Post by voice on Aug 2, 2015 6:05:55 GMT
Eddard IX:
Ned let him prattle on. After a time, he quieted and they rode in silence. The streets of King's Landing were dark and deserted. The rain had driven everyone under their roofs. It beat down on Ned's head, warm as blood and relentless as old guilts1. Fat drops of water ran down his face.
"Robert will never keep to one bed," Lyanna had told him at Winterfell, on the night long ago when their father had promised her hand to the young Lord of Storm's End. "I hear he has gotten a child on some girl in the Vale." Ned had held the babe in his arms; he could scarcely deny her, nor would he lie to his sister, but he had assured her that what Robert did before their betrothal was of no matter, that he was a good man and true who would love her with all his heart. Lyanna had only smiled. "Love is sweet, dearest Ned, but it cannot change a man's nature." 2
The girl had been so young Ned had not dared to ask her age. No doubt she'd been a virgin; the better brothels could always find a virgin, if the purse was fat enough. She had light red hair and a powdering of freckles across the bridge of her nose, and when she slipped free a breast to give her to the babe, he saw that her bosom was freckled as well. "I named her Barra," she said as the child nursed. "She looks so like him, does she not, milord? She has his nose, and his hair . . . "
"She does." Eddard Stark had touched the baby's fine, dark hair. It flowed through his fingers like black silk. Robert's firstborn had had the same fine hair, he seemed to recall.3
"Tell him that when you see him, milord, as it . . . as it please you. Tell him how beautiful she is."
"I will," Ned had promised her. That was his curse. Robert would swear undying love and forget them before evenfall, but Ned Stark kept his vows. He thought of the promises he'd made Lyanna as she lay dying, and the price he'd paid to keep them.4
"And tell him I've not been with no one else. I swear it, milord, by the old gods and new. Chataya said I could have half a year, for the baby, and for hoping he'd come back. So you'll tell him I'm waiting, won't you? I don't want no jewels or nothing, just him. He was always good to me, truly." 5
Good to you, Ned thought hollowly. "I will tell him, child, and I promise you, Barra shall not go wanting."5
She had smiled then, a smile so tremulous and sweet that it cut the heart out of him.5 Riding through the rainy night, Ned saw Jon Snow's face in front of him, so like a younger version of his own. If the gods frowned so on bastards, he thought dully, why did they fill men with such lusts? 6
"Lord Baelish, what do you know of Robert's bastards?" 7
"Well, he has more than you, for a start."
"How many?"
Littlefinger shrugged. Rivulets of moisture twisted down the back of his cloak. "Does it matter? If you bed enough women, some will give you presents, and His Grace has never been shy on that count. I know he's acknowledged that boy at Storm's End, the one he fathered the night Lord Stannis wed. He could hardly do otherwise. The mother was a Florent, niece to the Lady Selyse, one of her bedmaids. Renly says that Robert carried the girl upstairs during the feast, and broke in the wedding bed while Stannis and his bride were still dancing. Lord Stannis seemed to think that was a blot on the honor of his wife's House, so when the boy was born, he shipped him off to Renly." He gave Ned a sideways glance. "I've also heard whispers that Robert got a pair of twins on a serving wench at Casterly Rock, three years ago when he went west for Lord Tywin's tourney. Cersei had the babes killed, and sold the mother to a passing slaver. Too much an affront to Lannister pride, that close to home." 8
Ned Stark grimaced. Ugly tales like that were told of every great lord in the realm. He could believe it of Cersei Lannister readily enough . . . but would the king stand by and let it happen? The Robert he had known would not have, but the Robert he had known had never been so practiced at shutting his eyes to things he did not wish to see. "Why would Jon Arryn take a sudden interest in the king's baseborn children?" 9
The short man gave a sodden shrug. "He was the King's Hand. Doubtless Robert asked him to see that they were provided for."
Ned was soaked through to the bone, and his soul had grown cold. "It had to be more than that, or why kill him?"
Littlefinger shook the rain from his hair and laughed. "Now I see. Lord Arryn learned that His Grace had filled the bellies of some whores and fishwives, and for that he had to be silenced. Small wonder. Allow a man like that to live, and next he's like to blurt out that the sun rises in the east." 10
There was no answer Ned Stark could give to that but a frown. For the first time in years, he found himself remembering Rhaegar Targaryen.11 He wondered if Rhaegar had frequented brothels; somehow he thought not.12
Somehow, he thought not.
