Would've, Could've, Should've // Ned Stark // Hayley Marshall

12. Resepct

No sooner had those formalities of greeting been completed Robert declared. 

"Take me down to your crypt, Eddard. I would pay my respects."

 Ned loved him for that, for remembering her still after all these years. He called for a lantern. No other words were needed. The queen had begun to protest. They had been riding since dawn, everyone was tired and cold, surely the dead would wait. 

"Come on mum, there is someone I want you to meet."

Hayley looked to Jaime and Cersei as they whispered but Robert put a hand on her back, moving her forward.  

 Robert had looked at her, and Jaime had taken her quietly by the arm, and she had said no more. They went down to the crypt together, Ned and this king he scarcely recognized. The winding stone steps were narrow. Ned went first with the lantern. 

"Find the little beast." Cersei sneered to Jaime when she noticed her younger monster of a brother was not with them. Jaime nodded giving her hand a squeeze before heading off. 

"I was starting to think we would never reach Winterfell," Robert complained as they descended. "In the south, the way they talk about my Seven Kingdoms, a man forgets that your part is as big as the other six combined."

"I trust you enjoyed the journey, Your Grace?" Ned mused and Robert snorted. "And you lady Hayley?" 

"Bogs and forests and fields, and scarcely a decent inn north of the Neck. I've never seen such a vast emptiness. Where are all your people?" Robert questioned. 

 "Likely they were too shy to come out," Ned jested. 

"It was too long." Hayley agreed simply. She could feel the chill coming up the stairs, a cold breath from deep within the earth as they got down farther into the crypts. 

 "Kings are a rare sight in the north." Robert snorted. "More likely they were hiding under the snow. Snow, Ned!" 

"Snow? Is that such a strange thing in the north?" Hayley countered confused. 

"It's summer!" Robert reminded her. 

 "Late summer snows are common enough," Ned remarked glancing to Hayley. "I hope they did not trouble you. They are usually mild."

 "The Others take your mild snows," Robert swore. "What will this place be like in winter? I shudder to think."

"Chicago winters." Hayley murmured. She had been south for a long time but she knew the harsh winters in the states. That was clearly not the same in westeros. 

 "The winters are hard," Ned admitted. "But the Starks will endure. We always have."

 "You need to come south," Robert told him. "You need a taste of summer before it flees. In Highgarden there are fields of golden roses that stretch away as far as the eye can see. The fruits are so ripe they explode in your mouth—melons, peaches, fireplums, you've never tasted such sweetness."

"Fireplums." Hayley repeated. She had have the mind to think they were actually on fire the way this world was working. 

 "Even at Storm's End, with that good wind off the bay, the days are so hot you can barely move. And you ought to see the towns, Ned! Flowers everywhere, the markets bursting with food, the summer wines so cheap and so good that you can get drunk just breathing the air. Everyone is fat and drunk and rich." He laughed and slapped his own stomach a thump.

Ned looked to Hayley as they walked, he always thought the Lady Baratheon was beautiful. Sure he was a teenager with raging hormones and she was married and out of his league but it only took that one look. The first look at her and he had fallen in love on the spot, then she told him his form was off and worked with him and Robert and Stannis in the courtyard for hours.