Stag of the Storm Chapter 6 - Back to King's Landing
Ruadan Baratheon
Ruadan was still in a foul mood. Besides his brother's constant complaining, Sansa being a naive pain in the arse and his mother's anger at him for 'disrespecting his brother', he knew he would have to deal with more problems as he made his way to the small council chamber with Lord Stark.
Owain and Jon had gone to help get the Starks settled in, and a messanger had arrived anouncing a small council meeting was being convened. Ruadan had been a little surprised when he recieved the news that he was holding Uncle Stannis' seat on the council until he returned from Dragonstone. Indeed, the second prince was concerned as to why Stannis had left to begin with. He had just packed up and left without so much as a by-your-leave from his father, and the fact that it had happened right after the death of Jon Arryn, who had been seen having many a talk with Stannis, began to set of more and more alarm bells. He knew his uncle well, and that he would never abandon his duty.
"My Lords" Ruadan was broken from his thoughts as they entered the small council chambers. Varys spoke first. "Welcome to the capital Lord Stark, we were grievously sorry to hear of the troubles on the King's Road. We are all praying for Prince Joffrey's full recovery." Ruadan merely rolled his eyes as he resisted the urge to let out a derisive snort 'As if anyone cares for that little shit, least of all you spider' Ruadan thought to himself. The man was an enigma to him. He seemed genuinely interested in the betterment of the realm, but it was ever unclear what exactly that meant, although Ruadan had his suspicions. "Shame you didn't save prayer for the butcher's son" was Lord Stark's swift reply. 'I couldn't agree more'.
"Renly, you're looking well" Lord Stark gave Robert's youngest brother a hug. Ruadan got along well enough with his youngest uncle he supposed, but he was wary of the man's ambitions. He spent far too much time in the company of the Tyrells, Ser Loras in particular, for it to be healthy instead of doing his duties as Lord of the Stormlands and Master-Of-Laws. Ruadan was all too aware of the 'Fat Flower' Mace Tyrell's ambition to see his daughter on the throne. 'Not by my side she won't be' Ruadan mentally smirked. If his brother did the world a service by dying and he did become King, that honour would belong to another. The man was just too selfish, foolish and unreliable to be truster in Ruadan's opinion "And you tired from the road. I told them this meeting could wait another day bu-"
"But we have a Kingdom to rule" Ruadan resisted the urge to draw his sword and ram it through Baelish's groin. He detested the man with a burning passion. Ruadan had some of his spies investigate Baelish's brothels as part of a general investigation against the man due to the clearly woeful mismanagment of crown spending. He had discovered some disturbing things Littlefinger aquired for certain clients. Add to that the rumours of him and the Tully sisters... Ruadan made a mental note to keep Baelish as far away from the 'Mad Trout' Lysa as possible. 'You are not getting any more powerful under my watch, disgusting little creep' "An honour Lord Stark, I'm sure your wife has mentioned me." Ruadan decided to respond verbally this time. "Not nearly as much as you have mentioned her Lord Baelish" Ruadan couldn't help but smirk a little as Baelish's eye twitched in annoyance.
"Lord Stark" Finally the Grand Maester, Pycelle, made himself known to Eddard. Again, the man was a deciever. He had Lord Tywin's ear, and was no where near as frail as he seemed to be after one of Ruadan's agents discovered his... proclivities. He would be as bad as Robert for whoring if not for his age. 'Let's hope you keel over soon and we get a not-so-dishonest Grand Maester.
After the greetings were over, Ruadan sat and listened to the matters of state, contributing where needed. He also got reports from Varys about his projects in the capital to improve welfare conditions, in preperation for future plans to rebuild the capital as financed would allow it. In the meantime, with his father's consent, he had ordered the building of orphanges and food houses, as well as employing people to clean the shit off the streets, and beggars be put to work in the fields to work on new farms, using new, working farming procedures desgined to improve general crop yield, to get as much food as possible for the coming winter.
He agreed that the upcoming tourney was just an extravagant waste of time and money, although as it was also the celebration of his name-day, he knew there was no way to stop it entirely. Ruadan was starting to feel a headache from dealing with the problems his father was causing. Make no mistake he loved his father, but he was in no way blind to Robert's failings as a leader and a King. The man was made for war, and only war. Politics on the other hand... well, all can see what 19 years of that has done to him. From physically imposing and handsome, to fat, drunken and repulsive.
As they left the council chambers, Lord Stark approached him. "My Prince, I was wondering if I may have a word?" Ruadan was quick to reply with a smirk. "Need something for the headache first?" Ned couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. "It'll take more than a single meeting I hope."
"How may I be of service then Lord Stark?" Ruadan was indeed intruiged. "I was wondering if we could meet tomorrow to discuss methods to reduce the crown debt, and so I may have some insight into the members of the small council?" Ruadan nodded. "That should be fine, I will meet you after lunch tomorrow. Till then Lord Stark.
Cersei Lannister
Her Golden Lion had just left to woo the eldest Stark girl, much to her chagrin, though at least she was easy to manipulate. However what occupied her mind is that he was still irate at his younger brother. Cersei herself was confilcted. She was angry at him for being so rude to his elder brother and not allowing that Northern savage Arya Stark to be punished as she deserved, but also couldn't help but feel proud of him for so effortlessly seeing through his older brother so easily.
One thing was concerning her though more than anything with her second son. According to reports, Prince Oberyn and Princess Arianne Martell will be arriving at the capital tomorrow, and she wasn't so ignorant to the looks Ruadan and the Dornish Princess would share. Both clearly liked the other, and the Queen did not like that one bit, but what could she do? Prince Oberyn would kill all the Lannisters in their sleep if they harmed her or even upset her in any way. Cersei fought the urge to sigh. The conflict between her sons had to be resolved, and Ruadan persuaded to spend time with other noble women to make him see sense that that Dornishwoman was no good for him. Thus, Cersei began to make her plans to deal with the Starks and the Martells, and bring her wayward son back under her full control.
And that's a wrap for this chapter! So, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Arianne should make her appearance in the next couple of chapters, along with everyone's favourite Red Viper. I decided to use this chapter to focus on Ruadan's thoughts of the members of the small council, and to show that he has ambitions in the capital, and his suspicions about a great many goings on within red keep.
Now, onto the reviews:
Charles Caesar: Glad you enjoyed it and here it is :)
riley1506106: Thanks for the encouragement, it means a lot and makes me want to keep writing this, no matter how much writer's block I seem to suffer from. Will try keep the chapters coming every couple of weeks or so, but it depends on personal life not being a bitch :p
Guest: Well here is your next chapter :p I'm glad you like it. I agree with you as well. Ruadan's lack of patience and somewhat dismissive nature can cause him problems in the long run, and as this will all be a long challenge for him, he's not going to have it easy like so many others seem to do. I gave him the flaws to make him a believable character, as there are NO paragons out there in GoT, so why take all the fun out of a GoT story by putting one in that 'fixes all the problems'? I decided on Arianne for a few reasons, but mainly because it is different, and commits Dorne firmly to one side when the confilct begins, rather than ambiguously floating around, and Ruadan can potentially the North's support through his friendships with Jon, Arya and Robb, so a marriage isn't needed, and the Starks are a little overused as pairing material in Baratheon fics. I'm glad you approve :D
As always, if you like, favourite and follow, and don't forget to review, constructive feedback is appreciated :) See you next time o/
ImperialPrussia
