12 Family Meeting (2)

But their deep minds and moves of wisdom came with a high price.

All of them had some sort of personality defect. Lady Olenna was extremely controlling of her family, which caused her son and heir to be very incompetent at times, and her granddaughter to turn into a controlling, scheming, and poisonous snake. Maybe latter was a good thing for her, even desired by Lady Olenna.

Lord Tywin Lannister's desire to honor his family name and stay away from anything that could tarnish his reputation led to unconcealable differences within his family, to a point where his own son killed him with a crossbow, because he couldn't stand his behavior anymore. Let's not mention the fact that his more acceptable children turned into a couple of incestuous, unscrupulous, and mindless scum.

Petyr Baelish and Varys paid even more for their wisdom and schemes, as they wholeheartedly sacrificed everything in their life for their greater goal. Nothing was worth anything if it couldn't move them a little closer to their ultimate goal. They were truly among the most dangerous people in Westeros, at least in Galladon's opinion. They could laugh into your face and promise you a life of honor and wealth, while already holding the poisonous dagger that would reap your life in the following night. Consciousness was not in their dictionary.

Playing with people's mind and only having dangerous and dark thoughts most of the day truly harms the human psyche and slowly erodes any kindness in their soul. Galladon didn't want his counselors to turn into lifeless and emotionless calculators. They needed to have a certain bottom line. Surely, someday in the future they might need to make a decision that will cause the deaths of many, but they shouldn't do so without any thoughts for the consequences. Because if they don't value life anymore, one day the life of their own Lord might not be worth more than a larger bargaining chip in their eyes.

"Armin, this event will be important for me, but not essential. Even if I would somehow misbehave during the Family Meeting, I am still the only heir of House Tarth. I literally can't do wrong at this point, and neither will I go wrong.

But for you this is essential. Outside of our small group of confidants nobody really knows you. My father's old retainers are all very proud people, with some exceptions. If I am physically on the island of Tarth, they would never dare to confront you or put their hands in any of our projects. But you must realize, the benefits we created in Sapphire Town are immense. To a point where even my father is no longer able to righteously suppress their desire to gain benefits and projects in the future commercial center of Tarth.

You won't have to worry about our horses, wolves, and eagles, let alone the bees. I will leave Grey, Silver, Red and Gold on Tarth. Honestly, I would like to take Red with me, but such a majestic horse and valuable breeding tool will probably be coveted by too many noble lords.

They will take care of their respective animal groups and be your last shield if you can't handle the situation anymore. But I highly suggest you to not use them aggressively. Having such a large military force, that is seemingly only controlled by my affinity with their leaders that I raised since childhood, looks extremely fragile to the outside world.

Many vassals already voiced their concern to the growing power of my animal friends, complaining about the lack of control. I don't want you to give them a real reason and potential weapon to restrict our expansion in the future.

Even if my father respects and supports me wholeheartedly, he is still the lord of House Tarth after all. There is no need to cause internal strife or cause concerns for him because we handled a situation not according to the rules. Don't ever forget this."

Armin was listening attentively to the advice of his young lord, grateful for the patience and explanation. It was obvious that Galladon's concerns were not groundless, because the more their power and wealth grew over the last few years, the larger the troubles and conflicts with traditional forces of Tarth became.

House Brackwater, the family living closest to the habitat of Grey and his wolf pack, already put forward concerns to the growing number of wolves near their lands. Admittedly, Galladon could understand their reasonable concerns. His aura was still a huge secret and only the absolute top level of Tarth was involved and knowledgeable about his abilities.

Most people didn't realize that Grey was a special existence and slowly developed a unique ability to control the wolves around the island, thanks to the long involvement in all four auras.

For House Brackwater they only observed a growing wolf pack within a charge distance of maybe ten minutes of their home. A wolf pack led by a huge and powerful Wolf King. If one day this huge pack decided to attack their family, maybe little kids playing on their land, they would have little to no chance of effective resistance. For them it felt like a sword hanging above their head.

Their feelings were relatable and shared by many families living on Tarth. Surely, they all could see the large advancement in agriculture, thanks to the influence of Grey, but nobody wants to life with a sword of Damocles above their head, for the sake of smallfolk, especially not some noble lords in a medieval era.

No family had really gone all out in trying to force those animals farther away from their family lands, largely due to not wanting to offend the young heir of House Tarth. But once Galladon leaves the island of Tarth for a longer period, they will all look for the slightest chance to righteously drive them away as far as possible and strictly control their population growth in the future.

Neither scenario was in Galladon's interest, which is why he explained his thoughts very precisely to his close confidant.