Robert continued…
"The small council is ready, and everyone is attending like you asked." Jon said feeling his age as it had been a long night and his wife was being troublesome that morning.
"Good. Lynen, bring the gold cloaks and some of the Stormlands guards and no one is to leave until I am done." The king told the man assigned to guard him this morn and he nodded and dispatched a younger guard to get the others at their kings bidding.
It was very unusual that the King attended a council meeting that is why he had people in those positions to run his kingdom, but it had been let go to long and too much had slipped through and to many were corrupted by the power. "My Grace, there is a gentleman from the Iron Bank that said you have requested his presents at once waiting to see you." A guard said as they were making their way to the council chambers.
"Good, right-on time, show him to the council chambers and ask him to please hold back and he will know when it is time to show himself." The king said putting Jon on alert to more being wrong.
It took them a few more minutes to cross the courtyard and make it to where they had set up the council to work. As he walked in, he took in the sights around him and felt his anger grow. These men were weasels and were not whom he would have picked for him council it was pieced together from others and hold overs from the mad king, and he was going to rectify that now and leave no question on why they were being replaced.
"You Grace." They said as one and he nodded going to the head of the table. "We have many things to discuss. First, I want you all to know that from this point forward I will be running the kingdom not you and all things end with my approval. Secondly, it has been brought to my attention that the financial aspect of this kingdom is not on the black side; as it should be and as what the ledgers I was shown says; we are in fact very much in debt to the Iron bank. Care to explain Lord Baelish?" Robert said still standing over the table glaring down at the man who oversaw his financial records and matters of the kingdom.
"That is not true at all my grace, I have kept very detailed books and we are setting just fine and even making a profit in many cases." Littlefinger said shifting just the tiniest bit to seem more confused.
"Then you will not mind showing me the numbers and explaining them in detail to me then?" Robert demanded and all knew it was not a request to be denied.
"Not at all my grace, I will just need to get the leaders from my quarters, and we can go over them tonight after the feast." Littlefinger said and before Robert would have agreed and then have been to be drunk to remember and it would never have been addressed.
"No, Now is even better. The guards will escort you to your rooms if you truly need to go there, but I must ask what the books in front of you is if not the records. This is a council meeting, and you were told to be prepared were you not." Robert demanded.
"Yes, my grace, they are I just have backups that I wanted to double check; one can never be too careful, and I am only human. I wanted to check for mistakes if there is any before we went over them." The little thieving bastard said, and he was ready for this.
"No need, I have a representative from the Iron bank who can quickly check the books and we can address anything found. Good sir please come and join us." Robert said all the while watching Littlefinger who he could tell was trying to get out of this but not sure of the angle yet. To bad Brandon Stark had not finished him off and saved all those who were graced with his presence.
"Thank you, Your Grace, for inviting the Iron bank into this meeting as we have been asking for a while for a meeting. I will tell you that from our point of view you are very much in debt to the Iron bank, and we have sent numerous letters and people to inquire about the issue and all seems to have been lost before returning to us. If you may." The gentleman said scooping up the books that Littlefinger had sitting in front of him and sitting down opening his own set.
"We will give him a bit to go over that so let's move on. Pycelle, you have been on the small council for many years now. A man your age has great wisdom and you have been a boon to our side. This should call for a gift from the crown should it not. One you have already bought with our coin." Robert said and nodded to a guard off to the side who opened it and lead four very young girls into the room. All who had been recently brought in from an orphanage and assigned to the floors of the old man. Last night Robert after waking had asked the staff what they knew of this and had been informed a bit of information that turned his stomach.
"I don't understand your grace?" Pycelle said.
"Oh, but you do, these are the girls you recently bought from the orphanage. The same one that you get girls and occasionally young boys from every few years. The same that you send new orphan babies to when their mothers disappear. As we speak, I have guards bringing in the workers and the officials of those places and once I am back in Kings Landing, we will be bringing those in as well. I will give it to you your act has been perfect all these years and you truly have fooled many. But you slipped the night I came in hurt. Just for a few minutes I was awake and saw you walking straight and you moving as if you were much younger. I chalked it up to being injured and the head injury confusing me but then last night I spoke to these young girls and the maids assigned to you and they all had very interesting stories about you." Guards take this cretin to the cells and make sure it is fit for one of his stations, a rapist and murder." Robert said enjoying the outrage as the guards seized the man who had stood straight and glared at the man who was his king.
