Chapter 6.2 The Lion is Coming

Wolfgang had been very busy since the beginning of the Greyjoy Rebellion, which had already ended some time ago. The young man's 10th birthday was not celebrated; he had no time, but now it was different.

Wolfgang Dustin was turning 11, his 11th onomastic, as they used to say in Westeros, and Lord Dustin had sent invitations to many lords. The Boltons, the Manderlys, Ryswell, Locke, Flint, Glover, Karstark, and more houses.

Even some southern nobles had been invited, such as the Freys of the Riverlands, or the Graftons of the Vale, mainly because of their commercial importance. The Freys profited from the tolls that merchants paid as they went to and from the Dustin's goods, and the Graftons were the lords of Gulltown, where much gold was left to be sold to different houses in the Vale of Arryn.

Some houses, however, did not receive an invitation. House Tallhart, for example, with whom House Dustin had many hostilities, because of all the people who left their territory to come to work in the fields and mines of Barrowlands.

House Mormont also received no invitation; they were extremely loyal to the Starks, but their power was utterly insignificant. Not even 10,000 people lived on Bear Island.

House Stark on the other hand, Wolfgang thought seriously about what to do, but in the end decided to do something middle ground. He sent a letter, but he sent it quite late, which meant that House Stark would have to leave quickly to get to the party, and would arrive only a couple of hours early. Thus, they would be left as unpunctual in front of the rest of the northern houses, and would not be able to rest. And if, on the other hand, they decided not to come, they would have no right to complain either.

But while Wolfgang was in his office, making final arrangements for tonight's party, three letters were brought by Master Qyburn, two from the Citadel, one with the seal broken and the other in perfect condition, and one with the golden lion seal intact.

"Did they arrive just now?"

"Yes, My Lord. The letter from the Citadel with the broken seal is one sent to me, confidentially. They wanted me to exchange the food for today's banquet for some spoiled food, to make a dent in their banquet."

"And the other one?"

"I don't know, but it is simply an unimportant letter, they sent it to camouflage the letter that was sent for me."

Wolfgang took the letter, and it was indeed as Qyburn said, they were simply congratulating him on his new onomastic. It was necessary to send it, or they would raise suspicions by the arrival of the raven at the Maester's tower.

"And the third letter? That's the one that worries me the most."

"Well, sooner or later we expected this letter My Lord, we got into your main business, after all."

"Yes, indeed, I'm surprised at how long it took."

"They were probably setting up a trap."

"Indeed, but they can't act recklessly. Iron Bank being our dealer, they'll be more careful about taking more radical action."

"You are not without reason, My Lord, but there are quite a few subtle ways to harm us."

"There are, indeed."

Wolfgang took the letter, and opened it carefully, and, as he feared, its sender was Tywin Lannister. The letter said nothing too forceful, but announced a new guest, not so invited, to his eleventh onomastic, Kevan Lannister, one of Tywin's own brothers.

"What was missing," Lord Dustin muttered, and Qyburn looked at him curiously. "A Lannister invited himself alone today."

"That's bad."

"I know. The Northerners don't like Lannisters, and if it sticks with me all the time, inevitably, the Northern lords will come over to the other side, the Starks."

"If they come."

"Yes, if they do come."

"We could always do something to... delay the Lannisters, make sure they're late."

"Seems too risky to me. Besides, if they plan to arrive today at the very least they're already at Cailin Moat, maybe even closer. Anything that happens to them in this place will be adjudicated to us."

"So that's what the last minute tipping us off is all about."

"Probably."

But Wolfgang could only sigh wearily. It was clear that this meeting would not end with House Lannister and House Dustin being friends, for the Dustins were ruining their business, which had made them the most powerful house in the Seven Kingdoms.

Wolfgang could only hope that things would turn out well. It would be very difficult to try to get rid of the Starks if the Lannisters were their enemy. Another option... would be to set the Starks and the Lannisters against each other, but that would be a rather unlikely scenario.