The Glory of the Seven Gods of Ice and Fire

Chapter 208: Winner in the Quagmire

"Prime Minister, Her Majesty the Queen Mother came to see you again just now."

"Tell her that there is no need to bother her anymore. I have already arranged for a ship to send Myrcella away a few days ago. The captain is a loyal gentleman. He will never return home before the princess is safely sent to the Holy War Port."

Facing the servant who came to deliver the message, the current Hand of the King, Ser Kevan Lannister, replied, "Tell Her Royal Highness the Queen Mother for me that instead of focusing her energy on arguing with me and turning the princess's ship back, she should think about how to restore her and her son's reputation among the people of the capital and restore their prestige among the nobles of the royal domain. The people of King's Landing seem to be quiet now, partly because of the Lannister army and partly because of the Tyrell food, but they lack love and trust in the royal family. This is the evil she has caused!"

Facing his niece who came to harass him again, Kevan got angry, which was very rare. Looking at the servants who left, he couldn't help but miss his brother Tywin. If Tywin was still here and the two brothers still cooperated tacitly, how great it would be. It's a pity that he is gone...

Every time Kevan thought of his brother, he thought of the man who killed him, Tyrion, Tywin's dwarf son. Although the strained relationship between the father and son was well known, it was unexpected that he would commit patricide, an act of treason that was unacceptable in all ethical doctrines...

Kevan still remembers that quiet night when the entire army was resting. Unexpectedly, news of the rebellion of the mountain clan suddenly came. At first, he thought that the barbarians led by his nephew mutinied because they could not rob or the spoils were not divided evenly. He could not help but worry about his nephew's safety, but when the dust settled, he found that it was his nephew who launched the rebellion.

His goal was very clear, which was to go to his brother's tent. During the process, the mountain barbarians slaughtered all of Tywin's guards. Then, Tyrion led his men into the tent and captured Tywin - this was said by the surviving servants.

No one knew what happened in the big tent next, but looking at his brother's body, Kevan knew that his brother must have experienced great pain when he died. The silent sisters in King's Landing spent far more time and energy than usual to give the Duke of the West a decent burial. This tragic scene made Kevan wonder what kind of hatred could lead father and son to kill each other like this.

Tywin has always been too harsh on Tyrion, and his brothers have seen all of this. Although Kevan and others have tried to persuade their brother, it has had little effect.

At this moment, the dispute between the brother and nephew that lasted for who knows how many years ended in blood. Kevan couldn't help feeling sad in his heart, but he didn't know whether it was for his brother or his nephew, or maybe both.

After killing his father, Tyrion led the mountain clans to the nearest port, where they robbed several ships and sailed directly out to sea, with their destination undoubtedly being the East.

When the news of Lord Tywin's death and his coffin arrived in King's Landing, the kingdom, which had just been stabilized, was shaken again. Many people were saddened by the death of the pillar of the kingdom, others were calculating what benefits they could gain from this chaos, and some were secretly celebrating the death of the Prime Minister - Kevan knew them, most of these people were citizens of King's Landing, and naturally they had not forgotten what the Lannisters had done.

Originally, Cersei wanted to severely punish those who disrespected her father, but the King's Landing Council persuaded her by using the previous riot in King's Landing. In the end, these people had to serve several months of hard labor in the city as the price for their dirty mouths.

Cersei was so angry at those who were disrespectful, so needless to say she was even more furious at her brother who killed her father. From the moment she received the news, the Queen Mother demanded that a fleet be sent to intercept her dwarf brother and bring him back to King's Landing for trial, but the Royal Court did not approve this idea.

On the one hand, although the Imp's destination is definitely the East, no one knows where he will go. If they don't even know the destination, how can the fleet find it in the vast ocean? On the other hand, the current situation is not suitable for the fleet to leave the port: although Stannis has lost on land, his royal fleet is still crisscrossing the sea, and Dragonstone is also under his control. If the King's Landing fleet leaves the port rashly, the capital's coastal defense will inevitably be threatened.