"This will not stand; the Queen will let me free she knows I am innocent of these ridicules charges." Pycelle said and Robert laughter was booming.
"The Queen will be in a cell next to yours facing her own charges. I doubt she can help you now." Robert said and he knew now he had all their attentions.
"My King Robert, this is not aligning up at all and I request more time to do a deeper dive into what is really going on and just how bad things are if you may." The man from the Iron Bank asked and was granted permission and lead to the rooms that Littlefinger was staying in to retrieve whatever he could find them. Meanwhile Littlefinger was taken into custody and escorted to the cells with a warning to the guards that not only would the king be after them, but the Iron bank as well should this man escape.
"Now turning to the last one I want to address this morning in front of everyone. My master of whispers, Varys. I was against keeping you when the Mad king was dispatched because you were his agent and the only, he trusted at the end. I knew it was stupid to do but as it was pointed out many times you had a network already in place and that would benefit us. I disagreed but went with others council. You for the most part have done your job, but you have kept things from us, and you have gathered your own intel to use against us as well. You have played us by also plotting to put the alleged Aemon Targaryen on the throne and still yet playing your hand with the two across the sea in plotting to replace me with them. I am not sure who you are loyal to, but it is not this kingdom nor my reign. Guards see to it he is locked up very tight and no visitors nor letters out. All food and drink delivered by you only. If I find out even a single word is spoken to another from him or by him, it is your head." Robert said and that left Renley and Jon at the table, and both assumed they were safe.
"Renley, you're my youngest brother and that means something, but you are no Master of Law. You have had no training and we are going to need someone who knows the law in and out to fix this mess. I don't want to hurt you, but you are not right for this position, and it was never fair that I tossed you into it at your young age with no training. Also, I have talked to Stannis, and I am going to correct a mistake I made years ago, and I don't expect you to understand but it is what it is. From this moment on Stannis is taking his rightful place as Heir to the Stormlands and the Paramount. He will also stay on as the Master of ships. It is nothing against you, but you have had ten and five years to marry and produce an heir and a few spares and you have not. Our line is weak and even weaker this morning and our hold is barely holding on. For this I am going to be arranging a marriage for you within the week and you will do your duty and produce heirs." Robert said and watched and waited for his brother to explode as he knew he would and why he waited until everyone else was gone.
"No, that is my right. People like me more that Stannis anyways. You have no right to marry me off like a damn commoner." Renly said standing up pushing the chair so hard it flipped over.
"I have every right to correct a mistake that I made, and you have given me nothing to change my mind on the matter. You run around with that damn Flower Knight and act as if no one knows about you as well. I have covered so many times. Great your sociable but you're not what this kingdom needs, you are not what will save it when there is war. You have failed at running the Storm lands little lone our own ancestral home as you are never there." Robert explained to the young man, and he really wasn't much older than a child at that and it made it all the harder for him.
"You... you... don't, you're not taking this away from me. I have earned it and it is mine. The people won't follow Stannis and what Heir does he have a sickly disfigured girl. The people need a male Heir that is only one who can inherit." Renley said stepping towards the king who held his hand up to stop the guards from stepping in.
"That girl is one of the sweetest you would ever meet, and she is your blood. Do not forget who you are addressing Renley. I am not just your King; I am also your oldest kin making me in charge of the family. Do not question me in this. Go calm down and then we will talk but if you ever come against your family, you will regret it do you understand me." Robert bellowed out and watches as his brother leaves the room in a huff.
"Guard him and keep him from leaving the grounds." Robert said as he sank down into his chair and craved for a drink in his hands worse than at any moment since waking but knew he could not.
"What now my grace?" Jon asked wondering if he would be next and while he agreed with the changes he was still extremely confused and impressed all at once as to why now.
"Hmm. We still have business to settle. Sir Selmy come we need to talk." Robert called out before watching as the man came forward and he knew he was making the right decision even being late.
"You have proven faithful all these years and I expect it to continue. From this moment on you are to take your place among the council as the master at war and you will work with Stannis and myself on making sure the troops are ready for anything and are being trained correctly. Purge those who need it and replace them. I do not care where they came from make sure we are not facing another king slayer." Robert tells the man who was stunned and who nodded his head.
"Go get started and tell the guards none is to bother us till it is time to sup in which will be in my quarters with Marcella." Robert said and watched the man leave finally leaving the room empty of all but Jon.
