Chapter 140: A Raven for a King
The feast continued without Catelyn Stark.
Music and drunken laughter echoed through Winterfell's corridors as she stood inside Maester Luwin's chamber, reading her sister's letter for the third time.
The words did not change.
Jon Arryn had been murdered.
The Lannisters were responsible.
A small fire burned in the hearth, but Catelyn felt no warmth from it. The coded message trembled slightly between her fingers.
"Lady Stark," Maester Luwin said carefully, "we should summon Lord Eddard."
Catelyn looked towards the closed door.
Ned remained in the great hall with Robert, surrounded by the very people her sister had accused. Jaime Lannister sat within sword's reach of him. Queen Cersei occupied the high table beneath the banners of House Stark.
And Joffrey had spent the evening charming Sansa.
"Send someone you trust," Catelyn said. "Tell Ned I am unwell and require him privately. Say nothing more."
Luwin nodded.
He opened the door and quietly instructed one of his assistants. The young man hurried away.
Catelyn placed the letter upon the table but could not bring herself to release it.
"Could someone have learned our code?" she asked.
"It is possible."
"Lysa and I created it when we were children. Even Edmure never understood it."
"Your sister may have revealed it to someone."
"She would not."
"Not willingly," Luwin said.
Catelyn's eyes rose sharply.
The maester did not retreat from the implication.
"If someone wished to deceive you," he continued, "they would need to know the method by which Lady Arryn expected you to recognise her message. That would require either her cooperation or intimate knowledge of her childhood."
Catelyn studied the pale wooden box. Two tiny fish had been scratched beneath the carved falcon.
She remembered sitting beside Lysa in the gardens of Riverrun. They had written secrets about the boys they would marry, the castles they would visit, and the gowns they wanted their father to purchase.
Petty secrets of children.
Never murder.
"The box is hers," Catelyn said. "The fish were our sign."
"I believe the message came from your sister," Luwin replied. "Whether her accusation is correct remains another question."
The door opened.
Ned entered, still dressed for the feast. His expression changed the moment he saw Catelyn's face.
"What happened?"
Luwin closed and locked the door.
"A message arrived from the Eyrie," Catelyn said.
"From Lysa?"
She handed him the parchment.
Ned examined the strange writing.
"I cannot read this."
"It is written in a language Lysa and I created as girls."
"What does it say?"
Catelyn's throat tightened.
"She says Jon Arryn did not die from illness. She says he was murdered."
Ned went very still.
The distant sound of Robert singing reached them through the stone walls.
"By whom?"
"The Lannisters."
For several heartbeats, Ned said nothing.
Then he crossed the chamber and placed the parchment beneath the light of a candle.
"Read it to me."
Catelyn translated each line.
The message was brief and frightened. Lysa warned that enemies surrounded the king. She claimed Jon had discovered something dangerous before his death, though she did not explain what it was. She begged Catelyn not to trust the queen or any of her family.
When Catelyn finished, Ned took the letter and read the meaningless symbols again.
"Does she offer proof?"
"No."
"Does she say how Jon Arryn was killed?"
"No."
"Who carried the message?"
"A man left the box with a guard at the eastern gate," Luwin answered. "He departed before he could be questioned."
Ned looked towards Catelyn.
"Lysa has lost her husband. Grief can make shadows appear where none exist."
"She fled King's Landing without warning," Catelyn replied. "She took her son and hid in the Eyrie. Now she risks sending this message."
"Fear does not make an accusation true."
"Nor does it make it false."
Ned walked towards the fire.
The flames cast long shadows over his face.
"Jon Arryn was more than Robert's Hand," he said. "He was like a father to us. If Robert believed there was even a chance he had been murdered, he would demand heads before sunrise."
"That is why we cannot tell him yet," Luwin said.
Ned gave him a grim look.
"The king does not respond well to patience."
"Especially when he has been drinking," Catelyn added.
Robert had once possessed a terrible fury. Age and indulgence had buried much of it beneath wine and flesh, but the old rage remained. If Ned placed Lysa's accusation before him tonight, Robert might confront Cersei publicly.
Jaime would defend his sister.
Northern swords would be drawn.
A feast could become a bloodbath before anyone learned the truth.
"This letter changes Robert's offer," Catelyn said.
Ned turned towards her.
"An hour ago, you wanted me to refuse him."
"An hour ago, I believed Jon Arryn died from fever."
"And now you would have me take his place?"
"If Lysa speaks truly, Robert is surrounded by his enemies."
"And you would have me walk willingly among them?"
"I would have you discover the truth before those enemies reach our children."
"They are already here."
Catelyn glanced towards the door.
Beyond it, lions drank in the heart of Winterfell.
