The King's dinner
Jon POV
I read the report from lord Edmure Tully, informing me that Casterly Rock has fallen. Tommen and Myrcella Waters were taken as hostages, and most Lannister males went to the Wall. I should be happy about this news, but the head at the table of Grandmaester's solar didn't let me.
"What should I do?" I asked the head, and its eyes moved toward me as if hearing me.
It did nothing but give me nightmares. For now, only me, the maester, Sam, Sarella, and the men of Night Watch knew about it. I was hesitant to tell anyone else about it. Panic would bring nothing good, but I knew this had to be my most important task. I needed to prepare if the legends about the long night were true.
For now, I had the maester pore over the libraries of Red Keep and ask for more information from the Citadel. I should wait for lord Tully before revealing it to others. The lords of the small council should know first. Then I should gradually disclose it to others. I knew that my enemies would use it to hurt my rule if I handled it poorly.
"Your Grace, you are still here?" The maester asked when he came back.
"Did you find anything?"
"I peruse some old books and scrolls, but so far, I couldn't find much. Even though the library of Red Keep is expansive, it doesn't have many old books. I mean books from thousand years ago. I already told the Citadel that the young king wants to know about the long night and asked them to send all the books here."
"It seems that all we can do."
"I would like to advise you to ask about these books from Winterfell, one of the oldest castles, and I heard their library has many books, even from the age of heroes."
"You are right. If anyone has the answers we are looking for, it would be Winterfell."
The Wall itself should have more information too. It was only a matter of digging the old books out of the dust. There was nothing else I could do. Not long ago, I, like everyone else, thought of something like that to be only a legend. At best, a distant past that was better to be forgotten. Yet it was time to remember that time.
…
"You look tired, your grace," My soon-to-be wife, Margaery, commented. "You should eat more. It is said that a healthy body is a healthy mind."
"Thank you for your concern, my lady. I will make sure to eat plenty."
It was just another dinner with the Tyrell family. I had to have good relations with every one of them. Ser Garlan was likable, so it wasn't hard to befriend him. The problem was lord Mace Tyrell. I couldn't stand him. He was everything I didn't like about southern lords. His boasting was the worst.
Lady Olenna Tyrell rarely shies away from stating her opinions about anything. It wouldn't be a problem, but listening to her spiteful words often made me awkward. Ser Loras Tyrell was another problem. It seems that his hatred for Sam didn't lessen at all during the time he was here.
"What is there for the young king to worry about?" Lady Olenna said. "He has so many lords to care for everything he needs."
"Not many are capable of doing what I need," I replied, glancing at Lord Mace Tyrell. "I have to worry that they don't cause more trouble." I ended up looking at ser Loras Tyrell.
"I am sure they are doing the best they can," Margaery said. "If gods are willing, I am sure your problems will be solved in no time."
"Speaking of gods, ser Garlan, how is the situation with the faith?" I asked.
"I can't stop people from listening to the sermons of the Septon."
"And what do the sermons say?"
"That baseborn shouldn't be trusted. They are born of lust, lies, and weakness."
"So, they are treacherous and wanton by nature," I finished ser Garlan's words. "I heard it many times before."
"What did you expect? Was there a bastard king before? Of course, the faith would not accept it so easily."
"Mother, his grace Jaehaerys isn't a bastard," Lady Alerie Hightower defended me.
"People don't forget so easily, dear," Lady Olenna commented. "They still remember our king as the bastard of Winterfell and nothing more."
"Yet, they forget that there was a King who established rule over the Riverlands for three centuries. I remember Benedict Rivers founded House Justman," I said. "Ser Garlan, how do the Septons manage to gather so many people to their sermons?"
"Food and clothing," He replied.
"And where do they get it? Speak with Lady Arianne and find it who provides the Faith its resources."
"Will do, your grace."
"Lady Margaery, I heard you have given away food leftovers from Red Keep to the homeless and those in need."
"I just wanted to be of help."
"And I thank you for your hard work. Would you mind going to the smallfolk camps and handing out more food, clothing, and medicine?"
"Of course not, your grace."
"It is too dangerous," Mace Tyrell interrupted me. "Gods only know what could happen to my daughter if those uncouth people tried something. Especially when they are concentrated in these camps of theirs."
"Father, I have Loras and a dozen more guards to watch over me."
"No, I agree with your father, lady Margaery," I said. "I will give you more guards."
"Your grace, any more armed men and people will start to fear me."
"They will pretend to be your servants and help you with your work. Agree with me. I can't risk my soon-to-be wife's life," I had to add the soon-to-be, so they wouldn't get themselves over their heads and remind them that this title still can change.
"Very well, your grace. I will speak of how kind and generous you are."
"I thought it was a family dinner, not a small council," Lady Olenna stated. "Now, I don't want to hear more of your work. Who knows how many times I would be able to enjoy a family dinner in my old age."
I listened to her words and didn't speak more about any tasks. For now, I was satisfied that I managed to get an opportunity to set some spies into house Tyrell's entourage. I had to keep a close eye on them and their activities.
