fynovel Chapter 414 – They Are Finally Making a Move.
Chapter 414 – They Are Finally Making a Move.
[Chapter Size: 4200 Words.]
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Third Person POV
Westeros, 300 AC.
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Tyrion went straight to the council meeting room. As they had informed him.
Tyrion was still a bit confused about what was happening. His sister hadn't had time to speak with him beforehand, but she seemed quite frustrated with the matters she had discussed with their father, it even seemed to have something to do with him, with her eyes full of hatred behind the mask holes.
When he entered, Varys was already there, standing at one side of the table in a corner. He kept his gaze on the wood, calm.
"Welcome, Lord Lannister. You are the second to arrive...", he commented, then Tyrion noticed his state.
"You are uncomfortable," Tyrion noted immediately.
"Why do you say that, my lord?", Varys asked, his gaze turning curiously toward the dwarf.
"You usually keep your hands in front. This time, you are forcing your smile, with your hands behind. You are a bit nervous."
"Indeed, Lord Tyrion. And you would certainly also be quite nervous upon hearing the upcoming news," Varys murmured.
"Good thing I came to the right place. After all, I am a bit lost with all of this," Tyrion said. "Perhaps you can tell me a bit more about it?"
"You will know soon enough," was all Varys replied, choosing silence.
Leaning forward, Tyrion pulled his chair and sat in a corner with a chair taller than someone his size. There was wine on the table, and he didn't fail to fill one of the cups there and drink.
'Something tells me I will need this...' He thought.
The door opened in the next moment, and Petyr Baelish appeared, still as elegant as always, despite the scar on his face due to the bird that the king of Arctica had thrown at him years ago, in that time full of confusion between Arctic and the Seven Kingdoms.
He maintained a stern expression and a small smile on his face, trying to appear gallant. Tyrion thought that, with the scars, he didn't look as handsome as he imagined.
"Lord Varys, Lord Lannister," Baelish said with a smile.
"Littlefinger, how are you?", Tyrion asked, seeming in a good mood.
Baelish only responded with a small smile. Varys still seemed uncomfortable and didn't even speak properly with him, only nodded.
"So you don't know either, do you?", Baelish asked the dwarf, knowing Varys wouldn't say anything.
"No," Tyrion shook his head.
"I only received an urgent message after I spoke with my dear sister, I was summoned along with everyone. I heard around that Pycelle is in the dungeons… so this meeting must be about that," Baelish said.
"The Grand Maester who had taken care of the Red Keep for so long simply ended up in the dungeons by order of the Hand of the King...?", Tyrion looked at Varys.
Perhaps that was what made him nervous, perhaps something else. He did not know.
In any case, the door opened once more, and Mace Tyrell entered, but this time he was not alone. Olenna Tyrell followed right behind him.
"Lord Tyrell. Well, I didn't expect you to bring visitors," Tyrion said, looking at Olenna.
"Mother wanted to come," Mace murmured, almost like a child who had been forced to do it. It was ridiculous how the Lord of Highgarden lowered himself to a son who should obey his mother.
The others exchanged glances. The one who should decide that was Tywin, the Hand of the King.
Olenna merely let out a laugh. "Do not worry about me. You know how it is, an old woman cannot miss a bit of gossip. Knowing that Grand Maester Pycelle had been arrested, and right after that a meeting… how could I miss this?" she said naturally.
The next to enter was Lord Redwyne, the current Master of Ships. He went to his place after greeting everyone quickly.
Then, Kevan Lannister entered. "Hello, everyone." He said, looking at Olenna, but only greeting her, without further comments.
"You just arrived at the fortress, uncle?" Tyrion asked, seeing that Kevan was still wearing Lannister armor.
"Yes, I was organizing some things in the military camp at your father's command, when I heard the news and came here," he said.
"You must not know, I presume..."
"No... Your father only asked me to come here."
The next to enter was Prince Oberyn, the Master of Laws. "Something tells me this meeting will be very interesting, given that the messenger said I absolutely could not miss it..." The Dornish prince was at a brothel when he was approached, forced to return to the fortress. He had no idea about Pycelle's arrest until he arrived.
