13 Family Meeting (3)

After finishing their conversation Galladon kept looking at Armin's back as he slowly drifted into the shadows. Time seemed to fly away during their discussion, and it was already evening. Sometimes trying to manage the different relationships between the noble families of Tarth, his own father and the vassals, and the smallfolk of Tarth was quite difficult.

Surely, he had the innovative ideas of his previous life and strengthened memory and intelligence, gifted by his aura. But managing relationships is often not about intelligence alone. Genius can be shown in many ways. Controlling relationships and binding your subordinate to your chariot is often highly dependent on experience and charisma. You must slowly grasp for the right decision, learning from your mistakes along the way. Accepting advice from professionals and being openminded was the basic quality of a good leader.

Truthfully, sometimes Galladon felt pity with Robert Baratheon, the current king of Westeros. He was forced onto the Iron Throne after being denied the love of his life and betrayed by her. Fighting against a century old dynasty, sacrificing the lives of many good men, only to sit on a chair he never wanted in the first place. Being married to a queen that loathed him, bearing him three incestuous bastard children.

He would spend the next four years drinking and whoring, unable to control his own fate or the fate of his kingdom, while drowning his sorrows, to eventually die by the fangs of a wild boar. Pathetic.

A once proud warrior, turned into a pitiful existence that people can only laugh about. A prime example of a dreamer that was eaten alive by his ambition.

To some extent his current situation and the life of Robert Baratheon was a major warning sign for him not to reach after greater power outside of Tarth. Obviously, in his current position and with his powers he thought about rescuing Daenarys Targaryen and turn her into his queen, riding three majestic dragons together. Having Sansa Stark as his concubine and dominating the Seven Kingdoms. Being the hero the known world was always looking for, after defeating the White Walkers and the Night King.

But everything is based on real ability. Chances are he would eventually fall deep into the Game of Thrones, spending the rest of his life guarding against poisonous arrows from the dark, maybe dying a tragic death, which would lead to the destruction of House Tarth and his lovely family. Was the risk worth the reward? History of his past life would tell him to stay away from the highest power. Because Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. 

But his story was still far away from deciding on his fate. First, he needed to face the challenge of the family meeting. He will need to explain his plan, from participating in the tournament to proposing marriage. Obviously, no decision maker of Tarth would allow him to risk his life in a tournament in King's Landing just for the sake of fame and a little fortune, his life was way too important for the stability and future of Tarth. Especially after showing his magical abilities and the planning and projects he oversaw in recent years.

The next two days were spent into aery silence. The smallfolk of Tarth and the many slave workers went about their day with little to no worries, while everyone with a little bit of power could feel a strange tension going on. Never was the young heir and all his cronies summoned to an important general meeting of all leader figures of House Tarth. Many speculated whether Galladon tried to usurp power from his father, forcefully.

Some suggested Selwyn wanted to leave more responsibility for his son, to focus more of his power on the outside world. Some of his father's subordinates could feel the growing ambitions of the Lord of House Tarth too. Many were quite wary of the outside world, especially after the downfall of House Targaryen and the rebellion led by the Iron Islands. Some even encouraged his father secretly, trying to gain benefits. Whether House Tarth won an expansion war or lost miserably, some old families living on the island of Tarth could gain benefits either way.

On the night of the Family Meeting Galladon left his own private villa and returned to Evenfall Hall, the ancient seat of House Tarth. Evenfall Hall has a very rich history, as the seat of their family for the last thousands of years, back to the time when Tarth was still a kingdom of its own. Even compared to magnificent castles of his previous life, this ancient military fortress is truly a sight to behold.

The protective castle walls dissolve into the exposed bedrock as if they are one entity. For the settlement of Evenfall Hall, there has always been a protective monument watching over the town, so the rock and defense have always gone hand in hand. Evenfall Hall, the town, grew out from the castle with the first houses built on the area now called Lawnmarket and then down the slope of the rock, forming a single street, the Royal Mile. The street is so called because it was the route that the royal family of Tarth would take when travelling to the castle, and many did tread this path.

Throughout history mostly allies have walked this path and were invited to dine within the castle, however, some were not approaching with amiable intentions. The walls have endured siege after siege at the hands invading forces like Myr, a few hundred years ago. Yet, no one has ever broken this ancient military fortress up to this very day.

Galladon could observe many familiar faces once he got closer to the castle entrance. Some greeted him with kind words, some were rather respectful, and some behaved only mediocre, giving him only the most common courtesy. Mostly people that feel alienated from the young heir, whose interest was threatened by his projects, or simply because they were rejected when they proposed marriage. While responding to every greeting in a mindful manner he was slowly making his way towards the most important conference room of House Tarth, where many major decisions regarding the lifeline of their family were made in the past.