Chapter 410: Sowing Discord
After personally sacrificing himself to soothe the sky-high jealousy of Arya Stark with a few small sweeteners, the situation finally stabilized. Lady Stark stopped attempting to assassinate the Mad King's daughter, while Daenerys—entirely unaware of the former's existence—contentedly played the role of a shut-in within the tower on the lake. She spent her time greedily devouring books like The Fantastic Adventures of the Night's Watch that Egger brought to relieve her boredom while she waited for the great war to arrive. Naturally, as the host, Egger made regular visits to the tower, continuing to dangle feasible details of the Greater Crownlands Plan to keep the prey steady and ensure the hooked fish didn't slip away. He also took her for walks along the walls of Queenscrown to ensure she didn't feel as though she were under house arrest.
Beyond this, Egger dispatched reliable subordinates to the Wall to accompany Lady Catelyn Stark during her visit, finding ways to delay her return to Queenscrown to avoid further complicating the chaotic situation.
Day after day passed... Dragonsteel bombs were stationed along the Wall, and Lightbringer was distributed to every planned fortress, yet the hair-trigger final war still failed to ignite. After waiting an eternity for the dead to strike, it was the direction of Westwatch-by-the-Bridge that first brought ill tidings from the living: Northern naval patrols had spotted a massive fleet of warships in the waters of Ice Bay.
The Ironborn fleet, which had been raiding along the coasts of the Riverlands and the Westerlands, had likely received word from the lone sailing ship that escaped the previous four-on-one defeat. They had regrouped and returned with a main force to seek revenge and reclaim their pride, while simultaneously looking to crush the burgeoning Northern Navy that threatened them.
Within Westwatch-by-the-Bridge, there were currently three warships at most, with a fourth still under construction—more embarrassingly, the number of skilled sailors was still only enough to man two ships. In a state where everything was lacking, it was impossible to take the initiative and go head-to-head with Euron's fleet of dozens or hundreds of ships. Consequently, the Northern fleet decisively retreated into the harbor upon discovering the enemy. If the Iron Fleet attacked from the sea, the fortress's numerous catapults and wildfire incendiaries could crush the enemy with long-range firepower. If the Ironmen disembarked at a distance to attack by land, they would find themselves facing a heavily fortified stronghold garrisoned by over a thousand men.
The various defensive arrangements made under Egger's direction, though not specifically prepared for the Ironborn, had turned this harbor fortress—jointly built by the North and the Night's Watch—into a hedgehog with nowhere for an enemy to bite.
...
Meanwhile, another significant event occurred at the other end of the Wall: the learning fleet Daenerys had dispatched ten days prior arrived at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea.
The personnel on the two ships, tasked with looking out for one another, had originally been charged with obtaining The Prince (Volume II) and bringing it back to Dragonstone for the Queen to read. Unfortunately, Daenerys had ultimately been unable to restrain herself and flew over on her dragon, and once she entered Queenscrown, she had been so thoroughly coaxed that she was loath to leave. The existence of the book-retrieval team seemed to lose its meaning in an instant... however, the situation wasn't actually that bad. The dozens of Unsullied on board were capable fighters, and Moqorro, who came with the ships, was a powerful sorcerer equal in standing to Melisandre. High priests within the R'hllor faith were few and far between; now, the Wall boasted two of them. If nothing else, they now had more supernatural means to deal with the White Walkers, significantly increasing their odds of victory.
But just as Egger was fretting over where to house Moqorro and a bunch of Unsullied once they arrived in Queenscrown, Daenerys had her guards summon him.
"Lord Commander, I spent last night reconsidering the plan you proposed, and a new question has arisen," Daenerys asked softly. "The 'Greater Crownlands Plan' is undoubtedly the best solution for our ideal of breaking the wheel, but... the Reach stood with my father and brother during the Usurper's War. Now that I have returned to Westeros, they were also the first important power to send word expressing their willingness to recognize my claim. How can we refuse the support of a Great House that has no grievance with me, and is even arguably loyal, or go so far as to turn against them as enemies?"