Joffrey then entered, approaching without answering anyone. Everyone had stood up for him, since he was the king.
Cersei was behind him with the current commander of the Kingsguard, Jaime Lannister.
The Hand of the King was lightly touching his back. "Calm down," she said behind the mask. Joffrey seemed angry at that moment.
All eyes watched the scene. She did not fail to raise her gaze, casting her usual disdain from behind the mask.
Everyone already knew that look. Cersei was known for hating everyone, so it was no great surprise. Still, what the "monster of the Red Keep" meant was something many whispered behind her back.
"What is she doing here?", her voice came out with open disdain, directed at Olenna, who faced the masked woman without fear or hesitation.
Olenna merely gave a small smile. "Do not worry about me, I only came to observe," Olenna said calmly.
"You should not be here." She said, clearly trying to expel the elderly Tyrell.
"If the king does not want me here…", Olenna said, looking at Joffrey.
Cersei also cast a look of disdain.
Joffrey did not stop staring at Olenna for a moment before responding. "No problem. Let Lady Olenna stay here," said Joffrey;.
Everyone could see that the atmosphere grew heavy. It was expected that Olenna would be expelled from the council room, but that was clearly not the case.
Cersei simply stared, visibly irritated. Her son was increasingly under the influence of the Tyrells, probably with that girl whispering in his ears. Olenna had even managed to place herself in a favorable position there, to listen to matters of state.
This made Cersei increasingly alarmed, as her precious son was favoring that family. That old woman was very clever.
"Come now, queen. We all want to know why Grand Maester Pycelle was arrested. Or perhaps the Master of Whisperers could tell us immediately, don't you think?", Olenna said and asked, turning her attention to Varys.
He tried to force a smile, somewhat nervous. "Unfortunately, it is better that the Hand tells what is happening," he replied.
"You are being rather mysterious, you are leaving this old woman intrigued," said Olenna, with a sarcastic smile.
Olenna could swear that Cersei was growling inside the mask.
Then the door opened, and the Hand of the King approached with a serious look and some papers in his hands. "Hello, everyone," his voice was dry and firm.
No one stood as they would for the king's arrival, but they certainly nodded immediately to the man who stood behind the greatest power of the Seven Kingdoms. The king might have the name and the crown, but everyone knew who held the true power.
"Good that everyone is here," said Tywin, as he approached the head of the table, beside the king.
"So, grandfather, are you going to tell us why Pycelle is in the black cells, my mother refuses to say if you are the one who should say it?", Joffrey was the first to break the silence, with an arrogant and frustrated tone.
Tywin looked at him as if judging he should be patient, but Joffrey did not care.
"Well, I assume you all already know what happened," Tywin began. His gaze fell upon Olenna, beside her son, but he said nothing. His daughter clearly had not liked that, but he ignored her and continued.
"The first thing you must know is that a new enemy has arrived in Westeros, coming from the North."
His words fell like a weight upon all those who did not yet know.
"The Arctics… they have returned." Tyrion seemed quite concerned. He could see the looks being exchanged across the room.
Joffrey did not react immediately. His face seemed horrified for just a second, but soon returned to an expression of anger.
Kevan seemed surprised and nervous.
Varys had no reaction — he probably already knew.
Cersei seemed to know, since her reaction was too small.
Baelish certainly had a look of fear and all who could see him saw him shiver.
Mace widened his eyes.
Olenna did not fail to show an ironic smile.
Lord Redwyne seemed quite worried, perhaps remembering the last time they faced those people and lost the entire fleet, even though he had not been commanding his ships.
The Prince of Dorne widened his eyes. Then he opened a smile.
Tyrion merely shrank back after absorbing the information.
"They have returned, then… well, we did not expect them to stay there forever, did we?", said Olenna, despite her surprise, she did not show it from the beginning, it was not as if she hadn't already expected this someday.
Jaime simply looked at his golden hand, as if he were lost for a moment.
Cersei was certainly seething with rage behind the mask.
"We must prepare immediately," said Redwyne urgently.
"Yes, we will prepare. But I want you to understand what we are about to face," Tywin said.
"Let's organize the armies and prepare to kill them all!", Joffrey said immediately.
