บท 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!?!"
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