Orryn
"Take it Orryn, it's a present from me to you". Uncle Robert said, patting me on the back.
In front of me was a fine set of plate armor and a helmet with stag's antlers, every Baratheon knight had one of these, there was also a fine hunting dagger and a well-made sword.
"Your grace, I can't accept this gift". I replied and I didn't want to accept it, everything in there probably cost more than 500 gold dragons.
"Shut up boy, and take that damn gift! A lot of it I had in the fortress coffers and no use for. And if I can't pay you for a bloody woman in the brothels, I have to give it to you somehow." Uncle Robert replied with a laugh.
I smiled a little at that and shook my head, Uncle Robert loved that kind of joke.
"Did you know that, Ned? I took him to one of the best brothels in town, there were girls hanging around his neck and do you know what the little shit said? That he'd never pay for a woman's company! HA! Can you believe it?".
"Very honorable of him." Ned Stark replied, looking at me intensely. "Now stop torturing the boy, I have things to talk to him about."
"There you go, trying to make a serious boy, like his father". Uncle Robert scoffed but released us all the same. Two of my men took my armor and gifts while I accompanied the Hand.
I looked out of the corner of my eye at Lord Stark all the way to the Tower of the Hand. He had been wanting to question me for some time, right after arriving in the capital, and only now did he get the chance.
We sat face to face in his solar, silence reigning for a while until he finally spoke.
"Your father, Lord Stannis, his service would be more than necessary in the capital. Yet he continues to ignore the summons to return from Dragonstone."
"My father is a loyal man, I'm sure he'll answer the right call."
"I'm sure of Lord Stannis' loyalty, but can I be frank, Orryn? His refusal to return is suspicious."
"The royal fleet is gone, it's in Dragonstone with my father, so he can very well carry out his duties as Master of the ships there. Your call for him to return certainly came from your name and your authority, and so it's not a priority to respond. The moment the order comes directly from the king, whom my father serves loyally, he will return."
"So it's enough for Robert to order his father to come?".
"Yes, but he'll never do that unless he really needs to, unless there's another war to be fought."
"Robert values his father and the advice he brings." Lord Stark said with a complicated look, since deep down he must have known it wouldn't be easy to bring my father back to the capital.
"My father is an outspoken man, Lord Stark, who doesn't like to waste time. I like to think you're like that too. So I ask you, Lord Stark, is there anything you'd like from me?".
"Your father and Lord Arryn, they were investigating something… boy, is there anything you know, anything that could lead to who did this to Lord Arryn?".
"Are you sure it was something they did to Lord Arryn?". I asked with a raised eyebrow. "You should be careful about who brought this information and who this accuses, since it's certainly accusing someone."
"So you know something." Lord Stark said with narrowed eyes.
"I know you had something to do with Uncle Robert's bastards, I know my father and Lord Arryn asked around, I know about the book that is currently in your possession." I said, pointing to the red-covered book before continuing. "And I know that Lord Arryn died shortly after reading it."
"What was the crime? My father must know. What was the proof? It's probably in the book, but if it was Lord Arryn knowled, so my father shouldn't know anything."
"The Lannisters killed Lord Arryn? Is that what this is about?".
"The queen could be, the Lannisters? I don't think so. They already have the power, and Lord Arryn was pragmatic, always ready to look for a peaceful way out."
"My wife brings the news of an indictment against Tyrion Lannister, he was responsible for the second attempt on my son's life. The dagger used belonged to him".
I laughed at this comment and Lord Stark glared at me. "What man pays an assassin to kill with his own dagger? An idiot perhaps, but not Lord Tyrion."
Silence came once more and I spoke again. "I accompanied my father to many meetings of the small council as his page. The information you received either came from Varys or from Littlefinger, both of whom can't be trusted."
"And who I could trust? You?".
"No one can be trusted here, but if I may say so, Varys is a good liar, he puts the truth in the middle of his lies to make them more pleasant and easier to accept. Littlefinger on the other hand? He knows a lot, he sees a lot, but who knows which side he's on."
"So your father didn't trust them either...".
"Wait... I know Littlefinger's side. His is where he'll make the more money."
"Lord Tyrion's suspicions may be... substantial I admit. But the accusation against the Lannisters came from a safer source, it came from someone close to him."
"If you say so." I said in agreement, a man like Lord Stark should know what he's doing. "If I may sir, we've never spoken before but I believe you made a mistake in coming to the capital."
"Did I make a mistake?" Lord Stark commented curiously. "Can you enlighten me?".
"You trusted Lord Arryn too much. I'm not saying that your trust in him was unfounded, but you shouldn't have trusted those he chose. As I said, he was pragmatic, he made many concessions in the name of peace. If you wanted to really rule here, really help my uncle, you should have swapped as many positions as you could."
"So I should have gone to war, is that what you're suggesting? To have stirred up the hornet's nest and imposed my power here in the capital?". Lord Stark said to me with a little bitterness in his voice and... disappointment?
"Yes, if the previous hand was murdered according to your own thoughts. Then keep your friends close and your enemies far away. Those you don't know where loyalty lies are enemies in the end just the same." Lord Stark remained pensive for a while with his ineligible expression. "Your father's men, are they loyal?".
"The twenty who accompany me? Yes, they are. The others who served him in the duties of Master of the Ships, I don't know, they've been unattended in the capital for too long and the gold could easily find its way into empy pockets."
"If things... escalate too quickly, would you be able to get people out by boat and discreetly?"
"Probably...". I replied, crossing my arms and wondering how I was going to do it. "But if I may, sir, don't let things 'escalate' too quickly. You have the power, things happen when you want them to. Haste is the enemy of thought, my father always used to tell me".
"Wise advice." Lord Stark nodded. "You are dismissed Orryn, you may return to your duties and do not comment on what has been said here."
