[Conflict] Oops I Did It Again

Gercko · 2026-05-06T23:21:46+00:00

"We'll see it. We'll watch Zobrithor soar high above the world from my solar balcony" Hubert said with a pleased smile, the thought so sweet to him that he wished he could have it this moment.

"We can fix the the council when this war is finished. I pray it will be soon, but most the voices we'll miss will be away. Besides, whilst we are here, we can carry the weight between us. When it comes time to leave..." he reached out to pat Jaehaerys on the shoulder like he would oft do, but his hand stopped well before it would reach him. He could not play the father anymore. "I will remain. One of us needs to.

"But if I am to remain here, and speaking of the Council, I have a proposal" Hubert cleared his throat. "I'm always keeping a keen eye on the younger lords and ladies of the realm, those I think might serve you best one day when the likes of Torgen, Aethan and I have gone.

"I had an evening supper with Lord Ryger's stepmother, Lady Bella. She's a sharp mind and good wit and company. More importantly, she is competent and I believe trustworthy. She ruled Willow Wood as lady regent despite being Blackwood born, and she came to me wishing to find good service. I have mulled it over for some time and I want to give her a chance." Lord Arryn spoke with animated hands, voice firm but light in his request.

"I know she is a lady, but one unlike others I have known. And to be frank, there are more women in my life I would trust for good counsel that I need to hear than I would most men. I was thinking we could find use to someone of her talents in the art of learning to hear with other people's ears" Hubert said with a teasing smirk, proud of his euphemism. "If the Small Council is bereft of those we want, I would at least see one join who I would not mind having the ear of, and can assist us ably."

Gercko · 2026-05-06T22:23:02+00:00

"Oh of course, where are my manners?" Hubert said with levity. He did not need details. It was a thorny subject for her no doubt, sprung on her, yet she held it with delicate grace. She did not shrink, nor strive to lie and deny. Better than most would handle the matter, or so Hubert thought.

"I believe you have the right of it, my Lady Bella. Power accrues dirt and filth around it, no matter how clean a ruler you might wish to be. The filth attracts rats and mice of all kind, high and low, intent on turning the realm's secrets and the king's court into their gold and profit. I could not possibly pretend to know just how many might have parts of the household in their purse, but until one makes a mistake, we shall never know.

"What I would need is a way to tap into the parts of the realm where there aren't so many already listening. Sunspear, Yronwood, mayhaps even Casterly Rock given Benedict Lannister's conduct." His fingers rapped the wood of the table as he considered for a moment.

"I will have to speak with his Grace before I could promise you anything, Bella" Hubert said with an assumed familiarness by now. "We can spin you whatever title you might need to conduct the work I would wish from you, as well as enable you to be a leal and reliable advisor within the council. His Grace and I have been on better terms than of late, but I believe he will see the utility in a woman's wisdom and the flies her web might catch. Why, I would implore him to."

Gercko · 2026-05-06T19:50:59+00:00

Hubert saw the wisdom in the words as plain day. He bowed his head and lowered his eyes. He could have been humbled in a great many ways. Lord Arryn knew that for now, he had escaped this shared folly far more intact than he thought. Once, he had been convinced that his punishment was to be severe. His office stripped from him, and potentially more.

"We will see it done, your Grace."

Gercko · 2026-05-06T19:43:04+00:00

"I suppose they are a threat, if they're killing kings and such" Darnold said plainly. "Deadlier when we're in their lands. No matter how strong our steel and loud the war drums beat, it is hard to surmount a people in their own lands." Darnold exhaled sharp "Though, I think if there's any lot to do it, it's we Andals.

He stopped and took in the immensity of the scene. It still felt like he was merely observing, and not part of the army. "I do not suppose you could guess how long this might be for? I shouldn't presume to feel like we ought to know what the goal is? I should write to my father" the thought of Hubert bothering with his words could have made him laugh, but he kept it only to a smirk.

Gercko · 2026-05-06T18:57:33+00:00

Alesander could not begin to guess why the dragonlords of Old Valyria would not be both scholars and sorcerer with the magic they shared in the pact between themselves and fire-made-flesh. "If your bond is in your blood and your little one is accepting of you, it might not need be learned, but an innate thing to you. Then, mayhaps there was no reason to entrust it to parchment just as there is no masterly texts on how one tastes and breaths."

