Dragons Scheme

Sighing tiredly, Tyrion entered into the main tent rubbing his brow irritably and without even a pause, picked up a jug of wine off a nearby stand and made his way towards the main table. Daenerys was already sat upon it, Ser Barristan at her side.

"You're late." Barristan pointed out sharply.

"Well, I had the need to clear my head, it's been a long day," Tyrion replied.

"For all of us, which is why I requested your presence." Daenerys was equally as sharp as Ser Barristan, all of them drained after today's fruitless negotiations. Robb Stark and his advisors had been steadfast, stonewalling all attempts to negotiate for more of his land to be handed over to either Targaryen ruler.

Tyrion pulled out a seat and sat down, sipping upon the cup of wine in his hands. "Yes, well I thought I would be more useful to you without my mind clouded. Doing so would only make this a much more tiring and fruitless endeavour than it already is."

"What do you mean?"

"Robb Stark has no intention of handing over any realm over than the Crownlands and the only reason he's doing that is because it holds no value to him. The only thing of value in it is Kings Landing and the Iron Throne, two things that Robb does not care for." Tyrion explained dryly. "The North is his home so he won't give that up. The Vale despite its mountainous regions has the greatest knights in all of Westeros its cavalry is a devastating force. The Riverlands is the trading and fishing hub of Westeros and has under Robb Stark seen them the building of a proper military structure. The Westerlands despite being severely undermanned and pillaged by Robb's raid, still have dozens of mines that can produce gold and replenish its wealth. And well, the Reach has the largest force and the most fertile land."

"He has no intention of handing any of those kingdoms over to you, even if the lords wished it because in doing so, he would be making you or Aegon more powerful." Tyrion continued, both Ser Barristan and Daenerys frowning. "He's content to let you have the Crownlands, Stormlands, Dorne and the Iron Islands because they offer you nothing and pose no threat to him."

There was silence in the tent following his words.

"So, what do we do then?" Daenerys asked, looking to the man she begrudgingly knew was her smartest advisor. As trusted as Ser Barristan was, he was a Knight and a man of war. While he understood politics, Tyrion was a man even better than him and his words proved it.

"You're not without options, and you're actually in a more advantageous position than you think. You have a number of options, first, leave Westeros entirely and return when your Dragons are larger and your army bigger." That was the option Tyrion would prefer best and even better, never return at all. There were too many things wrong with Westeros and he could not understand the Targaryens obsession with it.

The frown that came upon Daenerys face told him how favoured that option was and he sighed. It was his option, though there were still problems. Just as Daenerys could grow her army, so could Robb and while he would not be able to rapidly increase his army like Daenerys could due to the copious amount of slaves waiting to be freed. Robb could better equip, feed and train his army. Not only that, but he could also prepare numerous countermeasures for the Dragons, or at least attempt to. And if he did succeed in preparing countermeasures for the Dragons, all he needed to do was invest in a large fleet that could destroy Daenerys own.

"Second, take Robb Stark up on his offer. Ally yourself with him against Aegon and take the remaining lands for yourself. It may not be much, but it will be something and once again, you can expand your empire into Essos, build your army up to be stronger and come back. And if not you, one of your descendants could."

Again, it had problems, mainly similar to what was with the first. But at least this option would provide Daenerys with a pre-existing force in Westeros to fight Robb Starks own but at most, it would only number at a stretch of fifty thousand compared to Robb who could easily raise force twice that number.

Daenerys frown was still present, though she still didn't seem happy with her options. "And the other option?" She asked.

"There's two and I think you already know what they will be."

"Marriage."

-X- Line Break -X-

"Our scouts report that Robb Starks main host has arrived at Hayford, Lord Hayford having opened their gates for the host. They haven't made any further move south to Kings Landing." Jon Connington said, explaining the situation happening within Kings Landing. "As for the host led by Mace Tyrell, they are said to be camped between the Roseroad and Gold Road."

"They have us surrounded," Oberyn muttered. "Our best chance would be to take out the Young Wolf now. Dead of night and remove one of the biggest threats."

"That would accomplish nothing and only serve to alienate possible allies, including Daenerys," Jon argued.

"Then what exactly do you expect us to do?"

Oberyn's response left Jon stumped as he had no answer. None of them had been prepared for Robb Stark to achieve what he had and now they were left reeling. They had expected and wanted the Lannisters to win, they were not a popular house and would only serve to further destabilise the realm leaving it easy pickings for them.

"Short of more soldiers or getting Dragons on our side, we have no chance of victory." Oberyn pressed. "If we're not going to assassinate the Young Wolf, then we need only secure the Mother of Dragons support."

"A proposition of marriage?" Illyrio spoke up. "A wise choice."

"Don't pretend like that wasn't what you wanted all along." Oberyn retorted. "We came here for no reason other than to secure Daenerys' support, why are we pretending otherwise? The Young Wolf is a smart boy who's done some incredible things. At the end of the day though, what can he expect to do against Dragons?"

"Yet Daenerys' has not seemed willing to take any side." Jon pointed out. "If anything, she's seemed more torn on the decision to make."

"Then we need only provide an incentive to chose us," Illyrio said, all in the room looking to him as he smiled. "She's a young girl, still naïve in the ways of the world. She doesn't want to bring death and destruction to Westeros, you need to look no further than her actions in Slavers Bay. If we bring an end to this meeting and declare war our intent due to the actions of Robb Stark, she will panic and we can capitalise upon it."

Jon however, was not fully convinced. "And if she doesn't, if she allies with Robb or neither of us? What then? We do not have the numbers to battle against Dragons? And the elephants will be of no use against them either. Even if by some miracle, Daenerys does not ally with either of us and instead allows us to battle against Robb without interference from her, victory is all but impossible."

Most of their army was camped within the walls of Kings Landing. The elephants in turn would be of no use in the defence of a city. Not to mention the sheer size of Robb Stark's army meant that they would be at a serious disadvantage.

"Where is Robb Stark's fleet?" Aegon's voice cut through the silence, all looking towards the Young Dragon in questioning.

"Our last reports indicated them to be sailing past the Arbor."

"Then they're still many days away from reaching Kings Landing. Our second supply fleet will be arriving within two days." Aegon stated, mind whirling with ideas and thoughts. Quickly he clicked his fingers, an aid providing a piece of parchment for him to write upon, all watching as he scribbled upon it. "Send this message to Harry Strickland."

"What are you planning, nephew?"

"You said that victory is all but impossible." Aegon directed towards Jon and smiled. "I propose an idea that will turn defeat into victory. Even with the supply fleet, we won't have the ships necessary to combat his own, nor would they be outfitted to beat them either. But we don't need to fight them at Kings Landing. We don't even need to defeat them on the open field. All we need is a different target, something far more valuable to Robb Stark."