"Of course." I said, standing up. "One last thing, sir... change the command of the Golden Cloaks. Take a look at the knights working today, choose one with good character, because I don't know anyone to recommend."
"The knights of the current patrol? The same one that everyone knows is corrupt?".
"It has to be someone from here, someone who knows the city. In my opinion, you should get rid of Slynt, not kill him, but retire him with honors, send him as a 'hero' to rest far from here, him and his cronies. It's with these vacancies that you'll place your men from the north, but the leadership has to be from here."
"And what would changing the command of the golden cloaks help me with?".
"You would do the right thing and reduce corruption, but above all, you would drive away
those with dubious loyalties in case things 'escalated too quickly', do you understand Lord Hand?"
I let go of that idea and bowed once more before leaving. Lord Stark was more of a warrior than a politician, but he was fair, honest and would always do the right thing for the kingdom and my uncle.
Whatever is the secret my father discovered, from the mouth of Ned Stark the kingdom would surely accept it.
I wasn't the biggest player in the capital either, in many areas I lacked knowledge and experience, but for a man like the honorable Ned Stark, I could step in to try and help.
A beautiful white-walled castle on top of a hill on the banks of the Mander. High Garden it was called.
The gardens around it were beautiful, the flowers in the coats of arms on the tops of the towers is the same who perfumed the air and made even the birdsong sound more beautiful.
Inside this magnificent castle, in a large, richly furnished room, a family gathered, just the family and no one else.
"So tell me, Loras, do you think the plan will succeed? That the seeds of our roses could be born there?". Willas Tyrell, a handsome young man with light brown hair, but who but who everyone knew was lame, needing a cane at such a young age, after a freak accident.
"I should have stayed there, helped Renly strengthen our point."
"Our point has yet to be really sown Loras." A wrinkled old woman replied, her voice cracking like a whip. "Tell me what nonsense the fool from the North does as a hand and what the foolish master of the laws says."
"Nothing very important." Loras said with disgust at his grandmother's comment. "He asked Renly to help him get some lands. Nothing very good, quite the opposite, lands that no lord would care about. He gave some to the gold cloaks officers and retired them with honors. The new commander is the Iron Hand Bywater, and he's making the hell for the other soldiers."
"The lieutenants are the Northmen I bet...". Alerie Tyrell said, a tall, dignified and beautiful lady, despite her age.
"Clever move... what about our dear flower's resemblance to the she-wolf of the north?". Lady Olenna asked, always keeping the reins of the conversation.
"None, but Renly is certain of the queen's betrayal and I'm sure Robert will accept Margaery." Loras replied, a little sickened by the idea of his sister lying with a pig like Robert Baratheon, but he accepted that she would do this for the family.
"They got rid of one hand... and now even the fool from the north, who doesn't even care how he's seen asking the same questions yet again, has made power plays on the golden cloaks"
"Stark would never strike against Robert, he loves him too much." A fat man in expensive-looking clothes said simply.
"That's a fact, Mace, but isn't it in Eddard Stark's nature to... let's say... think?".
"It could be because of the boy... Orryn. Lord Stark has him under his wing, and he's been living at court for a while, more than a year I think."
"What do you say about the next lord of that useless island, is he like his father? Or is he like his uncles?" Olenna asked suggestively.
"It's hard to say, I've only spoken to him a few times. Orryn is a good warrior but nothing more. He smiles on occasion and isn't unbearable during a conversation, he'll even make a joke or two, but he won't say anything important. He has the king's favor, but he's not debauched from what I've seen, he tries to keep in Joffrey's good graces too, as well as the queen's."
"Is he a handsome young man? Pleasing to the eye?" Alerie asked while Olenna remained silent, an intelligent question her tactless daughter-in-law had asked.
Loras pondered this. "In a way... he's got a stone face that gets harder and harder as he spends time with men like Lord Stark and his own father. There's some warrior charm there, but nothing magnificent."
"He's the smart type, I can see that, he's got Florent blood, he may be more fox than stag, although he favors his father's characteristics. In the end he's not important, but things can change a lot, and when you get back to the capital, exchange a few words with him, be cordial at the very least, friendly if you can."
"Orryn Baratheon? You said yourself he's not worth our effort, why is that?" Mace asked confused. "Not to mention that a man as accomplished as Lord Stark, a Paramount Lord no less, wouldn't take advice from a green boy like that."
"Who'd have thought it, Mace? That grown men would take advice from old women and children... worse, be commanded by them." Olenna said sharply and Mace just coughed, pretending not to notice the personal attack.
"Why father, if we reveal the Queen terrible betrayals, her children must lose their right to the throne, unfortunately. Whichever Margaery gives birth to will be the
future heir, but until then, the right to the throne as King Robert's heir reverts to a man..." Willas said gently to his father.
"Stannis..." Mace said, cringing a little, he really didn't like Stannis Baratheon.
"And Stannis has a fit son, less grumpy, healthy, and with his uncle's appreciation. He goes from a nobody to third in the line of succession, as well as being of an age
compatible with Margaery." Olenna prodded once more.
"Robert would have to die, just like Stannis. Mother, that won't happen any time soon." Mace said, crossing his arms under his swollen belly.
"They murdered the hand, they can easily do the same to the Master of Ships and no one will cry. Besides, Robert drinks a lot, a hunting accident is quite possible, he won't
even get out of character and no one would suspect." Olenna said the words that bordered on treason and everyone fell silent.
"So... we followed the plan?". Mace asked confusedly.
"For the seven Mace, yes, we followed the plan but we pruned the rose bush slightly to embrace more places with its branches. And for a rose bush to grow properly, there have to be gardeners around it." Olenna said after rolling her eyes.