Chapter 88: The Queen of Thorns’ Decision

"How dare he? How dare he?!" In the Lord's Council Chamber in Highgarden, Lord Mace, holding a raven's scroll sent from Oldtown, raged and shouted at Maester Mollos, "Immediately, send a raven to Lord Leyton in Oldtown, and tell him to help us take Lynd Tarran at once!" and then at Vortimer, "He was your squire once, so you go and arrest him."

Looking at the completely irrational Lord Mace, everyone stayed quiet, waiting for him to calm down. Those who knew Lord Mace understood that carrying out decisions he made in his anger was unwise.

"What are you doing? Haven't you heard my order?" Lord Mace angrily rebuked when he saw that no one was responding.

Everyone exchanged glances, realizing that Lord Mace was determined to punish Ser Lynd.

"My lord, what did Lynd do to make you so angry?" asked Roger, the garrison commander of Highgarden, who was on good terms with Lynd.

"You can see for yourself," Lord Mace replied, throwing the letter in his hand at him.

Roger picked up the letter from the ground, read it, and his face suddenly changed. The others noticed his reaction and took turns reading the letter. Each of them reacted similarly, their expressions turning grim.

"How dare he do this?" muttered Vortimer, who was the last to read the letter. His face changed dramatically as he absorbed the contents.

It was no surprise they reacted this way. The news in the letter was truly shocking. Oldtown had been attacked by the Ironborn, and Lynd had responded by punishing all the knights in the army for their dereliction of duty. However, the most egregious act was Lynd publicly flogging Willas, the heir to Highgarden and future Lord of The Reach. This public humiliation was tantamount to flogging the dignity of House Tyrell itself. If left unpunished, House Tyrell's reputation would suffer greatly, and the other nobles of The Reach would lose respect for them.

Vortimer realized that Lynd was in serious trouble this time. Even if he wanted to intercede for him, doing so might implicate himself.

Lord Mace repeated his demand for immediate action. Vortimer reluctantly accepted the order but resolved to find a way to help Lynd later, at least to save his life.

"Wait a moment," said the Queen of Thorns, Lady Olenna, as she entered, supported by Lady Alerie. "The Lord was just worried about Willas's injuries and said something rash. You shouldn't take it seriously."

"Mother!" Lord Mace exclaimed, staring at her in disbelief, attempting to argue.

"Don't speak yet," Lady Olenna said sternly, silencing him. She then handed a roll of documents to Garth Tyrell, the steward of Highgarden. "Garth, you will immediately write a letter of condolence in the name of the Lord of Highgarden to the nobles on this list, praising their descendants for their heroic deeds against the Ironborn in Oldtown and mourning their untimely deaths."

"Yes, Lady Olenna," Garth nodded.

Lady Olenna turned to the others. "You all may leave now. I have something to discuss with the Lord."

The crowd quickly got up and left, leaving only the Queen of Thorns, her son, and her daughter-in-law in the room.

"Alerie, go close the door," Olenna commanded.

"Yes, Mother," Alerie replied, moving to shut the door.

Once the door was closed, Lady Olenna turned to Lord Mace and asked calmly, "What do you think about Willas being whipped?"

Lord Mace hesitated but eventually answered under his mother's stern gaze. "I think Lynd Tarran went too far this time. As a knight of House Tyrell, he should not have whipped the son of his feudal lord. His actions are nothing less than rebellion and treason."

"Rebellion and treason?" Lady Olenna nodded calmly. "Do you think I value Willas highly?"

"Of course," Lord Mace replied. "You have always groomed him as your heir."

"In that case, shouldn't I be even angrier than you?" Lady Olenna countered.

Lord Mace fell silent. Lady Olenna's calm demeanor, despite the gravity of the situation, was unsettling.

"In fact," Lady Olenna said in a measured tone, "not only am I not angry, I think Lynd Tarran deserves a reward."

Lord Mace stared at her in disbelief. "Mother, have you lost your senses? How can you reward someone who whipped your grandson in front of thousands of people—twenty lashes, no less!"

"Lost my senses?" Lady Olenna shot back, her tone cutting. "I may be old, but I'm not blind. If anyone's confused, it's you. I want to reward him because he just helped House Tyrell avert a disaster."

Lord Mace looked completely bewildered.

"Alerie, show your husband the intelligence documents so he can clear his head," Lady Olenna ordered.

Alerie handed a stack of papers to her husband. Lord Mace read through them carefully. They detailed the events of the Ironborn attack, including how the knights had abandoned their posts to drink in Oldtown. Lynd, foreseeing trouble, had dispatched Jon with ten knights and men-at-arms to take temporary charge of the barracks under the special authority granted to him by Willas. When the Ironborn attacked, Jon executed Lynd's plan, sending reinforcements to the garrison in Oldtown and protecting Willas in the Starry Sept.

The report was written by a trusted advisor to Willas, a student of Maester Lomys.

"Even so, this is no reason to punish Willas," said Lord Mace, putting down the intelligence note in his hands. "Willas was in the Starry Sept at the time. The knights deserted their posts on their own, so what does it have to do with Willas?"

"I should really pry open your skull to see what's going on in there," the Queen of Thorns rolled her eyes at Lord Mace in exasperation. "As commander, Willas was responsible for every knight under his command. Don't you have eyes? Lynd Tarran warned him in advance that the knights were undisciplined and asked him to rein them in, but he didn't take it seriously at all. That's why they deserted their posts that night to go partying. Now tell me, was he not responsible?"

