Chapter 25

If one were to say the King handled the Situation poorly, you're sure they would do so well outside the Crownlands, and as such the Red Keep and the Capital had little trouble returning to its usual State of Misery. Of course with more Guards and Knights around the Castle, as anyone would expect, but all in all little on the outside has changed. Though your Eyes aren't the only way for you to observe the Castle, and you notice only three Days later that the hidden Corridors of the Red Keep are once more filled with Life, and Blood.

For People that go through the trouble of staying in the Capital simply need a place to talk openly from time to time, and that naturally without anyone listening in, while the King himself sees Shadows everywhere. Thus Encounters between Parties formed of Nobles meeting in the dark, and the King's Spies end in the spelling of Blood or the exchange of Gold on an Hourly basis. Which happened again and again until you decided after two Weeks of Bloodshed that you should stop the madness before the King loses his Mind before his Son has even healed, let alone become a proper Figurehead.

"Father, do you already know when we're going to return to the Rock?"

"There's nothing to do here, and nobody in the Castle seems to like us."

"That doesn't sound like you at all, Azami, you should already know that leaving the Capital now won't do us any good."

"Can't you stop it, Father, there's nothing here that we can't create for our House ourselves, and that without all the trouble."

"I did so little in the last Years, and it's still enough to double our Strength, Father, we can take the Realm for the House, even if we do it alone, and have to give up some Territories, you could rule from the Rock as the Kings of old."

Yes, it's now or never, for you will have to get his Mind in the right place again, or he will just be stuck in a City full of Backstabbers with a King that won't let him go, trying to grab the Crown. And you finally get some reaction out of him that you can treasure, one of his good and honest Smiles that promises you plenty of bloody Battles in the not too distant future. Which relieves you to no end, as it seems that your Father is truly back to his normal Mind Set, one that apparently can appreciate your efforts quite a bit, if your messy Hair is anything to go by.

You still aren't privy to his Plans, and thus you can't exactly tell just how much they changed through your Words, but you're sure that something has changed for the better, and you truly can't wait to leave the Capital. Though no one seems more happy about the shortening of your visit than your Mother, surprising as that was, you could understand her reasoning, for what Mother would want her Children near a place where Corpses are retrieved from the Walls in the dozens Day after Day.

The King wasn't happy with your Father's return to the Rock in any Case, but that didn't matter to neither your Father nor your Mother it seems, and with his Mind made up to stand opposed to the Crown the Lord of the Rock became fearsome in the Eyes of the Scum once more. And it became apparent that it mattered now so very little if one is or isn't part of the Royal Faction, for your Father dealt with everyone he could recall slighting your House all the same, and that of course in the King's own Castle, to the King's own Supporters.

But nothing happened in the two Days your Father needed to sort matters out, and settle his remaining Scores, there came nothing but verbal Reprimands from the King, for what could he truly do, there wasn't a lack of Men willing to kill for someone that's paying the right price in the Capital. And his still loyal Vassals won't march through the Snow just to make the Rock their Enemy, well, perhaps some would do it if his Majesty hadn't just put a Noble House to the Sword. But he did, and that's just not something that makes one any Friends in the Seven Kingdoms, which would be obvious to anyone that isn't at the brink of madness.

You feel quite content as you see your Plan unfold so perfectly, and once the Prince is of Age you're sure there won't be much of a problem in taking over Power with how far the King's Mind has already deteriorated. Yet you can't help but happily embrace the Magical Snow once more when you finally leave the Capital behind you, for while it's currently to your Family's Advantage you still find yourself disgusted and repulsed by the City and everything that's part of it, seeing as this place is nearly the Opposite of the future you try to achieve for Humanity.

Your Family had naturally a rather entertaining Journey back to the Westerlands, but you made sure that only the Mercenaries and hired Bandits got close to your Party, while the Knights that came to intercept your Family vanished, never to be seen again. Who would have thought that the Snow would actually be this useful, but then again, it only spared you little things, like the burying of the mangled Corpses so far. And you suppose you will have to wait for a bit, until it will show its true Power in disrupting Campaigns to you. Yet it won't be that long until your Father finally uses his new Resources to begin the Buildup of the new Troops, and you're already rather entertained by just the Thought of what the Crown will do about said Buildup in the middle of Winter.

And you wonder for a moment how long it will take them to realise that they literally can't breach the Westerlands outer Castles with the currently available Supplies, or at all, but mayhaps they will only see their Folly when they stand before the same Castles that kept out Invaders for as long as History was written. It's actually not too unlikely with a literally mad King on the Throne, but you're more than fine with it, for should the King indeed choose to weaken himself in front of the Realm some more that would only further your Plans.