Honor and Deception
Chapter 35
Honor and Deception
Ned shouldn’t have been surprised by the workload that being Hand of the King would entail. Of course, he knew it would be a great deal of work on himself even before he had formally accepted the position, but he was still surprised by how little Robert was really responsible of. Thanks to that realization, Ned’s list of responsibilities grew bigger and bigger with each passing day. His small council had assured him that it was quite typical, and to not fret over Robert’s absences. He used to spend most of his days hunting, whoring, drinking, and indulging in mock battles, and now with the arrival of his gleaming new flying interest, Ned expected Robert’s rare attendance to decrease even more.
It was proven more astutely when he had vanished for those two long weeks, leaving Ned to come up with whatever excuse he could think of to explain the king's absence. Queen Cersei hadn't worried too much about it for the first few days, thankfully, not that Ned cared to tell her. But after seven passed with the palace being blessedly quiet, in her words, she began to get suspicious. It was no secret she detested him, and Ned worried more and more about the pressure she was putting on him and the other small council members who knew the situation. It was only a matter of time before she took advantage of the situation to move in and declare more influence for herself and her family. Thankfully, thankfully Robert returned just in time.
It was only his presence that Ned so desperately needed right now. Just knowing he was back in the Red Keep was comfort enough, even if he wasn't expected to do anything productive.
However, the opposite happened. In a different turn of events, the king had surprisingly decided to be present for a great hall meeting. Ned had been in the process of taking his seat on the iron throne to act as the final word for whatever disputes were brought before him by the constituents. He had been wearily about to lower down, when his eyes looked up and he spotted Robert making his way through the court, flanked by his kingsguard. Ned rose back to his feet in surprise as did all the other occupants before they lowered into bows as he was passing.
“Your grace… welcome. Are you here to meet with the constituents?” Ned almost didn’t dare to hope. Was Robert finally taking an interest in ruling?
“As it so happens, yes,” Robert confirmed. “Thought I’d mix things up today. I think you’re in my chair though.”
“Of course. Allow me.” Things were moved about as Robert took his place at the throne and Ned was given the next highest seat of authority, which had previously been occupied by Renly. In fact, due to Robert’s unexpected attendance, a lot of the small council members were forced to change seats. Ned didn’t mind it though. Not in the least. He was just happy that Robert was there at all. He didn’t even have to participate. It was his presence alone that mattered most. If he was here, then he wasn’t away drinking or whoring or both.
It was good that he was just there.
Although, it definitely had him curious for this change in attitude all of a sudden. Perhaps those daily flights and frequent adventures with Harry had more benefit to them than they had for concern. Still, Ned tried not to hope for too much. Just because Robert attended this meeting, didn’t mean it would become anything regular.
Ned did his best to put the concern out of his mind as a knight and a baron stepped forward to address matters about the ownership of a river that passed through both their lands. Ned settled in and listened, weighing in when needed though casting frequent looks at Robert to see what he thought about such matters.
In truth, this wasn’t how Robert wanted to spend his day, but his time away from the castle, interacting with peasants and Harry had changed a way of thinking for him. Their time traveling had left them with many opportunities to talk about things.
One conversation in particular had left him feeling oddly warped, and days following, it remained consistently on his mind.
They had been breaking by a beach east of Haystack Hall after some decent sparring had left them feeling satisfied and exhausted. Robert talked about the war and his ascent to the throne, though he left out more of the nastier details that had contributed to that. For some reason, he didn’t want the lad to know about those, especially the details involving Ellia and her children. Not yet, not at all if it were possible.
“So, what did you want to do as king?” Harry asked, taking a whetstone to his sword's edge.
“I thought being king meant I’d be able to do whatever I wanted,” Robert admitted. “But the opposite turned out to be true. I can’t take a shit without a servant offering to wipe my ass.”
Harry gave a look of rightful disgust. “Well, what have you done as king?”
“My small council decides on those tedious things.”
“Is that it? You didn’t have a plan?" Harry had been expecting more than that answer. "Not even an idea? You have so much power and you didn’t try and make things better?”
“What does it matter? Everyone knows I’m no good at ruling.”
But Harry wasn’t accepting that kind of excuse. “You could still try. We’ve been talking to peasants and commonfolk this whole time. It’s the perfect opportunity to see what you could do for them. Having power isn’t nearly as important as what you choose to do with it.”
“Well, if you were king, what would you do?” Robert snapped impatiently, expecting that the boy wouldn’t have a better idea.
