Chapter Nineteen

The Greyjoys were going to revolt, I didn't know when, I didn't know how, but the Tullys couldn't control the Kraken, the messenger that was sent by the Tullys was killed, maimed, and sent to the Tullys, showing a hostile attitude to the supposed House that they were supposed to obey by the King's orders. And in the most cowardly way possible, the Tullys were asking for help from the crown to help put the Greyjoys in their place, knowing that they were the people who gave the Ironborn so much freedom.

What else could he do, he had no idea, how to help the Tullys, how to stop the Greyjoys, whatever he thought of doing, then he was going to be attacked by his main political enemies. Tywin Lannister was going to attack his ineptitude for allowing that to go forward, the Northerners were perfectly within their rights not to buy food from the Tullys, just as the Lannisters could just as easily go and buy food from the Tyrells, they were not obliged to do anything. And for the King's Hand to allow one of the kingdoms not to work as it should, only made him unfit for the King's Hand.

Now the North was playing a very different game to them, Harry concentrated on arming and fortifying the North, to the point that no spy could get in, and no one could see what was going on in Manderly harbor which was covered in a thick fog, the years of treating the northerners like fools turned to annoyance and fear.

Not long ago Robert rose to power, and the north took the position as one of the great powers for the mysteries it currently hid, the only thing they knew was that Moat Cailin was built in a damn year, being bigger and more terrifying than it was before. The boy took advantage of the war, where the dragons were on destroying the rebel army, and the lions were on who was the best candidate to support and were in their cave waiting, but the smart wolf didn't send his full power, he just let them kill each other. The Stag won the crown, and defeated the Dragon, and the cunning Wolf stood by and watched, growing bigger and bigger, as the other houses killed each other for power, Jon thought the Greyjoys were his trump card, but it only made things worse.

When you realize you have made many mistakes sometimes it is too late to fix them, Jon Arryn realized that too late, allowing the Tully's to give too much freedom to the Greyjoys was a big mistake only because he wanted to stop the advances the North was making.

A powerful North was bad, enough already had the kingdom with the Lannisters who had a great hunger for power and always wanted more, allowing the North to taste power was bad, and perhaps in his time many northerners didn't care about that, they only cared about their kingdom and nothing else, that the southerners were fighting for power. It was because of that little detail that Southerners treated Northerners badly because they didn't play the game, they just concentrated on what they had, and they had no ambition.

But the new Lord of House Stark and ruler of the North, is ambitious, only sending 10,000 men in a rebellion, predicting that they would be used as cannon fodder and nothing more. After that he asked for a great deal of money for the dead people, Robert gave him 10,000 gold dragons, a huge financial hit to the royal coffers.

There was so much mental pressure on Jon that he couldn't think straight, and as it all got out of his control, he thought that letting the Greyjoys attack the North would interfere with the North's rise to power. But no, all he heard was that the Greyjoys could not attack the North, and the ships that left for the North would never return. That fear, made him let all this happens, since Robert rose, his political power was diminishing more and more, and now Varys and his pupil or former pupil had much more political power and purchasing power than himself, he was overcome, the one who had to look at him as his master now looked at him as an equal or something much lesser, for his little intelligence Petyr Baelish took advantage that he was distracted with the North to gain power. He made several trips to Dorne and Dominion to converse with the Martells and Tyrells the rulers of that realm, Varys instead went to the West and easily manipulated Robert's younger brother Renly into following his advice and having a stronger bond with the Tyrells. Where Varys wanted Margaery to be the bargaining chip, to remove the girl from the betrothal to Lord Stark which was impossible so far because of her interest in Harry Stark.

And there was the one point that no one touched, it was the North, Varys also tried to get closer to the Lannisters by helping Cersei at some points, which were well seen by Tywin, but the North, neither of them could even get to them.

The only one who knew he could get into the North was Oberyn Martell, he advised Petyr and Varys not to look for the wolf, or it could bite their necks. Fun fact, not even Margaery Tyrell could go see the North, nor Harry went to see her, only Oberyn could get in because he was allowed in as he was good friends with the boy's mother, and his sister and nephews were living safely in the North.