The answer to this question was already prepared in Egger's mind, but he took extra note of her use of 'we', a subconsciously intimate term. It clearly meant she was now deeply convinced that he was her comrade. Feeling relieved, he realized that certain things he couldn't say freely before could now be spoken with confidence.
"A good question. Before answering your query, I must first help you clarify your thinking: First, is the Reach truly loyal to House Targaryen?" He spoke without hesitation. "To answer this, we must first distinguish between the concepts of 'House Tyrell' and 'the Reach.' Because the former was raised to be Lords of the Reach by Aegon the Conqueror, they lack both the lineage and the duration of rule. Their governance of the Reach has always been superficial. The Tyrells must be loyal to the Targaryens—because the legitimacy of their rule comes from your family. However, the numerous families of Gardener blood that actually populate and control the Reach have always harbored a grudge against your ancestor's insulting act of making a steward their liege lord..."
Daenerys shook her head, interrupting him in disagreement: "That is purely malicious speculation. Almost all the nobles of the Reach stood with my father and brother during the Usurper's War. With their strength, had they held ill intent and joined the rebel camp directly, my father and brother would have had no way to resist."
"True, but the reason the Reach lords remained Royalists was that there was no place left for them in the Great Alliance of 'Stag, Wolf, Fish, and Falcon.' Even if they had defected, it would have been mere icing on the cake, and they wouldn't have received much gratitude from the Usurper. Furthermore, in their eyes, 'Baratheon' and 'Targaryen' are much the same—both hateful outsiders and upstarts. Replacing a Targaryen with a Baratheon king brought them no benefit. Only a weak royal house fundamentally serves their interests. Therefore... they would never help a strong side crush a weak side. The King and the rebels fighting until both were crippled was the outcome they truly wanted to see." Egger continued to lead her on. In a sense, he was currently a sycophant whispering slander into the monarch's ear... fortunately, the group he wanted to frame wasn't exactly loyal or heroic themselves. There were plenty of handles to grab, leaving him with no psychological burden. "Let us look at what the Reach army, which stood with your father and brother, actually did during the war."
...
"The vanguard of the Reach, led by Earl Randyll Tarly, repelled Robert Baratheon's army at the Battle of Ashford, yet they did not pursue the victory. The main force of the Reach that arrived later marched directly east, raiding and burning all the way to Storm's End... Things seemed normal up to that point, but then it became miraculous: fifty or sixty thousand men of the Reach, by land and sea—a force capable of turning the tide of the entire war—surrounded Storm's End, which was held by fewer than a thousand guards. For an entire year, they completely ignored the desperate fighting between the Royalists and the Usurper's forces to the north. Instead, they contentedly sat outside Storm's End drinking, feasting, and holding tourneys for entertainment. From start to finish, they never dispatched a single unit north to support the royal army, nor did they capture the castle until the war was won."
The Queen still attempted to speak for the Reach nobility: "But Storm's End was the Usurper's stronghold; it wasn't meaningless for the Reach army to surround it. At the very least, they were much better than the two-faced House Lannister."
"Besieging Storm's End was a blameless strategic decision. If it were only that, it would at most be an error in judgment of the battlefield situation—a mistake, not a crime," Egger said, following the Queen's lead. "But three other irrational actions make me doubt their true loyalty."
"First—besieging Storm's End did not require that many men. Ten thousand would have sufficed. Even considering the need to prevent other Stormland lords from coming to its aid, twenty thousand would be the absolute maximum. No one could cause much of a stir against a ten-fold disparity in military force. The remaining thirty thousand-plus men could have marched north to join Prince Rhaegar in the final battle against Robert at the Trident and decided the outcome. Remember, the total force the rebels committed to that battle was only thirty thousand, and it was a narrow victory. Your Majesty, think: if your brother had held thirty thousand Reach soldiers in his hand during that battle, what would the result have been?"
Egger didn't give Daenerys a chance to interrupt again, speaking straight through.
