Hello Everyone.

Sorry I've been absent for so long. Had problems, fixed them then worked the entire Covid-19 lockdown so I didn't get a chance to sit on my ass and write.

Anyway, I promised I wouldn't abandon this story and I won't.

Chapter 34 – The eyes of Westeros part 1

Kings Landing roughly a week after Sam has arrived at Winterfell

As Varys made his way towards the Small Council chamber, he mused to himself that it would be an interesting meeting considering the information that his little birds had sung to him of late. Like Tywin Lannister, he had no little birds in Winterfell itself but he did have a few birds in Winter Town and their songs were usually very reliable, but with the latest songs coming from them and the other birds he had in North, he was beginning to wonder if their reliability to provide accurate information was beginning to slip. The songs he was currently hearing sounded more of fairy tales then truth, but there was just enough truth behind it to make him highly uncomfortable about the possibilities that this information presented.

As he neared the council chambers door, he composed his face into its usual insipid blank mask and glided into the chamber. Varys eyes quickly slid around the room, assessing the mood of the others that were currently assembled in the room.

The Small Council of Robert Baratheon, First of his name, Protector of the Realm, etc…etc…, Varys mused to himself. The Small Minded Council more like it, he mentally snorted. The Good and the Great who were deemed worthy by his Grace, King Robert to rule this country (although in this case, his Hand made the determinations with a "little" input from Robert) in his stead and not one of them, except maybe Jon Arryn and himself was actually worthy of the honour and titles that a position on the Small council bestows.

Grandmaester Pycelle was to all intents and purposes dozing in his chair. Varys was well aware that the doddering feeble old fool that he portrayed to the world was just an act that hid a cunning mind and where his true loyalty was. He was Tywin Lannister's creature through and through. Varys was expecting loud and rude insults and protests from him aimed at the North when he heard what Varys had to report. He would support whatever Tywin told him to support.

Lord Stannis Baratheon the Master of Ships was standing by the window his face set in stone and jaw clenched as he waited for the meeting to begin. Varys knew that he and Jon Arryn were beginning to suspect that the Queen's children were not of the King's seed. Stannis in particular had noticed that not one of King Robert's so-called "legitimate" children with Cersei had a single Baratheon feature between the three of them and it was a known fact that the Baratheon blood always bred true, especially in the male line. He and Jon Arryn were starting to investigate the matter but so far, they hadn't approached King Robert about their suspicions but with what he had to tell them today, Stannis might just put the matter on hold. Regardless of what Stannis thought of what he would hear today, he would do what King Robert commanded him to do.

The Hand of King Jon Arryn was sitting in his place at the council table looking over some documents and his notes on them. Despite his age, he was fairly competent at running the realm during King Robert's reign and was pretty much the only person King Robert would listen too, apart from Lord Eddard Stark, but unfortunately, he like everyone else was unable to stop King Robert from bankrupting the realm.

Varys was a little worried about him. Of late, he had been hearing more songs about secret letters and meetings between Lady Lysa Arryn and Lord Petyr Baelish. What those letters and meeting contained, he didn't yet know but to his experienced eye, it had the signs of plotting something Jon Arryn wouldn't see coming.

Varys was unsure of how Jon Arryn would react to his news about the North and what his former ward was currently up to. Lord Arryn would trust that Lord Stark knew what he was doing, but would also ask why he let the Wildlings behind the Wall and without proof of what was supposedly coming; Jon Arryn would question Ned Stark's sanity. That proof had been shown to the Northern Lords and Night's Watch meant nothing in the grand scheme of things as the men in this room hadn't seen that proof with their own eyes. In the end though, Varys was fairly certain that Jon Arryn would support Ned Stark and the North regardless.

His eyes slid next to the Master of Law, Lord Renly Baratheon who was bantering and trading veiled insults with the Master of Coin, Lord Petyr Baelish while they waited for King Robert and Lord Commander of the Kingsguard and member of the Small Council, Ser Barristan Selmy to make their attendance.

Lord Renly Baratheon was also Lord Paramount of the Stormlands in addition to being Master of Law but he took neither position seriously. He was an ineffective lord at best and a neglectful one at worst. He had King Robert's attitude towards money and tended to spend his coin on the finer things in life without care in regards to expense.

Renly had also demonstrated a fine disregard to his position as Master of Law and while Kings Landing was fairly peaceful and easy to manage at this point in time, it was also rife with corruption which Janos Slynt and the city watch took liberal advantage of. Renly was either unaware of the situation or he knew but couldn't be bothered to deal with the problem though Varys suspected it was a combination of both. Not to mention Renly's "friendship" with Loras Tyrell was going to get him into all sorts of trouble if he wasn't careful or mindful of possible future consequences of his inter actions with Loras in particular and the Tyrell family in general. Oleanna Tyrell was a formidable opponent that Varys didn't want to tangle with if possible.

