A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, #2)

by George R.R. Martin

“He’s been taken by the Starks and we’ve lost Riverrun and now her stupid brother is calling himself a king.” The dwarf smiled crookedly. “All sorts of people are calling themselves kings these days.”

“Some say knowledge is power. Some tell us that all power comes from the gods. Others say it derives from law. Yet that day on the steps of Baelor’s Sept, our godly High Septon and the lawful Queen Regent and your ever-so-knowledgeable servant were as powerless as any cobbler or cooper in the crowd. Who truly killed Eddard Stark, do you think? Joffrey, who gave the command? Ser Ilyn Payne, who swung the sword? Or … another?”