Volantis and the lands around it had become somewhat a dangerous spot for the spider's little birds. No matter how he changed the tactics of infiltrating them, a day or two after they built their nests, any songs stop being song to him.
Yet even with this kind of expensive setback, some little birds survive long enough to adapt and sing to him from time to time what happens in that city, especially news about Konrad Arryn, a boy, which Varys was really interested in. On one hand, if the boy is let to grow, all of his plans would become threaten to fail, be it those about the two dragons, or the true heir to the throne, and above all… peace would be the last thing that would happen and that means that the realm would suffer.
With a heavy sigh, Varys got up from his desk and made his way towards the council chamber, the king and his hand must know about this, and while that could, in the worst case, hamper some of his plans, it could also, take the King's attention from the two siblings for a short while.
When he reached the chamber of the small council, Varys took a moment to compose himself before pushing open the heavy wooden doors. The room was already occupied by the King and the Hand of the King, as well as Lord Kevan Lannister, the new Master of Coin, Lord Stannis Baratheon, Master of Ships, Lord Renly Baratheon, Master of Laws and the Grandmaester, Pycelle, all of whom looked up expectantly as he entered, after all, it wasn't something normal for the Master of Whispers to call the whole council in a hurry.
"Your Grace, my Lord Hand, my lords," Varys began as nicely as he usually does before changing his tone, "I bring news from Volantis. Troubling news, I fear, that might require your grace's immediate attention."
Robert Baratheon glanced at Varys with what Varys could only describe as expectation. "Speak, Spider what's so important that you had to call the whole bloody council so late?"
Varys clasped his hands together. "Yes, Your grace. I heard a song from my little birds about Konrad Arryn, the son of our Lord Hand, who has been in his self-imposed exile, has decided to make his move."
Jon Arryn was the first to react, which was not a surprise to Varys, after all, he just brought news about the man's son. "My son… what has he done?"
Varys gave him a sympathetic nod. "My Lord Hand, I assure you that no harm has come to him. However, I'm oblige to tell you what the young lord had done. As we all know, the good masters hadn't took it kindly when their slave trade had took a hit thanks to Volantis falling to a Westerosi lord, despite the truth being that the city wasn't exactly ruled by the young lord, as his father-in-law was taking care of the internal matters."
When he said, that Varys noticed that both Jon Arryn as well Kevan Lannister's expressions changed, and while he knew the reason for why those two men were less than happy about this, it wasn't his place to comment about whom Konrad Arryn chooses to trade with.
"As I was saying, the good masters reacted just as one would have expected and hired several mercenary companies and amassed a large force of slave soldiers, including their Unsullied. Their aim is to reclaim Volantis and eliminate Lord Konrad Arryn's influence in the region."
Seeing that by now all of the people present in the room, especially the king, where paying attention to what he was telling them, Varys continued. "Despite already being in conflict with the Dothraki, the young lord managed to win a decisive naval battle, obliterating the majority of the slavers' fleet. Following this victory, he has gathered an army as large, if not larger, than that of the Reach. This force allowed him to break the siege laid by the sellsword armies on one of Volantis' key outposts, thus destroying any resistance in the region."
The council chamber was silent for a moment, and Varys was more than happy letting the lords and king processing the information he just shared with them. A few seconds later, Robert Baratheon broke the silence first with a grin spreading across his face, one that Varys only saw when the realm prepared to put down the Greyjoy's rebellion. "That's the way to live, Jon! Bashing skulls and fucking whores, not sitting on a bloody piece of metal, sometimes I wished Ned would have sit his frozen ass on that, then I could have been on the other side of the world, living the life. Alas, if only my heir would have half the spirit of your boy, Jon, I could die a happy man."
Shaking his head, Jon decided to speak out before Robert says something that might damage their standing with House Lannister once again. "Your grace… I don't care about the glory my son is earning for himself, and as we all of you know, I was and I still am against what my son is doing in Essos. Not to mention, he denouncing the Seven in favor of some never heard before being and its religion."
In response to his words, Robert only laugh. "Bahhahaha, Jon, let the boy live his life for Gods's sake. He's what eleven name days old right? I don't any lord earning so much for himself with his two hands at those hands."
"Your grace…" Stannis started before taking a short pause. "I'm of the same opinion as our Lord Hand. Konrad Arryn has a lot to answer for, especially conquering land in Essos, something that as you remember very well, I was sent there to talk about, only to return without the young lord. I don't know what Gods he's following, but all of his older men that call themselves knights, are many a time better than most of the knights."
Just like his oldest brother, Renly Baratheon laughed, shaking his head. "That was such a good joke Varys. How could Jon's son gather such a large force? He doesn't have the resources the Reach has."
Rather than answering to him, Varys only gave the man a smile, before moving his eyes onto Kevan Lannister, who had been quiet ever since he had shared the news about the young Arryn. Varys didn't need to be a Master of Whispers to knew what was in the man's mind in this moment. The Lannisters had tried and failed to get a hold onto the young boy in the past, and now, that the little falcon had sharpen his talons, the lion's position might get threaten if the boy turns his attention to his birth home. No matter how much gold, the Lannister still had, it would never be able to buy military experience here in the Seven Kingdoms, nor would Tywin send his army oversea to train. No, the most plausible move the old lion would do, will, once again be to approach the young lord. However, the boy was still betrothed to the daughter of the only remaining triarch. Of course, there existed ways to solve this issue, but Varys could only hope that the old lion won't poke the hornet nest.
