A/N: I'm sorry for the month-long absence but I've been having a bad case of writer's block, I've rewritten the chapter almost three times before I decided that it was good enough.

Sorry again and enjoy!

Essos, City of Omber, two days after "The Attack on Omber", 280AC.

[Spread them out more, otherwise, they won't burn all the way through!] Gioum says as he directs his soldiers.

The Legionnaires bowed and did as they were told without a word, their segmented armor clicked and clanked minutely under their blue capes, their leather sandals, shin guards, trousers, and tunics were all tightly stitched so they only made the faintest sound when in motion and they wore thick cloths over their mouths so even the sound of their breathing was muffled, it was part of their conditioning, they did not scream a battle cry or stomp their feet or banged their shields, they stayed quiet so any commands from their superior would not be drowned out or misheard. Even within the safety of the war camp the soldiers rarely spoke above a whisper, instead, they used hand gestures taught to them by the King himself as a means of communication, but when they were out marching to battle this rule was strictly observed and harshly enforced, if any man so much as sneeze, he would be flogged.

They worked in teams as always, there was a station where the bodies were stripped, another lopped off the arms and legs, another that threw them into the fire, and finally, another team that ensured the bodies burned evenly. Even the Laborers worked, they gathered burning material to feed the fires and begin repair on the city gates. The citizens of Omber were told to stay indoors or out of the way, as the Rose army did their work, nearly all the surviving citizens were appalled by the army's callus and calm demeanor towards disposing of the bodies that littered the streets and demanded that the Legionnaires bury them properly.

Those who voiced their opinion on the matter were beaten near death and had one finger removed, but even then, there were still a few who didn't comply, so they were flayed in the city square and left exposed to the elements, none spoke out after that.

The sky was turning black from all the smoke. there were twenty fires all burning at once and their flames roared like a mad monster demanding more fuel. The sound of clanking and creaking in the distance draws Gioum attention, near the torn and twisted metal gates of the city stood the two of the four Beetles, a heavily armored version of the caterpillar, it needed four oxen to move and a ten-man team to operate, it was a mobile version of the docking wheels used in the Rose Kingdom's harbor, it was used to pull ships directly to the dock rather than the ship slowly positioning itself, since the Rose river that supplied the Kingdom with water and allowed travel by ship was a river, the current was often stronger than the wind that carried the ships upstream. The Beetles were the same except they were encased inside a steel dome that deflected any projectile thrown its way.

At this moment they were helping drag the bodies of fallen enemies out of the city to be burned, its chain could be fitted with hooks and claws to pull wood and stone for construction, or in this case, bodies. They had brought four beetles from the Rose but they ended up only using one, so the two were being used to quicken the cleanup, while the other two were left on standby in case something went wrong.

"Centurion!" a deep voice called from behind, it was easy to distinguish Gioum's rank as it was displayed prominently, the mark of a centurion was an emblem of two closed fists with the fingers facing outward and it was riveted onto the cuirass, each finger represented a wolf pack and being closed into fest represented a unified fighting force, like an actual fest.

Gioum is pulled from his musing by the towering figure of Willis, he wore his newest set of armor as the with the first, the second one had become too tight, his current armor similar to the standard Segmented armor cuirass of a Legionnaire, except, Willis had sleeves of scalemail, a boar hyde cape, and his helmet was in the shape of a snarling boar, his cuirass was also different, while the standard-issue depicted a rose with interwoven thorns located at the center of the chest, Willis' depicted two boars on each pectoral facing each other with open maws and long tusks, Gioum quickly raised an open hand in salute "My Lord Fest, How may I serve you?"

"Nothing important" Willis responded and Gioum hastily lowered his hand, "any trouble so far?" Willis asked as he eyed each of the burning piles,

"None Lord Fest" Gioum answered, because of Willis' height Gioum had to raise his chin as high as he could to keep eye contact, "all is going according to schedule"

"Good" Willis said as he turns and directs Gioum's attention with his bearded chin to the city gates, a row of soldiers and riders were marching out while several wagons followed behind, "I'm just amusing myself until they're ready to travel"

"May your travel be safe, Lord Fist" Gioum said reflexively, it was a direct translation from his mother tongue and one of the few that made since when spoken in the common tongue,

"Hmm" Willis grunted, then something catches his attention, in the distance near the ruined gate where the caravan was still preparing to depart, a short figure waves his arm at Willis, "as you were Centurion"

Gioum bows as Willis walks over to the short figure, Gioum squints his eyes at the figure and assume him to be Lord Reed. he then returns his attention to his men still hard at work cleaning the battlefield

Moments later….

