[King's Landing - Red Keep - Training Room]
Arya was currently at her dancing lesson with Syrio. Which would likely be her last before she returned to Winterfell.
"Yah! Left high, left low." Syrio instructed.
Unfortunately, what she didn't know was that her father had been imprisoned and Lannister men were slaughtering her father's men who'd arrived in the capital with them.
Elsewhere in the Red Keep, Lannister guards were still fighting Stark guards and they were clearly winning.
"Right low, lunge right."
Arya had very clearly improved in her swordplay.
Outside, several servants, being led by the Stark's steward Vayon Poole, were loading the Starks' belongings into a carriage.
"If you break anything, the Septa will have my head." Poole told them.
More Lannister men came charging towards Poole and the others.
"What is - ?"
A Lannister soldier ran Poole through with a spear, killing him. The remaining soldiers proceeded to kill the other servants.
Back in the Red Keep, Sansa was walking down a hallway with Septa Mordane.
"Your sister knew perfectly well we were to leave today. How she could forget -"
"She didn't forget. She's with her dancing master; she's with him evey morning. She alwys comes back with scrapes and bruises. She's so clumsy." Sansa joked.
"Hush!"
A commotion was heard nearby, causing Septa Mordane to seem alarmed.
"Go back to your room. Bar the doors and do not open them for anyone you do not know."
"What is it? What's happening?"
"Do as I told you. Run!"
Sansa did not waste another moment, doing as she was told, and not a moment too soon.
Another group of Lannister soldiers comes around the corner. Septa Mordane saw their bloody swords and approached them slowly, a look of shock and fear on her face.
[Training Room]
"This way! Left, right. Rah!"
Syrio went left instead of right and knocked Arya's sword out of her hand.
"Now you are dead."
"You said right, but you went left." Arya told him, confused.
"And now you are a dead girl."
"Only 'cause you lied."
"My tongue lied. My eyes shouted the truth. You were not seeing."
"I was so! I watched, but you - !"
"Watching is not seeing, dead girl. The seeing - the true seeing - that is the heart of swordplay."
The door suddenly opened, a group of Lannister soldiers, led by Ser Meryn Trant of the Kingsguard, entering.
"Arya Stark, come with us. Your father wants to see you."
Arya started to go to them, but Syrio held her back.
"And why is it that Lord Eddard is sending Lannister men in place of his own? I am wondering."
"Mind your place, dancing master. This is no concern of yours." Meryn told him.
Arya also grew suspicious. "My father wouldn't send you."
Meryn looked on, looking slightly annoyed. Arya went over, picking up her practice sword.
"And I don't have to go with you if I don't want." She pointed her sword at him causing Meryn laugh at her mockingly.
"Take her." Meryn told his men.
The soldiers started to advance on Arya and Syrio.
"Are you men or snakes, that you would threaten a child?"
"Get out of my way, little man." One of the Lannister soldiers ordered.
"I am Syrio Forel -"
"Foreign bastard..." The soldier muttered.
The soldier drew his sword, but before he can strike, Syrio attacked him and knocked him down with his practice sword.
"-and you will be speaking to me with more respect."
Syrio turned to face the other soldiers and Meryn, facing down with the wooden sword.
"Kill the Braavosi. Bring the girl." Meryn ordered.
"Arya child, we are done with dancing for the day. Run to your father."
Arya didn't budge, but she did look worried. The Lannister soldiers began attacking Syrio, but he was able to fight all of them off with his wooden sword. knocking them all out. He then turns to face Meryn.
"Bloody oafs." Meryn then drew his own sword.
"Be gone now, Arya." Syrio told her.
Arya, who appeared to be on the verge of tears, said, "Come with me! Run!"
Syrio continued to stare down Meryn.
"The First Sword of Braavos does not run."
Meryn moved in to strike SYRIO. They briefly dueled, and in the process, Meryn chopped the wooden sword in half. However, this did not deter Syrio. He continued to defiantly stare down Meryn.
"What do we say to the God of Death?" Syrio asked Arya, without looking away.
"Not today."
"Go."
Finally Arya obeyed the wishes of her dancing master, Syrio still locked in a stare down with Trant.
As Arya ran down a nearby hallway, she heard screams and saw the silhouettes of other people fighting from other rooms. She was scared, but continued on. She had no other choice.
