The Undeniable Reality About Outline Research That Nobody Is Sharing With You

The Undeniable Reality About Outline Research That Nobody Is Sharing With You New Questions About Outline Research How to structure the outline is undoubtedly a topic of private opinion. The best way is downloading a research paper outline template to make the outline. A superb outline is easily the most crucial step in writing a great paper. It can be helpful as you're developing your outline additionally to write down a tentative collection of references. The more points you would like to include, the more complicated outline you'll ever have. It is preferable to use whole sentence outline structure, if your paper ought to be formatted in MLA. The general style and tone of your research paper are based on the audience it is directed at. Outline Research Features Whether the principal idea is known as a thesis or hypothesis depends upon the discipline. Observing the introduction the points required to demonstrate the thesis are provided. Firstly, you will need to discover general info to back up your thesis statement, then you'll have to dig deeper. After reading the thesis, there ought to be no doubt precisely what the research will be about. The Appeal of Outline Research For your research paper example to get going, you will have to announce your introduction with few sentences that show what sort of research questions you're going to be asking. Include here the strengths and importance of the paper instead of only the g aps you're attempting to fill in the current scholarly articles. Your attitude to the topic may well decide on the amount of work and enthusiasm that you put into your research. Sooner or later, you will find that the entire research paper examples will allow you to start and get you moving in the proper direction for you to accomplish the most effective possible mark you're able to. Things You Should Know About Outline Research The thesis statement needs to be complete, and the remainder of the paper ought to be in line with it. It's true that you could just begin writing, but even in case you get to the word or page requirement, your paper would probably lack any type of logical flow. The paper should get off to a good beginning regarding clarifying unfamiliar information as not to depart from your readers puzzled. It should be consistent from the beginning to the very end. The Basic Facts of Outline Research Research papers can be quite scary in the beginning, but there' s a secret weapon that could help you overcome a number of that fearThe Outline. Nobody will argue that It's quite challenging to compose an academic paper if there's no structure for it. Maximizing your research outline's purpose is able to help you compose a thorough paper. Research Paper preparation means handling a whole lot of information. Research papers are almost always exciting to read. They are essential for a student who wants to pursue higher level of study. Excellent research papers are all over the internet for one to read. An analytical research paper is a type of college research paper. The papers always take a student to spot a broad region of research associated with the training course. The research paper outline will help to clarify the topic of the research paper, guide the subject matter to remain on course, and helps to begin the writing of the true research paper. Following your research paper outline is completed, it's time to get started writing. Everything is dependent upon the college discipline. Ask any professor or academic and they'll tell you the research paper outline is the most crucial part of the entire process. A good deal of students feel the desire to begin writing immediately, although in the event you speak to any professor out there, they will let you know how a great instance of a research paper is always superseded with a terrific plan. Some students simply don't have sufficient knowledge for a definite job. Bear in mind that the chief goal of the research paper is to clearly show your abilities to work on your own and demonstrate the scope of your knowledge on several topics. In the event you need assistance with research paper outline or some help with academic writing, don't hesitate to use our expert services. Possessing a best outline increases the probability of you presenting a research paper that's well written. Possessing an excellent research paper outline also ensures you don't leave anything out. Whispered Outline Research Secrets In your research paper outline template, don't neglect to include all the keywords that you would love to emphasize inside your introduction. You should begin with the thesis of the paper, and therefore do not begin using subheadings. As a variant, you can make a list of potential outline headings, and then, in the procedure for writing or even at the very last stages, you could pick the most suitable options. There it's possible to learn to construct the structure and its elements.

Marketing Analysis International Marketing - 1098 Words

Ghauri and Cataora, in their book, â€Å"International Marketing†, state that â€Å"the analysis of international Marketing in emerging markets is imperative in today’s business environment.† Indeed, with the saturated markets and low future growth prospect in developed economies such as the US and Western Europe, emerging markets such as China and India are becoming unprecedented attractive for investors for their rapid economic growth and open and stable political landscape. However, before an investor decides to invest in any region of the world, a market research needs to be conducted to present if a market is suitable for an investment. To determine the feasibility, an international marketer needs to research into a country’s economic†¦show more content†¦Analysing a country’s infrastructure helps the marketer to understand if a country has the ability to support the market and economic growth. Generally, there will be no market if the country’s infrastructure is underdeveloped. Furthermore, researching the literacy assists the marketer to determine if a campaign is deliverable. Starting from the analysis of national production. An international marketer needs to know if an emerging market has a strong economic background. If not, then the marketing campaign could be worthless. â€Å"Real GDP is the one indicator that says the most about the health of the economy and the advance release will almost always move markets. It is by far the most followed, discussed and digested indicator out there - useful for economists, analysts, investors and policy makers.† The increase in real GDP means a country is wealthier than before, thus meaning people have more money to spend on goods and services. A rapid growth of GDP is a crucial factor of any emerging market. It enables a country’s citizens to be able to afford products they couldn’t afford in a relative shorter period of time. For example, China, after its independence in 1949, the market has grown from a closed economy without foreign trade to now, the second biggest economy in the world wit h one of the biggest export and import values. Its real GDP per capita has increases from a couple hundred dollars to more than eight thousand dollars in two to three decades. (Exhibit 1).

Planes of Development free essay sample

Learning skills outside of these optimal times is less effective and more difficult for the child. As educators, schools and parents alike, it is critical that we educate in complete harmony with these planes of development. These planes are interlinked. traditional education is based on assumption of linear development which can be explained with the help of following diagram, Maria Montessori compared these four planes with lifecycle of butterfly. . butterflies and moths have a complete life cycle. This means that there are four separate stages just like human being, each of which looks completely different and serves a different purpose in the life of the insect. The egg is a tiny, round, oval, or cylindrical object which turns into The caterpillar (or larva) which is the long, worm-like stage of the butterfly or moth. It is the feeding and growth stage. The third one is the chrysalis (or pupa) which is the transformation stage. The adult (or imago) is colorful butterfly or moth usually seen. It is the reproductive and mobile stage for the species. There is similarity between first and third pane and between second and fourth plane. uring first plane constructive formation of both physic and psychology of infant takes place similarily. fourth plane is also challenging physically and psychologically. during second plane the child has already adapt the environment and already has an attitude of ‘I want to do it myself’ he is more calm just as in fourth plane. these similarities and characteristics of each plane is explained in detailed with the explanation of each plane below. Infancy (0 6 years) This is the Plane of fundamental importance for the formation of the individual. The first plane extends from birth to around six years of age. During this period, Montessori observed that the child undergoes (to bear) striking physical and psychological development. The first plane child is seen as a concrete, sensorial explorer and learner engaged in the developmental work of psychological self-construction and building functional independence. Montessori introduced several concepts to explain this work, including the absorbent mind, sensitive periods, and normalization. The infant is fragile and need vaccines. there legs are short. there torso bulges. their skin and hair are soft . they builds up immune system. By the time of 2 years the child can sit, crowl, walk. His tooth appears. The moments of the child are very reflexive. His usual development takes place. The process of mylienisation of neurons take place because of mylienisation ausification, he ties to control over his arms legs. The infant from 0-3 is identified by Montessori as a Spiritual Embryo, as the infant has, within him/herself potentials, which determine his or her development. There exists within this inert being, a global power, a human creative essence, which drives her or him to form a human being of his or time, civilisation and associated culture. The ewborn child has to perform formative work, which corresponds in the psychological sphere, to the one just done by the embryo in the physical sphere. In this psycho-embryonic period, various powers develop separately and independently of each other i. e. arm and leg movements, sensory movements, language etc. At this stage, there is no unity in the personality. Montessori called the infant from 0-3 the unconscious creat or. here they have an unconscious absorbent mind. This is even called period of acquisition. At the age of three, a new consciousness appears clearly and fully. It is as though the childs life is beginning again, but this time as a conscious creator. it has a conscious absorbent mind here. The child now wants to master his or her environment and exercise his/her will. He is discovering sensorial exploration becomes a concrete thinker. The child wants to know ‘what’. The child is always busy doing something with his/her hands, guided by intelligence. The childs play is really work the child works for his/her own development. All the separate embryonic developments, which occurred from 0-3 years, must in the end, function together and become integrated so as to serve the individual personality. This is what is happening in the period for 3-6, when the hands are working, guided by the mind. When the environment offers motives for constructive activity, all energies concentrate together. With freedom to develop normally, we see the true personality of the child emerge. This is what Montessori called the Normalised child. During, and as a result of the process of normalisation, the child develops character quite spontaneously. Montessori identifies the period from three to six years of age as the embryonic period for the formation of character. Even ego is formed at the end of this stage. The child needs love, warmth, protection at this stage. Order the sense of security is utmost important. The child requires freedom to explore himself, But this freedom is to be given within limits. The child must be provided with an envoirnment full of rich diverse stimuli, purposeful activity experiences in order to help them to learn how to relate to others, to built self esteem self confidence to be exposed to life as it is lived in his culture participate in it to work by himself. Thus it is the adult responsibility to provide positive environment by having consistency in their behavior, giving respect assistancial approach to child. The adult should put forward good values morals should not provide any prejudices. The adult should be guide to child. CHILDHOOD ( 6 – 12 YEARS) This is a calm phase of uniform growth, and the one in which the abstract mind is organised. The childs mental and physical horizons open up; there is no limit to what the child can explore if the opportunities are there and conditions are favourable. During this phase there is a loss of milk teeth the new teeth emerges. The skin hair becomes thicker. The childs eye colour solidifies. The child losses rounded body figure. His arms legs become longer. His body becomes stronger thinner. He is more rough tough adventurous. His immune nervous system improves his head is proportionate. This is a period of sexual latency. For this plane of development, Montessori emphasized an expansive education, a vastness of culture, wider social contacts and the open environment. This child wants to explore the whole question of morality, and can, together with other children, build social groups that are organized with rules to be governed by and work to be done. This is a period of greatest acquisition of knowledge as it is rightly called the period of â€Å"WHY. † The capacity for expansion, abstraction imagination developes. The child is more concern with good/ bad has a strong sense of moral gestures. Reasoning begins in this period. He is less concern for his people has more self awareness. His need for order disappears he begins to be less sweet more rude. Herd instinct is the major characteristics in this phase. The child loves to be in the group. The child always has an â€Å" it’s not fair† attitude. In this phase the child would not like to be corrective. He loves to do more of group activities needs more wider social contacts cultural exposure. He wants his own material which can be manipulated on his own. They need more challenging activities don’t like to lose. The adults responsibility is to provide child with love, respect security. The adult should give child a chance to say his word. Adult should stick to true answers during the WHY questions. Adult should create a positive environment give him lot of exposure to be independent. The adult should acknowledge the child, bond with the child, should open the doors of communication.

