Eddard IV

I wish I was dead. That was the most common of his thoughts over the past few weeks, since Tywin Lannister's horsemen massacred them in the Mummer's Ford.

His cell reeked of urine and dregs and he hadn't seen the sunlight for days. The darkness was absolute and the only time he could make out a glimpse of light was when the jailer brought some water to the cell once a day. At first, he had also been given a loaf of bread to accompany that, but he had not enjoyed that privilege of it for quite some time. He was being held prisoner in one of the Black Cells, one of the many dungeons under the Red Keep. He had been brought there after several weeks of being locked between iron bars in a wagon of Lord Tywin's army and to tell the truth, he did not know how long he had been locked up in there as the only way he had to count the time in there were the visits of the skinny rat-faced man that visited him. Days, weeks, months? Ned closed his eyes, slept, woke up, ate and went back to sleep without having the slightest notion of time.

He cursed himself constantly. He had been an idiot, over and over again. He must have stayed in Winterfell with his family, but instead he accepted Robert's request and went south to try to serve him and the kingdom as best as he could. He should have listened to Stannis Baratheon and told Robert the truth as soon as he had the chance. He must have listened to his daughter Sansa and let someone else go and face The Mountain. Instead, his damn honor had made him try to bring justice to Sir Gregor in person, and thereby sent a hundred men to their ultimate deaths. Their outriders had sighted The Mountain near the Mummer's Ford, so Ned had driven his riders there to intercept him and put him down once and for all. However, once they arrived, it was not The Mountain's men they found, but thousands of Lannister horsemen who charged them at first sight. As they outnumbered them by far, Ned ordered the retreat and flight to King's Landing, but at that very moment, The Mountain appeared in his rear with his men, massacring his forces in the ford. The only one who didn't seem afraid was the Hound, who charged to meet his brother despite their poor odds. Ned saw many of the guards who accompanied him fall, including Jory and Harwin. He could even see The Mountain piercing the young Lord Beric Dondarrion with his spear before a Lannister rider hit Ned in the head from the back and knocked him unconscious. When he awoke, he was chained to a cell, surrounded by Lord Tywin's entire army.

The soldiers had strict orders not to speak to the prisoner, but over the weeks, he was able to hear some of their conversations. They said Kevan Lannister was besieging Riverrun as Lord Tywin marched north to confront his son Robb, who reportedly marched down the Neck to free his father from the clutches of the Lannisters. Several days later there was a battle, Eddard knew as soon as he saw the weary, filthy, blood-soaked soldiers return. Ned asked anyone that passed near his cell to try to find out what had happened, if they had any news of their son Robb or from King Robert. Several of them laughed when he asked them about the latter. It wasn't until he was taken back to the capital and saw the banners with the Lannister's Lion next to the Baratheon stag that he finally managed to understand that Robert must have died during his absence. Robert, Cat, Robb, Sansa, Arya... I have failed you all…

His head hurt terribly, but he did not know if it was because of sleeping on the bare stone, the wound on his head, or the dark thoughts that inhabited it: Would he ever see his family again? Would everyone be safe, or would Robb be in a dark cell just like him? And what had happened to Sansa, whom he had left in the capital when he left?

The only visitors he received in that cell were those of the ghosts of his past. He saw Brandon, his gray eyes staring at him with disdain as a ring of leather strangled his neck.

"You stole everything from me," he said. "You let me go south so you could steal my castle, my lands and my wife. Well look at you now!" Ned closed his eyes and when he reopened them Brandon had disappeared and instead there was only one eaten up and dusty skeleton.

Other times, it was Robert who appeared to him, but not fat and drunk as when he died, but as he remembered him in his youth, tall and strong, with a large warhammer in his hand.

"Look how we ended up, Ned," the ghost said. "You failed me, you let them poison me instead of telling me about the danger. You let them kill me..."

The last one to appear was Stannis Baratheon, tall and imposing, but with a face that indicated only contempt.

"I warned you, you fool. I told you to tell Robert, to tell him the truth before it was too late, but you wanted to wait."

I'm so sorry, Ned thought without daring to say it out loud, but Stannis still heard him.

