The small council meeting was full of people that were kind of freaking out. The Hand of the King had just delivered two very shocking pieces of news he had received the day before. One was about the change of leadership of Dorne, because the prince there had finally succumbed to his long suffering sickness and died, leaving his heir and eldest daughter in charge. The second was about Lady Mormont becoming ruler of the Iron Islands and the Ironborn had been dealt with.

King Robert laughed and that seemed to calm everyone down. “I'm surprised old Doran Martell held on this long, actually. What I'd like to know is how that old bitch Mormont became Paramount?”

Jon Arryn took out the translated note. “Apparently, Balon Greyjoy claimed her by their own laws, making her his woman and lady wife, then he was killed and she became a widow. She quickly took over and all of the survivors and rescued captives swore to her and are under her banner.”

“That doesn't sound too troublesome.” Stannis Baratheon, the Lord of Ships said. “What could she have? A few hundred people? She might be able to crew one of the Ironborn's raiding ships, perhaps two, since the Northmen are not known for their ship handling abilities. A small group of our ships could go there and easily regain control the seas around her.”

Robert grinned at his older brother. “There are no Ironborn raiding ships left, Stannis! None! HA HA!”

Everyone at the table stared at him.

“Jon's already told me that part. Lady Mormont called out to a good portion of Bear Island's population and they've moved from there to the Iron Islands. That's why I asked how she gained the right to do so.” Robert said and picked up his goblet and took a drink. “To think those Ironborn assholes had their own laws used against them! Ha ha. It's fitting, isn't it? Balon took her and she took his lands from his corpse?”

“Yes, it is.” Jon Arryn said and placed the note on the table. “It's how quickly she succeeded that's a concern.”

“Oh? How so?” Pycelle, the oldest man on the council and the Grand Maester of the Red Keep asked.

Jon Arryn didn't want to say it, and did anyway. There had been too any secrets being kept from the council and he was sick of it. He glanced at Varys and saw the Master of Whispers was unusually quiet.

“It was Jon Snow that led a group of borrowed Highgarden soldiers to raid the Ironborn capital. When he found Lady Mormont, it was him that told her she now ruled the Iron Islands and then he proceeded to raid each and every harbour along the Iron Islands and burned every ship that had any fighting capabilities.”

Deathly silence fell in the room and everyone exchanged worried looks.

“One man and a small group of soldiers did all of that?” Stannis asked with a scoff. “The tactic might gain him a chance at the first port, if the group was experienced enough. At all of them? That's not possible. The fires alone at the first port would warn even the worst boatman at the next one that something was wrong.”

Many heads nodded and a few voiced agreement.

“Ned's bastard did it?” Robert asked, surprised. He barked a laugh and slapped Jon Arryn's shoulder good naturedly. “You didn't tell me that, Jon! Your namesake is making a name for himself!”

Jon didn't look particularly proud, however.

“Isn't that what a man usually tries to do? Standing out among his peers?” Ser Barristan Selmy, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard asked.

“Usually. When they near being of age.” Jon Arryn said. “Jon just had his eighth nameday.”

Again, deathly silence fell in the council chamber and no one had anything to say to that. A child had performed a task that some of their best men couldn't have pulled off, even if all he did was sack the Ironborn capitol and not every harbour in the Iron Islands. It was just too unbelievable.

“I think someone is protecting the real hero of the day and pushing the child into the spotlight, either to save themselves embarrassment or to cause it.” Stannis said sternly and looked at his kingly brother. “You need to get off your ass and appoint an actual Master of Law to handle these things instead of leaving them to fester.”

Robert sighed and took another drink, then sat back and nodded. “All right, I'll stop making you and Jon work yourselves to the bone trying to cover that for me.”

The other members of the council looked surprised.

Robert huffed and put his goblet down instead of taking another drink. “I know I've been a shit king.” He said and no one protested. He huffed and leaned forward. “I've started listening and I'm trying to do better.”

Jon Arryn nodded and he clapped a hand onto Robert's shoulder before letting it go. Neither of them said it was because of Senelle's influence or that Robert getting regular and quite frequent sessions with her in bed were a huge component of calming the large man down and letting him think with more than what was between his legs. He hadn't even glanced at another woman lately.