"Are we ready?" Willis asks his short companion, Howland had taken to wearing a mask made from a Dothraki skull under a black cowl, the rest of his attire was made of black wool while his cuirass, pauldron, boots, and bracers were all made of black studded leather meant to hide in the shadow and silence movement.

"Yes, let's go" Howland said as he mounted his horse, "we need to get there before the rains start again"

"Lead the way" Willis said as he climbs inside a carriage, it creaks in protest as Willis' fully armored weight shifts into it, then they are off. The caravan was small, carrying only the few that were wounded in the fighting, none of the legionaries had died in the attack.

The Rose Kingdom, Southern Gate, 280 AC.

Lightning sparked and split the skies, thunder tore and trembled the earth while the wind ripped and roiled the seas.

Everyone in the Kingdom stayed indoors, in the past they would all pray that the waters did not reach them when summer ended. That was the risk of building your home so close to a river, it would always swell when the cool winter winds collide with the humid summer heat, creating rain, enough to fill every brook, basin, lake, lagoon, pond, and puddle connecting them all into a singular body of water that washes everything into the sea. To escape the floods that plagued Essos the Essosi would hide in caves or caverns while some made shelters within forests, these too carried risks, the caves were often already inhabited and the storms would rip off huge branches from the forest canopy, crushing anything where it landed on.

But that was before King Eddard came and remade the land itself, stone walls lined the river banks keeping the rushing river from reaching the Rose, and drainage canals riddled the kingdom preventing flooding, houses were all reinforced with cob and rammed earth, even as the storm raged and rioted outside, the people within were dry and warm, the rain was no longer associated with ruin and rot, now it signaled rest and relaxation as the only work that could be done were those conducted indoors, like smithing and repairing weapons, packaging, pickling, and poting food, or cleaning. Since there were many hands to lighten the work, most of the time was spent either sleeping or socializing. Oddly enough, this led to nearly all of the Essosi within the Kingdom to deify their king, even more than they did already. `

It was in this weather that a lone man on horseback reached the southern gatehouse of the Rose Kingdom, his way was blocked by the portcullis, he lefts a staff he held in his right hand and taps on it "I COME TO OFFER MY SPEAR TO THE KING OF THE ROSE!" The hooded rider shouted.

The guards above looked upon the man as the rain poured over him and his horse, [one. Horse-rider. Ready-response] the guard gestures with his hands to another guard who nods and goes down to the main gate.

"ARE YOU ALONE?" the guard shouted back from an arrow slit,

"YES!" the rider answered. For a long moment nothing happened, the sound of the rain drowned out any other noise while flashes of lightning gave brief glimpses of the full size of the gatehouse, it had four towers, each fifty feet tall, and built out of stone, and covered in wooden spikes.

Then the sound of grinding metal shrieked in the distance as the portcullis lifted off the ground revealing a single soldier in segmented armor standing outside the inner gate holding a lamp, the rider came under the gatehouse and out of the rain, then the Portcullis slammed back down behind him.

"before I allow you to enter, I must ask" the man said, "do you wish my king or his kingdom harm?"

The rider polls back his hood, revealing the dark features of his face, and answers confidently "no"

"What is your name?" the soldier asked.

"I am Prince Oberen of House Martell" he smiled a cocky smile at the soldier who didn't seem to care about his title. The soldier simply whistled and the massive doors behind him were slowly pulled open.

Meanwhile, Eddard's solar, near the center of the Fortress.

"The Essosi say that storms are due to the goddess [Summer], raving as her only daughter [bounty] returns to her husband [King Death]" Eddard said, he was watching the rain whip and whirl outside but the buildings he had designed remained unaffected. "What do you think, Roose"

"Do you even believe in the Gods?" Roose asked as the guard posted outside closed the door to Eddard's new solar was closed, it was larger than his office and contained all his 'blueprints', 'models' and equipment in a single room, it had only taken a day to transport all of Eddard's effect into his new apartment, he had an entire kingdom to help him after all. The apartment itself had taken a year longer to finish after the carpenters and woodworkers halted the project when they were reallocated by the King to design and build pre-made planks, boards and logs to be sent to aid in 'the Attack on Omber' as Eddard had dubbed it "or is it that you don't need to believe?"

