The armor is already laid out.

That is how you know the argument is already lost.

Steel rests against the table, polished, precise, waiting. Baelor stands near the window, hands folded behind his back, staring out at the yard where men gather and scatter like pieces being arranged on a board. The air smells of oil and cold iron. Morning has not fully broken, but the castle is awake.

You cross the room quietly. “You do not have to do this.”

He turns then, slowly. There is no surprise on his face. Only patience. He has always been patient with you.

“It will be decided today,” he says. “One way or another.”

“That is not what I mean.” Your voice tightens despite your effort. “Let others fight. Let the Kingsguard. Let men who have nothing to lose.”

Baelor’s mouth curves faintly, not a smile. “That is precisely why I must.”

You step closer. Close enough now to see the exhaustion he does not let the court witness. “Ser Duncan is a knight. I know that. I know you believe he is good. But belief does not make blades gentler.”

“It matters,” Baelor replies. “It must.”

He reaches for his sword, then stops himself, as if aware of what that motion signifies. “A man was accused because he stood between cruelty and those who could not defend themselves. If that is not worth standing beside, then what is knighthood for?”

You shake your head. “Not this. Not you. You are not meant for a trial like this.”

He looks at you then, truly looks. “That is where you are wrong.”

Your hands curl into the fabric of his sleeve. You do not beg with words. You have learned they fail him. Instead, you plead with silence, with proximity, with the shared understanding of everything that could still be.

“I will not watch you die for another man’s honor,” you say quietly.

Baelor covered your hand with his own. Steady. Warm. Familiar. “My dear wife, I would not die—not today, not tomorrow, not ever.” He pressed a kiss to your knuckles, letting your hand rest against his cheek. “Do not trouble yourself. My brother would not harm me, nor would the Kingsguard.”