"That whore is shacked up with the Mercenary King of Myr!" King Robert slammed his fist on the council table, his voice like thunder.
Even if he was fat and crude, he was still the King.
"It won't be long before that whore gives birth to a litter of bastards, and they'll come Across the Narrow Sea to seek revenge on us!
And that fool Viserys, now I've made myself clear!
I want them dead!"
"That's just a game between a young girl and the Mercenary King, Robert, they're not married yet!" said Jon Arryn, old yet healthy, with golden hair, blue eyes, and an aquiline nose.
"Am I supposed to just keep waiting?" the King asked.
"Because you stopped me, I missed a good chance for an assassination back then."
"What's the background of that Mercenary King?" Lord Renly deliberately asked.
He was dressed in green, which made him look even more handsome and dashing.
"That Mercenary King is actually somewhat related to you, Lord Renly!" Varys replied softly, wringing his perfumed hands.
"That's quite strange, me and the Mercenary King Across the Narrow Sea?"
"Varys, let me make it clear!" Lord Jon said.
"Robert, that Mercenary King is most likely your bastard!" Lord Jon said with certainty.
"His build, his past, his personality, his battle fervor, and his eyes and hair!"
"It's quite a coincidence that when the Mercenary King rose to power, an apprentice went missing from a smithy in King's Landing.
Gendry, the son of a tavern wench, with black hair, blue eyes, and a handsome young man, full of strength, was sent by a great lord to be an apprentice!
Until one day, this Child perhaps discovered some great secret and fled King's Landing," Varys said dramatically.
All eyes turned to the King; all sounds ceased at this moment.
The bastards left by the King after his ascension, if discovered by Cersei, were often silenced.
"A scandal! This is an explosive scandal!"
"What! Do I have such a grown son? Gendry?" King Robert was somewhat stunned.
The King didn't know how many women he had slept with, nor how many bastards he had, and he didn't care about these Children.
"Too many coincidences are no longer accidental, Robert," Lord Jon said.
"Perhaps in 283 AC, the year we won."
"He is your Child, Robert! In 279 AC, when you were seventeen, living with Eddard in the Vale, you had your first Child!"
"So, could it also be?" King Robert thought for a moment, but couldn't make sense of it.
Stormlands, King's Landing, the Vale, the Westerlands, he had left his affections everywhere, but he never cared for these Children, except for his first bastard daughter, Mia.
"Seven Gods above! I can't bring this boy back from Across the Narrow Sea to see if he's really my bastard," the King's face flushed.
"Even if he is my bastard, he's already entangled with the dragon's bastards, and is already a traitor to House Baratheon."
"This is truly a matter of Wights, my brother's bastard, the remnants of House Targaryen, and if you add the Golden Company, the remnants of the Blackfyre Rebellion, this truly is a Restorer's Alliance!" Lord Renly laughed heartily.
"Enough!" Stannis said, glaring at Robert.
The King's bastard had caused great trouble.
"We must confront their threat.
As the saying goes, bastards are the product of desire and lies, growing faster than other Children, with wantonness and betrayal flowing in their blood.
Myr is just Across the Narrow Sea, and that great fleet will sooner or later bring back the orphans of House Targaryen!"
The lesson of the Blackfyre Rebellion was right before them; it seemed House Baratheon might also face the threat of a Bastard rebellion, especially since it was intertwined with the remnants of House Targaryen.
"I can't wait for them to land and leave these troubles for Joffrey!" King Robert cursed.
"And those remaining of The King's party, who knows how many are waiting for the return of the dragon's remnants!
Oh, and keep this message secret from Cersei for now.
I don't like that stupid woman chattering all the time, I hate it."
Lord Jon looked at the generous King, wanting to speak but holding back.
Stannis had told him a secret that kept him awake.
"Are we to attack them?" Stannis emphasized.
He had no immediate intention of deploying troops; the source of the chaos was in King's Landing, within The Red Keep.
"We do have a fleet, but it needs time for training, and besides, I cannot personally lead it; kinslaying is a great sin!"
Varys smiled sweetly, "If sacrificing one person can save millions, then the well-being of one person is insignificant compared to millions."
Lord Renly added, "Viserys and his sister should have been killed long ago, but you, my King, believed Lord Jon."
"But Daenerys, and your Child, Robert, are after all just Children! Perhaps not yet sixteen or seventeen, this is immoral!" Lord Jon said.
"We must kill all of House Targaryen!" the King roared.
"They should be killed!" Lord Renly added.
"We have no choice!" Varys murmured.
"What a pity, what a pity."
Lord Jon felt isolated; perhaps he should call someone over now, Eddard.
"Your Majesty, engaging in battle is an honorable thing.
But murdering Children is dishonorable.
Moreover, one of them is your son; even if he is a bastard, it does not absolve you of suspicion.
Please forgive me, I support Lord Jon's approach," Ser Barristan declared.
Grand Maester Pycelle spent several minutes clearing his throat.
"My organization aims to benefit the entire kingdom, not just the rulers.
I loyally served King Aerys, just as I now serve King Robert, so I bear no ill will towards his daughter.
But I ask you—if war breaks out again, how many soldiers will perish in the wilderness? How many villages will be burned to the ground? How many Children will be snatched from their mothers' arms and die by the sword?" He twirled his long white beard, looking compassionate and weary.
"If the death of one Daenerys can save thousands of lives, would that not be a wiser, or even more merciful, course of action?"
"More merciful," Varys said, "Oh, Grand Maester, well said, truly nothing could be more correct.
Indeed, if the Gods above were to slip up and grant Daenerys Targaryen a son, a legitimate Child of Baratheon and Targaryen blood, then the kingdom would inevitably suffer bloodshed."
Littlefinger spoke last, but with a changed tone.
"My Lords, perhaps words are mightier than swords!
I can take my silver tongue Across the Narrow Sea, and perhaps my words can persuade that good Child who has lost his way to hand over Daenerys and her brother!"
"Hand over Daenerys?" Ser Barristan looked at Littlefinger.
"With gold, with rewards, with titles, let's see if this good Child Gendry is still willing to return?" Littlefinger cleared his throat.
"You're thinking too simply!" Lord Renly scoffed.
"Gendry possesses Myr and the Disputed Lands, holds Daenerys's claim, and assuming he also gets the support of the Golden Company, he has the power to cause us great trouble!
What do you offer to satisfy him? A piece of land, a bit of gold?"
"Where there's a will, there's a way, Lord Renly!
Your good nephew may just be misguided, and I will move him with smiles and gifts!" Littlefinger said with certainty.
"If my plan fails, it won't be too late to prepare poison and assassins!
The key is, what gift do we offer?"
"Gold, a castle!" Robert's face flushed.
"I will not admit him into the royal family, nor will I negotiate with traitors!
No matter what, I am his father!"
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