The Master of Coin, Lord Petyr Baelish, was as slippery and cunning as they come. Varys didn't like or trust him in the slightest but he knew better then to leave him to his schemes unsupervised. He had ambition combined the smarts and the strength of will to makes those ambitions a reality and he wouldn't hesitate to use anyone who could help him to advance and dispose of anyone who got in his way.

Varys didn't like him in the slightest but he did respect the man in the same way one would respect a highly poisonous snake. Warily and from a distance or at least out of its immediate reach. It was only logical. The way Varys saw it, if he failed to respect a smart player who managed to masterfully play the game in order to get ahead in the world with only a few resources behind them then he was doing both the player and himself a grave disservice. To fail to respect a smart opponent was to get caught with ones pants down fugitively speaking by the very opponent you had failed to respect as a possible threat.

The man was utterly ruthless and completely immoral. There wasn't a situation that he didn't try to take advantage of. The day that Jon Arryn named him as Master of Coin, Varys knew he was going to have to keep a very close eye on him. Before he achieved his current position, he had only been a minor pest. Now that he had access to the power of the Small Council and the Royal court, Baelish was dangerous in his ambitions and a threat to the Realm if left to his own devices.

Varys personally suspected that he ultimately wanted to be King or the Hand and he promised himself that Baelish ever managed to obtain either position; he would get out of Westeros as fast as he could. Baelish would have him killed and would replace Varys with someone loyal to him as the new Master of Whispers.

Varys's musings were interrupted when he heard a loud footsteps and King Robert's loud voice approaching the Small Council chambers. He and the other small council members stood beside their chairs and waited for King Robert to enter. It was unusual for King Robert to attend Small Council meetings but then again, Robert's behaviour had become rather strange of late.

Robert's rather loud voice had not been heard as much as normal and his drinking and whoring had also reduced in frequency. It had Varys rather perplexed as to what the cause of his recent strange behaviour could be but as the King had not seen fit to confide in anyone as to what was currently bothering him Varys had no way of finding out what was going on and if there was one thing Varys hated above all else, it was not knowing what was going on.

Varys put the matter to one side for now as he currently had the Small Council meeting to get through and as this one would involve Ned Stark, the man Robert regarded as his closest friend and brother, he had decided to grace them with his royal presence.

King Robert followed by the ever faithful Ser Barristan Selmy entered the room and headed to the table. As they bowed and greeted the King, Varys quickly assessed the King's mood.

King Robert was once again rather quiet in his demeanour but Robert was also as unpredictable as the weather. He could turn from calm and happy to full of rage and wind in an instant. They took their seats and waited for the King to start the meeting.

"All right I'm here so can we make this quick please I have other royal duties to attend to today." Robert opened the meeting as Varys once again wondered what was going on with the King's strange behaviour. He vowed to get to the truth of the matter soon as the King's strange behaviour was starting to make him nervous.

"If a quick meeting is what your Grace was hoping for, then I am sorry to inform your Grace that your hope is misplaced. We have quite a few matters on the agenda today. So that being said, with your permission your Grace, we shall start with the Master of Ships report on the Royal Fleet and his request to hold naval exercises, emergency search and rescue training and some War games with the Redwyne Fleet." The Hand of the King started the meeting as the King groaned in displeasure.

The meeting continued and Stannis request was given approval and the meeting moved on to other reports from the rest of the council.

It was only after three hours of discussions and King Robert's groaning and sometimes surprisingly helpful comments that they finally finished the normal council business much to Roberts's relief.

"Now that the business of running the realm is complete for this meeting, we will now discuss the situation that has developed in the North."

That grabbed Robert's attention.

"What Northern situation are you talking about Jon? Has something bad happened to Ned or his family?" the King asked his former mentor, his concern for Ned evident in his voice and manner. Jon smiled.

"Ned is fine Your Grace or at least he was fine last I heard. No, this situation is something else and we have had very little information about what has been happening north of the Neck until recently." Jon explained.

"Alright then, what is this situation you mentioned and why does it concern us? The Lord Paramounts do have complete authority to make changed to their individual realms without having to ask permission of the Iron Throne." Stannis asked.

"In the normal course of events I would agree with you Lord Stannis but this is not a normal situation. For reasons yet to be discovered, Lord Stark, the Northern Lords and the Nights Watch has suddenly put aside thousands of years of old grudges and hatred towards the Wildlings and have allowed them to settle on the Gift and New Gift south of the Wall." Jon announced to the Small Council.

Silence followed.

"Ned did WHAT?" a bewildered and confused King Robert asked. "Did I hear you correctly when you said that NED STARK allowed the WILDLINGS through the Wall that was erected to keep them out of Westeros proper? The dutiful and honour bound Ned Stark ALLOWED them come through the Wall?"

Jon Arryn nodded his head and confirmed to all those present who were all just as bewildered and confused as the King was that what he had just told them was the truth. Silence reigned once again as each man considered what he had been told.

