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CHAPTER 253
296 AC
POV THIRD PERSON
Lady Olenna Tyrell pondered over the information presented in the letter. The consistent reports about the Druid from various sources inclined her to believe the authenticity of the message. The unnatural messenger further supported the notion that it could indeed be the Druid reaching out to her.
However, Olenna was no stranger to the political intricacies of the realm. She decided not to act hasty. If the information turned out to be false or if there were hidden motives, she needed to be cautious. Redirecting her trade ships to Essos remained a viable option. If this is all true and what she is guessing is right, she might earn an unexpected friend and a hefty profit.
Yet, acknowledging the Druid openly might pose challenges, considering his antagonistic stance toward the faith. To her, faith was a tool for control, and she understood the necessity of maintaining a delicate balance between appearances and strategic alliances. She turned her attention to the advisors in the room; she had to get ready for what was to come.
...
After a few more days, everything was corroborated by her men, and she sent all their surplus grain to the Vale, and as the letter instructed, she wrote an answer. She came out to the same place in the garden and raised the letter in her hand as instructed. She felt a bit ridiculous doing this when Margaery was right next to her, but she did it anyway. After a few more seconds, she saw the giant black bird coming down from one of the high spires of Highgarden.
Erebus was bored out of his mind while waiting for this woman, and at last, she was sending a reply. He perched on the table and allowed her to tie a letter around his leg. At this moment, Margaery collected her courage and said,
"Grandmother, could I pet it?"
Olenna grabbed her hand and stopped her; Erebus opened his wings like he was telling them not to dare. Erebus never understood the human's need to touch them whenever they saw any of them. He was not a pet; he was the ruler of the skies, and he would not allow those featherless naked monkeys to touch him.
He turned his attention to the reddish-brown mouse on the ground and said,
"Kilim, as Aermir ordered, you will stay here and observe this old woman. After a month or two, I will come back and take you."
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Kilim looked angry and said,
"Brother Erebus, don't call our lord by his name; you are being disrespectful."
"Hmph, he is not the lord. He is stupid Aermir. You can call him lord; I will not. Bye!"
He started flying back to Aermir. Kilim was really angry about how disrespectful Erebus was acting, but he couldn't do anything about it. Erebus was stronger than her, or she would have beat him up. Their lord usually indulged him, but when he acted too much out of line, he would punish Erebus by plucking all of his tail feathers, turning him butt-naked.
Aermir used those feathers to make more Ravenguard cloaks, and as long as Erebus remained rebellious they would have many more cloaks. Kilim was starting to think he was enjoying fighting with their lord.
Even though Erebus' talons were powerful enough to crush skulls against their lord's magic, he stood no chance. Kilim came out of her thoughts and turned her attention to her task. She had to keep track of all the important decisions Olenna had made until Erebus returned.
...
After stripping Vale Of Arryn of all of its rich harvests, Aermir pulled his army back into the mountains. He had pulled all of his ravens and all the kinds of animals he could rule into Vale. He was trying to have a pair of eyes in every corner of the realm, but it was a bit limited since Erebus was in Reach, and 90 ravens under his order were basically useless until he was within the range of communication with them.
He put almost all of Poe's murders around his army and hidden mountain villages. If any one of the villages gets discovered, and an army ever comes close to any one of the villages, he has ample time to evacuate the villagers.
As for the army, they were coming to the North of Vale since Arryn was coming to the Vale of Arryn. Aermir was going to pull his army to another location that was less protected. After making every preparation, Aermir left them to meet up with Lord Stark; he had a party to attend.
...
These days, Lord Stark was worn out and reluctant. He really hated that Aermir was invading the land of a person he respected, Jon Arryn, who was a second father figure for him. Ned accepted that Jon was not a perfect man, and he most of the time looked after his own gains when it came to the problems concerning Vale, but Jon always worked for the betterment of the Seven Kingdoms as the Hand of the King.
In the coming meeting, he wanted to reach a common ground between Aermir and Jon. In name, he was the sole ruler of the North, and Aermir always acted respectfully to him, but he wasn't stupid; he was the ruler because Aermir was allowing him to.
This hurt his pride a little, but there was nothing he could do. Aermir had become the spiritual leader of the North; what does it matter if he was coming from the lineage of the Winter Kings when the other side was literally talking for the Old Gods?
He wanted to give his son his birthright, and Aermir would never take something belonging to Robb, and many houses would still side with him for at least one or more generations, but it still didn't feel good to know there was someone more powerful than you in your own land.
As Ned was thinking about those thoughts, an eagle dived in from the open window of the carrack and then transformed into Aermir. It was a fascinating sight; however many times you see, it was still as magical as the first time he saw Aermir turn into an eagle. Aermir courteously did a half-bow and said,
"My lord, I hope you are in good health."
Ned gave Aermir a crestfallen look and said,
"Aermir, how do you expect me to be well when you are taking this too far when you are already victorious? You are not a greedy man, and you are not even going to rule those lands. Why are you instigating the mountain clans against Vale? "
Aermir would be lying if he said he wasn't a little surprised that Lord Stark could figure things out so quickly, so he decided to test him to see if he knew it or if he was fishing.
"My lord, why do you say I am instigating them? Everyone knows Mountain Clans and Vale are bitter enemies."
Ned snapped,
"Yes, they are, but everyone also knows Mountain clans can never beat the Vale armies in a plain field battle. Someone unified them, provided them with weapons, and trained them to act as one army. Everyone else might buy that Moon Brothers unified the clans, but I will never believe that."
Ned asked again, confused.
"Why are you doing this? I also don't believe you are doing this to help the mountain clans."
Aermir smiled. Ned was making many assumptions, but because Ned knew him well enough, he was able to guess most of the things. Aermir looked at his confused face and realized it was time he told him everything.