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~~~Third Person, Eighth Moon, 277 AC~~~
~~~Rock Casterly, Westerland~~~
Once everyone arrived at the Rock, Azrael, and Valka were guided by Janna to one of the larger rooms in the Lannister Keep, near the royal family quarters. Azrael's Blood Riders were also given a shared room next to his in pursuit of simplicity.
After leaving her settled monarchs, Janna went to the great hall, where the welcoming banquet would be held, a lavish celebration attended by all the most important illustrious guests.
"The Rock is large, and looks very difficult to besiege," Valka commented as she stepped out onto the huge balcony that the room boasted, being followed by Azrael, "yes, it is an imposing structure, I can understand why Janna was interested in Tywin."
Valka laughed, amused by the comment, as they both knew Janna's tastes for the extravagant and expensive. "What do you think of the royal family?" Azrael asked Valka, since she as leader of the Witches, and holding the position of Spy Master, had to keep an eye on everything. And Azrael wanted to know her point of view.
"If I hadn't seen the queen, I would think the king is in love with you," Valka's mocking comment soon came, which caused Azrael to look at her with a serious face, "Hahaha, don't make that face, you know what I'm talking about is true, he was practically flattering you when we arrived, apparently Varys has been able to do what you asked him to do, and by a very high margin I must point out, as for the queen, she strikes me as a sensible and upright woman, although there is something in her eyes that motivates me to believe she may be dangerous."
"As for the prince, well. He's a boy still, he's about the same age as you but he seems... Eh, I don't know, lost? It's like he's in his world at all times, but still, I could tell he's aware of his surroundings, it's strange in itself."
"Which brings me to something else, what were you thinking healing that child in front of everyone? You've always been methodical when doing things, and while you don't have a very analytical mind, I firmly believe we both know that wasn't a good move." Valka said with a frown adorning her face, and again, not understanding Azrael's behavior.
Azrael smiled modestly, and watching Endoxes in the Dothraki camp from a distance, he replied to Valka; "I'm just playing the game."
"The game," Valka said with a grimace, "yes, the game, the potions the witches' guild sells usually sell for many gold coins, and that's counting the few the guild sells under my supervision, there are many great lords who have not seen the power of a potion in their lives, even if they have heard of them at least once."
"But now they have seen it, and the offers will come pouring in, they will offer their daughters, land or small castles if need be, just for the sake of getting their hands on obtaining a potion, not to mention the shock when the melee prize presents itself."
"Are you still planning to give a Netherite steel sword?" Valka asked, not surprised, since there were plenty of them in Xandar, even if they belonged to members of the military or noble families. "Yes, even our host would be willing to give an eye for a sword, I understand he has been struggling for years to obtain a Valyrian Steel sword after his house lost theirs, so it is not far-fetched that we will gain much from this."
~~~Highgarden, The Reach~~~
The Reach, the breadbasket of the realm in its almost entirety, its abundant fertile lands were unrivaled in all of Westeros, and only Xandar, specifically Tavalar, was the only place in the world able to compete with the abundance of food harvested.
The Tyrells, its ruling house, held the power of the Reach since the arrival of Aegon the Conqueror, who ceded to House Tyrell, who at the time was a minor house, the title of House Paramount, after wiping House Gardener off the map.
The Tyrells, seeing their coffers full due to selling grain to the entire realm, became the second-richest house after the Lannisters, largely due to their high price of grain to the North or their trade with the cities of Pentos or Braavos.
But that changed.Ā
The North stopped buying grain entirely from the Reach more than a year ago, or one solar cycle according to the Westerosi. This created a huge hit to the Tyrell coffers, their biggest buyer backed out, causing much of the production to go to waste, unable to lower prices to the rest of the realm to be able to sell the remaining grain and keep it from rotting.
Since that would only make the Tyrell coffers go much lower, and with the costs of trade to ship the grain to the free cities, the gold was going as fast as it was coming in, and adding that to the crown taxes. The Tyrells were having a hard time.
So much so that Mace Tyrell, who organized flower tournaments every ten days, was forced to give up his recreational activities by order of his mother, the Queen of Thorns.
Or at least that was when Mace, in his infinite wisdom, obeyed Lady Olenna. That changed a few moons ago when Mace Tyrell began to have closeness with another Lord, one very volatile and hated by many; Balon Greyjoy.Ā
Balon and Mace had several themes in common: their hatred for the crown, their lust for power, and their stupidity as a whole.
The Sons of Iron raids had increased on the shores of the North, but their only priority was lumber in great quantity, otherwise, they did not take women to be salt wives, or in search of gold and glory.
Their purpose was greater... And more problematic. For a Greyjoy rebellion was about to form, and Mace Tyrell, the Lord Paramount of the Reach, was happy to help. Since the death of his cousin Victor's son, Mace, already possessed of volatile emotions, was very angry to hear the news, especially when he learned that he had died in the Red Keep, in the Throne Room in full view of all.
This caused the Tyrells to take a severe blow to their pride and position, and coupled with the fact that the king had been unwilling to give them concessions on the tax issues due to their losing streak, it was enough to make the Tyrells, or in this case, Mace Tyrell and several lords of the Reach, feel offended.
"You are a bigger idiot than I first thought, you will bring our house to ruin, years of politics, years of subterfuge, of strategy, of business, it will all go down the sewers if you continue down the path you have taken," Lady Olenna caught Mace's eye once he entered her room, which was currently serving as a prison.
Mace looked chagrined for a small moment, and Olenna thought reason had returned to him, but that was not so, for then his gaze became a bit frantic again, only to lash out again at her mother. "The ruination of our house?" Mace asked angrily, pacing back and forth inside the room in an attempt to calm his state.
"You were the one who was leading our house to ruin, playing along with the king's games, letting him squeeze us when we are going through a difficult situation, all while the entire kingdom watches and you do nothing, you are the cause of our house's ruin, so don't you dare lecture."
Lady Olenna was silent, and only deigning to look at Mace with a critical eye, refusing to believe that the man in front of her was her son, the man she had been able to control all her life, the one she 'guided' on the right path, since with her intelligence and his way to get out of her way he had managed to raise the Tyrells to new heights. But now none of that mattered.
For the rise or fall of House Tyrell was at hand.