Chapter Text
Lord Eddard Stark had lost the notion of time. Whether he had his eyes open or close, everything was dark and lifeless. Once every now and then, a guard would enter to hand him a piece of bread and some ale. Most of the time, the bread would be rotten and the ale reeked. For the first few times, Ned Stark did not even touch them but then the hunger began hitting him hard, leaving him with no choice.
He wished he had not accepted the King's order, his friend's request. He would be happily living his life in Winterfell, protecting the North, raising his kids and snuggling his wife every night. But gods seemed to want to punish him, so they made Ned to be bound to his duty. Thus ending up here.
He was ready to die. South had never been kind to the Starks. His father, and his brother got murdered by the Mad King. And now it was his turn, to be murdered by the Bastard King. He was ready to die. Robb might still be a boy, but he had Stark blood in him so he would know what to do and how to rule and protect the North.
Nevertheless his will to die got shaken when Lord Varys secretly visited him. Ned Stark did not expect any visit, he had no hope in Lannisters to be kind. And with them controlling this entire, filthy, corrupted city, no one would have the balls to visit him. He thought.
It looked Varys had, he had always been mysterious but also loyal to Ned on his own ways.
Varys gave him some good wine which tasted like some divine juice, compared to the rotten bread and reeky ale. They both talked about everything that had happened, and Varys apologized for not trying to save the Warden of the North the day he was betrayed by the 'Gold Cloaks' and Little finger. But he explained why he did not even try and the reason seemed pretty much valid. Lord Varys was a spy, not a soldier.
They continued talking and Varys made him realize how his death would only worsen the situation. An open war would be unleashed, between Starks and Lannisters.
And the long peace, the only good thing that happened during the reign of King Robert Baratheon would come to an end. More than that, Varys pointed him out the outcome of Ned's daughters. Arya and Sansa were still in King's Landing, in the custody of Cersei Lannister.
Ned might die for his honesty, Robb might wage war for the honor of his House. But what of his daughters? Should they suffer for coming along with their father to the Capitol?
Varys left with that question. It was better for everyone if Ned bent the knee. He would take the Black as the punishment, go to wall and maybe live the rest of his life with Jon and his brother, Benjen. Maybe that would be the opportunity for him to talk with Jon about his mother.
Robb would be the Warden of the North, Lord of Winterfell. Sansa would marry Joffrey and live her dream. Arya would do whatever she set her heart into. Bran could maybe become a maester. And Rickon, he was still a babe.
Since he was left alone again, Ned had been thinking about all this. He would die any day for honor. But his daughters' lives mattered more than his honor. The wine, his loneliness, his fears and his memories got mixed up and began playing in his mind. He blabbered not knowing what was real and what was not.
Time passed or stood still, Ned obviously could not tell. But the door opened once again, a guard came in, tossed the bread and haphazardly placed the jug of ale on the floor, causing it to spill. He did not even care to say a word to the Lord of Winterfell.
By now, Ned was exhausted. The wine might have done some good at the moment, but with no proper food and rest, it had long begun affecting him. Nevertheless, he was conscious enough to pass the message before the guard left. "Wait! I would like to bend the knee" he hoped his words were clear.
The guard did not reply a word, just crossed the threshold and closed the door.
Nothing happened afterwards. Not like Eddard Stark thought the words he uttered were magic and they would open the doors, free him from this misery, save his daughters, stop the war and prevent his wife's widowhood. But he did hope to see some changes.
The darkness prevailed. Ned slept, woke up and slept again. He had lost the sense of being awake, he was not sure at what state he was anymore.
Much later again, the doors opened. A guard came in, tossed the bread then carelessly placed the jug. Ned said, "I would like to bend the knee". The guard left without uttering a word.
Ned sighed cursing the Lannisters for tormenting him like this instead of killing him right away. But his stomach was growling, so he hurriedly ate the bread and gulped down the ale. He felt like the taste was slightly better, but it might be due to his starvation. Anything would taste nice at the moment.
The life continued, at least Ned hoped. Everything could not stand still just because he was thrown in this dungeon, right? Everything needed to go on, it was natural. He just hoped his family was safe, Varys did not say much about the exact situation. But he did say, Robb was coming down with a big army of northerners. Ned just prayed no harm came to him. Starks could not lose anymore of their own, they had already lost so many people. His father, his brother, his sister. Ned could not live with another loss.
Doors opened once again, the same guard came in, served him a bread and a jug of ale. Ned tried his luck again, "please, I would to bend the knee. I would like a meeting with Queen Cersei". And the guard reacted the same way as he did the past two times.
Ned had begun losing hope once again and told himself House Stark was only set to doom and the realm would fall into another war just because of his honor and pride. All ways were closed now for a parley.
The doors opened once again. This time, there was not one guard, but there were many. "You want a meeting with the Queen, Lord Stark?" one of them asked.
Ned had already heard that voice somewhere but these men were obstructing the little light that was coming in. So he could not even properly see them. He nodded, "I want this to end".
Ned could hear a little smirk that would have made all his ancestors turn in their graves. But he had to do this, for the sake of his children. "Alright, but she's the Queen Mother of the realm and a beggar from the Flea Bottom would look better than you. You need some grooming before being presented to Her Majesty. If you agree to that, you will have the audition. Else you can rot here" the man's voice was so condescending. Obviously, a man rotting in the dungeons might be one of the most powerful men in the realm but he was still a prisoner. So why bother giving him any respect?
Lord Eddard Stark had no other option. Hence he sighed and agreed, "sure, please make me presentable to her Majesty". The next second, his chains were broken. He was gently pulled onto his feet then led outside.
It was different to be feel the free air and be under the sun after awhile, even though he had no clue how long it had been. He looked at the guards, they were all 'Gold Cloaks' and the leader was Janos Slynt, the man who betrayed him. Ned grinded his teeth in anger, but he had no strength to fight. His captors had made sure of that.
He was brought to a cleaning room. A set of female slaves were waiting for him. One of them came forward and smiled, "thank you, Lord Slynt. We will take care of Lord Stark the way her Majesty wishes".
Slynt turned around and left along with his men, leaving Ned to these women.
The woman watched them leave then casually walked to Ned. "I have never thought I will get a day where I will be told to service the Lord of Winterfell" she playfully said. Ned could not help but blush to that comment. She continued, "I am Ros, a whore from the North. Specially assigned by the Queen to prepare you for her and teach you the etiquette you have been missing. So I will be calling you by your name and you will be addressing me as 'ma'am', am I clear Ned?" she asked in a very gentle but firm tone.
Lord Eddard Stark's entire body shivered hearing those words. Cersei was not yet ready to forgive him, he could tell. But anyway, he had a war to stop, daughters to save not like he had any choice. He shyly replied," yes ma'am!"