"Not today....not today..." She kept repeating to herself.
Elsewhere in the Red Keep, Sansa continued running back to her room, when The Hound came from around the corner at the other end of the hallway, slowly walking towards her.
"Stay away from me. I'll tell my father. I'll...I'll tell the Queen." Sansa muttered.
The Hound chuckled sinisterly. "Who do you think sent me?"
Arya had now arrived at the stables, where found the Stark carriage, surrounded by the corpses of the servants killed earlier. All of the Starks' belongings had been thrown on the ground. She slowly approached the scene.
"Needle."
She began looking through a chest, desperate to find her sword; Needle.
"There she is." A stable boy said, appearing suddenly behind her.
"What do you want?" She asked, continuing to look through the chest.
"I want you, wolf girl. Come here." The stable boy said.
"Leave me be. My father's a lord. He'll reward you."
"She'll reward me, the Queen!"
The stable boy went to grab Arya, just as she finally found Needle.
"Stay away!" She moved to push him away, but accidently ran him through the stomach with Needle, killing him. Horrified, Arya saw no other option but to run away.
[Red Keep - Black Cells]
Ned had been thrown into the Black cells. An adequate name, considering he was in the pitch dark.
Suddenly, a door opened, light flowing in, and someone could be heard approaching. Ned looked in the direction of the light, and a hooded person was walking towards him carrying a torch. When the person got closer, her realized it was Varys.
"Lord Stark, you must be thirsty." He knelt beside Ned and offered him a skin of water.
"Varys?" Ned asked, confused.
Varys continued to offer the water, but Ned did not take it.
"I promise you, it isn't poisoned. Why is it no one ever trusts the eunuch?"
He drank from it to prove himself. Afterwards he again offered it to Ned. Ned, who was handcuffed by the wrists, took the skin and drank from it rather quickly.
"Not so much, My Lord. I would save the rest, if I were you. Hide it; men have been known to die of thirst in these cells."
"What about my daughters?"
"The younger one seems to have escaped the castle. Even my little birds cannot find her."
Ned felt a sense of relief come over him at the news that Arya was seemingly safe for the time being.
"And Sansa?"
"Still engaged to Joffrey. Cersei will keep her close. The rest of your household, though....all dead, it grieves me to say. I do so hate the sight of blood."
"You watched my men being slaughtered and did nothing." Ned remarked, bitterly.
"And would again, My Lord. I was unarmed, unarmored and surrounded by Lannister swords. When you look at me, do you see a hero?"
The bitterness had not left Ned's face. He said nothing, instead choosing to take a drink from the skin.
"What madness led you to tell the Queen you had learned the truth about Joffrey's birth?"
"The madness of mercy. That she might save her children."
"Ah, the children. It's alwys the innocents who 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."
Ned glances at Varys, appearing thoughtful, but also still looking bitter.
"I trust you know you're a dead man, Lord Eddard?"
There was a pause between them.
"The Queen can't kill me. Cat holds her brother." Ned took another drink.
"The wrong brother, sadly. And lost to her. Your wife has let the Imp slip through her fingers.
Ned looked shocked, which quickly turned to hopeless.
"If that's true, then slit my throat and be done with it."
"Not today, My Lord."
Varys stood up and started to leave.
"Tell me something, Varys: who do you truly serve?"
Varys turned back to face Ned, who still looked bitter.
"The realm, My Lord. Someone must."
Varys left the Black Cells, once again leaving Ned alone and in total darkness.
[Red Keep - Cersei's Chambers]
Sansa was seated in front of Cersei, and standing behind her were Littlefinger, Varys, and Grand Maestar Pycelle.
"Your father has proved to be an awful traitor, dear." Varys told her.
Sansa looked around at them all, appearing a bit confused.
"King Robert's body was still warm when Lord Eddard began plotting to steal Joffrey's rightful throne." Pucelle said.
"He wouldn't do that. He knows how much I love Joffrey; he wouldn't." Sansa told Pycelle before turning to Cersei. "Please, Your Grace, there's been a mistake. Send for my father. He'll tell you, the King was his friend."
"Sansa, sweetling, you are innocent of any wrong; we know that. Yet you are the daughter of a traitor. How can I allow you to marry my son?"