Integrated Marketing Plan Essay Example

Integrated Marketing Plan Essay Executive Summary Background Started in 1960 by James and Tom Monaghan as a little pizza shop in Ypsilanti. Michigan. Domino’s Pizza has grown to more than 10. 000 corporate and franchised shops in 70 states. Domino’s Pizza is recognized as the 2nd largest pizza concatenation in the United States after Pizza Hut. and the largest worldwide. 8 Domino’s had planetary retail gross revenues of over $ 7. 4 billion in 2012. comprised of over $ 3. 5 billion in the U. S. and about $ 3. 9 billion internationally. In the 3rd one-fourth of 2013. Domino’s had planetary retail gross revenues of about $ 1. 8 billion. comprised of $ 849 million in the U. S. and $ 935 million internationally. 9 Focus on Technology From April 2011 to April 2012. Domino’s reached an impressive $ 2 Billion in US digital from its apps on platforms such as Kindle Fire. Android. Windows 8 phone. and iPhone – which now cover about 95 % of the U. S. smartphone market. Digital gross revenues. which include Mobile and computing machine telling. now make up 40 % of all Domino’s gross revenues. an addition from 30 % in 2012. We will write a custom essay sample on Integrated Marketing Plan specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Integrated Marketing Plan specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Integrated Marketing Plan specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer 9 Problem Statement Building on the success of Domino’s merchandise rebranding and technological inventions. the company’s end is to implement effectual schemes that will increase its per centum of gross revenues driven through the company’s nomadic apps and on-line web site. Situational Analysis Strengths of the Organization Domino’s Pizza is the 2nd largest pizza concatenation in the United States and the universe leader in pizza bringing. with more than 10. 000 corporate and franchised shops in over 70 states ( Corporate ) . Furthermore. Domino’s Pizza has been the receiver of Pizza Today magazine’s Chain of the Year award three times back to endorse in 2010 and 2011 ( Corporate ) . Over the old ages. Domino’s has launched many industry inventions to maintain them at the top of the ladder. viz. the HeatWave bag. Domino’s Tracker. and the Domino’s Pizza app ( Corporate ) . This company has maintained great name trade name acknowledgment and a strong distribution system ( Corporate ) . Additionally. Domino’s has maintained its position as a socially responsible company by go oning its 10th one-year Thanks A ; Giving Campaign for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital ( Press ) . Failings of the Organization Despite its many strengths. Domino’s Pizza besides has some failings. Domino’s has a history of past injudiciousnesss with some of its employees. In 2009. two Domino’s employees damaged the trade name by drawing a buffoonery that showed them go againsting wellness codification sanitation criterions ( Clifford. 2009 ) . Furthermore in 2010. a North Carolina adult female found a racial slur on her Domino’s reception ( ABC. 2010 ) . Domino’s has long since repaired its public image but now it must be excess careful to keep client trueness. Opportunities in the Environment An chance for Domino’s pizza is societal media exposure. This exposure can bring forth more attending from the mark market as they are the most likely to be represented on societal media web sites. Menaces in the Environment Some menaces for Domino’s Pizza include the fact that some of their merchandises. specifically their sandwiches and sweets. may non look healthy particularly to a health-conscious consumer. As of now. economic reverses such as pay additions have affected Domino’s Pizza because some British employees have been kicking about hapless rewards ( Karphal. 2013 ) . Competitor. and current industry leader Pizza Hut. offers many of the same merchandises as Domino’s. The company must find the most effectual method to put its merchandises above its rivals. Market Analysis The pizza eating house industry is go oning to lift at a rate of about 1. 6 % ( Barrett. 2012 ) . Pizza Hut. Domino’s Pizza. and Papa John’s rank foremost in gross revenues and unit counts among all the different ironss ( Barrett 2012 ) . The pizza industry is a $ 40 billion industry that makes up about 11 per centum of all eating houses in the state ( Franchise. 2013 ) . Ninety-three per centum of Americans eat at least one pizza per month in the state ( Franchise. 2013 ) . The tendency with Americans now is to travel toward take out and fast bringing nutrient options instead than dining out ( Franchise. 2013 ) . Additionally. one of the best benefits of the pizza industry is its customization for consumer penchants and high versatility ( Franchise 2013 ) . The biggest pizza franchises. Pizza Hut. Domino’s. Papa John’s. and Small Caesars lead in the US pizza industry ( Franchise. 2013 ) . However. Pizza Hut leads the battalion with a larger per centums of entire gross revenues ( about 14. 68 % of all U. S. pizza gross revenues ) compared with the remainder ( Barrett. 2012 ) . Year Ending September 2012 ( cite pmq ) Consumer Behavior Analysis Domino’s mark audience is the age group of consumers 18-49 old ages old. both males and females. Harmonizing to the pizza eating house industry. the nucleus pizza consumer is around the ages of 18 to 44 old ages old. with 75 per centum to 77 per centum of this age group being a pizza eating house consumer ( Barrett. 2012 ) . Of this age. about half ( 47 % ) of people consider an online telling option of import when it comes to doing determinations about purchasing pizza ( Barrett. 2012 ) . Furthermore. among this percentile are the consumers aged 25-34 ( 57 % ) and those with three or more kids ( 55 % ; Barrett. 2012 ) . Fortunately for Domino’s. its accent on new engineering has helped to force the debut of Domino’s telling apps for iPhone. Android phones. Windows 8. and the Kindle Fire. which now cover about 95 per centum of the US smartphone market ( Corporate ) . Rival Analysis Domino’s three chief rivals are Pizza Hut. Papa John’s. and Small Caesars. In fact. its biggest competition presently is Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut presently leads the industry with approximately 15 % of the market and its shops account for 11 % of all pizza shops in the US ( Barrett. 2012 ) . Likewise. Pizza Hut’s merchandise offerings do non differ well from Domino’s. It besides offers its merchandise at really competitory monetary values. Papa Johns and Little Caesars’ merchandise offering differ somewhat from Domino’s in the sense that they do non offer pastas or sandwiches like Domino’s. Small Caesars is the lone pizza eating house that does non offer the bringing option. Furthermore. even in societal media ranking. viz. Facebook. Twitter. YouTube. and Instagram. Pizza Hut leads in each class. Information from each of the 4 most popular American pizza trade names in regard to their popularity shows the followers: As demonstrated in the chart above. Pizza Hut leads the battalion with 10. 9 million likes. Domino’s takes 2nd topographic point with about 8. 8 million likes. Papa John’s is 3rd with about 2. 6 million likes. while Small Caesars is 4th with 1. 6 million likes. An article entitled Top American Pizza Brands in societal media illustrates more in item the different pizza trade names and how consumers view each their several Facebook pages. With regard with the other societal media web sites. Instagram and YouTube. here are the consequences: As you can see here. Pizza Hut once more leads in this societal media class with 3. 213 YouTube endorsers and 19. 753 Instagram followings. Domino’s trails behind Pizza Hut with merely 3. 179 endorsers and 5. 695 followings. Papa Johns was non accessible on these sites so they do non hold any representation in the above chart. Last. with Twitter. here are the consequences: Pizza Hut boasts 650. 300 followings ; Domino’s has 428. 049 followings ; Papa John’s has 169. 296 followings ; and Small Caesars has 25. 209 followings. It is of import to analyse the findings of each of these pizza company’s societal media rankings because the mark age group are continuously on these sites to happen information about each trade name before they make a determination. Harmonizing to Andrew Merrill. he states that 70 % of all consumers research online before doing purchases or taking service suppliers while 30 % of consumers make buying determinations based on branding runs ( Merrill. 2013 ) . It is of import to guarantee that Domino’s has a important presence online as it has globally. Target Audience Domino’s mark audience is males and females ages 18-49 skewed somewhat female with a focal point on female parents and caputs of family responsible for doing the dinner determination for their household. Merchandise Analysis Domino’s Pizza was long recognized for its inferior gustatory sensation and quality. In a 2010 interview with Gayle King of The Gayle King Show on Oprah Radio. CEO. Patrick Doyle. acknowledged the lower status of Domino’s gustatory sensation and quality. Since that clip. Domino’s Pizza has made a consorted attempt to travel the trade name and image into a more favourably light. Offering many of the same merchandises as its rivals – pizza. bread-sticks. lily-livered wings. Domino’s Pizza must go on to happen new. advanced ways to put itself apart from rivals and drive more consumers back to the Domino’s trade name. Selling Political campaign Our originative Domino’s run is comprised of three parts. which will cross the months of October to December 2014. Harmonizing to the Domino’s web site. its busiest yearss of service. apart from Superbowl Sunday. autumn on Halloween. Thanksgiving Eve. and New Year’s Eve/ Day ( Corporate ) . With this in head. we will carry on a series of mini runs within the larger one in order to accomplish a greater consciousness of the easiness and benefit of telling online. The three parts of the run are as follows: 1 ) addition online advertizements about the app engineering through Facebook and YouTube ; 2 ) make a national pizza game with the primary end being to drive gross revenues through the app ; 3 ) bring forth a planetary competition in which interested contestants must make a short YouTube commercial demoing the benefits of telling with the app engineering. The first portion of our run will assist to do the public aware of the benefits of telling online. whether on the computing machine or with a phone/iPad/Kindle app. Harmonizing to a YouTube article. in the US. online picture ads when combined with telecasting ads create a 35 % rise in trade name callback. a 53 % addition in message callback and a 31 % rise in likeability over telecasting entirely ( YouTube. 2012 ) . Therefore. we will increase advertizements on all the societal media websites more. viz. Facebook and YouTube because they require some cost. Facebook ads require $ 350 for three months of advertisement. Facebook allows the user to aim the specific audience based on age. sex. interests/hobbies. linguistic communication. etc. YouTube ads. on the other manus. will be ads placed in the picture. These ads are known as in-video sheathing ads ( Kim. 2012 ) . These ads play before or during the picture and viewing audiences have the option to jump the ad ( with no cost to the proprietor ) or to watch the advertizement ( with cost to the proprietor ) . The cost of these ads are anyplace from $ 0. 10 to $ 0. 30 each. We expect the first portion of this run to run for all the three months. The 2nd portion of our run will affect the creative activity of an app game within the bing Domino’s app. This game. which will run from October 30th -November 30th. will let participants the ability to win a free pizza if they win the game. The regulations of the game are that three times a hebdomad ( Monday. Wednesday. and Friday ) . consumers will hold to think the right pizza toppings in the right measure. crust. and size selected by a different Domino’s executive or employee. If the consumer chooses the right type of pizza. they will win that pizza for the twenty-four hours or have the option to alter the toppings merely. In the event that there is more than one victor for the twenty-four hours. each of their names will be placed in a raffle and merely one name will be selected for the free pizza award. Lone participants who have the Domino’s app will be able to play this game. The 3rd portion of our run involves a planetary competition that will affect all the different planetary Domino’s pizza eating houses. In this portion. interested participants will be given the ability to plan a originative commercial utilizing the Domino’s app to order a pizza. The picture must be 2-5 proceedingss in length and the participants must wish Domino’s Facebook page. follow its Twitter and Instagram page. and subscribe to its YouTube page in order to take part. They must twirp their picture to Domino’s chief Twitter page. This competit ion will be unfastened for the first two hebdomads in December. After that clip. each picture will be assessed harmonizing to creativeness. length. and content. The victor will be announced in the 3rd hebdomad of December. The victor of the planetary competition will win the ultimate award of holding Domino’s cater to their following party or event. This will travel manus in manus with two of the biggest yearss in Domino’s busiest merchandising yearss. Domino’s will supply its pizza. sides. drinks. and desserts to the victor. The figure of pizzas will be limited to 10 boxes. with the choice of each type of sides and sweets. and 10 2-liter drinks. Marketing Aim: Domino’s Pizza aim for the 2013 selling run is to increase nomadic app gross revenues by 7 % . This will be achieved through commercial advertizement and societal media interaction which will do the client aware that no affair the consumers’ location. they are able to order tiffin or dinner in less than a minute. Another aim is to increase the measure of loyal clients by 5 % . In 2009. Dominos received a package of feedback from their clients that the pizza was non reliable or fresh and tasted disgusting. The most common ailment was that the pizza crust gustatory sensation like cardboard ( Fera 2013 ) . This aim could easy be achieved chiefly through commercial advertizement or particular offers from local shops. Marketing Schemes: Domino’s Pizza will utilize tradition and untraditional media to pull new and old clients promoting them to seek our new and improved merchandises. For the convenience of the client we encourage them to order Dominos merchandises chiefly through their web site and nomadic app. In order to increase gross revenues we need to sharply publicize through the company’s web site. societal media and telecasting commercials. A. Our scheme to market our nomadic app is to foremost do it known to the clients that we developed an app on any smartphone device for free. By doing clients cognizant of this nomadic app. it could increase Dominos merchandise gross revenues. The company needs to introduce a originative commercial demoing how easy it is to download and use their nomadic app. Once Dominos experience comfy that they reached plenty of their mark clients. the company can so offer hot trades for the client if they order pizza and other merchandises through the nomadic app merely. Even if the client prefers to order on Dominos web site. the nomadic app allows the client to maintain path of when the order should hit the front door of their house no affair where they are located. The quicker a client can order tiffin or dinner. the faster the order is delivered to the client. The Dominos nomadic app is built for that peculiar client who is ever on the spell and needs to put a speedy order with the ability to look into the procedure of the located order anyplace. B. In order for Dominos to increase the measure of loyal clients by 5 % . they need to sharply explicate to consumer that they have redeveloped and revamped their merchandises to the satisfaction of their clients wants for quality pizza. This could be expressed though commercial advertizement and societal media. Commercial advertizement will show to the clients that Dominos listened to the feedback of old clients and have presently re-innovated their pizza merchandise to consumers’ satisfaction. But the disengagement of their refurbished merchandise is that most of their old client are incognizant of their alterations which led them to other pizza companies. With that said. local Domino shops should offer a pizza launch for households in the vicinity to seek one of their favourite 1-topping medium size pizza. This allows the client to savor the quality of Dominos refurbished pizza merchandises. Building trade name trueness and altering the customers’ position of their merchandises is really of import to increasing gross revenues. Dominos web site. World Wide Web. pizzaturnaround. com. is a great manner for possible or old clients to reexamine how much Dominos redeveloped their pizza merchandise fundamentally from abrasion ( Bodnar 2010 ) . Many people were misguided by what other clients said old ages ago doing future client disheartenment from telling Domino’s Pizza. C. As for our media nonsubjective. we strategize that we can hold a countrywide competition wh ich will let consumers to do a commercial on how they eat their pizza. Unique picture will hold the opportunity to be selected and run on Domino’s profile page. This can be implemented through YouTube. Vine. and Instagram. Social media is an of import tool for Dominos to offer hot trades without the client traveling to the company’s web site. They can easy look into current events and voucher trade that Dominos promote on a day-to-day footing. Customers the utilize societal media could promote fellow followings on their web to buy Domino’s Pizza merchandises in order to see the same great gustatory sensation that they enjoy. Evaluation The media selling program proposed will be effectual because consumer tendencies are being followed and aggressive advertizement are being carefully placed in the media aiming immature grownups and households often. To find whether or non our media program will work. each scheme must be implemented carefully and efficaciously to guarantee that Dominos aims are met. As we continue to implement our selling and media scheme. we will analyse the customers’ interaction with the Dominos web site and nomadic app. This analysis will find the overall public presentation of our media program exposing if we need to revamp our program or go on with the program at manus. Implementing this media program will assist guarantee Domino’s Pizza that they will stay the leader in pizza bringing while increasing gross revenues. Budget Domino’s Pizza creative run based on fast bringing with the usage of the Dominos web site and nomadic app. The run budget of $ 250. 000 includes advertizement outgos on: hoarding. theodolite. eventuality fund. societal media. promotional points and hunt engine optimisation. Billboard advertizement will dwell of 8 % of the budget because it seems more logic to concentrate on other advertizement tools even though hoardings are great in certain countries. As for Maryland. exposing your concern on a hoarding is non the most effectual advertizement tool since people have problem sing the hoarding while driving. The sum for this medium is $ 20. 000. For theodolite advertizement we consider this tool to be 12 % of the budget coming up $ 30. 000. Many working female parent and immature grownups continuously take public transit. This will be a great manner for Dominos to distribute their trade name name throughout the state. Social media is the most of import portion of the budget at 3 2 % because it is the most convenient for communicating between Dominos and the populace. This portion of the budget will be $ 80. 000. Every program needs a backup program merely in instance the initial scheme doesn’t execute the ends we need in order to successfully implement our media program. The eventuality fund for our Dominos media run will be 14 % at $ 35. 000. Search engine optimisation is besides a great manner for Dominos to spread out their trade name name when people are seeking other subjects on the net. This medium would be deserving 18 % of the budget at the sum of $ 45. 000. And last but non least the promotional point of the budget will be $ 40. 000 for 16 % of the budget. This concludes the budget for our media run. Plants Cited 1. Bodnar. Kipp. ( 2010 ) . B2B Social Media Lessons from Domino’s Pizza Turnaround Campaign . Retrieved November 28. 2013 from hypertext transfer protocol: //socialmediab2b. com/2010/01/dominos-pizza-turnaround-campaign/ 2. Alfs. Lizzy. ( 2013 ) . What’s following for domino’s Pizza? CEO Patrick Doyle outlines some ends. Retrieved November 26. 2013 from hypertext transfer protocol: //www. annarbor. com/business-review/whats-next-for-dominos-pizza-ceo-patrick-doyle-outlines-some-goals/ . 3. Domino’s Pizza Inc. ( 2013 ) . Retrieved December 11. 2013 from hypertext transfer protocol: //topics. nytimes. com/top/news/business/companies/dominos-pizza-inc/index. hypertext markup language. 4. Inside Domino’s. ( 2013 ) . Retrieved November 26. 2013

