Arianne II
"He's too naive, Arianne. It's too risky to include him in the plan. The old man at least had some common sense after so many years serving in court..." insisted her cousin Tyene as she moved one of her ivory crossbowmen to threaten Arianne's dragon.
"He may be, but he's a man of honor, and that makes him incredibly predictable," Arianne replied as she moved her dragon towards a mountain, out of reach of Tyene's crossbowman. "Did you give him the antidote?"
"Yes, just as you asked me. But there are many other ways to kill a man other than poison him, Arianne. A murder, an accident hunting, a fall down the stairs..."
"True, though they are much less subtle methods. Stark is a fundamental part of our plan, we have to keep him alive at all costs. I've already made a mistake with Jon Arryn and I won't let it happen again if I can help it. By the way, won't you know where he is right now?"
"I'm not entirely sure. Littlefinger showed up as soon as I finished talking with him. I saw them leave together, but they didn't look like they were going to the Tower of the Hand."
"If he trusts Littlefinger, then maybe he truly is as stupid as you say he is."
Littlefinger. The Master of Coin was a dangerous man, but as far as she knew, the little man was unaware of her intentions.
Her plans had become considerably complicated because of the death of old Jon Arryn a few months ago. If all had gone as planned, she would now be in Sunspear with Stannis and her daughters receiving the sad and surprising news that Queen Cersei had been unfaithful to poor King Robert and had posed her bastards as Robert's legitimate sons. Right now Cersei's head, that of the Kingslayer and those of their sons would be mounted in a pike in the walls of the Red Keep, the lords of the Seven Kingdoms would be raising their levies for war against Tywin Lannister and, within a few months, Casterly Rock would have been reduced to rubble. But the old man had to die before he could have told the Usurper everything.
Jon Arryn's death had been partly her fault, she knew, but the old man could have been more cautious. When the old Hand of the King suddenly became ill, Arianne knew since the beginning that he had been poisoned, as Jon Arryn was a very robust man, even for his age. However, when her cousin told her that Master Colemon's treatment on the effects of the Tears of Lys was appropriate, she had become carefree and decided not to intervene for fear that she or Stannis might be the next targets. This proved to be a fatal mistake, as, before long, the Grand Maester Pycelle replaced Colemon and within a few days Jon Arryn was dead.
After thinking about it for a few seconds, Tyene moved one of her elephants to a square occupied by one of Arianne's onyx lancers, thus removing it from the board. However, that movement left him within reach of Arianne's dragon, who did not hesitate to eliminate the elephant in her next move.
"I still think it's too hasty, dear cousin," Tyene said with concern. "The queen clearly suspects us. And Ned Stark is not very discreet precisely... It may have been better to go back to the original plan, even if it takes longer than expected." She then killed her dragon with a catapult that Arianne had ignored. "By the way, your king is trapped. Death in three."
"Arg..." Arianne said as she got up frustrated. "We can't waste any more time, as soon as Joffrey comes of age, the Lannisters will kill Robert and put him in the throne, that's for sure. The plan goes ahead Tyene, you know what you have to do."
"You don't have to remind me," replied Tyene with a horrible grimace on her face. "Are you sure there's no other way?"
"There's always someone with him, that's the only way I can think of. And I'm clearly not going to hire a vulgar assassin. They could capture him and if he rats us out, we'd end up just like my aunt and cousins."
"All right, you let me know when everything's ready. But when you're queen, I hope you give me a castle, and a pretty big one. Oh, and with sea views," she said as she left the room.
Arianne dropped a sigh, rose and peeked into the window of her room. The cyvasse was a game from Volantis, but a few months ago it had been introduced in Dorne by merchant ships that arrived in Planky Town, and the orphans had spread it up and down the Greenblood. In the Dornish court, everyone was addicted to it. Arianne had brought a board and pieces with her on her last trip to King's Landing, but the only people she could play with here were Tyene and Stannis. She had been unable to beat him since the first game they played, and she struggled to win Tyene more and more, which frustrated her enormously.