Here he could see another trick, by getting Oberyn into the North, anyone would think that by getting close to Ashara or Elia, you could get into the North. Petyr was interested in marriage to Elia, Varys himself told him, because he wanted Petyr out of the way, he realized that. The two of them were playing the game too, in a more personal way, than anyone else, but they were there, waiting to bite their victims, like a spider and a snake.

Highgarden.

Varys, also known as the Spider, is the master of whisperers in King Robert I Baratheon's small council, a post he previously held for King Aerys II Targaryen. A plump, balding, effeminate eunuch, he has soft, white hands. He powders his face and smells of lavender, lilacs, and rosewater. His outward demeanor is servile, mysterious, and apprehensive. However, he is a master of disguise and can change his appearance, gait, smell, and costume to become unrecognizable. Secrets are Varys' trade, and his ability to acquire them has earned him a reputation for being seemingly omniscient. Central to his craft is a spy network of children he refers to as his little birds. He was not to be trusted, the person who trusted a spider was an idiot, a very big one, a person who can gather information on your enemies, your ally, and what you do, is never to be trusted, information has power and the man puts a price on that power, Varys was one of those people, he put a price on the information he got about you, without you realizing it, betraying you, that was his job, the master and owner of whispers.

Varys history of providing information to all sides, aiding enemies, pitting rivals against each other, and manipulating to achieve his ends has earned him a reputation for being unpleasant and untrustworthy among court nobles. Privately, however, he claims to value order, stability, and peace above all else and also professes loyalty to those who work toward those goals. A fallacy by any standards, but the nobles, wanted information and Varys took advantage of that by using the right words for that, and the lords had no choice but to listen to him.

He never thought to meet someone that his whispers would not reach him until a certain person came to the realm. His little birds were mostly killed, not all of them, but he knew nothing more about them, so he thought they were dead, Harry Stark chased his little birds around every corner and even if it was a girl or boy, he killed them. Several heads of his little birds arrived at his door, he saw no one in the streets, only someone knocked on his door and then disappeared as if he were a ghost, which frightened him.

He secretly supported Robert's rebellion, he did it in secret from Aerys, the Targaryen were magical people, and he hated magic because when he was traveling with a company of actors through the different Free Cities, a sorcerer arrived in the city of Myr and made an offer that Varys master could not refuse.

Varys was sold to the sorcerer. Varys believed the man would sexually abuse him, but what the sorcerer wanted was, in Varys eyes, something far worse. He gave him a potion that rendered him unable to move or speak, but it did not dull his perceptions or sensations of pain, and he castrated him, felt his flesh being cut away, slowly accompanied by the wizard's laughter, for the sole purpose of using his sexual organs in a magical ritual, burning them in a brazier. As the wizard threw Varys genitals into the brazier, the fire turned blue, the wizard called out and a voice answered. He kept having nightmares about what happened that day, not about the wizard, not about the knife, not about the pain, but about the voice he heard in the flames. Whether it was a god or a demon or just parlor tricks, Varys never knew, for the sorcerer threw him out to die, but he was here, Highgarden to prevent something, a future marriage.

The spider did not want the most beautiful rose of Highgarden to marry the wolf ruler of the North, he had to stop it and the only way to do it, was by talking to the Head of the House Tyrell, the oldest flower in the garden and the most dangerous of all, Olenna Tyrell who was in her garden, watching how the girls in her garden were knitting, it was obvious that she was bored in this place.

Her grandchildren went hunting with their stupid father, Margaery knew that Harry liked hunting, and she thought about trying it, she never knew she was going to like it so much and more when her owl was helping her find the deer. That little animal was no doubt very well-trained, too well, so well that it was too strange for an animal to be so obedient, unless they used something to make it that obedient, Olenna did not wish to have the North as an enemy, someone weak who at one time was weak and then touched tasted power, who did not wish to let go of it ever again. But rather she did not wish to face Harry, the boy with 17 years, tamed lords who went through various things in their life, and were people with an experience to consider, but Harry was the one who commanded, and they only obeyed, that was to be feared.

- "Do you like it nana?" - Those words took Olenna out of her thoughts, she saw her granddaughter, one of her many granddaughters who came from a minor branch of the Tyrell, who was doing some embroidery, Olenna seeing that could not hold the desire, the Tyrell House, was only considered powerful because of their money, but militarily they were awful.

