Lady Catelyn and Ser Rodrick entered Kings Landing, where they were instantly on the lookout for anyone they didn't want to run into.
"Fewer eyes back here, my Lady. But still too many."
"It's nine years since I've set foot in the capital. And no one knew who I was the last time I came either."
"My Lady." He called, noticing a man approaching them.
"Welcome to King's Landing, Lady Stark. Would you mind following us?" The man greeted.
"I would. We've done nothing wrong. "
"We've been instructed to escort you into the city."
"Instructed? I don't know who's providing your instructions, but..."
"Follow me, Lady Stark." He repeated.
"Cat! Go on. Go upstairs." Her old friend, Lord Baelish shouted.
"You little worm! You take me for some back-alley Sally you can drag into a... " Catelyn shouted as she entered.
"I meant no disrespect to you of all people." He confessed.
"How dare you bring me here! Have you lost your mind?"
"No one will come looking for you here. Isn't that what like you wanted? I'm truly sorry... about the locale."
"How did you know I was coming to King's Landing?" Catelyn asked.
"A dear friend told me." He replied.
"Lady Stark." Lord Varys greeted, seeming stepping out of the shadows.
"Lord Varys." She returned.
"To see you again after so many years is a blessing. Your poor hands." He gestured to her wrapped hands that were still in the process of healing after she tried to fight off the assassin sent to murder her son.
"How did you know I was coming?"
"Knowledge is my trade, my Lady. Did you bring the dagger with you, by any chance? My little birds are everywhere. Even in the north. They whisper to me the strangest stories. Valyrian steel."
"Do you know whose dagger this is?" Lady Catelyn asked him.
"I must admit I do not." Varys acknowledged.
"Well well, this is an historic day. Something you don't know that I do." Littlefinger teased. "There's only one dagger like this in all of the Seven Kingdoms. It's mine."
"Yours?" Lady Catelyn asked, incredulously, turning to look at him.
"At least it was, until the tournament on Prince Joffrey's last nameday. I bet on Ser Jaime in the jousting, as any sane man would. When the Knight of the Flowers unseated him, I lost this dagger."
"To whom?" She asked.
"Tyrion Lannister. The Imp."
Unfortunately Lady Catelyn was all too trusting of her childhood friend and took him at his word.
Lord Baelish returned to the Red Keep where he met with Lord Stark.
"Lord Stark. I meant to give you this earlier. So forgetful these days. A raven from Winterfell this morning." He overheard Maestar Pycelle say.
"Good news? Perhaps you'd like to share it with your wife?" Baelish questioned as he entered.
"My wife is in Winterfell."
"Is she?"
He then escorted him to one of his brothels.
"I thought that she'd be safest in here. One of several such establishments I own."
"You're a funny man. A very funny man." Ned said, slamming the sniveling man against the wall of his own establishment.
"Ned!" He heard from above, looking up to see his wife.
"The Starks... Quick tempers, slow minds."
Lord Stark had been led inside where he met his wife and Ser Rodrik.
"The mere suggestion that the Queen's brother tried to kill your boy would be considered treason." Littlefinger informed them.
"We have proof. We have the blade." Catelyn said.
"Which Lord Tyrion will say was stolen from him. The only man who could say otherwise has no throat, thanks to your boy's wolf." He replied.
"Petyr has promised to help us find the truth. He's like a little brother to me. He would nevr betray my trust." She told Ned.
"I'll try to keep you alive, for her sake. A fool's task, admittedly, but I've never been able to refuse your wife anything."
This caused a scowl to resurface on Lord Stark's face.
"I won't forget this. You're a true friend." Catelyn told him.
"Don't tell anyone. I have a reputation to maintain."
In the Red Keep, Cersei and Jaime had received the news of the Stark boy's survival. Though, it was not yet known if he would remember anything.
"How could you be so stupid?" Cersei yelled at her twin.
"Calm down."
"He's a child... 10 years old. What were you thinking?" She questioned.
"I was thinking of us. You're a bit late to start complaining about it now. What has the boy told them?"
"Nothing. He's said nothing. He remembers nothing."
"Then what are you raving about?"
"What if it comes back to him? If he tells his father what he saw..."
"We'll say he was lying. We'll say he was dreaming. We'll say whatever we like. I think we can outfox a 10-year-old."
"And my husband?"
"I'll go to war with him if I have to. They can write a ballad about us: "The War for Cersei's cսոt." He caught her hand as she moved to strike him.
"Let me go." Cersei demanded.
"Nevr." He leaned closer, whispering in her ear.
"Let me go."
"The boy won't talk. And if he does, I'll kill him. Him, Ned Stark, the King... the whole bloody lot of them, until you and I are the only people left in this world."
~
"I wish I could see the girls." Catelyn told her husband as she was preparing to leave.
"It's too dangerous."
"Just for a moment."
"Until we know who our enemies are..."
"I know they did it, Ned. The Lannisters. In my bones, I know it."
"Littlefinger's right. I can't do anything without proof."
"And if you find the proof?"
"Then I bring it to Robert... And hope he's still the man I once knew. You watch yourself on the road, huh? That temper of yours is a dangerous thing."
"My temper? Gods be good, you nearly killed poor Littlefinger yesterday."
"He still loves you."
"Does he?"
"Off with you." He told her. With one final kiss, they parted ways.
~
Lady Catelyn and Ser Rodrik sat in a tavern following their meeting with Lord Stark, trying their best to remain inconspicuous.
However, this did not last very long once Tyrion Lannister sauntered in.
"I'm sorry, m'lord.
"Lady Stark," he called, forcing her to turn around. "I'm sorry to have missed you on my return to Winterfell."
"I was still Catelyn Tully the last time I stayed here." Lady Stark began. She looked among the crowd before stopping on a young man. "You. Is that the black bat of Harrenhal I see on your coat?"
"It is, my lady," the young man concurred.
"And is Lady Whent a true and honest friend to my father, Lord Hoster Tully of Riverrun?"
"She is," he replied.
Catelyn turned to another man. "The Red Stallion was alwys a welcome sight at Riverrun. My father regards Lord Jonas Brack as one of his oldest and most loyal bannerman."
"Our Lord is honoured by his trust." He replied.
"I envy your father. All his fine friends Lady Stark." Tyrion interjected. "But, I don't quite see the purpose of this."
Lady Catelyn turned to a third man. "I know your sigil as well. The Twin Towers are Frey. How fares your lord, ser?"
"Lord Walder is well, my lady. He asks for the honour of your father's presence on his ninetieth nameday. He plans to take another wife."
At these words, Tyrion snickered. Lord Walder Frey had many children with many wives. It was often joked that he could comprise an army solely of his children.
"This man came into my house, as a guest, and there he conspired to murder my son. A boy of ten. In the name of King Robert and the good lords you serve, I call upon you to seize this man and help me return him to Winterfell, where he will face the King's justice."
At once Tyrion found himself at the mercy of the men's blades.
There was nothing he could do but accept his fate.
Thus marking the first stoke in the beginning of what would become known as The War Of The Five Kings.