Eddard smiled, eyeing Roose as he sat and spied the two books on Eddard's desk. They had settled into a type of stalemate, Roose would allude to Eddard's secret as a form of protest, but only in private, and Eddard would tolerate them as he knew pushing Roose too far would only agitate him further, Roose saw this as confirmation of his importance to the Kingdom, it wasn't much, but it was something.

"Omber is yours" Roose said, it became less surprising each time Eddard's plans brought them victory "High Overseer, Edmyne rules it in your name"

"Very good" Eddard walks to the hearth in the corner of the apartment, picking up a pot of what smells like broth, then he places it on his disk and pushes one of the books towards Roose, both were leather bond and similar in size, "I've thought about what you said"

Roose raises an eyebrow and picks up the first book, he reads the letters on their covers "Malice and Morals, by Eddard Stark" Roose looks at Eddard questioningly, Eddard smiles at him and pushes the other book to him, Roose takes it and reads the title.

"The Art of War, by Sun..." Roose looks at the name on the book, and realizes that in the vast lands of Westeros and Essos, he had never encountered the name, "teesoo?"

"T-su" Eddard corrected, "teh-soo" he made the sound again, this time with an exaggerated expression, "like a short sneeze" he gestured for Roose to try

"Tsu" Roose said, he was caught off guard by how Eddard pronounced the alien word with such familiarity, "who is this tsu?"

"A man like no other" Eddard sat up and poured the broth into two cups, the steam bloomed up to the rafters while a steady stream of steam slithered out after it, "at first, the people thought he was a genius, somehow gifted with knowledge beyond his capital and capacity"

"Which people?" Roose asked, putting the books back down.

Eddard slowly sipped his broth and smirked at him, Roose didn't allow his annoyance to reach his face, "no questions, just listen" Eddard tried to gently say, which only added to Roose' annoyance.

"He was a peasant, who became a soldier, and in turn became a general" Eddard leaned back and placed his cup on the table, "his greatest feats were defending his tiny kingdom from three invading empires"

"The first was against his neighbor" Eddard placed a single golden coin at the right side of his disk, "The Empire the Red Sun, and they outnumbered him twenty to one" Eddard then places a bag of coins at the left side of the table,

"His King, impressed by master Sun's undefeated record, asked if he could save his kingdom, with such dire odds stacked against them" Roose's enterest was captured at the story, but only just, "master Sun suggested that the women and children could be used as to supplement their army, the other generals and noblemen laughed at master Sun's idea" that part of the story hooked Roose.

"The king, thinking he would show the 'proud' general of the flaws in his plan, brought twenty young girls to his court, and commanded master Sun to make soldiers out of them" Eddard smirked as if he was impressed by the next part of the story, Roose felt annoyed once again "master Sun obliges, he asks the palace guards for their swords, and armed each girl. To the surprise of no one, the girls started giggling and playing with the swords, everyone in attendance laughed at master Sun for thinking he could discipline the girls into doing anything they didn't want"

"Then he selected a single girl to be their leader, a girl stepped forward and curtsied to master Sun, laughing and smiling brightly like the girl she was, then he told her to tell the other girls to copy as he showed them the basics of swordplay, the girl only smiled and mockingly twirled the sword about, causing the audience laughed again" Eddard leaned forward to garner Roose' focus, "Sun took the sword from the girl, and without flinching, he cut off her head where she stood" Eddard pantomimed a sweeping motion across his throat.

Roose did not flinch at Eddard's antics, but his stomach knotted at the image of a young innocent girl being cut down unceremoniously, he had seen men's faces and bodies twisted and torn by war, he heard their screams of agony and anguish from his 'inquiries' for information. He was numb to all of it, but even he could not help the bolt of hatred print up from his heart when he heard the stories some of the womenfolk told around the hearth, about the cruelties that the Dothraki visited on their slaves, just to amuse themselves when they were tired of 'mounting them, even he was not made of stone.

"No one laughed after that" Eddard chuckled to himself as he picked up his steaming cup and continued "he then summoned a second girl, this time his orders were not ignored"

"Is that what this book is?" Roose said, louder than he had intended, unamused by Eddard's laughter, he finally picked up his cup of broth and felt it warm his chest when he drank it. "The memoirs of a monster?"

