Hello folks! Here is another chapter! I am really sorry if it is hard to read. English is not my first language and I certainly do not have anyone to review the chapters before I post them. Nevertheless I hope some of you still enjoy them, I certainly enjoy writing them :-)

Chapter 7 - Haste!

After my demonstration of power, the meeting continued without any trouble. The Lannister lords at the table were almost relieved at my display. Previously their loyalty was conflicted between their old deep rooted fear of Tywin, and the overwhelming threat of this new player, that had suddenly entered the game.

Until a moment ago, it had been unclear, whether they should submit to me completely or unite behind Tywin as some kind of resistance, if only in secret. Now, all doubts were washed away, and they seemed to be convinced to prioritize acting courteous and pleasing me over Tywin.

Old instincts were not so easily ignored though. Tywin might act deferential around me, but when one of them spoke out of turn, all he had to do was look at them with a gaze that could kill, and they shut right up.

Again, he truly reminded me of my uncle. I could easily remember sitting in the corner to observe the meetings between him and lesser dragon lords.

Later in the conversation it became clear that although the Lannisters had respect for Tywin and I, they held the northern lords in complete disdain. It was as if they thought of them as savages, who should not have seats at the table to begin with. On the other hands, the northern lords almost never spoke, with the exception of Robb, who often voiced his opinion, but most of the time they would completely disregard it, no matter how valid it was.

Tywin seemingly picked up on my annoyance with their behavior and with a few discreet reprimanding comments and deadly glares, they suddenly forgot their arrogance entirely.

Myself said very little throughout the meeting. I encouraged the lords to discuss and argue about what to do among themselves, with Tywin leading the conversation. No matter how good or stupid their ideas were, I didn't express any reaction. I had always found this to be the best way to learn the most about the people, I was dealing with.

After about 2 hours though, I thought the meeting had gone about long enough and I slowly stood up from my seat. The arguing lords immediately seized their discussion and looked at me.

With a passive expression I spoke in a calm voice: "Alright, I think I have heard enough now. Here is what we will do. Robb!" I said as I turned to Robb

He straightened in his seat and responded: "Yes, your majesty!"

I continued this time with a much more authoritative voice: "You will take the entirety of your army and march back to the north. When you get there, you will root out all those so called ironborn, that are ravaging the lands, and destroy them. I trust that with your capabilities, this should be an easy task for you. After you are done then give them the message, that Balon Greyjoy has to himself, come to King's Landing and surrender his crown before this year is over. If he doesn't, then I shall personally fly down there, and burn every ship, every castle and every city on their islands."

The entire room was completely silent. The men around the table starred at me with disbelief. The calm and relaxed young boy from before was completely gone, and left in his place was a young man that oozed authority and ruthlessness.

Robb broke the silence as he stood from his chair and bowed deeply: "As you command, my king."

He then hesitated for a moment, but I urged him to continue on and he said: "Your grace. I do not know if you are aware, but my two sisters are currently in the capital. Since the conflict between our two kingdoms are over, if it is not too much to ask, might I request for them to be released and sent home."

Murmuring broke out amongst the Lannister nobles and I could faintly hear one of them say "But Lady Sansa is betrothed to king Joff- I mean lord Joffrey."

I already had the north under my complete control with Robb, so I answered him rather easily: "I will send your youngest sister home, but I will let the older one choose for herself, whether she wishes to remain or return. I shall make sure they are escorted by a company of guards, the entire way back to Winterfell."

Relief flushed over the former king, as he bowed once again and sat down. I didn't give any room for discussions between the Lannisters, as I turned to Tywin and continued in a firm voice:

"When Stannis attack, the capital will fall within an hour. If we send all our cavalry, both northern and southern, in advance, it would only delay the defeat a few more hours. We must make it there before them with infantry. Tywin, if we break camp and march immediately, can we make it to king's landing and intercept Stannis?"

The warden of the west didn't hesitate for a moment as he answered:

"If we force march the men and stop only a few hours a day, I believe it is possible, your grace."

I then stood up and gave my final command to the table: "I judge you all know what to do now. See to it, that we move before nightfall. You are dismissed."

The men at the table all stood and bowed, before they began pushing and running out of the tent. Only Tywin walked out in an orderly manner. I considered calling for him to remain, but decided against it. I thought to myself: "It isn't time to have that conversation yet. Let's see how he handles the coming trial first."

No matter how I wished to carry out my plans for this kingdom, I would need a very capable right hand to rule in my stead. One that already possesses a stable seat of power, and one that knows the kingdom to a great extent. Tywin is the obvious prime candidate for this role, given both his capabilities and experience, but I thought I would test him before I made the offer.

Even if I swoop in and is proclaimed the saviors of King's Landing, the capital will erupt, when it learns of a stranger suddenly wresting the crown for himself.

I thought there could be no better test of the man's abilities, than to handle the coming turmoil. If he disappoints me, then I shall simply wait a bit and consider other potential candidates, but I doubt it would be necessary. If he was half the man my uncle was, then I couldn't hope for a better hand.

