Chapter - 36

The ancient tome had been closed for centuries, hidden away and she who was trapped within had lost all track of time. But when the book was opened once again, she sensed something different in the air. The magic that flowed from the reader's blood was dense and powerful, unlike any she had encountered before.

As she studied him, she realized that this would be an interesting few years. She had been waiting for someone like him to come along, someone with the raw potential to learn the secrets of magic that she held within.

But he was wary of her, and she couldn't yet fathom why. 

Then again, considering her interactions with this world's inhabitants, a healthy amount of paranoia might just be a smart way to not end up dead or worse.

She was a being from a different world, stranded in this medieval, magic-starved land, and he was the first person in centuries to stumble onto her book. 

Despite his dense magic, she could sense that it was untrained and raw. And she knew that she could teach him things that would make him even more powerful. 

The thought of what she could teach him sent shivers down her spine.

Until now, she had only taught magic out of desperation or boredom. But with this new student, she saw the potential to finally be free from the infernal book that had trapped her for so long.

"So, you're a magician?" he asked, still wary of the being before him.

"That is a simple way to define what I am, so let's go with that for now," she replied cryptically.

He couldn't help but feel intrigued by the prospect of learning magic from a being that had been trapped in a book for centuries. "And you want to teach me how to use my magic?"

"Yes," she said, with a hint of exasperation in her voice. "The way you're using it now is frankly insulting, and I'm still baffled that it works. The things I can teach you will make you a living god."

He couldn't deny that the prospect was tempting, but he had to ask, "And you will do this out of the goodness of your heart?"

"Well, there is one thing I would like you to do for me once you cross a certain threshold," she said, her voice dropping to a whisper.

"And that is?" he asked, leaning in closer.

"Free me from this book," she said, her eyes locking onto him.

"Well… I can't say I didn't see that coming, but from what I have learned, messing with sentient books never really ends well for anyone involved," he said, still unsure about what he was getting himself into.

"How many sentient books have you run into?!" she asked in disbelief.

"You're the first one, but I have heard stories," he replied cryptically.

"Oh, really? What sort?" she asked, intrigued.

"Meh, we can discuss that some other day. And don't try to change the subject," he dismissed her question, his focus returning to the matter at hand.

She pouted. "Fine, be that way. I can give you my word that nothing bad will happen to you if you learn what I will teach you and follow the process. And since this is probably going to take around a decade anyway, you can judge for yourself in that time if this is some sort of elaborate plan to kill you or something so basic."

He contemplated her words for a while. "Fine, you teach me magic, and in return, I'll take you out of this empty room and eventually free you from your book once I'm sure that you aren't trying to kill me."

"We have a deal," she replied, a hint of excitement creeping into her voice.

"Wonderful. It's been a while since anyone in the castle has seen me, so it's best if I leave now," he said, standing up and grabbing the book. 

"Quick question, when I take the book out with me, will others be able to see you?"

"Only if I want them to," she replied with a sly grin.

"Then could you please not do so? People are not really very fond of anything magic in this day," he pleaded, hoping she would understand the risks involved.

"Sure, no problem. I can make it so that only you can see me," she replied, granting his request.

"Just to be clear I'm not cursed or going to be cursed right?"

She rolled her eyes, "Not anymore."

He paused in his "What do you mean not anymore?"

"I mean you would have been cursed if you had no aptitude for magic when you touched the book" she said nonchalantly.

"And you're telling me this now??" 

"You're the one who touched the clearly magical book hidden in a dungeon."

He thought about that for a second before accepting his mistake "You are right my bad, so there's gonna be no more curses then?"

"Nope"

Relieved, he reached out to pick up the hefty grimoire when she suddenly asked, "I'm curious, who is the Lord of Dragonstone right now?"

"That would be Stannis Baratheon, the king's brother," he replied, wondering where this was going.

"So, what are you doing in Dragonstone? You told me you were from the North," she pressed further.

"Oh, Stannis's daughter was afflicted with grayscale, and I was asked to come here to heal her," he explained, noticing her stunned expression.

"..."

"I may have forgotten to mention that I'm a pretty good healer?" He said with a smirk

Her disbelief turned into curiosity, and she leaned forward, asking, "You can already control your magic to such a degree that you can purge others of diseases even the likes of greyscale? What method did you use?"

He hesitated for a moment, knowing that explaining the intricacies of his original powers would take some time. "It's a little complicated to explain," he said with a sheepish look on his face.

---------

Varys made his way slowly across the long hallways, thinking of the new plans he had to make and abandoning his old ones because things were moving faster than he had expected. For the hundredth time, he cursed the mage in his head.

Littlefinger had been useful to him at times. Of course, he had known about Littlefinger embezzling from the crown, but because he was predictable, Varys had been able to manipulate him to do some of his work. Him getting caught was something he had not seen coming. Jon Arryn had been clever enough, and his little birds hadn't so much as heard a whisper of what had been happening until it was too late.

While Littlefinger getting caught had been problematic, his escape was even more of an issue because now Varys could no longer keep an eye on the slippery rat.

He walked closer to his destination and could hear the loud voice of the king yelling and punching the table, but it was nothing surprising as the same thing had been going on for the last five days.

"How utterly useless are all of you! It's been a week since that pissant just up and disappeared from the black cells, and none of you morons have any clue where the fuck he is!"

Unfortunately, that's when he entered the small council chambers, and the king's eyes turned to him.

"About time you got here, Varys. I hope for your sake that you were busy finding where that thieving cunt is hiding or who helped him in the first place."

"Unfortunately, no, Your Grace, but I do have some news related to the matter."

Varys knew exactly who was behind the escape. Lisa Arryn was not one to be subtle, but he couldn't reveal the truth. 

Not yet at least.

If he did, there was a risk of starting a war before his plans were ready to exploit the chaos it would cause. Nevertheless, he had to give the king some information before he lost his patience with him.

"Well, out with it then," the king demanded.

"My little birds have told me that Baelish had been anticipating his capture ever since the healer left, so he had planned his escape in case he got caught," Varys reported.

"He was aided by the men he had bribed, and they fled on a merchant vessel bound for Braavos."

The king's frustration was palpable. "Just wonderful. Your information is always late and useless, as usual."

Thankfully he didn't press him for more information and moved on to another matter.

"How is the search for the stolen gold going?" the king asked.

"It's going slowly, Your Grace," Jon Arryn responded. "We have managed to recover only a fraction of the stolen wealth in the form of Baelish's properties. We even found a few pits hidden beneath his establishments where he may have stashed the gold, but it seems to have been cleared out recently."

"Of course it has. Not only has the little shit escaped from King's Landing, but he also ran away with all my gold!" the king roared, throwing his cup against the wall and shattering it, spilling whatever wine was left in the cup.

The king's outburst left the room in a state of tense stillness. Varys, and the others on the council knew better than to speak in such moments of rage, but the silence only seemed to enrage the king further.

"Someone had better have some good news for me, or I'm going to start bashing in people's heads!" the king threatened.

"Considering the amount of gold stolen and the urgency with which Baelish fled, it's unlikely that he made off with all of it," Jon Arryn offered his opinion.

"He must have escaped with a portion and hidden the rest elsewhere. We will be sending an envoy to the Iron Bank to explain the situation to them. Hopefully, they will be able to hunt down Petyr in Essos and find the gold to settle our debt with them while we look for the remaining gold."

The king's anger seemed to abate slightly upon hearing this plan. "Very well," he acknowledged.

"If anyone can find that weasel and our gold, it's them. But mark my words, if we don't find him and get my gold back, heads will roll."