Lancel looked toward Ned and replied:
"Viserys said that King Aerys— I mean, the Mad King Aerys— punished lord Rickard Stark in a way that violated the law, and the punishment was far too severe."
"And..."
"And what?" Ned asked.
"And in the future, he intends to divide the North into two... And lord Eddard will be required to take the black."
House Stark had ruled the North for eight thousand years.
The price Viserys would pay for exterminating the Starks entirely would be far greater than the benefits of leaving them alive.
Moreover, in the future the North would become the front line against the White Walkers and the Long Night.
Keeping the Starks would allow the region to be governed more effectively.
It would be far better to elevate House Bolton and let the two great houses balance one another while the Targaryens profited from their rivalry.
Most importantly, Ned was still Aemon's uncle and Lyanna's brother.
Viserys did not wish to be completely ruthless.
Sending him to the Wall would also put him where he was most useful against the White Walkers.
That was the place best suited for him.
By Viserys's calculations, only Rickon Stark had yet to be born.
As Master of Coin and Jon Arryn's most capable assistant, Littlefinger was naturally present at the meeting.
He had already realized that if Lancel's report was accurate, then continuing to serve the Baratheons was no longer a wise choice.
He needed to find a way to establish contact with the Targaryens.
Reborn from fire. Returned with dragons.
Robert, whose only connection to House Targaryen was a distant grandmother, simply could not compete with that.
"Enough. I understand."
Jon Arryn waved his hand weakly.
"You may leave."
After Lancel departed, Arryn looked around at the gloomy faces surrounding the council table.
"Perhaps everyone can share their thoughts on how we should respond to a Targaryen invasion."
Littlefinger had originally planned to volunteer to visit Viserys himself.
But after seeing that even Tyrion, a direct member of House Lannister, had supposedly defected to Viserys, he changed his mind.
Neither Arryn nor Robert would dare send envoys to Gohor anytime soon.
If he wanted to establish contact with Viserys, he would need to wait.
"We hired the Faceless Men, didn't we? Perhaps we should wait for news from them."
As the representative of the Westerlands, which had contributed the largest share of the money for the assassination contract, Kevan still placed some hope in the Faceless Men.
Though Ned had opposed hiring them, his objections had carried little weight with the others.
Jon Arryn, however, had already realized the greatest flaw in that plan.
"Ser Kevan, we're no longer facing only Viserys. We're facing a Targaryen who has dragons."
If Viserys died, there would still be Aegon and Aemon.
Not to mention that Viserys had apparently returned from the dead.
Whether the Faceless Men would even be willing to target such a man was another question entirely.
In the end, the Small Council argued until sunset and accomplished absolutely nothing.
Jon Arryn finally adjourned the meeting.
But that did not mean he could rest. He still had to check on his royal foster son.
If Robert collapsed before even facing a dragon, then the realm truly had no hope.
More accurately, the coalition of the five kingdoms had no hope.
While threatening his enemies, Viserys was also undermining them from within.
It meant that if they wished to maintain the loyalty of their vassals, they would need to pay a far higher price.
....
When Jon Arryn entered Maegor's Holdfast to see Robert, Littlefinger went looking for Lysa.
Lysa had already prepared a pot of hot tea. To keep it warm, she had actually held the teapot against her chest.
"How was your day, Petyr? Are you tired?"
Like a gentle wife welcoming her husband home, she handed him the tea.
Because Viserys had eliminated Varys in this timeline long ago, Baelish had been free to spread his own network of spies throughout the court.
As a result, his affair with Lysa had become increasingly bold.
Littlefinger accepted the tea with one hand while allowing Lysa to pull his other arm into her embrace.
"Now that the Targaryens have dragons again, we need to find a way off the Baratheon ship."
"Leave?"
Lysa was the very definition of a beautiful fool.
A beautiful fool with a generous figure and very little sense.
She had grown up in Riverrun, married Jon Arryn, borne him a child, and spent her entire life in Westeros.
Immediately misunderstanding him, she assumed he intended to flee to Viserys.
Her face paled.
"You mean we're going to Essos?"
she asked in alarm.
"Not at all." Littlefinger gently stroked her cheek and smiled. "How could I bear to put you through such a difficult journey?"
His sweet words nearly melted her heart.
She completely forgot that this was the very man who had taken her maidenhood and indirectly caused her miscarriage years ago.
"Then what should we do?" she asked, gazing at him.
"I want you to speak with Arryn. Convince him to send me to Gohor... Only then will I have a chance to meet Viserys."
"What?"
"You're going to Gohor personally?"
...
The threats Viserys delivered to King's Landing were carried by Lancel.
Through Lancel, not only King's Landing but all five northern kingdoms would be shaken.
As for Dorne, Oberyn would carry the message personally.
Viserys's orders for Doran were simple:
Raise at least thirty thousand soldiers.
At the same time, Viserys formally requested that Arianne be accepted as one of his future queens.
When Viserys first presented the proposal to Oberyn, the prince had nearly exploded in anger.
For a moment it looked as though he might turn hostile on the spot.
Fortunately, he restrained himself and merely promised to deliver the proposal to Doran.
The request was also a test.
Throughout Robert's Rebellion and the years afterward, Doran's support had always seemed hesitant and uncertain.
Demanding Arianne's hand was a way to measure his loyalty.
If Doran refused, Viserys would need to make additional preparations before launching his campaign against Robert.
If Doran agreed, the timetable for the invasion could be accelerated.
The Reach was another matter.
During Viserys's second coronation, Highgarden had only sent two bastards as representatives.
That displeased him greatly.
As a result, his demands for Highgarden were more extensive.
They were to stockpile as much grain as possible in preparation for the invasion of Westeros six months later.
At the same time, they were expected to assemble at least forty thousand troops.
During the War of the Five Kings in the original timeline, Highgarden had fielded seventy thousand soldiers.
Even if their equipment could not match Viserys's army, gathering forty thousand men would not be difficult.
Of course, Viserys had also considered taking Margaery for himself. But after some thought, he decided that could wait until after Robert had been overthrown.
At the same time, Viserys once again sent a royal decree to House Hightower.
Return the dragon egg belonging to House Targaryen as soon as possible.
Otherwise, the fate awaiting them would be the same as that of the Usurper.
___________
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