"Stannis Baratheon's fleet was just spotted sailing up along Massey's point," Loren commented to his sister, looking up from the raven's scroll. "At a count of two hundred vessels of war."
"That's more than we have," his sister replied, eating at her pie.
"Yes, Cersei," Loren congratulated her. "That's more than we have. They'll be here any day now; battle will be upon us." The city was on edge enough as it was. Stannis Baratheon's land army had arrived days and days ago, sat upon the southern edge of the Rush, their prize so close, yet out of reach, as long as the Rush remained his. When the fleet arrived as well... it would not be easy, but as long as he could score an early success, that should be enough to keep order in the city.
She didn't respond to that first, spearing a piece of fruit on the end of her knife and plucking it into her mouth. "We have strong walls," Cersei said, as though to reassure herself more than anything. "High walls. If they come closer to them, we'll rain death on them."
"Rain death," Loren repeated. "Are you quoting father?" That sounded like the sort of thing he would say.
She looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Why shouldn't I, he's good at strategy."
"He only let the Stark boy make a fool of him twice now," Loren replied. "Of all of us." He took a slice off the ham and ate it. "I don't remember the hunters bringing in many pigs recently." He commented, measuring Cersei for her response.
"A token of esteem from Lady Stokeworth, she wishes the leave of both of us to return home."
He nodded. Of course she did. These lordlings of the crown were happy enough to stay in the capital as long as there was defence and strength there, but as soon as a threat to it came, the leeches peeled off and went looking for a safer blood source. "Tell her that the roads are unsafe, if she wants protection she can take a raven and summon as much of her garrison down here as possible."
"I triple the size of the city watch and you complain about numbers?" Cersei asked him, seemingly incredulous at his clear shortsightedness. "Why did you let Tyrion take so many men with him then. The gold cloaks and knights I can understand, but we could have made use of his savages."
"Not on the walls." He explained. "That isn't how they fight. We need discipline here, not numbers, numbers won't save us, unless you happen to have an army hidden around here that I haven't heard of? Besides," he added, spearing more ham. "They are Tyrion's men, not mine."
'that means they could be Stannis" men now," Cersei said.
Loren shook his head. "Tyrion is loyal. He loves Jaime. He loves Tommen and Myrcella. He saw Stannis" letter, his victory means their deaths. Tyrion will try to save us with the Tyrells. War may make for strange bedfellows, but Tyrion and Stannis? No."
As the swan was being served, the queen questioned him about the conspiracy of the Antler Men. She seemed more annoyed than afraid. "Why are we plagued with so many treasons? What injury has House Lannister ever done these wretches?"
"Would you like me to answer in terms of severity, or chronology?" He replied simply. "You weren't here on the day of the sack, Cersei, I was, that and the way Joff has been treating these people...The lion has done them plenty of harm, and looking at the army of chivalry stationed on the other side of the Rush, only awaiting the ships to help them cross, it also looks likely to lose." Both of those were dangerous, though right now he wasn't sure which. 'they want to be on the winning side."
"And you have them all?"
Loren nodded, pushing aside the swan which was too rich for his taste. "Varys says so."
"You put too much trust in the eunuch."
"I'm sure I do," Loren confessed. "But I have no other way of confirming that I have them all or not."
Cersei seemed to accept that bit at least, and had bitten back a retort about the day their father sacked the city. "Varys is such a wonder," she commented dryly. "When I first arrived, I thought I had no truer friend in this city. I suspect the Mad King thought the same, and Robert too I don't doubt. But now..." She studied him and he narrowed his gaze, trying to discern her thoughts. "He tells me you mean to take the Hound from Joff in the battle."
Damn the cockless wonder, maybe he should send for Ilyn Payne and have his head. But he seemed to hate Stannis Baratheon, and was no friend to the Starks or Greyjoys, and he was useful to them. 'sandor is one of the top soldiers I have in the city this moment," he told her. "I need the Hound and Balon Swann to lead sorties, to make certain Stannis gets no toehold on our side of the Blackwater. If the chain keeps his fleet out, Stannis' soldiers can only cross by raft."
"Won't our fleet be behind the chain?" Cersei asked.
He shook his head. "Not entirely. I shall be sending it out beyond the Rush to harry Stannis" fleet. They"ll retreat before they are threatened, but I'll need as many warships as possible to make these blows his home. That leaves the Rush open to being rafted, with only light opposition on the ships. I need the Hound and Balon to help me repel any assaults."
"And Joff?" Cersei demanded. "You mean to put him into battle without his three best guards at his back?"
"Three?" He asked. "Ah, Jaime," he realised when he saw a flash of pain on his face. "Well you chose Osmund Kettleblack for the white, dismissed Barristan Selmy and I can do nothing about Jaime right now. But, Meryn Trant, Mandon Moore and Boros Blount will be with Osmund at the King's side."
"Then why not use them as well?" She asked him, looking at him fiercely. "Keep Joff back in the keep, he's thirteen, Loren."
He raised an eyebrow. "I saw this city burn at thirteen," he reminded her. "Robert Baratheon at thirteen was stronger than I am at thirty. The boy wants to be his father's son. Let him. Joff wears the finest armour gold can buy, and he'll have a dozen gold cloaks around him at all times. If the city looks to be in the least danger of falling, I'll have him escorted back to the Red Keep at once."
"Thirteen, Loren!" Cersei insisted, her near shriek making him flinch. "A boy!"
"A boy who wishes to be part of the battle. It's the most sense that has come from between his lips since I arrived in this city. Robert won the Trident leading from the front, killing Rhaegar in single combat. Robb Stark has led from the front in every battle he's fought and every victory he's won. Stannis is not a man to lead in such a manner, but he will be there, none the less, visible for his men, those who are to fight for him. Joff must do the same. The men will fight more fiercely, they will be more loyal to a king who shares in their peril rather than hides behind his mother's skirts." He pushed his plate aside, his appetite sated for now. "Is there anything else? Only I have other matters that must be seen to tonight, nice though this has been."
