Silver Stag

Trouble Brewing In King's Landing

"We need time. Khal Drogo will not make his move until his son is born. You know how these savages are."

"Delay," you say. "Move fast, " I reply. This is no longer a game for two players." Varys told him.

"It nevr was."

Arya watched as the men left before emerging from the dragon's jaws and running to the gate, only to find it locked. With no other choice, she ran off in another direction.

[King's Landing -- The Throne Room]

Littlefinger stood staring up at the Iron Throne when Lord Varys entered the room.

"The first to arrive and the last to leave. I admire your industry."

"You do move quietly."

"We all have our qualities." Varys told him.

"You look a bit lonely today. You should pay a visit to my brоthеl this evening. First boy is on the house."

"I think you're mistaking business with pleasure."

"Am I? All those birds that whisper in your ear ... such pretty little things. Trust me, we accommodate all inclinations." Littlefinger teased.

"Oh, I'm sure. Lord Redwyne likes his boys very young, I hear." 

"I'm a purveyor of beauty and discretion -- both equally important."

"Though I suppose beauty is a subjective quality, no? Is it true that Ser Marlon of Tumblestone prefers amputees?"

"All desires are valid to a man with a full purse."

"And I heard the most awful rumor about a certain lord with a taste for fresh cadavers. Must be enormously difficult to accommodate that inclination. The logistics alone ... to find beautiful corpses before they rot. "

"Strictly speaking, such a thing would not be in accordance with the King's laws."

"Strictly speaking."

"Tell me. Does someone, somewhere, keep your balls in a little box? I've often wondered."

"Do you know, I have no idea where they are? And we had been so close. But enough about me. How have you been since we last saw each other?"

"Since you last saw me or since I last saw you?"

"Now the last time I saw you, you were talking to the Hand of the King."

"Saw me with your own eyes?"

"Eyes I own." Varys replied.

"Council business. We all have so much to discuss with Ned Stark."

"Everyone's well aware of your enduring fondness for Lord Stark's wife. If the Lannisters were behind the attempt on the Stark boy's life and it was discovered that you helped the Starks come to that conclusion ... To think a simple word to the Queen ..."

"One shudders at the thought."

"Ooh." Varys shuddered, mockingly.

"But you know something? I do believe that I have seen you even more recently than you have seen me."

"Have you?"

"Yes. Earlier today, I distinctly recall seeing you talking to Lord Stark in his chambers."

"Was that you under the bed?"

"And not long after that when I saw you escorting a certain foreign dignitary ... Council business? Of course you would have friends from across The Narrow Sea. You're from there yourself, after all. We're friends, aren't we, Lord Varys? I'd like to think we are. So you can imagine my burden, wondering if the King might question my friend's sympathies -- to stand at a crossroads where turning left means loyalty to a friend, turning right -- loyalty to the realm."