The screaming and cries that reached Sansa's bedchambers drained the blood from the two girls' faces. They dared not cry or move in fear that the men outside would push past Septa Mordane, who was guarding her door, and come for them. Sansa Stark and Jane Poole had no idea that all the Northmen had been gutted by Lannister swords, with the female attendants suffering much more before death. They only hoped that their fathers could save them from the screaming outside.

  Sansa's mind tried to calm down and think of anything else but the fact that her sister wasn't here by her side, where she could at least protect her should the worst come for them, and her father hadn't walked through her door saying everything was fine, that she didn't have to worry. She held on to her friend tightly as if she were a rock to stabilize herself from a storm, but Jeyne was just as cold and afraid as she. More than once did she think back to the empty magic box hidden in her room but every time her mother's and the septas warnings about the evils of magic and how the seven would punish people to the seven hells for their sins kept her from moving.

  Arya Stark POV

  Syrio was still fighting the King's Guard and Lannisters as she ran to her guards for help. Her heart dropped as her stomach squirmed under the smell of blood and death, but she pushed past all of that, only to find the bodies of her father's men cast into the dirt. There were still cries coming from not far away, so she slowed her pace and moved like a cat, hoping not to draw attention to herself.

  She couldn't understand why someone would do this; they had never done anything wrong. She had to find her father; he would know what to do. She found her clothing trunk open on the ground from where the men had packed it in preparation for the return to the north. Thankfully, Needle was still hidden in the bottom and not taken by anyone. Just as she grabbed the hilt, a voice froze her. It was a stable boy that she had seen a couple of times helping out with the horses. Her fear diminished significantly as he wasn't one of the Lannisters. But when he tried to grab her to take to the queen, her anger at the boy's provocation and everything awful that happened today boiled over.

  She shouted at him and pulled out Needle to scare him off, like she had done with Joffrey and her wooden stick; only this time, as she turned around fully, she felt something was wrong. The sound of cloth and flesh being pierced broke all the fake bravado from the boy.

  She and the boy looked down only to see Needle in his chest and blood dripping from his hand. He didn't cry out, but his tears and gritted teeth in pain told her everything. She pulled back, hoping he was alright and distancing herself from her mistake, but without Needle, he fell, and she could only run.

  The bck cells deep below the red keep.

  The stark lord sat consumed by his own regrets. He was only brought out of his thoughts by the spider's entrance, disguised as a jailer.

  "You must be thirsty, Lord Stark. I do promise it isn't poison; do try to save some; men have been known to die of thirst in these cells." He handed over a wineskin as he looked around the deplorable cells.

  "What about my daughters?"

  "The younger one seems to have escaped the castle; even my birds can't find her. As for your eldest, she's still engaged to Joffrey. The queen will keep her close and under her influence. The rest of your household, I'm afraid, are all dead except the Poole girl who was with your daughter at the time."

  "You watched my men be sughtered and did nothing."

  "And would again, my lord. I was unarmed, unarmored, and surrounded by Lannister swords. When you look at me, do you see a hero? What madness led you to tell the queen you knew about Joffrey's birth?"

  "The madness of mercy, that she might save her child." He ughed bitterly while thinking to himself about how much he wished his elder brother were still here; he would have done a better job at all this than he did.

  "Ah, the children; it's always the innocent that suffer. It wasn't the wine that killed Robert, nor the boar. The wine slowed him down, and the boar ripped him open, but it was your mercy that killed the king. So I trust you know you're a dead man by now."

  "The queen can't kill me. Cat has her brother."

  "The wrong brother, and even then he won a trial by combat, letting him walk free from your wife's grasp."

  "If that's true, then slit my throat right now and be done with it."

  "Not today. I don't serve you, only the realm, my lord, for someone must." With that, the spider walked away, leaving Ned to the darkness and silence of the bck cells.

  Lanister Army Camp

  Twins thoughts.

  Ever since Tywin had read the report that his younger son was kidnapped, he started mobilizing for war because, as deformed and repugnant as the imp was, he still carried the Lannister name. A name no one could tarnish so lightly without paying a price in blood.

  He had sent his mad dog, the Mountain, to raid the rivernds as retaliation against Catelyn Stark and to preemptively weaken the river lords' supplies should a full war break out between the North and the West.

  When his eldest son arrived at the camp after publicly attacking Lord Stark and his men, he gave him command of the army at the Golden Tooth in order to y siege to and, with luck, take River Run before the northern and river nd armies had time to fully assemble.

  While he had faith in his son's abilities, he had to guard against the other great houses that would rather see his dream dynasty crumble than rise to greater heights. As such, his army began a month-long march toward Harrenhal, the perfect position to reinforce Jaime if necessary and to guard against a possible army from the Vale should Catelyn's sister join the war. He knew that if the northern army wanted to come south to break the siege, they would have to cross the rivers at the Green Fork, giving himself plenty of time and terrain advantages to butcher them while they crossed.

  As for the crowns say it was ughable He knew his daughter and Pycelle would keep Robert too drunk and misinformed to fully understand the situation, or perhaps it was time to help Joffrey rise to become king.