Court

Edmure POV

I took good care to reorganize the Tower of the Hand. I closed all the secret tunnels I could find. But that was the easy part of my job. I had to take inventory of the things the Red Keep had. The treasure vault was almost empty, the armory wasn't looked after for a long time, and even the granary was a mess.

Everything was a mess. As of now, I was the only one in the small council. There is too much work for me alone. I have already advised Jaehaerys to appoint my wife, Arianne, as Mistress of whispers. It was the most critical job. We needed to know what people were thinking. The revolt would be disastrous if it happened.

There was a question of the Kingsguards, too. It would put many men at ease if there were seven great and renowned warriors protecting the King. But there weren't that many that were suitable for such a duty. Too many I could not trust.

"My lord, the King has summoned you," A messenger informed me.

With a sigh, I stood up from my table and walked to the Throne room. On the way, I took a look at the city through the windows. After a few days, the fire finally stopped. Still, there was much to clean up. People are still lost beneath the rubble.

Jaehaerys sat on the Iron Throne, not looking too pleased, but at least his face was somehow relaxed. Soon I saw the reason why he was in a somehow agreeable mood. Lord Jason Mallister and his son ser Patrek knelt before Jaehaerys.

"Now that the Hand has come, you can report, Lord Mallister," Jaehaerys instructed the man once he saw me.

"As you wish, your Grace," Jason replied. "We lost almost everyone to the fires. Only the vanguard survived. Seeing that our forces would not be able to join with his Majesty's, I have decided to help common folk to escape the fires."

"You did good," The King praised Jason. "As of today, I appoint you as my Master of Laws. I want you, Lord Mallister, to protect mine city and bring order and peace to it."

"As you wish," Jason knelt once more in agreement.

Once the ceremony had ended, next came Lord Karstark with other Lords of the North. It was clear that they were restless. I knew what they wanted, and it seems that Jaehaerys knew it too. The Northern lords only had to kneel before the King.

"Lord Karstark, Lord Umber, Lady Mormont," The King called every lord and lady. "I will be eternally thankful for what you have done for me. Yet, I don't have much to offer you right now. Still, I can't keep you at my court when the Ironborn bastards ravage your lands. I already have sent a letter to Lord Redwyne to mobilize his fleet to support the North. You have my blessing to leave whenever you want."

The Northern lords didn't stand ceremony and simply thanked Jaehaerys before leaving. I only realized how long the line was to meet with the King. And thinking about how much work I would have to do afterward gave me a headache.

At least I could put my worries about Patrek to the rest. My head of the late wasn't in the right place. I still couldn't let go of the thought that it was my fault that the city had burned. Every time I slept, I dreamed of the burning corpses trying to take me with them to the seven hells.

I knew I should rest and put my head straight, but there was no time for it. I had a ton of work to do. The city won't be rebuilt by itself. The people won't be fed by themselves. And even now, the new Septon has come to the King to ask for the Great sept to be rebuilt.

"The Great sept will be rebuilt in time," I took the blame from the religious people. Otherwise, people will speak of how the King is a heathen who doesn't follow the Seven. "But now isn't the time. Some people need homes more than a Sept."

"A Sept is home of the Gods. You can't deny them their home."

"I was taught that Gods lived with us. How can Gods live with us when we don't have a place to live," For now, it shut the Septon up, but I could see he wasn't satisfied and would bring trouble.

After the Septon, another two dozen petty lords or knights came to complain about something. Most were not necessary to even listen to, but it was clear that many held on to some hatred from what happened to the city. Yet there wasn't anyone to blame for it.

After finishing the last of petitioners, an acolyte came to deliver the letters. Jaehaerys read one after another but stopped at one particular letter. His face changed instantly. Jaehaerys crumbled the letter in his hands.

"Prince Oberyn took Dragonstone," Jaehaerys said.

"From your expression, it wasn't all that the letter said."

"Lord Eddard Stark is dead," He replied.

"Jaehaerys," I tried to comfort him, but he dismissed me.

"Leave. I wish to be left alone."

I did as he commanded. In the end, Ned couldn't be saved. I left the Throne room, but before I could get far, Patrek showed himself to me. I motioned him to follow me back to the Tower of the Hand. Patrek was the only one I could talk to in this city freely.

"How are you holding up?" Patrek asked.

"There is a lot of work to be done."

"You know, I hated you for what you did to the Freys. I thought it was heinous, no matter what your reason was. But at least you had a reason. What reason did the Lannister have to do this."

"You hated me?" I asked.

"Well, I disliked that part of you. The part that can be utterly ruthless."

"I was not ruthless enough; I should have fought Lannisters in the Riverlands with everything I had."

"Maybe, all we can do is blame ourselves."

"We should concentrate on rebuilding the city."

"You always were steadfast," Patrek said. "But I am not as steadfast as you, so I will drink myself to sleep."