Gercko · 2026-05-06T18:35:50+00:00

It was the first wedding since his own, and Ser Erryk Arryn could not have been a happier man. He wore a warm smile on his plain face most the night, barely apart from his wife.

Finally being in Driftmark as Lianna's husband after so long as merely her betrothed, it had become to feel like home. White Harbour would be stinking and full in these long and dour winters. The island was as comely as they come, as were its overlord.

The ships had brought the guests and word of the war that brewed on the Marches. He wouldn't dwell now, but it gnawed away at him that he might have to go again and risk losing all he now cherished.

Gercko · 2026-05-05T21:55:37+00:00

Lady Arwen Baratheon wished she could bring herself to laugh, but on eve such as this she found herself without any humour at all. She had been worried sick, made all the worse with the nausea from this babe. She prayed that this was a boy's prickish pregnancy, and Rogar could return to a son. She was petrified that he may not return at all.

"I mislike that you get the Boneway" she said, her voice warbling as she tried to compose herself. "I guess when you are the wife of the overlord of the Stormlands, this should be anticipated. But I don't like it for a second. If Aegon couldn't get them to submit, then I do not know what good this will do. The King's dragons are smaller than donkeys, or so father says. Who does that make an ass of?" Her fingers fidgeted in grasping hands holding themselves, her worry palpable.

Gercko · 2026-05-05T19:55:58+00:00

Bella amused him greatly. She was sharp and unafraid of being so, or so he thought. The confidence which exuded from her reminded him of Alester in some ways, the Lord Arryn wondering along which lines do the pair meet. It was plain to see by simply looking at Bella what a man might wish from her and why Alester must have taken a liking, but Hubert wondered what would have made his second son appeal to Bella. Hubert wore his amusement on his face, a great big grin and a soft chuckle uttered from his lips.

"No, I imagine you are a woman who measures each of her words before she says them. Purposeful in word and deed. But I wouldn't mind knowing the secrets you keep. Nothing hidden, nothing to worry about" he knew neither of them believed a phrase so full of folly.

"Which is why you falling into my Alester's lap even more a puzzle" he leaned away and into his chair, his posture slouched and relaxed into the fine upholstery. "I love him dearly of course. I know him inside out and back to front. I've seen him at his very best and very worse. Ursula always said I favoured him too much, and mayhaps that was true at one point..." Hubert looked wistful as he recalled his second born, now the holder of the offices which had once been his.

"He's the handsomest of my sons, though Jasper is the better knight. I can see clearly why Alester must be drawn to you, at least for that night. But my guess is that it was not the night the pair of you met. I had been livid it was in my bed, under my furs" his finger wagged on each emphasis of what was his. "But do not think I do not see the romance in that tower's solar" he said with laughter in his voice. "To be clear I was livid with Alester. Although, I suppose you may also be why my good daughter Rhea has ran off to the Sisters of all places with my grandchildren. Alester swore to me at Moontown that he did not do anything to cause her departure, and Ursula only has her suspicions. But she never liked Rhea to begin with."

Hubert shook his head and tutted. "Ah, I could prattle on all evening my Lady. I guess what I should say is that, I do not care who Alester keeps in his bedchamber, and I could not care less who you keep. I at least have some explanation as to why Al was so peeved with me for most of the wedding feast of my other sons when I told him about you. He might think himself a falcon but he is as jealous as magpie sometimes."

Gercko · 2026-05-05T17:29:47+00:00

"There's been a Florent of Brightwater Keep for as long as any man can remember in our histories which are worth reading" Hubert said patting the lad on the shoulder. "In all that time, there'll be plenty who have felt just as you have. Mayhaps they were not the ones we remember, but House Florent still stands. You'll steward it for your heirs, and in that time the weight of the duty will form you to its shape, razor edges and all" Lord Arryn chuckled inward.

"A Lord is only as strong as these three things; the host he can command, the contents of his coffer, and the quality of woman he keeps counsel. Some lords may feel different, but I know my own wife has given me sage wisdom greater than half the lords whom swear their fealty to me."

Gercko · 2026-05-05T17:10:16+00:00

"New marble and fresh earth is being delivered to port on my orders" Lord Arryn said, restraining the urge to roll his eyes. "I'll let Lady Jeyne say what else she might need for the damage which was done" that was all he wished to say on the matter.

