29

Chapter 29: Part XXIXNotes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I own nothing, just borrowing for a while.

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"Wisdom Hallyne I'm concerned that when I said I wanted all the wildfire you can make what you heard was 'Make a lot of wildfire'. What I said was 'I want all the wildfire you can make'."

King Joffrey Baratheon – 303AC

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Small Council Chamber - King's Landing – 298 AL

"In my experience Lord Commander Mormont is not a man known for flights of fancy or japes" Eddard Stark stated flatly, his grave expression making sure that nobody on the Small Council should think otherwise. "If he says that a corpse came back to life and tried to kill him, and that it would have managed to if not for my son Jon, then I believe him" he told the others who appeared considerably more sceptical of the messages which had arrived from the far north. "Robb will be setting off for Winterfell in the morrow, I've told him to head straight up to Castle Black to investigate the matter personally and to also bring a company of my bannermen with him to reinforce the Watch there" Stark continued. "With any luck Mormont will bring back more evidence of what's going on up there once he returns from his expedition North of the Wall and we can plan accordingly."

Varys sighed and appeared apologetic. "I regret that I cannot present any intelligences one way or the other in this particular instance" he told the council. "Whispers carry more loudly from far Yi-Ti than they do from north of the wall. I have very few of my little birds nested there" he continued, regretfully. "For what it's worth there has been an increase in dark murmurings amongst seafarers that ply the Shivering Sea of late, seemingly spread from those who trade with the Wildlings on the coast, but sailors are always rife with superstition and predilected to the telling of tall tales, so I paid little mind."

Petyr Ballish still seemed doubtful. "Wights? Really?" he responded incredulously. "What next? Grumkins and Snarks?" he joked. "Giants atop mammoths or perhaps White Walkers riding giant Ice Spiders into battle?" the Master of Coin added sarcastically. "Are we truly going to take such stories seriously and act upon them?" he asked rhetorically.

"To be fair we must assume that our ancestors didn't devote the vast amounts of manpower and resources required into building a hundred-league-long, seven-hundred-foot-tall fortification across the continent for nothing" Octavian interjected, not only because that seemed a reasonable assumption but also because he thought it just good policy to support the man who was not only the current Regent but also his future father-in-law, or 'Good-Father' as they said here. "Though I must concur that claims such as these should be treated with due scepticism" he hedged his bets. "Might I suggest that trusted representatives from all Seven Kingdoms and the Riverlands accompany Robb North to examine the veracity of the claims first-hand" he advised. "Perhaps Lord Beric Dondarion for the Stormlands?" he suggested, looking to Lord Renly Baratheon, not only the Master of Laws but also Dondarion's liege lord for agreement. "He strikes me as well-respected and capable."

"He is and would be a good choice, Your Grace" Renly agreed. "I can approach him personally if the Lord Regent concurs with your advice" he offered.

Eddard Stark looked to Tywin Lannister for counsel, the man nodding his assent. "I do" Stark confirmed. "If somebody from down south said that the followers of Mother Rhoyne were practising Water Magic down in Dorne I'd want to send a northerner I trusted to check for me so it's a fair turnabout if someone from Dorne or the Reach wanted to see a Wight before they believed in them."

"Extraordinary claims do require extraordinary evidence" Grand Maester Pycelle remarked sagely. "I'm far too old and frail to travel that far myself but I shall have another Maester do so in my stead" he announced. "Unfortunately, whilst a fine member of the order, Maester Aemon at Castle Black is even older than I am and though he may still have his wits he no longer has his eyesight."

"As Master of Laws I'd usually hold that it's best not to rely on the eye-witness testimony of a blind man" Renly joked.

"Indeed not, My Lord" Pycelle agreed.

Octavian looked thoughtful. "As always I'm only here as an observer, and occasional proposer of ideas" he began, "but perhaps we might wish to request that the Alchemist's Guild dispatch a Wisdom to Castle Black as well."

