Chapter 11: Where The Wild Things Are

Varys

The throne room was a sea of jewels, furs, and bright fabrics. Lords and ladies filled the back of the hall and stood beneath the high windows, jostling like fishwives on a dock.

The denizens of Joffrey's court had striven to outdo each other today. Jalabhar Xho was all in feathers, a plumage so fantastic and extravagant that he seemed to take flight. The High Septon's crystal crown fired rainbows through the air every time he moved his head. At the council table, Queen Cersei shimmered in a cloth of gold gown slashed in burgundy velvet, while beside her Varys himself fussed and simpered in a lilac brocade( an act of course, to hide the news of Lady Sansa's departure.) Moon Boy wore a new suit of motley, clean in as a spring morning. Even Lady Tanda and her daughters looked pretty in matching gowns of turquoise silk and vair, and Lord Gyles was coughing into a square of scarlet silk and trimmed with golden lace. King Joffrey sat above them all, amongst the blades of the Iron Throne. He was in crimson samite, his black mantle studded with rubies on his head his heavy golden crown.

They were all gathered here today to welcome the "hero of the city," Lord Tywin Lannister rode his warhorse down the length of the hall and dismounted before the Iron Throne. His armour was burnished red steel, inlaid with golden scrollwork and ornamentation. His rondels were sunbursts, the roaring lions that crowned his helm had ruby eyes, and a lioness on each shoulder fastened a cloth of gold cloak so long and heavy that it draped the hindquarters of his charger.

In short the man cut an impressive figure, even though Varys knew that the armour he wore was the same armour that he had worn during the Sack some sixteen years ago. Joffrey descended from the throne to embrace his grandfather and made a show of asking him to assume governance of the realm, and Lord Tywin solemnly accepted the responsibility, "Until Your Grace does come of age." The squires removed his armour and Joffrey fastened the Hand's chain of office around his neck. Lord Tywin took a seat at the council table beside the queen. Cersei nodded for the ceremonies to continue.

A fanfare of brazen trumpets greeted each of the heroes as they stepped between the great oaken doors. Heralds cried their name and deeds for all to hear, and the noble knights and highborn ladies cheered lustily as cutthroats at a cockfight. Pride of place was given to Mace Tyrell, Lord of Highgarden, a once powerful man (and once a Targaryen loyalist) gone to fat yet still handsome. His sons followed him in; Ser Loras and his older brother Ser Garlan the Gallant. The three dressed alike, in green velvet trimmed with sable.

The king descended the throne once more to greet them, a great honour. He fastened about the throat of each a chain of roses wrought in soft yellow gold, from which hung a golden disc with the lion of Lannister picked out in rubies. "The roses support the lion, as the might of Highgarden supports the realm." Proclaimed Joffrey. "If there is any boon you would ask of me, ask and it shall be yours."

"Your Grace," said Ser Loras, "I beg the honour of serving in your Kingsguard, to defend you against your enemies." A pity thought Varys; the boy would have done well on the rightful King's guard.

Joffrey drew the Knight of Flowers to his feet and kissed him on his cheek. "Done brother."

Lord Tyrell bowed his head. "There is no greater pleasure than to serve the King's Grace. If I was deemed worthy to join your royal council, you would find none more neither loyal nor true." As long as his daughter is Queen and his grandson is king, thought Varys, otherwise consider the alliance done for.

Joffrey put a hand to Lord Tyrell's shoulder, and kissed him when he stood. "Your wish is granted."

Ser Garlan Tyrell, five years senior to Ser Loras, was a taller bearded version of his more famous younger brother. He was thicker about the chest and broader at the shoulders. "Your Grace, I have a maiden sister, Margaery, the delight of our house. She was wed to Renly Baratheon, as you know but Renly went to war before the marriage could be consummated, so she remains innocent. Margaery has heard tales of your wisdom, courage and chivalry and has come to love you from afar. I beseech you to send for her, to take her hand in marriage, and wed your house to mine for all time." Varys had to try very hard to repress a snort of laughter. Joffrey wise, brave and chivalrous indeed, and Varys was the father come to life again.

