Chapter 6
PETYR BAELISH
The world had been unkind to him ever since he was born. A man like him did not truly belong in the Red Keep, and he was not here out of some generosity or mistake. No. He had clawed his way to the city and to the King's council.
It had taken him blood, sweat, and tears to rise to this rank, and now he was about to lose it all because of the whims of a damned boy. He could not accept that. He simply could not accept that.
Yet the situation had been worsening with every passing day, as the King and the Queen refused to let the matter die. They were relentless in their pursuit, and he had just found that the massive liability had just made its way to the city.
Thankfully, his men were able to get to him before anyone else, yet this was all simply too troubling.
"He is inside, my lord," Darlen, the guard, told him as he led him through his own establishment, and the air was thick with the smell of human flesh and desire, as men and women let their demons devour them whole.
It was such a simple act, and yet to it loosened minds and tongues unlike any other torture, and made one so malleable that it felt like a miracle.
"No one comes inside without my permission," and with that, he unlocked the door and entered the secret room within his establishment, where one man lay surrounded by two of his most loyal guards.
"My lord. Please, you have to save me," and he was the man he had hired to handle his little problem, and now his failure was set to unravel years upon years of work. Not just that, the idiot had decided to come back to the city where everyone was looking for him.
"You failed," Baelish snarled in rage, as the man began to whimper.
"The information. It was wrong," he began, as he fell to his knees.
"There were too many guards," and he knew that. And even to this day, he did not know why or who had doubled the number of guards in that retinue. He had initially thought that this was the work of the Spider, yet Varys had denied any involvement in the matter, and Baelish believed the bald man.
If he had been the one to ruin his plans, he would accept it all with pride, and yet he had denied any part in this. His own men believed that it was the doing of the Prince himself, and if that were true indeed, then it did not bode well for him at all.
"We were outnumbered. We tried, but he got away. Everyone was killed. I barely made it out with my life," and it would have been best for them both if he had not made it out alive either.
Yet here he was, whimpering and making his life more difficult.
"You have to help me, my lord. They will hang me for this," and that would be generous of them. No, they would not hang him. The Queen would have him skinned alive until he had spilled all his secrets, and only then would she give him the mercy of death.
"Don't worry," Petyr smiled at him, as he stepped forward and lowered himself to his knee.
"I won't let them hang you," and he saw those eyes light up.
"Thank you, my lord. Thank yo..." and yet the dagger moved in the blink of an eye, as it cut open his neck, making sure that he would not be able to scream at all.
He saw those eyes widen, as blood splattered all over his face and cloak, as the man gripped his neck, before he collapsed in a pool of his own blood. He smirked as he glanced at the Valyrian steel dagger and saw its clean edge.
"Valyrian steel sure does cut clean," and they put it back in his belt, as he turned to his two men.
"Chop it up, and throw it in the Blackwater Bay. Make sure that no one sees you," and the two nodded, as they dragged away the corpse, yet the blood still lingered on the floor and his face, as Baelish began to pace.
His men had assured him that no one had spotted the assassin, yet he doubted their word. The assassination attempt had set the whole city on edge, and he doubted the man had the ability to escape the Spider's web.
And if it really was the Prince who had doubled the number of guards.
"SHIT!" he cursed the Gods for putting him in this mess, and for the first time in years, he felt trapped and could not think of a way out. Sooner or later, someone apart from Varys will be able to connect the dots, and realise that he had been the one to order the hit on Prince Steffon, and now he could only plan for that eventuality.
He could try to negotiate with the Prince, for he had quite a few secrets in his own heart, yet it would not work. Lord Tywin was looking into the matter himself, and he doubted a man of his reputation would let someone blackmail his family.
He could leave it all, and ride for the Vale, and let chaos spread over the Capitol, yet that would mean going against Varys as well. And the man would ruin him before he would even have made the first move.
The Spider was a dangerous creature, and his true aspirations were as much a mystery as his origins. Apart from that, he could think of no other path for himself, which made him grit his teeth as he realised that he stood on the edge of absolute ruin, and just as that realization had begun to settle onto him, a knock on the door interrupted his trance.
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.
"Who is it?" he asked, and the Spider answered in his usual sing-song voice.
"A concerned colleague," and the timing of his arrival all but confirmed his suspicions that the man's little birds had spotted the assassin's arrival in the city, and so there was no use in hiding the blood now caked on the floor.
"Come in," he said as the secretive spymaster stepped into the room, and he saw those purple eyes take in everything at once, though they lingered a second longer on the blood coating the floor.
"You should probably clean that," the Spider suggested, and the bastard smelled of perfume as he stood there looking down at him.
"Why are you here, Lord Varys?" Baelish began, as he glanced at the space between his legs.
"From what I remember, you no longer have the needs that would bring men to such places," and the bald man chuckled.
"Oh, I would not be so sure. I have heard that some people are just fond of watching," and Baelish doubted that he was amongst such people.
"And are you here for that?" and the bald man shook his head before he began to saunter across the room, and many racks were stacked against the walls, with each row containing some half dozen trunks, each filled with the coin that he had spent years hoarding for himself.