…
Another day and another dinner, this time with Martells. It was a smaller family but probably more dangerous. Prince Oberyn Martell didn't hide his dislike for me. Lady Arianne hid her emotions too well. I couldn't tell what she was thinking behind that smile of hers.
The saving grace I had was the children of Arianne and Edmure Tully. Neither Oberyn nor I could disagree with them. If they asked something, we had no other choice but to answer them. So, most of the evening was spent telling them stories of our battles and feats.
If we started to get into more gruesome details, we would feel the fierce eyes of lady Arianne upon us. I still can't believe I ever feared Lady Stark back in Winterfell. Lady Arianne was way more terrifying, and she did nothing but smile. That smile would give me nightmares.
"What happened to the mad lion?" Gerald Tully asked. "Did father defeat him?"
"Which mad lion?" Oberyn asked. "The King beheaded the little bastard mad lion, the mad lioness poisoned herself, and the old mad lion ran away with a tail between his legs."
"Your father is now fighting the rest of the lions in the Westerlands," I told the children.
"When will he return?" Elia asked.
"When he defeats our enemies," Oberyn answered.
"But there are so many of them," Elia complained. "There is always an enemy that father has to fight."
"My dear," Lady Arianne took Elia and sat her on her's lap. "Your father is strong and will soon defeat all the bad men, so you must be strong and wait for him."
"Fine," Elia grumbled and took an apple pie.
"Will you ride a dragon?" Axel asked me. "Will you take me with you to ride a dragon?"
"Me too, me too," Both Elia and Geralt added.
"Now, you all know that no dragons are left in the world," Arianne told them.
"I promise that if I ever ride a dragon, I will take you with me," I said, and it was enough for children.
After that, dinner went on quietly. With children listening to Oberyn's stories about his journey to Essos. At the same time, I talked about the North, Winterfell, and the Wall. Soon I started to tell the stories about the long night that old nan had told me when I was a child. But now, it wasn't easy to speak about knowing that those stories might be real.
"Father told me that the Children of the Forest joined hands with the first men and, with obsidian blades, defeated the Others. Then the giants built the Wall, and the Children of the Forest enchanted it with magic. And, and" After hearing about my stories, Elia started to tell what she knew.
"And Brandon the Builder established the Night Watch," I finished for her. "You know a lot."
"Father said you can learn a lot from legends," Elia replied.
"No, he said you can learn a lot from history," Axel told her.
"No, legends."
"History."
Soon the children started to fight about who was right while Geralt took all the sweet rolls from the table. When Elia and Axel saw what Geralt was doing, they began to fight over the sweet rolls. While watching the children fighting, Arianne try to calm them down. Something came to my mind—obsidian blades.
I remember hearing about them before. Realizing I had something to work with, I excused myself from dinner and went straight to the maester. At last, I had a place to begin my research. If there is some truth to the legends, then the obsidian blades are the answer we are looking for.
I still remember what Yoren from the night's watch told me. That the man was dead before finding his body, he rose at night and attacked the rangers. After stabbing him many times, the man didn't fall. They defeated it only after cutting its head and burning its body. So far, the only thing that could kill the dead was the fire.
…
"Obsidian, otherwise called dragonglass, is found mostly on volcanic places like Dragonstone," The maester Marwyn explained. "I can see that it might work. The White Walkers are created from ice and cold. So, logically fire and heat would make their worst enemies."
"What about Valyrian steel?" Sarella asked.
"It is hard to say the Valryrian steel didn't exist in the age of heroes. At least it was not called Valyrian steel back then."
"I heard a legend about Azor Ahai and the Lightbringer," Sam added. "Maybe we should look into the Lightbringer."
"There are plenty of legends. It is hard to tell which one comes first," The maester replied. "Still, so far, the safest way to kill those abominations is fire."
"No wildfire. The city had just started to be rebuilt. I will not let wildfire enter anywhere near it," I said. "Work on obsidian and try to uncover more about the legends and cover that head. It creeps me out."
I left the maester to his work and returned to my solar. I have written to Robb and explained the situation. I hope the war with the Greyjoys will end soon, and Robb could focus on strengthening the Wall.
I turned to the reports on my table and started to read them. Lady Arianne worked fast and delivered me people who worked with the Septons. Reading her information, I realized that it was the merchants that helped to supply them with the resources they needed. Not waiting for anything, I called out from ser Garlan.
"You called me, your grace?" Ser Garlan asked.
"There are the names. I want you to raid their homes and ships."
"What pretext should I use."
"Tell them they are suspected of slavery," I told him. "Tarnish their reputation with the smallfolk."
"So, they are the ones supporting the faith. It will be done. I will let the word spread that Septons uses their merchandise and has helped them."
"I will be counting on you."
It was time to do something about the faith uprising. I could not let them set up a militia of their own. First, put their reputation into the questioning. If the Septons are deemed to do something heretic, all their words about me or my rule will be considered nothing but hearsay.
A.N. I am truly sorry for not being able to upload faster. I will still try to upload once a week, but there will be no schedule. I hope I didn't disappoint any of you with my tardiness. If I did, I am sorry.
Thank you for reading, and as always, If you want more, up to five advanced chapters, you can support me on pa treon. com \ ironwolf852.