King Joffrey made a show of looking surprised. "Ser Garlan, your sister's beauty is famed throughout the Seven Kingdoms, but I am promised to another. A king must keep to his word."

Queen Cersei got to her feet and said "Your Grace, in the judgement of your small council, it would be neither proper nor wise for you to wed the daughter of a man beheaded for treason, a girl whose cousin is in open rebellion against the throne and seeks to usurp your place. Sire your councillors beg you for the good of the realm, set Sansa Stark aside. The Lady Margaery will make you a far more suitable queen."

Like a pack of trained dogs the lords and ladies in the hall began shouting their approval for the Lady Margaery.

Joffrey raised a hand and said "I would like to heed the wishes of my people, mother, but I took a holy vow."

The High Septon stepped forward. "Your Grace, the gods hold betrothal solemn, but your father King Robert of blessed memory, made this pact before the Starks of Winterfell had revealed their falseness. Their crimes against the realm have freed you from any promise you might have made. So far as the Faith is concerned, there is no valid marriage contract twixt you and Sansa Stark." Very good thought Varys, dance to my tune Lord Tywin and you might just find something in it for you at the end, very good.

Lord Tywin was looking at his grandson. Joffrey gave him a sullen glance shifted his feet and helped Ser Garlan to rise. "The gods are good. I am free to heed my heart. I will wed your sweet sister, and gladly ser." He kissed Ser Garlan on a bearded cheek as the cheers rose all around them.

Varys tuned out the rest of the meeting occasionally zoning back in when an important announcement was made, but the rest of the session was simply spent giving rewards to those who had fought loyally for the King against Stannis Baratheon. Littlefinger was made Lord of Harrenhal and Lord Paramount of the Trident, a move Varys knew Tywin Lannister had made so that Baelish could be of eligible suitor to wed Lysa Arryn and bring the men of the Vale under the Iron Throne's control, something Varys knew would never happen, Lysa Arryn was too scared and Littlefinger was waiting to change sides at any moment.

As the council meeting came to a close and everyone was dismissed Varys walked out of the throne room as quickly as possible before meeting with one of his little birds in his solar. "It is done?" He asked.

The bird replied "It is done my lord."

"Good," Varys said "Make sure no one gets wind of this until it is too late. Take this piece of paper and send it to our friend across the water and to our friends travelling to the fish."

The bird bowed and left the room. Varys sighed contentedly as he sat down and began to look over the whisperings his other birds had collected during the days that had followed the Battle of Blackwater Bay. The rightful king was one step closer to getting what was rightfully his.

Stannis

He still saw the green and blue and orange of the wildfire at night as he slept. Sometimes he even felt as if he was being bathed in it. He suspected that had more to do with being on Dragonstone of all places, but he was not sure. There was much Stannis Baratheon was not sure about these days, and whether or not continuing to fight for the Iron Throne was one such thing he was doubtful about.

It was not just that most of his ships had been burnt to ash by the Imp's clever ploy of using Wildfire; it was that he had come so close to actually breeching the walls of the Red Keep when Tywin Lannister and the Tyrells had arrived and struck his forces in the rear. That had of course led to an absolute butchery as men were cut down left, right and centre around Stannis, who continued fighting whilst other men, his men, fled and scattered around him. He was severly wounded by fighting so much and for so long. But he had kept going until; one of the knights had dragged him back from the city and all the way to the ship with which he and some of his men, roughly 2000 of them had made their way back to Dragonstone to breathe for another day.

Of those 2000 men one thousand of them led by Lord Adrian Celtigar had taken their ships and sailed for Seagard claiming that Stannis was done and that he, and his red priestess could burn in all of the seven hells. Stannis's men led by Lord Florent tried to convince him to burn them alive, but Stannis had allowed them to go unharmed and unscathed, for they were only following what they believed to be right. Stannis himself was considering abandoning his claim and bending the knee to Jon Targaryen, the boy had done well for himself last Stannis had heard he had smashed Stafford Lannister's host at Oxcross, held Ashemark and had stormed the Crag, and his men were raiding the Westerlands taking the plunder back to Riverrun, draining the Westerlands storage supplies for the upcoming winter.