- "Another golden rose, how original, like the dishes printed with roses, I sleep with sheets embroidered with roses, I have an embroidered rose painted in my bedroom as if that would make it smell better" - Olenna was a very critical woman in the aspects of her own house, not like her son, as the Head of a House, you had to first criticize your faults to then criticize the opponents, you fix your faults, to then attack those of the enemy - "Roses are boring my child, growing up strong, ha... The dullest words in any house... Winter is coming. Winter is coming. Now, that's memorable" - The little girl recoiled a little at Olenna's rising voice that didn't stop there - "We don't sow, strong, strong, you have to beware of those houses, the Hungarian wolf and Krakens, fierce beasts... but a golden rose growing strong. Oh, yes, that strikes fear into anyone."

That was the big difference, the Tyrells were represented by a flower, the Lannisters by a fierce golden lion, the Starks as giant wolves, and the Martells with the sun and a spear, it was not a symbol like the previous ones, but it certainly commanded more respect than a rose. Just because of the money they possessed they were considered an extremely powerful house, the Martells, Starks, and Lannisters had armies and besides that an immense amount of gold.

And one did not have to be an idiot, the exercises of the Dominion were not only of the Tyrell, but of the other houses, but they were governed by a house that did not focus or take achievements for commanding its military forces well, very unlike the other three houses before named, where they were the biggest military fort of their kingdom. The West had 150,000 soldiers, of that number 75,000 were solely soldiers of house Lannister, Martell had 100,000 soldiers, of which 45,000 were provided from that house, the Starks had no information about the number of soldiers they currently possessed, nothing was known, and neither could they see the ships when one of them arrived in Dominion, they hid their ship, so that no one would see it until the right moment.

- "Look little roses, a spider in the garden" - Olenna saw how Varys approached, it was lucky that Margaery was not in this place, Varys could take advantage of her curiosity, she doubted very much that her favourite granddaughter would fall into the trap of the eunuch, but it was always better to be safe - "Now go, grow strong."

- "My Lady, pardon me for presenting myself by surprise" - Varys as an extremely respectful person, dismissed Olenna's girls with a small bow to put all his attention, on the woman who was sitting in front of him - "I hoped not to be inopportune, I wished to see the woman who illuminates Highgarden with her wisdom."

- "That is a usual phrase Lord Varys, maybe you're trying to seduce me, so much time has passed, although I think it is useless, what happens when the non-existent collides with the decrepit" - Olenna was referring to Varys not possessing a limb, but in a more sophisticated way, but still throwing her characteristic acid, as well as referring to her old age, she was old, but a very stubborn one, still leading the Tyrell House until the last day, when death will come and embrace her - "But you came smiling all the way here, for something and I think I know what that something is.... but she is not here at the moment... I hear you are a cunning man, but I am curious as to why you seek out my granddaughter."

- "I choose my allies carefully, and my enemies more carefully" - Varys did not wish to have this woman as an enemy, politically she was more powerful than Tywin Lannister, a very dangerous woman that although the Tyrells lost a lot because of Robert's victory, it was not good to make her angry at any time, because not your head would roll on the ground, but your prestige - "Unfortunately the North, chose me as their enemy, without me doing anything against them, and I think we know how dangerous the North is for the balance of the kingdom."

- "Balance, what do you call balance, Lord Varys, since the dragons conquered Westeros, balance never existed, and you think there will be a balance because a stag reigns" - Olenna knew how things were going, the engagement between her granddaughter and the Lord of the North gave a lot of power to the Starks and also benefited the Tyrells, she was not going to deny it, and she was not going to allow someone to break that engagement - "The deer are the food of the wolves and lions, but curiously you only want to harm the wolves, and not the lions.... that's a lot of favouritism Mr. Varys."

.

Dorne

Petyr Baelish did not give up, he wanted so much to have the Martells as an ally or rather Elia Martell as his wife, to be able to control the Martells and attack the North, but Oberyn was not an easy person to convince, he was a very dangerous and extremely cautious person.

