The looks on all the Lords present on Tywin Lannister's main tent weren't good. The news that the squad sent to transverse the barrier had been completely disintegrated upon contact had been thoroughly suppressed. The only surviving soldier, who came back to give the news, was killed as a precaution so the troops wouldn't get to know what happened.
These Lords, on the other hand, were privy to what had happened and their morale couldn't be lower. They hadn't even started a real battle, but it seemed like they were being absolutely defeated. The silence was akin to a mausoleum until the Old Lion broke it.
"I want to know your thoughts on the matter."
"Lord Tywin, perhaps we should retreat to Hornvale? If we can't disrupt this sorcery and take the castle, we are just sitting ducks waiting for Ned Stark to arrive with the Stormlands and Crownlands forces." said Lord Brax.
"My Lord, since the Witches are here, it means Riverrun cannot count with their abilities on their siege. I suggest we lift the siege here, send a portion of our forces to guard our rear in Hornvale, but take the bulk and reinforce Ser Kevan so we can take Riverrun quickly before Rob Stark comes with the northerners" countered Lord Crakehall.
Lord Tywin was about to agree to the suggestion when Tyrion spoke.
"I suggest we wait."
All heads turned to him. Some with surprise, others with anger, but most of them, with contempt for the Imp of Casterly Rock.
"And why is that?" asked Tywin with a slight tone of irritation in his voice.
"Our spies in King's Landing report that the vanguard of the Stormlands army arrived only two days ago in the capital under Loras Tyrell. Renly will still take at least half a week to reach them with the main force and the troops will need to rest before marching, which gives us a day or two. Putting together the distance between the crownlands and here they'd have to march for a week to a week and a half. That gives us roughly two weeks of waiting time before a battle is imminent."
The other Lords looked pensive, assessing his analysis and seeing that the calculations seemed correct.
"I do not wish to underestimate our opponent, father, but it seems to me that this Lady Slytherin is a very young woman, perhaps not even eighteen name days. Now, perhaps this kind of magic is second nature to them and isn't as hard as it looks. But what I find most likely is that this is some sort of complicated sorcery that is hard to maintain just by the sheer size of it. Given her young age, she's also likely to be much less experienced than an older sorceress from her land. All of this is to say that I strongly believe that with enough time, she won't be able to hold it and that barrier will fall. I'd follow the original plan of waiting until the end of the week and then retreating if the magic wall still stands."
Most of the Lords found themselves agreeing with Tyrion. If a few riskless days of waiting could be the difference between running tail with nothing and achieving victory, why not wait? They'd be either inside the castle or far away by the time Eddard Stark arrived. Tywin looked at the gathered Lords and upon seeing their silent approval he spoke.
"Very well, we will wait until the end of the week as planned and then decide on what to do. You are all to remain under your previous orders, especially you, Tyrion. I want your crew ready to fire the moment there's a breach on that thing."
"It will be done, father." he answered with a bit of pride.
As the war council was concluded, Tyrion couldn't help but think that he saw a flicker of a smile coming from Tywin's face. Could it be…?
___________________________________________________________
The air in the dungeon cell was damp and no light came through the wooden cell door. Only an opening could provide light when it was time to deliver food, but, at the moment, it was closed and the occupant was unable to receive any food since he had been chained to the wall.
Arabella entered the cell with a guard that placed a chair for her and then left.
"You can close the door, thank you" she said to the guard, who was confused for a moment why she'd want to talk to him in the dark, but decided to obey.
Once it was pitch black again, Arabella's voice was heard.
"Lumos"
The white light was so bright it woke up the Maester that was sitting, chained by only the arm that still had a hand, in front of her.
"Uh, w...wwhat?" he said a bit groggy from the recent wake up.
Arabella didn't answer. She just brought the wand closer to his face, making the light uncomfortable for the man to bear, waking him fully up. Once she was sure he had all his mental faculties on board, she flicked her wrist and the light left the wand, creating a small orb around her.
"Maester Desmond" she said with a serious tone "it seems some parts of your order and I are at odds. This is something that deeply confuses me, as I don't remember ever harming a Maester nor doing anything to disrupt the citadel's work. I was hoping you'd help me understand why."
"I won't do anything for you, heretical sorceress. You are destined to the Seven Hells along with all those that help you."
"Ah, so you're really acting in the name of the faith too? I thought it was just an act you'd put up back there in the hall. Another thing that adds to my confusion. The Seven have no influence where I come from. In fact, they have no presence at all. So given that I've done nothing against them since I arrived either, I don't know where I could have possibly offended them to warrant such a response from the faith" said the Witch, pretending that the Seven in fact existed, even though she thought they were nothing more than social constructs to keep people in line.
