Chapter 3
Harren couldn't remember a time when he wanted to roll his eyes so badly. At the rate the conversation was going, his eyes would burst out of his head if he didn't do something.
“Why are they not in chains?!” Queen Cersei demanded, gesturing at them. “They killed my brother!”
“I wasn't aware that Lord Tyrion was in the Capitol,” Harren said before he could stop himself. This woman was getting on his nerves. She glared at him and so did the King. For two separate reasons of course but he addressed the king all the same. “My people and I killed those that deserved it your grace. They meant to harm the Hand of the King.” Your best friend, he added to himself, seeing the kings gaze soften just a bit.
“Lies!” The Queen screamed at him.
“Enough!” The king yelled over her before glaring at Harren. “Ned told me that you were being sent to retrieve the Imp from the Vale. Why did you disobey his orders?”
“Lord Stark asked me to retrieve him by any means necessary,” Robert Baratheon despised Harren, or rather, his uncle Oswell. Just like he despised Ser Arthur Dayne and Ser Gerold Hightower. Since all three were dead, he took it out on their families or tried to at least. “I sent Ser Edric Dayne and my friend Ser Bronn of The Long Way to retrieve him from the Vale. I even told them to fight for him if he requests a trial by combat. Had I not done that, Lord Stark and his men would have died in this city thanks to a rogue knight.”
“Rogue?” Cersei parroted shrilly. “My brother was of the Kingsguard!”
“I am sorry your grace, but when he took the White Cloak, he was no longer your brother according to all the laws of Westeros,” Harren had to stop himself from smirking as she scowled. His friends didn't even bother. “Much like the Nights Watch, when one of the Kingsguard goes rogue, they must be punished – by any means necessary. No one is above the law, not even Ser Jaime. If it gives you any comfort, my lady, it was quick and clean. He felt no pain.”
Judging from the look on her face, his words were not appreciated.
The Queen marched up to him and slapped him across the face. Harren barely budged and stared down into the hateful gaze of the Lannister bitch, raising an eyebrow.
“My father will hear of this,” She hissed at him. He couldn't help it, a laugh escaped his throat at hearing those words and the memories they brought back to his mind. Cersei made to slap him again but she just huffed instead and stomped her way out of the throne room.
“Wear that with pride boy,” The king said gruffly, looking at him with grudging respect. The man didn't like him, but he clearly didn't like his wife either. “Not everyone can say that they pissed off a Queen and only walked away with a slap.”
Harren simply nodded his head at the king. Truth be told Harren despised this man and those that followed him. Save for lord Stark of course, the rest were just useless or they enabled Robert's behavior like Jon Arryn. Robert Baratheon may have been a good warrior but he was a shit king.
“If old Tywin comes calling for your head or starts destroying the villages under your protection, you're on your own.”
Coward, he thought, “Of course your grace,” He said out loud. Tywin Lannister wouldn't be able to get through his new defenses even if he wanted to. The one headache that Harren was expecting was Lord Hoster Tully and his daughters but they could be dealt with in time.
“Now take your gods be damned misfits and get out of my sight,” The king growled. Harren just bowed at the waist and started to leave. Lord Stark stopped him.
“Get my daughters out of here, I don't want them in the city any longer,” He said quietly.
'It will be done my lord,' Harren gave his liege a nod and continued on his walk.
Of course nothing could be simple as just leaving.
“But I am supposed to marry Prince Joffrey!” Harren adored Sansa, really he did, but right now he didn't have time to listen to her childish prattle. Before she could protest further, Harren placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Sleep,” He told her and Sansa did just that, falling back onto the bed.
“Thank the gods,” Arya muttered with a roll of her eyes. “If she kept going on about that spoiled shit I would have slapped her silly.”
“Arya,” Jon chided her even if he knew that she was partially joking. The others looked faintly amused as Arya just rolled her eyes again.
“Will you save Syrio as well?” Arya asked Harren with a frown.
“He's already at Harrenhal,” Harren said calmly. Harren knew that Syrio would be a good ally to have and Arya was clearly fond of him. Arya's eyes widened in joy and she rushed over to him to give him a hug. “He'll be there to greet you and continue your training.”
“Thank you!” Arya nearly squealed over and over. She would later deny that she had done such a thing if it were brought up.