"That hardly seems necessary" Pycelle huffed. The wretched boy was trying to undermine him, he was sure. Perhaps he realises that I can see through his pretence, he wondered? It was only a matter of time before the façade dropped and the vicious, petty little shit Joffrey had been for so long emerged again.

"Why do you think it's a good idea, Your Grace?" Stark wanted to know.

"Because the Guild may be more open minded to supernatural explanations than the Maesters but are nonetheless analytical in approach" Octavian explained his thinking. "They insist upon experimentation to prove the validity of a theory and although only widely known for the production of Wildfire their scientific interests are deeper and broader than that."

Pycelle snorted dismissively. "Charlatans for the most part and their leader Hallyne is quite mad" he opined.

"Eccentric rather than mad, I'd say" Varys disagreed. "In any case King Robert did not curtail the power of the Alchemist's Guild during his reign because they were charlatans but because they had been too close to the Mad King" he noted, "Aerys patrimony was only a boon to them while he lived, they paid the price for it later."

"Not that we don't understand your position Grand Maester" Baelish told him. "As Master of Coin I well understand why someone would wish to maintain a monopoly, be that in commodities or knowledge" he continued with a smirk.

Long suspicious of the Order of Maesters, and Pycelle in particular, Tywin inwardly enjoyed watching the old faker squirm and decided to twist the knife himself a little. "At some point we may want to consider restoring the seat the Guild of Alchemists once enjoyed on the Small Council" he suggested, entirely deadpan. "Not that Rossart proved a capable Hand of the King when Aerys elevated him further, academically gifted perhaps but politically inept."

"I just remember him as the bugger who burned my father alive on the Mad King's orders" Stark growled. "I'd want a lot more evidence that the worst of the Guild died with Rossart before I'd consider having one of them back on the Small Council" he stated firmly, Pycelle looking relieved.

Well if the fun was over it was time to get back to business, Tywin decided. "I'll find a cousin to send North for the Westerlands" he said, "make them earn their name for once. Perhaps Ser Damion Lannister, he's not a complete incompetent."

"High praise coming from you, grandfather" Octavian couldn't resist the quip.

"I'd send your uncle Tyrion since he's been to the Wall before but the journey's not long enough for him to get over his hangover" Tywin responded flatly. This being one of the few occasions that he ever outwardly indicated the existence of a sense of humour. Albeit one in the exercise of which provided an opportunity to denigrate the habits of his youngest offspring.

Learning that when Tyrion visited one of the Great Wonders of the World his ambition had been to piss off the top of it, rather than marvel at its very existence, had only cemented Tywin's opinion of the stunted fool. "With your permission Lord Stark I'll have the other High Lords choose their own representative" he checked with the regent. "Perhaps Theon Greyjoy could perform the role in his father's name for the Iron Islands since he'll be accompanying your son north in any case?"

Stark nodded his approval. "I'll leave it in your hands, Lord Hand" he replied deadpan, not wanting to be outdone in the humour stakes by Tywin Lannister of all people. That would be akin to having folks regard Ilyn Payne as a better public speaker than you.

Octavian made a noise that indicated some disagreement with that suggestion and everyone looked to him quizzically. "Sorry, ignore me" he said. "I'm sure I'm just fretting unnecessarily as regards the Greyjoys" he spoke up again.

"Fretting about what, if I may ask, Your Grace" Varys queried, intrigued.

"Go ahead, speak your mind" Stark told the boy.

Octavian frowned. "Well if I understand it correctly the original rationale for Theon Greyjoy becoming your Ward was two-fold" he began. "Firstly so that the future leader of the Ironborn would be raised on the mainland and gain a different perspective to simply thinking of the rest of us as targets for plunder, and secondly as a hostage against his father's ambitions for another rebellion."

"A fair summation I'd say" Tywin responded.