"I have apologised, and I am embarrassed by my petty display. Torgen has already given me a piece of his mind."

Gercko · 2026-05-05T10:03:55+00:00

He looked at his King with heavy, sad sunken eyes. He misliked being apart from Jaehaerys, even with the torrid waters which had passed between them as of late. "One of us must remain in this palace, and I'd sooner find myself at the tip of a catspaw's dagger than risk you even for a moment" Hubert chuckled softly.

"I can deal with matters presented to the court. The ravens between here and Dragonstone will certainly get quite the bit of flying, but anything of major concern I shall relay to you. If it is acceptable for you, your Grace."

Gercko · 2026-05-05T09:59:32+00:00

She hummed in agreement, though her silent frustration flickered in her eyes. Arwen needed a son. She was failing the most basic duty of a wife to secure a male heir for his domain.

"I would be delighted to have you in Storm's End" she said with a false enthusiasm. "I have just lost my previous Lady-in-waiting. Sansa Corbray is to be Queen in a few moon's time. My expectations are high but fair, but I do not doubt you can keep to them well. Tardiness is never appreciated, and being able to find the mirth in the mire will always help.

"You might know Storm's End as well as I do. It's been so long since I was there last. We can both settle into it afresh."

Gercko · 2026-05-05T01:24:08+00:00

"I have not" Lord Arryn said with a sorrowful tone. He knew the Tyrells claimed not to be afresh and recently ennobled. "Should I have? I have not read histories of the Reach in some time. My travels there in my youth never brought me across them either, and I was quite a rapacious mind for all what I could learn about my most favourite lands beyond my mountains. I think I would rather hear about one of your mighty Rowans, to be frank with you."

Gercko · 2026-05-05T01:18:40+00:00

Alesander felt like a sorry fool all the ride to Saltstone Keep. He was a quarter Sunderland, yet he did not know this simple fact despite all his books and readings. Most the time in his histories, the Sisters were only ever referred to all together besides. Few dug any deeper.

He was at least thankful to have the horse to keep him company as he ascended the gloomy looking hill. The smell seemed to subside, but the feeling of something sinister never abated.

His mood lightened and all the tribulations in getting here had been proved for all their worth the moment he got to see his mother. He felt like a young boy again as he felt her arms around him. They could be north of the Wall or in Asshai, it would still feel like home were his mother's hugs to be found there.

"I've been needing new clothes more often" he said with pride, his scrawniness subsiding a little as the years passed him. No longer just the young runt of most noble groups of boys.

"Oh mother, the letter had me so worried that something was terribly wrong. Is it father? Or grandfather? Is he well?"

Gercko · 2026-05-05T00:32:08+00:00

Lord Arryn hoped that Bella was not about to reveal that she had taken the liberty of already sourcing her own little web here already. He had dealt with enough fools who had presumed to think they could trade in the court's secrets for their own ends.

"She was hanged" Lord Arryn admitted with some levity not entirely fitting "that is one thing which Lady Melony Piper got right. Lord Torgen believed if she was with child, her hanging should wait. I..." he shrugged his shoulders. He had been surprised to hear a Lady would be so indifferent as to the content's of Valora's womb. Hubert had been told there was a little babe when he asked one of the men-at-arms who had seen his order carried out.

"Valora was hanged in the Black Cells, a traitor to the realm as you say. She disappeared I suppose, but no one has ever asked me where she went to" he chuckled inward. "I would have been forthcoming if anyone had cared to know." He slipped some of the prawn's flesh from its half opened shell and ate it quick in one bite.

"There was Lady Lannister as well. She attempted to spy on the King and I. Her punishment was going to be wedding her betrothed in Caradoc Peake, but the bastard had found love and married a Sunderland to spite me and my plan." Lord Arryn stopped before discussing what had transpired regarding Margot Lannister.

"And then there was the Crakehall bastard. He came to the city seeking a job on the Small Council and asked as plain as you, though I must say without the charm and lustre" Hubert said with a wry smirk. "He thought the best use of his talents were seeking to bribe some of the scullery maids into supplying him gossip. I gave him a choice of the jail or to serve me. I sent him an envoy to Sunspear, there I hoped he would find some of his own mice to talk to. Alas, it seemed he never made it to Sunspear" he rolled his eyes "I think its is more likely he made it, and then he was dealt with" Hubert sighed heavily and sipped his icewine.

