"When can we expect our bannermen to start returning to their
lands?" she asked, most interested in this fact above all else, at least
for now.
Ser Garrel consulted his notes on her desk before him, "three moons
at the earliest, most might take up to five moons to finally return.
There is much damage in parts of the Reach, bridges destroyed and
there is a severe shortage of river boats still."
"Not ideal."
"No my lady," Ser Garrel replied.
"No indeed… is there any way to speed this up?"
"Some of our troops could come a little bit quicker by using the
Mander and Manderport1 but the situation with the Ironborn is still,
erh, somewhat in flux…"
"You mean because they show no sign of ceasing to raid and
reave?"
"Exactly."
"Bloody cunts!" she hissed under her breath, she would never
understand why the Ironborn had been allowed to even exist as part
of the Seven Kingdoms, she would have razed those troublesome
islands, salted their meagre fields and been done with it!
"Quite," replied Ser Garrel deadpan, before continuing. "King Aegon,
second of his name has been crowned and his betrothal to Princess
Jaehaera Targaryen has been confirmed, no date has been set for a
wedding as of yet, my sources tell me that this, the setting of a date
is a somewhat controversial matter."
"How so, both of them are children, neither of them should be wed
yet," she replied.
"Indeed, however certain, how shall we say, 'ambitious lords' have
emerged onto the stage and are, less than pleased with this
arrangement."
"They want their daughters to be Queen?"
"Exactly."
"Do I need to fear for dear Princess Jaehaera's life?"
"You do…."
"Hrmmmm, well I do have two daughters of marriageable age….."
"You do indeed my Lady, but things are in a state of… fluidity at the
moment in the capital. Lord Cregan Stark has yet to return to the
North and is apparently making enquires as to the events of the day
of Fire and Blood."
"The 'Day of Fire and Blood'?" she asked, already guessing at its
meaning, but still wanting to know.
"Aye my Lady, what the events of the attack on Kings Landing and
the battle of the dragons above the city is being referred to as."
"No doubt bards are already singing songs about it!"
"They are my Lady," Ser Garrel replied, a slight smile gracing his
craggy face.
"Back to Lord Stark, what is he 'enquiring' about exactly?"
"Lord Stark…..he distrusts the accepted story of the events of that
day and suspects….treachery and underhand dealings…."
"Does he now? I would have thought that treachery and betrayal
were obvious for all to see in the events of that day. Too much
happened that cannot be explained by chance, by the vagaries of
war and chaos. If I, a 'mere' woman can see this I am sure that many
more than Lord Stark can also see this?"
"But of course my Lady, but the most interesting thing is that nobody
else appears to be questioning the events of that day, nor the official
pronouncements and elevations to the Small Council that have
followed."
"Because the fix is already in Ser Garell, that much must be obvious.
Anything else?"
"You husbands brother, Ser Tyland, he still languishes in captivity,
horridly scarred and wounded from being put to the Question.
Apparently he may yet be executed for his treason and crimes, your
requests for clemency have fallen on deaf ears."
"That is….."
"Regrettable, but all is not lost, Prince Hugh has spoken out in
support of Ser Tyland, saying that he should be pardoned and
allowed to return to Casterly Rock.
"Prince Hugh?" she asked, curious about this.
"Yes my Lady, the dragonrider sought to see good done by Ser
Tyland."
"I wonder why?"
"As do I, our agents have not been able to ascertain why Prince
Hugh acted thus, nor any attempt to reach out to us. But this
intervention appears to have prompted Lord Corlys to delay the
release and pardon of Ser Tyland."
"Interesting, very interesting, seek more details on this matter. But I
will have to make representations on behalf of my good brother, his
treatment was scandalous, unpardonable. I will seek his immediate
release and pardon."
"Yes my Lady."
"Anything else of interest?
"The position of Master of Whispers is as yet unfilled, a rather glaring
omission on the part of the Lord Regent. As was the position of Hand
of the King, another most interesting turn of events, and one which is
causing even more comment than the lack of a Master of Whispers."