Kevan understood his niece's anger and he wanted to ask the little devil why it was so, but the kingdom was still in the shadow of war. Even Tywin and Jaime's body had to stay in the Great Sept of Baelor and wait for the war to end before being sent back to Casterly Rock for burial. What about a fleet that needed to be defended? Everything had to be done in order of priority.

After being troubled by his nephew's question that might never be answered, Kevan put it aside for the time being. He was very busy now and couldn't spend too much time on what had happened.

Although Kevan now sits on the Iron Throne as Prime Minister, this has never been his goal or vision. He would rather handle affairs as his brother's deputy.

But now Tywin died too suddenly, and Jaime also died on the front line. If his clever nephew had not killed his father, Kevan would have considered letting him succeed Tywin. Unfortunately, this is impossible - the Lannister family urgently needs someone to stand up and take charge of the situation.

And right now, the candidate can only be him: Tygett has to stay in the East to clean up the mess, Gillian is more of a fleet commander than a commander and cannot get back to King's Landing for a while, and the abilities and intentions of those side branches are difficult to judge. If he doesn't step up, it can't be his niece who has messed up the good situation left by Robert in just a few months to take the lead.

Thinking of this, Kevan shook his head helplessly. For the first time, he felt that the family was short of manpower.

If Cersei came to power, the first ally to raise questions would probably be the Tyrells, Kevan thought.

At the beginning of his tenure as Hand of the King, he had planned to marry Cersei to the disabled son of Mace Tyrell according to the plan left by Tywin, but the other party firmly refused, as if he was afraid of catching the plague.

In response, Kevan could only smile bitterly. Tyrell's reaction was not surprising. Cersei was simply too notorious.

He had originally thought of arranging a marriage for Cersei as soon as possible, so that she could leave King's Landing as soon as possible and no longer influence the political situation, and also bring a new ally to the family. Unfortunately, her "performance" in King's Landing has been exposed to all the nobles in the world.

Perhaps, in the eyes of some common people, she was still a noble queen mother, but as long as this person had a little insight, he would know the straw core under the gorgeous appearance of his niece, and know that she was a foolish woman who led the kingdom to decline without knowing it. Who would be willing to marry a prodigal woman? This marriage plan was probably not going to be accomplished for a while.

As a second best option, after reconfirming the alliance with the Tyrells, Kevan pushed forward the marriage between Joffrey Baratheon and Margaery Tyrell. Kevan did not feel relieved until the wedding was completed.

By now, this alliance has finally been stabilized.

And then, he will have to face the problem of how to govern the new and old seven kingdoms.

In Westeros, the war for the Iron Throne was going very smoothly. Since the Battle of the Red Fork, the momentum of Stark and Tully has been declining, and now they can only survive.

When Frey brought in the Eastern Army to completely defeat the Wolf and Fish Alliance, their remnants are now trapped in Tully's castle, and Frey's army has surrounded it in three layers; let alone fish, not even a shrimp can get through the blockade line under the Twin Towers.

In addition, since the Stark Young Wolf was also trapped in the city, the Northerners who had lost their leader were now in disarray. On the west bank of the Green Fork River, many of the Northern troops who were not besieged took the initiative to leave the team and embarked on the road back north, while many chose to become bandits and occupy the land, adding salt to the bloodshed in the river.

On the east bank of the Green Fork, Bolton of the Dreadfort directly swore allegiance to the Iron Throne and led many northern lords to return to the Iron Throne, which dealt a heavy blow to the Stark family.

Before his death, Tywin planned to send these surrendered troops back north to eliminate the rebels and stabilize the situation in the north for the Iron Throne. This was also the token of their surrender that they should submit.

Now, Kevan is also ready to continue his brother's plan and let the Northerners rule over the Northerners.

Thinking of this, Kevan became a little angry. The reason for his anger was very simple. Sansa Stark had been forced to stay in King's Landing just for today. Originally, in Tywin's plan, Jaime or Tyrion would marry this Stark girl, so that a child with Lannister blood could sit on the throne of Winterfell, and Lannister and the Iron Throne could turn more attention to the east. However, with the death of Tywin's male descendants, these plans have now failed.