"Why? Do we even know why Lord Stark allowed this? What possible reason would he have to even consider allowing it to happen? And how on earth did he manage to convince all the Northern Lords AND the Night's Watch to go along with what seems to be at first look, utter insanity?" Renly asked. "Varys, what do you little birds say?"

"Well my Lords, I have heard several songs from my northern birds. What would you like to know first? I will do my best to provide answers." Varys told them.

"Well what I would like to know if possible is why they let the Wildlings though the Wall in the first place. There are thousands of years of bad blood between the North and the Wildlings. Wildlings invading the North I can understand but they appear to co-exist peacefully for the most part with the people of the North by all reports." Grand Maester Pycelle who had been unusually silent until now asked Varys.

"The song my birds have sung to me in regards to that topic is an odd one. They sing that the North is preparing for both winter and war. A friend in Oldtown has told me that Winterfell's Maester, Maester Lewin has sent a letter along with his calculations and observations of the heavens to the Citadel claiming that a Long Winter will be coming soon and from the reports I have been receiving from various merchants and sailors over the last few months, the Northern Lords seem to be convinced a Long Winter will be coming very soon." Varys paused to take a sip wine.

"A Long Winter? Is this Lewin completely sure his calculations are correct? Do you know if the Archmaester's Conclave confirmed his theory?" Lord Stannis asked

"From what my friend told me, the Citadel is having a rather…heated debate over the topic. There are those Maesters who have done the research and agree with Maester Lewin's calculations but they didn't all agree on exactly when the summer would end and they had no idea how long the autumn season will last before winter finally settles in. In fact the only they can all apparently agree on is that it will be a Long Winter thanks to this summer lasting almost ten years so far. My friend however, knows people who study such things away from the confines of the Citadel, has confirmed to me that the Long Winter isn't as far away as the Maesters would like to think." Varys paused and took a breath then continued with his current report.

"The North is planting more fields of grains, roots, herbs and vegetables than ever before and what they can't grow due to the northern climate, they are making arrangements with the Free Cities and Essos to import through White Harbour and from there, stored with storage silos and warehouses that are being constructed throughout the northern lands. The glassblowers in Myr have been contracted to produce the glass panels the North use to construct glass gardens in large numbers. The Wildlings that have already made the transition onto the Gift, have started constructing settlements, small communities that consist of one or two Wildling tribes at most and as for the rest of the Wildlings, well that is where it starts to get very strange indeed my lords." Varys looked around at the men seated at the table and prepared himself for an intense interrogation.

"How long do we have before summer ends?" Baelish asked.

"Five years, maybe six, definitely no more than seven years and the autumn season will be a short one. No more than a year, a year and a half at most." Grandmaester Pycelle quietly answered him. Pycelle had already worked the numbers on Lord Tywin's behalf and even he couldn't deny the evidence as much as he'd like too.

It was Jon Arryn who broke the silence that had settled on the table.

"I can understand the North preparing for a Long Winter regardless of what the Citadel says. The North knows winter better than anyone else bar the Vale so if they say a Long Winter is coming, then a long winter is coming. I can even understand that a long winter could be the cause for Ned to allow the Wildlings to settle south of the Wall this winter. Regardless of thousands of years of enmity between them and the North, they are still human and would die in their hundreds if left to fend for themselves north of the Wall during a long winter. Despite everything, Ned has a compassionate heart and would have offered them sanctuary behind the Wall for this reason alone." Jon stated.

"But, I don't understand the war part of this. If the Wildlings and the North are currently peacefully co-existing up there, then who are they preparing to go to war against exactly?"

Varys had to force himself not to flinch uncomfortably as Jon Arryn's attention returned to him in order to receive some answers that Varys really didn't want to give.

"Well man, speak up? Who has Ned declared war against and why wasn't I told about it until now?" King Robert boomed and glared at Varys and this time, Varys couldn't stop his flinch. He had forgotten the king was actually there because for once, Robert Baratheon had been listening instead of talking.

Varys sighed and slumped down into his seat in a defeated posture.

"It's ludicrous Your Grace. Honestly it truly is but…" Varys trailed off as the glare on King Robert's face intensified a few notches.

"Just spit it out man, now" was the growled command from his King.

Varys sighed again.

"Please remember that I can only tell you what my little birds tell me and I would just like to remind the council that my little birds are extremely well trained in gathering accurate songs to sing to me. I tell you this now so that when I inform you that proof was offered, seen and accepted as true and real by the Northern Lords AND my little birds then it has the highest probable chance of being the complete truth…"

"Your rambling man spit it out already!" Stannis demanded

"The North, including the Wildlings or Free Folk as they like to be called, are preparing for war…NORTH of the Wall…" Varys was interrupted again, this time by Littlefinger.

"North of the Wall? If all the Wildlings are now south of the Wall, then what are they expecting to fight? Snarks and grumpkins?" Littlefinger laughed but in his mind he silently cursed Ned Stark.

