章節 97: 21
Chapter 21: Part XXINotes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Disclaimer: I own nothing, just borrowing for a while.
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"The Free Folk do not kneel"
Mance Rayder, King-Beyond-the-Wall
"I wasn't aware that had been asked of you, but I must say that must severely impinge on the variety of your love-lives."
Tyrion Lannister
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The Red Keep - King's Landing – 298 AL
When deciding upon something of such import to the realm as deciding the next king it would not only be incautious to reach a decision too quickly, but also unseemly in the extreme. Undue haste might be seen rash and moreover if one of the claimants was seen to be trying to rush the process that could easily be interpreted as indicating they lacked confidence in the veracity of their case and the level of their support.
More importantly a Great Council was a wonderful opportunity for attendees to network with other noble families from all over Westeros behind the scenes, form new alliances, do business deals, arrange marriages and eat and drink well at the expense of the capital since the crown was reluctantly picking up most of the bill.
Already three days into their deliberations Eddard Stark was wondering if he should impose an expense limit on the delegates, as well as publicly reprimand one of the Reach Lords for trying to claim back money he had spent visiting a brothel, but he opted to grin and bear it for now, not that he was one to grin much at all normally.
That wasn't to say that for all his grim persona Ned Stark wasn't amused by some of the things going on around him. According to Varys, always well informed about most everything, a number of Lords had been very disappointed that they had not been approached by Tywin Lannister offering a bribe for their votes. According to the Master-of-Whispers this had resulted in Lord Tywin telling one of them point-blank that you only bothered to bribe people when the result was in doubt, and if they weren't happy about it they were perfectly free to support Stannis's claim but should keep in mind that backing the losing side was bad for your future prospects.
Another event that amused everybody, with one notable exception, was when Theon Greyjoy, who had accompanied Rob Stark down from Winterfell, inadvertently made a play for a girl he met while out visiting a tavern with his friend only to discover it was his own sister. Fortunately Yara had recognised him so nothing came of it but finding it very funny she only let on after two hours of being plied with drinks. Rob thought it was absolutely hysterical and the following day approached Balon Greyjoy with a suggestion that the Stark family give Theon back to him in return for his sister who was a lot more fun and could hold her drink better than her brother too. Whether or not Balon knew it was meant as a joke he outright refused right in front of Theon and then criticised his son's expensive clothes complaining they were paid for with coin not the proper way by the iron price.
Theon thereafter looked so miserable that his sister dragged him back to another tavern and paid for his drinks, which was nice he thought, although he could have done without her later drunken comments about Rob Stark and the possibility of inventing the "Salt Husband".
As for the other Great Houses, the Martells were giving nothing away but given the way Mace Tyrell was praising Joffrey's oration to the rafters to everyone he encountered it was likely he had decided which way the wind was blowing and wanted to make sure he wasn't just on the winning team, he was its most vocal supporter.
Stannis of course always looked miserable, so it was hard to tell if he agreed with the general sentiment of the Great Council that he would be best advised to just bugger off back to Dragonstone and hope the boy king still thought of him as family rather than the man who tried to take the throne from him.
Those keeping book, and there were plenty with a wager on the outcome of the council, were not giving Stannis very good odds from the start and they had been slashed still further after reports of his verbal savaging had spread.
Knowing that while you needed to look confident and self-assured it wasn't good policy to appear too smug and cocksure, if even for no other reason sometimes than because the gods liked to punish hubris, Octavian did his best to damp down that element of his character for now. It was difficult though when half the aristocracy of Westeros seemed eager to kiss his backside and most of the rest at least didn't want to make an enemy of him.
That wasn't true of everyone of course and Octavian fought back the urge to visibly react when walking down a corridor he turned a corner and almost walked right into the member of Stannis's own delegation who was being talked about even more than the man himself.
"The Lady Melisandre I presume" Octavian greeted the striking red-haired women who was wearing a long dress and cloak the same colour, the dress featuring a plunging neckline which showed considerably more cleavage than you would normally see in Westerosi fashion. "Showing her around, Thoros?" he asked the man next to her.
Looking unusually presentable for him the resident Red Priest of King's Landing Thoros of Myr nodded. He might even be sober for once, Octavian thought to himself, maybe the man had felt the need to smarten up with another of the clergy of the faith of R'hllor in town, he wondered?