"Every history of every nation were written by monsters, from my ancestors" Eddard tapped his chest with his finger and then points it at Roose "to your's"

"What do you believe will happen if the King of Westeros finds out his subjects have amassed an army to rival his own?" Eddard asked and Roose' eyes widen slightly, he hadn't thought of his father or his lands since coming to Essos, the mystery surrounding Eddard's otherworldly intellect had occupied his mind, "he would never allow such a threat to his authority to exist outside his command, if there's one thing that we all have in common is that our sanity walks hand in hand with our safety, put a man or woman in the right amount of danger, and they will be capable of all manner of… unspeakable thing"

A silence fell in the room, the only sound that could be heard was the storm outside and the windows rattling from the wind.

Finally, Eddard broke the quit.

"I wished we were an army of northerners as well, Roose," Eddard said, he stood from his chair and walked to the window overlooking the gigantic forge at the center of the Fortress, "but the Northerners would not follow a second son, so I came here with Willis and Howland, hoping to build a Kingdom in Essos, unfortunately," Eddard turned and met Roose' eyes "it worked too well, now none of them question me, did you know they've all started to worship me?"

"I'd have to be blind not to" Roose answers, it started back when they had defeated Maulik's khalasar, the People chanted Eddard's name, carved wolf effigies on their door frames, beams and posts, as it was explained to Roose by a soldier he asked, the wolves are carved in places that are most visible to people, so that they never forget who they have to thank for their fortune.

"That is why I needed you, Roose, someone one to tell me I'm wrong, Willis and Howland will always take my side and do my well" Eddard walks to Roose and places his on Roose' shoulder, Roose internally cringes at the unwelcome touch, he had always felt like he was being patronized whenever he was being praised or patted on, streaming from his father's cold temperament towards him "if I tell you my secret, you will stop being useful, and there is so few who could fill your rule"

"So that's what the books are for?" Roose gestured to the two books in front of him, trying his best to ignore the hand on his shoulder that had been there for a beat longer than he wanted it to be "to make me more useful?"

"Yes" Eddard takes his hand off Roose' shoulder and opens it in front of him "will you, Roose of House Bolton, serve me as my second in command, to rule in my name if I am not present or able, and give me council when you see fit?"

Roose looks at Eddard's offered hand and with a sigh, he takes it and stands before his King with his full height, "I will serve you, so long as your secrets do not bring us to ruin" they shack firmly and in Roose' surprise, Eddard pulls him into a tight hug that nearly takes the wind out of his lungs.

"Alright, get off me"

"sorry"

Westeros, Kingslanding, Red Keep, Prince Rhaegar, and Princess Elia's chamber, 280AC.

A silver dragon raced across the sky catching the sun in its glittering scales and horns, splitting the clouds as it banked and bent, the wind rushed through its wings and back as it kept picking more speed, it looks down below at the vast lands of Westeros gleaming with green grass, further up it sees the North, peppered with snow and stretching far beyond its sight, the dragon dipped his head and speed toward the god's eye, the water seemed to rush to the dragon, only for the Dragon to open it's massive shining wings to catch the wind and holt it's decent, with a furious fap it raises again, the molten and broken towers of harrenhal was in its sight, looming over the lake like a silent cintre.

It climbed ever higher in to the sky, enjoying the cool air that caressed it's hyde, closing its eyes to fully immerse in the sensation of solitude, letting the clean air fill its lungs and breathing a stream of red flame as it opened its eyes again, it looks to the North again, the sun was setting and the darkness coming, little by little the sun's rays fade and in its place, thousands of fires burned in the night, each cluster signifying a town or a village, but as it looked to the North something catches its eye, a gigantic fire was raging there, fires so hot and so high that it seemed to lap the very clouds in the night sky, at the base the dragon could see animals within the inferno, they were all roaring and raging, groaning and growling, shouting and screaming but not burning, others were jumping in every direction while others were running wildly, all this they did while at the very center of the blazing fire that was growing as more and more animals raced to join the rest.

The Dragon flies to the fire, intrigued by the display, as it came closer it sees the animals become calm and quiet, they file along each other segregating themselves with their own species until they completely organize into a sort of army, and the fire grows even faster than before, the dragon is now flying over the flames, unaffected by the heat. Then the animals climb on top of each other in an organized motion, higher and higher the animals went as they formed a pyramid, the Dragon flies to the very top of the pyramid as it reached higher than the clouds, at the top a boar had a strange looking alligator with branches on it's back, and on top of that was a flayed man with his arms outstretched.

