Chapter 15-A Posioned Gift!

Chapter 15

Under the glimmering mood, the two richest and most influential of the Wise Masters of the ruling families of Meereen gathered once more to discuss the fate of one they had already condemned.

"Ottar failed," the head of the richest Pahl family, Drius Pahl spoke as he sipped wine from his cup. The family had a history dating back to the times before the Valyrian arrival in the region and also commanded the city guard.

"Not just Ottar, but all those who were sent after him have failed," added Enias, the master of Galare's second-richest House in Meereen.

"That is highly disturbing. Ottar has never failed us in years," added Drius Pahl thoughtfully as he sat down, his fingers slowly tapping away at the table.

"The Zhaq's are distraught. Their young son lost another fortune in the pits. They are almost done," added Enius, and Pahl nodded. The council was more of a ruse, the Ten families ruled over Meereen in name. The truth was that not every seat was not equal.

The Zhaq's were poorer and so their influence and power was limited unlike the Pahl's and Galare's who were the richest and could influence the whole Council.

"Let them squaller. This shall teach them a lesson," Drius dismissed the worries.

"Indeed, but this is dangerous. Whomever he is, he is disturbing the balance," Galare added.

"What has he done with all the wealth, the manses, and the slaves," Drius questioned as Enius looked through a piece of parchment.

"The manses he own still, and he has bought many fields in the outer region with the money as for the slaves..." and the master of the Galare stopped momentarily before he continued.

"He freed them," he said, looking up at Drius, who now had a frown on his face.

"He freed them," and Enius nodded.

"Indeed, he did. Many chose to leave Meereen, and the others he now employs at his fields are where he is somehow obtaining better yield than all those around him."

Drius stood up and walked towards the balcony.

"This is dangerous, as I told you, he is disturbing the balance," Enius added once more and he nodded.

"That he is, yet we still do not know his name. Where does he come from? His purpose?" Drius repeated the many questions that remained unanswered about the masked man.

"Does it matter? He is a threat. We must deal with him," Enius added, and Drius nodded, agreeing with the statement.

"If we cannot harm him, then perhaps it is time we taught him a lesson through other means," Drius added, glancing back at Enius.

"Summon him and have men ready to torch everything he owns. It is time we saw the man behind the mask."

0000

EDDARD STARK

The parley had been a disaster, and there were no two ways about it. Jon had called the parley, hoping to convince the Prince to settle for a Grand Council, and in return, they would make certain assurances.

The lands of Dragonstone Summer Hall were offered to the Prince and his family in case the vote was not to end in their favor. Yet the Prince rejected the offer, and his next actions caused a chasm in the rebellion, which Eddard felt had the chance of breaking everything.

"I will not hear this farce anymore!" and with that, Robert stormed out of the tent, leaving an exasperated Jon Arryn behind. The Lord of the Vale seemed to have aged over a decade in the last hour or so and sat down in his chair and rubbed his eyes, as Eddard found his own eyes glued to the missive in his hand, tracing the words for the dozenth time, his mind whirring with rage, anger and disappointment as the reality of Lyanna'a actions lay bare before him.

'I am sorry,' she had written many times in the letter, and he wished to forgive her, yet as he recalled the remains of his father, of his brother, he found his heart growing colder still.

"Do you think the Prince is lying?" he questioned, breaking the silence. Jon sighed as he shook his head.

"I wish he were, yet it is unlikely. Of course, there must be exaggerations and some overtures in his retelling, but I don't think that he is lying," Jon added tiredly, and Eddard felt the last glimmer of hope vanish with those words.

"And the thing about Prince Rhaegar wishing to call a Grand Council, I did not know the Prince wished to oust his father as King," he questioned, recalling how the Prince had mentioned that as well.

Jon looked towards him, his blue eyes tired and filled with what seemed to be a shame, as he nodded.

"That was a truth as well," he began as he stood up and began to pour wine in two cups.

"After Duskendale, the King's behavior began to grow erratic, and while King Aerys had never been the most stable man, the Mad King was truly only born after the defiance of Duskendale and the subsequent tortures suffered by Aerys in captivity," Jon began and Eddard knew of Duskendale, of how the Lord of the castle had refused to pay taxes and had colluded against the King trapping him in his castle and torturing him with his witch wife for half a year.

"After the Trial of Prince Daemon and his subsequent burning, many in the court were disturbed by the King's actions, and a year or so after that incident, Prince Rhaegar's men did approach various lords with the offer of calling a Grand Council," Jon confirmed.