She had been plotting the fall from grace of the Lannisters for quite some time, although it took her years to find a way to do it. To her surprise, it was her husband who served it to her on a silver platter as he told her his suspicions that the king's children were not his, but the result of incest between the queen and the Kingslayer. Arianne struggled to believe that even Cersei had come to do such an abominable thing, but it was true that the children looked nothing like Robert. Deep down, she didn't care who their true parents were, all the people would think they were the fruit of incest if it was the Hand of the King himself who said it.
If the words came from her or Stannis, the Lannisters could easily say that it was a lie created by them for her husband to move to the top spot in the line of succession, which was true to some extent; but if the words came out of the mouth of the honorable Jon Arryn or Ned Stark, then no one would question it. It was relatively easy to convince her husband to deepen his research and, as she had envisaged, he conveyed his suspicions to Jon Arryn, the only man in the capital her husband trusted, with the exception of Ser Davos.
However, with Ned Stark she could not act the same way. It had taken Stannis years to trust the old Hand and it would probably take the same to do with Ned Stark. Unfortunately, Arianne could not wait that long now that the Lannisters were on alert, so she had been forced to change her plan. It's risky, but it'll work out fine…
Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the squeak of the door as it opened.
"You come back sooner than I expected, Stannis. Normally you don't usually come back until it's time for dinner," she said as she saw her husband walk through the door. He was wearing several rolls of paper loaded with his arm and looked like wanting to punch someone in the face.
"The council meeting has lasted less than expected. It seems that your new friend Eddard Stark wanted to rest," Stannis replied as he dropped the rolls of paper sharply on the table at the back of the room.
'He's not my friend, I was just curious to see what the famous Ned Stark that everyone's talking about was like. Truth be told, I am not impressed."
"Is that why you wanted us to stay in King's Landing for two more months? To meet Ned Stark?"
"No, I told you to stay because I knew your sense of duty would make you return to King's Landing shortly after we returned to Dorne. Or would you have let Ned Stark take over the place of Hand of the King without you being present in his first council in the post?" asked Arianne with a smile.
"Yes, I would have. You know we are not safe here since the Lannisters murdered Jon Arryn. Every day we spend here is a recklessness."
"I told you that as long as Tyene is with us, you must not fear any poison. Of all my uncle's daughters, she is arguably the most adept with them."
"As skillful as she may be, I doubt she can protect us if the Lannisters decide to send their men to kill us," Stannis said.
"That's what we have guards for, honey. Besides, I don't think waiting for the next moon is that hard."
"Maybe the trip is delayed a little longer," Stannis said as he took off his gloves and cloak.
"Oh, and that?" asked Arianne surprised.
"There has been an increase in pirate attacks on the Stepstones. I intend to take advantage of our journey back to Dorne to take part of the fleet with us and take them down. I will pass on my plans to the council tomorrow, if Lord Stark is not tired of the next meeting, that is."
Good news for once. It's a good excuse to justify our return to Dorne. Otherwise the timing of the trip might seem too convenient.
"You're still mad that Robert named him Hand of the King instead of you." It wasn't a question.
"Ned Stark is only here because he's a childhood friend of Robert's. The brother he never had, as he would say. I'm his real brother and I've been serving him here for almost fifteen years, not like Stark!"
I don't know why I'm saying anything for. It was the umpteenth time Arianne heard that phrase from her husband's mouth, as if the fact that he repeated it a thousand times was going to change his brother's decision.
"Well, if your brother despises you so much, maybe you should stop serving him!" said Arianne.
"You're right" answered Stannis in a tired voice as he sat on the edge of the bed, turning his back. "First it was Storm's End. He should've made me Lord Paramount of the Stormlands after he got the throne, as it was my right. But he gave it to Renly and instead he made me Lord of Dragonstone. Then, barely a year after that, he decides Dragonstone should be given to his firstborn. I never wanted that dammed island, but he didn't have the right to take it from me. My uncle Eldon told me it was because he didn't trusted me, me! Me, who rebelled against the king because he couldn't get over a woman!"
Arianne looked at him surprised. They had been married for nine years and, despite the numerous times Robert had despised and belittled his brother, Stannis' loyalty to him had always been firm and unwavering.
