TYLAND
"Any word from Riverrun?" Tyland asked.
Grand Maester Orwyle shook his head,"The ravenry has still not heard from Lord Grover."
"If he has been silent for so long," Ser Otto said,"We must assume the worst, that he has declared for Princess Rhaenyra and is rousing his banners for the traitor."
"I do not think Lord Grover can rouse his banners for anyone," Lord Larys said, his voice soft and mournful,"My birds in the Trident report that old Lord Grover is presently bedridden with a terrible fever in Riverrun, not long for this world. I would be surprised if he can even gather the strength to answer a raven."
"If Lord Grover is incapacitated, the Riverlands shall fall under the stewardship of his heir," Lord Jasper said,"Lord Grover's grandson Ser Elmo Tully. What do we know of him? Can we sway him to our side?"
Ser Otto shook his head,"I know of Ser Elmo, and he is fast friends with Lord Samwell Blackwood and Lord Forrest Frey. Lord Samwell's sire spoke for Ser Laenor at the Great Council before turning his vote in the last day for King Viserys. And my lords all know the tale of Forrest Frey."
"Fool Lord Frey," Ser Criston laughed,"The boy who once begged for Princess Rhaenyra's hand when she was still their Realm's Delight. A pity that he did not know that the whore would have given him her maidenhood if he pressed on. The boy is doubtless still smitten with the whore even as she grows old and fat."
"Lord Forrest Frey is a powerful man and a puissant knight," Lord Jasper said,"Most, if not all the holdfasts along the Blue and Green Forks heed his call, for their merchants require Lord Frey's bridge across the Trident to make their trade. If he remains loyal to Rhaenyra…"
"Then Ser Elmo is like to give his loyalty to the traitor princess the moment his grandfather gives up his ghost," Ser Otto said,"If that be true, then Ser Elmo is already gathering Riverland banners, readying himself to declare for the traitors."
"House Tully cannot be relied upon," Tyland said,"so we shall need find another house to champion His Grace's cause in the Riverlands. For any chance for peace, all the south need bow beneath King Aegon. If Rhaenyra sees even the slightest chance of victory, then war shall be joined." "The house must be rich and have many friends," Tyland said,"Its castle must occupy a strategic place within the Riverlands where His Grace's armies can gather." "Most importantly," Tyland smiled at Lord Larys,"The house must be able to call upon many levies and knights of its own. It must be strong."
"Harrenhal," Lord Larys did not return Tyland's smile,"I never really much liked the castle. Too large, and full of ghosts. I shall gladly offer it to the king if His Grace can find a use for it."
"Ser Tyland's course is wise," Ser Otto said,"Harrenhal and House Strong shall be the place where His Grace's true men in the Riverlands shall gather." "Lord Larys," Ser Otto turned to the spymaster,"Could my lord write a raven to the castellan? I would have asked Orwyle to write the letter or done it myself, but I feel that the words shall come easier from kin."
"I shall, my Lord Hand," Lord Larys said,"and my lord shall find that my uncle Ser Simon is a true man of His Grace."
"We must be quick about it," Tyland said,"Lord Larys's birds have already reported that Rhaenyra's forces have gathered at Rook's Rest beneath Princess Rhaenys and her dragon. It will be their folly to assault King's Landing, so it would be wise to presume that the host of Rook's Rest seeks to march west for Harrenhal. The Conqueror has proven that Harren's castle cannot stand against dragonfire."
"Is it possible that we can lay a trap for Princess Rhaenys?" Ser Criston asked,"Lure her force into Harrenhal, even her red dragon, and then spring the trap and ambush her with Sunfyre and Vhagar. Two dragons shall surely overpower one."
"You would leave King's Landing undefended from Dragonstone," Ser Otto said,"where most of Rhaenyra's dragons still roost. There is a reason why Rhaenyra's most capable commander, her husband Daemon and his dragon Caraxes, have remained on Dragonstone. That is because Harrenhal is only a diversion. The true attack shall come here, in King's Landing, from across Blackwater Bay as Prince Daemon commands the skies and the Sea Snake the waters. Even now, King's Landing is not as impregnable as Ser Tyland would like to think. We have three of the greatest dragons in King's Landing, that is true, but Rhaenyra has more. The only reason that she has not yet attacked is because she does not have the support in the realm to hold the Seven Kingdoms. We must keep it at that."
"Aye," Tyland said,"My Lord Hand may well be right that Harrenhal is only a diversion, and Ser Simon Strong will have the time to gather the Riverland banners in support of His Grace the king. With the Riverlands secured, the Starks of the North and the Arryns of the Vale cannot act even if they support Princess Rhaenyra, for the Riverlanders shall bar Moat Cailin and the Bloody Gate." "The only concern I have," Tyland said,"is the seas. The Sea Snake rules the waves with the Velaryon fleet, and the North and the Vale could still send forces on Velaryon ferries to aid Rhaenyra's cause."
