Storm of the North

Chapter 15

Q&A

MonkeyDGraby: The problem is that with a leader like Drogo at the helm, he might want to go to the Reach first, just to get some food. The Reach being closest (along with the Storm Lands) to Dorne would mean that if the Dornish swear allegiance, hell, they might land in Dorne. In that sort of situation, Olenna might decide that fighting is a waste and rekindle their allegiance to the Targaryens and try to marry Margaery to Viserys. If it was done, the Targaryens would suddenly have the Dothraki, the Reach (that has the most knights) and Dorne. That's three armies to push around others. Looking at the map, I'd go against the Westerlands next and try to poison the houses against Tywin who rules via fear. When Casterly rock falls, I'd ravage the Riverlands, and encircle the crownlands, not necessarily occupying it. The Dothraki would come south from the north, the Reach would move from their borders, and the Dornish could cut the Stormlands in two pieces at Blackhaven with support from the Reach. Then, simply raid the Crownlands till Kingslanding falls, after which you start to raid Stormlands and Riverlands. At this point Reach can continue being the breadbasket as long as they continue guarding their borders and Dorne can continue raiding Stormlands till Storm's End falls. The Dothraki greatest strength is their mobility. North and Eyrie are the greatest problems, but technically if you have the bodies to throw at it, you can get through anything. The problem for Dothraki becomes the winter. They'd need to go to Dorne, because I don't know which kingdoms the winter affects, but I feel Dorne would be their preferred place. So would/could take most of the kingdoms, real question is, would they bother after they have the big Iron Chair.

Kingslanding, 298 AC

After arriving in the capital, Ned was informed of his first Small Council meeting. Ned instructed his daughters and household guards to get situated in the tower of the Hand, then told Naruto to follow him and act as an extra pair of eyes and ears.

They followed the servant who informed them of the meeting, in to the Small Council's chamber. The first to rise to greet them with an exclamation of "Lord Stark" was Varys. A pudgy bald man in fine robes and perfumes. He didn't rush up to them for a greeting, but waited them to approach with his hands held out to shake Ned's hand. As Ned grasped Varys' hand in greeting he spoke firmly.

"Lord Varys." Ned nodded.

"I was grievously sorry to hear of your troubles on the Kingsroad. We are all praying for Joffrey's full recovery." Varys spoke with what could very well be misconstrued as compassion and a warm smile. Unless you could see through lies in which case, this was simply a measured greeting. Good thing Ned saw through it.

"Aye. Tis would be a shame if his recovery was anything but full. Would also be a shame if something similar happened again." Ned answered evenly and stepped by Varys. Naruto's eyes were locked on to Varys' face and for but a moment the smile left, giving way to blankness as Varys digested the response, but he was then approaching Naruto with that same smile to greet him. They exchanged false smile and greetings and both could see the other knew that neither was thrilled in anyway of meeting each other. Curious, yes. Happy, no.

Ned had moved on to greet Renly, who actually was quite happy to see Ned. The man was a proverbial bag of sunshine and flowers most days, so nothing new there. As Naruto approached, Renly congratulated him on his marriage to Lyanna with a glint of something in his eye. What was this one doing Naruto wondered. It seemed his marriage had provided Renly with an opportunity for something, but finding it out wasn't an immediate issue. The man was slight, yet toned. Could swing a sword, but wasn't prone to doing it. Brown short hair and a trimmed beard, dressed in the sigils of House Baratheon.

What was more pressing was the thin man who drew Ned's attention as soon as Renly was done with his greeting. A smug smirk on his face and a calculating glint hidden by a veneer of smarminess. Naruto wanted to punch this man. A pin in the image of a mockingbird adorned his fine clothes. Dark hair and a stylized mustache. The great whoremongerer of Kinglanding, Peter 'Mockingbird' Baelish. An interesting piece of information came to light again when Baelish spoke to Ned across, the table, ever moving to shake his hand, standing across from him, in an almost challenge. Apparently Baelish had tried to, at least in his own words, duel Ned's older brother Brandon for Catelyn's hand. The real story was more of, Baelish declared he was going defeat Brandon for Catelyn, which had set off Brandon in a bout of laughing and knee slapping after the thin small man was done speaking. Baelish had tried to take the opportunity to attack Brandon, only to end the 'duel' with a single swing from Brandon's sword and pleading form Catelyn to spare the little man. Brandon had taken it all in good fun and told Baelish to practice more before having a duel. Baelish had received a wound from collarbone to navel for his troubles along with, if Naruto was reading the man correctly, hatred towards the Starks. Might have to kill that one after all.

The last one to greet Ned was the man who didn't even get up to greet them. Grand Maester Pycelle. An old man in maester's robes and a long chain around his neck made of various metals. A rather long white beard with a partly balding head with white hair. This one was interesting. He acted like an older forgetful man and the calculating look in his eyes was nearly perfectly hidden and was quickly hidden by a pretense of slight incompetence of trying to find the pin of the Hand of the King in his large robes. This one was a better actor than probably anyone in the room. The old man mumbled as he looked for the pin and handed it to Ned.

