-298 AC-
-23rd day of the 10th moon-
-POV Gerold Grafton-
Sitting in my solar, I watched the horizon without knowing what I am supposed to do. I was at a crossroads: either I kept my allegiance to the Lady of the Vale, Regent of her son, or I rallied to the King who presented himself as a Targaryen and who was on the verge of bringing the entire continent of Westeros to its knees under his might.
"Anders, what do you think I should do?" I said, looking at my youngest son.
"There is nothing more to do. The Vale has lost, and we must stand on the side of the victors. Although we have sent soldiers to aid our liege, we can always say that we were forced to do so."
"I think the same, but we must not forget that even if the odds are in favor of Aegon VI, his reign is as fragile as a house of cards. Firstly, we do not know if he is really who he claims to be. For all we know, he could really be Ned Stark's bastard, and the latter did not want to deny it, thus causing his own ruin."
"No, I do not believe that is the case. How could he use fire magic? Only the Valyrians can do that."
I smiled at my son's naivety and then said:
"You were not present at the siege of Pyke, but I was, and I saw with my own eyes Thoros of Myr charge with a flaming sword. And that's not all. Although he decimated the forces of the Vale and the Riverlands, he will have to leave a large part of his army in both regions to keep these two kingdoms under control, which will mean that the balance of power with Stannis will equalize and could even turn in his favor."
Anders nodded, understanding my concerns before saying, "It changes nothing in the Vale. We are the only ones to have borne the colors of the Dragon, and grandfather died, Robert Baratheon killed him with his own hands with the support of the Arryns, so whether he is a bastard or not, as long as he wins, his word will be law, and if his blood matters so much to you, we could then seek out Princess Daenerys Targaryen to become his wife."
I nodded, and once I had made my decision, I quickly scribbled a small message that I handed to my son: "Take it to the Maester. I want it to take flight within the hour."
-POV Olenna Tyrell-
Since the conflict between Renly and Stannis ended with the assassination of Renly by a shadow, everyone was tense because the plan to make Margaery the queen was now at a standstill.
"We are fucked from all sides," said Willas, sighing in irritation.
I nodded in agreement with him and then said, smiling bitterly, "We missed our best chance to do something."
"We could have intervened in the capital if the Lannister army hadn't come as reinforcements, but now we are completely stuck, back to square one."
"The Riverlands have completely fallen into the hands of Aegon," said Loras, stewing in his anger at himself and trying by all means possible to find a way to get back into the good graces of the King, hoping to be able to claim the head of Stannis Baratheon.
He left behind a certain Carvin, Captain-Commander of his 3rd Legion, with Tywin Lannister's brother, Kevan Lannister. Together, they have the mission to keep control and pacify the region.
"And where did his army go?" asked Margaery, more interested in the bastard now that he was the only king capable of making her queen of the seven kingdoms.
"To the Vale, although I do not know how he plans to get past the Bloody Gate guarded by Nestor Royce. Lysa Arryn decided to post 3,000 men of her guard and 10,000 peasants in a hurry at the Bloody Gate."
"Whether they are peasants or not will change nothing about the fact that attacking the Bloody Gate is a mistake," said Garlan.
"Who knows, maybe he will destroy them with his magic."
Garlan appeared skeptical and said, "I do not think he can get through there."
"Anyway, whether he wins or loses, we must find a solution. We cannot hope for a result. We have already seen where such false hopes have led us," said Loras, annoyed by this discussion going in circles.
In fact, we only have two solutions: firstly, wait for him to win and crawl before him, hoping he will have been satiated enough, and secondly, help him proactively while still crawling before him.
"And you think that will be enough?" said Loras, skeptical.
"He teams up with Tywin Lannister, the man who presented his brothers and sisters in Lannister-colored sheets, and we have our secret weapon," I said, looking at Margaery, who smiled, understanding the implication