"We have work to do Jon. Send word to the Citadel that we will need a new Grand Maester and make sure they are not a Lannister plant again. We will also need someone who is a Master of Law and leave the others empty for now. Invite Lord Lannister here and let him know it is not optional and that he needs to be here within the month." Robert said and Jon nodded.
Finally, being able to think he poured himself some very water down wine and sit back to think of what he needed to get done first. Pulling parchment to him he started writing out the first of what would be many new laws and proclamations for the kingdom. He then started a list of things that needed to be addressed in the following weeks and he was anxious to talk with Ned and fix what was broken. He did know he needed to move soon north and that he was going to do it with his children and without a wife and queen or any other Lannister tagging along.
That evening he joined his daughter in his quarters where they would begin to get to know one another and him learn how to be a father to all his children. She surprised him with her wit and knowledge but also the adult like questions she asked and if they could include her siblings that she had just met and what would happen to the two she had been raised with. He had to say by the time he went to bed that evening his heart was lighter and head clearer than it had been in years, but he was more exhausted than ever before. He had a long way to go before he would get this kingdom where it belonged and become the king that he had always pictured being if he could achieve it. In that moment he felt more lost and confused but more centered and surer than ever before.
Sansa
Father had been gone nearing a month now and it had been that long since we have been with mother alone. She was always under guard, and they would not let us visit her accept when we were in our studies of the northern stories and traditions. I may only be a girl of ten and two, but I knew that something had happened between our parents, and it was not good. But I also could see that mother had never been accepted here in the North either and did not fit in with the northern ways now that I was being taught them. Things were so different than what she and Septa Mordane had always told me and now I understand why father was so angry on how my brother had been treated by myself and my mother sort of. While I knew blood was blood and all you could rely on, and we protected each other I could also still understand why mother and the Septa had taught us that they were dangerous and could cause a house to fall. History was full of stories of just that happening throughout the kingdom. While still very confused about that issue and many of the other traditions that were new to me, it was sometimes still hard for me to accept. I however had not given up my desire to become a queen like mother always said I could be and thought that maybe what the Septa was teaching me would be more important and valid than what I was being taught now about Northern ways and long forgotten traditions. I believed I would make a good queen. Father just didn't understand that yet.
"What are you doing now?" Arya asked me in my ear making me jump in fright and let out a small scream. Ever since we started training with weapons she had been working, she says, on stalking and sneaking up on people. I hate to admit she scares me more times than not.
"Arya! Ugh must you always do that. Why can you not just be a proper lady and act like one?" I asked her and she laughed at me making me even more angry at her and everything else that was causing me confusion and to second guess everything.
"I am just a fierce Northern Lady. Father says so and besides you need to be more observant and learn to watch for threats just like armor Cassell says. You barely practice and father is going to be angry with you when he comes back." Arya said and I sighed knowing she was right, but I refused to let her know that.
Learning to shoot my bow was okay but the dagger and small sword that we had moved on to just felt so wrong in my hand. I was a lady we did not fight and do such things we stitched and ran holds or in my case a castle while the men did battle and war. There would never be a time that I would have to fight so this is just ridicules. I really needed to talk to mother and get her thoughts on this because I am sure she will agree with me as well and put an end to it. For the sevens sake I was having to use extra oils and creams to keep my hands soft and uncalloused.
"Ladies sit down and stop bickering it becomes tiresome, and you are too old to act as toddlers." Maester Luwin said to us, and we both sit at once. He was one of the few who Arya always listened to and never questioned like she did our nurse when little and the Septa now.
"I received a message from your father. Him and your brothers have made it to the wall and will be travelling north by now, I am sure. He has written to set you both tasks. Arya, Sansa, you are to work with the staff to get ready to accept the heirs of the Northern holds who will be fostering here with us. There will be 15 so far that is old enough to come. Make sure that their rooms sleep two to each and that they have all that they need in them. Figure out who is staying with whom and do that before the end of the next fortnight. Then you Arya are to work with Sansa to get everything ready for the Eastern lords and ladies to arrive here for a couple of weeks stay in roughly two months' time depending on your fathers return. We will need rooms for them, meals planned for the month, places for their holds to stay and animals to be stored. We will need extra food for the animals that come as well. So, start working on the books for the day and then a budget for the time they are here. If you need help come find me as I am going to be with Bran in the meeting chambers all day as we hear cases for the first time since you father left." Maester Luwin said handing the two copies of books that the girls had over to them so they could begin their task. He would oversee things and make sure it was done but this was a big deal for girls as young as they were, but he knew they could figure it out most of it and the rest he would walk them through.