I smiled to myself in anticipation. This was going to be very interesting.

The sun was beginning to turn orange while I sat on Ragni's back and watched the camp disappear before my eyes. They were surprisingly efficient, and before long, the huge field covered in tents were empty, except for the soldiers, horses and carts, lined up in a neat and organized manner.

Outside the bare essentials, everything else would be left behind the infantry to be transported back in a slow and orderly manner.

Ahead of them was a long journey, and even at maximum speed it would take almost four days to get back. I instinctively looked down at Ragni who lay half sleeping, with his head under his wing.

If I set of now, I could be over the capital before the next morning, and I could fly out and burn Stannis' fleet down to the last ship, long before it reached its destination. It was tempting, but I had decided against it. I wanted it to be known, that the Lannister and Stark army moved and fought at my command.

A military victory using soldiers would count for far more in terms of elevating my status. If I flew out and burned them to death, it would only fuel the rumors that I was a demon sent from hell.

Another thing was, if I came just in the nick of time to save the castle, I might change the narrative from about myself from foreigner to savior. Combined with the great accomplishment of ending the northern rebellion and bringing them once again, under the rule of the iron throne, it would help me greatly in stabilizing my rule. Even if the way I "ended" the rebellion of the north was by burning thousands of Lannister soldiers alive, it didn't matter.

Drums and the never ending monotone marching sound men in armor made when they marched in great numbers filled the air. The only other thing, was the occasional cry as the officers hit the stragglers with wooden clubs.

The high-ranking officers rode on horses and likewise their belongings were in wagons pulled by horses. This allowed them to send their personal servants ahead and set up their camp, long before the main bulk of the army arrived. They would take turns every night, as some had to stay and watch the men, but the others could ride ahead and get a comfortable, full night's sleep.

They set up a tent for me as well of course. I slept in the king's tent, as it was now called. Considering the circumstances, I couldn't ask for anything better, but it was still far from what I was used to. The bedding they used especially annoyed me, so I only ever slept in the stuff I had in my bag of holding. Ever since birth, I had been laying on beds made from the special silk, we received from trading with the Yi Ti empire.

I quickly learned that the finest of wines Westeros, were completely undrinkable to me, but the food was of somewhat decent quality.

Tywin refused to partake in the custom of riding ahead. Although he rode on a horse, he stayed with the men and slept only when they did, but I suspected that was only because he knew I would take notice.

I, myself spent the days riding Ragni around to see the land. It was different from the nature in Essos, but I quite liked it. In Essos everything tended to get dusty, but here everything was wet. The air was much colder when flying, but it felt cleaner without the dust.

By the third day of marching I discovered how utterly boring marching truly was. I could finally understand why the Valyrian dragonlords would go through such lengths to avoid going with their men. When one of the Valyrian legions moved, the troops and supplies would always move long before their lords, sometimes weeks before the dragon lords even left Valyria. For an official mage even of the lowest rank, it was simplicity itself to send a message over long distances, and it didn't take long to catch up to walking men on dragon back.

By the end of the day, we reached the designated rest spot and I landed Ragni in the middle of the camp. In the beginning, every time I flew close, I could practically see the fear and nervousness of the men, humming in the air above them. After the first day, the men were exhausted beyond caring about it. Most of them didn't even bother to strip their armor, and collapsed where they stood to sleep. This was, unfortunately, the nature of forced marching. It was hard enough to march a single day in plate armor with a full night's sleep. They had to do it with at most four hours of sleep at night, at a back breaking pace, several days in a row.

I entered the command tent set up hours before by riders, and found Tywin standing at the head of the table, informing the various officers about the coming battle plan. He looked tired and ragged, with large dark circles under his eyes, but his expression was hard and he showed no sign of weakness in his stature.

The moment they say me, they all immediately stood and bowed, before Tywin told them to leave us. I pulled a chair away from the table and sat down on it, facing Tywin before speaking:
"How long before we are there?"

Tywin pulled out a chair from the table and sat down also.

"We will reach King's Landing before tomorrow night, but it isn't fast enough. Stannis will be there by noon and he will only wait for dusk before he attacks. If we force the men to march faster or without breaks, we will lose half to exhaustion before we get there, and the other half won't be worth anything in the battle." Tywin said, emphasizing on the seriousness of the situation.

But there was more to his words than seriousness, he was hinting at me to do something.

He was smart enough to know why I hadn't just flown ahead with my dragon. He knew, that if I wanted to go, I would just suggest it myself, and if I didn't, then I would keep silent. If he asked me directly it, he would be pressuring me, and undermining my will, even if to save a city.

"Then you best hope the city holds out for more than an hour." I said in a flat tone, not giving anything away.

Seeing that I wasn't biting, he cleared his throat and spoke in a very uncharacteristic manner:

"Your grace. Perhaps you would allow me a suggestion. If you fly your dragon there now, you could arrive long before Stannis attacks. I am sure even the sight of it, will be enough to discourage him from attacking."

