From Mortal To Divinity

As Eddard Stark made his way to his office, after sharing dinner with his daughters, he couldn't help but reflect on the past three moon turns since the tourney. His following of Jon Arryn's footsteps had taken him all over King's Landing in hopes of finding out what had Jon found that could have caused a possible assassination. Every location that Jon visited hosted one of Robert's bastard children, all possessing black hair and blue eyes. At first he suspected that it was the possibility of Robert's children not truly being his. It wasn't that far fetched of an idea considering that all of Robert's bastards have black and blue eyes, however looking into 'The Lineage and Histories of the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms' proved that to not be the case. A few decades after Aegon's conquest, a member from House Baratheon married a member of House Lannister resulting in the birth of two children with blond hair and green eyes. The book itself, according to Pycelle, seems to have been of interest to Jon. That means that someone of importance is a bastard and based on the evidence, it isn't any of Robert's children. That's probably the only good news he's received so far, because he honestly doesn't know how he'd inform Robert if his legitimate children are in reality bastards. Still, that only brings about more questions than answers. Who did Jon suspect to be a bastard? Why was their lineage so important that he may have been assassinated to keep the secret? Who ordered the assassination and why?

Arriving at the door of his office, Eddard shook the turbulent thought out of head and walked in. The office itself was spartan with nary a decoration with the only things in it to occupy space are his desk, three chairs, one for him and two for guests, and shelves full of books. Making his way to his desk, he lit a candle only to notice a stack of papers on his desk that weren't there previously. Figuring that it was just more work, he pours himself a cup of water, sits down and drinks.

As he examines the papers a frown forms on his face. After reading a few pages, he puts the papers down and takes another drink. As he gathers his thoughts he poures himself another cup and drinks, barely noticing his heavy eyelids and the feeling of sleep coming over him. Thinking that he is just feeling the day's work catching up with him, he pays it no mind and continues to drink and think and drink in a cycle until he falls into a deep slumber never to wake again.

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Varys, also known as the Spider, is a plump, bald, and effeminate eunuch. He has soft white hands. He powders his face and smells of lavender, lilacs, and rosewater. When he attends court, he likes to wear rich silks, velvet, and damasks and soft slippers. His outward manner in public is obsequious, mysterious, and squeamish giving others the impression of a weak willed man. However, he is a master of disguise and can change his appearance, gait, smell, and costume to become unrecognizable.

As he takes the time to peruse the reports from his little birds, Varys starts to worry. He hasn't heard anything from Illyrio and the man is long overdue for a report. With a sigh he puts down a copy of Petyr Baelish's personal ledger. While he may not use it anytime soon, it's still a useful thing to have in case he needs to turn the crown against the man. While Petyr is a formidable player of the Game, Varys himself is not only better but he is also far more experienced. Secrets are his trade after all, and his skill at acquiring them has earned him a reputation for being seemingly omniscient.

Sighing once more, Varys pours himself a a cup of wine and takes a drink. However, as the cup comes close to his nose he gets a whiff of his wine, his wine that smells far too sweet. He instantly recognizes the smell of sweetsleep, a substance that induces a deep sleep in small doses and can kill in large doses.---Large enough doses of most medicines can be fatal; however, with sweetsleep the fatal dose is still quite small relative to other medicines.--- However, as he puts his cup down, a hand covered in a black glove grips his throat stopping any sound from emerging and forcing his mouth open. Another covered hand takes the cup and forces the poisoned wine down his throat before covering his mouth a forcing him to swallow. The wine tastes deceptively good, evoking a want to drink more even though he knows that it's poisoned.

Knowing that no matter how much he struggles it's to late to save him, he decides to focus on the face of his assassin. He expected the assassin to hide their face, to his surprise however, he is faced with a pair of eerily familiar set of slightly glowing violet eyes. As he recognizes Cersei's new sworn shield, questions fly through his mind, questions that he's unable to ask due to the hand on his throat. Is Cersei involved? If so, why? If not, then what are this man's motives?

As if able to read his mind, Gawain states "You want to know why. You want to know if Cersei has ordered you dead." Hand's still on his throat, the assassin continues to speak "The answer is simple. To Cersei, your death will pave the way for the removal of a little rat. My motives however... well that's for me to know."

By now the poison has already started its work. Varys can feel the lull of eternal sleep pulling him in and promising a very much desired sleep. As he slowly goes Varys can only lament his lack of foresight towards such a dangerous opponent.

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Cersei watches from her seat on her bed as the door to her bedchamber opens and her sworn shield walks in and quietly closes the door. Times like this makes her wonder about his past. He moves far too silently and is far too knowledgeable about assassinations to have truly spent most his life in Sunspear. If she didn't know any better she'd have pegged him for a faceless man. They're the only people known to be as knowledgeable in the art of assassination than Gawain. The knowledge of poison itself can be explained as Oberyn's teachings, the man himself is called the Red Viper for a reason. That however doesn't explain his habit of walking so silently that unless you saw him you'd never know that he was there and his knowledge on how to best assassinate someone. While Oberyn may use poisons to coat his weapons in, the fact of the matter is that he's no assassin.

"Is it done?" questioned Cersei.

Looking at her with his beautiful violet eyes he answers "Eddard and Varys died in their offices due to sweetsleep in their drinks. Varys was later placed in Eddard's office along with his poisoned cup and drink, making it look like they died in the same room at the same time while examining doc.u.ments containing proof of Baelish not only steeling from the crown but also assassinating Jon Arryn with the help of Lysa Arryn. Further proof was placed in the room incriminating Lysa of not only siring a bastard with Baelish but also assassinating her husband when he came close to the truth."

Nodding her head Cersei can't help but ask "What of the book?"

Walking over to her nightstand he pours himself a cup of wine and drinks before replying "I managed to replace it with a forgery before Pycell handed it over to Eddard. I burned the original, so as far as the world is concerned it isn't unusual for the children of a Lannister and Baratheon to possess blond hair and green eyes."

Nodding her head, Cersei lays on her back with a sigh of contentment. Noticing his gaze on her she turns on her side and gives him a mischievous smile while asking "Would you like to join me? There's plenty of room." She watches with mirth in her eyes as he quickly and bashfully averts his eyes. Throughout the three moon turns that they've known each other Cersei has become rather close to her sworn shield. Close enough that she feels that she found herself a true friend. When in private with him, she has no need to play the part of the powerless wife and queen that she plays for the court. She can openly rant and complain to him and he'll listen and sometimes even offer sound advice. Moreover, she finds it interesting that the Moutainslayer that can take on multiple men in battle blushes like a v.i.r.g.i.n when faced with anything too s.e.x.u.a.l. According to him the problem is that all the women he's been with weren't as beautiful as her. Either way, whatever the case may be, the fact of the matter is that she enjoys watching him squirm like a v.i.r.g.i.n.

Finishing his cup, he turns to her and says "I'll be outside if you need me."

Watching him leave, Cersei can't help but once again praise her good judgement in taking him in as her sworn shield.