"The second point worthy of questioning came after Prince Rhaegar's death. The Lannister army traveled all the way from Casterly Rock to King's Landing, tricked their way through the gates, and committed shameful crimes that wiped out your kin. But if Your Majesty recalls the map of Westeros, you'll see: the journey from Casterly Rock to King's Landing is twice as far as the distance from Storm's End to King's Landing! Lord Tywin, traveling twice the distance, reached the capital, yet the massive Reach army only half that distance away was still feasting outside Storm's End! Exactly—they didn't fail to arrive because they marched slowly; they never moved at all!" Egger took a deep breath, putting on a pained expression. "Storm's End was the Usurper's nest, true, but no matter how high its importance, could it possibly be higher than the capital of the Seven Kingdoms where King Aerys resided?"
Daenerys's expression underwent a subtle change. As someone who considered herself the Conqueror reborn, she naturally had some memory of the map of Westeros and what Egger was saying... though he added some embellishment and emotional bias to his words, he wasn't making things up.
"And there is the final point—after King's Landing fell completely and before Dragonstone was attacked, House Targaryen hadn't truly perished. At that time, Queen Rhaella, who was pregnant with you, along with your brother Prince Viserys and you still in the womb, were taking refuge on Dragonstone. While the royal army had been nearly wiped out on land, they still held an overwhelming advantage at sea—the North, the Vale, and the Riverlands had almost no navy! If the Reach had any intent to remain loyal, they only had to withdraw their land army to defend their own territory and order the Redwyne fleet north to assist. Even if they couldn't turn the tide, they could have at least protected you and your brother and sent you safely overseas into exile."
"But the actual conduct of the Reach lords was to immediately reach an internal agreement—that 'the tide had turned.' Then, an intact army of over fifty thousand happily surrendered to Eddard Stark's force of only ten thousand. After simple negotiations, they returned to the Reach with their entire force unscathed. As for the Redwyne fleet, they immediately defected and followed Stannis Baratheon—whom they had besieged for a year—north to attack Dragonstone!" Egger sneered, dropping the final bomb: "The ones who forced Ser Willem Darry to flee Dragonstone in haste with you and your brother toward the Narrow Sea were not the Usurper's men, who barely had any warships, but the Redwyne fleet of the Reach, who should have been guarding House Targaryen."
The facts were mostly true, though Egger had slightly adjusted the causal links and chronological order. The Redwyne fleet hadn't actually attacked Dragonstone—the last Targaryen navy had been destroyed by the fierce storm on the night of Daenerys's birth, the very storm of her title Stormborn. And the ones who forced Ser Willem to flee in haste with the princess and prince were not the Redwyne fleet or Stannis, but internal traitors: the acting castellan of Dragonstone who had begun considering surrender and handing over the last two Targaryen children to the rebels in exchange for a pardon.
However, through this small trick, Egger successfully triggered the Queen's memories of her own childhood.
Daenerys vaguely remembered Ser Willem Darry—the one who gave her the warmth of an elder in her earliest memories was neither her famous Mad King father nor Queen Rhaella, who died giving birth to her, but this grey-bearded giant who had abandoned everything to protect her and Viserys from the Usurper's clutches.
At that time, Ser Willem had rented a house with a red door for them in Braavos. Daenerys remembered clearly: in that house, she had her own room, and there was a lemon tree outside her bedroom window.
Even later, when his eyes were half-blind, Ser Willem could still roar and give orders from his sickbed. The servants were afraid of him, but he was always kind and gentle to her, never speaking a harsh word—he sometimes called her Little Princess, and other times My Lady. His hands were soft as leather, and his embrace was warm as a hearth. Yet, for as long as she could remember, the kind old man had never left his sickbed, surrounded day and night by the scent of illness and the damp, sickly-sweet smell of medicine.
After Ser Willem died, the servants stole what little money was left, and before long, they were cast out of that spacious red house. When the red door closed forever on Daenerys and Viserys, her warm childhood ended, followed immediately by a cold and cruel youth.
A strong sense of heartache and a familiar urge to cry surged in her eyes. The Queen suppressed her tears in front of the Lord Commander. Along with the revival of warm memories regarding Ser Willem came a sudden, towering wave of fury. The last bit of guilt or apology Daenerys felt in her heart regarding the annexation of the Reach to establish the Greater Crownlands was burned away by the flames of her rage.
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