Chapter 32
Check out my new novel.
Name=A Bet with Mighty Evil Being!
Link= http://wbnv.in/a/8ehLZ5b
-----
"As am I," Osmund Kettleback pronounced, "Baelish insults the King and his Hand just by continuing to draw breath."
Gregor was pleased. He had already convinced two of his companions to go along with his plan. The other seven would evidently need more and better reasons before they conceded, though.
Luckily, he had prepared some. But he had to be mindful of his presentation from his point onward. While the first reason had been entirely true, every subsequent reason had been embellished or fabricated in some way.
Gregor declared "By 'correspondence,' I do not mean Lady Lysa and Lord Peytr are simply exchanging letters with each other. According to the Spider, she is infatuated with him. So much so that when given the opportunity, Varys believes she would willingly have adulterous relations with him."
Brynden sighed and murmured "Lysa always did have the weakest restraint of all my brother's children."
Gregor nodded in acknowledgment and continued with "There is no doubt Lady Arryn still loves Baelish. He, however, does not reciprocate her feelings. But he is aware of them. Because of that, he's able to manipulate her to his will."
"Manipulate her how?" Lyn Corbray enquired.
"After the Rebellion, Lady Lysa persuaded Lord Jon to make Littlefinger the head of customs at Gulltown," Gregor Clegane revealed, "It was Lord Baelish's influence that made her do that. But that's only the beginning of his ambitions. The Spider discovered some very interesting things about him. Eventually, he intends to use Lysa to become the Master of Coin on the Small Council. Once he's secured his position in King's Landing, it's very well possible he will go so far as to con Lady Lysa into poisoning her husband."
"The lady adores him; yet he treats her like scum," Oberyn uttered angrily, "Any man who exploits women like that deserves to be put down."
"Do you honestly believe Petyr will try to kill Lord Jon?" Lyn Corbray queried.
"Lord Varys believes there's a very strong possibility," Gregor contended.
"Then I call for his head, too," Lyn pronounced, "Petyr and I were friends once, but my first duty is to my liege lord."
"I'm in, as well," Allard Seaworth said firmly, "My father serves Lord Stannis Baratheon. If there's one thing I've learned from them both, it's that anyone who routinely lies and cheats to make a living is a scoundrel. Baelish must atone for his crimes."
'Five down, four to go.'
"Let's imagine for a minute that Baelish actually did orchestrate the Hand's murder," Garth Hightower conjectured, "Would that be the end of his aspirations?"
"No, he'd still be closer to the beginning of them than the end," Gregor proclaimed, "Lord Varys and I arrived at the same conclusion about Baelish. We both believe he will not be satisfied until he has everything he could ever want. And there is little he does not want. If he had the chance, he would seize the Iron Throne for himself. He would even kill Lord Eddard Stark just so he could take Lady Catelyn as his bride."
"Normally, I would commend a man for being ambitious," Victarion Greyjoy commented, "But Baelish goes too far. Even the Ironborn do not reach beyond what is realistically in their grasp. He is a danger to us all, and he must be stopped."
"If he dares to endanger my liege lord's life and lust after his wife, then Littlefinger's life is as good as forfeit," Dacey sternly declared.
"My niece's husband sits the Iron Throne," Gerion remarked, "So far, they've ruled this country far better than the Mad King ever did. I'll kill anyone who threatens their reign."
The vote was nearly unanimous. Only one person had yet to give a verdict.
Gregor turned to that person and muttered "That leaves you, Garth. How we proceed is up to you now. Give me your approval, and we will eliminate Baelish. Otherwise, this plot dies right now."
The Reachman sat thinking in silence for a while. He did not like being put on the spot, but that was his own fault for speaking last. He avoided looking around the room, as all eyes were on him.
Ultimately, he let out a deep sigh and professed "Other than the words of a spider, we've no concrete evidence that Baelish actually will make a grab for power. Still, no good can come of a man like Baelish. So even if this is all a theory, Westeros would be better off without him."
Gregor Clegane grinned and gave a light nod. He announced "Then we're all in agreement. Petyr Baelish must die."
The Mountain spent the remainder of the meeting telling the others of his plan to deal with Littlefinger. They were there for nearly an hour, as he needed to be absolutely thorough and comprehensible.
When that meeting ended, he dispatched a raven to King's Landing. The letter was addressed to Varys.
Gregor knew better than to rely on the Spider too heavily, but in matters that concerned the safety of the realm, he knew he could trust Varys to assist him.
They both knew what Littlefinger could be capable of, and they agreed that the realm would burn if he was left unchecked.
Aside from that, the Spider was already implicated in this scheme of Gregor's. As such, Gregor saw no reason not to involve Varys in a more direct fashion.
In the letter was a comprehensive outline of Gregor's plan to assassinate Littlefinger. In case anyone saw the letter before Varys disposed of it, Gregor composed the outline in the form of a passage of riddles.
The letter contained both a description of the plan to kill Petyr Baelish and a set of instructions for how Varys could play his part in the affair.
All the Spider really had to do was whisper something into the King's ear.
On that he came through. Soon after Gregor wrote to Varys, Moat Cailin received a raven from King's Landing. The letter was pressed with the seal of the Royal House of Baratheon.
Gregor promptly opened the letter and read it. It was a royal order from King Robert.
Apparently, Robert had noticed that House Whent was in danger of facing extinction.
Because of that, he would need someone else to assume the lordship of Harrenhal, in the event that the last of the Whents died out.
Among the list of prospects, he was considering Petyr Baelish for the title.
That idea was not Robert's originally. It had been given to him by Lord Jon Arryn, who had received it from his wife Lady Lysa, who had heard it from Lord Varys.
Varys himself had been told of the idea by Gregor.
When Gregor read Robert's order, he was essentially being told the premise of his own plan.
The details of how Robert expected him to carry out the order had been Gregor's, as well. As he reviewed them, he felt as though someone was commanding him to execute one of his own brainstorms.
Since Harrenhal was in the Riverlands, Lord Hoster Tully had to give his approval before any new lands were granted to someone from outside his domain.
Due to the strained relationship between Lord Hoster and Lord Petyr, the matter of succession would require some mediation from an impartial third party.
Having already gained a splendid reputation for its diplomacy, the Legion without Banners would act as that third party.
The Legion would also be responsible for ensuring that Baelish arrived at Riverrun safely.
They would be with Littlefinger for every step of his journey. Gregor was to assign two platoons of Legionnaires to serve as Baelish's chaperone.
One platoon would travel to the Vale by land; the other by sea. The one that went by sea would pick him up at Gulltown, where he was serving as Lord Gerold Grafton's customs officer.
Those units would escort him all the way to the Bloody Gate.
At the same time, the platoon that went by land would enter the Vale from the west on horseback. They would clear away any mountain clansmen that were camped near the path.
Once the clansmen were successfully repelled, they would ride for the Bloody Gate. There they would rendezvous with Baelish and the first platoon.
Altogether, they would head back through the mountains and make straight for Riverrun.
Naturally, the Legion would fail in their task of protecting Baelish, but Gregor was not concerned about backlash. It would not be the first time the Legion was unable to pull through.
Plus, Gregor was already in the process of composing half a dozen different explanations for their failure.
Whichever one he presented to Robert would depend on how the scenario played out.
A few days after receiving that raven from Robert, Gregor put his assassination plot into motion.
____
Check out my new novel.
Name=A Bet with Mighty Evil Being!
Link= http://wbnv.in/a/8ehLZ5b