Although the Lannisters have never lacked people of the same clan, the collateral branches are not as effective and reliable as Tywin's children, which can easily make them develop unnecessary disloyalty.

Speaking of his children... Lancel is useless. After experiencing so many events, he is now depressed and has begun to blindly believe in the Seven Gods. He is simply unable to sit in that position. Forcing him to do so will only lead to greater crisis and tragedy. As for the other children, they are still young and not suitable.

Perhaps Tyrek, the only son of Tygett, could do the job, Kevan thought. This young man had good character and good upbringing. Not only did he not have an engagement, but his age was also suitable for Sansa. He should be a good candidate.

However, after careful consideration, the Prime Minister rejected him. Although Tyrek met the basic requirements, he grew up in the East and knew little about the situation in Westeros. Moreover, he would inherit a large piece of eastern territory in the future. If he married Sansa, he would not be able to take care of the affairs on both sides of the Strait of Horror. The long-term separation of the couple would only cause greater chaos, and the situation might be even worse. As for the marriage and offspring of his younger brother Gillian, this time it was Kevan's turn to know very little. Sothoryos was originally a remote and wild place, and the fleet often had to patrol and escort. Gillian spent much more time on the ship than in the commander's mansion. This made it difficult for the brothers to communicate with him, and also caused a lack of information about his family. At present, Kevan only knew that he had a legalized illegitimate daughter, Jay Lannister, in the local area.

Of course, Kevan also understood that although he was still worrying about these things, from the overall situation, Stark and Tully were actually out of the game, and they just lacked the last handful of soil on their graves. When the Frey army captured Riverrun, these two families would be completely removed from the chessboard.

However, if this happens, the Frey family, another ally of the Lannisters, will inevitably become more powerful, and Kevan felt troubled when thinking about this.

Hejian has always been a place of war. Due to the lack of strategic locations, lords from all directions can attack this rich land. But if a powerful ruler appears in Hejian and unifies the entire territory, then the well-connected terrain will also allow them to attack from all directions and sweep away all the enemies.

At this moment, as a transaction of the alliance, the Commandery of the Riverlands will inevitably fall into the hands of the Freys. In this way, the Frey family will hold two command territories. In more than ten years, they have transformed from second-tier nobles to the best among first-tier nobles. Not only have they stepped onto the stage of power game, but they have also occupied an important position.

After this, a powerful vassal will appear to the north of the Iron Throne. The problem is that there is no strong bond between the royal family and this vassal, not to mention the close and complicated relationship between it and the nobles of the East, especially the Lord of the East. This makes Frey appear even more powerful.

"Since the fall of the Gongping Dynasty, the Three Rivers Kingdom has once again seen a powerful force that can truly command the obedience of the lords."

Kevan thought helplessly, "The Lannisters should not just passively respond. If there is a chance, the Freys' power should be properly curbed. There cannot be another Tyrell or an Eastern Regent on the Iron Throne."

After thinking about the north, the next thing is the south. Compared with the much better situation in the north, the enemies in the south are relatively much more difficult to deal with.

Stannis's disastrous defeat caused him to lose a large number of troops, and many nobles from the River Reach and Stormlands turned against him again, but Stannis still had a powerful army in his hands.

Although the Stormlands have generally returned to normal, he still has the support of Tyrosh, and the solid base of Storm's End is also in his hands. On the sea, the powerful royal fleet is still active, and now the Narrow Sea is blocked by Stannis.

However, after forming an alliance with the Tyrells, the Arbor and Lys fleets stationed in the river bay have set sail under the command of Lord Redwyne, and Gillian is also leading the Iron Throne's Southern Fleet back, a fleet that has been fighting on the ocean for many years.

In the midst of war, Kevan was very happy to receive news from his younger brother.

Since the war began, the Southland Territory has been cut off from Westeros due to the active Eastern Navy, and the maesters have not bred enough ravens to cross the Summer Sea over the years.

Therefore, Junlin knew nothing about what was going on with Gillian.

And the activeness of the pirate Euron - oh, now he is the Duke of the Iron Islands - makes Kevan worry about his brother's life. That guy is capable of anything.

