122 The Imp

Leaning back, Daenerys rested her body against the warm, scaley body of Drogon, looking up to the clear sky above with a frown upon her beautiful face. They were already making their way down the King's Road towards Kings Landing, Robb having begun the long march north. Despite their victory over Aegon Targaryen, there was still much to do and as Daenerys was beginning to realise, the fighting was far from over.

Even though the war might come to an end, Daenerys would then have to battle against the Tyrells. Her position in Westers was unstable and Margaery already had a headstart upon her, she was disadvantaged and Daenerys had no idea how to turn it around.

Westeros was not like Essos, something she was becoming uncomfortably familiar with.

"Your grace, it is time for us to get ready to depart once more," Tyrion informed her, his diminutive size almost completely dwarfed in the shadow of Strong Belwas.

'And another day of marching begins.' Daenerys thought to herself, rising to her feet. They had suffered many losses in the battle against Aegon Targaryen, he had not gone quietly or easily, he made them all pay for victory in blood. His unorthodox and shocking tactics had resulted in heavy losses for all sides.

Aegon's force was almost completely destroyed, just shy of ten thousand Dornish actually surviving, many of which were severely injured. The Golden Company faired better than most, coming into the battle with ten thousand men and losing nearly three thousand men over the course of the battle. In the aftermath though, many of the survivors were in varying states of injury, not as bad as the Dornish thanks in part to the armour the Golden Company possessed, but they had been bloodied and battered harder than they ever had in recent years.

Daenerys forces had suffered the most, her cavalry was gone completely. Her Unsullied cut down to half of their original number. She had gone in with twenty thousand and come out with just over ten thousand.

Robb had suffered the least when it came to losses, his thirty thousand men still numbering over twenty thousand. However, just like Daenerys, many of that number were severely injured.

As a result of those injuries, they had made their journey south slow going. Their force was made up of her remaining force as well as Robb's, numbering over thirty thousand, accompanied by the near eighteen thousand men of Aegon's forces. In most cases, they would have already arrived at Kings Landing by this point, but with the prisoners and the injuries of their own soldiers, they had to move carefully and slowly.

"I have been thinking, your grace," Tyrion said, breaking the silence that had befallen them. "On how we might progress from this point on."

Daenerys hummed, indicating for him to speak.

"We will be arriving at Kings Landing tomorrow, I would recommend that the flag to lead our force should not be the Targaryen flag, but House Starks' instead. Certainly, we are the ones arriving and not the King, but if we do display our own flag at the head of this army, it could be seen as you taking Kings Landing, rather than Robb Stark." Tyrion explained, knowing full well that it was a minor thing, something hardly to be worried about. However, he knew from experience that the little things like this could be the most important.

"Have the Targaryen flag displayed behind it." He continued. "Show that you and Robb Stark are not enemies, but also show that you recognise him as King. We are disadvantaged, the Tyrells have been allied to Robb Stark far longer than we have. If we are to have a fighting chance, at the very least, we must ensure that the King does not change his stance. So far, he has chosen not to support neither you nor Margaery for Queen. We must make sure that he remains in such a position."

"And display our flag at the head or beside him, could be seen as undermining him?" Daenerys questioned, having never thought of it that way.

Tyrion nodded his head. "It is a minor detail, but it is details like those that the lords and ladies will pick up on and use to their advantage, especially the Tyrells. In order to give you the best chance, we need to give them nothing."

Daenerys nodded, seeing the good sense in that. "After that though, we will need to focus on gathering the support of the lords of the realms. You said we had the support of the Crownlands, no?"

"We do." Tyrion agreed. "Though many would not choose you over Robb Stark, they will support you over Margaery. I have even received letters from various lords of the Riverlands, each pledging their support to you." That made Daenerys smile, she knew full well that getting the lords to choose her over Robb would be difficult, especially the Riverland lords. However, the Riverlands had always been heavy supporters of House Targaryen, Robert's Rebellion being a rare exception to the case.

