"From what I've been told, their description matches the Dothraki across the sea, but that shouldn't be possible." Answers the guard.
At his response, Tywin's brow furrowed, but he said nothing.
Cersei, on the other hand, was livid.
"How can this happen in my city?" She shouted.
"Do you understand what this means? If those girls die, we have nothing to put pressure on the North." She screamed.
Tywin raised a hand, silencing her.
His hand reached his chin as he began stroking it, and his expression changed.
"Eddard Stark." He said quietly, almost to himself.
"The daughters taken.... the intruders likely to be Dothraki..." he whispered as his eyes moved to Jaime, who stood watching him.
"What are you thinking?" Jaime asked.
"I'm thinking it's very strange, for a people who are said to fear the sea to suddenly cross it, and even more strange for them to appear in the Red Keep kidnapping the daughters of a lord." Says Tywin.
Tywin turned back to the trembling guard. "Has anyone checked the black cells?"
The question froze everyone in the room.
Cersei blinked.
A thoughtful expression appeared on her face as a woman who was very good at playing the game of thrones; she was, of course, intelligent, and soon the calm expression on her face changed, becoming one of anxiety.
Jaime looked at her and their father and then asked.
"Why would anyone check the black cells?"
"Because, if someone went to such lengths to steal the Stark girls, it wasn't to kill them or for some foolish reason. It was to gain Eddard Stark's gratitude. And that means most likely someone has freed him as well."
The room fell silent.
"No...no, he couldn't be gone." Cersei Stammered.
"Send men." Tywin ordered coldly. "Now."
The guard bolted for the door and soon disappeared.
Tywin turned towards the window, his thoughts straying far.
Baqo and Rahko sprinted through the lower gardens, the cool air thick with the sounds of pursuit. Arrows hissed past them, clattering against stone.
Rahko turned, his arakh flashing as a pair of Gold Cloaks rounded the corner. He was on them before they could raise their shields. One head rolled across the path, and the other man collapsed, screaming as his arm was severed.
They broke from cover, racing down the final path to the outer postern gate. The heavy oak doors loomed ahead, barred with iron. Two guards stood watch, but one glance at the blood-soaked Dothraki charging them sent both men running.
Clearly, they weren't at the level of the gold cloaks that were chasing them.
Baqo threw his shoulder into the gate. The wood groaned and blasted open as the two Dothraki men continued now out of the castle, still running with the two girls.
Back in the Red Keep, Cersei paced furiously. Her robe dragged behind her as the moonlight painted the window red.
The guard from earlier burst into the chamber, falling to one knee.
"Your grace, the black cells are empty."
The words struck like a hammer.
Tywin nodded. "As I thought."
"It seems someone has secured themselves an ally in the form of the North. Soon, word will spread, and our grip on power will loosen even more."
"You have created the perfect situation for an enemy to take advantage, and they have. Once again, you have proven how truly useless you are." Tywin says as he looks at Cersei.
To the insult, the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms said nothing.
'Ned Stark knows the truth of my children; he needs to die before he can spread it.' Cersei thinks to herself.
"If the person who organized this is who i think it is, then it means we have a very big problem, it also means he was in the city at least a few days now, enough time has not passed for word of Eddard Stark imprisonment to spread throughout the seven kingdoms, meaning Aegon Targaryen was here in Kingslanding, and then learned of his supposed Uncle's predicament and rescued him." Tywin thought aloud.
Outside the city's far walls, where the torches of King's Landing faded into the horizon, two figures waited.
Aegon stood motionless, cloak billowing faintly in the breeze. Beside him, Eddard Stark stood, his expression grim but composed.
"Your men," Ned said quietly. "They're taking a long time."
"They'll come," Aegon replied, eyes fixed on the dark horizon.
As if summoned by his words, a sound broke the silence — the distant thunder of hooves.
Moments later, Baqo and Rahko appeared out of the darkness, their horses lathered in sweat, the girls clinging tightly to them.
When they reached a few feet from Aegon, Baqo dismounted and dropped to one knee. "It is done, Khal Aegon. The girls are safe."
Rahko put Arya down, the girl still trembling and afraid, looked around, and spotted a familiar figure. "Father!"
She shouted, her strength seemed to return, as she ran to him before anyone could stop her.
Ned turned just in time to catch her, his face breaking into something rare and unguarded relief. Sansa followed, slower, her eyes red from fear and exhaustion, clearly more shaken up than her sister.
Aegon stepped back, allowing them the moment.
"Are you hurt?" Ned asked, scanning them both quickly.
Arya shook her head. Sansa, trembling, managed a faint "No, Father."
"Good," he murmured.
Then he turned to Aegon, his expression grim once more. "You kept your word."
"I always do," Aegon said simply.
Before Ned could reply, a deep, earth-shaking roar rolled through the night.
The ground trembled beneath their feet as the sky became darker and seemed to turn heavy.
Two enormous shapes descended through the darkness of night, Bahamut and Albion, their wings blotting out the moonlight. Their roars echoed across the plains, a sound that reached all the way back to King's Landing, shaking the wall of the Red Keep and all the buildings in the city.
Sansa gasped, clutching at her father. Arya's eyes went wide, awe and fear battling on her face.
The dragons landed behind Aegon, the wind from their wings flattening the grass.
Albion let out another thunderous roar, his breath curling smoke and flame.
Ned turned his face toward Aegon, the firelight dancing in his grey eyes. "So this is what gives you the confidence to go against the whole world," he said quietly.