"The problem is neither of them stand up to scrutiny anymore" Octavian declared. "We can't rely on primogeniture to guarantee that it's the son of Balon Greyjoy who inherits his lordship of the Iron Islands, because their traditions allow rival claimants to take power lawfully via a Kingsmoot" he said. "That conveniently brings me to the main problem here."

"Which is?" Eddard Stark wanted to know.

"Balon doesn't like or respect Theon, that's clear to anyone that has seen them interact during both the Great Council and then the Coronation" Octavian explained. "As such we cannot be sure that Balon will endorse his son's accession and it also means Theon's utility as a hostage is extremely limited too" he reasoned. "Let's face facts, you are more of a father to Theon than Balon is, Lord Stark, and you certainly care about him more. Bluntly put he's more an example of possible leverage over you than he is his actual father."

Tywin was, as ever, impressed by his grandson's grasp of the political situation. "An analysis that is difficult to argue with but how would you resolve this conundrum, Your Grace?" he asked Octavian, testing him.

"Give Theon back to Balon, at the same time challenging him to turn his son into a proper Iron Islander, thus preying upon the man's ego, and most importantly swap Theon for a better hostage" Octavian suggested. "Balon may not care about Theon but he does seem to have some affection, or at least respect, for his daughter Yara."

Stark raised his eyebrows. "Balon would never agree to giving up his daughter surely?" he responded doubtfully, he didn't like the idea of putting Theon into that situation either for that matter.

The smile Octavian now wore was one that Varys would best describe as 'smug mixed with calculated evil'. "I could talk him into it" Octavian said confidently.

Renly burst out laughing. "We should let him try just for the hell of it" he eventually managed to say.

If he fails, and he likely will, this was at least an ideal opportunity for the boy to learn some humility, Tywin decided. The boy had grown cocky since his verbal flaying of Stannis Baratheon during the Great Council. "Perhaps we could discuss this proposal at our meeting later, Lord Regent" he suggested.

"I wouldn't think to pressure Theon himself into going along with this" Octavian reassured the Regent, "but if he ever held any expectations of sitting on the Seastone Chair one day he'll have to go home eventually and it'll be more difficult to establish himself and gain acceptance among his own people the longer he leaves it."

Stark frowned. "It'll need some thought devoted to it before any action is taken, right enough" he said in response, wondering how he would broach it with Theon if it even got that far. He had always known that Theon would return to the place of his birth eventually but the notion that it might be happening earlier than expected bother him. For it to come so soon after Jon was lost to the Night's Watch was a little sad to contemplate at least.

Varys surreptitiously looked from one face to another looking for signs of agreement or dissent to the boy's idea. The vile little shit is [I]definitely[/I] in league with the Iron Islanders, he thought to himself, but what's he up to exactly, he wondered? What is he going to tempt Balon Greyjoy with to obtain his compliance?

Looking into Joffrey's eyes proffered no clues whatsoever but Varys shuddered when the boy caught his gaze and smirked for the briefest time. It was as chilling as when he had looked himself in the mirror after carrying out the most heinous commands of the Mad King.

Notes:

Note from the Author:

With Eddard Stark as Regent reports coming from Jeor Mormont and the Night's Watch at Castle Black are received with considerably more credence. With Robb headed back north anyway after the Coronation having him investigate the reports seems wise.

The Guild of Alchemists prospered greatly under the rule of Aerys II, not only gaining a seat on the Small Council but with their then leader Rossart eventually being appointed Hand of the King (very briefly). They were sidelined again under King Robert, much to the benefit of the Order of Maesters. Current High Wisdom Hallyne is perhaps more eccentric but nonetheless less crazed than his predecessor.

To say that Balon Greyjoy was disappointed in his son Theon is understating a little. Whilst by the traditions of any other part of Westeros Theon would have certainly succeeded his father to the Seastone Chair regardless the Iron Islands with their tradition of the Kingsmoot makes that more uncertain an outcome.

Naturally Octavian is very much up to something here...