"Don't drink yourself to death, or I might join you."

"No, you won't. You have a lot of work to do."

Damn him. Once I arrived at my solar, I sat behind the table filled with papers. I had to secure trade first, recourses needed to travel to the city, but it would take time to fix the harbor. Dunkendale will have to do. It had a large enough port and wasn't far from King's Landing.

Lord Renfred Rykker ruled Duskendale now. He had knelt to Jaehaerys before the burning of King's Landing. Well, even if he wanted to betray us, there wasn't anyone he could sell his services to. Lannisters are gone, and those that aren't will wish to be gone.

…

Guards stood behind the dining hall. They bowed to me and let me in. Jaehaerys was eating alone. Once he saw me, he put down his fork and knife and motioned for me to sit. I did as he wished. I took a bottle of wine and poured a cup for him and a cup for myself.

"I forgot to inform of what else the letter from Prince Oberyn said."

"It was understandable, your grace," I told him.

"Her own followers killed Queen Selyse, but there was no sight of Princess Shireen."

"Ser Davos Seaworth?"

"Prince Oberyn mentioned seeing one of Stannis' ships near but couldn't confirm who it was. I don't like it. First Lannisters escape and now Baratheons too."

"They are only remnants. They have no gold or power. Only their name remains."

"I want to know where they are and what they are doing."

"Then I implore you to take my wife as your mistress of whispers. She has my connections to the informants in Westeros and Essos."

"Aren't they your informants?"

"I have not had a direct connection to them for some time. By now, she is better suited to be Mistress of Whispers than anyone else."

"Fine. With Princess Arianne, we have three spots filled in the small council."

"Lord Redwyne should have the seat of Master of Ships, at least until we manage to build our own fleet."

"Then only Master of the coin and Grand Maester are left."

"And Commander of the Kingsguard."

"How can there be a Commander of the Kingsguard when there is no Kingsguard? I will assign them later," Jaehaerys added the last part after seeing my expression. "Stannis has no use for us anymore."

"He has," I told him. "People are looking for someone to put their blame onto. Joffrey and Stannis will do. Execute them in public."

"Execution isn't a show."

"It will be if you so command," I replied. "People need to see the ones responsible for their misery."

"I will think about it," He replied.

Jaehaerys tried to eat more after our talk, but I could see he was forcing himself. The burden of the Iron Throne was settling on his shoulders. Looking at him forcing himself to eat, I looked at myself. I was getting thin. It was some time since I trained myself. My muscles of fifteen years of training were getting weaker.

"Your Grace, Lord Blackwood wants an audience," A guard informed us.

"Let him inside."

Lord Blackwood entered not alone but with a bound man. The man was quite beaten up, yet he looked familiar. Jaehaerys looked at the beaten man with curiosity and then turned to look at Lord Blackwood. He didn't ask who the man was, but Lord Blackwood still answered.

"This is Lord Jonos Bracken."

"Oh, I had forgotten about him," I said.

"The fool tried to escape blending in with refugees. Too bad he went through the gates I was guarding."

"Your Grace, I beg for forgiveness." Lord Bracken pleaded.

"Forgiveness?" Jaehaerys asked.

"I will take black, your Grace. Please spare my life."

"For someone who boldly declared for Lannisters, you look quite pathetic. Take him to the Black Cells. He will go to the wall with the others," Jaehaerys said.

Lord Blackwood nodded and left with Jonos Bracken. The Wall didn't need men like him. I will have to ensure he doesn't leave the Black Cells alive. Many die from food poisoning, and it wouldn't be a surprise if a prisoner ate some very spoiled food. After all, these are some trying times we live in.

After Lord Blackwood left, Jaehaerys didn't say anything for a while until Ser Garlan came. The knight of house Tyrrel didn't look too good. He was dirty, and his hair was disheveled. He didn't look like he came from House Tyrrel at all.

"Your Grace, I am happy to announce that the fire is officially stopped."

"I saw it through my window," Jaehaerys replied calmly. "I want numbers. How many died?"

"Of our army, about twenty thousand, half being from Lord Mallisters Host, of people of the city, it reaches a hundred thousand."

"I see," Jaehaerys gripped his wine cup so hard that it started to bend.

"We still are looking for survivors in the rubble."

"Lord Tully," Jaehaerys called for me. "I decided to do as you suggested. I will give my people a show."

I could see Jaehaerys resolve. I bowed to him and left together with ser Garlan. I had the job of organizing the show. But first, I had to spread the truth that people needed to believe. The truth about Joffrey and Stannis. Of their incompetence and ambitions that put many lives to the death.

A.N. Sorry, this chapter should have been posted yesterday, but my office word decided not to work. Sorry for not posting last week. I got badly sick, but now I feel fine so don't worry too much. Thank for reading, and if you want more, up to five advanced chapters, please support me on pa treon. com \ ironwolf852