Why do Acquisitions Fail Essays

Why do Acquisitions Fail Essays Why do Acquisitions Fail Essay Why do Acquisitions Fail Essay Name: Course: Instructor: Date: Why do Acquisitions Fail? Merger can be described as the integration of two or more companies to form a single but larger company. The success of the merger depends on the ability of the new company depends on numerous factors which cannot be attained without the necessary cooperation between the merged entities. Control leads to conflicts in the merger because one company views itself as bigger than the other does. Among the reasons for failure among the mergers can be attributed to the presence of condescending attitudes among the merged entities. Some feel superior due to their market capitalization of asset base hence prompting them to look down on their junior entities (Straub, 34). Such attitudes have negative psychological effects because the merged companies feel inferior to the larger companies thus affecting the level of productivity of the smaller entities in the merger. The reasons for the mergers determine the success of the mergers. Some entities fear becoming irrelevant and losing their market shares to larger entities. Fear of losing out in the market due to competitiveness drives companies to seek refuge in the umbrella of a merger. A merger promises an entity continued existence within the respective market. The larger entities on the other hand view merging as a means of becoming larger in the market. The failure of mergers can be attributed to the increase in the responsibili ties of the entity, managerial duties increase exponentially and the new organization becomes too large to mange effectively (Very, 48). As organizations form mergers, they enforce bureaucratic systems for management to ensure that all entities which have formed the new company are able to have their needs met. The new company is formed under bureaucratic systems ensure that all the interests the entities are taken care of and no single entity has personalized needs and gains to be met (Levinson, 27). As the organization ages, the bureaucratic systems are not changed hence the company is unable to stay relevant in a rapidly changing market. Obsolescence can be described as the reasons for failure in some mergers because the formed bigger entity fails to overcome its bureaucratic systems to attain growth and relevance in a market. Vested interest among the entities which form the merger can be described as among the reasons as to the failure of mergers. Control in the new merger is usually a source of conflict and disagreements as the existing entities fight for control to establish their ideals and interests provided by control over the entities. The need for control can be attributed to arrogance among the entities because either the companies do not want to be viewed as juniors of another company or they do not want to lose their control (Christensen et al, 29) Reluctance to change is also another factor, which contributes to the failure of mergers because some of the companies within the merger do not want to relinquish their traditional ways of doing things. Traditional conduct of business among the entities can be attributed to a sense of comfort as the entities seek to maintain their respective market relevance. Such creates vested interest among the entities, which still want to maintain their stature in the market. In addition, the need for a single company to maintain control over other companies has devastating effects on the business model because they are able to assert the authority to satisfy their won egos by considering themselves as in control (Badrtalei, Bates, 41). Manipulation of personnel is described as another major factor, which affects the success of a merger. The need for the larger company to manipulate workers to achieve selfish interest has negative effects because the employees lack self-drive and motivation. Hence, it becomes a norm for the larger entity to assert control by manipulating the employees to achieve its objectives; this leads to failure, which become the norm for the company until it crumbles for many reasons such as cost overruns and wrong decision-making. This is because decisions are not made out of respect to the existing agreements but are made out of individual thought due to pride to fulfill individual needs and satisfy egos. Work cited Badrtalei, Jeff Bates, Donald, L.â€Å"Effect Of Organizational Cultures On Mergers And Acquisitions: The Case of Daimler Chrysler†. International Journal of Management. June 2007: Vol 24(2). Print. Christensen, Clayton M, Alton, Richrad, Rising, Curtis Waldeck, Andrew.† The Big Idea: The New Merger and Acquisition Playbook† Harvard Business Review. 2011. Print. Levinson, Harry. â€Å"A Psychologist Diagnoses Merger Failures† Harvard Business Review, 2000. Print. Straub, Thomas. Reasons for Frequent Failure in Mergers and Acquisitions: A Comprehensive Analysis. Wiesbaden: Deutscher Universita?ts-Verlag, 2007. Print. Ve?ry, Philippe. The Management of Mergers and Acquisitions. Chichester: John Wiley Sons, 2004. Print.