When Pycelle asked if they should begin Ned was actually shocked Robert wouldn't e attending. When Naruto had told him that Robert didn't attend the meetings, Ned was skeptical. According to the Council explanation they were entrusted with 'small matters'. Ned could only hang his head in aggravation and breathe out through his nose to calm himself. Naruto stood of to the side to observe.

Renly handed Ned a scroll. Ned opened it an absently spoke "Naruto will be acting as my right hand whilst I'm here. He'll likely come to most meetings and if you have need to contact me with anything and can't reach me promptly, you can find Naruto instead. He'll help me with the position I find myself in."

Nods went around the table and Renly spoke "My brother instructs us to stage a tournament in honor of Lord Stark's appointment as Hand of the King."

"How much?" Naruto could almost hear Baelish salivating in his question.

"Fourty thousand gold dragons to the champion, twenty thousand to the runner-up, twenty thousand to the winning archer." Ned read aloud from the scroll in exasperation.

"Can the treasury bare such expense?" Pycelle questioned.

"I'll have to borrow it. The Lannisters will accommodate, I expect. We already owe Lord Tywin three million Gold. What's another eighty thousand?" Baelish spoke like he was discussing the weather.

Ned goggled at Baelish "Are you telling me the crown is three million in debt?"

"I'm telling you the crown is six million in debt." Baelish informed the Hand.

"How?" Naruto and Ned spoke at the same time, both with their eyes locked on to Baelish.

Baelish shifted I his seat a bit "The Master of Coin finds the money. The King and the Hand spend it."

Naruto walked around the table calmly as silence reigned, his feet echoing in the room, his eyes never leaving Baelish. He stopped next to Baelish's seat, towering over the smaller man "The Master of Coin finds the coin, aye. They also find coin to pay off any debts the kingdom might occur. If it's fine with the Hand, you'll be bringing me the books of the kingdoms financials for the last fifteen years today. Along those, you'll be bringing me the books on the financials on each and every property and business you own. And if you try to withhold anything I'll make you wish Brandon had cut deeper. Understood, little bird?"

Baelish hadn't looked up at Naruto during this whole time, his eyes locked on his own notes for the meeting. He raised his eyes to Ned's face who simply spoke "Master of Coin, give him anything he needs."

Baelish swallowed thickly and nodded. Naruto stayed standing there for the rest of the meeting, his eyes peering into Baelish, never once moving or shifting.

Ned spoke still eyeing Baelish "This tournament is an extravagance we cannot afford. At least with the Master of Coin we have."

Baelish gathered his nerve and spoke back "As you will. But still, we'd best make our plans to prepare."

Now Ned raised his voice "There will be no plans, until I speak to Robert."

The Council seemed to shift and squirm. Seems these ones didn't take 'no' as an answer very well.

"I apologize, my lords, but until I get caught up on the situation, I'll not advance on any plans." Ned spoke with a sigh. The Council only nodded slightly.

"You are the King's Hand, Lord Stark, we serve at you pleasure" Varys spoke. Was that a bit of respect Naruto could hear in his voice or was he simply pretending it was?

They broke up soon after that, with Naruto following Baelish only by a few steps, his eyes never deviating. The man was quite fast when someone who could snap his neck with their bare hands was following him. Naruto also received the books quite fast.

As Naruto received the last of the books for the kingdoms financials, he wished Baelish a fine rest of the day and walked back to the tower of the Hand. He was in for a long night. As he arrived Ned was brooding at the table, seems he and his girls had a disagreement. Naruto only told him to talk to his daughter with patience and just two of them, grabbed some food onto a plate and was off to his room for some reading.

He received the rest of the books he 'requested' a couple of hours later.

Naruto hadn't slept the first night, just powering through reading and understanding the numbers in these books was hard enough work. He'd slept the next two nights, but continued working through the days. Most of the gold seemed to be flowing, if you could believe it, to the Master of Coin. Isn't that interesting.

The king wants to whore around? Baelish gives him a discount and he only visits more and more. The king wants exotic wines? Baelish gets him the wine. And everything costs. The tourney's that have been held in Kingslanding? The prize money they win and spend on finer things? Spending it on whores or wine is a common thing. Want to guess who has the monopoly on the best whores and wine in the city? If you answered anything other than Baelish, you haven't observed the pattern correctly yet. Want to guess who also hold the monopoly via proxies on import? Petyr fucking Baelish. The problem? He had loaned the proxies the monies to get started, he just hadn't been collecting on them.

If this fucker wasn't also blatantly paying too little tax, Naruto would have been worried. As soon as the pattern started to emerge Naruto alerted a servant to bring him law books on the subject of the kingdoms right on seizing assets. It was interesting to say the least. The Master of Coin was responsible for observing the taxes being paid and in this bureaucracy it was the duty of the Master of Laws to enforce collecting assets if someone didn't pay their taxes, but only when the Master of Coin informed that tax evasion was being done. Isn't that a coincidence. The guy observing if taxes were being paid, wasn't paying enough taxes, so one might almost call it corrupt. Naruto called it dickishness and he didn't have the time or patience for that.