Ned let him prattle on. After a time, he quieted and they rode in silence. The streets of King's Landing were dark and deserted. The rain had driven everyone under their roofs. It beat down on Ned's head, warm as blood and relentless as old guilts1. Fat drops of water ran down his face.
"Robert will never keep to one bed," Lyanna had told him at Winterfell, on the night long ago when their father had promised her hand to the young Lord of Storm's End. "I hear he has gotten a child on some girl in the Vale." Ned had held the babe in his arms; he could scarcely deny her, nor would he lie to his sister, but he had assured her that what Robert did before their betrothal was of no matter, that he was a good man and true who would love her with all his heart. Lyanna had only smiled. "Love is sweet, dearest Ned, but it cannot change a man's nature." 2
The girl had been so young Ned had not dared to ask her age. No doubt she'd been a virgin; the better brothels could always find a virgin, if the purse was fat enough. She had light red hair and a powdering of freckles across the bridge of her nose, and when she slipped free a breast to give her to the babe, he saw that her bosom was freckled as well. "I named her Barra," she said as the child nursed. "She looks so like him, does she not, milord? She has his nose, and his hair . . . "
"She does." Eddard Stark had touched the baby's fine, dark hair. It flowed through his fingers like black silk. Robert's firstborn had had the same fine hair, he seemed to recall.3
"Tell him that when you see him, milord, as it . . . as it please you. Tell him how beautiful she is."
"I will," Ned had promised her. That was his curse. Robert would swear undying love and forget them before evenfall, but Ned Stark kept his vows. He thought of the promises he'd made Lyanna as she lay dying, and the price he'd paid to keep them.4
"And tell him I've not been with no one else. I swear it, milord, by the old gods and new. Chataya said I could have half a year, for the baby, and for hoping he'd come back. So you'll tell him I'm waiting, won't you? I don't want no jewels or nothing, just him. He was always good to me, truly." 5
Good to you, Ned thought hollowly. "I will tell him, child, and I promise you, Barra shall not go wanting."5
She had smiled then, a smile so tremulous and sweet that it cut the heart out of him.5 Riding through the rainy night, Ned saw Jon Snow's face in front of him, so like a younger version of his own. If the gods frowned so on bastards, he thought dully, why did they fill men with such lusts? 6
"Lord Baelish, what do you know of Robert's bastards?" 7
"Well, he has more than you, for a start."
"How many?"
Littlefinger shrugged. Rivulets of moisture twisted down the back of his cloak. "Does it matter? If you bed enough women, some will give you presents, and His Grace has never been shy on that count. I know he's acknowledged that boy at Storm's End, the one he fathered the night Lord Stannis wed. He could hardly do otherwise. The mother was a Florent, niece to the Lady Selyse, one of her bedmaids. Renly says that Robert carried the girl upstairs during the feast, and broke in the wedding bed while Stannis and his bride were still dancing. Lord Stannis seemed to think that was a blot on the honor of his wife's House, so when the boy was born, he shipped him off to Renly." He gave Ned a sideways glance. "I've also heard whispers that Robert got a pair of twins on a serving wench at Casterly Rock, three years ago when he went west for Lord Tywin's tourney. Cersei had the babes killed, and sold the mother to a passing slaver. Too much an affront to Lannister pride, that close to home." 8
Ned Stark grimaced. Ugly tales like that were told of every great lord in the realm. He could believe it of Cersei Lannister readily enough . . . but would the king stand by and let it happen? The Robert he had known would not have, but the Robert he had known had never been so practiced at shutting his eyes to things he did not wish to see. "Why would Jon Arryn take a sudden interest in the king's baseborn children?" 9
The short man gave a sodden shrug. "He was the King's Hand. Doubtless Robert asked him to see that they were provided for."
Ned was soaked through to the bone, and his soul had grown cold. "It had to be more than that, or why kill him?"
Littlefinger shook the rain from his hair and laughed. "Now I see. Lord Arryn learned that His Grace had filled the bellies of some whores and fishwives, and for that he had to be silenced. Small wonder. Allow a man like that to live, and next he's like to blurt out that the sun rises in the east." 10
There was no answer Ned Stark could give to that but a frown. For the first time in years, he found himself remembering Rhaegar Targaryen.11 He wondered if Rhaegar had frequented brothels; somehow he thought not.12
- What old guilts should our honorable Eddard have?