Apostrophe with Plural Possessive Nouns

Apostrophe with Plural Possessive Nouns Apostrophe with Plural Possessive Nouns Apostrophe with Plural Possessive Nouns By Maeve Maddox Most English speakers know that the usual way to make a noun plural is to add -s to the singular: boy/boys, knight/knights, house/houses. They are also aware that the plural of few nouns, like child and ox, is formed with the quaint ending -en: children, oxen. The modern convention of forming a noun plural by adding -s was not a foregone conclusion. Old English formed noun plurals with five or six endings, depending upon which declension the noun belonged to and how the noun was used in the sentence. By the Early Middle English period (1100-1300), most of the OE inflectional endings had dropped away, but the plural ending -en was still in the running with -s and -es: for a time, at least in southern England, it would have been difficult to predict that the s would become the almost universal sign of the plural that it has become. Until the 13th century in the south the -en plural enjoyed great favor, being often added to nouns which had not belonged to the weak declension in Old English. –Alfred Baugh, A History of the English Language p. 191. We’ve seen how the apostrophe was added as the mark of the singular possessive because of a mistaken notion that a letter was missing before the -s. Once the ’s became established as the possessive ending of a singular noun, it was inevitable that the apostrophe would also be used in the formation of plural possessives. Although many writers misuse the apostrophe in the plural possessive, the rule is quite simple, in both American and British usage: If the plural ends with -s, add an apostrophe: the boys’ kites, the knights’ chargers, General Motors’ mission statement. If the plural doesn’t end with -s, add ’s: the children’s teacher, the oxen’s yoke. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Yours faithfully or Yours sincerely?The Six Spellings of "Long E"3 Types of Essays Are Models for Professional Writing Forms

Islam and West African Indigenous Religion Essay

Islam and West African Indigenous Religion - Essay Example Whether the local populations engaged in animism, polytheism, or other cultural heritage-derived beliefs, once Africa was directly invaded by the Turks and subsequently opened up by European traders, the Islamic religion became prevalent. The scope of this paper is to focus on the advent of the Islamic faith within the region and explain some of the factors that contributed to it. These factors can be generalized within three broad areas; geographical, historical, and behavioral. Through the combination of these causes, Islam became prolific and replaced much of the ancient indigenous practices. Africa is a diverse continent where the geography includes almost every possible landmass variation. From desert, tropical forests, mountains, and the plains of the savannah, the influence of the geography itself impacted how and when Islam spread. As Parrinder points out in his article, the expansion of non-native populations tended to take a vertical shape, almost assuredly due to the use o f the coastlines as entry points for foreign traders, but the land itself is stratified horizontally between the major geographical components. "These two ways of viewing the country help to explain the progress of Islam; for it came into the interior plateaus first and long remained almost stationary there, cut off from the coastal regions by the impenetrable forest" (Parrinder 131). It wasn't until the European traders established a transportation infrastructure of roads and railways that Islam began to make inroads from the interior of the country into the coastal regions. Once that was accomplished, however, Islam was able to spread from the central portions of the continent to the outer edges, including West Africa. This specifically points to the first of three historical aspects of the spread of Islam. Historical Factors While it might be inferred that Islam was initially carried into Africa by the Turkish invaders who used the Mediterranean Sea as a conduit for expansion, the fact is that the spread of Islam owes its initial developments to commerce. As Trimingham notes, "Islam was first introduced into West Africa by traders. Their activities in purveying Islam along with their goods have continued ever since" (28). It is intuitive that religion spreads with commerce. As native people interact with merchants, there is a blending of ideas and philosophies that naturally takes place. Given the aggressive proselytization practices of Islam, there is no great mystery as to why the native Africans would convert. Their assimilation into Islamic beliefs was also fostered by the historical imperialism of the religion. By its very structure, Islam is a faith that blends political and economic activities with religious practice. Once the belief system becomes sufficiently popular, it begins to enforce its tenets through more than simple missionary means. The statement that "Islam in power is secularized theocracy and this always leads to forms of religious imperialism" (Trimingham 28) is as true today as it was in the eleventh century. Once entrenched in tribal governance, the more aggressive forms of an imperialistic recruitment would emerge. These practices included everything from forced conversions to the refusal to allow commerce between individuals of the faith and apostates. In many parts of Africa, conversion to Islam was not a voluntary activity, but a political and economic necessity. The next historical fact, that of western development, would simply provide the means for expansion of the imperialistic

How has sept. 11th effected the economy in the united states Essay

How has sept. 11th effected the economy in the united states - Essay Example It is hardly possible to meet the person who is unaware about the events of September 11. Thousands of people became victims of the biggest terrorist attack in the history of United States. The single day has changed the life of Americans, their perception of security and human dignity. The attack was well planned and confidently carried out, it was impossible to foresee this tragedy. Or was it? Four years have passed since that time but the world is still talking about it. One of the major outcomes of September 11 has become the closer examination of visitors to United States. The concept of racial profiling has become an inevitable part of national security. Nevertheless, is it reasonable to label the whole Arabian world as potentially dangerous because of the action of several individuals? When the American nation has managed to overcome the terror, the cardinal actions had to take place. Among the first initiatives was to use racial profiling in screening out the potentially dangerous immigrants and visitors to the country. Of course, the Arabs have become number one suspects and were closely examined. Was this targeted screening justified or was only the way to hide discriminatory attitude towards Arabian nation? Most likely, American government was not ready for attack of such level and racial profiling was the only effective way to prevent further attack. However, some of the actions are hard to explain and understand. For example, prior to September 11 Americans have rejected racial profiling, but since that day the public opinion has reversed. More than 1000 Arabs and Arab Americans (those who were born and lived all their lives in United States) were detained even though not a single of them has been charged with any formal offense (Davis, N., 2001). Students were kindly invited to visit their Arabian families in native countries with the hope that they will never return to United