Tywin stared at him for a moment. He was already used to the king's temperament, even so he gave a look of disdain at the king, who was a spoiled and cruel boy, who believed that everything happened by his will.
"Wait," Tyrion suddenly spoke. "Wasn't Stannis going to the North? according to our Master of Whisperers?"
"Exactly. He should have arrived at the Wall about three moons ago," said Varys.
"And is that why we have not received any news at all all this time, even sending ravens and even spies?", Cersei asked Varys.
"Unfortunately, the Wall is very far away. It is difficult to control information coming from so far north. None of my little birds managed to pass through its gates, just like many spies sent," he replied.
"But is there no more news about him? He simply disappeared three moons ago?" Lord Redwyne seemed worried. And his concern was not about Stannis.
That had already been a frustrating matter for all of them. They had been discussing this for about two moons when they no longer had news of Stannis. Stannis was still a claimant to the throne, but communication with the Wall had completely vanished. Messengers were sent, but so far no response.
"It seems the Arcticans are no longer so hidden. Either Stannis is dead… or captured by them...", said Prince Doran Martell, while lightly tapping his fingers on the table, in a steady rhythm.
Tywin looked at him. "Dorne will help us, correct? After all, that bastard of your brother was captured inside Sunspear. I have always heard that Doran placed great importance on her... I know very well that you hold a grudge," Tywin spoke directly to Oberyn, who stared back at him.
"Of course," he replied with a small smile. "We always have our revenge, no matter how long it takes," he said.
Perhaps he was not really talking about Rhae, but about Elia. After all, in Volantis, he had asked his niece a question, and in the end let her leave with Jon Arctic, even though Doran was furious with him, since she said she loved Jon and wanted to stay with him.
'She chose love, she might have more luck than her mother, that was what I thought at that time...' Oberyn murmured to himself.
It could be said he was quite stunned when he learned that that boy from the North was, in fact, the son of Rhaegar with Lyanna, and that his niece would be with her own half-brother.
He wondered how Rhaenys was reacting to this since she found out — perhaps she already knew before. Oberyn had no way of knowing with her living beyond the Wall now.
There was also now the approach of the Martells with that claimant coming from the east, with living dragons and claiming to be his nephew as well.
If Dorne were to support someone, it would most likely be him, rather than the Lannisters.
He was willing to see the Lannisters fall — and, if they did not kill each other first, Oberyn would certainly bet on the Arctics defeating the Lannisters. But he knew that perhaps he would have to fight for one side, depending on his brother's choice.
On one side, there would be his niece, raised in Dorne. It would be possible to negotiate with Jon of Arctica to make her son become the next king of Westeros, with Dorne's support. Or to believe in that supposed nephew, who somehow survived the sack of King's Landing and was now rising in Essos.
Oberyn certainly would have liked to have saved Elia as well — to have taken her from the capital as he did with his niece — but he only managed to save one of Elia's children.
"You may have Dorne, depending on when you give me that creature," Oberyn said, referring to the Mountain — something he demanded all the time.
"He will be given when the time comes," Tywin replied.
Some were surprised, others not. After all, Gregor Clegane was no longer the same.
When Jon of Arctica went to Lannisport with Jaime Lannister as a hostage, and later negotiated with Tywin, there was the naval confrontation. The problem was that all the Lannister ships were destroyed, and the only one left was the Mountain's — which the Arctic king had waited to get close before attacking by boarding the Lannister ship.
That same man faced the Mountain while still young, at fifteen or sixteen years old. The giant lost — had his sword arm cut off and was reduced to a eunuch, he was only a shadow of what he used to be.
Gregor was never the same again. Even so, Tywin saw some value in him, as he remained intimidating. And, with the anger from the humiliation he suffered years ago, he became even more ruthless — although he could never again return to raping.
"I hope so," Oberyn murmured to Tywin.
"Anyway, I am very curious to know how you obtained this information that the Arctics have returned," Olenna asked.
Given the behavior of the Master of Whisperers minutes earlier, she could see his eyes quickly calculating the situation in that corner of the table. He knew about the Arctic papers, but he did not know the real reason for arresting Pycelle right after delivering them.