But today he was in luck because Elia Martell and Ashara Stark were in the old palace, it was the right time to try to decide on Elia or Ashara and have more control over the North. But when he got to where they were, his surprise was much greater, Ashara was holding a girl in her arms, and near the woman, was Harry Stark. It had to be a joke, he did not leave the North, as far as he knew he did not even leave Winterfell because it was the center of work of all the North, well they were rumours, but knowing that he was in Dorne, only meant that they had an alliance that destroyed all his plans, any plan he had in his mind vanished and more with the predatory look of Harry, who did not stop looking at him, as if he was reading his mind.

- "Oh... Lord Baelish, your visits are very constant" - Oberyn looked at the man, who arrived escorted by two of his guards, who were with spears, ready for any sign of killing, if this was the new Dorne not like when his brother ruled, of course Petyr did not know what to say, he did not even think of walking to the table where they were tasting some snacks - "Please... come closer."

- "I don't think it is the right thing to do, Lord Oberyn, I will come to visit you another day, so as not to interrupt your family reunion" - It was a huge excuse, he didn't want to do it, but his plans were frustrated by the presence of only one person, who didn't stop looking at him at any moment, that caused him much discomfort, much more than Oberyn's performance in treating him cordially, maybe it was because his sister was in the place or for another circumstance - "I withdraw, and I hope you enjoy yourselves."

- "It is rude to refuse the invitation of a Lord... I think you know that Baelish" - Without a hint of politeness, Harry spoke, to Petyr's bad luck who knew that he was not going to be the most loved by the lord of the Stark House, well nobody that conformed the council was going to be very loved by the boy - "So sit down, or I will force you to sit down."

Artemisia and Mya arrived and put a dagger to Petyr's neck who was scared because he didn't even hear the steps of these little girls, who forced Petyr to follow the orders given by his brother.

They were having a little fight against some of Oberyn's best guards, a crushing victory on the part of Artemisia and Mya, who were interested in the fighting style of Oberyn's guard who used spears just like he did, perhaps they came from a company of assassins or something like that. That's why their movements looked like they were dancing, it was an interesting style, not bought with Artemisia's speed and agility and Mya's strength and intensity.

When they seated Petyr they also took a seat, next to their mother, who watched them attentively, it was true that they were warriors she was not going to say anything about that, but they did not have to attack all the people that her brother did not appreciate, but she was not going to reproach them either, the man that was before her eyes, was what she hated about every man, this guy wanted to seduce Elia or her, to have Dorne or the North under control, she was nobody's toy, that was why she disobeyed her father and married the man she loved, you didn't have to mess with Ashara Stark, Brandon Stark didn't fall in love with her because she was a fragile woman, but because she was dangerous.

- "I hope not to disturb the ladies" - Petyr saw how the two girls who forced him to sit, looked at them attentively, as Harry did, he did not feel comfortable, in such an environment, and he was going to try to leave as soon as possible, he thought that Ashara and Elia were going to be alone, with Oberyn talking to them, where he would feel more comfortable, but that Harry Stark was also there, did not give him a good indication at all - "If I knew that the Lord Stark was in Dorne, I would have brought you a present."

- "There is nothing you can give me, you are smart, I will not deny it, but I can see your intentions, and that is not good for you" - Harry was playing with a little boy, and the silence only made Petyr uncomfortable, he tried to divert his gaze somewhere, pretending not to notice his nervousness, this was a joke for him, the boy's presence was overwhelming, it was like being with Tywin Lannister - "Cunning, ingenuity and ambition? Are the words he used to represent the serpents... you are cunning, ambitious... but your wit is poor, Baelish" - Harry looked at Petyr who felt uncomfortable, and could not find the words to answer Harry or was not being allowed to answer - "You hate my father and my uncle, for a woman who never loved you... how will Jon feel knowing that his wife is unfaithful to him, with a man he placed as master of coins of the crown."

- "I don't know what Lord Stark is trying to insinuate" - Petyr was trying to show his most humble side, not caring that his pride was being trampled by the boy who was here, and he was thinking of the thousands of ways he could destroy him, all those ways were being heard by Harry who was in his mind, taking away every ounce of information he had in his head without him realizing it.