Curriculum Alignment Essay Example for Free

Curriculum Alignment Essay Curriculum development process are steps and processes where by educational contents are designed, learning activities are specified and evaluation methods are devised in schools. Pugach, M. C. (1996). These are broken down into various subjects that are taught in schools in different classes (grades). In line with this; students’ needs in learning are catered for and should be kept with international standards. The curriculum should be able to promote the learning development and assess the students’ performances. We all are aware that there is no particular effective teaching method but the following instructional methods for a teacher should be used. The teacher’s presentation skills, should explain to the students what is expected of them. In teaching, the teacher should not show distracting manners. The teacher should take instructional levels are into account. In creating a lesson plan for a class the teacher should provide an overview of the lesson, link the lesson to the past session and outline the main points of the lesson this can form an introduction of the lesson. The body of the lesson should be broken into various activities and the lesson should have a conclusion which should state the main points of the lesson and create a link to the next lesson. For example a lesson in problem solving can be taught in grade 3. The lesson outline will ask the student; to name and explain problems that occur in the classroom, in the school or in the family, explain how one makes a choice and accept responsibility and enumerate factors that one considers before making a decision. Also in development a curriculum, the teacher needs to consider the development level of students. Development relates to behavior, which means; the conduct of a student and how he/she relates to others in the social circles. In considering developmental level such as those of children in Kindergarten the curriculum will have to address and include social and emotional lessons in accordance with the child’s developmental level. Therefore, in designing the curriculum questions will be asked in relation on how the child relates internally and externally. There are many ways was that a kindergarten child can be taught pertaining development. For example, a Kindergarten class can have a lesson on drawing of pictures or the teacher can ask them to articulate themselves using dolls/ and puppets. This lesson will teach them creativity. In development of curriculum, special attention has to be taken in regard to special needs of students. Students with disabilities such as those with impaired eyesight need special attention. As opposed to traditional methods where segregating and arranging students based on their abilities was used, today, new ways have come up. In tackling the problem of visual impairments, according to Armstrong (1994), the teacher will be required to develop multi-level and have different instructional ways of teaching such students. For example to teach the visual impaired students, the teacher will have to design charts with specific colors, objects, and shapes to test the perception of the student. The teacher should also test the ability of the student to differentiate 26 alphabetical by teaching the visual impaired skills to identify visual elements of letters. This will be able to benefit the visual impaired. We find that schools are normally structured according to grade levels, and teachers teach using same materials without regard of students’ differences in terms of their levels of understanding and functioning. Cole, R. (1995). Thus, instead of developing a curriculum that is narrow and don’t address this issue, a curriculum which is all inclusive putting in mind students’ differences in terms of learning abilities should be developed. So, an effective curriculum should address these issues; it should ensure a teacher plans lessons for several levels, which test students’ ability at the each level. For 5th grade that have both accomplished and emerging readers, the curriculum should address the reading aspect in regard to various abilities in reading. When preparing a reading lesson in a class with various students a teacher should pay special attention on extensive experiences of the students. The teacher also should select various levels of difficulty in the selected reading lesson to cater for the different students’ ability. The lesson should provide slots for students to read a loud and the teacher should also read to students. The instructions methods of the teacher should also explain vocabularies used in the text and any other techniques used. For example, to assist the students understand what they have read the teacher can encourage them to have a group discussion. Another example of a lesson that can be taught in 5th grade, the teacher can teach use of prefixes e. g. , â€Å"Re† as used in â€Å"reproduce, review rename. † The lesson will can also include language competence in general, student’s ability to differentiate between which words are verbs and which are not, and how to segment and mix language sounds. I n addition informal lessons will be included. This will involve, reading aloud in class to allow the teacher to know mistakes in decoding, and be able to establish the student’s level of fluency and accuracy in reading. The main aim of any curriculum development is to ensure that, the student is able to achieve academic excellence Daniels, H (1998). This will enable the teacher to asses the student’s performance in major areas which are mathematics, reading abilities, and writing skills. Though, standardized tests may not reflect a true picture of the standards it gives a general picture of student performance. In assessing students’ ability in mathematics, which is a study of figures and how they relate and other computations, student’s capacity in arithmetic, and application have to be tested. So the curriculum should be able to asses the learner’s ability analyzing student’s class work, and teach the student on how to sum numbers and subtract them, and how a student can be able to tell an error in summation or subtraction. Further more, the students can be given tasks to perform and shown steps to follow in problem solving. Conclusion Curriculum development and design is very important as what the students is taught at school greatly affects him/her in his future career development. Therefore it must be careful planned and must have a holistic approach in order to address the various disparities of students in terms of physical, emotional and mental abilities. A curriculum needs to reflect the objectives of education and have proper assessments methods to evaluate the students understanding and development as he/she moves from one grade to another. References Armstrong, T. (1994): Multiple intelligences in the classroom. Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Cole, R. (Ed. ). (1995): Educating everybody’s children: Diverse teaching strategies for diverse learners. Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Daniels, H. and Bizar, M. (1998): Methods that matter: Six structures for best practice classrooms. York, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers. Orkwis, R. and McLane, K. (1998): A curriculum every student can use: Design principles for student access. Reston, Virginia: Council for Exceptional Children. Pugach, M. C. and Warger, C. L. (Eds. ) (1996): Curriculum trends, special education, and reform: Refocusing the conversation. New York: Teachers College Press. Tomlinson, C. (1999): The differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners. Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Chaucers Canterbury Tales - Anti-Feminist Beliefs in Millers Tale and

Anti-Feminist Beliefs in The Miller's Tale and The Wife of Bath's Tale    The Miller's Tale and The Wife of Bath's Tale feature two characters that, though they may appear to be different, are actually very similar. They both seem to confirm the anti-feminine beliefs that existed at the time Chaucer wrote his Canterbury Tales. However, they go about it in different ways. Alison, the woman in The Miller's Tale, tries to hide the fact that she has a passion for men other than her husband, and keep her position as an upstanding citizen intact. The Wife of Bath, meanwhile, has no qualms about displaying herself as she really is. She is not ashamed of the fact she has married five times, and is about to marry again. She hides nothing. While Alison differs from the Wife of Bath in appearance and the way she conducts herself in public, inside they are more alike than Alison would probably care to admit. At the beginning of The Miller's Tale, there is a rather lengthy description of Alison's appearance. She looks beautiful from the outside, true, but throughout the description, Chaucer drops little hints that things are not always what they seem. At the very beginning of his description, he compares her body to that of a weasel's ["Fair was this younge wif, and therwithal As any wesele hir body gent and smal." (Miller 103)], and, since a weasel is not one of the more favorable animals to be compared with, he immediately, albeit subtlely, implies that Alison is not as decent as she would have people believe. Chaucer continues in his ostensibly favorable description of Alison, but concludes the paragraph by implying that Alison would have little qualms about sleeping with a man other than her husband ["She was a primerole, a pigge... ...Miller's Tale, it is uncertain whether the Wife of Bath would applaud the fact that Alison got herself out of a jam, or would chide Alison for hiding her true colors. What is certain, though, is that Alison and the Wife of Bath are really two very similar characters. They just have different ways of expressing their similarity.    Works Cited and Consulted Chaucer, Geoffrey. "The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale," The Riverside Chaucer. Gen. Ed. Larry D. Benson. Third Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987. 105-22. Evans, Joan. The Flowing Middle Ages. New York: McGraw Hill Book Company, 1966. Hallida, I.E. Chaucer and His World. New York: Viking Press, 1968. Fuller, Maurice. Chaucer and His England. Williamstown: Corner House Publishers, 1976. Williams, David. The Canterbury Tales, A Literary Pilgrimage. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1987.