Lord Mace lowered his head, unable to argue.

The Queen of Thorns continued, "Do you think Lynd publicly flogged Willas just to punish him for not disciplining the knights?"

"Isn't that the case?" Lord Mace countered.

"Of course not, you idiot," the Queen of Thorns snapped, glaring at him and pointing at the intelligence notes. "What were you looking at with those eyes just now? Couldn't you see that more than two hundred knights died during the Ironborn attack that night?"

"What?" Lord Mace hesitated, then muttered, "It's just two hundred knights. When I was storming Storm's End during the rebellion, I lost more than—"

"Silence!" the Queen of Thorns interrupted sharply. "Do you think those knights are the same as these? Those 200-odd knights weren't just hedge knights. They included many from our bannermen's houses, including heirs and favored second sons. These nobles sent their heirs with Willas to give them experience and to build bonds with House Tyrell. Now those heirs and sons have died before even setting foot in The Reach. What do you think the nobles of those houses will think?"

Lord Mace opened his mouth but couldn't find the words to respond. He began to realize the severity of the situation. This incident could cause significant resentment among House Tyrell's bannermen. Although the knights who died were from smaller houses, those houses formed an essential foundation of House Tyrell's power in The Reach. Dissatisfaction and resentment among these nobles could create cracks in that foundation, even if it didn't shake it entirely.

The Queen of Thorns, observing Lord Mace's anxious expression, said sternly, "Why are you so worried? Lynd Tarran has already solved your problem. What's there to panic about?"

"He solved it? How? I don't see how," Lord Mace replied, thoroughly baffled.

The Queen of Thorns sighed, as if she had entirely given up hope in her son's intellect. "By publicly punishing the surviving knights, Lynd has shifted the blame. He's telling the nobles behind the dead knights that their sons died because they abandoned their posts—an utterly dishonorable death. By flogging Willas, he's also giving them a scapegoat, showing them that their sons' deaths were due to Willas's failure as a commander. Now it's the bannermen who need to worry about their dishonored dead, not us. Mark my words, in the coming days, they'll come crawling to Highgarden, begging for forgiveness. And you must receive them with all due respect."

Lord Mace seemed to understand now and nodded. "I know what to do, Mother." Still doubtful, he asked, "Do you think Lynd really planned all of this, that punishing Willas would appease the bannermen? Is that why he did it?"

"I hope he helped our family by chance and not with some calculated intent," the Queen of Thorns replied with a sigh. Then, looking at Lord Mace skeptically, she asked, "The intelligence from Oldtown just arrived in my hands. How did you know Lynd flogged Willas?"

"It was mentioned in the letter sent by Lord Leyton," Lord Mace explained, handing her the letter that had provoked his earlier anger.

The Queen of Thorns quickly read through it. Her expression turned grim, and she cursed under her breath, "That old fox played such a trick on me." Turning to her daughter-in-law, she added, "Everyone says your father is obsessed with witchcraft and confused, but I think those who say that are the ones truly confused."

Alerie responded with a wry smile, "Has my father done something wrong again?"

"Wrong?" The Queen of Thorns said with irritation. "No, he hasn't done anything wrong. He just wants to use our Lord Puff Fish here to drive out Lynd Tarran so he can marry Lynd into your House Hightower. That old man is even willing to offer your sister, Malora Hightower, to Lynd in marriage. If that happens, you'll have to call that Lynd boy your brother-in-law."

The Queen of Thorns chuckled at the thought.

Alerie looked torn between laughing and crying. She couldn't help but think about how young Lynd was—only fifteen or sixteen, just a year or two older than her eldest son. Although it wasn't uncommon in the Seven Kingdoms for younger men to marry older women or vice versa, she found the situation difficult to imagine. If such a marriage occurred, she wondered how she would even face Lynd in the future.

"Your sons saw that Lynd was a talent, your father saw that Lynd was a talent, our Maesters saw that Lynd was a talent, the Commander of the garrison and the Master-at-Arms of Highgarden saw that Lynd was a talent, but your husband, my son, Lord Puff Fish, did not see that Lynd was a talent at all," the Queen of Thorns mocked. "Should I be happy about your unique and distinctive insight, my lord?"

Lord Mace responded with embarrassment, "Mother, I was just worried about Willas's health and a little confused. I didn't really want to punish Lynd Tarran."

The Queen of Thorns scanned the room, found a chair, and sat down. She looked at Lord Mace and said, "I heard you plan to change Lynd's reward from manors and villages to a fiefdom after he completes the task of suppressing the bandits."

"Yes, Mother," Lord Mace nodded. "It's the land across from Castle Wyl, at the other end of the Red Mountains."

The Queen of Thorns pressed further, "Who occupies that land now?"

Lord Mace replied, "House Dondarrion of Blackhaven and House Wyl of Wyl each occupy a portion of the land. The rest is said to be all mountains, too barren for anyone to claim."

Seeing through Lord Mace's motives, the Queen of Thorns remarked, "You want to give him that land so that he can become the second Randyll Tarly? Defend the Red Mountains for you like Horn Hill?"

Lord Mace smiled awkwardly and said, "Since you don't think it's a good idea, Mother, we'll find another—"

"No, it's perfect. That land is perfect for someone like Lynd Tarran," the Queen of Thorns interrupted, shaking her head. "But you need to give him a little more power. Just a Ser title won't help you hold onto that land."