Lord Jon Arryn, Hand of the King

Florent had done just as Jon had thought he would, the man was too proud by half and as such would never accept that his house had not been in power or had a chance of gaining power since the reign of Aegon the Unworthy. Jon had counted on that and used his influence in Brightwater Keep and other regions in the Reach to stir the strings, and now everything had come to fruition. It was a good thing as well. Now, with Baelish, Marwyn, Orton Merryweather and Ser Hugh Beesbury. "Now that Florent has made the first pitch in this rebellion of his, things are going to get very interesting. Already the King has had men watch his brother, the Lord of Dragonstone, and the man's wife. The Spider continues slipping through the webs of deceit that he himself laid down many years ago. Baelish, you have reports for me?"

The Spider was someone who Jon had not been able to figure out. There was something that he wanted, but what it was, he did not know. Baelish, however, had quite a good idea about the Spider and so Jon relied on the man to figure out the eunuch's plots. "The Spider has been meeting with his friends from Pentos, discussing the importing of cheese and other substances, but through them he also gets word from the East and from the Reach also. It seems that House Osgrey is going to be stirring from its own slumber to draw on the support of its bannermen. Indeed, the Osgreys might soon become more of a problem for the crown than the Florents."

"The Osgreys have more ties to the East than they do Westeros, what reason would they have to rebel?" Merryweather asked, the man was useful, he had money and contacts through his wife Taena of Myr, but he was deeply lacking in the intelligence that his grandfather had had. The question he had just asked was the most obvious example of that.

Jon looked at the man and said. "The Osgreys are connected to the Blackfyres, or rather they were connected to the Blackfyres through a great many marriages and trade offs, and after the Blackfyres, they integrated with marriages to the Lannisters and the Redwynes, and now they hold shares in many of the institutions that have made Westeros as strong as it is now. If they rebel, then their capital will be withdrawn from these institutions, we do not want complete chaos. We are trying to make the King see sense, not destroy the institution that was created."

Merryweather looked confused. "But surely, if the Osgreys rebel, then the Florents will have to defeat them anyway, and with the Florents having some six thousand men to call and the Osgreys only some two thousand that should not be much of a competition."

"You forget my lord, that the Osgreys have ties with the Ambroses, the Appletons, Blackbars, Cockshaws and countless other houses. Add together their strength and you get a very different picture, one that would stop what we are trying to achieve from ever coming to being. We want to scare the crown, not overthrow it." Baelish said.

"So, then what do we do?" Merryweather asked. "How do we ensure that the Osgreys remain where they should be and they do not think to bring about something that could throw us all into chaos?"

Jon smiled. "I'm glad you asked that question, my lord. You see, there is this thing called money, and the Osgreys have a lot of capital, but they do not always have it at times that they need it. Baelish, if you would." Here Baelish pulled out a book and placed it on the table before them. Jon opened the book and said. "Transactions that will help give life to the Osgreys mines and their gold deposits, thus ensuring that they can buy back the towns that they lost all those years ago. Lord Osgrey has been desperate for such a thing for a great many years now, and so, a little investment from the corporations that Lord Baelish runs will be enough to convince him to stand down."

Baelish smiled. "I shall have my men meet with Osgrey in three days' time, to ensure that everything is in order and that nothing can be left to chance." Jon nodded, he'd trained the young man well, and as such there wasn't a risk of them failing.

"And what if the Florents should decide that perhaps they misjudged their time for rebelling? Lord Florent might not be young but his son and heir is not the most adventurous of people." Beesbury pointed out. "How will you ensure that they keep fighting?"

Jon smiled. "I'm glad that you asked that. You see the Florents are at present running desperately short of money. Consequently, funds are what they require, and funds are what they shall receive." Again, the book was opened and Jon pointed to the respective pages. "As you can see, they are running desperately short on silver, they need it to develop their building works and ensure that their people do not turn over to the Tyrells. Consequently, we have more than enough silver to give them as incentive to keep fighting."

Beesbury seemed appeased by this. Marwyn spoke then. "I have had word from my friends in the citadel, Tyrell is under suspicion for trafficking goods out of the area and into the Reach. Consequently, the conclave is assessing him for suitably. I can either move the judgement on him or keep it in place."

Arryn considered the question, Pycelle had served his purpose for now, he was ageing and likely to die before the year was out. Tyrell was still young and could well develop his own agenda. "What of Ebrose, where does that man stand on the Conclave's reckoning?"

"He will be nominated for the silver rod, within the next two moons." Marwyn said.

"Excellent." Jon replied. "Keep Tyrell under suspicion." Ebrose would be far more useful than Tyrell if they were to prevent the Tyrells getting what they wanted after all.

