A Tale of Stag and Wolf
Thirteenth Day of the Eighth Month 293 AC
Of all you have done in the Seven Kingdoms no deed has been more obvious than your open hand towards the Night's Watch. You paid them in arms and armor, arcane treasures and strange beasts, and you paid them in gold, matching the loose Lannister offer. The question of how this is reflected in the eyes of your foes is thus not the least among your thoughts, for of the three roads open to them all are in your favor. If the Iron Throne supports the Watch to try and overshadow your own efforts then all the better for protecting against the coming Winter. If they ignore it then it will send the Northmen grumbling. And should they try to act against the Lord Commander on some notion that he committed 'treason,' why then the North would do far worse than grumble.
It is not, however, Chataya who provides most of the answers you seek, but your mother and Dany. The servants in the Red Keep are not near as closed-mouthed as most of their lords would have it, and the courtiers who walk its halls are always interested in gossip, even with Essosi of dubious peerage, so long as their purses clink with silver.
"At first the Usurper would not believe that you had dared cross the Narrow Sea into Westeros and asked his Master of Ships to seize every galleon that flies the Silver Serpent as though it were the dragon of our House," your mother begins. "That much we can be sure of since he was anything but quiet in his anger. Many feared he would declare war and set sail to the east until his Hand dissuaded him in some manner. Weeks later tales began to circulate in court of Northern treachery, some say helped along by the queen either from spite or the hope that her father would be able to add another feather to his cap by solving the problem of the Wall."
"So you are not sure if the queen was involved?" you interject. "Could her ladies-in-waiting be bribed or enchanted into revealing the secret? From what I have heard so far she seems very much a weakness in the ranks of the enemy."
"She has no ladies," your mother says, sounding bewildered and almost pitying. "How she can bear to be queen without any companions she can speak honestly to I could not tell you."
"By all accounts through sheer spite," Dany snorts. "In any case we have it from one of the Grand Maester's assistants in the rookery that the first hint of Lord Stark's involvement arrived through the Pycelle, though from what source he could not say..."
"You convinced this Maester to turn his cloak?" Chataya asks, equal parts impressed and wary.
"No," Dany shakes her head, the corners of her mouth tightening slightly at the implication that she would be so careless. "I sought him out in his dreams and bespelled him there that he might recall nothing of having revealed secrets." Seeing the shadow of suspicion settle on Chataya's expression she adds: "I would never use it against anyone I consider an ally, nor for any but the most crucial of information."
Still the madame does not seem convinced so with a sigh your sister adds: "If you will not trust my character then at least trust my sense. It takes hours to untangle another's dream such that you can pick apart particular memories. It would be an enormous waste to spend my days spying on friends when there are yet so very many foes out there, not to mention that I do like to just sleep from time to time." She gives a charming smile, open without making any pretense of being guileless.
To this Chataya nods, at last convinced, so Dany continues her tale: "Baratheon was not furious at the thought that his foster brother might meet with you in peace, he was by all accounts despondent, throwing himself into training and wine with equal fervor."
"But no women?" Nuri asks, interested.
Hopefully she did not actually mean that offer to seduce the Usurper.
"No... well, unless you count the queen," Dany continues. "The only thing I managed to discern about that part of his life is what everyone knows, that he managed to have three children."
"Thankfully," your mother half-whispers, shaking her head.
You clear your throat. "Is that how the matter of the North ends? The Usurper overcame his sorrow at the seeming petty betrayal of Lord Stark?"
"Not quite," Maelor takes up the tale. "I heard from a stable boy that there's talk in the Keep that the court might head to the North, though the queen and her uncle are fighting the notion and the Hand's none too happy at it either."
"An attempt to win back the North, or just assure himself of his old friend's loyalty?" you muse. "I don't suppose you know if there was a letter sent to Winterfell?"
"Unfortunately not," your mother replies as you had expected. "That is all we know, and the last may not even be true..."
"Best I can say is that the fellow who told me about it thought it was true," Maelor confirms.
What do you ask next?
[] Varys' machinations
[] Flea Bottom Rumors
[] Reaction to the Tourney of Sorcerer's Deep
[] Write in
OOC: A bit more info about Cersei too, to keep this feeling like a real conversation and not just bullet points disguised as dialog.
