The Shadow Queen of Tywin Lannister

XIII. Cards on the Table, part 2

Tywin had seen many things in his life, yet nothing compared to what he was experiencing. His first impression of the man known as Wisdom Rossart was that of mistrust and uneasiness.

Madness and sadism could be seen in his black eyes, his bonny fingers seemed to match the ones of the Stranger. Yet, he remained quiet and allowed Visenya to talk and walk with the man; familiar with him.

Whether she was feeling the same repulsion as he did, he didn't know but she did not seem to show it either. Her face was serious as she demanded Rossart to change the properties of the green fire he had witnessed or substance as it was called; apparently.

He knew that Visenya was not some grand maester or god to create something like that but he never expected her to have a secret pact with the Alchemists. Everyone knew of them, although few dared to approach them nowadays since Maesters did everything else.

In addition, Alchemists were said to work with magic whether blood or dark; no one truly knew. This alone made many people uneasy and mistrustful of them while their wages were often too high for most common-born people; not that the Maesters were any different when charging their services.

Yet, the Guilt of Alchemists was said to be close to extinction with only a few members present. King Aerys did not seem to care that they existed close to the Septa, for they kept their heads lowered and caused no trouble.

He could never imagine Visenya to be associated with people like them and yet she seemed to know the path and have some knowledge on the subject; evident by how casually she walked and discussed with Rossart.

In the end, the creepy Grand Master left; more than happy to experiment more on this mysterious green fire. Now left alone, Visenya led him towards a black door and pushed it before she waited for him to follow her.

Once Tywin did, he was greeted by the smell of clay and sand as they were inside a room made of black marble. The faintest glow came from handles hitched at the wall but not torches, while cold humid air seemed to enter from somewhere.

"You asked me Tywin and so I answer you," Visenya said as she turned to face him. "I didn't find this green fire you saw... I invented it" she admitted, her voice stable and yet hints of pride could be noticed as clear as day. "Well, I had the idea and the Alchemists had the abilities. Took us years and quite the funds before the first batch was produced successfully" she explained and started to walk towards a small wooden table.

"The small coin shortage in the coffers" Tywin mumbled, connecting the dots.

"That was me. This investigation had been funded by my gold but the smallest amount had to be taken from the coffers" She glanced at him above her shoulder. "Consider me lucky that the Master of Coin is not good at his job" she added, amusing herself but not Tywin.

She stopped in front of the wooden desk, a small clay pot was rested and a bigger clay container; a thick wooden cap shielding it.

"So, what is this substance that the Alchemists call it? How did you truly come up with it?" he asked as he stood by her side.

She silently grabbed a clay spoon and carefully took some odd green liquid from the container before cupping it again. She then let the liquid carefully into the pot and smirked as she moved to grab a candle from a nearby wall.

"They call it substance but I have a different name for it," she said with a smirk and tipped the edge of the candle, bringing the flame closer to the liquid. " I call it...Wildfire"

Suddenly, the green liquid was caught on fire and a bright green flame started to burn but did not expand or threaten to burn them all; the clay walls contained its rage for the moment.