"You see, Maester, I'm rather confused and you're the only source of answers I have at present" she continued, coming even closer to him "we can do this three different ways. We can have a civilized and pleasant conversation, after which you may leave this cell and resume your duties to the best of your current capabilities. I won't ask for your life, even though you tried to kill me.
"However, if you choose not to cooperate, I can invade your mind and take the knowledge I need. And, on the off-chance you manage to resist, then I will cause you such pain that will make the flaying of House Bolton merciful in comparison. Of course, the second and third way will make your life forfeit. What will you choose?"
She thought about using the Imperius curse on him, just like she had done with Jamie and Cersei, but decided against it. While it would guarantee his compliance, the interrogation would take longer and she'd rather see the information for herself, inside his mind, instead of having to ask multiple questions. The Legilimency spell would be a better choice.
As for her threat of causing him pain, it was more for intimidation than for practicality. While she had discovered she had no qualm in using the Cruciatus curse on him, she doubted it would be needed. The Maester had no chance of resisting her spell. Still, just in case she was mistaken or her rage boiled over and she did something she didn't want the girl to see, she had decided not to bring Arya.
The Maester looked at her with fear, but quickly changed his demeanor. His expression darkened and he spat on her.
"I will give you nothing, blasphemous sorceress. Torture me all you want, I will not break"
Arabella used the end of her sleeve to take the men's saliva from her face and stood up. She sighed and pointed her wand at him.
"May it never be said that I didn't give you a chance. I just hope you'll break quickly. I take no joy in what I'm about to do. Legilimency."
The Maester's head shot back towards the wall as the mental energy he was spending to try to resist her probing was unlike any he had ever spent, making his body twitch. The spell itself didn't bring pain to the victim, but the act of mentally resisting its effects was extremely taxing to the body and mind.
At first, he was able to keep Arabella's probing at bay, but soon his mental defenses started to collapse. Despite him being a Maester, with a stronger mind than the average person and some knowledge of magic nullification, he wasn't aware of the existence of the Occlumency skill, as it wasn't present in his world.
The Witch started seeing his memories related to her. The failed attempt on her life. The raven he had sent the day prior, informing of her presence at Pinkmaiden and what she had done to protect the castle, only for the raven to crash against the barrier, break its wing and plummet to its death, to the Maester's frustration. The letter he had received a few weeks ago detailing the Archmaester's plot to have her killed in any castle she visited with one of their group serving as Maester.
Inside were orders for him to attempt to kill her and Arya if they showed up and she now knew exactly where to find this letter, since Maester Desmond had forgotten to burn it. She also found who had signed the letter, Corren, Archmaester of Ravenry.
"So I found one of you" Arabella thought with a smirk "I wonder what I'll find out once I interrogate this Archmaester Corren."
Continuing her search, she also found that before she had arrived with the troops redirected from Riverrun, they had sent word ahead so supplies and lodgings could be prepared. The Maester used this information and fed it to Tywin Lannister. Such was his wish to kill her that he was willing to commit treason to the Lord of the castle he served and to one of the core principles of his order, neutrality. She tried to find some proof to present to the nobles, but found nothing. The only thing that could be presented was the letter itself, but that, of course, was in Tywin's hands.
"Not only are you a conspirer, you're also a traitor. I wonder what Lord Piper will say when he finds out."
She had gotten what she wanted, but she decided to probe for more. She knew this Maester had some knowledge of this field the Citadel called Magic Nullification. She wanted to know how effective it was and if it could pose a threat to her.
Going further into his mind, she saw that he carried a rune amulet in his pocket. Were one of his hands chained to the wall and the other one absent, he'd have used it to resist her magic. He thoroughly believed the amulet would protect him as the runes would create an anti magic aura upon activation. But he had never had the chance to try, since magic in Westeros was mostly unheard of. The only thing he had to support his belief were old dusty tomes he had read during his studies.
Unable to hold on any longer, the Maester gave in and collapsed to the floor, unconscious. Arabella opened the pocket she knew the amulet was in and took it. Upon touch, she felt as if the amulet had some sort of hunger. It was very faint, almost imperceptible, but it seemed to want to be fed magical energy. She carefully tucked it in a pouch she carried with her and decided to study the object in more detail later. Thanks to the Maester's memories, she also knew how to use it, if it had any use to start with.
She dissipated the light and the cell went back to its natural darkness. She opened the cell door and spoke to the guard waiting for her outside with her tone of authority, used more than usual nowadays .
"I'm going to visit his quarters, there is something there I need to fetch. Wake this trash up and drag him before the Lords in the main hall. I'll join them shortly"
"Yes, My Lady"