Stannis thought rightly or wrongly that perhaps if he bent the knee to King Jon, the boy might give him Storm's End and allow him and his family to live. He had always felt uneasy about declaring himself king, and had only been persuaded into doing so by the point made by his wife that he was the rightful heir to Robert and as House Baratheon was the house on the throne, he was its rightful heir. Though after hearing about King Jon's victories and feeling his own resounding defeat in the one true battle he had fought so far during this war Stannis felt the old doubts creep back in again. If he had been a godly man perhaps he would have taken the defeat as a sign that the gods did not wish for him to be king, but Stannis Baratheon had no times for gods, be they the Seven or the Red God of Melisandre's religion. No what he believed in were solid hard facts and honour and duty, and right now those three things were screaming at him to bend the knee to King Jon and make his peace and help bring down the Lannisters.

He still remembered when he had said as much in front of Melisandre, his wife and his good father. They had all been held dumbstruck by his sudden admission of doubt, but then they had all bombarded him with reasons as to why he should not submit or abandon his cause. Melisandre and Selyse's reasons had all been religious talking about how he was the Lord's chosen one come again to bring light in the upcoming darkness, of what darkness they spoke of he knew not nor did he truly care, all he cared about was gaining some of his battered honour before it was too late. His good father offered more practical reasons as to why he should not abandon his cause; if he did then it was possible that the Lannisters would send the Tyrell fleet to Dragonstone to arrest and execute him, his wife and his daughter Shireen before King Jon had the chance to come to his aid.

Stannis knew not what to do or where to turn. He was surrounded by enemies the Lannisters to the south, Jon Targaryen to the west. He had only two viable options bend or break. For the first time in many years he wondered what his father Lord Steffon would have done in his situation, and found himself unable to truly think. He knew what Robert would have done, kept fighting until either he was dead or his enemy was dead. That was what his brother had done during the rebellion, kept on fighting until his enemy could not keep up anymore. The thing was for Stannis he knew that the one true enemy was the Lannisters not the Targaryen boy, but how to make others see, that was the question that he brooded on day and night.

His brooding was disturbed when he saw Melisandre's red shadow hovering over him, looking up he saw the ruby at her throat pulsing with energy. She asked him "What are you thinking of Your Grace?"

Stannis said nothing so she continued "Do not think of bending the knee to Jon Targaryen, the boy is a usurper and green and unready to fight the darkness that builds in the north. You are the lord's chosen, Azor Azahi come again the people shall all bend their knee to you when you have led them from darkness into the light."

Stannis remained silent but inside he was screaming at her words, screaming at himself, why did she keep insisting that he was the chosen one, if he was her god's chosen one why did her god not help him take King's Landing. Though he did not bother voicing these thoughts for he knew what she would say. Instead he merely grounded his teeth together in frustration and waited for her to continue speaking.

She did not disappoint. "My King allow me to work some magic and the kingdom shall be ripe for the taking." With that she pulled him up and led him to a glowing chalice that she had placed beside his bed, she gave him the chalice and said "Say the names of the usurpers who plague your kingdom, and drink and they shall die."

Stannis sighed and did as bid, saying the names "The usurpers: Balon Greyjoy, Jon Targaryen and Joffrey Waters." And then drank deeply as the foul tasting liquid went down his throat he could not but help wondering if it would be worth it in the end or if this woman would be the death of him.

Sansa

They rode hard and nonstop for almost three days after leaving King's Landing, they briefly stopped for a few hours rest at Tumbler's falls before they continued making a heavy pace toward Riverrun. Along the way though Sansa saw many men begging by the roadside and others dressed in the garb of Septons and Septas preaching about the end of the world and the reign of the incest born bastard Joffrey. When they did stop for the night next, it was at an inn near High Heart, and the greyed haired ginger man whose name she had learnt from Lemore was Jon Connington, booked those two rooms, one for himself and one for Sansa and Lemore.