This was his worth. His treasure that he had spent years gathering, and now he was set to lose it all because of one Prince.
"No, I am simply here as a concerned colleague," the Spider answered as he brushed off the dust from one of his trunks.
"I believe that the circumstances have changed. You are no longer safe in the city," and his heart skipped a beat at those words, as Petry realised that his fate was sealed.
"How?" he asked, and the Spider shrugged.
"The Prince already suspects your involvement with this affair, and now Lord Tywin is investigating the matter himself. I believe sooner or later, they will trace it all back to you," and if they were to do that before him, it would raise questions about his own loyalties.
"I thought we had an understanding," Baelish reminded him, and Varys nodded with a raised brow.
"We did indeed, but the circumstances have changed," and then he rubbed his finger and showed him the blood covering it.
"And you left behind quite a trail for them to follow," and it was obvious that he would no longer protect him.
"Then so be it," Baelish answered.
"I know a few secrets myself. I could have the entire realm up in flames within the hour if I so desired," and now those amethyst orbs narrowed.
"Indeed, you could. But how would this chaos even benefit you? Even if the secret you speak of was true, it would simply put the entire realm against the Lannisters, who would be crushed by the rest of the kingdoms rather rapidly," and that was one reason he had kept it so close to him until now.
It was also why he had asked Lysa to poison Jon Arryn, and he believed this was the very reason the man in front of him had let him do so.
"You are not here to ask me to forfeit my life, are you, Lord Varys?" Baelish asked, as he stepped back and the man shook his head.
"Of course not. I would never ask such a thing of an old colleague. Even though such an outcome would make things a lot easier," and the man had no reason to lie to him. Still, he wouldn't simply come here to warn him.
No. He had something else to offer. It was obvious that he would not let him cause chaos to save his life, and he was right. Even though the truth about the parentage of the Queen's children could cause quite a stir, the chaos it would cause would end rather quickly, giving him little opportunity to further himself.
Yet it would all be meaningless if he were dead.
"You are quite a rich man, my lord," Varys added, as he looked around.
"If my own estimate is correct, there must be some half a million gold coins in this very room," and he was right, but this was only a fraction of his wealth. He had been scampering to cover his tracks, and this gold was meant to aid him in that.
An empty treasury would raise many a brow, and so he had intended to put this in the treasury, hoping to ease the probing eyes of the Prince and Lord Tyrion, yet if they already knew about his involvement with the assassination, then such a thing was pointless.
"And I doubt that this is all the gold you have," and he was going somewhere with this, yet he could not figure out what.
"One could buy a small army with this," and he scoffed.
"Why would I need to buy an army?" Baelish questioned, and the bald Master of Whisperers shook his head.
"The better question would have been, where would you buy an army?" and the answer to that was simple, yet as soon as he thought of it, everything clicked together.
"Essos. The Targaryens," and so that was what he was offering. He had always suspected that the Spider was not quite loyal to the throne, and that his true loyalties lay elsewhere.
And this all but confirmed his suspicions.
"Indeed. I happen to have a friend who knows a King in need of both gold and an army. If you could offer him both, he could be very generous later for the aide," and so he spoke of Prince Viserys Targaryen and his sister, who were both in Pentosh right now.
The friend he spoke of would have to be that Magister they were staying with. Illyrio, if he remembered right, and the offer was clear.
He was offering him and his gold a way out and was asking him to join up with Prince Viserys in return.
"You would have me commit treason," Baelish asked.
"It wouldn't be the first time you would have committed it. And I believe you would much rather be alive and rich than dead and poor," and it was not easy for him to rust the man in front of him.
Varys was a man who thrived on lies and secrets, and this very offer could very well be a ploy from him to have him incriminate himself, yet did he truly have a choice?
"And what would I get in return for such a service?" he asked, for he would not let him use him.
"Apart from your life, anything you desire," Varys answered, as he began to walk around him in circles.
"It was not just the Baratheons who brought the Targaryen dynasty to its end. No, it was the combined might of the Baratheons, the Arryns, and the Starks that ended Aegon's legacy, and so the Starks will find no allies in them," and so he did know of his desire for revenge against the Starks.
"Once a dragon sits on the Iron Throne once more, you could have your revenge on the Starks, and the love of your life in your arms. You could have it all," and the offer was tempting, but he doubted it would all be so simple.
"You will have to make your decision quickly," he whispered into his ear.
"The Prince will ride through those gates in half a day," and with that, the bald man wore his cloak once more and let the hood cover his face.
"After that, your fate will be in your own hands...."
.
.
.
And just as the Prince's retinue walked in through the gates, the Spider found himself in front of the King, as he gave the man a bow.
"This better be good, Spider," the King retorted, and he was not fond of being disturbed while he was enjoying his time with his whores.
"I believe it is not all good, your grace," and Robert's eyes narrowed at those words.
"What do you mean by that?"
"While it did take me a bit longer than usual, but I believe I have found you the traitor who attacked the Prince," and in that moment he caught a glimpse of the mighty Demon of the Trident once more, as Robert snarled out in rage.
"Who?"
"The Master of Coin....."
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