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For House Tyrell in Highgarden, that sleepless night soon passed in council.
Because of her age, Olenna returned to her bedchamber near dawn to rest. Time slipped by, and the next morning's sun cast pale beams across the white marble of Highgarden's outer walls.
Tap, tap.
The urgent sound of a cane striking the floor woke Olenna, who slept lightly. She did not open her eyes at once. Instead, she lay still and listened to the movement beyond the door.
"Right Hand, go in and report at once. I need to see Grandmother."
"Ser Willas, my lady has only just rested. If it is not urgent..."
"It is urgent. Go report."
Olenna opened her eyes and sat up.
"Tell Right Hand to let Willas in."
The maid keeping watch in the corner curtsied. "Yes, my lady."
The carved wooden door, decorated with fine rose patterns, opened. Willas hurried in, his face bright with excitement.
"Grandmother, according to the guards at the west gate, Randyll Tarly has returned from Cornfield with several thousand soldiers. He is coming toward the inner keep now."
"Randyll returned early with several thousand men?" Olenna's eyes moved slightly as she thought. "That is good for Highgarden's defense. But I suspect something may also have happened with your father's army."
"No, Grandmother. Do not worry. Father took fifty thousand men to attack Cornfield, which had only a few thousand defenders. Nothing should have gone wrong.
"Perhaps Lord Randyll was sent back by Father to report victory."
As Willas answered, the other twin guard, Left Hand, arrived at Olenna's bedchamber.
Olenna raised a hand to make him wait, then said to Willas, "Take Margaery and wait for Lord Randyll at the gate of the inner keep. Brief him on Highgarden's situation and Tywin's scheme."
"Yes, Grandmother."
"Wait. Remember to be courteous. Keep your tone gentle. He is your elder, after all."
"Do not worry. I understand."
After Willas left, the tall Left Hand bowed and reported in a deep, muffled voice, "My lady, I have found the murderer who killed Renly II.
"It was the maidservant who came to Highgarden with him. She was also the only outsider who could touch food in the inner keep.
"Yesterday afternoon, she poisoned Renly II's sweet course, then found an excuse to leave the inner keep. She fled along the Roseroad toward King's Landing.
"I took men to pursue her through the night and caught her near New Barrel.
"Under questioning, she confessed that she acted on the orders of Petyr Baelish, Littlefinger."
"Heh. This too is one of Tywin's demonstrations." Olenna rose from the comfortable bed and walked toward the wardrobe in the corner. "That Littlefinger, who earns dirty coin from women's bodies, seems to have many of Tywin's hidden agents under him."
As if remembering something, her eyes darkened and she snorted.
"Fortunately, Margaery rarely eats sweets because she cherishes her white, even teeth. Otherwise..."
Seeing Olenna move, the maid hurried forward to help her change.
"My lady," Left Hand asked, "how should the maidservant be dealt with?"
"Bury her. The plants in our garden could use fertilizer. And the Tears of Lys was not something she would casually carry on her own. There are still rats in Highgarden.
"Follow the trail and find them all. Bury them in the garden as fertilizer too."
"Yes."
Listening to Olenna and Left Hand discuss such things lightly, the maid helping Olenna dress felt a chill crawl along her back. Her hands trembled.
Olenna felt it and patted the back of the maid's hand.
"Do not worry. A rose's thorns only pierce hands that try to pluck it."
The warm sun rose higher. Willas and Margaery accompanied the cold-faced Randyll into the throne hall, one on each side.
When Randyll saw Olenna waiting with a smile, he bowed and went straight to the point.
"Lady Olenna, have you chosen how to answer Tywin Lannister's letter?"
"Of course not. This choice will decide the future of the Reach. I asked for Lord Randyll's wisdom. From your position, what do you think I should choose?"
Olenna shook her head and offered him a slight compliment.
"Lady Olenna, Highgarden has heard many rumors about Robb Stark. This time I saw him with my own eyes at Cornfield.
"He commands a pack of huge, terrifying ice direwolves. His own strength is among the greatest in Westeros.
"Most important... he has ice magic powerful enough to influence an entire battlefield."
Randyll, direct but shrewd, did not answer immediately. Instead, he described the Robb he had seen.
"Ice direwolves? How large? Can someone truly raise direwolves?"
"Ice magic? Is it the sort of mummery where water is turned into ice?"
As Randyll drew breath after that long explanation, Willas and Margaery both interrupted with the questions they cared about.
"Cough. Both of you, do not be rude. Let Lord Randyll finish."
Olenna frowned and coughed lightly.
"Forgive us, Lord Randyll."
The two siblings immediately bowed in apology.
"It is fine. I will answer your questions in a moment."
Randyll turned back to Olenna.
"I have spoken of Robb Stark's strength. Now I will speak of his mind. Tywin, famous throughout Westeros for strategy, has failed against him again and again. Now even the Westerlands are occupied.
"As for the recent fighting at Deep Den, although the thirty or forty thousand men were raw recruits meant to disguise the truth and deceive everyone, under Tywin's command they should at least have delayed the enemy for many days.
"Yet in only two or three days, Robb broke that army and reached Cornfield in time. That shows battlefield judgment and the ability to act on it."
"Lord Randyll rates Robb Stark very highly," Olenna said. "So you mean for me to ally with him?"
"Yes, Lady Olenna.