"Maester Luwin, you said 61 heirs correct this morning in our meeting over the houses of the North? How can that be when there are only 63 lessor houses in the North and not all have male heirs?" I asked thinking of the houses they had been studying and those who did not have male heirs and would not continue as so many did.
"None said it was just male heirs Sansa. In your studies has it not been shown over and over that a female can inherit as well as a male in the North and a lesser extent in the south. That they can continue their lines by marriage with a third son or out who takes their family names. The females train just as the males do to run the north and their holds." He answered her and watched the information sink in and wonder if she would ever accept the northern ways or if she was to much like their lady mother.
"So, we should look at the north wing and see what the rooms are like there. Theon was staying in one and so was Jon we could open the wing and make that the heir wing and have all of them in one area." Arya said looking to her older sister because she was still very young, and this was a huge deal that they were given. This is what their lady mother should be doing but she was in her rooms doing only the gods knew what.
"We cannot put the Lady's on the same wing as the boys, that would not be acceptable. The boys yes, we can set up, but the girls will have to be over in the east wing with Beth and Jeanne." I explained looking at her like she was stupid because she should know you could not put ladies and the boy heirs together before looking down and starting to make a list of the houses off the top of my mind and matching them together.
"We should move Jon to the family wing, he is legitimate now and father would want him with us." Arya said after a long few minutes of us each writing things down making me frown knowing how mother would feel about that but also knowing most likely my annoying sister was correct again and that left me feeling weirdly and while I wanted to do what is correct, I loved my mother deeply and didn't want her hurt by this.
"Maybe, we should wait and ask father or mother about that." I finally answered with a frown scratching out the name I had listed twice and replacing it with another before looking up and seeing Arya frown at me.
"Don't be stupid, if you don't I will. He is family and our brother Sansa." Arya glared at her sister.
"But it will upset mother." I said back with my face turning red because it angered me at how she could just ignore our mother's feelings on the subject. I loved my mother, and I don't understand what was going on and why I couldn't see her. I just missed her terribly, but it seemed I was really the only one who felt that way.
"Father made it clear that he was family and that we were to treat him as such. Why is that so hard for you? Mother clearly did wrong, or father would not have locked her into her rooms while gone." Arya said and I could tell she was wondering once again why our mother was in trouble. Father had never punished any of us ever that she could remember and to do it to their mother well it must have been very bad. I would never admit it, but it worried me, and I wondered just when I would be able to see my mother again.
"But Mother…." I started again just to be cut off by my little sister who stood up and glared at me. She could never understand how Arya could be so fierce at so young and could make herself see so much bigger than she was and intimidate even grown men when she was really trying. I had heard many of the maids and some of the soldiers say she was full of wolfs blood and so much like Brandon and Lyanna. Father seldom talked about his sister but when he has, he too has made that reference about Arya. It makes me feel like he will never truly see me, and that Arya will always be his favorite and that hurt. I try so hard to be the perfect daughter and lady just so he would praise me and think well of me, but mother is the only one to do so.
"No, he moves over to this side of the hold and that is that. Or him and Rob both move over to where the other heirs will be and train together. It's not complicated Sansa." Arya said and then stormed off to go and practice at her sword or bow. That is what she always did when angry and it made me mad because when I was like that, I retreated into my stitches, but father made it seem as if that was not acceptable and I have had very little time to do anything for fun.
I let out a long sigh as I watched the door close behind my sister and wiped a few tears that I promised I would never let Arya see. I felt so alone right now as she would normally seek comfort in her stitching sitting next to her mother and chat with Jeanne and Beth, but both of them had been very busy also with learning their places in the hold until they married.
After a couple of minutes of self-pity, I pulled the book of the holds that Maester Luwin had us working on and looked over it makes notes of those who had listed their heirs as coming now and those who would come after the winter thaw before thrice checking it. It would be so weird having so many here of the other houses as she had not met even a handful of them. I was confused why things were changing so much, but doing what was asked of me and making my lists of the things that would be needed done. Rooms to prepare, food to plan for and all the other things that were on the list I had been given, same as Arya, that kept the hold running daily and everyone in it taken care of. All the things I would need to know to become Queen one day and run the seven kingdoms like my mother always promised me. I let my thoughts carry me away thinking of the brave prince who would be gallant who would crown her with the crown of beauty and the tourney. Who would ride in and fight battles while she wished him well and waved him off.