"Your Grace," Pycelle began, doing his best to look as scared as his acting skills let him. "While it is true that young Konrad Arryn has achieved remarkable feats, his actions, though seemingly distant, are in fact a greater threat to your rule than you could have guessed. A powerful, independent force in Essos, led by a Westerosi lord, one that is the son of the current Hand of the King, could draw unwanted attention and alliances that might threaten the stability of the Seven Kingdoms."
Robert, still smiling from the earlier jest, frowned at Pycelle's words. "And what do you propose we do, grandmaester? Send an army across the Narrow Sea to bring the boy back? My brother and the imp when to talk with him and that didn't help at all, seven hells, I think that made him angry at his father more than anything. Besides, the boy already proven he can handle himself well enough."
Pycelle inclined his head respectfully. "Not necessarily an army, Your Grace, but we must consider the potential dangers his growing influence poses. A divided loyalty, especially one that could one day see one of the seven kingdoms rebel, could be exploited by your enemies. The Slaver's Bay is not the end of his ambition, I fear. Today it's the slavers… tomorrow, it could be Westeros."
Before the King could respond, Kevan Lannister, who had remained silent up until now, interjected. "With all due respect, Grand Maester, I believe we are getting ahead of ourselves. So far, young Konrad has not taken any action that directly endangers the Seven Kingdoms. In fact, his decision to self-exile and send away his uncle, Andar Royce, suggests he didn't want to drag the throne in any conflict across the Narrow Sea."
"How many did we lost, Tyrek?" Konrad asked his uncle, who looked just as tired as the young lord.
"Two hundred and seventy-one of the Dothraki auxiliary cavalry, I had under my command. Another two thousand, three hundred and forty-four perish in the first line, and we almost lost Gendel too. That dumb bastard almost got himself cut in two by one of the sellswords leaders, if not for one of the knights empaling the bastard with his lance. As for the casualties of the outpost… Almost all of the men died in battle, and those that survived would soon follow them due to their injuries. Vergo, the madman who led his people until we arrived, lost his left arm as well as sight in his right eye, and with his stomach cut, both the brothers as well as the hospitallers don't give him more than a night before he closes his eyes forever. "
Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Konrad thought about what he could do to help his people. Undoubtedly this was just the beginning of the end, and until the last good master was dead, people will keep suffering and dying. And no matter how much he wanted to help, Konrad knew that for this to end, he would have to lead a bloody campaign, one that if his blessing work, might just keep the deaths resulted from injuries to a minimum.
"I'll pray tonight for all of our wounded and if God hadn't forgot us, none of our wounded should die."
Tyrek watched Konrad closely, knowing very well just how hurt the boy was by those loses. He had raised Konrad since the boy was a wee lad, had seen him grow into the leader he was becoming, and yet, there was still a part of him that found it difficult to reconcile the faith that Konrad had embraced. Not because he was such a believer of the Seven, not even close, in fact, as far as he could say, it didn't matter.
On one hand, Tyrek could care less about the deity Konrad prayed to. The battlefield did not discriminate, everyone was equal in death and the battlefield demanded blood and life regardless of one's faith. Victory and survival were all that mattered in the heat of combat. As someone who had been forced to become one of the king's guards, Tyrek had chosen to simply not care about such things, focusing instead on his mission of serving those he was sworn to.
But on the other hand, he knew that unlike him, there were many a man who would see Konrad's actions as a heinous act against the Faith of the Seven. The zealots and traditionalists in Westeros would undoubtedly react with fury. Tyrek could almost hear their cries of heresy, their demands for blood in the name of the Faith. Returning from Essos might plunge them into a bloody religious war, one that as much as he wanted to say that they would easily win, he couldn't. Yet, that was a problem for the future. Now, Tyrek would keep supporting his "nephew and squire" no matter what he chose to do. He had sworn to protect Konrad, to guide him, and to stand by him through thick and thin and that's precisely what he would do until the day he dies.
Taking a deep breath, Tyrek placed a hand on Konrad's shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. "Do what you must, Konrad. Your men believe in you, and your faith gives them hope. Pray for them, and work your magic lad."
Nodding his head, Konrad got up from his chair and left the command tent, heading right towards the medical area where the wounded were kept.
"Why did you left me? Why didn't you take me with you! We promised each other to spend our lives together! How could have you left me here alone with that insufferable old man!"
The woman clutched at her swollen belly. Betrayal, longing, and a fierce, unyielding love for the man who had left her behind, was all she cared in that moment as tears streamed down her face. "You told me you loved me, that we would be together always. But here I am, trapped in this forsaken place, with a child that should have been ours."
Her voice dropped to a whisper, as her expression turned into madness (A/N : Sorry for this, but no matter how I tried to write, it would sound good, so please forgive me). "You think this is his child, don't you? You think I carry his heir. But you and I both know the truth. This child is yours, and I will make sure the world knows it when the time is right. He will not be a bastard. He will be the rightful heir, and I will see to it. That old fool thinks he can control me, that I will bow to his will. But he doesn't understand. I will do whatever it takes to secure our child's place, to rid ourselves of that bastard who threatens everything. I will not let that abomination take what belongs to my son. I will not let him stand in the way. By any means necessary, I will see him gone. Poison, sellswords, assassins, —it doesn't matter. He will be removed, and our son will take his rightful place."
Pain wracked her body again, but she welcomed it, using it to fuel her mad dream. "You may have left me, but I am strong. I will protect our child. And when the time comes, I will join you, and we will watch over him together. Until then, I will fight for him, no, I will fight for us."
She then rocked back and forth with her hands pressed against her belly as another contraction hit before smiling lovingly. "Just a little longer, my love. Our son will be here soon. And when he is, I will ensure that nothing stands in his way. Not that old man, not the bastard, not anyone."