However, Kevan no longer has to worry. Shortly after returning to King's Landing, a speeder ship sent by Gillian delivered reassuring news.

Soon, his brother would be able to lead the well-equipped fleet to the capital of the kingdom. After experiencing so much chaos, Kevan couldn't wait to meet him.

After talking about the enemies, the next thing to talk about is the "allies". The first one to be most worried about is undoubtedly Hu Ge.

In Kevan's opinion, Duke Hugo is essentially the same kind of person as Littlefinger. Both of them are thieves who use the most noble reasons to do the most despicable things. Compared with Littlefinger, they just use different means.

Not long ago, Littlefinger, "at the behest of Lady Lysa of the Vale", used plunder and deception, and under the guise of a meeting and negotiation, forcibly captured all the nobles of the Vale who were dissatisfied with him, and gained actual ruling power over the Vale.

In the east, Hugo gained power over most of the new seven kingdoms in the name of acting as regent and leading the army to resist the enemy.

The difference between these two people is that Littlefinger's purpose is too obvious, making himself notorious, while Hugo's method is more gentle and roundabout, and most people just think he is a capable minister in troubled times.

However, Kevan is not without ways to deal with Hugo. Since Hugo's rule and support are based on "nobility", the Iron Throne can naturally use "nobility" to restrain him; since he rules in the name of assisting the Iron Throne, then he will let him go a step further and become a completely loyal minister.

Therefore, Kevan decisively sent Myrcella over. Regardless of whether Hugo agreed to the marriage or not, he could not refuse the Iron Throne's act of sending the princess. If he chose to refuse or send the princess back, there would be many people in the New Seven Kingdoms who were loyal to the late king and the Baratheon royal family, and these people would be enough to cause him a lot of trouble.

This act alone is enough to send the political signal that the Lannisters need.

Of course, Kevan did not expect that a marriage would be able to restrain Hugo. If this could stabilize the East, that would naturally be the best. If it couldn't, that was also expected. Kevan had already thought of a response plan.

In general, the Prime Minister's attitude towards Hugo is to maintain stability for as long as possible, allowing the Lannister family and the Iron Throne as much time as possible to recover their strength - even if they decide to go to war, it must be after pacifying the current enemy.

As for the other so-called "allies", Dorne and the Iron Islands, these two have never participated in this war from beginning to end, and Kevan is no longer too worried about the possibility of them suddenly joining the battle.

Prince Doran of Dorne is an extremely stable man. Over the years, he has concentrated on managing his territory and rarely responded to external situations.

However, Kevan suspected that this was just an appearance. He definitely had not forgotten his sister's blood feud, which could be seen from the words of Red Viper and other members of the Martell family.

And if Dorne really wanted to send troops for revenge, given his character, he would never act unless he was fully sure. Otherwise, the prince should have raised the banner of rebellion when Viserys occupied one-third of the new Seven Kingdoms. If he wanted to make up his mind, it would probably only be after the return of the last Targaryen descendant in the east.

However, that person is still far away, and Kevan is not concerned about such distant things now. The situation is complicated and the problems in front of him cannot be solved. It is useless to care about it. He will wait until the Targaryen girl actually arrives - to see if this girl can deal with her husband's unruly subordinates.

As for Dorne, Kevan was considering appeasing the other side and sending the Mountain's head if necessary; as for the rumors of the return of the dragons from afar, Kevan was only half-believing and half-doubting, and allocated some extra resources to make preparations: the situation in Westeros alone was enough to make him exhausted.

The situation in the Iron Islands is even more tricky. The newly appointed mad duke is really unpredictable and must be treated with caution. Therefore, Kevan left a lot of troops in the Westerlands and did not let the Westerlands fleet in Lannister Port weigh anchor and sail east.

It is difficult to judge the thinking of the Ironborn with common sense. The situation was better when Harold was in power, and he barely suppressed the restless leaders. But now Harold was forced to leave the Iron Islands after all. The Iron Throne no longer has any reliable allies in the Islands...

Just as Kevan's mind was filled with these confusing things, suddenly, a piece of news from his servant excited him.

Because Gillian's Southern Fleet has finally arrived.

(End of this chapter)