Tywin then picked up the letter with the Arctic seal.
"A letter? And to whom is it addressed?", Olenna asked.
"Directly to me," he replied.
"But what led to the arrest of Grand Maester Pycelle? I still wonder. Did he read the letters without authorization or something like that?", she insisted.
Cersei seemed to growl, not liking the old woman's insistence, who had lied that she would only listen, and was now participating in the meeting. But Tywin simply replied calmly:
"I received documents that they had taken from the Citadel. I do not know whether I should thank them or not, because these documents speak of both Pycelle and the maester of Casterly Rock, directly involved in Joanna's death."
Behind him, Varys — who only knew about the arrival of the Arctics — widened his eyes. There was something he did not know there...
"How is that possible, my lord?", Baelish asked, also quite surprised. That was not a small matter.
"I will not go into details, but my wife was poisoned during her pregnancy."
"Wait… she was poisoned?", Tyrion practically shouted upon hearing that in the next moment.
"This is not a place for shouting, Tyrion. If you wish to talk about this, do so later. For now, I want you to know only the reason without delving into it," Tywin replied, growling at his dwarf son.
He showed the letter. "This reveals a scheme against my family at that time. Pycelle, despite having been loyal all these years, cannot be forgiven as someone who helped in Joanna's death."
Kevan looked at his brother. Certainly, throwing the Grand Maester into the black cells would create a serious internal conflict, and the Citadel would not be pleased with it at all.
However, if that were true, Tywin was willing to take the risk. He would deal with all those responsible for a possible death of Joanna, which had been plotted for some reason he did not know. Tywin would leave none of them unpunished, even if the Citadel disagreed and created friction with the crown.
"And can we see these letters?", Oberyn asked, quite interested.
Varys also leaned slightly forward, as if wanting to hear better, but he knew he could not go further.
Tywin shook his head. "No. This is a personal matter. You only need to understand that this is a game by Jon of Arctica to try to destabilize us. He knew that I would not let this pass… and I will not let him divide us so easily either."
He paused before continuing: "I want you not to insist on this matter. I will deal with Pycelle. I have already sent a letter to the Citadel, asking them to send a representative to explain all these documents. This will be handled between me and the Citadel."
No one insisted further, despite the exchanged glances. Everyone wondered what could be in those letters to cause such division — exactly as Tywin said was Jon's intention.
"Even so, is there no other message from him? A declaration of war, nothing of the sort?", Tyrion asked, still with a disturbed expression after learning what happened to his mother.
He had much to think about. His mother had been poisoned during pregnancy. Did that mean he was born a dwarf because of it?
Were the maesters the ones who caused the way he was?!
That… changed everything for him... But his father still held a look of disdain, perhaps that was why he found his sister so furious earlier, but they did not seem to lose their contempt for him. His brother was the only one, behind the king, who looked at him stunned, but with a look of pity.
"Well, I do not care about Joanna. I want to know how we are going to deal with the Arctics." Joffrey's voice broke through all thoughts.
Everyone immediately became tense. Tyrion exchanged a worried glance with his brother, while Tywin simply fixed his gaze on his grandson.
Even Joffrey shrank slightly upon meeting his grandfather's piercing stare.
"What? Why worry about someone dead?", Joffrey shrugged.
Even his mother seemed reluctant.
Everyone knew that, especially for Tywin Lannister, Joanna was an extremely sensitive subject. He might even be his grandson, but he should never belittle his grandmother in front of him.
Not even a crown could save him from Tywin's wrath.
If it were any other moment, Tywin would have already slapped Joffrey. But now they were in a crisis.
He looked away and faced everyone at the table.
"We will prepare for war. The time has finally come for the Arctics to make their move after so long in silence."
The concern Tyrion felt returned with force. He remembered very well the Arcticans and what they had said — that they were fighting against the White Walkers. They had declared this without hesitation, no matter how much the people of Winterfell or those who came with the southern court looked at them as if they were mad.
But Tyrion could see that Arya and all of them believed it.
When the sun itself had changed. It seemed like a sign.