“Now pack what you can and put it on the bed,” Harren instructed her after patting her back with a small smile. “Your sister's things as well.”
Harren eyed the curtain that was close to him. He drew his blade and cut a piece of it, waving a hand to fix what he took. He eyed the curtain again before he nodded to himself. As he began muttering over the piece of fabric, he turned to the door suddenly.
“Arya get on the bed, Sharra, Norryn, go with them. Alekk, Jon, watch the door.” He hissed tossing the cloth onto the bed. As they all got into position, with Sharra grabbing hold of Sansa, Harren tapped the cloth with his finger.
“Leave,” He muttered, snapping his fingers and the four disappeared before him. He flicked his hand to open the curtain just as someone barged their way into the room. It was several Gold Cloaks, lead by Janos Slynt.
“Ever heard of knocking?” Alekk sneered at the man, holding one of his blades under the mans jowls. He may have taken the name Riverhook after he was knighted, but his face was that of his father, Lord Walder Frey especially when he sneered.
“Where are the Stark girls?” Slynt demanded, pretending to be unafraid of the three of them. Harren slowly walked over to the man, eyes narrowed.
“Who wants to know?” He said with a bit of compulsion in his voice.
“The Queen,” Slynt looked surprised. Harren knew that this man was going to tell him to fuck off and tear this place apart.
“Why?” Harren demanded. “What does she want with the girls?”
“She wants to keep the wolf fucker in line by holding them hostage,” Again Slynt looked surprised before his face exploded into pain after Harren punched him.
“Mind your tongue,” Harren said flatly glaring at the other man. His eyes flickered up towards the others, “One more step and it will be your last. I have killed men for less.” That wasn't true, Harren had killed when necessary but he really had no desire to deal with these pricks. And they'd have heard about what he did to Jaime Lannister.
The Gold Cloaks stopped advancing and removed their hands from their swords.
“Now go back to your Queen and tell her that the hostages she wanted are on their way home. Lord Stark will also hear of this nonsense and so will the King.” Harren doubted that the King would do anything and Lord Stark would want to leave. “And you all will knock before entering the chambers that are not your own.”
Slynt got to his feet with as much dignity as he could, scowling all the way. He left stiffly and his men followed.
“Go through the city search for anything out of the ordinary,” Harren told Jon and Alekk. “I will deal with the King and Lord Stark. You two be careful and do not start fights that you cannot finish.” He eyed Alekk as he said this. The other man just shrugged as he took his leave.
“Don't let anything happen to him.” Jon Snowfall told him firmly before he left himself.
Your uncle is one of the more honest men in this world, him dying would be nothing more than a travesty, Harren thought to himself with a sigh. He would deal with the king first then speak with his liege.
He found the king during his favorite hobby: whoring. He had some woman on all fours as he thrust in to her rapidly. Harren got more than an eyeful of the kings backside and he was going to purge that image from his mind when this was all over.
The woman seemed a little bored as she gave the king words of encouragement. And strangely enough, Harren knew whose voice it was even if he couldn't see her face.
“Faster your grace, I'm so close. So close.” Ros fake moaned as she lowered her upper body down further onto the bed and thrust back harder. Robert Baratheon growled for a few more strokes then roared as he came. His body shuddered from the after effects and his body fell forward. Harren's hand shot out and he made a pulling motion. The kings body was still up right despite him being fast a sleep.
Ros frowned before looking behind her, “Harren?” She said in surprise.
“You can get off of the bed, Rosalyn.” She scowled at the smirking knight. “I need to talk to the king.”
Ros grunted as she crawled forward then off of the bed. “Useless prick,” She muttered, gathering her robe. She gave Harren a smirk. “Are you sure that's all you want to do, Harry?” She kneaded one of her breast and gave him a smoldering look.
“Maybe after you shower. Twice. Who knows where his grace has been. And don't call me Harry.”
“Oh so you can call me by my real name but I can't call you by yours,” She shot back, putting on her robe.
“No you can't,” Harren replied. Then he added quietly. “There should be some water in that room. I'll come get you when I am finished here.”
Ros had been one of the few friends outside of the ones he made that he could trust here. Some Southron Lords had deemed him too Northern because he followed the Old Gods. Some Northern Lords deemed him too Southern because he was born south of The Neck. They didn't say a damn thing about Robb being born in Riverrun but Harren guessed it was because Robb was a Stark.
