Fatebringer | Viserys Targaryen

Chapter 11

Not all of it was good news.

Ysira was glad to have Viserys there to receive it all with her. Normally, letters came and went while she sat alone, processing it all without any way to give feedback. She would take notes, have her frustration and then present her findings to her King and Princess as if she hadn't wanted to rip her hair out the moment she read the things written by her uncle and others who had to share the unfortunate truths.

Viserys had never been there because he initially hadn't wanted to, later she hadn't wanted him there, and recently she chose to shoulder the burden alone while he handled other matters— mainly, keeping order around their army. It was a relief now to have him looking over her shoulder (as intimidating as that was), brows furrowed as he read the same words she did at the exact same time, both able to discuss it in the moment without a single interruption for Ysira to compose herself.

Her uncle informed them that Stannis had failed at Blackwater Bay in a crushing defeat orchestrated by Tyrion Lannister within the walls of King's Landing and Tywin Lannister arriving with the Tyrell army on the outside. He hadn't been killed, it seemed, managing to retreat to Dragonstone with what remained of his army. Both Ysira and Viserys had shared a look of pure frustration, having wished for Stannis to at least have been injured. Something was amiss with this, however, because Ysira swore she'd heard about a Red Priestess advising him. Where had the Lord of Light been in this moment? Perhaps he'd been indisposed after having done something to kill Renly...

On top of this, Robb's mother had let Jaime Lannister free, apparently trusting him to bring her daughters back to her. Word had it that the Kingslayer was being escorted to King's Landing by a woman that Lady Catelyn met shortly before their return to Winterfell, right after King Renly was murdered. Men had been sent to try and intercept them before they arrived, but Robb seemed to believe they'd not manage it in time. Viserys was even more furious than Robb, having expected the Kingslayer to be in custody by the time they arrived in the North. He'd intended to kill him with his bare hands.

To make matters worse, the army had returned to Winterfell to find young Bran and Rickon Stark were gone, inexplicably, their pet direwolves apparently with them. In a way, Ysira understood why Lady Catelyn had been so desperate to get her daughters back. Still, it put them in a terrible position if Ser Jaime were to go back on this promise and rejoin Tywin's army as a captain. There were no concrete leads as to where the younger boys had gone, same as there was still no certainty about whether Arya Stark was or wasn't in the Crownlands. The lack of news on her suggested she'd been gone quite some time.

At long last, however, Ysira's assassin reported a job complete. The elements had all worked out in her favor, given how many had something against Balon. The Lannisters could reasonably want them weakened not only because of the current war but because of how Balon's brother, Victarion, had burned the Lannister Fleet during the Greyjoy Rebellion. Robb had learned about Balon's intended seizure of the North and reported that Theon had not yet returned from the Iron Islands, believing he'd betrayed them when he'd gone to seek Balon's aid on Robb's behalf (a foolish thing Ysira never would have advised him to do in the first place).

Thus, Balon's death would come of no surprise if anyone considered it further. It had been framed as though he fell from a swaying bridge during a storm and as far as it was known, none had witnessed it. Those who might've would see someone in red, someone who could have been Euron Greyjoy or a Lannister man. None would know for certain.

Yara Greyjoy had already ascended the Salt Throne and declared a continued fight for independence, not pledging her allegiance to any of the remaining Kings and especially speaking against the Baratheons and Lannisters. Ysira decided to let things sit, to see what kind of woman Yara would prove to be. It would be too suspicious to reach out instantly, before it became known that Ysira had a fleet of her own. Once she'd secured Viserys strength of his own and were prepared to arrive in Sunspear, Ysira would let her know she wished for an alliance.