"I am not done here!" She told him defiantly.
"I am, unless you have something productive for me to comment on."
She looked at him venomously, but said nothing, and so he turned to leave. "No harm will befall Joff in this battle brother, no harm at all, or you will feel it as deeply as me."
He turned back to her, bemused. "I don't care about the boy nearly as much as you seem to think I do."
She almost glided towards him. "I am not talking about Joff, I know you care so little about me or my family, such a disgrace to the Lannisters as you always were. No. First you took Tommen from me, now you seek to put Joff in harm's way. Well for every son I have you have a daughter."
"I have as many daughters as you have children, and thankfully they are safe at Casterly Rock. With luck Tommen will be there soon. Unfortunately, if he is to keep his crown, Joff must stay here and we have no way of slipping Myrcella out now, not with our enemies so close."
Cersei nodded, seemingly calm. He hated this about dealing with his sister, she was like wildfire, burning brightly one second and dimly flickering in the next. "Yes, your children are at the Rock, where you haven't been for years. I may have been here, but I kept contacts there while you were riding around the east playing at being a great war-leader. You know what happened to that serving girl bitch?"
He'd heard the rumours, things were not always easy to come by at the Rock, even when you lived there. Robert Baratheon had bedded a serving girl while there, a girl who had borne twins. All three of them had vanished shortly after the birth. The rumour was that Cersei had had the children killed and the mother sold into slavery. He didn't reply, better to know where she was going with this first.
"I can make things happen in the Rock, unthinkable things. If any harm comes to my son, your children will suffern an acc-" Loren cut her off by seizing her throat in his tight grip.
He held her tightly, his grip not faltering and her eyes bulged in her skull, her face turning red. "Don't," he said simply, watching as her face got darker and darker, tears wetting her eyes. "Don't ever threaten my children, Cersei. Not ever." Her face was blue when he let her fall to the ground, she gasped for breath, retching and choking as and crawled like an animal. "Not ever." He reminded her, before turning and leaving the room. He knew it was Cersei's nature to make threats, he'd grown up with them after all, but his children were not part of this, they wouldn't grow up in that way and they wouldn't be used as pawns by Cersei or by anyone.
Once he left he took a slow walk back to his chambers, knowing that he had a meeting to go to that required his full attention and that he'd need to be calm for that.
Back at his chambers, Gerold was waiting for him. "Are they here?" He asked.
Gerold nodded. "They are, and my men are ready, only call when you need them."
He nodded and opened the door.
"This is quite an ungodly hour my lord hand," Littlefinger smirked at him as he entered. "One might think you don't deign to sleep like us mere mortals."
"I have a city to prepare for battle, Stannis Baratheon will be here shortly, and every hour I am not readying the city leaves another crack through which his forces can slip," he replied, circling his desk and sitting down behind it. "And that is why you two are here."
"We will both aid you as well as we are able, my lord Hand," Varys simpered, bowing his head.
Loren nodded, "you will. Lord Varys, since the arrest of the Antler men, have there been any other signs of dissidence?"
Varys shook his head. "I can say no safely, my lord, since the arrest of the opportunists there has been only silence from others who are disgruntled, my little birds tell me that they are only waiting. They still believe that Stannis is going to win and that they only wait for that day."
"So there is nothing else you feel I need to know?"
"No my lord. You removal of Prince Tommen was subtle, none who didn't see the boy regularly are even aware of his absence. The goldcloaks are prepared to defend the city, none have cause to join Stannis Baratheon." As long as we are winning, Loren thought.
"Good. If there is truly nothing else?"
"Nothing, my lord."
He nodded. "Very well, Lord Baelish, what news from the treasury?"
The taxes on entering the city are working to raise enough money for its defence," Littlefinger explained. "Without a massive increase in expenditure, we can sustain this level of spending for at least two months before we have to cut back or bring in new sources of income."
"The sellswords?"
"Paid generously enough, and no one is offering them any other form of pay. They are ours."
"Do you have any other news for me?"
Baelish chuckled. "You flatter me my lord, no, I have nothing more to say, your brother was always a much more talkative man."
He ignored the reference to Tyrion. But if they had nothing more for him... "Gerold."
The door opened and Gerold entered the room flanked by half a dozen guardsmen. "My Lord."
"Escort lords Baelish and Varys to the dungeons."
The spider and the mockingbird were both bewildered looking between Loren and his men in alarm. "My lord, have we done something?" Varys asked, Littlefinger's face burned with an anger he couldn't contain.
"No," he replied getting to his feet. "But if you have nothing new for me I have no need for your spy networks. As I said I must prepare this city for Stannis' arrival, and I don't trust either of you not to betray the city to him. You'll be safe and fed in the cells until the battle is over."
"This... you!" Littlefinger began.
"Don't get so angry, Lord Baelish. I'm doing you a favour, if Stannis takes the city and finds you in the cells, well, an enemy of the Lannisters may well be a friend of his." He waved his hand and his guards escorted the two greatest plotters in King's Landing away. Varys allowed himself to be escorted, but his men had to seize Littlefingers arms and drag him from the room.
When they were gone, Gerold turned back to him. "Is there anyone else, my lord?"
"My sister," he replied, only half joking. "But arresting the Queen Regent is too far I'm afraid. That is all for now, if I need anyone else taken, I will call for you."
"As you say, my lord." He made to leave but then turned back. "You should get some rest, my lord, you are no use to us so tired. And without you, the city falls."
He nodded, sitting back in his chair. "I will my friend, I will, there are just a few more things for me to handle first."
