A Game of Thrones 4-Book Bundle

am
not
pleased, Ned,” Robert grumbled.
    â€œBy what right do you dare lay hands on my blood?” Cersei demanded. “Who do you think you are?”
    â€œThe Hand of the King,” Ned told her with icy courtesy. “Charged by your own lord husband to keep the king’s peace and enforce the king’s justice.”
    â€œYou
were
the Hand,” Cersei began, “but now—”
    â€œSilence!”
the king roared. “You asked him a question and he answered it.” Cersei subsided, cold with anger, and Robert turned back to Ned. “Keep the king’s peace, you say. Is this how you keep my peace, Ned? Seven men are dead …”
    â€œEight,” the queen corrected. “Tregar died this morning, of the blow Lord Stark gave him.”
    â€œAbductions on the kingsroad and drunken slaughter in my streets,” the king said. “I will not have it, Ned.”
    â€œCatelyn had good reason for taking the Imp—”
    â€œI said, I will
not
have it! To hell with her reasons. You will command her to release the dwarf at once,
and
you will make your peace with Jaime.”
    â€œThree of my men were butchered before my eyes, because Jaime Lannister wished to
chasten
me. Am I to forget that?”
    â€œMy brother was not the cause of this quarrel,” Cersei told the king. “Lord Stark was returning drunk from a brothel. His men attacked Jaime and his guards, even as his wife attacked Tyrion on the kingsroad.”
    â€œYou know me better than that, Robert,” Ned said. “Ask Lord Baelish if you doubt me. He was there.”
    â€œI’ve talked to Littlefinger,” Robert said. “He claims he rode off to bring the gold cloaks before the fighting began, but he admits you were returning from some whorehouse.”
    â€œSome
whorehouse? Damn your eyes, Robert, I went there to have a look at your daughter! Her mother has named her Barra. She looks like that first girl you fathered, when we were boys together in the Vale.” Hewatched the queen as he spoke; her face was a mask, still and pale, betraying nothing.
    Robert flushed. “Barra,” he grumbled. “Is that supposed to please me? Damn the girl. I thought she had more sense.”
    â€œShe cannot be more than fifteen, and a whore, and you thought she had
sense?”
Ned said, incredulous. His leg was beginning to pain him sorely. It was hard to keep his temper. “The fool child is in love with you, Robert.”
    The king glanced at Cersei. “This is no fit subject for the queen’s ears.”
    â€œHer Grace will have no liking for anything I have to say,” Ned replied. “I am told the Kingslayer has fled the city. Give me leave to bring him back to justice.”
    The king swirled the wine in his cup, brooding. He took a swallow. “No,” he said. “I want no more of this. Jaime slew three of your men, and you five of his. Now it ends.”
    â€œIs that your notion of justice?” Ned flared. “If so, I am pleased that I am no longer your Hand.”
    The queen looked to her husband. “If any man had dared speak to a Targaryen as he has spoken to you—”
    â€œDo you take me for Aerys?” Robert interrupted.
    â€œI took you for a
king
. Jaime and Tyrion are your own brothers, by all the laws of marriage and the bonds we share. The Starks have driven off the one and seized the other. This man dishonors you with every breath he takes, and yet you stand there meekly, asking if his leg pains him and would he like some wine.”
    Robert’s face was dark with anger. “How many times must I tell you to hold your tongue, woman?”
    Cersei’s face was a study in contempt. “What a jape the gods have made of us two,” she said. “By all rights, you ought to be in skirts and me in mail.”
    Purple with rage, the king lashed out, a vicious backhand blow to the side of the head. She stumbled against the table and fell hard, yet Cersei Lannister did not cry out. Her slender fingers brushed her cheek, where the pale smooth skin was already reddening. On the morrow the bruise would cover half her face. “I shall wear this as a badge of honor,” she announced.
    â€œWear it in silence, or I’ll honor you again,” Robert vowed. He shouted for a guard. Ser Meryn Trant steppedinto the room, tall and somber in his white armor. “The queen is tired. See her to her