This put all his plans for Westeros and his "Master's" plans in jeopardy. If Ned Stark was aware of the ancient enemy rising again, as the evidence suggests he must be, then Littlefinger was positive that nothing short of war or the death of a loved one would divert his attention from what was currently happening in the North.

He quickly wondered what possible plans he should put in place before he returned his attention to the rest of those present around the table, watching and evaluating their reactions to what they were about to hear.

Varys ignored Littlefinger's interruption and continued his report.

"As I was saying, the North and the Wildings are preparing for a war that will come from North of the Wall, or so my little birds sing. But it's the enemy they will be waring against, that is hard to believe part of the songs." Varys paused and sipped some water from his goblet and waited for someone to ask the obvious question.

"War is coming from north of the Wall? Well if it's not the Wildling tribes, as they are apparently now behind the Wall, then who are they waring against?" Jon Arryn asked him.

"The Others."

Varys waited for in their reactions.

Renly and Littlefinger burst out laughing over the absurdity of the claim. Stannis ground his teeth just a little bit harder and expressed his disbelief in the form of an inelegant snort while Pycelle's disbelief was written over his face. Jon Arryn and Ser Barristan looked at Varys as if he'd gone mad but it was Robert's reaction that caught Varys's attention.

Robert had sagged back into his chair and he suddenly looked ten years older than he was but it was the look of on the King's face that clinched it for Varys. It was the look of a man who just had confirmed something he already knew about but had hoped it wasn't true. A combination of resignation and determination, like he already knew this was coming and was determined to do whatever it takes to win. It made Varys more curious than ever.

What did the King know that he didn't?

"The Others? Seriously? I do believe the cold has finally affected old Ned's mind. The man is preparing to fight myths and legends and has somehow managed to convince the entirety of the Northern Lords, small folk and the Wildlings of the same thing? Crazy, they are all madder then Aerys ever was" Renly couldn't stop sniggering at the thought.

"Lord Varys, do you seriously expect us to believe that?" Was Stannis's question.

"The Others? Could it be true? You said something about proof?" Jon Arryn asked.

"How do you kill a legend? How do you kill something that's already dead?" Ser Barristan wondered aloud to himself, remembering the old tales his grams had told him as a child.

Varys was just about to answer Jon Arryn's question when a growl from the King stopped him.

"Get out"

"Your Grace?"

"Robert?"

"Brother?"

Robert ignored them all.

"Not you Stannis, you stay too Jon, the rest of you bugger off!" Robert gave the order as they looked at Robert in surprise.

"Your Grace…" Littlefinger started to say only to be cut off.

"I said GET OUT!" Robert's voice roared into the room as the rest of the council hastily complied.

"Robert? What's going on?" Jon asked him. Robert stood up.

"Let's go for a walk."

#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#

"Let's go for a walk, I need some fresh air, or as fresh as it ever gets in the shithole of a city anyway." Robert replied and headed out of the council chambers and towards the gardens that overlooked the sea. When they reached the edge of the cliff, the part of the garden they were standing in had no trees and no conveniently close bushes or ornamental statuary for little birds to hide in or behind. It seemed that the King required complete privacy for what he wanted to speak about.

"Robert, what's going on? You never attend the Small Council meetings and you didn't seem very surprised at hearing what Lord Varys told us about Ned and the North. You've been quiet, not drinking as much and certainly not whoring. Something is bothering you so please, tell us and let us help you. That is what we're here for Your Grace."

Jon smiled at his former foster son. Robert was always a do-er not a thinker. Put a weapon in his hand and give him an enemy to fight and Robert was unstoppable,

but

Sit him on the Throne, ask him to think and make decisions that would affect millions and Robert couldn't cope with the responsibility. His way of dealing with it was to not deal with it at all and leave the ruling of the Realms to others.

Robert sighed as he stared unseeing into the distance. He was currently at a loss at to what to do. He didn't need proof of what Varys said was true because he already knew what was coming. It was the dreams.

Those gods cursed dreams that kept had him from finding a decent night's sleep for the last week or so.

The first time he had the dream, it seemed more like a nightmare. He had woken up gasping for breath and clutching for his hammer that wasn't there. When he had realised he was fine, he had tried to laugh it off and had mostly succeeded, but there was a lingering sense of dread that hung over him that no amount of wine or whores could remove.

For seven straight nights, he had dreamed he same sequence of events over and over again.

The cold came first. It was always cold in his dream but it wasn't what he would consider "normal" cold, no this cold was much worse. It was the type of cold that freezes, the freezing cold that penetrates the body deeply, that no amount of warmth can truly remove. It comes with freezing winds that cut like knives through the warmest of clothes or the snuggest of homes. It was the type of cold that bites and fights and screams its defiance of the summer warmth.

When Robert opened his eyes, he was in a cold place with open tundra life as far as the eye could see, but when he turned around, his eyes opened in astonishment at what he saw, a mountain of ice, also as far as the eye could see.

The Wall.