"Then why didn't the Lords agree? They could have this. All of it!" Eddard spoke through gritted teeth, and Jon sighed.

"There were many reasons. For many, it was greed, for while Aerys's reign was filled with terrors, it was relatively prosperous, though that was mainly due to the competence of his Hand; for most of the lords, it was fear..."

"Fear of the King?" Eddard questioned, and Jon shook his head.

"Fear of King Aerys's greatest weapon, Varys," Jon snarled, and his words were rage and disgust at the mention of the King's spymaster, a person Eddard only knew by reputation and a second name.

'The Spider'

"The man had the King's ear, and his spies roamed over the continent, and no lord was safe from them. Few agreed to the Prince's calling, and their fate was warning enough for the rest of us, so we stalled, just trying to escape the Mad King's wrath, hoping that one day he would not wake up," Jon finished as he sipped his wine, gulping down more than a mouthful, and this was more wine than he had ever seen the man consume.

"What are we to do now?" he questioned, recalling that the parley was set to resume in a few hours.

"This letter and the statement made by that septon are very damning to our cause. It would transform our war from a war of righteousness to a war of usurpation, a cause built on lies. It would break the alliance we have," Jon added.

"We could try and deny it," Eddard challenged, and Jon shook his head.

"Even if more than half of the contents of this letter were false, it would be enough to sow severe discord amongst our ranks, and many would begin leaving our side to take the King's offer of clemency, and our army would crumble. Already, our men tire after so much fighting, and with our numbers equalling, it was the morale and the righteousness of our cause that gave us much strength and sympathy. With that gone, the battles ahead will be difficult," Jon finished gulping down another sip of wine as Eddard did the same, feeling tired in his bones, and he wished for it all to end, for the war to end.

"Though there is one thing," Jon added, and he saw the old man's eyes narrow.

"From what I could tell the Prince was aware of this before, this Council called, perhaps he had a suspicion," Jon began.

"He could have used it against us, he could have had missives dropped all over the continent, and it would have tarnished the image of all of our Houses greatly sowing extreme discord amongst our people," Jon began, and Eddard could see how this information could cause havoc in the North.

Houses like the Boltons and Ryswell were loyal yet no friends of theirs and would not miss an opportunity to sow discord amongst them, and given how many lives had been lost to the and the devastation the impending winter would bring to their lands. He could see the discord growing into anger and then into hate.

It would also be a massive blemish on Robert's honor, and while his friend had great charisma, Lyanna's actions would leave a scar on the honor of House Baratheon just as they would on the honor of House Stark.

And these two Houses were the two Great Pillars of the rebellion. With them gone, House Tully would scurry away first, for they were only tied to the cause for benefit. Benefits they would see turn to ash infront of their eyes.

It may not work completely, the lords may even remain loyal to them, yet it would cause a stir, sow doubt and doubt in times of war was dangerous.

"Then why didn't he?" he questioned.

"I not yet know, but I believe the Prince has his own agenda for this war. He wished to win it, and soon we shall learn how?"

0000

DAEMON TARGARYEN

He could tell that his gambit had worked from the second the Rebellion leaders walked back in for the Parley after the hour-long break.

They were angry, cautious, disjointed, and, most importantly, full of doubt. Initially, Daemon was filled with rage and anger, as he had been to set in his ways, his mind still locked into his campaign against the slave Masters of Meereen.

He had been planning to face the Rebellion lords in open battle, willing to crush them, his mind refusing to register the other possibilities. Yet Elia had helped him reel back, help him see through the veil of anger and apprehension, and so he agreed to the parley as he recognized that there was little need to spill all that blood.

Winter fats approached, and he also knew that their enemy from across the Narrow Sea would stir soon as well, so demolishing the Rebellion forces and killing thousands of men could spell disaster for these lands, which had suffered much.

And so he had formulated a new plan, one that would achieve the best outcome through the least effort.

Robert stared at him, his eyes filled with rage and anger, unlike his friend Eddard Stark, who was looking at him with a much more curious expression, even as he tried to mask the worry and shame from his face.

Jon Arryn, though, looked at him with narrowed eyes. The old Lord's soldiers were slumped a bit as he gazed at him with his blue eyes.

"I hope you now understand the position you all are in," he began as his Kingsgaurd stood behind him.

