A servant girl had been called for Kestrel to go to speak with Varys in his tower, and the little girl had walked with Kestrel to the door before leaving, never saying a word to her.
She hadn't really been enthusiastic about a meeting with Varys but knew she could hardly say no, knocking on the door and entering.
He was sitting behind the desk, writing something as she entered and looked up with a smile 'Ah, my Lady Hightower, please have a seat'.
Kestrel sat down on the other side on the desk, noting the hundreds of books around the room and the large window that looked out over City.
'Please, call me Kestrel'.
With a brief smile he poured them both wine from a jug 'very well Kestrel, that is an unusual name, may I ask why that name was chosen?'.
'When my parents wanted to send a message of my birth to the Tyrell's there were no ravens available and instead a Kestrel was found and sent with the message instead'.
Varys nodded slightly, drinking some of the wine 'I understand that you are growing very, uh, 'close' to Sandor Clegane, the man you are arranged to marry I believe?'.
Kestrel narrowed her eyes a little 'what are you trying to insinuate Lord Varys, because I was under the impression that how I spent time with my fiancee was my own decision, or are you trying to cast aspersions on my family honor?'.
Varys smiled 'and who's family honor would that be then, Kestrel?'. She looked up sharply 'what are you trying to say?'.
'I'm asking which family you are trying to defend the honour of, the Stark's, the Targeryn's, or the Hightower's'.
She blinked 'I don't know what you are talking about'.
Vary stood up, looking out at the window briefly 'I know who you are Kestrel, Lyanna's child, there is little point in denying it to me'. She said nothing, eyes dark and he continued 'what I want to know is whether or not you are going to make an attempt for the crown?'.
She still said nothing, looking at him closely with dark eyes as Varys sighed, leaning against the wall behind him 'you play the game well Kestrel, better than any one else, you are moving your own pieces and the others on the board as well, you are
Varys sat down, looking at Kestrel closely 'do you want to hear a story about the Targeryn's?'.
She shrugged slightly and he sat forward in his chair, their eyes locked on each other
'for years the family married into itself, keeping the blood of the dragons as pure as they could possibly keep it. Down the lines, marriages began to happen outside of the family, Princess Elia Martell for instance, married to Rhaegar. Of course Rhaegar did this to try and dilute the madness that had descended into his family. Keeping the family closed in and marrying each other did not purify the dragon line however, not all of the children ever had the dragon blood, Viserys was killed by molten gold poured over his head, whilst his sister Danerys has raised Dragons once more. Do you see what I am saying?'.
Kestrel shook her head, truthfully not seeing a point in the conversation 'Viserys and Danerys didn't both inherit the dragon blood… is that it?'.
'I'm saying that it is not uncommon for one Targeryn to be blessed with it, and another to have missed it… Remember, you are not the only child who appeared in a highborn family at the end of the Rebellion, only one of you however, was given the blood of the dragon'.
Before Varys had even blinked, Kestrel had jumped over the table, drawn a knife from the deep pocket in the side of her dress and pushed him against the wall, the knife to his neck.
Varys looked shocked and she made sure that the blade was hard enough on his skin, just before it would draw blood 'what are you trying to say, you've got ten seconds or you're dropped from the top of this tower and I find someone else to take the blame'.
'I think you already know Kestrel, there wasn't just one baby in the Tower of Joy that day, one looked like a Targeryn and one looked like a Stark, they had to be split up. Only one of them had the Dragon blood, you couldn't be raised near Robert Baratheon, your brother however, looked more like a Stark than most of the family did. Your brother doesn't have the Dragon blood Kestrel, you are opposites, but you are both the same'.
Seeing the anger in her eyes Varys muttered 'you look like him'. Kestrel's voice was low 'look like who?'.
'Rhaegar, your father'.
'My brother…'. Varys shook his head 'you already know, Kestrel, you are the Princess, and Jon Snow is the Prince, and yet neither of you want the throne'.
Kestrel dropped the knife to her side, breathing heavily but still close to Varys 'Snow? Are you sure?'.
He nodded slightly and Kestrel turned to leave, Varys hurriedly running around in front of her 'Kestrel, where are you going?'.
'I'm going to prepare for the feast tonight, unless you are planning on revealing everything to Cersei and Joffrey?'.
Varys looked almost amused 'I've known about the existence of Lyanna and Rhaegar's twins for longer than Ned Stark and Baelor Hightower have, if I wanted the Lannister's and the Baratheon's to know, I would have told them before you even left the Oldtown to come here. You should know something else Kestrel'.
Varys stepped forward and whispered into her ear 'Aegon- there are threeTargeryn's who survived the rebellion. One of you is entitled to the throne'.
Kestrel blinked 'Varys, tell me- who do you serve?'.
'I serve the Realm my lady, there has to be someone who will. What you may like to remember is that the first I served were Targeryn's, I want them to be the last as well'.
Kestrel stared at Varys for a long time, a silence between them before she swallowed 'I have to prepare for the feast, I shall see you soon my Lord'.
He nodded slightly 'Stay safe my Lady'.
