His words were accompanied by the creak of a chair being pulled out. It was Tyrion, demonstratively sitting down at the table. And he sat down next to me — he must have something in mind.
"I propose we discuss the situation in the Riverlands," Kevan suggested.
I turned to Tyrion, nodded amiably, and began to listen.
As it turned out, the war in the Riverlands was slowly but surely coming to an end.
Gregor Clegane was dealing with the remnants of the rebels and separate lords, using tactics of terror and instilling fear. He burned the land, executed the disobedient, and acted with extreme harshness and cruelty. It felt as if his actions created a couple of new enemies for every one he killed. I didn't like what I heard, but I kept quiet.
Only two houses were fully engaged in combat on the Trident: the Blackwoods, who believed in the Old Gods and fought on the side of the Starks, and the Tullys, who constantly launched raids from their castle Raventree. They mainly tried to annoy their long-standing and irreconcilable rivals, the Brackens of Stone Hedge, who had sided with the Lannisters after the Red Wedding.
Riverrun Castle was under siege. A joint army of Lannisters and Freys, commanded by Daven, was besieging this stronghold. The matter might drag on — Riverrun was virtually impregnable, and given that it was surrounded by rivers, had no water shortages, and could constantly replenish its supplies by fishing, the siege could continue almost indefinitely.
At this council, no clear decision was made on what to do with Riverrun. It was simply decided that Daven Lannister would continue the siege.
Some problems were caused by gangs and various remnants still active in those lands. These marauders and scoundrels attacked civilians and did not shy away from burning, raping, and killing.
That was the situation.
"It's time to talk about dogs," Oberyn remarked unexpectedly when Kevan sat down. "When will House Martell receive Clegane's head?"
"When the war is over and Ser Clegane has done his duty, he may come to King's Landing," Tywin replied calmly. "Have you forgotten that we have already discussed this?"
"Fine, I'll wait," Oberyn grumbled. The cold in his eyes seemed capable of freezing anyone.
However, this display of emotion had little effect on anyone else — these were serious people.
There was a short pause, during which Tyrion leaned toward me and asked quietly:
"Are you lost by any chance?"
Sparkles danced in his multicolored eyes. What a restless man — he simply couldn't behave calmly.
"What are you talking about, uncle?" I replied just as quietly.
"Shouldn't you be working on your beautiful wife right now?"
"I can assure you, I've been working like a true plowman for a couple of days," I smiled back at him. "Speaking of beautiful wives… Why aren't you with Lady Sansa, huh?"
"For the same reasons as you."
"Really?" I didn't understand what he meant, but I tried not to show it.
"Tyrion, why can't you just keep quiet?" Cersei said to her brother with displeasure.
"I'm too smart for that. And I've had too much to drink," my uncle grinned.
Then, seeing Lord Tywin's displeasure, we all stopped exchanging ambiguities. There would be time for verbal sparring with Tyrion later; that wasn't why I was here.
Lord Paxter Redwyne spoke next. I learned that a fleet was being built on the island of the Arbor, meant to finally crush Stannis Baratheon, help capture Storm's End, and then be ready to march against the Iron Islands if they did anything.
Formally, we were not at war with them at the moment. Moreover, Lord Reaper Balon Greyjoy the Bold was seeking friendship with Tywin Lannister and offering to divide the North. Everyone understood that these were just words. Pirates are as changeable as the weather on their islands. Today they are allies, tomorrow they are bitter enemies — ready, like wild beasts, to tear any weakling apart. You always have to be on your guard with men like that.
Paxter gave a detailed account of how the work was progressing, how crews were being recruited, and how much time and money it was all taking.
"When will the fleet be ready to set sail?" Tywin asked at the end of the report.
"Not for another month," Paxter replied firmly.
Next, Varys, referring to his "little birds," outlined the situation in the northeast. At the Eyrie, Lysa Arryn continued to maintain a cautious neutrality, and things were more or less calm there.
But in the North, the situation was much more interesting. It turned out that the Stark family castle, Winterfell, had been burned down and lay in ruins. It had previously been held by the Ironborn, but Ramsay, the bastard son of Lord Roose Bolton, had managed to recapture it. The Ironborn retreated, securing their position at the Moat Cailin, the Deepwood Motte, and controlling the entire Wolfswood.
Time passed unnoticed. I was terribly curious. The members of the Council asked many questions, clarifying details and arguing about various actions. Ravens and Varys's "whisperers" allowed us to learn the latest news fairly quickly and react to it in some way.
I listened attentively. Gradually, a large-scale and majestic picture of the events taking place in Westeros began to unfold before me.
Unfortunately, the Council did not raise the issue of King's Landing's finances or the matter of Daenerys Stormborn that day. Nor did they say anything about Stannis Baratheon's actions. A pity — all of that was very interesting.
But the Council had so many problems to deal with that it was simply unrealistic to touch upon everything.
I didn't ask any questions. In fact, I hadn't asked a single question the entire time. First of all, I needed to figure out the situation, understand what was happening, and what trends were emerging.
So we remain silent and gather knowledge. And only then do we open our mouths.
However, I did recognize one very specific fact: the current council was very bloated. To satisfy political interests, there were people here who did not always pursue common goals. And besides, there were too many of them. Oberyn, Paxter, Mathis, and the other lords were serious men, but they had no business being on the council, as there were not even positions for them!
And Cersei needed to be gotten rid of as soon as possible. With a mother and council member like that — who needs enemies? A few comments she made during this time made it clear that she had her own views on everything and disagreed with many decisions.