A Game of Thrones Chapter Thirty

Eddard I stood last vigil for him myself,† Ser Barristan Selmy said as they looked down at the body in the back of the cart. â€Å"He had no one else. A mother in the Vale, I am told.† In the pale dawn light, the young knight looked as though he were sleeping. He had not been handsome, but death had smoothed his rough-hewn features and the silent sisters had dressed him in his best velvet tunic, with a high collar to cover the ruin the lance had made of his throat. Eddard Stark looked at his face, and wondered if it had been for his sake that the boy had died. Slain by a Lannister bannerman before Ned could speak to him; could that be mere happenstance? He supposed he would never know. â€Å"Hugh was Jon Arryn's squire for four years,† Selmy went on. â€Å"The king knighted him before he rode north, in Jon's memory. The lad wanted it desperately, yet I fear he was not ready.† Ned had slept badly last night and he felt tired beyond his years. â€Å"None of us is ever ready,† he said. â€Å"For knighthood?† â€Å"For death.† Gently Ned covered the boy with his cloak, a bloodstained bit of blue bordered in crescent moons. When his mother asked why her son was dead, he reflected bitterly, they would tell her he had fought to honor the King's Hand, Eddard Stark. â€Å"This was needless. War should not be a game.† Ned turned to the woman beside the cart, shrouded in grey, face hidden but for her eyes. The silent sisters prepared men for the grave, and it was ill fortune to look on the face of death. â€Å"Send his armor home to the Vale. The mother will want to have it.† â€Å"It is worth a fair piece of silver,† Ser Barristan said. â€Å"The boy had it forged special for the tourney. Plain work, but good. I do not know if he had finished paying the smith.† â€Å"He paid yesterday, my lord, and he paid dearly,† Ned replied. And to the silent sister he said, â€Å"Send the mother the armor. I will deal with this smith.† She bowed her head. Afterward Ser Barristan walked with Ned to the king's pavilion. The camp was beginning to stir. Fat sausages sizzled and spit over firepits, spicing the air with the scents of garlic and pepper. Young squires hurried about on errands as their masters woke, yawning and stretching, to meet the day. A serving man with a goose under his arm bent his knee when he caught sight of them. â€Å"M'lords,† he muttered as the goose honked and pecked at his fingers. The shields displayed outside each tent heralded its occupant: the silver eagle of Seagard, Bryce Caron's field of nightingales, a cluster of grapes for the Redwynes, brindled boar, red ox, burning tree, white ram, triple spiral, purple unicorn, dancing maiden, blackadder, twin towers, horned owl, and last the pure white blazons of the Kingsguard, shining like the dawn. â€Å"The king means to fight in the melee today,† Ser Barristan said as they were passing Ser Meryn's shield, its paint sullied by a deep gash where Loras Tyrell's lance had scarred the wood as he drove him from his saddle. â€Å"Yes,† Ned said grimly. Jory had woken him last night to bring him that news. Small wonder he had slept so badly. Ser Barristan's look was troubled. â€Å"They say night's beauties fade at dawn, and the children of wine are oft disowned in the morning light.† â€Å"They say so,† Ned agreed, â€Å"but not of Robert.† Other men might reconsider words spoken in drunken bravado, but Robert Baratheon would remember and, remembering, would never back down. The king's pavilion was close by the water, and the morning mists off the river had wreathed it in wisps of grey. It was all of golden silk, the largest and grandest structure in the camp. Outside the entrance, Robert's warhammer was displayed beside an immense iron shield blazoned with the crowned stag of House Baratheon. Ned had hoped to discover the king still abed in a wine-soaked sleep, but luck was not with him. They found Robert drinking beer from a polished horn and roaring his displeasure at two young squires who were trying to buckle him into his armor. â€Å"Your Grace,† one was saying, almost in tears, â€Å"it's made too small, it won't go.† He fumbled, and the gorget he was trying to fit around Robert's thick neck tumbled to the ground. â€Å"Seven hells!† Robert swore. â€Å"Do I have to do it myself? Piss on the both of you. Pick it up. Don't just stand there gaping, Lancel, pick it up!† The lad jumped, and the king noticed his company. â€Å"Look at these oafs, Ned. My wife insisted I take these two to squire for me, and they're worse than useless. Can't even put a man's armor on him properly. Squires, they say. I say they're swineherds dressed up in silk.† Ned only needed a glance to understand the difficulty. â€Å"The boys are not at fault,† he told the king. â€Å"You're too fat for your armor, Robert.† Robert Baratheon took a long swallow of beer, tossed the empty horn onto his sleeping furs, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and said darkly, â€Å"Fat? Fat, is it? Is that how you speak to your king?† He let go his laughter, sudden as a storm. â€Å"Ah, damn you, Ned, why are you always right?† The squires smiled nervously until the king turned on them. â€Å"You. Yes, both of you. You heard the Hand. The king is too fat for his armor. Go find Ser Aron Santagar. Tell him I need the breastplate stretcher. Now! What are you waiting for?† The boys tripped over each other in their haste to be quit of the tent. Robert managed to keep a stern face until they were gone. Then he dropped back into a chair, shaking with laughter. Ser Barristan Selmy chuckled with him. Even Eddard Stark managed a smile. Always, though, the graver thoughts crept in. He could not help taking note of the two squires: handsome boys, fair and well made. One was Sansa's age, with long golden curls; the other perhaps fifteen, sandy-haired, with a wisp of a mustache and the emerald-green eyes of the queen. â€Å"Ah, I wish I could be there to see Santagar's face,† Robert said. â€Å"I hope he'll have the wit to send them to someone else. We ought to keep them running all day!† â€Å"Those boys,† Ned asked him. â€Å"Lannisters?† Robert nodded, wiping tears from his eyes. â€Å"Cousins. Sons of Lord Tywin's brother. One of the dead ones. Or perhaps the live one, now that I come to think on it. I don't recall. My wife comes from a very large family, Ned.† A very ambitious family, Ned thought. He had nothing against the squires, but it troubled him to see Robert surrounded by the queen's kin, waking and sleeping. The Lannister appetite for offices and honors seemed to know no bounds. â€Å"The talk is you and the queen had angry words last night.† The mirth curdled on Robert's face. â€Å"The woman tried to forbid me to fight in the melee. She's sulking in the castle now, damn her. Your sister would never have shamed me like that.† â€Å"You never knew Lyanna as I did, Robert,† Ned told him. â€Å"You saw her beauty, but not the iron underneath. She would have told you that you have no business in the melee.† â€Å"You too?† The king frowned. â€Å"You are a sour man, Stark. Too long in the north, all the juices have frozen inside you. Well, mine are still running.† He slapped his chest to prove it. â€Å"You are the king,† Ned reminded him. â€Å"I sit on the damn iron seat when I must. Does that mean I don't have the same hungers as other men? A bit of wine now and again, a girl squealing in bed, the feel of a horse between my legs? Seven hells, Ned, I want to hit someone.† Ser Barristan Selmy spoke up. â€Å"Your Grace,† he said, â€Å"it is not seemly that the king should ride into the melee. It would not be a fair contest. Who would dare strike you?† Robert seemed honestly taken aback. â€Å"Why, all of them, damn it. If they can. And the last man left standing . . . â€Å" † . . . will be you,† Ned finished. He saw at once that Selmy had hit the mark. The dangers of the melee were only a savor to Robert, but this touched on his pride. â€Å"Ser Barristan is right. There's not a man in the Seven Kingdoms who would dare risk your displeasure by hurting you.† The king rose to his feet, his face flushed. â€Å"Are you telling me those prancing cravens will let me win?† â€Å"For a certainty,† Ned said, and Ser Barristan Selmy bowed his head in silent accord. For a moment Robert was so angry he could not speak. He strode across the tent, whirled, strode back, his face dark and angry. He snatched up his breastplate from the ground and threw it at Barristan Selmy in a wordless fury. Selmy dodged. â€Å"Get out,† the king said then, coldly. â€Å"Get out before I kill you.† Ser Barristan left quickly. Ned was about to follow when the king called out again. â€Å"Not you, Ned.† Ned turned back. Robert took up his horn again, filled it with beer from a barrel in the corner, and thrust it at Ned. â€Å"Drink,† he said brusquely. â€Å"I've no thirst—† â€Å"Drink. Your king commands it.† Ned took the horn and drank. The beer was black and thick, so strong it stung the eyes. Robert sat down again. â€Å"Damn you, Ned Stark. You and Jon Arryn, I loved you both. What have you done to me? You were the one should have been king, you or Jon.† â€Å"You had the better claim, Your Grace.† â€Å"I told you to drink, not to argue. You made me king, you could at least have the courtesy to listen when I talk, damn you. Look at me, Ned. Look at what kinging has done to me. Gods, too fat for my armor, how did it ever come to this?† â€Å"Robert . . . â€Å" â€Å"Drink and stay quiet, the king is talking. I swear to you, I was never so alive as when I was winning this throne, or so dead as now that I've won it. And Cersei . . . I have Jon Arryn to thank for her. I had no wish to marry after Lyanna was taken from me, but Jon said the realm needed an heir. Cersei Lannister would be a good match, he told me, she would bind Lord Tywin to me should Viserys Targaryen ever try to win back his father's throne.† The king shook his head. â€Å"I loved that old man, I swear it, but now I think he was a bigger fool than Moon Boy. Oh, Cersei is lovely to look at, truly, but cold . . . the way she guards her cunt, you'd think she had all the gold of Casterly Rock between her legs. Here, give me that beer if you won't drink it.† He took the horn, upended it, belched, wiped his mouth. â€Å"I am sorry for your girl, Ned. Truly. About the wolf, I mean. My son was lying, I'd stake my soul on it. My son . . . you love your children, don't y ou?† â€Å"With all my heart,† Ned said. â€Å"Let me tell you a secret, Ned. More than once, I have dreamed of giving up the crown. Take ship for the Free Cities with my horse and my hammer, spend my time warring and whoring, that's what I was made for. The sellsword king, how the singers would love me. You know what stops me? The thought of Joffrey on the throne, with Cersei standing behind him whispering in his ear. My son. How could I have made a son like that, Ned?† â€Å"He's only a boy,† Ned said awkwardly. He had small liking for Prince Joffrey, but he could hear the pain in Robert's voice. â€Å"Have you forgotten how wild you were at his age?† â€Å"It would not trouble me if the boy was wild, Ned. You don't know him as I do.† He sighed and shook his head. â€Å"Ah, perhaps you are right. Jon despaired of me often enough, yet I grew into a good king.† Robert looked at Ned and scowled at his silence. â€Å"You might speak up and agree now, you know.† â€Å"Your Grace . . . † Ned began, carefully. Robert slapped Ned on the back. â€Å"Ah, say that I'm a better king than Aerys and be done with it. You never could lie for love nor honor, Ned Stark. I'm still young, and now that you're here with me, things will be different. We'll make this a reign to sing of, and damn the Lannisters to seven hells. I smell bacon. Who do you think our champion will be today? Have you seen Mace Tyrell's boy? The Knight of Flowers, they call him. Now there's a son any man would be proud to own to. Last tourney, he dumped the Kingslayer on his golden rump, you ought to have seen the look on Cersei's face. I laughed till my sides hurt. Renly says he has this sister, a maid of fourteen, lovely as a dawn . . . â€Å" They broke their fast on black bread and boiled goose eggs and fish fried up with onions and bacon, at a trestle table by the river's edge. The king's melancholy melted away with the morning mist, and before long Robert was eating an orange and waxing fond about a morning at the Eyrie when they had been boys. † . . . had given Jon a barrel of oranges, remember? Only the things had gone rotten, so I flung mine across the table and hit Dacks right in the nose. You remember, Redfort's pock-faced squire? He tossed one back at me, and before Jon could so much as fart, there were oranges flying across the High Hall in every direction.