"Yes, I am" Melisandre confirmed. "And you would be Joffrey, the pretender to the Iron Throne" she continued with a superior expression and tone-of-voice. She spoke the Common Tongue of Westeros very well it seemed, but the accent of her homeland remained strong nonetheless.
"Pretender? No you'll find me quite genuine" Octavian replied sweetly.
Stood shadowing him a step behind, his bodyguard Sandor Clegane had one hand on the pommel of his sword trying to look intimidating but was frankly amazed that the boy was able to talk to her face not her exposed cleavage. If the Red Priests had any sense they would have sent her instead of Thoros to try and convert King Robert to their faith, she would have had a lot more success than a lunatic drunkard best known for swinging a flaming sword dipped in wildfire.
"Genuine?" Melisandre responded with a knowing smiling. "The Lord of Light sent me a vision through the flames that told me Stannis is the prince that was promised, Azor Ahai reborn who will drive back the coming darkness, he is the true king not you" she declared.
"Fortunately the Great Council gets to make that decision, not the follower of a mystical religion from the East" Octavian replied with a chuckle.
Melisandre looked at him askance. "Who are you to mock the one true faith?" she asked rhetorically.
"I wasn't mocking your religion, just one of its followers" Octavian replied evenly.
Moving faster than he could have possibly expected Melisandre snapped forward and took hold of him under the chin bringing her own face close so they were nose-to-nose and looking each other directly in the eyes, neither blinking. "Hold your sword Clegane" Octavian ordered, voice remaining steady as his bodyguard drew his weapon. "Lord Stark commanded no bloodshed and we will follow his rules and the law of Sacred Hospitality" he added firmly.
"Now we will see how genuine you are" Melisandre announced with a knowing smile, looking deep into the boys eyes.
For what seemed like an age, but was likely just a few seconds, her expression remained the same but then her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "What are you?" she demanded to know. "The eyes are a window to the soul but your window looks out elsewhere, shows another place" the Red Priestess tried to look even deeper as Octavian fought the urge to abandon his patrician calm and break away.
Sandor Clegane looked to Thoros of Myr for an explanation but the Red Priest looked as mystified as he was by the turn of events as Melisandre continued to speak.
"Eagles" she said, "Eagles made of bronze leading men into battle" she said, yet to even blink as she stared into Octavian's eyes. "Men raised by wolves, a city built upon seven hills with seven kings, kings overthrown by the people," she continued. "The people" she repeated herself, "the senate and the people" she said, voice trailing off.
Melisandre let go of Octavian and took a step back, a shocked expression on her face. "The foremost, the first, the first citizen" she said to herself out loud. "How could I have been so wrong, but then how could I have known?" she asked rhetorically as if cursing herself for making a mistake while realising it was nonetheless unavoidable. "I understand now, I have seen the way, its Princeps not Prince!" she exclaimed as if in revelation. "The Princeps that was promised!" Melisandre declared, a look of rapture written on her face.
Eventually after a subsequent long silence Sandor Clegane coughed. "Did that make any sense to either of you?" he asked both the boy under his guard and Thoros, the latter shaking his head and wishing he hadn't stayed sober that day.
It made a little bit too much sense to a stunned Octavian but he certainly wasn't about to say so.
Notes:
Note from the author:
I found the scene in GoT where Theon Greyjoy unknowingly tried to seduce his sister Yara, who he hadn't seen in years, when he returned to the Iron Islands was really funny so I had to include something similar. Their father Balon much prefers his daughter to his son.
Taking a kidnapped Salt Wife as a slave concubine is a tradition among men in the Iron Islands. Yara apparently likes the look of Rob Stark.
The Red Priestess Melisandre of Asshai was able to see either Arya's past or future (or both) looking into the eyes of Arya Stark. Looking into Octavians freaked her out completely!
The prince that was promised is a prophecy that a hero will come to save the world. The followers of R'hllor, the Lord of Light, associate him with Azor Ahai. The word prince actually finds its route in the latin Princeps, which was used to describe the "First Citizen" or Princeps civitatis of Rome and was first used as a title by Caesar Augustus when he established the Principate... someone decided Westeros needed Octavian more than Rome did!
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