"Hrmmm, do our agents have anything to report on either of these
anomalies?"
"They do indeed my Lady…"
"Garrel, I swear you are enjoying drip feeding me this, and it is as
annoying to me as it is evidently pleasurable to you," she quipped,
noting the sly smile of the Knight's face. Maybe a semi-official
appointment as her Master of Whispers was in the offing for old Ser
Garrel.
"As to the matter of the Lord Hand, apparently this position is to be
offered to Lord Ormund Hightower."
"Now that is fascinating, is it not Ser Garrel? She mused out loud,
wondering about the secret dealings and covert communications that
must have been involved.
Her mind churned and roiled as she worked her way what she knew,
what she assumed was true and what she knew of the behavior of
powerful men with positions to protect. Was the position of the
Blacks so precarious that they had seemingly caved into the Greens
so? Or what else was truly going on, behind the scenes?
A thought spiked in her consciousness, "and what of Prince Hugh?
Where is the bastard Prince in all of this, he has shown himself to
be, if not a supporter of Lannister interests, then at least not hostile
to us?"
"Grieving for his dead wife and apparently uninterested in little else
beyond training in the yard and flying his dragon. He barely speaks
with anyone or engages in any activities at court."
Oh, now that was interesting, and she sat up straighter in her chair
behind her desk, once the chair and desk of her wastrel of a
husband, whose only concerns appeared to have been hunting and
getting his cock wet, and who certainly gave little or no thought to the
increase in the power of House Lannister.
"Now is that not a fascinating little morsel of information Ser Garrel?
And you drip feed me this again….."
Garrel gave a tight and slightly ironic smile at this before continuing.
"It is my Lady, Prince Hugh is in mourning and will not choose a new
wife until a year and a moon has passed from his wife's death,
according to the Lord Regent."
"And will he be granted any lands; I seem to remember that Daemon
had planned to lavish quite extensive lands on this Hugh."
"No my Lady, from what I can gather Prince Hugh will not be granted
any direct lands. The plan of Prince Daemon's to radically enlarge
the Crownlands has apparently been let lapse, Lord Corlys shows
now inclination of changing the boundaries of the realm, nor
of….punishing some of the more… enthusiastic supporters of Queen
Alicent and her son's claims."
"You mean House Hightower."
"I mean house Hightower."
"Prince Hugh effectively won the war for the Blacks, and now seems
to be, well, sidelined?"
"Aye, that is what it appears like."
"Is, is the lad…"
"Simple my Lady?"
"Well, I was not going to go so far, but now that you have said it
Garell, why not."
"I do not believe so my Lady, he appears to be deep in mourning for
his first wife, the late Princess Rhaena, and is somewhat withdrawn
as a result….the, the men he impaled in vengeance for his wife's
rape and murder…..their corpses are still in the gardens of the Red
Keep, nobody has apparently had the, the courage to cut them down
yet…."
"I don't blame them!" she harrumphed, "I'd not risk the wrath of the
rider of the biggest surviving dragon either. Which does beg the
question, why is Prince Hugh being ignored….. by what should be
his allies and comrades?"
"You know well enough why," came the quick reply from Ser Garrel,
his voice resigned sounding.
"Aye, the lad has no backers now that Prince Daemon is dead,
therefore he is the weakest player in the Red Keep. But the fact he
has a dragon….."
"Ser Addam Velaryon has a dragon also, and powerful backers in the
form of his father, sorry I mean his grandfather, the Lord Regent."
"Yes, but his dragon is no were near the size of Vermithor…..no, I'm
afraid good Prince Hugh will probably soon join the wife he mourns
so. A pity that….to all accounts and purposes he was a good and
loyal man."
"Mayhaps, mayhaps not, there are other players joining the game
my Lady that might yet save Ser Hugh."
