Chapter 3.4 New Maester

A tall, slightly stooped man with wrinkles around his eyes, along with gray hair, a thin build, wearing frayed and poorly stitched robes, stared at a dark door with a frown.

'I suppose this is the end of my life as Maester. This... they won't forgive easily. Besides, Archmaester Marwyn is not present, so I don't have one of my greatest allies to help me out of this altercation' the man thought pessimistically.

The door finally opened, after minutes that passed like long hours for the man.

"Come in, Qyburn" a monotone voice was heard inside the room the door led to and Qyburn entered with unsteady steps.

"Archmaesters" he greeted the elders with respect, but most just looked at him with derision or contempt.

"You're a big problem, Qyburn."

"It grieves me that you think of me that way."

"And you have been judged," added the Archmaester himself, ignoring the words of the accused. "You have been found guilty of practicing Necromancy, Qyburn. That is serious."

"I... that's not what I was doing."

"That doesn't matter, what matters is that you are guilty."

"I... will I have to give up being Master?" the man asked, and a hint of fear was easily identifiable in his tone; he was terrified of the idea the truth. Qyburn was nearly forty years old now, and had devoted a lifetime to learning the vast knowledge that both the Citadel and Oldtown had to offer; if he were to give up being Maester then he didn't know what place would fit for him in the world.

"That was the original idea, but... something came up," said a voice.

"An insolent brat. He ignored an important message we sent him, as if it didn't exist, and then sent us a letter that the Master of his castle had passed away."

"Clearly he murdered him!" cried one of those present.

"Murdered? For an apple? The brat's version is true, corroborated by the team we sent to investigate."

"By the time the team arrived the Maester had been dead for a month or more, no investigation they have made can prove conclusive."

"Silence!" shouted an Archmaester, who appeared to be the leader. "That's not what's important now, there's nothing we can do about that, at least for the moment. But that's where we'll send you Qyburn. We give you free rein and permission to do whatever you want. No, in fact, we encourage you to practice your weird experiments there, cause as much chaos as you want. Just give them, House Dustin, trouble and stop giving it to us" the man replied, and Qyburn's face showed surprise and happiness.

"I... will not disappoint them" affirmed the man, and he withdrew from the place, leaving the Archmaesters, members of the Conclave, very upset.

The Conclave is the governing body of the Citadel and the order of masters. All meetings of the Conclave, which is composed of Archmaesters , are of a confidential nature and are held behind closed doors at the Citadel, but it is also the instance where, as happened now, members of the Citadel of lower rank, such as Qyburn was, are judged.

"We should have exiled him; taken away the position of Master."

"Marwyn would be very angry, Qyburn is one of his favorites. This is the best option. Perhaps he suffers the same fate as Lyndon in a few months" commented one of the Maesters with a derisive laugh.

"Should we let Pycelle know about this development? We didn't get any information from that cheeky brat in the end."

"No, it's not worth sharing with that Lannister dog about this. We should talk to the Hightower, they should be able to exert more pressure against the Dustin."

"But what can they do?"

"True... Barrowton is pretty independent, there's no way we can hurt them with trade blockades."

"And the Manderlys? It's my understanding that he does trade with them."

"But we can't use the Hightower for that, their relationship, as well as that of all the other Dominion houses that participated in their exile, is not at all good with the Manderly."

"And use the Master of White Arbor himself?".

"No, that man is a follower of Maester Luwin, they are more loyal to the lords they serve than the Citadel. Lyndon was one of the few loyal to us in the North, and not too much either. The bastard served his own interests more than anything else."

"So you're telling me we have no way to answer that smug snot's contempt."

"No, at least for the moment. But retribution will come, sooner or later" were the last words of one of the Archmaesters, and the Conclave meeting was adjourned.