"Lies! I will not have you lie and besmirch my honor like that!" Robert roared, and Daemon shrugged.

"You may not believe it, but if you wish to call a Grand Council, I shall have no choice but to summon your Lyanna Stark to the stand and have her tell the truth to all the gathered lords, tell them how this war started and how so many of men, women and children all died because of your obsession and the treachery of one woman," he said as he looked towards Eddard who expression crumbled for only a second at his words, for he was not yet the lord he would one day grow up to be, but a rather young man who had been thrust into a war with no context.

"I wish to see my sister," the man demanded.

"And you may, as soon as you bend the knee and rejoin the fold," Daemon offered.

"You curr! Your father burned Lord Stark and his heir Brandon, so there will be no knee bending. I shall cave your chest in with my Warhammer, as I did to your brother!" Robert raged, and Daemon's gaze narrowed at the big giant oaf of the man as his patience ran thin.

"Be careful of how you speak, you usurper!" he thundered, his voice chilling and filled with a threatening edge that surprised the big oaf.

Did he really think that he feared him? The idiot.

"You..."

"Robert!" Jon Arryn cut in before the man could go into a tirade once more, and Daemon turned towards the man.

"Then what do you offer?" he began, and now it was his turn to make an offer.

"You see, if the contents of that letter ever spread over the realm, the North would lose its honor and be hated more than it already is. It would be a smirch for the honor of your house as well, Lord Arryn, for the realm knows that you brokered the match between Robert Baratheon and Lyanna Stark. Simply put, it would divide the realm like never before..." Daemon began.

"...and I am not fond of that. House Targaryen has held these lands together for three hundred years, and I wish that to continue," Daemon offered and saw the old man's eyes narrow as he said those words.

"So, I make you two offers," Daemon began as he took out two scrolls from his pocket and handed passed them to the Vale lord.

"First is where you bend the knee right here, right now. You shall pay reparations and hand over hostages for a period of twenty years. The marriages of yours and Lord Stark to the Tully daughters shall be annulled; any child born through them shall be declared a bastard. The two of you shall remarry under the Crown's advisement, and of course, any further marriage alliance between your four Great Houses shall require the Crown's permission," he offered the initial terms before turning towards Robert.

"But you, Robert Baratheon, shall get no clemency. You made a claim for the Iron Throne, a usurper's claim, and shall take the black, and your House shall go to your brother Stannis while Renly shall squire under a Kingsguard for twenty years," he said, and Robert was enraged.

"This is a farce!" he roared, and Daemon shrugged as he ignored the man and turned towards Jon Arryn.

"The exact details are in that scroll. After you have a male heir, they will have to come to the capital. The same goes for Lord Eddard and you shall either take the Black once either have a spare or the boy is old enough," he elaborated.

"I am being very generous with these terms..."

"Generous, you wish to strip our houses of all they stand for!" Robert roared, yet Daemon still ignored him.

"I was convinced of this generosity by my mother and Princess Elia, yet do not take them as a sign of weakness. You shall regret it," he said, and Rober sprang to his feet.

"We reject it! This a farce!"

"Robert!" Jon roared, and it was the first time Daemon had seen the old lord raise his voice as he addressed the Lord of the Storm's End.

"What about the other offer? You said you would give us two options," he said, and Daemon's looked the man in the eye.

"If your desire for Targaryen blood has not ceased, then I shall give you one chance. I shall keep the contents of Lyanna Stark's letter a secret protecting the unity of the realm and the honor of your Houses, but we do not fight with our armies," he began as he turned to look at Robert Baratheon, the giant oaf was flushed in rage as he glared at him.

"We end the war through single combat, Robert and I, the two claimants."

"I accept!" he shouted before he could finish, and Daemon smirked underneath his mask.

"Robert!" both Eddard and Jon Arryn gasped in rage as Daemon rose up.

"Yet the terms after my victory shall no longer be as generous. You shall enter back into the fold, not through a parley but through defeat as vanquished, and the fate of your Houses, your men, and your lands shall lie in my hands!" Daemon announced as Jon Arryn paled at those words.

"I am not scared of you, you freak. I shall crush you with my war hammer," Rober taunted, looking smug as the implication of those words truly dawned on Jon Arryn.

"Your grace," he tried to stop him even as Daemon turned away and began to walk away.

"I shall have a messenger sent so we may decide on the time and place of the duel!"

And with that, he walked a smirk on his face, which was hidden by the steel mask.

0000

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