† He laughed uproariously, and even Ned smiled, remembering. This was the boy he had grown up with, he thought; this was the Robert Baratheon he'd known and loved. If he could prove that the Lannisters were behind the attack on Bran, prove that they had murdered Jon Arryn, this man would listen. Then Cersei would fall, and the Kingslayer with her, and if Lord Tywin dared to rouse the west, Robert would smash him as he had smashed Rhaegar Targaryen on the Trident. He could see it all so clearly. That breakfast tasted better than anything Eddard Stark had eaten in a long time, and afterward his smiles came easier and more often, until it was time for the tournament to resume. Ned walked with the king to the jousting field. He had promised to watch the final tilts with Sansa; Septa Mordane was ill today, and his daughter was determined not to miss the end of the jousting. As he saw Robert to his place, he noted that Cersei Lannister had chosen not to appear; the place beside the king was empty. That too gave Ned cause to hope. He shouldered his way to where his daughter was seated and found her as the horns blew for the day's first joust. Sansa was so engrossed she scarcely seemed to notice his arrival. Sandor Clegane was the first rider to appear. He wore an olive- green cloak over his soot-grey armor. That, and his hound's-head helm, were his only concession to ornament. â€Å"A hundred golden dragons on the Kingslayer,† Littlefinger announced loudly as Jaime Lannister entered the lists, riding an elegant blood bay destrier. The horse wore a blanket of gilded ringmail, and Jaime glittered from head to heel. Even his lance was fashioned from the golden wood of the Summer Isles. â€Å"Done,† Lord Renly shouted back. â€Å"The Hound has a hungry look about him this morning.† â€Å"Even hungry dogs know better than to bite the hand that feeds them,† Littlefinger called dryly. Sandor Clegane dropped his visor with an audible clang and took up his position. Ser Jaime tossed a kiss to some woman in the commons, gently lowered his visor, and rode to the end of the lists. Both men couched their lances. Ned Stark would have loved nothing so well as to see them both lose, but Sansa was watching it all moist-eyed and eager. The hastily erected gallery trembled as the horses broke into a gallop. The Hound leaned forward as he rode, his lance rock steady, but Jaime shifted his seat deftly in the instant before impact. Clegane's point was turned harmlessly against the golden shield with the lion blazon, while his own hit square. Wood shattered, and the Hound reeled, fighting to keep his seat. Sansa gasped. A ragged cheer went up from the commons. â€Å"I wonder how I ought spend your money,† Littlefinger called down to Lord Renly. The Hound just managed to stay in his saddle. He jerked his mount around hard and rode back to the lists for the second pass. Jaime Lannister tossed down his broken lance and snatched up a fresh one, jesting with his squire. The Hound spurred forward at a hard gallop. Lannister rode to meet him. This time, when Jaime shifted his seat, Sandor Clegane shifted with him. Both lances exploded, and by the time the splinters had settled, a riderless blood bay was trotting off in search of grass while Ser Jaime Lannister rolled in the dirt, golden and dented. Sansa said, â€Å"I knew the Hound would win.† Littlefinger overheard. â€Å"If you know who's going to win the second match, speak up now before Lord Renly plucks me clean,† he called to her. Ned smiled. â€Å"A pity the Imp is not here with us,† Lord Renly said. â€Å"I should have won twice as much.† Jaime Lannister was back on his feet, but his ornate lion helmet had been twisted around and dented in his fall, and now he could not get it off. The commons were hooting and pointing, the lords and ladies were trying to stifle their chuckles, and failing, and over it all Ned could hear King Robert laughing, louder than anyone. Finally they had to lead the Lion of Lannister off to a blacksmith, blind and stumbling. By then Ser Gregor Clegane was in position at the head of the lists. He was huge, the biggest man that Eddard Stark had ever seen. Robert Baratheon and his brothers were all big men, as was the Hound, and back at Winterfell there was a simpleminded stableboy named Hodor who dwarfed them all, but the knight they called the Mountain That Rides would have towered over Hodor. He was well over seven feet tall, closer to eight, with massive shoulders and arms thick as the trunks of small trees. His destrier seemed a pony in between his armored legs, and the lance he carried looked as small as a broom handle. Unlike his brother, Ser Gregor did not live at court. He was a solitary man who seldom left his own lands, but for wars and tourneys. He had been with Lord Tywin when King's Landing fell, a new-made knight of seventeen years, even then distinguished by his size and his implacable ferocity. Some said it had been Gregor who'd dashed the skull of the infant prince Aegon Targaryen against a wall, and whispered that afterward he had raped the mother, the Dornish princess Elia, before putting her to the sword. These things were not said in Gregor's hearing. Ned Stark could not recall ever speaking to the man, though Gregor had ridden with them during Balon Greyjoy's rebellion, one knight among thousands. He watched him with disquiet. Ned seldom put much stock in gossip, but the things said of Ser Gregor were more than ominous. He was soon to be married for the third time, and one heard dark whisperings about the deaths of his first two wives. It was said that his keep was a grim place where servants disappeared unaccountably and even the dogs were afraid to enter the hall. And there had been a sister who had died young under queer circumstances, and the fire that had disfigured his brother, and the hunting accident that had killed their father. Gregor had inherited the keep, the gold, and the family estates. His younger brother Sandor had left the same day to take service with the Lannisters as a sworn sword, and it was said that he had never returned, not even to visit. When the Knight of Flowers made his entrance, a murmur ran through the crowd, and he heard Sansa's fervent whisper, â€Å"Oh, he's so beautiful.† Ser Loras Tyrell was slender as a reed, dressed in a suit of fabulous silver armor polished to a blinding sheen and filigreed with twining black vines and tiny blue forget-me-nots. The commons realized in the same instant as Ned that the blue of the flowers came from sapphires; a gasp went up from a thousand throats. Across the boy's shoulders his cloak hung heavy. It was woven of forget-me-nots, real ones, hundreds of fresh blooms sewn to a heavy woolen cape. His courser was as slim as her rider, a beautiful grey mare, built for speed. Ser Gregor's huge stallion trumpeted as he caught her scent. The boy from Highgarden did something with his legs, and his horse pranced sideways, nimble as a dancer. Sansa clutched at his arm. â€Å"Father, don't let Ser Gregor hurt him,† she said. Ned saw she was wearing the rose that Ser Loras had given her yesterday. Jory had told him about that as well. â€Å"These are tourney lances,† he told his daughter. â€Å"They make them to splinter on impact, so no one is hurt.† Yet he remembered the dead boy in the cart with his cloak of crescent moons, and the words were raw in his throat. Ser Gregor was having trouble controlling his horse. The stallion was screaming and pawing the ground, shaking his head. The Mountain kicked at the animal savagely with an armored boot. The horse reared and almost threw him. The Knight of Flowers saluted the king, rode to the far end of the list, and couched his lance, ready. Ser Gregor brought his animal to the line, fighting with the reins. And suddenly it began. The Mountain's stallion broke in a hard gallop, plunging forward wildly, while the mare charged as smooth as a flow of silk. Ser Gregor wrenched his shield into position, juggled with his lance, and all the while fought to hold his unruly mount on a straight line, and suddenly Loras Tyrell was on him, placing the point of his lance just there, and in an eye blink the Mountain was failing. He was so huge that he took his horse down with him in a tangle of steel and flesh. Ned heard applause, cheers, whistles, shocked gasps, excited muttering, and over it all the rasping, raucous laughter of the Hound. The Knight of Flowers reined up at the end of the lists. His lance was not even broken. His sapphires winked in the sun as he raised his visor, smiling. The commons went mad for him. In the middle of the field, Ser Gregor Clegane disentangled himself and came boiling to his feet. He wrenched off his helm and slammed it down onto the ground. His face was dark with fury and his hair fell down into his eyes. â€Å"My sword,† he shouted to his squire, and the boy ran it out to him. By then his stallion was back on its feet as well. Gregor Clegane killed the horse with a single blow of such ferocity that it half severed the animal's neck. Cheers turned to shrieks in a heartbeat. The stallion went to its knees, screaming as it died. By then Gregor was striding down the lists toward Ser Loras Tyrell, his bloody sword clutched in his fist. â€Å"Stop him!† Ned shouted, but his words were lost in the roar. Everyone else was yelling as well, and Sansa was crying. It all happened so fast. The Knight of Flowers was shouting for his own sword as Ser Gregor knocked his squire aside and made a grab for the reins of his horse. The mare scented blood and reared. Loras Tyrell kept his seat, but barely. Ser Gregor swung his sword, a savage two-handed blow that took the boy in the chest and knocked him from the saddle. The courser dashed away in panic as Ser Loras lay stunned in the dirt. But as Gregor lifted his sword for the killing blow, a rasping voice warned, â€Å"Leave him be,† and a steel-clad hand wrenched him away from the boy. The Mountain pivoted in wordless fury, swinging his longsword in a killing arc with all his massive strength behind it, but the Hound caught the blow and turned it, and for what seemed an eternity the two brothers stood hammering at each other as a dazed Loras Tyrell was helped to safety. Thrice Ned saw Ser Gregor aim savage blows at the hound's-head helmet, yet not once did Sandor send a cut at his brother's unprotected face. It was the king's voice that put an end to it . . . the king's voice and twenty swords. Jon Arryn had told them that a commander needs a good battlefield voice, and Robert had proved the truth of that on the Trident. He used that voice now. â€Å"STOP THIS MADNESS,† he boomed, â€Å"IN THE NAME OF YOUR KING!† The Hound went to one knee. Ser Gregor's blow cut air, and at last he came to his senses. He dropped his sword and glared at Robert, surrounded by his Kingsguard and a dozen other knights and guardsmen. Wordlessly, he turned and strode off, shoving past Barristan Selmy. â€Å"Let him go,† Robert said, and as quickly as that, it was over. â€Å"Is the Hound the champion now?† Sansa asked Ned. â€Å"No,† he told her. â€Å"There will be one final joust, between the Hound and the Knight of Flowers.† But Sansa had the right of it after all. A few moments later Ser Loras Tyrell walked back onto the field in a simple linen doublet and said to Sandor Clegane, â€Å"I owe you my life. The day is yours, ser.† â€Å"I am no ser,† the Hound replied, but he took the victory, and the champion's purse, and, for perhaps the first time in his life, the love of the commons. They cheered him as he left the lists to return to his pavilion. As Ned walked with Sansa to the archery field, Littlefinger and Lord Renly and some of the others fell in with them. â€Å"Tyrell had to know the mare was in heat,† Littlefinger was saying. â€Å"I swear the boy planned the whole thing. Gregor has always favored huge, ill-tempered stallions with more spirit than sense.† The notion seemed to amuse him. It did not amuse Ser Barristan Selmy. â€Å"There is small honor in tricks,† the old man said stiffly. â€Å"Small honor and twenty thousand golds.† Lord Renly smiled. That afternoon a boy named Anguy, an unheralded commoner from the Dornish Marches, won the archery competition, outshooting Ser Balon Swann and Jalabhar Xho at a hundred paces after all the other bowmen had been eliminated at the shorter distances. Ned sent Alyn to seek him out and offer him a position with the Hand's guard, but the boy was flush with wine and victory and riches undreamed of, and he refused. The melee went on for three hours. Near forty men took part, freeriders and hedge knights and new-made squires in search of a reputation. They fought with blunted weapons in a chaos of mud and blood, small troops fighting together and then turning on each other as alliances formed and fractured, until only one man was left standing. The victor was the red priest, Thoros of Myr, a madman who shaved his head and fought with a flaming sword. He had won melees before; the fire sword frightened the mounts of the other riders, and nothing frightened Thoros. The final tally was three broken limbs, a shattered collarbone, a dozen smashed fingers, two horses that had to be put down, and more cuts, sprains, and bruises than anyone cared to count. Ned was desperately pleased that Robert had not taken part. That night at the feast, Eddard Stark was more hopeful than he had been in a great while. Robert was in high good humor, the Lannisters were nowhere to be seen, and even his daughters were behaving. Jory brought Arya down to join them, and Sansa spoke to her sister pleasantly. â€Å"The tournament was magnificent,† she sighed. â€Å"You should have come. How was your dancing?