- From Lyanna's own mouth (and one of the few things we learn from her own mouth), she took issue with Robert not keeping to one bed before they were even betrothed! How then, could she abide, be complicit in, and even encourage Rhaegar's infidelity. Rhaegar was not only betrothed, he was wed.
- The whore's daughter has the same hair as the babe Ned discussed with Lyanna. Eddard is remembering Lyanna's disapproval of such philanderings. Jon Arryn was the one protecting hidden bastard-heirs, not Eddard Stark.
- Ah, the promise. The promises Ned made to Lyanna as she lay dying. Would he tell her the truth? That he killed Arthur Dayne? Or would he ease her passing from this world by telling a lie that was not without honor? And, what is it that prompts Ned to recall the promises he made to Lyanna? Why, it was the request from this poor young girl.Ned knew Robert would not honor this girl, just as he knew he and Arthur could do nothing for Lyanna at that point."Tell him that when you see him, milord, as it . . . as it please you. Tell him how beautiful she is."
- "Good to me..." yeah right. Some good. What's more interesting is the promise Ned makes here. He doesn't promise to hide a hidden heir, he only promises that the child shall not go wanting. And what more could a desperate young mother as for? I have a feeling Lyanna was offered the same promise, and gave Ned a tremulous and sweet smile that cut the heart out of him...
- Lusts? Wait a minute... What lusts? Rhaegar surely wasn't acting out of lust! He had just fulfilled the prophecy of tptwp with the birth of his son Aegon, and the dragon needs three heads. He's not acting out of lust, he's rising to the call of duty. Doesn't Ned really mean to ask why the gods fill men with the urge to elope and have secret weddings?
Joking of course, but it is a very interesting paragraph. And, at the very least, seems to confirm that Jon is a bastard. Are these "lusts" Eddard's or Robert's? Or both? Is Ned also recalling the lust of his fellow man of impeccable honor, Arthur Dayne? It's all conjecture, but I think you will agree that "lustful" would seem to be applicable to any of these men, save Rhaegar Targaryen.
- The wheels are turning in Ned's head, slower than Petyr's to be sure, but they are turning. In pondering the lusts of men, he asks Petyr how many bastards the king has, which, of course, isn't all that different from being considerate of the young freckled girl with a babe in arms, and wondering how many more unfortunate girls like her there are. We know there are many, and Petyr tells of a few.
- Thus, the reasons Ned hid Jon.
- Because Jon Arryn was in the business of protecting the king's only heirs. Funny that Ned doesn't make that connection if he were in fact doing the same thing.
- Hmm.... "blurt out that the sun rises in the east..." It's an interesting choice of quip here from GRRM. The sun of dawn rises in the east. The sword of the morning is the rising sun of Dawn. Dawn of the Day=Dayne. Natural fire, rather than Valyrian. Jon doesn't feel right holding Longclaw. It isn't his father's sword, after all.
- Another damning choice of words. Regardless of the other times Ned recalls Rhaegar, and the various ways some have attempted to explain-away this anomaly, it remains a ponderous statement if Rhaegar was indeed Jon's father. I think the whole chapter removes Rhaegar from the discussion, and this is but one more reason to do so (for myself).
- Rhaegar was next in line, and would now sit the IT if Eddard had not aided in usurping the dragonlords, and planted his drunken, lustful best friend there instead. Ned let him prattle on. After a time, he quieted and they rode in silence. The streets of King's Landing were dark and deserted. The rain had driven everyone under their roofs. It beat down on Ned's head, warm as blood and relentless as old guilts. Fat drops of water ran down his face. He wondered if Rhaegar was lustful. He wondered if Rhaegar strayed and took his pleasure from multiple beds. He wondered if Rhaegar fathered bastards like Robert...
Joking of course, but it is a very interesting paragraph. And, at the very least, seems to confirm that Jon is a bastard. Are these "lusts" Eddard's or Robert's? Or both? Is Ned also recalling the lust of his fellow man of impeccable honor, Arthur Dayne? It's all conjecture, but I think you will agree that "lustful" would seem to be applicable to any of these men, save Rhaegar Targaryen.Somehow, he thought not.