But as Daenerys was beginning to realise, her father had brought such an outcome upon himself. She could not begrudge them for choosing not to serve a mad king, she would not either.

"Right now though, Margaery is in a far more favourable position," Tyrion spoke, repeating something Daenerys already knew. "She has the support of the Reach that is mostly untouched by the war. She also has the support of a few Riverland lords like Lord Marq Piper and some of the northern lords like Lord Smalljon Umber. Yet it is only a slight lead, many lords are choosing to wait and see how things progress. Or simple have no care for it."

The North was one such example of that.

Many were more focused on returning home and securing their lands to care about who was Queen. Nor had Tyrion heard them having much care for any southern woman being Queen, so that was good news. Margaery did not have the full support of the North who only seemed interested in seeing Robb become King.

However, the Vale, the Westerlands and the Stormlands were waiting to see who would take the lead. The Westerlands from what Tyrion could tell, leaning more towards Margaery who had been helping to fix the damage Robb's invasion had caused. However, it was not perfect, those in the south who had been hit by Randyll Tarly seemed completely unmoved.

There was an opportunity there.

"No doubt the Stormlands will choose to support Margaery," Daenerys muttered.

Tyrion smiled. "I don't know." He told her. "I believe the Tyrells will be focusing their efforts upon the Westerlands and the Vale. Margaery is already working upon those in the north of my homeland, but the south which was hit by the Reach won't be so happy about her. But in time I imagine they will cave and choose to support her. But I believe the Tyrells will focus most of their efforts upon the Vale."

"The Vale? Why?"

"Because they are rich in iron and quite heavily in debt," Tyrion admitted, it was precisely why Petyr Baelish had been able to become the de facto ruler of the kingdom, manipulating and using the debts of the various lords to his advantage. Many of the Vale Lords had invested heavily in mines, digging deeper and deeper to try and find new iron veins. It cost huge amounts of money, which they didn't have.

"So, the Tyrells will attempt to use those debts to gain the support of the Vale lords?" Tyrion nodded his head at her words. "But you don't seem overly bothered by that, why?"

"Because despite the Reach's best efforts to hide it, they are reaching their limits." The imp said simply with a growing smile. "They've been exporting food out to Robb's kingdoms since the moment they bent the knee. While they are certainly rich in fertile land, the Reach does not have an endless supply of food and they are reaching that limit. While you were waging battle against Aegon, I was visiting a nearby village. Funny thing really, the supplies they've been getting courtesy of Robb Stark and the Tyrells have been getting progressively smaller and smaller each time it arrives."

The thought brought a smile to Daenerys lips. "And without food, they can't buy the support of the smallfolk." She deduced, Tyrion nodding. "We should take advantage of that then." Not for the first time, Daenerys made a note to reward Ser Bronn for making her see reason. She doubted that she would feel as confident as she did now if not for Tyrion being at her side, as much as she did not like him.

"I have already dispatched a raven to Mereen. In it, I have requested on your behalf that Darrio begin to prepare shipments of food to be shipped here. As well as some of the riches of Slaver's Bay." Tyrion explained, having already made a move. He knew it was risky to do so without permission, but he couldn't really wait.

They would arrive at Kings Landing before the Tyrells who were probably still at Riverrun. There was a lot of work to be done and they had to move quickly before the Tyrells could solve find solutions to their weaknesses. Luckily for him, Daenerys seemed to realise this and while displeased that he moved without informing her first, was pleased with his plan.

"Allow the Tyrells to set the groundwork in the Vale," Tyrion told her. "Use the food to secure the Stormlands and the smallfolk. The riches to buy the lords of the Westerlands not already in support of the Tyrells and we now have new opportunities available to us." He indicated to the Dornish prisoners. "The Reach and Dorne have never been friendly with one another, and Robb has already helped us by raising doubts about Aegon's lineage. All we have to do is feed upon those doubts."