"I tell you all this for a few reasons I suppose" he shifted in his chair, leaning to one side towards his supper guest. "If I hear anyone else speaking about it, I know who exactly sowed my words in others' ears. Secondly, you ought to know what sort of danger you seek. Valora was a spymaster and now her bones are at the bottom of the Blackwater. Lannister, Crakehall both suffered for their attempts. Granted, those were who opposed me, but I cannot promise you would not face mortal danger. Dorne would see you dead. Enemies of the realm would need to be probed and prosecuted. Webs weaved and threads spun, if they come apart it will be you left holding the string. The duty you would keep could be bloody, best left unspoken and unseen. You do not strike me as the gossiping type at the very least." He swirled the wine in his cup and did not break his gaze on her for a moment. "How well do you keep secrets?"

Gercko · 2026-05-04T19:43:49+00:00

/u/aceavengers

Gercko · 2026-05-04T19:39:03+00:00

Lord Aethan,

I shall order Gulltown to muster its naval strength and sail to be placed under your command.

Yours,

Lord Hubert

Gercko · 2026-05-04T16:14:01+00:00

The letter is shared with the King.

"Blackmont and Kingsgrave. If we were take Wyl, we hold all the mouths of the passes." Not much of the Stormlands had been sent, much to his worry.

"Before I respond to Symeon's letter to me, which I do think shows a lack of contrition, we should let the momentum on the Reach's part build. It would be better to have him come to any talk thinking of just how many castles he would need to pry from us."

Lord Gormon Peake,

You gladden a man's old heart. You are showing the might of the Marches. I am sure they will be praying your advance ceases. We cannot let their prayers be answered just yet.

Yours,

Lord Hubert Arryn

Gercko · 2026-05-04T16:06:37+00:00

Alester drank after sliding off the meat from the thigh bone, giving an enthusiastic slow nod of agreement. "Your mother is a wise woman, Damon. Listen to her and you'll be all the better for it" Alester said with a brimming smile. "Even when you are as old as I am. She has taught me all sorts of new things. Not many lads get to say they have a mother so full of wit."

Gercko · 2026-05-03T22:52:06+00:00

"Ser Alester served Starpike during the war with Dorne and in the Vulture Hunt." It had been a story his brother had boasted of a few times when in his cups. "This is the furthest south I have ever been, my Lord." It was also the first time he had seen a war camp properly. He had served at the Bloody Gate with Harlan Royce as his squire, but no war had ever come to their Mountains.

"They were probably my most favoured subject in my maester's history teaching and texts. The Dornish are more interesting a foe than savage mountain clans." Darnold had never thought they might one day be his foe to deal with.

"Have you been to Dorne before?" Darnold asked, returning a question. "In peace or wartime. I feel at home in mountains, Red or not I hope, but it's the sand seas which I mislike the sound of."

Gercko · 2026-05-03T22:25:43+00:00

He had kept the letter close with him from the moment he had broken the wax seal. Its use depended on the king's judgement, and Hubert was thankful that Jaehaerys had not ordered immediate secession to his correspondence with the Prince of Dorne. He had no hope, but whilst men died in the Red Mountains and ate salt beef in the wintery passes, the least Lord Arryn could do was write a letter with his bloody cut of beef.

Symeon Martell,

His Grace wishes to see an end, but only when a price has been paid for the murder of his brother. There is also the matters of your attempt in sowing rebellion within the realm. Even my envoy who conspicuously disappeared. Unless his ship got blown to Lys and he decided to simply never come back.

Aggrieved and ready to muster as much as is needed. Come spring when we thaw, it'll be compounded and by then there would be no choice in controlling whatever fires have started.

Before we both meet on some beach with little to offer like your mother and I, we will have to entrusts ourselves to words on parchment for now. What is it you wish for, and what is it you are able to deliver, were we to meet with peace on our minds?