Robert had never been to the Wall but he knew he couldn't have been anywhere else. Ned had told him about the Wall and its history and about the Nights Watch as well, but looking at the massive structure, he couldn't believe that men built such a thing but wondered why they built it. You only build a wall like that to defend yourself if you're terrified of what's on the other side.

Then suddenly without warning, he was somehow on top of the Wall looking down at Castle Black. He reared back from the edge, he may have no fear of anything even heights, but even he had to admit, that it was a LONG way down if he slipped. Instead he turned around to look out on what the Wildlings call the true North and was surprised. Cold and stark it may be but it also had wild beauty that appealed to him.

Suddenly it was dark, as if heavy clouds covered the sun and snow began to fall. As he looked down from the top of the Wall, he once again found that he had moved and he was now standing in front of a steel gate embedded in the wall of ice. As he looked around, the snowy ground started to move and without warning, bodies start bursting up through the snow. Robert yelled and fell backwards, reaching for a weapon that wasn't there while scanning area once again and what he saw terrified him.

The bodies were actually corpses. Dead bodies of all sizes, from giants to children from what had been human bodies to animals he had never seen or heard of before in his life and all of them were growling, snapping and hissing at him but what chilled him the most were the eyes. Those blue eyes that stared at him without blinking. Robert was about to turn and make a run for the gate, bravery and courage be damned, he was scared shitless, when silence suddenly fell. It was an eerie feeling, there wasn't a sound to be heard, not even a breath of wind.

The dead started moving, splitting down the middle to form a corridor. As he stood there, watching, waiting, he saw movement; something was coming towards him, marching down the centre of the corridor.

The beings were tall, taller than him. They were white, wearing black leather type armour and carrying spear like weapons that appeared to be made of ice and as they got closer, he could see their eyes, blue like the copses but more frightening, much more frightening because unlike the corpses, he could see a cold, cruel, intelligence in their eyes.

They stopped in front of him in an arrow head formation. Still as statues they stood there, staring at Robert, who was fast losing his nerves and wanted to be anywhere but here. Still, he was a king and a warrior, so he steeled his spine and asked them what they wanted.

In response to this, they lifted their spears and pointed them at him as they opened their mouths and screeched something he couldn't understand then as one, they turned their heads to the sky. Robert followed their gaze and fell to his knees in terror and denial. Above their heads, flew what could only be a dragon. That it was technically dead didn't reassure him but it was the creature that sat on its back that drove Robert's desire to flee in terror. He had no idea who this being was but he terrified Robert to the depths of his soul. He could only watch in abject horror as the dragon flew toward the Wall and let loose a massive jet of blue flames at the Wall that weakened it so much that it came crashing down. Ice crashing and landing everywhere. By the time the dead army had starting marching through the breech, Robert was too numb to feel or think.

It wasn't until he felt a sharp pain in his back and guts that he realised that the tip of an ice spear was sticking out of his stomach. As the darkness closed in the last thing he saw was the face of that terrifying creature that had flown on a dead dragon looking at him in satisfaction. As Robert's eyes closed for what should be the final time, he always hears a voice. He couldn't tell you what the voice sounded like but he also knew he would never forget what it sounded like either.

It always spoke the same four words…

"This must not happen"

He usually woke up at this point yelling and grabbing at the area he was stabbed in his dream.

"Robert? Brother?" Stannis's voice snapped his attention back to the present. He sighed again as he looked at Jon and Stannis. He hated what he was about to do but he knew he needed to do it. War was coming and he needed to be ready. He could feel it in his bones and his dreams seem to confirm it.

"Jon, Stannis, I brought you out here so we couldn't be overheard. I need you to listen to me and to withhold any questions until I've said what I need to say alright?" Robert asked them.

Jon and Stannis glanced at each other, wondering what was going on but nodded their heard and prepared to listen to whatever it was Robert had to tell them. As Robert told them about his dream, they were wondering if the drink was finally affecting his mind. Dreams about beings made of ice? It sounded mad but after listening to what Varys had reported about what was happening in the North, they were beginning to wonder if Robert might be on to something.

"That is the strangest and maddest thing I've ever heard Robert. You must realise that? But given what Varys reported…" Stannis trailed off.

"Aye I know brother, I know it sounds mad and believe me when I say that I haven't forgotten that Targaryen blood also flows through our veins, even if it is weak. By the gods, I know I must sound like old King Scab but…It's…I don't know how to explain it. It just feels true. There's a war coming brother, I feel it in every fibre of my being." Robert tried to explain.

He knew that there was really no way to truly convince them that he wasn't going mad but he had to make them see that they couldn't just dismiss this. He wasn't sure what was driving him but whatever it was, he was determined to take it seriously.

"We can't act on just this Robert. You know that. We need more solid information; we need some sort of proof. We need to talk to Ned. Perhaps we can call him to Kings Landing? Speak to him about what's happening in the North? We really need to find out why he allowed the Wildlings into the North as well." Jon said and Robert snorted.

