Kal had pondered this question for two days and still could not find clarity.
Yet deep down, he knew it was crucial.
But even after reviewing all the intelligence gathered, Kal still had no answer.
Setting aside the letters, Kal's gaze once again fixed on the map, his brows drawing together.
"Lord Kal."
Since entering the war council chamber, Kal Stone had asked for news but otherwise remained silent. Noticing this, Yohn Royce lightly tapped the table to remind him.
The sound stirred Kal from his thoughts. His eyes shifted, and he looked up at the men gathered before him.
He exhaled a long, heavy breath through his nose.
Then he spoke. "Foreign powers joining the fray is indeed a concern."
"But for now, the true focus remains the battlefield and King's Landing."
"We must identify Tywin Lannister's weakness. Otherwise, we will only be led by the nose."
"Once we solve that riddle, all these troubles that plague us will resolve themselves."
"And if those outsiders remain greedy for gains in the Seven Kingdoms, then what awaits them will be the war they so desire. I imagine the king would be most eager to give them such a lesson."
Kal folded his arms across his chest, his eyes sharpening.
His words were easy to understand. He cut straight to the heart of the matter: the true key lay with Tywin Lannister. Even King's Landing itself was secondary.
"Does Lord Kal have a proposal? Should we still follow the king's command and march on King's Landing?"
Yohn Royce was no stubborn fool. With Kal's earlier reminder, he too saw the heart of the problem. So he asked plainly where they should strike.
Or rather, he wanted to see what solution this young Warden of the East would offer in such a dilemma.
When he asked, a faint glimmer stirred in his eyes.
Catching the undertone in the old man's words, Kal turned his head toward him.
The corners of his mouth lifted ever so slightly as he shook his head.
"No."
"Lord Yohn Royce, if possible, I would have your forces continue on to the Riverlands."
Kal did not hesitate, giving his answer outright.
To this, Yohn Royce saw only the recklessness of youth.
His frown only deepened, his heart filling with worry, and he said bluntly, "But that is too dangerous. That damned Tywin Lannister has made it plain to all the Seven Kingdoms what he intends."
"If we act this way, he will surely unleash a massacre upon King's Landing!"
"That is a price we cannot afford to pay!"
Bronze Yohn laid out how disastrous such a decision would be.
To drive his point home, he even took a carved lion piece from the table and placed it atop King's Landing.
All present listened intently as the two men spoke.
Just then, as the stalemate thickened, seated at the far end of the long table, the lord of Maidenpool, William Mooton, cautiously raised his hand.
"Perhaps… we should do nothing."
"If so, Tywin Lannister would have no reason to carry out a senseless slaughter in King's Landing. And I believe Lord Eddard Stark's host will surely triumph over the Lannister army."
As soon as Lord William Mooton spoke, he felt all eyes turn toward him.
Under their gaze, he grew uneasy and afraid.
But with the words already on his lips, he could not swallow them back. Forcing himself onward, he laid out his thoughts.
"We need not intervene in the war. Once they've decided the victor, everything before us will naturally settle. By then, all those swept up in the conflict will return to their lives as they were."
When William finished, he swallowed nervously and drew back into his seat, sneaking a cautious glance at Kal Stone, the Warden of the East.
Yet the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth betrayed the smug delight in his heart, as though proud of himself for offering such a clever suggestion.
And upon hearing Lord William's words, some of those present brightened as well, their eyes lighting with sudden hope—as if this truly might be the perfect solution.
Excited whispers rippled around the hall, men leaning toward their neighbors, nodding and murmuring that such a plan could work.
Then, as one, they turned their gaze back to the head of the long table, to those few whose judgment truly decided matters.
But when their eyes fell there, they saw neither Kal Stone nor Lord Yohn Royce wearing any look of delight or sudden revelation.
The heaviness on both men's faces made hearts sink. At once, they understood—the two plainly did not approve of such an idea.
Hearing this seemingly reasonable proposal, Yohn Royce's face darkened, his heavy beard bristling as though it might fly off in his anger.
He turned sharply, glaring at those around him, and lashed out without mercy: "To lay down your weapons in the midst of battle and wait for the enemy's mercy—how utterly foolish! And you even take pride in such thoughts?!"
Some of the Vale's nobles and knights who had seemed inclined to agree with William's words now shrank back under Bronze Yohn's rebuke.
His scathing roar left them stunned, faces flushing red with shame.
"Tywin Lannister achieves his plots through cruelty itself. To expect fairness from his lips is madness!"
"Enough of such talk."
Seeing those who had just been nodding along now bow their heads in embarrassment beneath Yohn's fury, Kal stepped in with a word, offering them a step down to ease the awkwardness.