† â€Å"I'm sore all over,† Arya reported happily, proudly displaying a huge purple bruise on her leg. â€Å"You must be a terrible dancer,† Sansa said doubtfully. Later, while Sansa was off listening to a troupe of singers perform the complex round of interwoven ballads called the â€Å"Dance of the Dragons,† Ned inspected the bruise himself. â€Å"I hope Forel is not being too hard on you,† he said. Arya stood on one leg. She was getting much better at that of late. â€Å"Syrio says that every hurt is a lesson, and every lesson makes you better.† Ned frowned. The man Syrio Forel had come with an excellent reputation, and his flamboyant Braavosi style was well suited to Arya's slender blade, yet still . . . a few days ago, she had been wandering around with a swatch of black silk tied over her eyes. Syrio was teaching her to see with her ears and her nose and her skin, she told him. Before that, he had her doing spins and back flips. â€Å"Arya, are you certain you want to persist in this?† She nodded. â€Å"Tomorrow we're going to catch cats.† â€Å"Cats.† Ned sighed. â€Å"Perhaps it was a mistake to hire this Braavosi. If you like, I will ask Jory to take over your lessons. Or I might have a quiet word with Ser Barristan. He was the finest sword in the Seven Kingdoms in his youth.† â€Å"I don't want them,† Arya said. â€Å"I want Syrio.† Ned ran his fingers through his hair. Any decent master-at-arms could give Arya the rudiments of slash-and-parry without this nonsense of blindfolds, cartwheels, and hopping about on one leg, but he knew his youngest daughter well enough to know there was no arguing with that stubborn jut of jaw. â€Å"As you wish,† he said. Surely she would grow tired of this soon. â€Å"Try to be careful.† â€Å"I will,† she promised solemnly as she hopped smoothly from her right leg to her left. Much later, after he had taken the girls back through the city and seen them both safe in bed, Sansa with her dreams and Arya with her bruises, Ned ascended to his own chambers atop the Tower of the Hand. The day had been warm and the room was close and stuffy. Ned went to the window and unfastened the heavy shutters to let in the cool night air. Across the Great Yard, he noticed the flickering glow of candlelight from Littlefinger's windows. The hour was well past midnight. Down by the river, the revels were only now beginning to dwindle and die. He took out the dagger and studied it. Littlefinger's blade, won by Tyrion Lannister in a tourney wager, sent to slay Bran in his sleep. Why? Why would the dwarf want Bran dead? Why would anyone want Bran dead? The dagger, Bran's fall, all of it was linked somehow to the murder of Jon Arryn, he could feel it in his gut, but the truth of Jon's death remained as clouded to him as when he had started. Lord Stannis had not returned to King's Landing for the tourney. Lysa Arryn held her silence behind the high walls of the Eyrie. The squire was dead, and Jory was still searching the whorehouses. What did he have but Robert's bastard? That the armorer's sullen apprentice was the king's son, Ned had no doubt. The Baratheon look was stamped on his face, in his jaw, his eyes, that black hair. Renly was too young to have fathered a boy of that age, Stannis too cold and proud in his honor. Gendry had to be Robert's. Yet knowing all that, what had he learned? The king had other baseborn children scattered throughout the Seven Kingdoms. He had openly acknowledged one of his bastards, a boy of Bran's age whose mother was highborn. The lad was being fostered by Lord Renly's castellan at Storm's End. Ned remembered Robert's first child as well, a daughter born in the Vale when Robert was scarcely more than a boy himself. A sweet little girl; the young lord of Storm's End had doted on her. He used to make daily visits to play with the babe, long after he had lost interest in the mother. Ned was often dragged along for company, whether he willed it or not. The girl would be seventeen or eighteen now, he realized; older than Robert had been when he fathered her. A strange thought. Cersei could not have been pleased by her lord husband's by-blows, yet in the end it mattered little whether the king had one bastard or a hundred. Law and custom gave the baseborn few rights. Gendry, the girl in the Vale, the boy at Storm's End, none of them could threaten Robert's trueborn children . . . His musings were ended by a soft rap on his door. â€Å"A man to see you, my lord,† Harwin called. â€Å"He will not give his name.† â€Å"Send him in,† Ned said, wondering. The visitor was a stout man in cracked, mud-caked boots and a heavy brown robe of the coarsest roughspun, his features hidden by a cowl, his hands drawn up into voluminous sleeves. â€Å"Who are you?† Ned asked. â€Å"A friend,† the cowled man said in a strange, low voice. â€Å"We must speak alone, Lord Stark.† Curiosity was stronger than caution. â€Å"Harwin, leave us,† he commanded. Not until they were alone behind closed doors did his visitor draw back his cowl. â€Å"Lord Varys?† Ned said in astonishment. â€Å"Lord Stark,† Varys said politely, seating himself. â€Å"I wonder if I might trouble you for a drink?† Ned filled two cups with summerwine and handed one to Varys. â€Å"I might have passed within a foot of you and never recognized you,† he said, incredulous. He had never seen the eunuch dress in anything but silk and velvet and the richest damasks, and this man smelled of sweat instead of lilacs. â€Å"That was my dearest hope,† Varys said. â€Å"It would not do if certain people learned that we had spoken in private. The queen watches you closely. This wine is very choice. Thank you.† â€Å"How did you get past my other guards?† Ned asked. Porther and Cayn had been posted outside the tower, and Alyn on the stairs. â€Å"The Red Keep has ways known only to ghosts and spiders.† Varys smiled apologetically. â€Å"I will not keep you long, my lord. There are things you must know. You are the King's Hand, and the king is a fool.† The eunuch's cloying tones were gone; now his voice was thin and sharp as a whip. â€Å"Your friend, I know, yet a fool nonetheless . . . and doomed, unless you save him. Today was a near thing. They had hoped to kill him during the melee.† For a moment Ned was speechless with shock. â€Å"Who?† Varys sipped his wine. â€Å"If I truly need to tell you that, you are a bigger fool than Robert and I am on the wrong side.† â€Å"The Lannisters,† Ned said. â€Å"The queen . . . no, I will not believe that, not even of Cersei. She asked him not to fight!† â€Å"She forbade him to fight, in front of his brother, his knights, and half the court. Tell me truly, do you know any surer way to force King Robert into the melee? I ask you.† Ned had a sick feeling in his gut. The eunuch had hit upon a truth; tell Robert Baratheon he could not, should not, or must not do a thing, and it was as good as done. â€Å"Even if he'd fought, who would have dared to strike the king?† Varys shrugged. â€Å"There were forty riders in the melee. The Lannisters have many friends. Amidst all that chaos, with horses screaming and bones breaking and Thoros of Myr waving that absurd firesword of his, who could name it murder if some chance blow felled His Grace?† He went to the flagon and refilled his cup. â€Å"After the deed was done, the slayer would be beside himself with grief. I can almost hear him weeping. So sad. Yet no doubt the gracious and compassionate widow would take pity, lift the poor unfortunate to his feet, and bless him with a gentle kiss of forgiveness. Good King Joffrey would have no choice but to pardon him.† The eunuch stroked his cheek. â€Å"Or perhaps Cersei would let Ser Ilyn strike off his head. Less risk for the Lannisters that way, though quite an unpleasant surprise for their little friend.† Ned felt his anger rise. â€Å"You knew of this plot, and yet you did nothing.† â€Å"I command whisperers, not warriors.† â€Å"You might have come to me earlier.† â€Å"Oh, yes, I confess it. And you would have rushed straight to the king, yes? And when Robert heard of his peril, what would he have done? I wonder.† Ned considered that. â€Å"He would have damned them all, and fought anyway, to show he did not fear them.† Varys spread his hands. â€Å"I will make another confession, Lord Eddard. I was curious to see what you would do. Why not come to me? you ask, and I must answer, Why, because I did not trust you, my lord.† â€Å"You did not trust me?† Ned was frankly astonished. â€Å"The Red Keep shelters two sorts of people, Lord Eddard,† Varys said. â€Å"Those who are loyal to the realm, and those who are loyal only to themselves. Until this morning, I could not say which you might be . . . so I waited to see . . . and now I know, for a certainty.† He smiled a plump tight little smile, and for a moment his private face and public mask were one. â€Å"I begin to comprehend why the queen fears you so much. Oh, yes I do.† â€Å"You are the one she ought to fear,† Ned said. â€Å"No. I am what I am. The king makes use of me, but it shames him. A most puissant warrior is our Robert, and such a manly man has little love for sneaks and spies and eunuchs. If a day should come when Cersei whispers, ‘Kill that man,' Ilyn Payne will snick my head off in a twinkling, and who will mourn poor Varys then? North or south, they sing no songs for spiders.† He reached out and touched Ned with a soft hand. â€Å"But you, Lord Stark . . . I think . . . no, I know . . . he would not kill you, not even for his queen, and there may lie our salvation.† It was all too much. For a moment Eddard Stark wanted nothing so much as to return to Winterfell, to the clean simplicity of the north, where the enemies were winter and the wildlings beyond the Wall. â€Å"Surely Robert has other loyal friends,† he protested. â€Å"His brothers, his—† â€Å"—wife?† Varys finished, with a smile that cut. â€Å"His brothers hate the Lannisters, true enough, but hating the queen and loving the king are not quite the same thing, are they? Ser Barristan loves his honor, Grand Maester Pycelle loves his office, and Littlefinger loves Littlefinger.† â€Å"The Kingsguard—† â€Å"A paper shield,† the eunuch said. â€Å"Try not to look so shocked, Lord Stark. Jaime Lannister is himself a Sworn Brother of the White Swords, and we all know what his oath is worth. The days when men like Ryam Redwyne and Prince Aemon the Dragonknight wore the white cloak are gone to dust and song. Of these seven, only Ser Barristan Selmy is made of the true steel, and Selmy is old. Ser Boros and Ser Meryn are the queen's creatures to the bone, and I have deep suspicions of the others. No, my lord, when the swords come out in earnest, you will be the only true friend Robert Baratheon will have.† â€Å"Robert must be told,† Ned said. â€Å"If what you say is true, if even a part of it is true, the king must hear it for himself.† â€Å"And what proof shall we lay before him? My words against theirs? My little birds against the queen and the Kingslayer, against his brothers and his council, against the Wardens of East and West, against all the might of Casterly Rock? Pray, send for Ser Ilyn directly, it will save us all some time. I know where that road ends.† â€Å"Yet if what you say is true, they will only bide their time and make another attempt.† â€Å"Indeed they will,† said Varys, â€Å"and sooner rather than later, I do fear. You are making them most anxious, Lord Eddard. But my little birds will be listening, and together we may be able to forestall them, you and I.† He rose and pulled up his cowl so his face was hidden once more. â€Å"Thank you for the wine. We will speak again. When you see me next at council, be certain to treat me with your accustomed contempt. You should not find it difficult.† He was at the door when Ned called, â€Å"Varys.† The eunuch turned back. â€Å"How did Jon Arryn die?† â€Å"I wondered when you would get around to that.† â€Å"Tell me.† â€Å"The tears of Lys, they call it. A rare and costly thing, clear and sweet as water, and it leaves no trace. I begged Lord Arryn to use a taster, in this very room I begged him, but he would not hear of it. Only one who was less than a man would even think of such a thing, he told me.† Ned had to know the rest. â€Å"Who gave him the poison?† â€Å"Some dear sweet friend who often shared meat and mead with him, no doubt. Oh, but which one? There were many such. Lord Arryn was a kindly, trusting man.† The eunuch sighed. â€Å"There was one boy. All he was, he owed Jon Arryn, but when the widow fled to the Eyrie with her household, he stayed in King's Landing and prospered. It always gladdens my heart to see the young rise in the world.† The whip was in his voice again, every word a stroke. â€Å"He must have cut a gallant figure in the tourney, him in his bright new armor, with those crescent moons on his cloak. A pity he died so untimely, before you could talk to him . . . â€Å" Ned felt half-poisoned himself. â€Å"The squire,† he said. â€Å"Ser Hugh.† Wheels within wheels within wheels. Ned's head was pounding. â€Å"Why? Why now? Jon Arryn had been Hand for fourteen years. What was he doing that they had to kill him?† â€Å"Asking questions,† Varys said, slipping out the door.