“Oh, I’m glad you asked,” Harry smiled as he began to list off his policies with his fingers. “I’d invest in education by increasing the literacy among commoners, improve public health by building medical schools and hospitals along with creating easy access to transportation, sanitation, and communication, outlaw animal cruelty, protect endangered species and magical beasts, and introduce new industries that would provide jobs and bring wealth to the economy.”
Robert frowned. Harry would never sit the Iron throne, yet his answer was immediate, illustrating just how carefully he had thought about this question prior to being asked it, and had a plan put in place for such hypotheticals. His answer was so prepared, it was a little dizzying. He also noted that Harry’s proposals completely lacked any personal gain for himself. He certainly had been raised by Ned Stark, a born leader and planner, thinking about practicality and growth for the nation as a whole, over selfish fancies. Robert wasn’t even sure if Ned had any selfish fancies, now that he thought about it. Did that apply to Harry as well?
“Looks like you’ve thought of this question quite often. I can admit, your reforms are not entirely… extravagant.”
“Well, with all the people we've been talking to, it's had me thinking about what would be most beneficial to them. Honestly, I wouldn’t ever want the job myself, but if I could choose someone to be king, it would be someone who would value the same things I do, I suppose. Someone who won't just not be a tyrant but will... enrich life for everyone.”
Robert sulked. “I must admit, when I took the throne, I did not have a plan after it. I sought it mostly to remove Arys from his seat of power and rescue my betrothed from the kidnapper that took her. I killed Rhaegar but Lyanna died, too, and I did not know how to move on from it.”
Harry looked out towards the waves that crashed over the stones on the beach. “Lord Stark talks very little about his sister, but when he does, it’s to say how strong she was as a person. I’ve never met her, I know nothing about her compared to you, your grace, but if she was every bit the woman you loved, I think she would have been a capable and strong queen and she would have wanted the people around her to honor her by being just as capable and strong as they remember her to be as well. I had a teacher who once told me, we honor the dead by living for them, because they don’t get to. Because it was taken from them. We don’t give up; we try to be the people that they loved.”
The words had a powerful effect on Robert. If Lyanna were here now, if she could see the person that he was, would she love him as much as he still loved her? The thought kept him busy for days. He didn’t want to give it an answer, even if deep down, he knew what it would be.
Robert had been given a chance to be something, to do good, and he had done nothing with it. All of his youth and his strength had petered away over the years. Part of him believed it was too late for him to change, he was too old, and that alone provided an excuse to remain as he was to be consumed with his own interests, because that was easier than changing.
But… he still thought of Lyanna.
That night he dreamed of her. He dreamed of her face, of the scowl she would cast him sometimes when they argued. But his dream had changed it. Her look was cold, full of disgust and contempt. The same expression that Cersei looked at him with. If it had been Cersei that faced him in that dream, he wouldn’t have cared. He didn’t love her and she didn’t love him. It was their one mutual quality. But no. It was Lyanna, and she was looking at him with sheer hatred.
“Disgrace,” she hissed. The word had him snapping his eyes wide opened, abruptly tearing himself out of the dream and blinking in confusion upon the world around him. Harry was sleeping soundly in the cot across from him and he could hear the sounds of the hippogriff on the other side of the canvas tent. Everything was as it should have been. Lyanna wasn’t there. She wasn’t standing in front of him now. She wasn’t in that tent.
Or was she?
He didn’t know if he believed in ghosts, but in that moment, her presence felt so real that he could have sworn she had been standing at his side the moment before he woke up. He tried to lie back and find his sleep. When that failed, he looked for the wine skin, but it was sadly empty. He spent that night rolling over restlessly, plagued by past mistakes and fruitlessly trying to escape from them.
Days after, Robert was still thinking of Harry's words. We try to be the people that they loved.
Perhaps it was high time that Robert started being that person, then.
Harry wanted a few more days to unwind and relax after his long trip with Robert, but that didn’t seem to be in the plans for him. Sansa had invited him to break the air with her the day after his arrival back to the keep, which he felt pressured to attend. At least Arya would also be there even if she had agreed to it rather reluctantly. Though arguments between them still tended to rear up from time to time, it seemed like the sisters were doing their best to try and get along these days.
Arya had come for him that afternoon in a much nicer dress than her usual garments. She had also bathed the night before and the maids had done up her hair. Harry was dressed a little more formally as well, donning a grey tunic with black pants, though he wasn’t sure why Sansa had insisted on a nicer wardrobe since he was expecting it to just be the three of them.