Then, dismissing those too blind to grasp the true situation, he turned back to Yohn Royce to clarify.
"Lord Royce, you mistake my meaning. My thought is that every host of the Vale should proceed according to our original plan. Nothing changes."
"And since Tywin Lannister dares to twist this war into a shape that favors him, he will never truly seek anything so hollow as 'fairness.'"
"I may not know what his scheme truly is, but I do know this—only by making the enemy uncomfortable can it be the correct course for me."
As Kal spoke, his expression was grave. He picked up a piece carved with the eagle of the Vale and placed it upon the map at the position of Harrenhal in the Riverlands.
Then, with a light motion of his fingers, he nudged the lion piece that already stood there forward, just enough that it now appeared to be surrounded—hemmed in by a direwolf for House Stark, a stag for the king, and the eagle he had just set down.
At once, Kal took another piece, one that symbolized the Iron Throne, and set it firmly upon the map at King's Landing.
He turned toward Yohn Royce, smiling faintly.
"I do not know what plots that old lion has woven, nor what price he paid to bring this all about."
"But the king needs you. In this war, the Iron Throne must be the side that triumphs."
With that, Kal moved his hand, toppling the lion piece Yohn Royce had placed earlier, letting it roll away until it clattered off the end of the long table.
When he spoke, his voice was firm, resolute, allowing no doubt.
For he knew well—if the Iron Throne lost in this contest of decisions, the consequences they faced would be disastrous.
Only victory, an overwhelming, indisputable victory, could crush the weight of Tywin Lannister's bloody gambit.
That old lion had already chosen an extreme, savage path no one expected, forcibly resetting the scales of war in his favor.
No one should expect him to stop there.
Kal would not be so foolish.
A fox as ruthless toward others as toward himself—when dealing with him, extra caution was never wasted.
Tywin could threaten with the Baratheon crown on one hand, and with his own military strength on the other.
And in such dire straits, he dared to stake everything the Lannisters possessed, dragging himself back from the brink.
Trust him to keep his word?
Ha.
No—but one had to admit, he had succeeded.
Now, having seized King's Landing and declared his demands to all Seven Kingdoms in such high-handed fashion, he had forced every gaze upon the Riverlands.
All waited to see: would the king choose his crown—or his throne?
With cunning calculation, Tywin's ruthless play had placed even Robert Baratheon I on equal footing with him.
Across the Seven Kingdoms, all heard Tywin's challenge hurled at Robert Baratheon.
Yes, all knew that removing Tywin would solve everything.
Yet the dilemma remained: should they strike first, crushing Tywin directly—
—or attempt to save King's Landing, granting him the chance he sought?
Kal would not make such a choice. But not everyone saw it as he did.
Men like William Mooton were far from rare across the Seven Kingdoms.
All they needed was patience—to wait until the outcome was decided.
They themselves would pay nothing, and might even preserve the strength of their own houses.
Why wouldn't they choose such a path?
And if none took action, if all truly waited for the final result, then for Tywin Lannister it would mean everything had gone perfectly according to his design.
If he succeeded—
—then, faced with a reshuffled Westeros, whether history turned backward with the Seven Kingdoms splitting apart, or whether the game was played again until the cake of power was cut anew—
For the Lannisters, that would still be victory.
He might even establish a thousand-year dynasty for House Lannister.
Perhaps it would not be so—perhaps the true victor would be another.
But in that case, when the cake was carved and divided once more, Tywin would still be alive, and still assured of a share.
No loss either way.
And as for defeat—Tywin Lannister had surely already laid his final plans.
Whether House Lannister could endure in Westeros remained unknown.
But the Baratheon dynasty, its authority and power grievously weakened, could hardly be called the victor.
Those clinging to the Iron Throne might well stretch in a line from King's Landing clear across the Narrow Sea to Braavos.
By then, would Robert choose to carve away pieces of his realm to keep the dynasty alive, or strike outward in defiance?
The Stark family, too, would be his ally, but with their strength diminished, the North would surely breed new unrest.
As for the Stormlands—would their loyalty to Baratheon truly endure?
And Dorne? And Dorne—would they truly pass up the chance to seize advantage in chaos, as though content to settle for nothing more than their wine and lemon-grilled fish?
Would the Reach remain content with its role as the realm's breadbasket, or would it dream of rising from Warden of the South to ruler of all Seven Kingdoms?
And the Vale?
Perhaps the death of Robert Arryn was what some quietly desired.
Whether there was order or disorder, whether survival meant ceding the crown's interests piece by piece—all of it remained in question.
The current state of things was no longer a simple matter of choices.
So when Kal grasped the severity of it, he had already made up his mind.
That was why he suddenly seemed so urgent.
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