Lord Connington Sansa had discovered was not much a talker, he only spoke when spoken too or when he told her to do a certain thing. Lemore was by far more pleasant company, she spoke with Sansa frequently and asked her many questions about her likes and dislikes and about her family, and strangely enough for Sansa Lemore often asked about Sansa's father and what she knew of her uncle Brandon, whom had been her father's elder brother. Lemore herself said little of her life before she had become a Septa but spoke to Sansa about the wonders of the world she had seen in Essos, she described with a mischievous glint in her eye one day about the low cut gowns and pleasure houses of Lys, much to Sansa's shock and her description of some of the activities she had done there had even forced Lord Connington to laugh. Deep down though, Sansa could sense a sort of deep rooted sadness in both Lord Connington and Lemore, as though they had lost someone close to them, though she wondered what could be the cause of such sadness she never dared asked in case the two changed their minds about taking her to Riverrun and instead turned their horses round and rode for King's Landing to leave her in Joffrey's clutches once again.

It was on their seventh day of riding that Sansa finally saw Riverrun on the horizon. Its big walls flew the banners of House Tully, House Stark and a new banner which Sansa assumed was Jon's own one. For it showed the three headed dragon of House Targaryen halved with a white direwolf on a grey field, clearly meant to represent Ghost. Sansa felt herself shiver with anticipation as they got closer and closer to the castle; her mother was in there she had not seen her mother in nigh on two years. She wondered if her mother would be pleased to see her especially if she told her the things she had done for the Lannisters.

Just before they approached the castle gates Lord Connington stopped their horses and turned to Sansa and whispered in her ear "Keep your hood up until we are right in front of the gates do you understand me?" When Sansa nodded he went on "They will likely be on high alert, due to the war so say not a word until I tell you to." Again Sansa nodded, Lord Connington seemed satisfied with her answer for he then spurred their horse on and Lady Lemore followed. As they got nearer to Riverrun Sansa could spot many tents camped round the castle bearing various sigils some she recognised others she did not, though she heard Lord Connington curse "Damn it, I did not expect there to be soldiers camped round the damn castle the cheesemonger forgot to tell us that!"

To which Lemore replied "It's okay Jon, just follow the plan."

Lord Connington grunted in response and then stopped his horse right infront of the gates. The gateman called out asking who was there and what they wanted. Lord Connington called out "I come to pledge my sword to his Grace King Jon Targaryen's service."

To which the herald replied "We've got a lot of swords now. Why should I let you through eh?"

Lord Connington replied "Because I am an old friend of his grace's father. I am Lord Connington."

The gateman snorted and said "Aye and I'm Baelor the Blessed returned. Lord Connington's dead, been dead many a year. Said he drank himself to death in exile."

Lord Connington bristled and then said "Very well since you do not believe me perhaps you shall believe her. My lady."

And with that Sansa pulled her hood down and stared at the gateman and said in as commanding a tone as possible "I am Lady Sansa Stark of Winterfell, cousin to his grace. I bid you allow us enter the castle for I must speak with my mother."

The man hurried to obey, and the gates of Riverrun opened to allow them through closing once their horses were into the courtyard. Two stable hands rushed out to take their horses and help them dismount and then the gateman showed them the way to the great hall where they were told Sansa's mother was.

As the doors to the Great Hall opened, the gateman spoke to the herald, who then announced Lord Connington. Sansa walked with Lord Connington and Lady Lemore till they stood in the middle of the hall, though Lord Connington stood in front of her. She heard a man say "I see the rumours of your death were greatly exaggerated Lord Connington."

Lord Connington replied in that deep gruff voice of his "Aye that they were Ser Brynden. That they were."

Ser Brynden was her mother's uncle, her grandfather's brother Sansa remembered known as the Blackfish and renowned fighter and commander. He spoke again "Pray tell me Lord Connington what is an exiled Lord, who has been dead for the past few years doing here in Riverrun, with a Septa? Have you come to pledge your sword to King Jon's cause?"

Lord Connington was silent for a moment and said "Aye Ser Brynden I have. But I have also come to return to Lady Stark something that she holds close and dear to her heart."