"Not a chance Jon. Ned won't come south, not even for me given what happened to his father and brother here and I won't ask him either. No, we won't ask Ned to come here. Instead, I will go to him." Robert stated

"Robert are you sure? It will take time and effort to plan a visit to Winterfell and Cersei will not like it." Stannis asked him. He could see the need for information and a visit to Winterfell would procure that information but organising a royal visit and moving the royal court was not a small undertaking.

Robert just laughed.

"Who said anything about taking the Nag? Or the arse kissers and todies? No she'll stay here with the children. This isn't a visit for pleasure. I need to talk to Ned. Find out what's going on up North. If my dreams are in fact warnings of what it to come, then we're in some deep shit. I need to know how deep we're gonna be in it first hand and the only way I can do that is if I go North. If there really is a war coming, I need to know so I can call the banners so I've done some thinking and come up with a plan. Lord Jon Arryn, your King thanks you for your faithful services and releases you from your office as Hand of the King." Robert laughed at the shocked faces in front of him.

"R…Rob….Robert? What? Why?" Jon asked him with a devastated look on his face.

"Ah Jon, don't despair. This isn't a bad thing you know. I am releasing you as Hand of the King so I can appoint you to another position, but that will come after my trip North. Until then, you will rule the Realm as you normally do from Kings Landing while my Hand and I investigate what's happening in the North."

"And just who are you naming as your Hand this time?" Stannis asked, grinding his teeth even harder. Robert smirked at him.

"Stannis Baratheon, I name you Hand of the King." Robert announced and burst out laughing at the look on his brother's normally stoic face. Stunned didn't even begin to describe it.

"Hahahaha, look at his face Jon! He looks like someone slapped him with a wet fish!" Robert couldn't stop laughing.

Stannis finally gathered his wits and glared at his brother.

"If that was a jest brother, it wasn't a funny one." Stannis's hard tone was matched by the hard look on his face. Robert stopped laughing.

"No jest brother. I name you as my Hand."

"Why?"

Robert looked at Stannis and he thought about his answer. He and Stannis had never been close. It was mostly his fault, Robert knew. He hadn't taken the time to be a good brother to either one of his brothers so wrapped up in the warriors lifestyle he enjoyed so much at first and then with the drinking and whores that came after he had ascended the throne, but with his dreams being dark of late, he felt the need to bring his family in close and realised he needed to start mending his relationships with his brothers, starting with Stannis as he had wrong him the most.

"I need you brother. For all your prissiness, lack of humour and strict adherence to the laws, you see things as they are. You are able to get to the truth of things. You are able to judge matters and make decisions without your emotions or personal opinion getting in the way of your judgements. Fair but hard, as I heard one of the courtiers describe you once. I need that right now. I'm too much of a hot head to be able to wade through the political muck and corruption that my court is made up of. My emotions, while assets on the battlefield, just get me into trouble in peacetime and in politics. I know I've made a right hash of things over the last fifteen years and I have no excuses for it. All I can do now is try to make it right before it's too late. Besides, you're pretty much the only person apart from Jon who'll tell me the blunt unpleasant truths I need to hear but don't want to listen to."

Since the dreams had started, Robert had felt a heavy burden of shame on his lack of willingness to actually do the work that was demanded of a King. If his dreams were indeed omens of things to come, The Realm wasn't in the best position to unify in order to fight the coming threat and he knew that was his fault. His actions when the bodies of Ellia Martel and her children were presented to him in the Red Keep, had torn Dorne from his grasp and severely strained his relationship with Ned and the lords of the North. His lack of any action towards making any sort of amends with Dorne since that fateful day and were now coming home to bite him in the arse and was one such example of his complete lack of caring about doing his duty to the Realm.

Stannis on the other hand was studying his older brother closely. He could see Robert was feeling ashamed of his lack of effort to be King, but it was the fact that Robert actually admitted to failing in his duty that truly surprised Stannis. Robert for the most part, was more than willing to blame someone else for his failings then admit to them or he would just laugh them off as if it was all some kind of grand joke. It had always frustrated Stannis to no end that both of his brothers could so easily turn their backs on their duties and responsibilities to their family and the people who rely on them to rule.

Something about these strange dreams Robert had been having had shifted something deep inside his brother. It was as if he was only now realising the heavy burden that Kingship was and had found himself wanting. Only now, instead of ignoring his duties, it seemed like he was going to start taking them seriously, starting with Stannis and his appointment as Hand to his brother.

"I humbly accept the position, Your Grace. I do have a question as to who is to be Master of Ships in my stead?" Stannis asked.

Robert grunted.

"Huh. That decision, I'll leave to you brother. While I may utterly crush any opposition on solid land, I wouldn't know the first thing about ships or fighting from ships or naval warfare. Choose who you will. I know you will make sure the right person is put there."