With her head swimming, Kestrel dropped the knife into her pocket and left the tower, hurriedly making her way down the steps to the main atrium, feeling the bile rising in her throat as she thought about the implications of what Varys had just said.
She knew full well that Varys had been an advisor to her grandfather, and it was Pycelle who had convinced the King to let the Baratheon men enter the Keep, whilst Varys had tried to keep them out.
He had also made a good point, if he wanted to tell Cersei and Joffrey about her real identity, surely he would have by now?
Inherently Kestrel was also not entirely surprised by the mention of Jon Snow, she had suspected it for a while and Varys had only confirmed it in her mind. It made sense, Sansa had mentioned it the other day in conversation about her family 'Jon looks more like a Stark than anyone else in the family, he looks like Uncle Benjen and Father, he looks more like them even than Robb does'.
That was because he was Lyanna's son, not Ned's.
Kestrel felt herself nearly throw up and walked across a large hall, spotting Joffrey walking with two members of the King's Guard she didn't recognize.
'Ah, my Lady Hightower, what brings you to this side of the Keep?'. She swallowed the rising feeling of sick and smiled sweetly with a brief curtsey to him, the two guards standing a little way back 'Lord Varys was speaking to me your Grace, telling me tales of his youth'.
Joffrey laughed slightly 'the man is a fool but Mother insists on his presence here at the Castle. She tells me you are to marry Clegane as soon as possible?'.
Kestrel noted that Joffrey had stopped calling Sandor 'dog' or 'Hound' the second the marriage had been brought up by his mother. She knew why of course, even someone as stubborn and self centered as Joffrey knew that he needed Kestrel to stay at the Keep. Baelor essentially ran the Oldtown and she was his heir, he could not lose their support.
They could raise a bigger army than the Keep could, and the Tyrell family were too closely aligned with the Hightower's to not follow suit. Regardless of Margaery's engagement to him, the bond between the houses ran far deeper than that.
'Yes your Grace, my Mother wants to see it happen before she returns South'. He nodded 'very well, the feast begins later, I hope our kitchens do the occasion justice'.
Kestrel nodded slightly 'I must leave your Grace, to return to my rooms and prepare for the feast'.
Joffrey glanced over Kestrel quickly 'Sansa Stark is your Lady now is she not?'. She nodded and he continued 'I think maybe she should come and uh, visit my rooms before the feast'.
Kestrel felt her stomach turn but made sure that she didn't show her emotions to Joffrey, keeping her expression the same 'I do not think there will be time your Grace, I need my Lady there to help me prepare for the feast. My Mother has not brought her Lady with her and we shall both need Sansa's help'.
Joffrey nodded curtly 'very well. I shall see you at the feast, good day'. Kestrel did a brief curtsey again to Joffrey 'Good day your Grace'.
Kestrel turned and stalked off towards her rooms on the other side of the castle, feeling the knife in her pocket knocking against her leg as she walked quickly, wishing that she had used it on Joffrey.
Sansa was about to leave their rooms when Kestrel came in, slamming the door behind her and breathing heavily 'Is anyone here?'. Sansa blinked, looking startled 'No, just me, I was about to leave'.
Kestrel bolted the door 'you can't, Joffrey just asked me to send you to his room before the feast, I said you were helping me to get ready. Trust me on this Sansa, you don't want to be taken to his rooms'. She was incredibly pale and her voice was scared 'thank you Kestrel'.
She shook her head, looking at her terrified cousin and pulling her into a tight hug 'don't worry, I'd reveal who I was before I let him have you, okay?'.
She felt Sansa nod slightly and sighed 'Jon…he's not your brother'.
Sansa stepped back a little, looking confused 'what do you mean? He's my father's-'. Kestrel cut her off
'he's your father's nephew, not his son. It is too much of a coincidence that we were both eight months at the end of the war, and that Jon looks like both Benjen and your father… Varys told me… we had to be split up because I would reveal myself to Robert, and Jon wouldn't… your father was worried he might eventually and that is why he didn't stop him from going to the Wall I assume'.
Sansa was quiet for a little while, deep in thought 'I remember King Robert saying once that he was always surprised that Father had a bastard child, he thought he had loved my Mother too much'.
Kestrel shrugged 'Varys was saying that not everyone gets the Dragon blood in the Targeryn family, Jon didn't so he would be less likely to be discovered than me… He also said that Aegon survived the Rebellion… I didn't have time to ask what he meant… I feel sick, my head is swimming right now'.
Sansa watched as Kestrel sat down in front of a mirror, head in her hands 'I heard that Gregor may be at the feast tonight… we need to make sure that he is jealous of Sandor don't we?'.
Kestrel looked up, her mood having lifted slightly 'maybe I am as mad as my Grandfather was… hiding in the castle of the people who killed half my family… and marrying the brother of the man who caused half of that…'.
Sansa sat down beside her 'no, you're brave. As you said before, winter is here, and it is looking for revenge'.
Kestrel looked at Sansa, seeing the hardened look in her eyes and knowing that she was now more aware than ever of just what they were up against.