It was that point in the day when dinner was done and all three kids were tucked into their beds in rooms down the hall, presumably asleep, and they just looked at each other and said "Are you ready?" before collapsing into their white sofa on the third of three floors in their mostly white rental apartment overlooking the ocean. Jared Kushner picked up the remote and turned on the television. He and his wife were rewatching the first season of Game of Thrones. There was time to do things like this now that they were settled into their new life in Florida.
This was the exact moment they'd fantasized about when they decided to leave "the jackals" (as the couple refers to DC's native species). Peace. Quiet. HBO. They'd just gotten to the episode when King Robert pays a visit to Ned Stark, his good, honorable, loyal, surrogate brother and close counselor. It had been Stark who served as general in the key battles that made Robert king. Stark, too, by this point in the season, had settled into life with his wife and five children. He was content. He needed nothing. He had his family and his fiefdom. King Robert, less so. He wanted Stark back in the fold, as his protector in King's Landing. The king made pleas and promises. Stark thought about turning him down. Why would he give up a good thing? Stark relents; the pull and the power are too strong. Yes is the only answer.
By the end of the season-spoiler, the king is dead while ark has his head sliced off in front of a cheering crowd, including his children. The couple on the couch knew what was coming. "Don't fucking do it, Ned!" Kushner urged the screen. "Don't fucking do it!"
This story is from the February 2023 edition of Vanity Fair US.
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This story is from the February 2023 edition of Vanity Fair US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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