Ros had never judged him and was willing to listen to him complain if he needed to vent whenever he visited her while in the North. She never betrayed his trust and never told anyone about what was said.
“You're lucky you're cute, normally I wouldn't put up with such nonsense.” Ros grumbled, grabbing the back of his head and pulling him into a quick kiss. Harren narrowed his eyes after they pulled away from one another.
“I do hope his cock wasn't in your mouth.”
“Please,” She snorted. “I am not that cruel.”
Harren was skeptical of the proclamation but since he couldn't taste anything amiss, he let it go. He waited for her to enter the next room before he started with his plan.
Flipping the king on to his back with a gesture, Harren walked to the bed. King Robert jerked awake and opened his mouth, presumably to call the guards.
“Silence and stay still.” Harren said coldly, coming to a stop and looming over the man. “Your grace, I hope that I haven't caught you at a bad time.” Robert glared up at him, face turning red. “I have a few things that I need to discuss with you, starting with the three bastards that are not your children.”
“He knows my lord, he knows that all three children are not his,” Harren told Ned. “At first he didn't care, thinking that implied legacy is more important than the truth.”
“And now?”
“I persuaded him to see it a different way.”
The look Lord Stark gave him would have made a lesser man cower. Harren was no such man.
“I promised to never use my powers to influence you or your family without permission,” Harren reminded him gently. “I never promised to do the same for others. Your friend may mean a lot to you but you cannot stand there and tell me that he is right in denying the truth.”
“No I will not,” Ned said bitterly. “To do so would make me a fool.”
“You were a fool when you almost allowed Jon to join a dying Order,” Harren said in reference to Jon almost joining the Night's Watch. “Refusing to see past nostalgia doesn’t make you a fool it makes you blind. And speaking of Jon, Robert knows that he is not your bastard son.”
“What?” Ned gasped. “How?”
“He can see his 'beloved' Lyanna in Jon's face,” Harren rolled his eyes. Robert Baratheon was obsessed with idea of being Lord Eddard's brother in any official capacity than Lyanna herself. For fuck sake, he hadn't even met her that much before she left with the Crown Prince.
“He also sees Prince Rhaegar in Jon as well. He has taken to calling Jon rape spawn in his mind but has allowed Jon to live because he is Lyanna's son.”
Lord Stark stared at him in disbelief.
“That's what I saw in his head my lord,” Harren shrugged.
“Is there anything else,” Eddard rubbed at his face with a tired expression.
“The Grand Maester will be found dead in the morning. He was planning on giving the Queen some poison to use on the King. She planned to frame you and maybe even execute you but she hadn't thought that far ahead. The King will have her tried for treason.” Though he may not live long enough to see her go to trial, He thought to himself, thinking of the various health issues that plagued Robert Baratheon's body.
“The Spider is dead, I killed him as well. He had me followed and knew that I had magic. He despised people like me and planned to reveal my powers. You and I agreed that could not happen if anyone was meant to be safe.” Ned nodded solemnly at him and gestured for Harren to continue. “His body won't be found, I changed it into a rock and threw it into the Rush.”
“Well, that's two problems taken care of,” Harren knew that his liege had no mind for Southron Politics but he was not opposed to getting rid of potential enemies – as long as no children were harmed. Harren agreed wholeheartedly. “Where is the rest of your group?”
“Norryn and Sharra are with your girls at Harrenhal Jon and Alekk are in the city.”
“Was that wise?”
“I know that you just think of them as boys, but I wouldn't let them go if I didn't trust them.” Alekk was the one with the obvious temper but Jon had one too. Both of them knew better than to to start any foolishness unless absolutely necessary.
There was a loud knock on the door which startled Lord Stark. Harren rushed to it and threw it open, knowing who was on the other side. A flustered looking Jon with Alekk and two other people stood before him. It was then that he noticed that his fellow knights were covered in blood.
“Get in, all of you,” Harren snapped. He looked around the corridor and tried to sense if they were followed. He closed the door and locked it before snapping his gaze towards his friends. Jon grimaced at him and Alekk held his chin up in defiance.
“What the bloody hell did you two this time?”