Ned lowered his voice.
"If the Lannisters murdered Jon Arryn, then becoming Hand will place me in the same danger."
"Refusing will not make you safe. Robert came north because he trusts you. If his enemies fear what you might tell him, they may already consider you a threat."
"And what of you? Robb? Bran and Rickon?"
"Winterfell can protect us."
"It did not protect Bran from falling yesterday while climbing."
"That is not the same."
"No," Ned said. "It is not."
He looked down at the letter again.
"And Robert wants Sansa bound to Joffrey."
Catelyn thought of the prince's golden hair and courteous smile. From a distance, he appeared everything a young girl imagined a prince should be.
But she had also seen Robb's expression during the feast.
"What happened at their table?" she asked. "I saw Arya leave with Septa Mordane."
Ned's mouth tightened.
"Robb told me enough before I came here. Joffrey called Jon a bastard king ruling savages. He claimed Robert merely permitted Jon to keep Winter's Heaven."
Catelyn frowned.
"Jon's kingdom is beyond the Wall. Robert has never ruled those lands."
"Joffrey did not appear concerned with truth."
"He is a boy repeating what he has heard."
"Perhaps. Yet what a boy repeats often reveals what those around him believe."
"What did Arya do?"
"She defended Jon."
"Of course she did."
"And Sansa defended Joffrey."
Catelyn closed her eyes briefly.
Sansa had spent years dreaming of handsome princes, southern courts and songs of gallant knights. One evening beside Joffrey had likely done more to influence her than a hundred warnings.
"We should not agree to the betrothal yet," Ned said.
"Refusing immediately could insult Robert."
"I did not say we should refuse. We watch the prince. We learn what manner of man he may become before giving him our daughter."
Catelyn nodded reluctantly.
"And if you accept the Handship?"
"Sansa and Arya may need to travel south with me."
The thought filled the room with another silence.
King's Landing was distant, crowded and dangerous. If Lysa's warning was true, Ned would be carrying their daughters directly into a nest of enemies.
"You cannot investigate the Lannisters while leaving Sansa promised to their prince," Catelyn said.
"Nor can I suddenly reject the match without making them suspicious. We must move carefully."
Catelyn looked at Lysa's letter.
Carefully.
The word seemed far too small for what confronted them.
"What of Robert's invitation to Jon?" she asked.
Ned's gaze hardened.
"That concerns me almost as much as this message."
"He sounded sincere."
"Robert often is sincere. That does not make his choices wise."
"He wants to meet the boy he allowed to leave Winterfell."
"He wants to meet the king everyone has described to him for six months. Jon is no longer merely the child Robert remembers."
"He was never merely a child," Catelyn said quietly.
Ned studied her, though he did not challenge the remark.
"Robert made the invitation before the entire hall," he continued. "Every northern and southern lord present heard it. Refusal can now be interpreted as a deliberate insult."
"And acceptance?"
"Would bring Jon within reach of the Lannisters."
Catelyn crossed her arms.
"Do you believe they would dare harm him?"
"I do not know what they would dare. I do know they are interested in his wealth, his ships, his soldiers and his weapons. Jaime listened carefully whenever the Titan was mentioned. Tyrion questioned every man who had visited it. The queen dislikes the thought of another king being honoured inside Winterfell."
"Joffrey hates him without ever meeting him."
"Jon's existence challenges how Joffrey sees the world. He believes his father rules every land worth ruling. Winter's Heaven proves otherwise."
Luwin stroked his chain thoughtfully.
"King Jon is not defenceless."
"No," Ned said. "That may make the danger greater."
Catelyn understood.
A helpless boy could be threatened.
Jon commanded tens of thousands of soldiers, giants, direwolves and a vessel capable of transporting an army. If someone threatened him, the result might not remain confined to a single castle.
"Jon must be warned," Ned said.
Catelyn looked at him sharply.
"About Lysa's accusation?"
"About everything."
"We possess no proof."
"He needs to know that danger may exist before deciding whether to answer Robert's invitation."
"And if he decides the Lannisters are responsible?"
"He will not act without evidence."
"You sound certain."
Ned turned towards her.
"Jon is not Robert. He will not begin a war because anger reaches him before reason."
"Can you truly know what he will do? You have not raised him for eight years. He commands powers none of us fully understand."
"No man can be entirely certain of another," Ned admitted. "But I trusted him when he was six years old and walked alone into the unknown. I will not trust him less now."
"He was not alone," Catelyn said. "He possessed gifts we knew nothing about."
"He was still my son."
The words came without hesitation.
Catelyn looked away first.
Ned went to Luwin's writing table and lowered himself into the chair.
"Bring me parchment."