- "To buy all the brothels of King's Landing, to buy the brothels of the Valle and the Riverlands, to want to buy the brothels of every kingdom, a good business, from where to take so much money from you, from the loans that West and North gave to the crown" - Harry was putting Petyr against a wall, in the presence of Elia and Ashara who were having tea, calmly, and Oberyn who was smiling at the great nervousness that Petyr had on his face - "I know many things about you, also about your eunuch friend, but you know nothing about the North, so I ask you the following question.... are you sure you want me as your enemy?"

.

Iron Islands

Jack was walking calmly through the Iron Island, watching how people were talking and celebrating that they were about to return to what it was before, to be again the owners of the sea, well, if they could be considered the owners of the sea.

Every step he took drew the attention of some islander, on the island of iron everyone knew each other and if a foreigner entered, anyone would recognize him or know that there was one so as not to be so obvious of their plans. But Jack entered unnoticed and removed fascinating information, although he was sure that Harry should already be aware of it.

But it was time to leave the place, and more because he was attracting attention, which he did not want for anything in the world, so knowing that he was being followed, it was at that moment that it seemed that he was going to enter a store to buy some things. When his pursuers entered the same store, they saw that it was empty, that was impossible, since they were following him closely, so it was impossible that he could hide somewhere in this place.

And there appeared the owner of the place, who was well known on the island for the wine he sold, which was much stronger than the one from the west.

- "Old man, did you see a guy with strange clothes come in here" - Asked one of the men who approached the owner of the place, who served them a glass of wine, so that they could sit down to drink since they were his first customers at this time, the men of the Iron Island drank a lot, so he opened his business later than anyone else - "A guy with red clothes...."

- "I just opened the doors of my place" - The five men who followed Jack went to a table where he was served a glass of wine, they took a seat and enjoyed the drink, but their bodies froze, and from the shadow, a black smoke came out and Jack's figure was present - "Captain Jack... what are you doing here, our Lord was not very happy with this visit."

- "I couldn't wait... I was very curious to see the ships" - Jack removed the magic sword that Harry gave him, not only did it serve in the sea, but it could do many things with this precious, it was so wonderful and addictive, that it touched the five men turning them into cockroaches, which were stepped on by Jack - "I don't think he will be angry, more knowing that we can have a water dragon... I never saw one."

- "You must leave captain, you draw too much attention, with your gestures" - Said the man who took off his mask to show that he was a young man, who worked with the faceless assassins, of course, Jack, said nothing more and went back to sink into the darkness - "Captain Jack, is just like you Captain Jones."

- "There is an incredible difference between us" - Jones came out of the back of the store, he came to the Iron Island only to see if Victarion Greyjoy did not die, because he wanted to take care of his death, knowing that he was still alive the only thing that made the day of the war began, he only wanted that and nothing else, he was not looking for information, only to see if this guy was still alive to enjoy his death more - "I do not come to this place out of curiosity... I come with my enormous thirst for revenge... not out of curiosity."

David Jones went to the exit where he disappeared and reappeared in his boat that was at a considerable distance from the Iron Islands that were being covered by the fog. It was a protective measure, very efficient, and undoubtedly generated fear, winter is coming, it was not a motto to be taken lightly as Harry said.

With this sword, he could do whatever he wished, the magic was amazing, Harry told him so himself, but it was addictive too active, you didn't have to rely on it all the time, only when you needed it. Apparently, it was something Jack wasn't taking into account, but it wasn't his problem, he was sure that Harry was going to put him in his place at any moment if he tried to be too smart which he doubted very much, Jack knew that Harry was the only one who could take away all this power he currently had, and he doubted he would do something extremely stupid to lose it all.

- "Captain, where are we going?" - Asked the vice-captain of the ship, who approached Jones, who could see how the Vengeance was leaving the place, apparently Jack also realized that he was in this place, maybe that's why he was on the Iron Island and not out of curiosity, maybe it was to stop anything stupid that he could do to see Victarion Greyjoy near him.

- "Let's take a break" - Jones swung his sword in a circle so that the fog would become much thicker than it was so that it would completely cloud the view of anyone near them - "Let's go back to Port Kart."

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