“I'll entertain suggestions on who to appoint as the new Master of Laws, assuming we don't spread it out like we did for the Masters of Coin.” Robert said and nodded at the two men sitting where Littlefinger used to sit.

Andrew Estermont was the youngest grandson of Lord Estermont, since the man was too old to journey to Kings Landing to take the post himself. Andrew had also squired for Stannis in his youth, so he was in good standing with the crown. The other man was the son of Lord Penrose, Cortnay Penrose, and he held Lord Estermont in great esteem. Both their ages and their temperament made them good men to handle the job of Masters of Coin.

“We'll have some names for you by the end of the week.” Jon Arryn promised.

“Good.” Robert said and looked at Varys. “Now it's time for the best news that I've yet to hear the details of.”

Varys let out a sigh and everyone at the table knew he was reluctant to say what he was about to say. “Word has recently reached me that both of the remaining Targaryen children in exile have been... removed from play.”

Stannis narrowed his eyes at that wording. “We need some clarification about that, Master of Whispers.”

Varys nodded and told them the tale he had heard about how the teenager had been training in swordfighting and had nearly decapitated himself. Robert laughed and laughed, Stannis couldn't stop his smile, and both Andrew and Cortnay frowned and the latter commented about how stupid training alone with a real weapon was.

“And the girl?” Jon Arryn asked.

Varys shook his head. “The last I heard, she had been captured and locked up by a magistrate trying to control the girl.” He admitted, and if pressed, would reveal the man's identity and would lose im as a contact. “He had kept her out of the public for a while and she eventually disappeared from inside a guarded and locked room that didn't have access from the outside, except through the permanently barred door.”

“Did they kill the girl when she didn't bend to them?” Andrew asked.

“They didn't find any way to escape?” Cortnay asked right after.

“No to both.” Varys said. “It's vexing, because with her brother dead, she would have been the next in line to the Targaryen family. The last one, in fact.”

“And she's gone without a trace!” Robert cheered and took another drink. “Even if the little bitch is found, she has nothing and no one backing her. She's even on an entirely different continent!”

The King of the Seven Kingdoms put the empty goblet down and waved off the servant girl from filling it again. He was visiting Senelle soon and she didn't like it when he was drinking too much. She wanted to hear him praise her without slurring his speech and he respected that.

“I'll call that a win and we don't have to worry about her anymore.” Robert said and stood. “With that great news, I call this meeting of the small council to an end.” He said and placed a hand on Jon Arryn's shoulder. “Send a raven to Maege to congratulate her on her new post, then send another to Ned to praise him for raising such a great bastard.”

Everyone in the room watched as the king left with a stride that told them he was in a hurry.

“You're not actually going to praise Lord Stark for the lies spread about his bastard, are you?” Stannis asked.

Jon Arryn sighed. “No, since there's no reason to. I do have to ask him about what's going on and how a boy could have gone all the way from Winterfell to the Iron Islands without him knowing about it.”

“You assume he doesn't know.” Pycelle said and didn't offer the knowledge that he himself had about Jon Snow missing the meeting at the citadel. The less he admitted about that, the better off he was.

“Yes, I do. Because if he does know and didn't warn me to prepare for it...” Jon Arryn said and stood. “...we will have words about it.”

The others stood as well and the small council left the room to return to their duties. Most of them had dismissed Jon Snow's involvement in the whole thing, except for one person. Varys somehow knew that the claims by Lady Mormont weren't as exaggerated as Stannis made them out to be. One person, especially a determined one, could achieve a lot when they set their mind to it.

Just because someone was young, that didn't mean they were incapable of achieving great things. The circumstances would have given Jon the element of surprise a lot more than just the once, especially if he hit each harbour in a similar manner and drew the people out to fight the ships on fire. The distraction alone would make it so much easier to take care of them if the smaller group of men hit them from behind.

It really was possible to do what Lady Mormont claimed, as long as you were fast, determined, and wanted to cause as much damage in as short a time as possible. With only a few small ships, and handfuls of men at each port, doing it all in a single night was more than plausible.

Varys entered his private rooms and met with several of his little birds. He always regretted being castrated when he was younger, because he could never avail himself of the bounty before him. Instead, he gave each of them a silver coin as they told him what they knew, then he gave each of them a brief hug and whispered their orders into their ears.