The maester immediately began preparing ink.
"Will an ordinary raven find his kingdom?" Catelyn asked.
"No ordinary raven can," Luwin answered. "But Jon left one of his own."
Ned glanced towards him.
"It has returned?"
"Three days ago."
Jon's ravens were unlike those raised by maesters. They were larger, stronger and possessed an intelligence that made Luwin uncomfortable. They travelled north and disappeared beyond known routes, always returning without revealing where they had gone.
No maester had trained them.
No rookery controlled them.
They obeyed Jon.
"Where does it carry the messages?" Catelyn asked.
"I do not know," Luwin admitted. "Perhaps to the Titan's rear dock. Perhaps to one of the watch stations his men constructed. It vanishes beyond the Wall and eventually returns."
"The letter will not need to reach Winter's Heaven directly," Ned said. "Jon's men have their radios."
Catelyn still found the word strange.
She had heard the northern envoys describe machines that allowed men to speak across enormous distances. A message carried for days by a raven could be sent across Jon's kingdom in moments.
Luwin placed a clean sheet of parchment before Ned.
"What will you tell him?" Catelyn asked.
"The truth."
"All of it?"
Ned dipped the quill into the ink.
"Enough to warn him. Not enough to draw him blindly into danger."
He began writing.
Jon,
The single name remained alone upon the parchment.
Ned stopped.
Catelyn watched him stare at it.
To Robert and the southern court, Jon was the King of Winter's Heaven. To thousands beyond the Wall, his word was law. Northern lords spoke of him with respect usually reserved for rulers three times his age.
But Ned remembered a small boy standing in Winterfell's courtyard.
A boy who had asked permission to leave.
Ned placed the quill upon the parchment again.
King Robert has arrived safely at Winterfell. He has asked me to serve as his Hand and has proposed a marriage between Sansa and Prince Joffrey.
Ned paused.
"You intend to ask Jon whether you should accept?" Catelyn said.
"I intend to ask his counsel."
"This is a decision for House Stark."
"He is part of House Stark, whatever name the world gave him."
"He is also responsible for an entire kingdom. His answer may serve Winter's Heaven before Winterfell."
"As it should. I am not asking him to abandon his people for us."
Ned continued.
Robert also wishes to meet you. During tonight's feast, he announced his invitation before the assembled hall. I did not approve of him making the matter public, but his words cannot now be withdrawn.
He read the lines and frowned.
"What is wrong?" Luwin asked.
"It sounds as though I am commanding him to answer."
"You are Lord of Winterfell," Catelyn said. "And his father."
"I have authority over one of those things. Not both."
He added another paragraph.
I will not command you to come. Winter's Heaven is yours, and the decision must be made by you as its king. No reasonable man expects you to cross the lands beyond the Wall within days. Your journey may require months, and Robert's impatience will not shorten the road.
Catelyn almost smiled at the final sentence.
"Robert will dislike that."
"Robert will not read it."
"If Jon repeats it to him?"
"Then perhaps he will listen when it comes from another king."
Ned wrote about the political dangers of refusing. Then he warned that accepting carried dangers of its own. He mentioned the queen and her brothers, but did not accuse them.
Finally, he reached Jon Arryn.
The quill hovered above the parchment.
"How can I write this plainly?" Ned asked. "If the message is taken—"
"Jon's raven will not willingly allow another person to remove it," Luwin said.
"Ravens can be killed."
"Then use words Jon will understand without naming the accused," Catelyn suggested.
Ned considered before writing.
There is another matter that cannot safely be written in full. We have received reason to doubt that Lord Jon Arryn's death was natural. The warning concerns a powerful house whose members are now beneath Winterfell's roof. We possess no proof, and the accusation may yet be false.
Take no action upon this warning. Tell no one you do not trust completely.
Ned stopped again.
"Will he understand which house?" Catelyn asked.
"He will."
"How?"
Ned added one final line beneath the letter.
Trust no lion merely because it smiles.
Catelyn read the sentence over his shoulder.
"Yes," she said. "He will understand."
Ned had not finished.
I have not yet given Robert my final answer regarding the Handship. Before I do, I would hear your counsel—not as one lord commanding another, but as a father asking his son.
Whatever you decide concerning Robert's invitation, act carefully. Do not allow affection for this family to draw you into a danger you would otherwise avoid.
Eddard Stark.
Ned placed the quill down.
For a long moment, no one spoke.
Catelyn read the entire letter.
"You tell him he is free to refuse Robert, but also warn him that refusal may be considered an insult."
"It is the truth."
"And if Jon advises you to reject the Handship?"
"Then I will listen."
"Listen—or obey?"
Ned folded the parchment.
"He is my son, not my lord."