"Garrel, I warned you just a few moments ago about this, stop acting
like an old gossip in the markets of Lannisport and out with it!"
"Yes my Lady," he grinned back at her, before continuing. "Lady
Elenda Baratheon has arrived at court, with three of her daughters in
tow."
"She has four daughters if I remember correctly, and did she not just
birth a son recently, an heir for the deceased Lord Borros?"
"Yes, the daughter not present was Lady Marris, who had her tongue
ripped out, at the direct orders of the Lord Regent. She was said to
be the plainest of the so called 'four storms', and the cleverest of the
four. Though as she was the one who goaded Prince Aemond to
clash with Prince Lucerys over Shipbreaker Bay and the loss of her
tongue is apparently because of this, I wonder if she was the
cleverest….."
"And her son, Royce Baratheon?"
"Safe in Storms End."
"Lady Elenda has not gone to court just to escape the boredom of
Storms End I assume?"
"Indeed not my Lady, she is actively engaged in seeking betrothals
for her daughters, and she is conspiring with those who would prefer
his Grace the King to not marry Princess Jaehaera."
"I fear the Red Keep has yet to run red with more Targaryen blood…"
"The reaction to the appointment of Lord Ormund Hightower as
Hand of the King might well be… the touchpaper to set things alight
again…."
"Blasted fools and their plotting! Don't they know its winter, and a
bloody cruel one already, with no end in sight according to the
Citadel. Men, dammed men and their dammed pride and lusts! I've
had enough of this Garrel, it's time House Lannister re-entered the
fray, despite everything the Ironborn did our armies are still strong,
our wealth only slightly diminished. There must be something we can
do to stop this madness!"
"Lady Elenda Baratheon has made, a covert approach to Prince
Hugh in relation to marrying one of her daughters, even though the
Lord Regent had stated that Prince Hugh cannot marry until the
customary year and one moon of mourning is over."
"Oh? The sly bitch….and?"
"Lady Baratheon offered Prince Hugh the Lord Protectorship of the
Stormlands in return for marrying her eldest daughter."
"Smart move, I assume that this offer has not… become… official?"
"No my Lady, Lord Corlys, acting as Lord Regent has blocked this
proposal from House Baratheon. He appears to be keeping Prince
Hugh firmly under his thumb…"
"I sense, I sense the germ of a plan here Garrel… the treasury of the
Iron Throne sent to us to keep has to be returned to Kings Landing,
Lord Corlys has demanded its return…"
"And levied fines and reparations on House Lannister" added Ser
Garrel.
"Yes, painful but not catastrophic… we know that the Iron Throne is
now deeply in debt to House Velaryon, a situation that cannot be,
acceptable to some. How does Lord Bartimos Cletiger feel about the
near stranglehold that House Velaryon has on the finances of the
Iron Throne?"
"According to my sources, he is not best pleased by this. Also I have
learned that House Velaryon is chronically strapped for cash due to it
virtually exhausting its coffers supporting the Iron Throne during the
war."
"Hrmmmmm…..do I spy the real reason why Lord Corlys made such
an accommodating deal with his former enemies?"
"Possibly my Lady."
Her mind returned to getting rid of the Ironborn, of that she was
absolutely committed to, and if at all possibly permanently lifting the
threat of those cunts from her lands. She knew that the Iron Throne
would never grant her the dragons she required to do this properly,
but if she managed to acquire these dragons by some other means?
The gold of her house would help of course, and she was certain
that a deal could be arranged with the Master of Coin. But there was
another kind of gold that could be used here, the gold hair of her
daughter's maidenhood, and all it would take was some careful
planning, some expenditure of gold and then a certain young man
who appeared to be unaware of the plots swirling around him would
be hers, along with his dragon of course.
She would have to make all haste to Kings Landing, for she and her
daughters had a Prince and his dragon to snare.
The town that should be at the mouth of the Mander or somewhere
close by, given the importance of the Mander in internal trade for the
Reach and beyond