"A child born of a traitor's seed is no fit consort for our King. She is a sweet thing now, Your Grace, but in 10 years who knows what treasons she may hatch?" Pycelle uttered.
"No, I'm not! I'll be a good wife to him, you'll see. I'll be a Queen just like you, I promise. I won't hatch anything." Sansa pleaded.
Cersei appeared to be deep in thought.
"The girl is innocent, Your Grace. She should be given a chance to prove her loyalty." Littlefinger suggested.
Sansa looked from Littlefinger to Cersei.
Cersei sighed. "Little Dove, you must write to Lady Catelyn and your brother, the eldest; what's his name?"
"Robb."
"Word of your father's arrest will reach him soon, no doubt. Best it comes from you. If you would help your father, urge your brother to keep the King's peace. Tell him to come to King's Landing and swear his fealty to Joffrey."
All of them stared at Sansa expectantly, but Sansa looked uncertain.
"If...if I could see my father, talk to him about..."
"You disappoint me, child. We have told you of your father's treason; why would you want to speak to a traitor?" Cersei said.
"I only meant that...what will happen to him?" Sansa asked, timidly.
"That depends." Cersei told her.
"On...on what?" Sansa stuttered.
"On your brother." Cersei handed Sansa a quill and parchment. "And on you."
Sansa paused before taking the quill.
[Winterfell - Great Hall]
Robb was sat in the great hall reading Sansa's letter. Maestar Luwin standing beside him, and Theon sitting next to him.
"Treason?" Robb whispered to himself, exasperated. "Sansa wrote this? No, I don't believe it. Father would nevr betray anyone, let alone the king; they were best friends."
"It is your sister's hand, but the Queen's words. You are summoned to King's Landing to swear fealty to the new King." Maestar Luwin informed him.
"Joffrey puts my father in chains, now he wants his ass kissed?"
"This is a royal command, My Lord. If you should refuse to obey -"
"I won't refuse. His Grace summons me to King's Landing, I'll go to King's Landing. But not alone." Robb interrupted, folding the paper and handing it to Maestar Luwin. "Call the banners."
"All of them, My Lord?" Luwin asked.
"They've all sworn to defend my father, have they not?"
"They have."
"Now we see what their words are worth."
"Yeah..."
Luwin gave him a small nod and walked away, Robb returning to his seat next to Theon.
"Are you afraid?"
Robb glanced at his hand, which was shaking. "I must be."
"Good."
"Why is that good?"
"It means you're not stupid."
This put a determined look on Robb's face.
Outside, hundreds of ravens were released into the sky. Now all they could do was wait. Wait to see which of their banners fulfilled their oaths.
[The Vale]
Catelyn was rushing to Lysa's chambers. When she entered, she saw Lysa and Robin sitting on a small couch.
"You've had this since dawn?" She aslked, holding up an unraveled scroll.
"He sent it to me, not you. I've only shown it to you as a courtesy."
"A courtesy?! My husband has been taken prisoner! My son intends to declare war!" Catelyn said increduously.
"A war? Your son against the Lannisters?"
Catelyn looked appalled at her sister's gall.
"You should go to him. Teach him patience."
"Ned rots in a dungeon and you speak of patience?! He is your brother by law! Does family mean nothing to you?!"
Lysa grabbed Robin protectively. "Family means everything to me. And I will not risk Robin's life to get caught up in another of your husband's wars."
"I'm hungry." Robin interrupted.
"Hush now, darling. You just ate."
"You will not support us then? Do I understand you correctly?" Catelyn asked.
"But I'm hungry!" Robin was beginning to grow impatient.
"Soon, love, soon." Lysa told him before returning to her sister. "You're alwys welcome here, sister. But if you're asking me to send men from the Vale to fight..."
"That is what I ask."
"Go on, sweet. Time for your bath. I'll feed you after." Lysa told her son.
Robin sighed, getting off the couch and leaving the room.
"If you fear for the safety of your son -"
"Of course I fear for the safety of my son! Are you an idiot? They killed my husband! You say they shoved your boy from a window. These people will do anything!" Lysa interrupted.
"And that is why we have to stop them!"
Lysa stood, speaking with an air of finality. "The knights of the Vale will stay in the Vale where they belong, to protect their Lord."
Lysa then left, Catelyn watching her go.
Her own sister. Her family was in trouble, and her own sister who had the means to help, would not.