“I see you’ve cleaned up, too,” Harry noted when he saw Arya walking into his house in a short-sleeved, grey-green dress that was fashioned to her exact measurements. Nymeria also trailed at her side looking recently brushed down.
“Septa said I had to,” Arya grumbled tugging at the low neckline that showed off her collarbone and drew attention to the wolf broach that was pinned in the middle of the material. “I’ve been in nothing but trousers for the past few days and she said it was time I get used to dressing like a lady. She said it in Father’s presence and so he agreed with her.”
“Well, you’re still you, even in different clothes. At least you’ve still got Nymeria,” he consoled her while reaching for the wolf to give her pats. “I wish I could bring Buckbeak with me.”
“I guess,” she agreed, though she was still despondent over the whole situation.
"Hey, cheer up," he said with an easy smile. "It's just Sansa and at least there'll be cake."
She sighed but relented at the promise of confections. Yes, at least there'd be cake. Then she took Harry's arm, and he escorted her to the part of the garden where the tea would be taking place. To their collective horror though, when they got there, they were disappointed to find that it was in fact not just Sansa who was waiting for them.
Queen Cersei, Prince Joffrey, Prince Tommen, and Princess Myrcella were all in attendance with Sansa. While Harry had no problem with Myrcella and no opinion about Tommen due to their lack of interactions, he was not at all enjoying the encounter with either the queen or the first prince.
It was all Harry and Arya could do to stamp on the impulse to turn abruptly and escape from the gathered stags and lions.
Sansa must have sensed their intentions because she went to greet the two of them with an embrace. She used it to disguise her hiss of warning in both of their ears. "If either of you think about abandoning me before this party is over, you'll spend the rest of the month suspicious about every meal you have, because I promise to mildly poison you when you least expect it."
"Joke's on you," Arya hissed back defiantly, "I'm already suspicious of every meal."
Though Harry doubted Sansa would do such a thing, he wasn't about to call her on that bluff. It would greatly inconvenience him to get poisoned right now, mildly or not. Sansa ignored Arya's retort and turned them all towards the large round table, set splendidly for seven. Her sweet smile was back as she led them to their hosts.
Swallowing nervously, Harry greeted the queen and her children with a courteous bow while Arya dipped into a curtsey on his side. "Good day, your grace. Prince Joffrey, Prince Tommen, and Princess Myrcella. I hope you're all doing well."
"We're pleased that you two agreed to join us today," Queen Cersei responded, then her eyes drifted down to Nymeria. "Perhaps the wolf should be sent to a kennel?"
Arya looked ready to argue in Nymeria's defense, but Harry spoke up before she could insult anyone. "She often keeps Buckbeak company in the paddock. Arya, why don't you send her off there?"
The girl looked indignant by the idea but gave in when she saw the look on Harry's face. Stooping down, she addressed her pup. "Go on, Nymeria. I'll see you later."
The wolf didn't seem eager by that idea, but after a prolonged stretch of disobedience, she ruffed once and then turned sulkily away. As an added measure, Arya instructed one of their guards to accompany her there safely.
With that out of the way, Cersei turned their attentions back. "Sansa has been so enthusiastic about our gatherings, it's been a shame that her siblings have not found any opportunity to accompany her."
Harry felt his cheeks light up with those words and he looked towards Sansa. A deep-rooted feeling grew with the queen's observation. He hadn't realized Sansa had been left alone with the royal family so often, thus leaving the responsibility of building good rapport between their houses exclusively to her. It wasn't like he didn't have a good excuse though.
"I... apologize about my absence, your grace. The king has preoccupied me with other tasks."
"Of course," Cersei said. "At least you're both back from your long trip safe and sound and can join us now. I'm sure you have plenty of stories about your adventures."
At her side, Joffrey seemed to stiffen with his mother's mention of the king father and his eyes narrowed at Harry in an expression that looked like jealousy.
With that, they were led to their assigned seats. He was put between Arya and Princess Myrcella, who smiled up at him fondly, then next to her was her little brother, Tommen, and to his left was his queen mother who gave Harry a curling smile that left him feeling strangely vulnerable. Beside her was Joffrey and then ending the line was Sansa seated next to her betrothed.
