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57.4% Game of Thrones: StormBorn / Chapter 124: Varys 2

章 124: Varys 2

293AC

Varys half-smiled as he reclined into his chair in the small council chamber. He was quite a bit early for the meeting, but he had gotten used to such things since the hand had assumed control of the court.

He couldn't remember a ruler paying much attention to the actual affairs of state since Lord Tywin had been much the same position, and now as then, it was a refreshing change from Robert or Aerys. The meetings were generally punctual, and the issues were addressed by people who didn't have to go running back to a normally drunk king to get permission to solve them. Indeed, Lord Arryn had taken to passing a slew of minor legislation and reforms that were simply below King Robert's notice while he was away on campaign. Using his currently improved authority to great effect and strengthening the court's position.

Ironically, this made it easier for things to slip under the Hand's nose, for while he had always been overworked, the scale of his duties was now tripled, and he barely had time to double-check anything. Though Varys didn't actually have much unusual going on at the moment in comparison to Lord Baelish who seemed to be taking the opportunity for all it was worth, perhaps dangerously so. Indeed, covering the man's now rather obvious tracks was his primary concern at the moment, taking most of his contacts and resources in the city to manage. He would admire the man's ambition for power-grabs if it wasn't taking all his focus just to obscure it. He had even needed to pull most of his little birds out of the Red Keep, only keeping the few on the Small Council members and Hand.

It would be a shame if such a useful man were to be caught out for his more blatant offenses when the king returned and the hand recovered his free-time.

Still, the Spider could not bring himself to be entirely cheerful, as he glanced down at the paper in his hands.

A curious thing, the Dragonstone Times, a paper designed to disseminate information to the smallfolk, he could see its use rather immediately, and if he had been able to get at the machines they used to make them he would have King's Landing full of the things. Unfortunately, of the two groups he knew to have the devices, both knew their value and guarded them rather jealousy. Still, he had the newspaper from Dragonstone brought for his reading only a few days behind its release, and what he had seen in it recently was not entirely to his liking.

The fact of the matter was that he had clearly miscalculated the value of Prince Arthur Baratheon. Whatever the boy was, he wasn't the puppet which Varys had imagined before, but rather the apparent driving force behind the Island's rampant growth, it indicated a level of independence from his father that seemed unusual, but not entirely out of character for the Baratheons, but more pressingly, it made the boy a danger to the crown on his own.

He was torn between being overjoyed and terrified. On the one hand, he would likely end up in a civil war with Joffrey, should the boy take the throne, a situation that would cause more than enough chaos between the Prince and the Lannisters. This was especially promising with his recent marriage to Dorne, as the Reach likely wouldn't back either candidate and might be accepting of a marriage alliance with the boy in Essos. On the other though, it stacked the deck heavily in Dragonstone's favor. Most houses lacked one competent leader, and between the boy and his father, it seemed House Baratheon of Dragonstone might soon have two. Any thought he had of removing Robert during the war was immediately cast aside. Especially with Lord Stannis already claiming victory in Lys. It would simply swing the kingdom too far into the favor of the Dragonstone Baratheons.

Still, today's, or rather two days ago's news was interesting at least.

'Prince Arthur marshals fleet, raises men, plans to take the fight to Stepstones pirates' Vary read over the headline, tapping his finger on his chin. 'My… ' It seemed that the prince was aiming to take a kingdom since his father had been denied one, albeit a frail and unstable one. They were to set out in a month once repairs were done and he had marshaled a "Regular Army", footmen he imagined, most of the Knights were off in Essos. The newspaper went on for several paragraphs praising the boy and speaking of how he would drive the pirates like rats from the islands and then chase them to their watery graves.

The author rather obviously didn't care about displaying his obvious bias, or any other logical concern a Maester might bring up with the publication, and it was almost admirable the lengths he went to praising his employer, but Vary still found it rather dull to hear nothing but praise for a man, and he soon turned to other articles, a new section of wall being raised, some news from Lys that had already reached King's Landing a week ago, new sewer work in part of the city.

That one made him snort, Dragonstone seemed utterly determined to avoid becoming King's Landing. Not that he could blame them.

He put the paper down just as Lord Arryn entered, greeting him properly.

"Lord Hand," Varys said, nodding kindly to the man, how are you today?

"Well enough, thank you." The Valeman said, going to his chair. "So when were you going to tell me that the queen was pregnant?"

Varys nearly choked, before turning to the man with wide eyes.

"What!?!"


章 125: Arthur 42

293AC

"Kneel Fire." The cry went up and the first rank side as ordered, the men quickly hurrying into the positions they had now been drilling for about 3 weeks.