"He is a king."
"Not mine."
Catelyn raised an eyebrow.
Ned's mouth moved slightly.
It was not quite a smile.
"I will listen," he repeated. "Then I will decide."
Luwin melted dark wax over the folded letter. Ned pressed the direwolf seal into it.
Catelyn studied the completed message.
"Jon may offer to investigate Jon Arryn's death himself."
"He cannot investigate a murder in King's Landing from beyond the Wall."
"He possesses spies."
"Perhaps."
"He possesses more than you know."
"I have never doubted that."
Ned rose with the sealed letter.
"But Jon understands the cost of moving armies. He built Winter's Heaven through patience. He will not destroy that work because we received one frightened accusation without evidence."
"You place great faith in him."
"I must."
Ned looked at Lysa's letter.
"And perhaps soon we will all place far more."
They waited until the darkest hour before dawn.
The feast had finally ended. Robert had been carried to his chambers by two guards after refusing three times to leave the hall. Most of the southern guests were asleep, though Lannister men still guarded the queen's wing.
Ned, Catelyn and Luwin climbed the stairs to the rookery.
The ravens stirred as they entered. Black wings shifted inside wooden cages. Several birds croaked irritably at being disturbed.
One remained silent.
It occupied a cage apart from the others.
The raven was enormous, almost half again as large as those around it. Its feathers were black except for several silver-grey markings along its wings. Sharp eyes followed Ned from the moment he entered.
Luwin approached its cage.
"Careful," the maester warned. "It does not bite often, but it has never liked strangers handling messages intended for Jon."
"I am not a stranger," Ned said.
The raven tilted its head.
"Jon," it croaked.
Catelyn took a step closer.
"Did you teach it that?"
"No," Luwin answered.
"Jon," the bird repeated.
Ned opened the cage himself.
The raven stepped onto his arm without resistance. Its claws pressed through the thick leather of his sleeve.
For an instant, Ned remembered another raven.
One that had carried messages between a lonely boy and the home he had left behind.
He secured the letter to the raven's leg.
"Find him," Ned said.
The bird watched him.
"Take this to Jon."
"Jon."
"Yes. Jon."
The maester opened the rookery window.
Cold wind rushed inside, carrying a scattering of snow across the stones.
Ned raised his arm.
The raven launched itself into the night.
Its wings beat powerfully as it climbed above Winterfell's towers. It circled once over the castle and then turned north.
Not towards White Harbor.
Not towards King's Landing.
Not even towards Castle Black.
It flew towards the vast darkness beyond the Wall.
Ned remained at the window long after the raven disappeared.
"How long will the journey require?" Catelyn asked.
"To the Wall?" Luwin considered. "Perhaps a day if it does not rest. Beyond that, I cannot say."
"Jon may answer before Robert departs," Ned said.
"And if he does not?" Catelyn asked.
"Then I must decide without him."
Catelyn stood beside her husband.
Below them, Winterfell appeared peaceful beneath the snow. Yet hundreds of strangers now slept inside its walls, and somewhere among them might be the people responsible for Jon Arryn's death.
"You should rest," Ned told her.
"I do not believe I can."
"Nor do I."
They watched the northern sky together.
Far away, the raven flew.
It crossed forests untouched by roads and rivers hardened by ice. It passed beneath the shadow of the Wall and continued into lands most men of Westeros believed belonged only to wildlings, giants and the dead.
Hours later, a sentry atop a concealed tower saw a black shape descending through the pale morning sky.
He immediately rang the signal bell.
The raven landed upon the tower's wooden rail.
A soldier wearing black armour approached. The bird allowed him to remove the message only after he displayed a small metal token bearing Jon's personal seal.
The station commander broke the outer protective binding but left Ned's seal untouched.
"Priority message," he ordered. "Send notification to Winter's Heaven immediately."
The radio operator sat before a machine of copper wires, metal switches and glowing indicators.
"Origin?"
"Winterfell."
The operator's hands paused.
"Sender?"
The commander looked at the grey direwolf pressed into the wax.
"Lord Eddard Stark."
The operator adjusted the machine.
A low hum filled the chamber.
Signals travelled from the hidden station to the next tower, then onward through a network stretching across the frozen wilderness. Men repeated the transmission without knowing the letter's contents.
At the final station, another operator received the code and sent it towards the heart of Jon's kingdom.
The raven had required hours to cross the frozen wilderness.
The message required only minutes to travel the remaining distance.
Far beyond the reach of southern maps, a receiver inside Winter's Heaven began to sound.
A soldier hurried towards the royal residence with the notification in his hand.
Eddard Stark's warning had reached Jon's kingdom.
End of Chapter 140
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Author's Note
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