had written to say that she had written to Robb and not gotten a response back either, had they so failed their son? The ache grows worse. "And do you truly wish to be someone who owes themselves completely to a southerner my lord Flint?" Ned asks, playing on the old prejudices he knows someone like Flint has. "Prince Aemon will continue to demand things from you, promising you rewards and not delivering on them, there is nothing he would love to do more so than that. He will promise you the sun and give you nothing."
"And how do you know this?" Locke asks, his tone confrontational.
Ned takes a deep breath then replies. "Look around you my lords. Has Prince Aemon actually given any of the things he has promised? He has brought a foreign army across the sea, using them to enforce his will over the people, he has promised things and withheld delivering on them. King Aegon has brought people back home, he has united them behind his cause. They are fighting for him because they believe in him, not because they are scared of him."
There is a moment of silence, and then Lord Flint speaks. "You speak truly my lord, but then why is your son so devoutly sworn to the Prince?"
An honest question, and one that causes Ned's heart to lurch in fear and grief as he thinks about it. He takes a deep breath then says. "Robb is young and he has suffered a great many losses. I admit I failed in not being there for him. But he will soon see that the Prince is not the right man to lead through this troubled time, only the King can."
Before anyone else can respond, there is a knock on the door, and a man dressed in the sun and dragon of King Aegon's personal sigil enters and says. "The King wishes for you all to come to his solar my lords." Ned nods and so do Ser Donnel and Lord Flint, they stand up and walk out of the room, making the short journey to the King's solar, soon to be Lord Edric's solar and once there, they bow before the King. "You summoned us Your Grace?" Ned asks.
The King looks distracted when he replies. "Yes, I did." He gestures toward the box on the table before them. "This box came this morning, addressed to you my lord. I believe you should open it and see what it contains."
Hesitantly, Ned moves toward the box, and looks at it, it has no engravings on it, nothing on it at all, cautiously he opens the latch and lifts the lid. The box opens and he feels his heart lurch a little, vomit entering his mouth. Inside the box there is white wolf's head, and inside, inside, oh gods no. "Jon…." He cries out in anguish, he finds himself lifting out half his nephew's face from the jaws of Ghost and looking at it in horror.
"There is a note my lord." Ser Donnel says, his voice barely masking his horror. "From King Aemon Targaryen, for the traitor Lord Stark."