I let the silence linger in the air for a while. I wanted him to know, he was treading on dangerous ground, but I could understand his reasons. Things would be much more complicated if the city fell, and his own position might even come under threat. It was his job to defend the city, but he had surrendered to me instead, so if he couldn't make it himself, I was his best option. That meant, he was stuck between two hard places. After all, I was still an entirely unknown factor, so he had to take a certain risk, if he wanted to influence me directly like this.

I released him from the tension but I still answered solemnly:

"I will fly there at first light. I will land outside King's Landing without being seen, but only if the city is truly lost, will I intervene. Make sure I do not have to." Tywin bowed his head a little deeper than normal indicating is gratitude and I stepped out the tent, into a blanket of moonlight.

After a bad night's sleep I woke up early and flew off with Ragni into the morning sky.

It had hardly been two hours before I reached the capital of Westeros. It couldn't even remotely compare to the splendor of Valyria, but it was a beautiful sight in its own right. The large castle at the top of the rocky hill especially, was something that must have taken generations to build. I believe it was referred to as the Red Keep, given the slightly red bricks it was build with.

The city was full of activity. Hundreds of men were doing repairs and preparing the walls for a siege. It wouldn't make much of a difference. Stannis had five times the soldiers, to every one defender, and I was assured he knew their defenses well.

I had cast another refraction spell on Ragni and it was a bright day, so I could fly quite close to the city without worry. There was much to see down there, and a few impressive structures were built if considering the tools they have available.

It was still a depressing thought, that this was the new center of the world.

As morning turned to noon, I landed Ragni in a clearing in the forest, not far from the city, and got off. I scratched him on the head and he made a low growling sound.

"I am afraid we have to part here for a while, friend. I cannot arrive in the city on the back of you, but make sure to remain close by at all times. It is likely I might need you tonight. I will cast the normal spell on you, so you won't be seen, but be careful about flying to low anyway." I said to him as I gave his snout a hug.

Ragni leaned his head into the hug but responded in his usual manner:

Understood.

I then turned around and began walking out of the clearing, before I heard a great gust of wind behind me, and the surrounding trees violently rustle and then the great beast was gone.

It took me less than an hour to reach the city, but entering wouldn't be simple. The city was completely closed already, to prevent Stannis from organizing some sort of attack from within the walls during the battle. I had to find another way in.

From what I could tell from flying around, I had a pretty good guess at were Stannis would be attacking. The troops were fairly spread out, but I found it odd that most of the provisions and arrow barrels was concentrated at one particular gate.

It was section of the wall by the sea. It was easy to invade from boat and not a very sturdy gate from the looks of it.

This was very good for me, because right after the gate, the terrain would become rocky and begin to rise. If you stood on the wall at the gate, no more than 50 meters to your left, would be a massive rock face.

I went down to the beach before the gate. Although it was broad daylight and I could easily be seen, the beach was filled with people dragging away their boats and various stalls, that hadn't been allowed into the city harbor. I was wearing a typical brown-yellow merchants cloak, I had taken from the Lannister camp. Everyone was so busy with their own plight, that I was hardly noticed.

I kept walking until both the wall and most of the beach was replaced with rock, and a bend in the cliff appeared. There was no people here, and no one could see me from either the wall nor the beach.

Clearing my mind to focus I began gathering the energy within me, and then muttered the spell argentia de vida.

From my bag of holding, a stream of silver started falling onto the sand. Instead of flowing downwards, it collected into a perfectly round ball by my side, reaching up to my hip.

Living mage silver. This represented my mother's life work. It was her greatest magical accomplishment, and it is what secured her place as a permanent arch mage of Valyria.

It was her gift for me, the day I was confirmed as a grand mage. Every time I look at it, I recall the look of pride she had. Her son, despite my destructive natural talent, were confirmed a grand mage at the age of seventeen.

Mage silver was an extremely conductive magical metal, that was used in nearly all high grade artifacts. It would let the wielder manipulate magic with almost no loss of energy. Mage silver had a down side though. It was extremely difficult and expensive to make, and it was even more difficult to mold it. If you tried to heat it up, the internal channels would be ruined, and it would return to being ordinary silver. Only using various magical procedures are mages able to slowly change its shape.

My mother had completely defied these rules, and managed to turn the silver into a liquid substance. The silver could no longer be enchanted, since any existing runes or inscriptions couldn't retain their shape on liquid, but it allowed for something else. Since the metal was so conductive of magical energy, it was extremely easy to manipulate it.

This allowed it so be used for almost anything, from a sterile and precise tool in alchemy, to a very effective weapon in close quarter combat.

I manipulated the silver to from a plate underneath my feet, and then began climbing up the rocky cliff. It was easy for me to use it in such a way. All I had to do was make it stick to wall, flow into every little hole and crack in the rock, and then solidify it to completely stick. Before long, I had found a perfect little viewing platform, high in the air yet close to the gate.

Dangling my feet of the ledge, I waited for the sun to set.