"Proud idiot, you have taken away my crown..." said, but his voice was strange, distorted. His face cracked and deformed, and instead Princess Arianne appeared, looking at him with one of her usual smiles. "Give me my crown, Stark. Give it to me and I'll give you back your daughter," she demanded, "Give it to me!" Her figure deformed until she became a snake that attacked him.

He was lying on the ground, trying to fall asleep without success when he heard footsteps approaching that stopped just outside his cell door in the hallway. At first, he thought it was another product of his imagination, but when the iron door opened with a squeak and the light of a torch illuminated the cell and blinded him, Ned knew it was not a dream.

"Food!" he groaned. "Please..."

"Go get some food for the prisoner. We don't want him to starve to death," a voice said. It was not the voice of the jailer, but another that was strangely familiar to him, as if he had heard it before somewhere. With his eyes half-closed because of the light of the torch, the man's shadow seemed to him to be that of a giant, but when he approached him, he saw that the man was small, very small actually. It was none other than Tyrion Lannister, the man who had tried to kill his son Bran in Winterfell many months ago.

"The Imp? Are you another of my ghosts, have you also come to torture me?" he said insecure. He touched his face with a trembling hand. "No... you're here, you're really here."

"In the flesh," replied the dwarf.

"What do you want from me? Have you come to kill me since you couldn't kill my son?"

"You're already the second one to tell me the same story, at this rate I'm going to start believing it myself," he said with a small smile. "No, I need you. More than I'd like to admit. Tell me, do you know anything about what's going on outside these dungeons?"

"My son... your father marched against my son Robb. He defeated him."

"That's what he thought too, but you're wrong just like he was. Your son deceived my father and relieve the siege of Riverrun. Now both he and the Tullys have joined Stannis Baratheon's cause."

"Stannis... he is Robert's rightful heir. The throne belongs to him by right."

"I've heard that story too, and I don't like it either, just like my sister or the rest of my family don't either. But it seemed to convince your son to support his cause. He looks like you, always guided by honor and that kind of stuff. I want you to deny the story of Stannis, I want you to convince your son and the northern lords to return to their lands. Do it and your life will be spared. You can go back to Winterfell and spend the rest of your life with your family"

"Then my word would be worthless. I don't value my life enough to do that," Ned replied to Tyrion Lannister. "Do you think I intend to serve the interests of those who killed my king, murdered my men, and tried to kill my son? That I will never do."

"Of these claims you speak, only that of the murder of your men is true and certain. And it happened because you gave your wife the order to apprehend me for a crime I did not commit, as the gods have already determined."

"Who but your sister would kill Robert? She's the only one who benefited from her death. Tell me, did she kill him with the same poison she used on Jon Arryn, did she order Robert's squire, your cousin, to do it, or did she dare to do it with her own hands?"

"My sister did not kill your dear friend Robert, nor did she kill Jon Arryn. Let's suppose that these story about Cersei's sons being bastards is true, my sister may have killed Robert and Lord Arryn when Joffrey was born, or Tommen, or Myrcella, and yet she did nothing for all these years. You're mistaking your enemies here, Lord Stark."

"I've heard your lies for too long. I'm not going to believe a word that comes out of your reptilian tongue."

"You disappoint me. You believed those of Littlefinger, Pycelle, Arianne Martell, Varys... and yet not mines. Tell me, what do I have to do to make you trust me? Is it because I'm a dwarf, isn't it?"

"It's because you're a Lannister. Leave at once and let me die in peace."

"Make no mistake, Lord Stark. I don't want to see you dead, that's not my intention at all," Tyrion said. "You are too valuable as a hostage and, sooner or later, you may be of use to us. Your son Robb is stubborn, yes, and also brave. Your son Bran, on the other hand... the second sons tend to be a disappointment to their parents. In war a lot of things may happen, your son may lose a battle tomorrow and end up dead among his men, or maybe he will suffer a terrible accident... My father has always been original when it comes to taking down his enemies, I'm sure you already know the song."