"Perhaps Tywin Lannister has sat too long among the gold piles of the Westerlands. In his eyes, there is only profit. He treated the alliance he signed with you as waste paper and showed no honor at all.
"Robb Stark should be deeply influenced by his father, Eddard Stark. He will do all he can to keep promises he has made.
"The Westerlands nobles who fled to Highgarden did so because, months ago, Robb Stark promised Tywin below Riverrun that Westerlands prisoners could be exchanged.
"And in my view, the North lacks allies.
"The southern kingdoms generally look down on northmen. The Riverlands and House Tully, which he once relied on, have been badly damaged by Tywin's army. The Vale is still in civil strife.
"If the Vale truly falls under Littlefinger's full control, it will likely lean toward the Iron Throne.
"As for the ironborn squids, with Robb's wisdom he should understand that he cannot rely on them to rule the Seven Kingdoms.
"So, just as Lord Harlan Tyrell once offered Highgarden to Aegon Targaryen, if we successfully ally with the North, Robb will give us enough in return for the sake of his own reputation.
"Most important, Robb Stark is young and has no queen."
At last, Randyll's gaze fell on Margaery.
Olenna and Willas looked at Margaery as well.
Feeling all their eyes on her, Margaery quickly weighed the benefits and risks in her mind. Then she bit her full lower lip.
"Grandmother, for House Tyrell, even if Robb Stark is ugly, fierce, and loves eating human flesh, I can marry him.
"As long as... as long as I can become queen."
"Margaery, do not rush.
"Whether we choose Robb Stark or Tywin Lannister, the Reach will return to being the Reach rather than an independent kingdom. But if we must sell ourselves, we should sell at a good price.
"Robb Stark sounds more advantageous, but I still cannot accept that new law of his, the one that allows commoners to gain fiefs and rise as high as great lords."
Olenna was moved by Margaery's willingness to accept such dark rumors for the sake of the family, but she still spoke calmly.
Randyll looked startled.
"Please do not believe those rumors. Robb Stark is handsome and has the bearing of a king.
"As far as I understand it, his new law allows commoners to rise no higher than knighthood, and even that requires examination by nobles.
"How large can a knight's fief be? If he truly wins this war, he will have land enough to reward them."
"Oh? Then I have been deceived by Tywin again?"
"Lady Olenna, Queen Margaery, my lords. A raven letter has arrived from Cornfield."
Maester Lomys of Highgarden entered from the passage behind the throne hall with a letter in hand.
"Is it Mace's letter? Maester Lomys, read it. There are no outsiders here."
Olenna told the maester to speak plainly.
"It is a letter from Robb Stark. He says he has captured Lord Mace, Ser Garlan, Ser Loras, and more than forty thousand Reach soldiers. He asks us to pay the appropriate ransom for them.
"The letter bears Lord Mace's rose seal at the end. It appears genuine."
Maester Lomys had already read the contents and spoke carefully.
Olenna raised one hand to her forehead and laughed in anger.
"Five thousand men captured fifty thousand. My wise son must have known the difficulty we face and decided to help us choose."
"Lady Olenna, this cannot be blamed entirely on Lord Mace," Randyll said, unexpectedly defending the man who had repeatedly targeted him. "The strength Robb Stark displayed has already exceeded the standard of ordinary war.
"Perhaps only the dragons of House Targaryen, if they returned, could suppress him."
"Dragons?"
Olenna repeated the word, then her face hardened with decision.
"Lord Randyll, from now on, Willas will assist you in Highgarden's defense. Of course, you have absolute authority to reject his suggestions.
"No matter what method you use, I need you to hold until reinforcements arrive."
"Yes."
Randyll and Willas exchanged a glance, bowed, and left the throne hall.
"Margaery, I will have Right Hand lead men to protect you and the gifts for Robb Stark on the journey to Cornfield.
"If Robb Stark is truly as Lord Randyll says, this is your best chance to become queen of the Seven Kingdoms.
"When negotiating the alliance, you may concede as much as necessary. Just like our ancestors, we give first, then take back.
"That is all. I trust you can represent House Tyrell and successfully ally with House Stark."
After Randyll and Willas left, Olenna looked at Margaery gently.
"I understand, Grandmother."
Margaery, whose eyes had brightened after Randyll's description, answered with a sweet smile on her pale, lovely face.
"Right Hand, you should understand what you must do. Also, tell Left Hand to bury the three Lannister envoys in the garden."
"As you command."
With Olenna, the true ruler of House Tyrell, having made her decision, Highgarden stirred into motion. Roughly three days remained before the allied army opposing the Reach reached the castle.
On the Goldroad, more than a thousand Lannister cavalry rode toward King's Landing.
Tywin, in splendid armor with a red sash over one shoulder, and Moqorro, whose left arm was bandaged, rode protected at the center of the column.
Ahead, the temporary camps and crowds near the road fell into panic at the sight of a noble cavalry force coming so fiercely. Smallfolk and merchants hurried to both sides to clear the way.
One cloaked swordsman stood out from the frightened crowd. Instead of moving aside, he walked against the flow into the middle of the road, lowered his head, and waited.
"What are you doing? You dare block the Hand's road? Move aside!"
Near the Lion Gate of King's Landing, the Lannister rider at the front drew his sword and shouted at the fool blocking the road.
The cloaked swordsman raised his burned and scarred face.
"I am Jaime Lannister," he shouted. "I want to see my father."
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