As if the situation couldn't get worse, the servants that circled them were mostly Lannister ones with a few Stark guards and Septa Mordane. The kingsguard today consisted of Meryn Trant, Arys Oakenheart, and the Hound. Harry felt himself sweat a bit at the sight of the three imposing men, remembering all their encounters during the Hand's Tourney. While Arys seemed a decent enough fellow, Harry definitely couldn't say the same for the other two. The violent way Buckbeak had rejected Ser Meryn had Harry's warning bells ringing loudly in his presence. He didn't know anything about the knight, but for some reason, his hippogriff absolutely despised him, which in turn earned Harry's mutual hatred. Animals were often very good judges of character and since Buckbeak was magical, it was unlikely his senses would be wrong in that regard. Then there was the Hound. While Harry had no regret about coming to Sansa's rescue, he couldn't deny he feared some sort of retribution for it. Was the Hound the kind of person to hold a grudge like that?
Harry didn't think he wanted to find out.
He sat there with his foster sisters as their royal audience gaged the Northerners unscrupulously and servants began to line the table with cool sweet juice and tasty delicacies, including the lemon cakes the capitol was famous for. Harry decided to only accept what Prince Joffrey and Queen Cersei had put upon their plates. As an added measure, he didn't eat anything until he had seen them both take the first bite.
"So... Sansa was showing us the pearl and seashell box you got for her," Myrcella explained, breaking the silence.
Sansa nodded, producing the box and showing off the little gem tucked safely inside. "Yes. I was just trying to decide if I'll turn it into a pendant for a necklace or a head circlet. What do you think, Harry?"
"It's yours to do what you want with," Harry said with a shrug. "If it made you happy, you could wear it on your nose, and I'd be just fine with it."
Between them, Arya giggled. "Then I know what I'll do with mine. Sansa, we could be a matching pair."
"I don't think so," Sansa responded, though she still smiled in good humor with the joke.
"What a stupid thing to say. Don't tell her to wear it on her nose," Joffrey stated at her side. "A head circlet would be more than suitable. If you'd give it to me, I could have one fashioned for you. Though, I'll be generous to give you more than one pearl, if my lady wishes."
"Oh, um. Yes, I suppose. If you think that would suit me more, my prince."
She handed over the box to him and he, in turn, handed it off to a servant at his back. Harry greatly disliked the callus way Joffrey handled her gift but held his tongue against it.
"And speaking of specially made things, I'm very interested in the progress you're making with my chess set," Joffrey mentioned.
Harry jolted at the reminder, but thankfully he had his excuse ready. "I had believed there would be time enough to focus on it after the tourney, but the king pulled me away from the work."
"Are you blaming my father for your lack of planning then?" Joffrey demanded.
Everyone present, servants and guards included, went suddenly very still by the first prince's displeasure. "Not at all," Harry said, "I'm sure your father just didn't realize..."
"My father is not the one who needed to realize anything. I've been more than patient for that board already. If you didn't think you would be able to finish it in a timely manner, it would have been courteous to at least hand the work off to someone who wouldn't keep me waiting."
Harry felt a of mixture of indignation and fear. It was never a good idea to leave royalty waiting for anything. "Apologies, prince. It wasn't my intention to keep you waiting in the least. Now that I'm back, I've no doubt I'll have time aplenty to finish your order just as you specified."
"Oh, leave him alone, Joffrey." The voice came from Myrcella on Harry's other side. "Harry's hardly to blame. Alot's been happening for him, and it's not like you absolutely need it right this second."
"Myrcella, that's enough," her queen mother said firmly. "Joffrey is right. It's been long enough, and present circumstances are no excuse to leave a royal prince waiting for so long. Now that he's back, Harry will need to uphold the promise he's made. Think how disappointed Lord Stark would be if he found out his ward was going around making promises he couldn't keep, after all."
The words rippled through the three Northen children nervously. Harry suddenly wondered if it would have been better to escape when he had the chance, threat of being mildly poisoned or no. Even with that in mind, though, there was no escaping now.
"I'll be sure to make the board my top priority until it's finished, your grace," Harry promised.
"See that you do, then," Joffrey scoffed.
Harry sat there with his foster sisters and royal family as the meeting proceeded.
"Um... how was the trip with our father?" Tommen politely piped up, turning the conversation to something more enjoyable. "We heard you went all the way to Storm's End. Father showed us the shadowcat hide that he killed. It's so big!"
"Yes," Harry elaborated. "Your father was indeed very brave. It was leaping for a man's throat when he got it through the neck just in time."
"That's what he said," Myrcella added with enthusiasm. "I can't wait to see the cloak he plans to make out of it. Father brought us all back some skins that'll be turned into mantles. The goat one I have is very soft."
"Indeed. Robert has always been a gifted hunter. Such a relief that you both made it back safely without a kingsguard," Cersei remarked. "He has always despised the necessity of having them. Hopefully, it will not end poorly for him." Harry wasn't sure, but the statement sounded a bit like a threat.