And so he spoke, and so he spoke, that lord of Castamere... Ned knew what Tywin Lannister had done with the Reynes when they dared to challenge him. No, Robb beat him once and he can do it again. In addition, soon Stannis and the Martells will join him, along with the Arryns, the stormlords and Renly, if he is alive. Ned understood now, the Lannisters were desperate.

"He, he, he, he… HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!" Ned laughed with the few forces he had left. The Imp was surprised and slightly recoiled, prompting more laughter from Ned. "You have no allies, you are alone! You can starve me to death or stick my head in a pike if you want, soon yours and your father's will be by my side."

"I have asked you nicely, Lord Stark," sighed Tyrion Lannister. "You may want to die like this, alone in a dark cell, but I'm sure you wouldn't want that fate for your daughter. All the hostages we need is you alone, your daughter isn't as important. What happens to Sansa is up to you, Lord Eddard."

Ned stopped laughing. His breathing had been cut off and he felt as if someone was squeezing his lungs. "My daughter?... no, that's not possible..."

"You will not believe that you are our only prisoner here. Your daughter Sansa never got to take that ship you arranged for her. As soon as you left the Red Keep, she ran to tell my sister about your plans, how you intended to send her back to the cold northern lands, away from here. She thought Cersei would protect her and stop you from sending her back to Winterfell. She wasn't wrong about the latter, but she was just as naive as you. I wonder if it's a family thing..." Tyrion said with a smile.

"No... it's not true! You think you can fool me, don't you? You think if you threaten to take my daughter from me, then I'll bend to your will... but no! My daughter Sansa must already be in Winterfell, far from your reach. And Arya is in Dorne. You will never reach them."

"I was taking you for another kind of man, Lord Stark. But right now, I only see a skinny, hungry, half-crazy man. I hope that next time I come here; you will be in... better conditions of speaking. Pray to your gods that the next one who comes to visit you is me, whether you believe me or not, I am the last friend you have left in this damned city," Tyrion said turning his back and going back where he had come in.

Tyrion Lannister left the cell, leaving Ned in the cell alone with the darkness and a bit of food. Ned touched the food, but without daring to try it, for fear that it would be poisoned. Are you mad? If they wanted to kill you, they wouldn't poison your food, a little voice whispered in his head. The food was somewhat dry and tasteless, but for Ned, it tasted better than any other bite he'd ever tasted. When he finished, he licked the plate, as if trying to extract some more food from that empty piece of clay. Then he closed his eyes and went to sleep.

"Father?" A voice awakened him from his sleep. "No, it can't be ... what have you done to my father?" Ned opened his eyes wide. He recognized that voice immediately, he'd never forget it.

"Sansa?" His daughter was in his cell, just in front of him. Behind her was Tyrion Lannister and with some difficulty Ned was able to discern a couple of guards at the entrance too. "No, it's not possible..."

His daughter hugged him and then Ned knew it wasn't another one of his dreams. His daughter was there with him. As the Imp had told him, she was still in the capital.

"Why are you here?" asked Ned.

"Sorry father, I... I didn't want to go back to Winterfell. I couldn't let you send me back there. The queen told me she'll convince you one way or another, but I didn't know that..." said Sansa. Her eyes were full of tears.

"Stupid girl..." murmured Eddard. Tears were also beginning to flow from his eyes. How could I have been so stupid? In that moment, he comprehended that he will never see both of his two daughters alive again.

"Such as I told you, Lord Stark, your daughter is safe and sound with us here in the capital. As you can see, I'm not lying to you," Tyrion Lannister said.

Ned turned to look at him. A murderous wrath invaded him, making him want to punch the dwarf and strangle him with his cuffs to see that filthy smile of his disappear from his hideous face. But his forces failed him. When he tried to stand up, his legs were so weak that they couldn't support his own weight and he collapsed onto the ground.

"And well? Shall we negotiate now, Lord Stark?"

Happy New Year everyone! I tried to come up with at least a couple of cahpters these holidays. But 2020 has been so fucked up that in the end I ended up relaxing and doing almost nothing at all, which sadly included writing.

I'm really excited for the upcoming chapters, which cover what in the OTL would have been The War of the Five Kings.

I hope you are excited as well and see you nex time!