Lord Renly Baratheon

Renly sat as still as he could in his brother's solar, the news that had come from the Reach was troubling, mainly because Loras was worried and when Loras was worried, so too was he. When the word had come that Florent had rebelled, Renly had advocated for prompt action immediately, after all the rebellion was against the crown, but Robert in his infinite wisdom had pointed out the letter that Mace Tyrell had sent saying he would handle it. Renly had argued that Mace couldn't handle his own children when they were babes, how could he handle an actual rebellion? And with the word that had come, it seemed he had been proven right. He sat and watched as his brother read over the letters and correspondence from the Reach, when he put down the letter, Renly spoke.

"I was right. Mace couldn't handle the fighting, the need for prompt action. He underestimated Florent, and now he's suffered two defeats and is most likely going to face a siege. We need to get moving, Your Majesty, it won't be long before Florent looks to get into the Stormlands." Renly watched as his brother looked at him, then picked up another letter. Frustrated, Renly continued speaking. "Randyll Tarly is busy fighting invaders from the Southern Riverlands who have declared their support for Florent, you know that means that any hope of a peaceful solution has gone out of the window." Still his brother read through the letters and said nothing. "You know the longer that this goes on, the greater the chance others will follow."

Now Robert put the letters down and looked at him. "The Florents and the Tyrells have been squabbling for years, your lover's worry over his family is not my concern. But if it is such a concern to you, then you shall command a host from the Stormlands and fly the royal banner and deal with the threat. Ser Meryn Trant shall go with you, to make it official." Renly breathed in relief, he could give Loras some good news. "I will however be taking the forces of the crownlands with me to the Stormlands to handle the troubles that seem to be brewing there."

Renly blinked. "Troubles?" He had not got any such notices from Ser Cortney, nothing had come up. He would have known.

Robert sighed. "It appears that there is a band of vagabonds who evaded Doran Martell, and as such have gotten the peasantry to consider themselves hard done by, this is predominantly on the old border regions between the Stormlands and Dorne. Consequently, the chief vagabond has named himself the Vulture King. Doran Martell says he is doing what he can to stem the tide of people going to this beast. I am not convinced that he is being honest, therefore I shall be riding forth, with the Kingsguard and Jon to handle things there."

Renly stared at his brother, then he acknowledged what his brother had done, as was so often the case when Loras was worried, Renly put his concerns over anyone else's. This was something that he'd tried working on, but it seemed that it was not any easier. He bowed his head. "Very well." His brother patted him on the arm, and then just as Renly sensed the meeting was to be adjourned Stannis spoke.

"What do you wish the Royal Fleet to do?" Renly knew his other brother had never quite forgiven him for being given Storm's End, even though he'd had no say in the matter whatsoever. And with his goodfather the one leading the rebellion, Renly had the feeling his brother was trying desperately to show that he was capable.

"The fleet shall remain here and act as a defence against any who might think to bring things to the boil. Braavos is still undergoing an election for the Sealord position, and the Faith are still trying to decide on who they should choose as the High Septon. Cersei will be acting as regent in my absence." Robert said.

Renly saw immediately that had been meant as another blow to Stannis, and it showed. His brother grit his teeth and asked. "Are you sure she will be able to handle the pressure?"

Renly very nearly groaned aloud, his brothers could be so fucking stupid with one another sometimes. Robert simply harrumphed. "She negotiated your marriage and she ensured that I did not remove your hand when you tried to take more than you were owed, brother. I think she will be able to handle things just fine. Dismissed." Renly got up and bowed as did Stannis, they went their separate ways. Renly arrived back in his chambers, where Loras was waiting.

"Well?" his lover asked.

"The King has given us leave to ride out with levies from the Stormlands to aid your father." Renly said, Loras rushed forward and embraced him, planting a firm kiss on his lips.

"Thank you." Loras said as he pulled back. "When do we leave?"

Renly thought over this, he'd need to make adequate preparations and he'd need to convince his brother that he was serious about being Lord Paramount of the Stormlands. "In two days' time." He said. He was grateful that Loras did not complain about that, instead he was surprised when his lover said.

"You know we should check in on Storm's End first, before we go. To see how the boy is doing as well."

Renly nodded, the boy was one of Robert's illegitimate children, who the Queen had said needed to be raised properly, so as not to get in the way when things were sorted. Renly often wondered how his goodsister felt about the affairs that Robert had had early in their marriage, before they really knew one another. The boy was a year younger than the Crown Prince and was perhaps taller and more muscular than him. "I suppose so."

"You know he idolises you." Loras said playing with the strings of his trousers.

"Loras." Renly growled warningly, he did not like such talk.

Loras bent down and looked at him suggestively. "It's true you know." Renly thought about that and what he thought of his actual nephew as his lover made love to him.