Sansa heard the murmuring of those assembled in the Great Hall and could hear chairs moving to see what it was Lord Connington could possibly be about to return to her mother, when Lord Connington moved to his left and allowed Sansa to come into plain sight for the first time, Sansa heard her mother gasp. Lord Connington said "My Lady, I have returned your daughter the Lady Sansa to you, as a sign of good faith on my part."

Sansa saw her mother get up and walk toward her with shaky footsteps and wet eyes looking as if she could not believe that Sansa was real, Sansa was finding it hard to believe that any of this was truly happening and expected to wake up in the Red Keep at any minute. But then she felt her mother's hand on her cheek and heard her whisper "Sansa, oh sweetling it truly is you." And before she knew Sansa was engulfed in her mother's embrace once more and they were both crying, but these were tears of joy that fell from Sansa's eyes. She heard her mother say to her "Arya is also here sweetling. She is in bed with a fever but she shall be so happy to see you."

Sansa could only nod her head tucked in underneath her mother's chin, she was still crying but her mother lifted her head to look at Lord Connington and Sansa heard her mother say "Thank you for returning my daughter to me Lord Connington. You have my eternal gratitude."

Lord Connington nodded and said "Truly my lady, it is no problem. A daughter and a mother need to be with one another especially during these times. I was merely doing my duty."

Sansa heard her uncle the Blackfish say "Well we shall see to it that you and your female companion have suitable accommodation and that word is sent to His Grace."

Jon

Jon's head hurt and painfully so. He had been in the Lord's solar discussing what their next move should be with Robb and the northern lords for what seemed like days, when in fact it had only been a matter of hours. Some of the lords including Lords Umber and Karstark were in favour of marching on Casterly Rock and dealing with the small host that Devan Lannister had managed to muster, so that the Lannister threat was dealt with once and for all, whilst Lord Glover was all in favour of marching back east and then heading north to deal with the Ironborn. Whilst Jon favoured the direct attack on Casterly Rock and dealing with the last Lannister host in the Westerlands, he could understand Lord Glover's insistence that they ride back north, for Deepwood Motte was one of the fortresses that the Ironborn had taken as part of their invasion of the North.

The Ironborn invasion of the north had caused quite a bit of uneasiness in the camp, with many of the lords unwilling to call for Theon's execution given the fact that Theon had fought so bravely throughout the war so far and was also at present lying on death's door, his wounds being worse than what was originally thought. That was also part of the reason why they had lingered for so long in the Crag when Jon had not meant to spend longer than a few days in the seat of House Westerling, Robb had urged Jon to wait on marching until Theon was better to ride, for they both knew that if they were to take the Rock Theon would want to be there, yet according to the castle's maester and Lady Jeyne Theon was not getting any better, in fact he seemed to be getting worse.

Jon needed to make a decision and quickly, and the more he sat and thought about it, the more he began to think that attacking the Rock would be a good idea, for if the Rock fell then they could plunder the gold and the other resources that were there, and could use the ships in Lannisport to potentially plan an invasion of Pyke to draw the Ironborn back to the islands. Furthermore if Casterly Rock fell then Tywin Lannister would have to come out of the city and fight, and this time Jon meant to see him finished. If Tywin Lannister marched Jon meant to have Lord Royce's forces at Harrenhal delay him till, the northern forces could come east where Jon planned to link up with Randyll Tarly and Lord Yronwood's men and then the battle would be the final battle for control of the kingdoms. Jon was confident that if such a battle happened he would win not only because of the numbers, but because Serrax the black dragon he had was now bigger than Ghost and continued to grow.

Eventually Jon had had enough of listening to the Lords bickering over what to do and said "My lords enough. We have talked and talked, and have yet to reach a decision. Whilst we sit here blathering like sheep, Tywin Lannister has time to consolidate his power in King's Landing. We must strike and we must strike fast. Lord Karstark you said that Devan Lannister was amassing a host at Lannisport correct."

Lord Karstark nodded "Aye your grace. My scouts before we came here reported that he was heading to Castamere."