Jon Arryn was standing to one side of the brothers, smiling proudly at them. It was about time Robert mended the rift between Stannis and himself. The distance between them was all Robert's fault and had existed since their parents had died, Jon knew but despite all of Jon's and Ned's urgings to Robert to make amends, it had fallen on the deaf ears of a younger and older Robert Baratheon. It seemed that this oddly detailed, yet intensely terrifying dream had shaken Robert in some way and Robert's response to this was to draw his family closer and Stannis being closer to Robert would only be to his benefit when the truth about the Queen's children came out.

"I'm proud of both of you boys. It's about time you started acting like family again." He said, grin still firmly in place. It only widened when both of them glared at him.

"I'll say no more on the topic, but your Grace, you said you had different position in mind for me? Would you care to enlighten an old man as to what you have in mind?" He asked Robert with amusement in his voice.

Robert gave him a sheepish look and scratched the back of his head as he replied.

"Ah yes. First of all, I just want to make it clear that until such time as Stannis and I return from the North, Jon is still the Hand of the King. I don't want to announce the appointment of a new Hand then leave with said new Hand. It'll cause too much chaos and the ass kissers and todies will be fast to take advantage of it." Jon and Stannis nodded in agreement. It was a surprising sensible idea coming from Robert and also a politely astute one.

Robert continued.

"That being said, once we return, Stannis will take up the office of the Hand and I will allow you to return to the Vale and the Eyrie so you may see to the business of the Vale and your House for a period of no longer the one year, with the added warning that I may possibly need to summon you sooner."

Jon nodded his agreement once again.

"In regards to the new position, I've thought long and hard about this and I've come to the conclusion that Kings Landing itself, the city and surrounding Crownlands that is is in desperate need of its own administrator. I've spoken to Pycelle on this and he actually agrees with me that the Small Council really doesn't have the time, information and resources to manage the greatest city in Westeros effectively. What I've come up with is I will announce the formation of a new office which is dedicated to the management and welfare of Kings Landing and its people. This new office The Lord of Kings Landing will come with a seat on the Small Council. However, the position will not be a hereditary one. I'll not have any one single family claiming lordship over Westeros's capital city because it's the Kings city. No, the Lordship will be transferred from person to person and it won't be for nobles only. I'll be perfectly happy to have a non-titled person in place, as long as they have the best interests of the people at heart. Jon I want you to be the first Lord of Kings Landing. I want you to take all your years of ruling in the Vale and all your experience as Hand of the King and use it to make Kings Landing the best city in Westeros. I want the people looked after, the poor fed, the orphans cared for. I want the city to look fair, I want to encourage others to come here but most of all, I want the smell gone!"

Jon and Stannis were staring at Robert in utter bemusement as he explained his grand vision for Kings Landing and Jon.

"Begging your pardon, your Grace, but as much as I appreciate the new office and challenge you have given me, there is the slight problem of the Iron Throne being…short on funds shall we say? I would love to be able to make your Grace's vision for Kings Landing a reality, but the fact stands that we simply don't have the funds to start such grand plans your Grace." Jon explained to the King as bluntly as he dared.

Robert flushed with shame and a little anger.

"I know I've not been responsible with the treasury. I mean I know I've spent a lot on feast and tourneys and other various diversions, but seven million dragons worth of diversions? Does that not seem…wrong to either of you? And I know for a fact that most of the money in the treasury was already earmarked for various projects to benefit the realm, but those projects were never started. Can either of you tell me why? And yes Jon, I know that until now I've scorned at counting coppers but then again, no one told me that the Iron Throne was seven million dragons in debt either! So if I didn't spend it all, which I'm quite sure I didn't and it didn't go to fund the projects they were destined for, then where did it go?" Robert asked them in frustration.

Stannis and Jon looked at Robert and realised that he had a very valid point. It had been very easy to blame Robert for the lack of funds in the treasury due to his excessive nature but there was the issue of the funds that had been allocated and set aside to fund civic projects that had been planned but never started.

They had also blamed the Queen with helping to empty the treasury due to her expensive tastes and lavish lifestyle but in truth, her funds came from Casterly Rock. Tywin sent her an allowance every three months. So where did the money go?

"You have a very valid point your Grace and I'm now most curious as to what may have happened to the money but how do we find out? I can get Lord Baelish to look at the books, see what he might find…" Jon trailed off as he received twin glares from the brothers.

"No. Not Baelish. I don't trust him and he is the Master of Coin. It's his responsibility to make sure that the Iron Throne has sufficient funds for whatever it needs and given the current state of the treasury, I must say he's done a pretty piss poor job of it. We currently owe the Iron Bank two million dragons, another million is owed to the Faith, and we owe Tywin Lannister three million dragons alone! And another million in to various noble houses and rich merchants that Baelish borrowed from. This is not acceptable. People are supposed to owe US money, not the other way round." Stannis was almost vibrating with repressed fury at the situation.

Robert shook his head in disbelief.