The children left through the secret passage with smiles on their faces. Varys would know in a few days if the rumors were true and he would have to rethink more of his plans. It was still much too soon to act in any way against the current administration of the kingdoms, even if things were going to change fairly quickly.

The Dorne situation was the concerning one, especially since King Robert had completely ignored it. One of his little birds would find the best source of information from them, either a ship or a traveller, and that information would soon be his. Could he manipulate things to benefit the kingdom without giving himself away?

Working behind the scenes was always difficult and sometimes rewarding, just like it always has been, and Varys went about his work to write down everything his little birds told him. Information was always useful, even if some people considered it worthless.

*

The rocking of the ship woke me when Arya gave my neck a particularly tight squeeze. I didn't mind, since her comfort was more important than the nap we were trying to have. I gave her a reassuring smile and shook my head to stop her before she could apologize. Dany was in a similar panicked state as the ship seemed to tilt to a sharp angle, then it evened out.

“That's the downside of a smaller ship. Rough waters is also rougher on the crew.” I whispered and hugged the both of them to my sides. “The upside is it will be over much sooner because the ship is quicker.”

Both girls nodded and hugged me close.

“Why don't I tell you a story?” I asked and both of them looked happy. “I just have to pick one that you'll like...”

“Do you know one about dragons?” Dany asked.

“Hmm. I know a few.” I told her. “One might be about a princess riding her dragon into battle to fight off all her evil brothers, cousins, and family members.”

Dany blushed and shook her head, getting that I knew who she really was. “I heard that one.”

I nodded and thought about it. “Then I need a minute to think... wait, I have a book with dragons in it.” I said and briefly let them go, went to the infamous burlap sack, and Arya giggled when I reached in and pulled out another stuffed wolf toy. I handed it to her and she hugged it as she gave Dany a smug look. I chuckled and pulled out a stuffed toy dragon and Dany gasped. I gave it to her and she hugged it like it was trying to escape.

I lifted out a book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and walked back over to the bed and climbed on. I transfigured it into the common language, just in case, and Arya snuggled into my left side and Dany did the same on my right.

“Just to be clear, this is the fourth book. I have the others, but this is the first one that has dragons in it.” I told them, then I gave them a quick background for the main characters and what happened in the other three books. I didn't want them to be lost when certain things were mentioned.

I spent the next few hours having a great time doing the voices of the characters and both Dany and Arya loved listening to me read and bringing the story to life. They enjoyed everything about it, because there wasn't anything in it that they questioned, not even the magical goblet or someone having to fight a dragon in a contest of skill and bravery.

By the time I finished the book, with Harry triumphant and alive, the rough sea had settled down and the girls were wide awake and wanted to talk about everything they just heard. Arya because it all sounded so great, and Dany because she had never heard a story like it before.

Of course, I had to promise to read the first three books to them when I had the chance. I agreed, mostly because I also thought it was fun to spend time with the people I cared about to read a great story that made you think about it and you wanted to talk about it afterwards.

We had something to eat after that as we talked, then we went back to bed to actually sleep. We would be arriving back at the Shield Islands tomorrow to drop off the crates of food and items that Lady Mormont forced me take, even though I had copied them and created them for her to sell. The honorable woman would not let me get away with handing the things off to the people, either.

On the plus side for me, she was a damn good kisser and I looked forward to meeting her again someday. On the down side for her, I barely managed to avoid tying myself to her house because I left the harbour just before the ships she had called for arrived. Did I hasten our departure slightly because of that? Yes, I did. I did not want to get tied down more than I already was back in Highgarden.

That reminded me that we would be heading to meet with Olenna Tyrell right after dropping my things off. We would also be returning the borrowed soldiers to her and I would give her one of the crates of expensive silks as payment for the loan, just so both her house and my own were satisfied that nothing was owed to them from the exchange.

The things I copied from the Dorne ship the Wildlings sank would be used by myself in my new home, one I hadn't seen yet. I suspected that it was going to be a much bigger plot of land than what Olenna first intended for me to have, and that was fine with me. I was going to expand the space inside the glasshouses anyway and the extra outside space would let me go all out with it.