"Father is brave and strong, Mother," Joffrey interjected. "Someday, I will be strong enough to have no need of them either."
"Aegon thought that, too, till Visenya proved otherwise. Kings are always going to need a kingsguard," Myrcella insisted. "It doesn't matter how strong you are. It only takes someone stronger."
"What do princesses know about strength," Joffrey dismissed with a condescending wave of his hand. "You should keep your focus on your embroidery, little sister. Leave the talk of strength to men."
"You should say that better to the Starks, then," Myrcella bit back. "Their brother and other ward, who is a lady by the way, were able to take a whole keep all by themselves! They captured the legendary Bad Apple from the war of the Nine Penny Kings without any help at all!"
"Robb captured it. Their ward just got captured."
"They both got captured and then they both captured the castle!"
"I heard that Robb captured the castle with the help of his giant direwolf," Tommen proclaimed.
Myrcella shook her head to that. "No, there were two direwolves. Hermione and Robb both had direwolves they rode on while they took the castle."
"But... Hermione doesn't have a direwolf," Sansa interjected.
Harry froze with those words. If there were rumors about two direwolves then that could only mean that Hermione had to transform into her animagus form. If it was confirmed that she actually didn't have her own, it would bring up a lot of awkward conversations.
Cersei's head tilted at the girl. "No direwolf? Are you sure? Our reports clearly say that there were two wolves."
"Maybe they found another one while traveling?" Harry suggested. "Hermione was always very good with the wolves."
"Oh, yes," Arya nodded. "Maybe they did find another one. Ours were always following her around in Winterfell. I think they like her more than they even like us."
"I guess that would make sense," Sansa noted looking up in thought. "Though, I wonder why Robb wouldn't mention something like that in his letter."
"It was a very small piece of paper," Arya reminded her sister, and Harry wished Sansa would take the hint already. "There wasn't a lot of room to put every little detail of their journey on there, and he had to tell us about the bandits they caught."
"Oh right, that had my heart absolutely pounding," Sansa said. "I'm so happy they were unharmed."
"Not completely," Arya reminded her. "Robb got hurt in the neck."
"Still better than what happened to those bandits," Myrcella remarked.
"That beehive did most of the work from what I hear," Joffrey dismissed.
"That beehive didn't have the idea to drop itself on their heads," Myrcella argued.
"Any fool could do something like that."
"Oh, then why haven't you?"
The Starks sat between the siblings as they traded barbs with one another, sipping their sweet juice persistently and doing their best to remain impartial, though Harry was secretly rooting for Myrcella since she had come to Hermione's defense, and he liked her infinitely more than Joffrey.
"That's enough," Cersei decreed, looking coldly at her daughter. "Myrcella, is this any way to behave in front of guests?"
"What about Joffrey? He started it."
"Myrcella," Cersei warned insistently. The girl drew into herself, lowering her head in surrender. Harry cast a glance at Joffrey and saw the boy smirk satisfactorily. His reaction had the impression that this was common between the siblings, and it was suddenly clear who among the three was her favorite. Harry already didn't care much for Cersei, but this interaction had his impression of the queen lessened by a lot. "We'll discuss this behavior later."
"Yes, Mother," Myrcella surrendered bashfully.
The dynamic of the royal family had all three Starks exchanging awkward looks between themselves. The party moved on after that, though there were several more awkward conversations and silences and by the end of it, it wasn't just Harry who felt emotionally exhausted by it all.
"I don't want to do that again," Arya declared, trudging behind Harry back to the sanctuary of the paddock.
"You got that right."
"Can we go flying? I need an escape."
"You read my mind," but then Harry drew back. "Although, I should probably work more on Joffrey's chess set."
"Oh, can't it wait?" Arya pleaded with her hands clasped and big pleading eyes. "I'm so despondent, only a fly with Buckbeak will be able to cheer me up. You haven't taken him out today anyways and he needs his exercise."
He knew he ought to refuse, but the temptation was far too much to resist. He could work more on the set tonight, after all, and he had the added benefit of magic to hasten the progress if he needed. So, he relented to the girl.
While Arya ran off to get changed out of her nice dress, Harry got Buckbeak ready, and they reconvened back in the paddock. They spent the rest of the day racing the hippogriff, exploring the forest near the city, sparring with sticks, and climbing trees.
They both agreed that the way they chose to spend their afternoon was a great improvement compared to how they spent their morning.