Then the flayed man bent down behind him and appeared to pick something up and hold it in his arms, when the Dragon flew ever closer to the top, he sees that in the flayed man's arms was a tiny dragon, barely the size of a cat, the tiny thing had pitch-black scales that contrasted to the bright blaze of the flayed man, like a stone on hot coals,

Suddenly, the Dragon felt pain shoot up from its neck and a heavy pull, the shock threw it of its rhythm and soon it plummeted to the ground, the pyramid of animals transformed into a torrent crashing down on the Dragon, a wall of teeth, ivory horn and claws engulf the Dragon.

Rhaegar shoots out of bed, sweat covered his face and neck, his hands were shaking, his breathing was frantic, and he felt cold as ice, he clutched his throat and only felt his smooth and sopping wet skin, his breathing became slow and steady as he began to calm down, Rhaegar turns to see his wife sleeping soundly her hands tucked under her face, he stood up from his bed and walked to the night stand where a pitcher of water was waiting, he takes a drink straight from the pitcher and gasps for air after emptying it, then he moves to the terrace, opening the doors he feels the cold night air bite into his bare chest and arms, he looks down at the city, even from this far up the smell could still reach him, then a powerful gust of wind blows the smell away but slashes him with freezing cold and as quickly it came, it was gone, he looks at the direction from where it came and saw only darkness, even the stars were absent tonight which was common when winter approached, but Rhaegar knew where the cold wind came from, after all, he was on the North side of the Red Keep.

Westeros, Kingslanding, Red keep, 280AC.

Tywin was walking at his usual pace as he headed for the small council chamber for their monthly meetings, however, Tywin had been walking slightly faster than he did three years ago, that was before Aerys' abduction and unmooring from his sanity, although Tywin had little fear for Aerys the man, he was cautious of Aerys the mad.

His unpredictable whims were worsening by the day, when once his antics included forcing himself unto the numerous maidens that serve the keep or wander the city below, now he has them tortured and thrown out of windows if they had the misfortune of being seen acting suspiciously, even the guards and guest are not safe from his madness, though some who were high enough in rank were spared from his wrath, not all of them shared their status, each day that passed the realm grew more fearful of their king, the question would always hang over their heads, who would suffer his madness next.

Tywin rounded a corner and reached the council chamber, but to his well-hidden surprise, he saw the two additional guards to the Lannister guards stationed there, two men clad in white cloaks and white armor.

"Lord Tywin" the black-haired, purple-eyed knight greeted.

"Ser Dayne" Tywin responded, Arthur smiled warmly at Tywin and bowed to him.

"Lord Tywin" the other Kingsgaurd greet and bowed

"Prince Martell" Tywin acknowledged, he then entered the chamber, not letting any emotion reach his face.

Inside he sees a slim figure wearing black and red and leaning over one of the windows looking down unto the city, his long silver hair reaching just above his waist, Tywin was not surprised at the sight as there was only one Targaryan that Arthur Dayne and Lywen Martel would guard with such enthusiasm.

"Your Grace" Tywin greeted, "what brings you to the small council this day?"

Rheagar turned to face the speaker, "Lord Tywin" he said with a smile, he had the bright smile of a child yet the weathered purple eyes of an old man, "I do hope that I am not troubling you, I wish to set in the council today and learn the goings-on of the realm for myself"

"Not at all, your Grace" Tywin bowed and gestured to the king's chair. "Please, take your place at the table"

He did so and one by one the members of the small council arrived both surprised by, and suspicious of Rhaegar's attendance, they spoke of the realm's state, and the preparations being made for the coming winter, the various disputes of lesser and greater lords, even the pleas and plight of the smallfolk. Overall the seven kingdoms were stable and strong, Rheagar was silent throughout most of the meeting, only interrupting politely when he encountered a subject he was unfamiliar with, and answering when asked, but all-in-all listening intently at the men who truly ran the kingdom. However, one subject was not brought up.

The condition of the king loomed over everyone's heads like an executioner's swords raised in the air waiting to be brought down, no one dared speak ill of the king, not even Tywin, though Aerys still feared Tywin's reputation, but then there was no point in testing the limits of the king's.

"Very well" Tywin said closing the ledger he used to keep track of all the dates and dealings "we shall end this month's-"

"I apologize, Lord Tywin," Rheagar said from where he sat, "but may I speak with Lord Varys alone?" the whole room seemed to focus on the princess' words

Tywin merely looked at the Princess and Varys and nodded "as you wish, your Grace" the members of the council left and only two were left.