Jon smiled then. "Very good, that is very good. My lords we march for Castamere at dusk, we shall be dancing with lions."

Dusk came and as Jon mounted his horse, he felt a pang of guilt for leaving Theon behind, when he had gone to say goodbye to the Ironborn, he had been asleep, and Jon had a strange feeling that, that might be the last time he ever say Theon Greyjoy. He promised to win a victory to do the Greyjoy proud and promised to drink to him if they won. Jon looked around the courtyard, as his men mounted their horses Ser Barristan a white shadow behind him, Ghost a white shadow in front of him and Serrax a black mass in the air high above. Jon watched Jeyne Westerling saying something to Robb and judging by the way they embraced before Robb mounted his horse, it was more than just formal goodbyes. Jon made a note to speak with Robb about the Westerling girl after the fight.

They rode largely in silence through the dead of night till the ruins of Castamere came into sight. Lord Tywin had crushed House Reyne and House Tarbeck at Castamere some forty years ago when they had rebelled against House Lannister, and had brought the castle tumbling down. In the horizon Jon could see the Lannister Lion flapping in the wind, could see the tents of the Lannister soldiers scattered around the remains of a once great castle, he called a halt to the procession about a mile from the ruins. They had snuck up on Jaime Lannister and Stafford Lannister, the same trick was not like to work a third time. Jon stayed mounted as did his men, he was waiting for a sign, a twist in the moon, a crack of a branch anything that could allow the Lannisters to become alert to their presence, he wanted them to know that he was here before they died.

Eventually Jon lost his patience waiting for a sign and with his mind nudged Ghost and Serrax into making as much noise as possible. The sounds of their howling and screeching drew the attention of Lannister scouts, and Jon made sure that they were allowed to ride back in time to tell their commanders of the host gathering at their doors.

Robb rode up to him and asked "What are you doing Your Grace?! Why aren't you attacking?"

Jon turned to look at Robb and said "I'm giving them a chance Robb. A chance to surrender."

Robb snorted "Because that worked so well at Ashemark and at the Crag? Why not just attack now and get it over with?"

Before Jon could answer he heard the sound of horns being blown, "That's coming from the Lannisters. Robb tell the men to get ready, we have battle." By the time Robb rode off to alert the other men, Jon could hear the sound of men mounting horses and the galloping of hooves in the distance, he felt the adrenaline begin to kick in and felt blood rushing to his body. As Ghost howled so did he and he drew his sword from its scabbard and yelled "My men we have lions to kill!" And he charged on head first into the Lannister army, cutting down men left, right and centre. Though this time he received many bruises and dents to his armour, the adrenaline meant he didn't feel them, until his sword was stained red with blood and his blue armour was stained red with his own blood.

He came face to face with Ser Devan Lannister and the man looked like a lion with long hair and a bushy beard, neither man said much before their dance of steel began, swinging and hacking, dents were made, steel screeched on steel and blood fell from each man's wounds. Though neither seemed willing to give ground, both were tiring out quickly, both were dripping with sweat and blood, and yet they continued their dance, swinging and hacking away at each other. It was Ser Devan who broke the dance swinging wildly at Jon's undefended right hand side and striking his right shoulder drawing blood and lots of it, Jon grunted in pain unable to move his right arm without causing pain. Ser Devan advanced further knocking Jon's shield from his hand and striking his left hand causing blood to burst through the gauntlet. Jon unable to move his right arm without causing himself pain and without a shield could do not much more than watch horrified as Ser Devan cut down his horse, and he fell off it just managing to roll to the right as the horse fell.

He watched transfixed as Ser Devan raised his sword, ready to strike the killing blow, before he saw a white blur emerge out of nowhere and savage Ser Devan Lannister causing the man to fall to the ground dead with his throat torn in two. Jon tries to move, tries to get up but is unable to. He hears a voice, a deep voice saying "Easy your grace, you're hurt badly. Easy now." He tries to place a face to the voice but finds that he can't as he soon finds it hard to keep his eyes open, and then before he knows it blackness engulfs him.