Chapter Twenty-Two: Otto III
The hall was a great square chamber, with relics of the past displayed on white plinths everywhere Otto looked. On the right and left sides of the hall, hundreds of candles were sitting on fine marble shelves, dripping hot wax as they melted. The door that Otto used to enter was made of mahogany, lined with pure silver and gold.
The left wall was a gigantic painting, depicting some naval battle with massive galleys and swan ships and longships, all with different coloured sails. On the right, was nine large windows, four of them in stained blue and white glass, the others left bare, overlooking the sea. The open window allowed the sea breeze to come in, and Otto could feel small gusts tugging at his neck. He could also smell the salt of the water, and hear waves crashing against cliffs and gulls squawking at each other.
Siting gently on each plinth were a different treasure, the first one on Otto's left was a rusted bronze Ghiscari mask. The next was a bust of a woman, made entirely of onyx and pearl. After that was a gilded Dothraki arakh, and then a skull belonging to one the terrible walking lizards of Sothoryos. On Otto's left, all the plinths had a human skull resting on them, all grinning at Otto as if they knew some jape. The first wore a helmet with goat horns, the next a purple silken hat from Volantis, the next one wore a feather head covering of many colours from the Summer Isles. After that were Tyroshi ballroom masks, then a glimmering white helmet even whiter than the Kingsguard armour, that shone from the many candles placed around the room.
At the back of the room, the stone wall was etched into the likeness of a battleship, with parts of the wall jutting out to show the prow of the ship and the waves it rode against. Where the sea was meant to be, blue gemstones were embedded into the wall, and the sail of the stone ship were decorated with emeralds and dark blue diamonds.
Hanging down from the ceiling were two large banners, both containing a white silver seahorse on a field of bright aquamarine, and between those banners, was a massive throne made of driftwood. In that throne was seated Lord Corlys Velaryon, the Sea Snake.
When Otto was dismissed by the King, he was disappointed. Disappointed in his son, Thoren, for not winning the Princess' hand in marriage sooner; disappointed in his daughter for her relentless defense of her friend which led to his dismissal; but most of all, he was disappointed in himself, for failing in the task his brother had set for him to do, in order to redeem himself from the previous failure all those years ago.
I promised Lord Hobert that Alicent would marry Viserys back then, but she didn't. And then I promised him I could make a marriage between Thoren and Rhaenyra happen, but I could not do it. And I also lost my position as the King's Hand, one of the few things to my name, which was the worst of it all.
Otto was prepared to return back to Oldtown with his head bowed low in shame, accepting that he had utterly failed in all of his plans, and was a disappointment to the Hightower name. That was until he had heard that Corlys Velaryon had also been dismissed from the Small Council the same day.
I am surprised His Grace did not remove him earlier, as he was so persistent in pushing his grandson's position as heir, as well as advocating for taking action in the Stepstones.
After Otto learnt the news of Corlys Velaryon's dismissal, he promptly sent him a message, that he was willing to forge an alliance with him and waited patiently for his response. The Sea Snake then responded to him a day later, inviting him to Driftmark to negotiate. The parchment claimed that Red Keep was deemed too unsafe for such a thing, as "spies were lurking everywhere".
He is correct in that. Though I am gone from King's Landing, many of my spies still continue to serve in the Red Keep, reporting their findings to Oldtown now.
Upon sending Corlys Velaryon his intent of forging an alliance, he then notified his children that they were to return home. He could not bring himself to be angry at Thoren and Alicent, considering that he had already had a better solution at the ready.
I do regret scolding Alicent over her defence of Rhaenyra, however. Though it was better to tell her this now than later, so Alicent can finally see her friend's true colours.
Thoren and Alicent, along with Gwayne and the rest of the Hightower household, left King's Landing only a day or two after Otto was dismissed, to return to Oldtown by horse and carriage. Meanwhile, Otto would take one of the small Hightower galleys that were in the capital to Driftmark, the island of House Velaryon. When he arrived, his men remained on Driftmark proper, to spend some nights, enjoying their stay in some tavern on Spicetown or Hull, and mayhaps buy some treasures from the markets that stocked goods from all across the world. Otto and some of his guards then made their way to High Tide, the new castle of the Velaryons.
High Tide, true to its namesake, was only accessible by a causeway available when the tide was low. The castle was only a few years old, and Otto could notice the pale stone used to build it still shone in the morning sun. It was a large keep, with many windows and towers. On top of the many wings of the castle, the rooves were all painted a striking light blue.
A serving man came up to Otto, and offered him bread and salt before leaving, which Otto accepted.
Guest right.
The bread was still warm, likely fresh out of the oven, and the salt was new as well, cutting Otto's tongue.
Another small way the Sea Snake flaunts his immense wealth.
Corlys Velaryon wore a cloth-of-gold doublet that had black wave patterns stitched onto it, on his neck was a golden chain studded with amethysts, and nine golden rings decorated his fingers. He stood up from his Driftwood Throne and walked to the mahogany table on side of the room, that was placed underneath the grand window, and next to the skull with the white helmet.
"Come, Ser Otto, take a seat." He said, warmly, pulling out one of the mahogany chairs, whilst sitting down in the one opposite from it.
Otto calmly walked to the chair and sat down.