"Lord Dalton Greyjoy has still not answered our raven," Grand Maester Orwyle said,"I have every reason to believe that the Iron Fleet shall be the king's, though, for we have offered him the position of the king's Master of Ships."
"It irritates me," Ser Criston said,"That empty seat."
"I propose we still wait for Lord Dalton's answer," Lord Jasper said,"and the position of Master of Ships shall remain open for him in the meanwhile. But until such time as he answers our raven, we must turn to other solutions for our fleet."
"There are many trading galleys which have been stranded in King's Landing during the Sea Snake's blockade," Ser Criston said,"Commission them for the king, fill them with criminals from the black cells and beggars from Flea Bottom, and they shall at least block the Blackwater for a time."
"I do not think it shall do," Tyland said,"We must compensate the merchants lest we sully the king's name and perhaps provoke rebellion, and the gold in the treasury is not meant for that. The quarter of the treasury I left in King's Landing is for use in gifting lords and paying the king's hosts, for those purposes and those purposes only. If we turn them to any other purpose, like buying ships of uncertain value, we shall soon find our treasury bled dry."
"If there were more use for the crown's gold in King's Landing," Ser Criston said,"why did my lord leave only a quarter in King's Landing? Why? Why did my lord send a quarter to the Iron Bank, a quarter to Oldtown, and a quarter to Casterly Rock?"
Tyland bit his tongue to keep his face from turning red, and answered calmly: "In a time of war, gold must be split for safekeeping. If King's Landing falls, we still have three-quarters of the treasury. All in the hands of true men, who shall continue the fight."
"I heard that my lord Tyland did not wish to go to war," Ser Criston said.
"Ser Criston," Lord Jasper said,"We can buy the ships, but not with gold. The crown's popularity is high with the coronation and the feast, and with popularity comes trust. We can offer the merchants parchment signed and sealed by the king and Small Council, our written word promising that their ships shall be compensated for as soon as the war is over and the crown has freedom again of its finances. When the war is over, they shall only need arrive at the treasury to trade in their parchments for their compensation."
"Grand Maester, do you have that?" Ser Otto said, turning to Grand Maester Orwyle who was making a record of the meeting. The Grand Maester nodded whilst scribbling his quill on his third piece of parchment.
"Lord Jasper is wise," Tyland said,"though trade galleys, in the end, shall be no match for the Sea Snake's warships. We must have a war fleet of our own."
"That we shall have," Ser Otto said,"I have received glad tidings from the east. Prince Daemon has made many enemies whilst he warred in the Stepstones, one of which is the Kingdom of the Three Daughters across the Narrow Sea. I have written to the Triarchy, and they have agreed to an alliance. Admiral Sharako Lohar of Lys commands a fleet ninety ships strong that shall set sail in several days from Tyrosh and join their strength to ours." "Joined with Lord Dalton's Iron Fleet, the Lannister fleet of Lannisport, the Redwyne fleet from the Reach, and our own new galleys in King's Landing," Ser Otto said,"we shall match and perhaps surpass the Sea Snake's three hundred ships."
"Could we perhaps have even more?" Lord Jasper said,"The Dornish-"
"What of the Dornish?" Ser Otto demanded.
"Lord Larys has told us of this new Vulture King rising from the marches," Lord Jasper said,"no doubt at the behest of Prince Qoren Martell. Lord Borros Baratheon may have declared for the crown, but his raven told us that he is gathering his banners at Griffin's Roost, farther away from King's Landing than Storm's End. It is most like that he seeks to subdue the Vulture King before he can march north. Left unchecked, the Dornish could whittle away a large part of our strength."
"What do you propose to do?" Tyland said,"The Dornishmen hate us, and it is best to let them be. They shall trouble our foes as much as they trouble us, for black or green, a dragon is still a dragon. And dragons burned every one of their castles a century ago."
"A century ago," Lord Jasper said,"and men forget. No living man remembers those days when Dorne saw dragons."
"What does my lord propose we deal with the Dornishmen?" Ser Otto asked.
"The same deal we offered Lord Borros Baratheon, Lord Jason Lannister, and Lord Lyonel Tyrell," Lord Jasper said,"A dragon. Prince Qoren's eldest child is a daughter, Princess Aliandra, and she is still unwed. Have her wed Prince Jaehaerys, and Dorne shall be His Grace's. Furthermore, beneath Dornish law, the eldest child inherits regardless of sex, so Princess Aliandra shall inherit Dorne. If she weds Prince Jaehaerys, she shall bring Dorne into the fold. We shall do what the Conqueror never did."