Frankly, it wasn't enough time to train them properly, and it showed. They could shoot and reload properly, but they were by no means soldiers, not yet, that might take another three months.

Then again, there would be time for that in the Stepstones. The officers, however, were a bigger issue. Despite years of groundwork, raising an army was no easy task, especially when it's structure was a fundamentally modern affair, not the slapdash nonsense that Westeros and Essos liked to call armed forces. The Marines were one matter, there weren't too many, and they were serving on ships, confined environments in small packaged groups, and I had been building them since my first boat hit the water.

The Dragonstone Regular army had 5,000 men in it, almost twice the number of my Marines, volunteers from around my Father's Vassals, and the coastal towns of the Stormlands, drawn by promises of land that would be there's to own in their own right in the Stepstones, all in exchange for five years of service.

That was a good deal, and they all knew it, but breaking an unruly mob of ambitious young men into a "rank and file" army was something that neither I nor anyone in my army had all that much experience in, the Marines were essentially skirmishers. This was to be the core of my forces going forward.

Still, I couldn't deny they looked great, all yellow and black checkered Gambeson under polished steel breastplates, their armor glinting in the sunlight. It wasn't full harness, but it was still heavier than what the Marines wore, owing to not being intended for sea-battles. Their arms and legs had proper splinter mail, and their helmets were open-faced Pickelhaube, though I had named it "Pickaxe" helmets, owing to a lack of German in Westeros. The Helmets would give them a good sightline, and hopefully, we would be out ranging arrows most of the time we engaged.

The fact that it made them look fairly kickass, and let me stamp a stag on their foreheads, was of course entirely incidental.

As the drills continued, the few experienced officers I had looted from my marines barking orders in a manner the newer ones would hopefully copy in time, my eyes drifted away from the field, turning towards the other side of the tower I stood on, and down towards the Bay of Dragonstone.

There the Silver Wind was even now preparing to depart. My Newfound Sister's ship, a cutter set to water only three days ago, it was a lithe thing, like a dagger, though to be honest, the same was true of most of the twenty-eight other company ships filling the bay. Of the lot only five were galleons, ones that had been too far afield when my father had called up the fleet, grading on the other side of the continent, or in Braavos. One of them, the Storm Hammer had even been on a journey to Skagos, and then to the North of the wall. I hadn't met with its captain, Kenion Sand yet, but I was looking forward to hearing his report when I got the opportunity. If all went well in Hardhome it might end up being a major resource for me in the Stepstones and beyond.

I had said my goodbyes to Asha in the morning. Meeting her at the dock even after she had departed the castle proper.

I had run to her and hugged her, and wished her well, and she had ruffled my hair. It was honestly a surreal experience, I was for all intents and purposes her boss, but she was still somehow my older sister as well. The relationship between us was paradoxical, to say the least.

It would probably be less odd if both of those things weren't implanted in us by magic. The supernatural nature of our oath apparently doing its best to glue us together in both ways even if it didn't seem to make sense.

'And speaking of magic…' my eyes turned further south, and I felt a deep pit of lonely Ness and worry that had only grown in my time apart from Arianne. 'I hope she is alright…'

In the time since I had left Dorne, I had come to regret allowing myself to be pressured into setting that oath, using that magic, not for my own love for her, no, that was fine, she was a beautiful young woman, and I could not say that I regretted the care and attraction I now felt for her, not in the slightest, even if it was compelled by magic. It hurt my heart to be away from her, but it was a pain I could bear for duty's sake.

No, what bothered me more was the oath she had sworn to me. If my own heart ached so much, despite the technical and moderate language I had used, how much then must Arianne's hurt? Her romance, her oath to love me above all others, how great a love must that be? How pained her heart must feel.

I would visit Dorne again then when my fleet sailed for the Stepstones, I would find an excuse.

And I would pressure my father that we should be married as soon as possible, if not for my own heart, then for hers. Once she was mine and I hers I could bring her with me where I went, keep her at my side.

No, no, that would be moronic, what if the ship sank, what if she got hurt?

I tugged slightly at my hair, it was all so stupidly complex, and the logical part of my mind was already trying to just avoid thinking about it.

I sighed, as I drew my gaze away from the South, trying to return my focus to the army which had eating all of my time since I had returned. Even when I would much rather be trying to figure out motors and electromagnets.

It didn't really help.

"Magic is bullshit…" I grumbled to myself, glaring down at the stone floor beneath me as I resolved to write another letter to Arianne as soon as I was done with my research on the Stepstones for the night.

I rubbed my forehead as I began making my way back into the keep's interior.

'This was so much simpler when I was just building boats.'


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