"Wine? I have many selections from all across the world. Qarth, Lorath, Dorne, and even a vintage from the Summer Isles." Corlys offered, with a smile on his face.
"My thanks, Lord Corlys, but the bread and salt shall serve." Otto responded.
Though the many selections sound appetizing, I am here to strike an important deal. I must not get carried away with luxuries, there is time for that afterwards.
Corlys also did not pour any wine for himself. He leaned forwards, resting his elbows on the table, and stared at Otto with his dark purple eyes.
"You come here to make a deal with me. Yet, for the past few years on the council, you constantly spoke in favour of Princess Rhaenyra over my grandson. So, tell me, Ser Otto, how can I trust your intentions?"
Otto remained seated upright in his own chair, not leaning forwards, nor slouching.
"The state of affairs have changed since then." Otto replied, bluntly.
I do not need to drag out my sentences. Short and simple is better.
"The state of affairs have changed, you are correct." Corlys repeated. "You have since been removed as Hand, as I was similarly removed as Master of Ships. We both have that in common. What do you offer to me, then, in order to forge this so-called alliance?"
"Marriage alliances. Not one marriage pact, but two. In return for House Hightower's support of Prince Daeron as the heir to the Iron Throne, Lady Jocelyn, the daughter of my son, Gwayne would be betrothed to Prince Daeron, who is two years her elder. And to secure our alliance now, my daughter Alicent is to marry Ser Laenor, your son and heir."
"Marrying your granddaughter to the rightful heir, ever so ambitious to place your blood on the Iron Throne, aren't you Ser Otto?" Corlys scoffed.
"In that regard, we are not too dissimilar, Lord Corlys." Otto retorted.
Corlys couldn't help but smile. "Mayhaps. And why should I accept your terms? Why should I not find another Great House to marry Laenor or Daeron off to?"
"House Hightower are amongst the three richest houses in the Seven Kingdoms, along with House Velaryon, of course. The only house richer than both ours are the Lannisters, who have so recently placed their support behind Princess Rhaenyra through her betrothal with Jason Lannister, and thus against your grandson's claim. The backing of Oldtown is invaluable to Prince Daeron if you so wish to place him on the Iron Throne."
Corlys nodded, and thought for a while before he chose his next words.
"You bring me a good deal, a very good deal in fact, Ser Otto. And I am certainly willing to accept it…" He replied. "But first, in order to solidify this alliance… it would require... what I would call... a gesture of good will on House Hightower's part."
This is expected. The Sea Snake would surely offer his own terms.
"And what is this gesture you ask of us?"
"I am sure that you are well aware by now of the threat in the Stepstones. I have been mentioning it for the past few years in the Small Council. Yet our king prefers to sit on his arse and take no action regarding it. Trade coming out of, and into Driftmark have taken a large hit in the last couple of years, and I am certain that Oldtown has also felt the effects of Triarchy's actions. The matter affects your house just as much as mine."
"You would require House Hightower's aid in the Stepstones?"
"Require, not as such. In truth, House Velaryon have the strongest navy in the known world, and two dragons to add to our arsenal. We could deal with the Triarchy ourselves; I would think."
Another thinly veiled threat.
"But with the support of Oldtown, however, the Crabfeeder would not stand a chance against our combined efforts." Corlys continued. "I would rather we flush out the Triarchy completely, and be assured a certain victory at the end of it all."
Lord Hobert shall not like this part of the agreement, but for the price of a royal marriage, it shall be worth the sacrifice.
Otto looked directly into Corlys' eyes and took a small breath. "Then a gesture of goodwill you shall have."
Corlys Velaryon smiled and stood up from his chair.
"What you said earlier about the two of us being not too dissimilar rings truer than you would think, Ser Otto. You are a second son, set to inherit nothing, so you must work hard in order to maintain a lasting legacy of your own, maybe by serving the realm as Hand, or arranging lofty marriages for your children. And in spirit, House Hightower is the same. Though the Hightowers of Oldtown have always been powerful historically, but they have never been more than petty Kings, playing second fiddle to the Gardeners during the time of the Kingdom of the Reach. And in recent times, you must settle for being second fiddle to the Lord Paramount of the Reach, paying obeisance to the Tyrells. In that regard, our Houses share that in common. House Velaryon's origins, meanwhile, reach back to Old Valyria. It is said we are even older than the Targaryens. But we have never rode dragons. Instead, whilst the Targaryens inherited dragons from their forefathers, my house had to fight tooth and nail in order to survive. I went on my Nine Voyages myself, and gathered my house's wealth myself, and built this castle myself. Neither of us are like the King, who sits around all day on his fucking chair, refusing to take action and lets his enemies surround him from all sides, whilst the wealth, power, and reputation of his kingdom plummets. And neither of us are like the Princess, either, who constantly shirks her duties and expects the realm to bow down to her wishes, whilst also stealing her brother's birthright. And for certainly, neither of us are at all like the Lannisters, who were handed everything on golden platters from their family's ancestral wealth. No, us second sons fight for ourselves." Corlys paused. "Laenor is to marry Lady Alicent, and when they come of age, Prince Daeron shall marry Lady Jocelyn. I agree to your terms, as you have agreed to mine."
Once he finished, he walked over to Otto and offered him his hand.
Otto Hightower stood up from his chair, and shook hands with Corlys Velaryon.
Now I can try some of those wines.