"I will not have a dragon prince wed a desert harlot," Ser Otto said angrily, glaring at Lord Jasper. His glare died in an instant as his eyes turned in its lid,"Forgive me, Lord Jasper. Prince Jaehaerys has only six years, and Princess Aliandra has already flowered at fourteen. She will not wait until Prince Jaehaerys comes of age to satisfy her desires, and it shall be too much of a scandal for the royal house. Besides, we fight right now for the ancient laws of the Andals, the rights of a trueborn son above that of a mere daughter. We cannot have Dornish law poison the kingdom."
Tyland knew, though, the truth of Ser Otto's outburst. The Hand wanted Prince Jaehaerys to wed a Hightower, so that when Prince Jaehaerys became king, a Hightower would be queen again. Tyland knew also to not speak of that matter.
"Without the Dornish," Tyland tried to bring the subject away,"our fleets will fight the Sea Snake to a standstill. Even with the strength of the Dornish, the Sea Snake's sailors are tested mariners which our men cannot hope to match. We cannot wager on ships alone."
"Mayhaps we need not fight a single battle on the sea," Ser Criston said,"Does my lords remember Ser Vaemond Velaryon?"
"Aye," Lord Jasper said,"a Velaryon knight who had spoken of Rhaenyra's children as Strong bastards, and he was beheaded by Prince Daemon with his five younger cousins having their tongues removed."
"Only the Sea Snake holds true to the traitor princess," Ser Criston said,"Three of the five mute cousins are still alive, and all five have brothers, goodbrothers, and sons. All the rest of House Velaryon, like Ser Vaemond, know Rhaenyra's sons as the Strong bastards that they are. We only need act upon that. Lord Larys can send birds to Driftmark and the Velaryon fleet telling the Velaryons that should they murder the Sea Snake, they shall be confirmed as the new Master of Driftmark and Lord of the Tides, to inherit all of the Sea Snake's lands, titles, and incomes. They shall inherit his fleet as well, which they shall bring to us."
"Ser Criston," Lord Jasper said, his voice rough,"You would condone kinslaying."
"If my choice was between king and kin," Ser Criston said,"I would choose my king."
"Ser Criston," Ser Otto said,"You are a Kingsguard, and the oath of the white cloak is paramount for you. But the rest of us are beholden to the vows of the Seven Who Are One, that those who slay kin would be cursed until their last days and all their works shall end in ruin. If we condone kinslaying, we win a stone isle and a few hundred chunks of oak, whilst we lose everything else."
"You cannot enter," Ser Laith Honeys's thick voice rang through the door of the Tower of the Hand, and Tyland turned with the Small Council to face the thin oaken door. "You are not apart of the Small Council."
"I am now," a steely voice answered, and Tyland sucked in a breath as the door slammed open. Prince Aemond took his boot off the door and strode into the Small Council chamber in the Tower of the Hand. The prince was not wearing his eyepatch, and his sapphire eye gleamed in the lamplight. Ser Laith stood behind him, his face purple with rage as he gripped his hilt. Ser Otto shook his head at Ser Laith, and the Honeys knight backed away and slammed the door behind Prince Aemond.
"My prince," Ser Otto said,"You are not welcome here. Please leave of your own accord before I must have my guards remove you."
"I thought members of the Small Council were welcome at Small Council meetings," Prince Aemond laughed. He pointed at the empty chair of the Master of Ships,"I think that is my seat."
"That is the seat of the Master of Ships," Lord Jasper said,"The seat of Lord Dalton Greyjoy."
"Is Greyjoy here?" Prince Aemond looked around,"I do not see him." He strode to the seat of the Master of Ships and sat down,"This is my seat."
"Only the king has the authority to appoint councilors to the Small Council," Ser Otto said,"Have my prince been appointed the position of Master of Ships by King Aegon?"
"No," Prince Aemond said,"I have been appointed the Master of Ships by the queen."
"Which queen?" Ser Otto asked. Tyland knew what the Hand meant. If it was his daughter Queen Alicent, then Ser Otto would accept Prince Aemond's appointment. Grudgingly, for a certainty, but Ser Otto would never oppose his daughter.
"Her Grace Queen Helaena," Prince Aemond said, then looked at the gaping expressions of the councilors,"If any of my good lords have a problem with that, you may take it up with the queen." "Or," Prince Aemond set Vhagar's whip onto the table,"you can take it up with me. I think I shall enjoy that even more."
Ser Otto huffed, and sat in his seat.
"I hear you were discussing Driftmark," Prince Aemond said,"And here is what I propose to do with the traitor Velaryons. House Velaryon is the chief instigator of the whore's rebellion, and the house must know that traitors will have a traitor's due. House Velaryon shall be stripped of Driftmark, their titles, and all their lands and incomes. Corlys Velaryon shall be put to death, all the men of the house given the choice of the Wall or the axe, and all the women of the house enlisted in the Faith."
"And who shall have Driftmark in the place of the Velaryons?" Lord Jasper asked.
"Me," Prince Aemond laughed again as his sapphire eye glittered,"I brought His Grace the Stormlands. I shall need a fitting reward."