"How may I serve you Your Grace?" asked Varys, Rheagar had never shown any interest in the affairs of the realm, the princess mostly busied himself by practicing with ser Dayne or Playing with his daughter, and his wife, even singing in the streets of Kingslanding With a Kingsguard by his side. He seemed content in allowing things to occur around him, but he could hardly be surprised at this sudden change, after all, he wasn't the only Targaryen going through changes.

"I would like to ask you Lord Varys if you have any information regarding the North?"

"The North?" Varys seemed at a loss for words, literally, the North was a far and frozen wasteland, Nothing noteworthy happened in the North, and even if they did, his birds had a tough time getting their songs to him, the settlements were far and few between, that passing even a single massage was a treacherous trek in and of itself, if the weather or the wildlings didn't kill you, then the wolves would.

"Yes what is happening in the North?" the princess asked sincerely "throughout the meeting no one mentioned the North, is there discontent among the Lords, or are the wildlings becoming a problem, anything?"

"Nothing happens in the North, your Grace" Varys answered the Princess' questioning, he had tried to root his birds in the major castle, Keeps, and holdfast in the North, but the amount of effort needed would be daunting, especially when children tend to die more frequently there than any other kingdom in Westeros. "The Northerners don't concern themselves with the affairs of the South and the South ignores the North"

"Truly?" Rhaegar sounded disappointed and astonished at the same time.

"Yes"

"What of the Boltons?" Rhaegar pressed, "has anything noteworthy happened to them?"

"I don't believe so" Varys thinks for a moment, straining his mind to recall anything recent about house Bolton "oh... I believe the Bolton Heir has run away to Essos, your Grace"

"Essos?"

"Yes, I now recall that the second son of Lord Rickard Stark had convinced his friends to run away with him to Essos" Varys said, he had inquired about the Stark boy after Tywin had mentioned him two years ago. "Yes, I remember now, Lord Eddard Stark, Lord Roose Bolton and Lord Howland Reed went to Essos together and have never been heard from since, your Grace"

"I see, what of Essos?" Rhaegar sounded more eager than he wanted to, Varys had noticed it, "I've heard ser Barristan mention a new Kingdom had risen at the beginning of this summer, their king is named Eddard, could they be one and the same?"

Varys paused for a moment, "unfortunately your Grace, that is exceedingly difficult to determine" Varys had tasked several of his birds to gather as much information about the Kingdom, to no avail. "You see, when they were but a band of sellswords, the leader of the Company of the Rose puts aside his house name when he is chosen, they have carried this tradition over when they crown their King"

"Why?" Rhaegar's face contorts in confusion, "a name carries such power and influence"

"True your Grace" Varys said, "however, it also carries with it, the Company of the rose comprised of houses that were rivals to each other, even in dire circumstance, one does not forget the legacy the house carries, therefore, show that the leader is not bais to any House, he puts it aside"

"But still" Rhaegar continued to press, "how many men in that company have the same name?"

"A few, your Grace" Varys was now tempted to ask why the prince why he was fixating on the subject, but bite his tongue, he knew that he was here to answer questions, not asked them "the ones that are around Lord Stark's age are all Westorosi members of the Company, and the rest are Essosi children named after their King, not to mention the fact that none of my bird knows what Lord Stark looks like"

"I see" Rhaegar deflated, but he tried one last time "has any of your birds given a description of this King Eddard?"

"Forgive me, your Grace" Varys inclines his head apologetically "but they describe him as they would any of the first men, bright blue, thick black hair, and a tight pointed face, no different than any man from the north" Varys lied, none of his birds had even seen the Wolf King, all the children of the Rose Kingdom were all brought together in a learning hall that taught them their numbers and letters, no child was allowed to wander the fortress, among them were Varys' birds.

"No scars or anything?"

"None, your Grace"

The prince furrowed his brows in deep thought, then it shot up as if realizing the answer "Would it be possible to invite the Wolf King to the upcoming tourney at Harrenhal?"

"Yes, as you wish, your Grace"

"Thank you, Lord Varys" Rhaegar finally said, as he stood up from where he sat "please, continue your efforts In this New kingdom"

"Of course" Varys stood and bowed at the Prince, Rhaegar turned and left, bringing the two Kingsgaurds waiting outside with him. Varys let out a breath he had been holding, two years of sending spies into the Kingdom had only brought the same result, "the king's name is Eddard and he is a genius" Varys thought. he sighed deeply wondering how long he would have to stall before he was deemed ineffective and incompetent.