The council that Jaehaerys managed to convene the following day was chaired solely by two other royal members of the council, Pycelle and Randyll Tarly, both of whom remained in King's Landing. Viserys and Arianne also joined the council, making a total of five people, including the prince.
The spider's absence was notable.
"Is he outside the capital, gathering information?" Jaehaerys asked Pycelle again.
"Yes... my prince," the man said with feigned weariness. Then he opened his mouth to say something else, but stammered instead.
"Maester," Jaehaerys interrupted his ramblings, or attempt at them. "You have served so long; now that the words cannot come out of your mouth correctly, it would be best if you left your seat," he said to the old man, who suddenly became energetic.
"The royal house does not have the authority to—"
"So you are capable of speaking correctly?" the prince interrupted his rant. "I expect that same energy for the rest of my stay here," he silenced him. "Lord Tarly, what have the Ironborn done after the simultaneous attacks on King's Landing and Lannisport?" Jaehaerys asked.
Lord Tarly's words entered the prince's ears like a sweet serenade. The man, who months ago had looked at him as if he were little more than a whore, now looked at him with earned respect.
"Rodrick withdrew, or rather was repelled," Tarly said dryly, "thanks to Prince Viserys," he nodded to Jaehaerys' older brother. "Since then, he has sailed South and been attacking the coast, succeeding in several attacks until he encountered Lord Baratheon. Lord Stannis has defended well," the man did not speak ill of Robert Baratheon's younger brother. "They fought once, Greygoy could retreat and later pass Stannis' naval blockade. Lord Baratheon has been behind him, but he's faster," he said with some dissatisfaction.
Jaehaerys nodded. He didn't ask anything about attacks in the west; the Redwynes should be dealing with those, and the information would take time to reach the capital. Only Varys could gather it quickly.
Even so, Stannis was doing a good job. Jaehaerys wondered what motivated the man.
Was it simply his duty that made him fight? Or perhaps it was his daughter? Did he want better conditions for her? Unlike in the canon, Stannis did not marry a Florent but a minor lady of the Stormlands, from a branch of the Selmys if Jaehaerys remembered right. That allows him no alliances.
"Aegon ordered that part of the royal fleet be given to Stannis," said Jaehaerys. No one reacted to that. "I don't know how far Stannis is from the capital, but those orders are expected to be carried out," said Jaehaerys. Randyll nodded, while Viserys looked somewhat dissatisfied. Jaehaerys stared at him, waiting for his words.
"How good an idea would it be to give him more power?" asked Viserys as Arianne caressed his arm.
"He has served loyally for years. He has given no reason to distrust him. Besides, the royal fleet is full of loyalists. If he wanted to use them against us, he couldn't," explained the Lord Hand.
"What if he wanted to destroy the fleet?" This time, it was Arianne's venomous words.
"What would he achieve by that?" asked Jaehaerys. "He would lose ships and men, not to mention that after the Greyjoys, the Baratheons would be next." The idea of Stannis attacking the ships would be a death sentence. He did not have enough men for another rebellion.
"What if he sought to bring his brother back?" Arianne countered with that sly look she used to have. Viserys remained silent.
"In that case... I will sink his ships at sea. The Dothraki cannot ride on the ocean," said Jaehaerys. He had urged Ros to expand her information network, and part of the gold earned from the Lannisters would end up in her hands to speed things up.
With Baelish's death, he hoped that his brothels would become available for purchase.
"Even so, giving him power could end up offending other great houses," the princess continued boldly.
"Like the Martells?" asked Jaehaerys. He had allowed the princess to be present thanks to Viserys, now he feared a snake coiling around a dragon. "Are you offended, Princess Arianne?" he asked her directly.
She remained silent, her dark eyes scanning him. She did not seem offended, but neither was she happy; instead, she was thoughtful. Jaehaerys let her be; his relations with the Martells were too good to destroy over this untimely remark. The books portrayed Arianne as an ambitious woman seeking power.
Her best chance at that moment was to have heirs and marry them to Aegon's children. Thanks to Elia and Viserys, the families were already closely linked, so it would not be impossible for that to continue. However, the things someone will do for power sometimes border on madness.
"Stannis is a good commander," Randyll said, without unnecessary flattery. "Direct and unhesitating, he is a rock, just the rock needed to sink the Ironborn," he added. "I have considered the same doubts as the princess, but I agree with the prince. Unless he is mad, he will not attack the royal family's troops or commit treason," he said firmly. Arianne looked at him, perhaps a little annoyed that he had interrupted, but the man didn't care. Only Jaehaerys knew that Tarly didn't like to see a woman discussing matters of war.
They continued talking about the logistics of war. Jaehaerys found enormous support in Randyll Tarly. After all, the art of war was not his forte. In the end, they left one by one, Viserys and Arianne leaving quickly, as did Tarly. Leaving only the Lord Hand and the Grand Maester.
"Pycelle," Jaehaerys called to the old man who was pretending to sleep. "When did Varys leave?" he asked, ignoring the old man as he wiped the sleep from his eyes.
"Excuse me?" he asked sleepily.
"Answer the question, or I'll find someone who can," said the prince.
"Varys left yesterday... as soon as he heard rumors of a dragon coming to the capital... that man is not to be trusted," muttered Pycelle, remembering the question with ease when threatened with death. "I told His Majesty Aerys and His Majesty Rhaegar. I only hope that Young Aegon is able to see the threat," he said as he stood up, too quickly for how he usually pretended. Sweat covered his forehead.
Jaehaerys did not stop him; he just stared at the table in the room. Varys fled. Perhaps he managed to gather information about Baelish, about how he died. Jaehaerys had an incredible urge to torture the man and extract every secret about how to form a network of spies from his head.
But that would be impossible. He would probably never see Varys again. That is, if the eunuch knew he was being pursued. If Varys went to Essos with Illyrio, he might join Aegon Waters. That should steer the war in the direction of the young bastard. Or it could mediate an alliance between the two. Jaehaerys hoped that the pride between them would be great enough that they would rather kill each other than form an alliance.
Although they could hate each other and still be allies, as Tywin and the prince were at that moment. Jaehaerys had planned to kill the old lion the same night he killed Rhaegar. But the Ironborn arrived by surprise. He had to postpone his plans. Killing him in the days that followed would be counterproductive. Tywin would be useful in the war against the squids.
After the war, or perhaps when the Ironborn were about to be massacred, Tywin would die. It didn't take much to kill a man.
Jaehaerys hoped Stannis would arrive soon. The man was slowly driving the Ironborn from the land. Every village they attacked was defended, and Stannis was pushing them further and further south.
The man who led the pirates was Rodrick Greyjoy, Balon's heir. Both Theon and Moron had already been killed, and besides Rodrick, only Asha remained somewhere, if she had not already been killed.
Rodrick seemed in no hurry to flee, which was worrying. Either he was stupid, or he had another plan.
Jaehaerys began to write a letter addressed to Prince Doran Nymeros Martell.
Whether the Greyjoys had a bigger plan, or it was simply Rodrick wanting to squeeze the most out of his plundering, he needed to get them out of the way quickly. Take the initiative and take them down before they achieve anything else.