"How did it come to this? Where is all the money from the taxes we collect from all the kingdoms? The amount from the annual yearly taxes would fund the construction of a new drainage system in Flea Bottom alone with money left over for emergencies! Kings Landing is one of the busiest ports in the known world, the amount from the docking fee's and customs taxes from the docks isn't something to sneeze at and I know Stannis turned it over to the treasury so where did it go from there?" Robert asked while Jon looked to be in deep thought.

"We need to look into this more closely in the coming months without involving Petyr. Perhaps I can contrive an excuse to get him out of Kings Landing for a short while so we may investigate without him getting suspicious. I assume we are all thinking the same thing? That Petyr Baelish is a suspect in this?" Jon asked and got nods of confirmation.

"Very well. I shall see what I can do. In the meantime your Grace, when were you think of going to North and who do you intend to take with you if not the Queen and the children?" Jon asked Robert.

"I'd like to leave next week. As for who is…" was as far as Robert got before Jon interrupted.

"Your pardon you Grace but that won't be possible. I wish you could go next week but unfortunately, your Grace, you won't be free to leave for at least three months, minimum. You have too many appointments and meeting to attend with various representatives, including the Iron Bank, the Free Cities, Lys and Myr. Not to mention the meetings with various lords that have been made months in advance. So no, your Grace, next week will not work." Jon was determined to take advantage of Robert's newly found drive to take charge and be the King Westeros needed him to be.

Robert growled in displeasure while Stannis showed a rarely seen smile of amusement at his brother's annoyance.

"Careful brother, I can still box your ears in" Robert growled in good humour, pleased to see the smile on Stannis face. He sighed in resignation.

"Aye Jon, your right, I have my duties. Plan for my leaving for Winterfell in four months. That should be more than enough time to deal with whatever it is you deem I need to deal with personally and any unexpected problems that might arise. But for now, let's keep this trip between us. I don't want the Nag to find out until it's almost time to go because she's not going to like my traveling companions."

"Who's going with you Robert?" Stannis asked him.

"Well you obviously brother, Ser Barristan, the Kingslayer, Myrcella and Tommen along with whatever guards we take with us." Was the reply.

Jon and Stannis eyebrows shot towards the sky at an alarming rate when they heard who Robert wanted to take with him.

"Why the children and Ser Jamie Robert? I take it you're leaving Joffrey here with his mother then?" Jon asked. Robert sighed once again.

"I'm taking the Kingslayer because the man needs a break from his nasty sister. That and I just feel like annoying the Nag." Robert chuckled.

"I want Tommen to foster with Ned and his brood. Cersei all but ignores his existence and when she does notice him, it's to belittle him. I admit, I have ignored him as well. I haven't been a good father to my children and it shows in the boys. I feel that Tommen will find himself in the North. At least there he'll have Ned's kids to play with and they'll watch out for him. He won't be alone.

Joffrey…well there's something seriously wrong with that boy and I know he bullies his siblings something vicious but the Nag won't hear a word against him. I want you to foster him Stannis. Myrcella, I was considering fostering her either in the Stormlands or the Vale. I haven't made up my mind on who and where just yet." Robert finished speaking and looked at Stannis, who was staring at him, his eyes wide and almost popping out of his head.

"You want ME to foster Joffrey? Why in the name of all the Old Gods and the New would you inflict the little shit on me? Do you truly hate me that much brother?" Stannis actually whined.

"I don't hate you brother, truly I don't but the boy needs guidance and a firm hand. Gods, the boy is thirteen name days and is a spoilt vicious little shit. The Nag has all but ruined him with her coddling and filling his head with rubbish and lies about being King. He needs discipline and a firm grounding in morals. I can think of no one better than you brother to teach the little shit this. I give you free reign as to how you handle, and discipline him. Hells, put him on one of the naval ships. That should teach him some discipline alright and hopefully respect for others."

"On a ship Robert? Are you serious?" Stannis was feeling a little panicked at the idea of someone like Joffrey on a war ship.

"Absolutely. Everything he's ever wanted has been provided for him without question or complaint. He had absolutely no idea what the words "hard work" means. Joffrey, thanks to his mother, thinks just because he's heir to the throne that he can do as he likes. This is a notion that must be swiftly and completely shut down. Actually, I declare it now, for the duration of his fostering, until further notice, I declare that Joffrey will not be treated like a prince of the realm but as an enlisted cadet in the Royal Navy. He will have no special privileges. If he screws up, he will be treated the same as everyone else and receive whatever punishment is due to him. If he advances in rank, it will be solely on hard work and exemplary service. I want him to know the true meaning of hard work Stannis. I want him to be able to appreciate the people who actually do the work. I want him to become a decent human being but I do concede that that particular want may even be beyond the Gods ability to grant. He wants to be king someday, then he can prove to me that he's worthy of my crown. Make him work for it Stannis, make him work hard for it."

And with that, Robert turned away from the ocean and headed back towards the Red Keep.