Now, the problem in actuality was, that Baelish wasn't doing all this work by himself and he had workers and proxies for certain things. Like for evading those taxes and observing that those taxes were being paid. Sure, one could argue that the enterprises involved in tax evasion were coincidental and that Baelish wasn't aware and was possibly being set up. One could say that. One could also say Baelish was one sly arsehole. What does he care if the business goes under or is sold to settle off the owners (proxy's) incurred debt. He might just buy the business for himself or wait for someone else to pay for it. He'd be the one controlling the money in any case.

These were the problems that Naruto brought to Ned's desk on their fourth day in Kingslanding. Well, it might piss off the Mockingbird, it might not. It would solve their immediate problem of getting money. Renly was quickly brought in, guards alerted and money's and businesses seized and put to work for the crown. Baelish wouldn't be implicated, but they did take away the reigns of these companies from him and bound them to the position of Hand. They also made a proclamation that if any tourney is held in the Crownlands, the businesses the focused on 'entertainment' would be paying either extra taxes for the duration, a lump sum or they would not be opened during it. That at least pissed off Baelish judging by the twitch in his eye when he was informed. This was also under the supervision of the Hand.

Other ideas they also came up with was the competitors putting up a certain amount of money to participate. Not much to these men, two hundred gold dragons, but money was money. And since there were at least fifty participants, that was already ten thousand gold dragons. They'd be taking a cut of the money from the vendors who would be promised rights to sell closer to the arena. They'd also be providing horse-rental and stabling services and armor sales. Of course, as part of any good tourney, gambling was provided, but this time it would be done systematically with betting tickets, with a percentage going to the crown, ensuring possible disagreements wouldn't happen, like someone refusing to pay, or not having the money needed. Naruto had even thrown out the idea that maybe Baelish wasn't needed since it took Ned and Naruto under a week to come up with this, when Baelish had years.

Robert was adamant on the tourney being held. Seemed foolish, but they at least they had some solutions. Borrowing the money from the Lannisters wasn't their top pick, ever.

Naruto was gazing out to the sea. He was seated in the gardens with a bit of food and a cup of water along with a cup of wine. His longsword was leaning against his table. On the table was a closed book on the fall of Valyria. He was enjoying the warmth of the sunlight.

"Ser Naruto, a fine day to you. May I join you?" Varys spoke as he silently walked towards him along one of the may paths.

Naruto nodded and indicated for Varys to sit down "Of course, Lord Varys."

Varys seated himself on the other side of the table and gazed towards the sea as well. For a moment neither spoke as they listened to the wind and the song of the birds in the gardens.

"Over ten years ago, I heard a rumor. A head of certain servant from Winterfell somehow ended up in Casterly rock. It even seemed to scare birds in Winterfell that immediately flew south." Varys spoke.

Naruto hummed "Aye, I heard a similar rumor. Except in the rumor I heard, a dagger was stuck to the headboard of the bed the Master of Casterly rock was sleeping in. That's the problem with rumors. Nothing ever came of it, so nobody can be sure."

"Now that is strange. I'm quite sure that Lord Tywin has always been very careful with any daggers he uses. He usually doesn't even bother resorting to daggers. He simply sends a bard to sing" Varys continued.

Naruto nodded "I'm aware. But Tywin also knows that there is a time and place for singers and time for daggers. Maybe the dagger showing up was a message from the gods themselves or simply something stronger than him, reminding him of his mortality, don't you think?"

Varys eyed Naruto carefully "I'm rather sure that no bird has approached Winterfell since then. At least, none that I'm aware of."

Naruto laughed a little "Why do you think we're talking?"

Varys turned back to the sea "Ah, I see."

Naruto continued chuckling "Do you now?"

Varys nodded and spoke "Yes. But you know, I've noticed more shadows gathering in the capital recently. Surprisingly almost as soon as King Robert started his way south to fetch Lord Stark. Quite the coincidence."

"Well, the gods themselves might have something to do with that. The wolves are the hunters of night. They need shadows sometimes. The shadow are their allies." Naruto grinned "If things go wrong and if need be, I'm sure little birds and certain types of spiders could find sanctum within the shadows. If the birds and the spiders in question are prepared to work within the shadows, naturally."

"Well, I'm sure if the need be, the birds and the spiders can adjust to survive" Varys spoke in thought "I'm quite curious Ser Naruto, do you play cyvasse? I feel the need to have a game or two if you have the time."

"My mother taught me how to play. And I have some time for a game today. Shall we have at it?"

"We shall good Ser. Follow me, I have a board and a nice place to play." Varys rose up with Naruto following. This was a chance for both to gain insight into the other. Neither could find themselves hating the other, rather a playmate in the game, because neither played just for themselves. This might be fun.

To be continued…

Next update, next weekend. Reviews always appreciated!