Sansa also burst into tears, hugging Ed's arm tightly, not wanting her father to kill her lady.
Ed looked at his most beloved son, Bran, and his daughter, Sansa, both crying and sobbing uncontrollably.
"Father, please, don't kill Summer. It's a good boy. Please let it go, just like Arya's Nymeria. Let Summer go, so I don't have to worry about the direwolf biting anyone again—"
Bran screamed hoarsely, raised his face, and pulled on Ed's thigh stubbornly, refusing to accept his father's decision to kill his wolf.
"Father, please let the lady go too. Let them return to the forest. Please don't kill them—" Sansa also clutched Ed's arm, trying to stop her father.
Standing not far away was the royal magistrate supervising the king's orders—Ser Ilyn Payne—with a grim expression, a pockmarked face, no beard, sunken cheeks, and deep-set eyes.
His hardened leather jacket was covered with iron-grey chainmail, and a worn leather hilt was visible over his right shoulder. Because his two-handed greatsword was too long to wear at the waist, he carried it across his back.
Seeing the new Prime Minister hesitating, tangled in the sobbing pleas of his two children, Ser Ilyn coldly urged, "Lord Stark, if you can't do it, I can do it for you—"
Eddard turned his head angrily and glared at Ilyn Payne, the king's swordsman. Gritting his teeth, he said coldly, "You will not use your filthy sword to kill a Stark wolf!"
"Woooo... please, Father, let Summer and Lady go. They're all good children. Please don't kill them... please, Father…" Bran was so overwhelmed with sorrow, he almost passed out.
Sansa wept, her eyes red and her voice hoarse.
Arya had been chased into the room by Ed and wasn't allowed to come out—otherwise, there would surely have been another heartbreaking outcry.
Unable to bear killing Bran and Sansa's beloved direwolves, Ed gritted his teeth and, instead of killing Lady as in the original story, barked an order to Jory Cassel, who stood beside him. "Jory, help me with this.
I'll distract Ilyn Payne for a while. Don't let him leave or shout to alarm anyone until I return!"
"Yes, my lord," said Jory Cassel solemnly. Then, with a few guards, he rushed toward Ilyn Payne.
Seeing the situation take a turn, Ilyn Payne's ugly face twisted with fury. He shouted angrily, "No, Lord Stark! How dare you disobey the king's orders! You—"
"Seize him!" Jory Cassel commanded.
The Stark soldiers pinned Ilyn Payne to the ground before he could even draw his sword. Jory grabbed a rag and gagged his mouth.
Payne struggled on the ground, trying to raise his head. His eyes bulged with fury as he glared at Ed Stark, who was leading people to release the direwolves from their chains and guide them into the distant forest.
Eddard chose to disobey King Robert's order—for Bran and Sansa. Instead of killing the direwolves, he let them go.
Bran and Sansa led Summer and Lady into the forest. Though they were reluctant, the wolves were alive.
On the way back, the exhausted Bran was carried in Ed's arms. Raising his tear-stained face, he asked pitifully, "Father, can Summer and Lady find Nymeria? Can they live in the forest?"
Sansa followed close behind. Hearing her brother's words, she also looked up at her father, nervous and worried.
Ed gazed at the son he loved most, and his cold expression softened. He forced a smile. "Don't worry. Direwolves are apex predators in the North. They'll survive just fine in the wild."
Bran nodded, worn out from crying. He clutched his father's shirt with his small hands and soon fell asleep in his arms.
Looking at the beloved son in his arms, Ed felt no regret for disobeying the king's order and sparing the direwolves.
In fact, Ed Stark silently resolved that if Robert found out and punished him for letting the direwolves go, he'd rather give up the post of Hand of the King and return to the North with his children than go to King's Landing.
When Ed returned, he saw Ilyn Payne still pinned to the ground. He ordered Jory and the others to release him.
Payne stood up furiously, spitting out the gag and glaring at Ed Stark's departing figure, then shot a vengeful look at the soldiers who had restrained him.
The Stark guards jeered at him and laughed mockingly.
Ilyn Payne was seething with rage. But this was Stark territory—surrounded by Stark soldiers—and staying any longer would bring him no advantage.
Consumed with vengeance, he turned and stormed toward the castle in Town, where the king resided.
He was going to report Ed Stark to the king and queen!
Cersei, her face full of concern, had instructed the maester to tend to Joffrey. The king sat nearby, also displeased, drinking sullenly at the table.
When Ilyn Payne arrived, he told them everything—how Ed Stark had defied the king's orders, freed the direwolves, and humiliated him publicly.
"This is outrageous! Absolutely outrageous—!"
After hearing Payne's report, Queen Cersei exploded. Her fair, delicate features twisted into a fierce expression.
She spun around, her blue eyes burning with fury, and screamed at her husband, "Robert! Your son was bitten by a Stark wolf, and now Ed Stark has let the beasts go!"
"If you are still a man—and a father—then have the royal guards arrest the Stark family immediately! Ed Stark defied your command! He must be punished! Then send someone to hunt down and kill those wretched wolves!"
"Jaime—you! Take the Gold Cloaks and bring me Eddard Stark at once. I'll make that northern barbarian understand the cost of defying the king's will!"
Cersei, fuming over her injured son, was already shouting orders before the king could speak.
—
"Enough! You madwoman—shut up already!"
Robert stood up suddenly, hurling his wine cup to the ground. Red wine dripped from his thick beard as he glared at his queen.
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