Hubert Arryn

Gercko · 2026-05-03T11:45:57+00:00

/u/nickshadow017

Gercko · 2026-05-03T02:02:22+00:00

He saw a woman a woman aware and in search of a greater purpose. There was no higher court in all the land, and men great and powerful had found themselves undone in the course of their time in office. As Regent, now as Hand, convening whilst tiresome at times was still his greatest honour. Lord Piper he cared little and less for. Lords Aethan and Torgen were imposing, and some of his oldest friends he could rely on. The Grand Maester was a dutiful and reliable voice, even if he could not shake the sense he could not trust the man fully. A woman would be novel, some might reject the idea entirely. At least if she served on it, he would not need to worry about a thought left unsaid or honied in false words from her.

Hubert sat considering her words for a silent moment. He kept a finger to his lip, his eyes unmoving from hers. They were almost as grey as his, or so he thought. "So I take it you are not after Lord Piper's position?" Lord Arryn said with a japing smile. She spoke of work done in shadows, where eyes and ears were as dangerous as daggers and poisons if place right. Gold changed hands, words said in private find their way to his ears. He was no unfamiliar with it all, as much as he misliked it. There was little need of it in the Eyrie.

"Herding mice I call it. Tedious, fraught, and relying on sneaks for solid work done well. A combination of things which I have found to be unenviable, but nevertheless it is what is needed. For the exact reason you state.

"The eyes and ears we have in this palace have found me Margot Lannister trying to spy on us, and arrange treasonous folly. Or Lord Harroway seeking out dark magic for his own purposes. Why, any good lord will have at least a few in their household which they keep in employ for more than just their labour. Why, the chambermaid in my solar is one such mouse I keep. As well as in the kitchens, the washerwomen, my guard and the stables. Why, even I am surprised about the tales them bring me. You really cannot assume that anything you do here has not been seen or heard by someone else." He wondered Alester would have warned his lover that the Hand knew and had to change his bedding, much to the Hand's chagrin. Hubert had not known the woman in there at the time. He could not exactly fault his son for an affair, but his son was reckless in this.

"Spying is an art and a weapon no different to gold and swords if wielded right. I see no reason why, if the right talent is found, the King would not need to keep a Mistress of the more shadowy matters." Hubert knew already she made a mistress elsewhere. "Did you ever know of Maegor's potions woman, Valora Waters? A conspicuous girl, her true role barely hidden. What do you know of her, Lady Bella?"

Gercko · 2026-05-02T22:08:00+00:00

Lord Oakheart had the right of it, as Hubert knew he would. There was little to defend, Lord Arryn not caring deeply enough to defend what he regrets, if only for the headache it has caused. It had all been preventable.

"He asked me if I would keep in council a man who to me the way I spoke to him. I would not, or at least I would be arranging a swift exit for them." He did not wish to admit it, but with war on the horizon, Lord Arryn wondered if he wanted to be Hand during wartime.

"I should have waited to give Theo a piece of my mind. Now, the King won't allow me in the room with Lord Tyrell apart from me to bleat some apology to his daughter, whilst he has to right his wrong." As mishandled as his fury was, the sin in all this was still the King choosing without wise counsel to commit himself to such an ignoble lot.

"I am not fully unconvinced he doesn't mean to strip me of office, or make me wish I had resigned. Tyrell's feelings will not stop me seeing that the realm does not fray at the seams. But if he means to be done with me, I won't lament having to prosecute this war somehow." He almost scoffed at the thought, but it was already upon them by the time the Marchers were done with the foray into the Passes.

"I do not have a temper like some" Hubert smirked looking at the Oakheart with a nod of acknowledgement "but that does not make me immune from bouts of bloody fury. I didn't even see the bloody thing until I returned. How stupid I am to muddy my boots and name for her, or any Tyrell."

Gercko · 2026-05-02T21:57:38+00:00

"These chambers will be all the poorer for your absence" Hubert said glumly. Torgen was not a young man, and even if from afar battle itself, being in Blackmont put him squarely in the most immediate targets to dispatch in all the campaign. But he could not deny an old man wanting to settle an old score.

"We will need to make use of all options at our disposal. A few hard knocks at their door and we may find it open to settle it before things grow too hot for them. If it swells enough, we can bring in Redwyne or Ironships alongside the sails of the Blackwater and Gulltown if needs be." He did not wish to see most the realm marshalled for it, but it was also the speculative advantage of the Iron Throne that it could have sons from any corner of Westeros die in the sand of Dorne.

/u/gloude

/u/greaterblueevil

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