There were days when the sun lasted only three hours. He could see its movement in the sky before night fell again, and then came more than twenty hours of darkness until dawn.
They were in the middle of the War of the Five Kings while all of this was happening, it seemed madness, but it was all happening right before him. They had great difficulty dealing with enemies with most of the day being darkness... Not to mention that entire harvests were destroyed with the lack of sunlight in the last year.
Was that not proof enough that they were telling the truth? And now, possibly, that war had ended.
There was no more news from the North. The Wall had simply stopped sending any information to the capital, even with letters from the king demanding answers, threatening the Wall with conspiracy against the crown if it did not send news from the North to monitor Arctic. Even his sister's spy, Janos Slynt, was declared dead five moons ago.
That reminded Tyrion of the last time they were attacked in Lannisport — when his father knew nothing until the last moment, because the ravens informing that Arctic had sacked Oldtown were being prevented from reaching Casterly Rock.
"Lord Redwyne, prepare the entire royal fleet, along with your house's fleet."
They had already been awaiting the arrival of the Arctics, even with all their silence, they were already preparing. King's Landing was filled with ships, just like Dragonstone, which they had taken when Stannis departed for the North.
"Can we declare that Stannis is dead, don't you think? Jon of Arctica would not declare him heir to the throne and allow someone who also sought the Iron Throne to live," Oberyn spoke calmly.
It was possible to hear Joffrey's hatred when the title was mentioned. "He is not the heir to the throne. He is just a bastard!", Joffrey growled.
"A bastard with a military power the world has never seen, my king," Olenna reminded calmly.
Even Tywin seemed concerned. "Then we will destroy them. We have our entire army line in the capital. They would easily attack us," Cersei said, trying to sound intelligent.
"It is quite possible, since they only sail by sea, or try to march through the North, but I think that is somewhat unlikely...", said Baelish, in a calculating tone.
"We will need more in the army. You said Lady Arryn would help if you asked. It is time to bring the Vale to our side as well," Tywin said, while Baelish smiled.
"Of course, Lord Hand. I will send a letter to her immediately. After all, Lady Arryn also has interest in dealing with certain matters, she sees the Arcticans as threats," Baelish said.
Tyrion, although still disturbed by what he heard about his mother, would certainly speak with his father after the meeting. Even so, he did not fail to notice: the Arctics were a real crisis for them.
He could see his father calculating quickly.
Cersei was between hatred and revenge, perhaps hoping that Arya Stark was with the Arctics.
Joffrey seemed arrogant. He clearly liked what he heard about bringing the Vale in, as the knights of the Vale created an unmatched army mixed with the forces of the Westerlands, the Reach, Dorne, and the Crownlands — a force quite capable of dealing with the Arctics.
Baelish was between hatred, desire for revenge, and calculation in a corner. He seemed more focused on the agreements he had made with Lysa Arryn, stating that she would fight against the Arctics.
Varys seemed somewhat disturbed, making calculations quickly, despite trying to maintain a calm posture, the arrival of the Arcticans, although already expected, seemed to catch him by surprise. He seemed to have even deeper thoughts than everyone there.
But Tyrion could not read minds.
His gaze then went to Oberyn, who also seemed to be calculating — perhaps thinking if he could pull Dorne in and increase the forces even more. But Tyrion did not believe that would happen so easily.
Mace seemed proud. He was probably imagining the Tyrells leading an army of four kingdoms against the Arctics.
When he looked back, Tyrion once again observed his family — Joffrey, Cersei, Jaime, his father, and his uncle. All had their own reactions, but there was concern in all of their eyes, even if they tried to hide it.
The Arctics had always left a deep impression.
This time would be no different.
Everyone knew they would come, with their cold eyes, destroying anything in their path.
But Tyrion and the others did not seem to know what was really happening, because even gathering the strength of four entire kingdoms… they would be caught by surprise that the attack would not come from the eastern side of the continent...
Author here.
Well, as you can see, I first carried out the meeting with them still not knowing that the Arctics had already left the North and were heading to Pyke.
After this meeting, I will make another small reaction from the council, with them receiving the news from the North and finally being stunned when the Arctics had been all this time launching an attack on the western coast moving south.
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