"I've been thinking about it," Stannis continued turning his head to look at her. "The next time I return to King's Landing, I will submit my resignation as Master of Ships to Robert and return to Dorne with you and the girls. With your father's delicate state of health, you may soon have to take care of ruling Dorne. You'll need me a lot more there than I'm needed in the capital. "
"But what are you going to do with your research on Cersei's bastards? Will you pass on your suspicions to Robert?"
"No, I'll tell Ned Stark when I leave the office. I trust the evidence I gathered with Jon Arryn will be enough to convince him. I may not appreciate him, but I respect him. He's an honorable man loyal to Robert, I know he'll act properly."
This changes everything, maybe I should delay the plan, maybe wait a few months will be the best thing after all... thought Arianne to the astonishing revelation. No, I have to act before the Lannisters find out what I'm up to.
"If you're so certain, why not tell him now?" said Arianne, stepping away from the window and sitting next to her husband.
"It will seem that I am an opportunist and that I do so for the purpose of being next in the line of succession. Besides, Ned Stark hasn't stepped on King's Landing for years. He must learn who he can trust and who he can't. If I tell him now, he could tell this to Renly or one of those scoundrels who sit next to me in the council."
"And do you think by the time you get back, he'll have learned? Tell him before you go, or Littlefinger or Varys will get to him while you're fighting pirates thousands of miles away" Arianne whispered in his ear as she hugged him from behind and rested her head on his shoulder.
"When Robert learns of Cersei's infidelity, the blood will flow. And you and I will be the first Tywin Lannister will want to see dead. Do you want to make that happen?"
"We both know you're not going to keep it a secret forever. It wouldn't be like you; I know you too well. Since you're going to tell Ned Stark no matter what, at least do it right, before he ends up with bad company. And believe me when I tell you that in Dorne we hate Tywin Lannister so much more than he can ever hate us."
"Yes, I've heard your uncle say something about it."
Arianne let out a laugh. "Was that meant to be a joke, Stannis? I'm never entirely sure with you."
"We've been married for almost ten years. By now you should know when I'm joking."
"Oh yeah? It's not like you know everything about me." If you did, I'd be rotting in the dungeons under the Red Keep in this very moment.
"Go ahead, try me" he said without looking away.
"Oh, is it a challenge?" she asked naughtily. "Come on, I accept it, " she continued as she sat on Stannis's legs, still staring at him. In this position, it looked like they were both at the same height, although she still had to raise her head slightly so she could look at him. "What's my favorite food?"
"Easy. Snake stew with dragon peppers" he answered undeterred.
"How did you know?"
"It's the first thing they served at our wedding banquet. And it was the only dish you repeated. Also, during your first pregnancy you got into it and you ate it for almost a month."
"But... back then you were in King's Landing."
Her husband shrugged. "When I returned to Sunspear it was the only thing everyone was talking about. I'm still surprised Shireen doesn't spit fire."
"Ha, ha, ha. Two jokes in a row. And then then say you don't have a sense of humor. Well, next question: Who won the cyvasse game I just played with Tyene?"
"Tyene. She is better than you. At least she knows how to use more pieces besides the dragon."
"Hey! You shouldn't say those things to your wife" she said as she taped his chest. "You're supposed to help me get better, and you keep beating me every time we play. At least you could let me win sometime."
"If I let you win, you wouldn't learn. In fact, by the amount of games we've been playing, you should have beaten me at least once. Tyene has already beaten me once and your father, several times."
"Wow, you sure know how to cheer me up like no one else," she said pouting.
"Aren't you going to ask me anything else? Or do you give up?" said Stannis with a slight smile.
"Hmm, I'll test your knowledge of me in a different way. A slightly more practical way."
Hello everyone. Last chapter we jumped directly to the time when Eddard Stark becomes Hand of the King and arrives at King's Landing. This chapter happens right after that. The events that doesn't appear in any chapter, like when Catelyn Stark seizes Tyrion or Jon's first adventures in the Wall will happen as in the OTL...more or less. We'll see about that. Anyways, thanks for reading and see you again next week.
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