-Chapter 82-
-POV Olenna Tyrell-
"What is wrong, Margaery?" asked Mace to his daughter, his face showing concern for her well-being, before adding, "You seem distracted these days."
Margaery gave me a furtive glance before turning her attention back to her father, who awaited a response from the future queen.
'I will prevent you from making a big mistake, my dear,' I thought, understanding what she was about to do.
"It's just nostalgia..." I began, but my granddaughter interrupted without any regard for me or my rank:
"No, that's not it."
"Then what is it?" Mace asked, confused.
I stared into my granddaughter's eyes, daring her to challenge me, and she hesitated briefly before saying:
"Father, I haven't been able to sleep lately; I keep having nightmares."
"What kind of nightmares?"
"Horrible nightmares," she said, perfectly playing the role of a wounded little bird.
She added in a truly worried tone:
"I'm afraid that the Bloody Griffon will try to take revenge by attacking us."
"Ronnet Connington can't do anything against our armies. He doesn't have enough men to fight both the Lannisters and us," said my son, correctly repeating my own words, which I had repeated to him many times to calm his doubts and feed the pride he felt against that man.
'Men and their pride, they are so easy to manipulate,' I thought, both sad and satisfied that my son was like all the others.
"But I saw him fight, Father..."
I seized this moment to build on my son's words and cut off Margaery, who was trying to make her point:
"You are absolutely right, my son. You should listen to your father. Once Paxter has fully and definitively sunk the fleet of this Bloody Griffon, it will be a griffon without claws, and we will finish him off by mobilizing all our forces jointly with those of the Lannisters and His Majesty Tommen Baratheon, first of his name, who, I must remind you, is your fiancé."
Margaery frowned, furious that her little plan had failed.
I kept a slight smile on my lips as I watched her, admiring her tenacity and cunning.
'Despite her lack of discernment,' I thought, disappointed on that point.
"Anyway, he's too angry with the Lannisters to even think about attacking us. I still don't understand why he's so angry with them when he's the one who decided to betray them, not the other way around," said Mace.
'Fool,' I thought, seeing my granddaughter's eyes light up again.
"That's not what grandmother told me," Margaery said, seizing the opportunity Mace had unknowingly given her, before adding:
"It seems that Tywin Lannister had the ambition to muzzle the Bloody Griffon, but he couldn't do it alone. So he asked for grandmother's support. She knew of Tywin Lannister's plan even before Ronnet Connington betrayed Tommen."
Mace frowned, confused, and turned to me.
I kept silent, knowing that Margaery was determined to expose my double game.
"Mother, is this true?" Mace asked, wearing an expression of betrayal.
"She wrote the message for uncle Paxter right in front of me," my granddaughter added, fully revealing her thorns.
'Is it strange that I feel proud of her courage?' I wondered, shaking my head inwardly at this excess of ardor.
'Unfortunately, she is still too young to see as far as I can in this game...'
Droite briefly interrupted my thoughts by whispering in my ear:
"A message from the Warden of the West, Tywin Lannister."
"Mother," insisted Mace, demanding a response from me.
"Be quiet, Mace. We were in a difficult position. I did what was necessary for our House to survive and regain its rightful place, even if my dear, ungrateful granddaughter does not think the same as I do," I said, slightly annoyed, as I unfolded the letter, challenging everyone at the table with my gaze.
I lowered my eyes to read the letter I held, and from the first lines, I felt my heart beat faster.
---
Lady Olenna,
I regret to inform you that Ronnet Connington has sent an army to attack your lands and is now besieging the Goldtooth, making it impossible for me to come to your aid.
Ronnet has gathered 75,000 men at the foot of my walls, so he should not be able to summon many more, even with the participation of the Riverlords.
Do not let him isolate the crownlands.
Tywin Lannister
---
'If it's just an attack of this scale, we have nothing to fear. We have the largest army in the kingdom, and we can still summon more if we wish,' I thought, calming myself. It was only a small-scale attack.
"Mace, send ravens to our vassals to gather their armies," I said, deciding to play the card of caution nevertheless.
"Why?" he asked, frowning.
"What is happening?" asked Willas, who had been particularly silent until then.
"We are under attack," I said without going into detail.
"By Ronnet Connington?" Margaery asked.
I nodded, and seeing that Margaery looked at me with an expression that seemed to say, "See, I was right," I added:
"This attack is a mistake. He has invested too many men in this war. He sent 75,000 soldiers to the Goldtooth, according to Tywin."
"That's far too many," said Willas, noting the considerable number of men mobilized, especially for a kingdom with significantly fewer troops than the Reach.
"Hmm," I agreed, nodding at my grandson.
"So, if we count the soldiers left behind to secure his lands, as well as the workers, he doesn't have many troops left. He can't have more than 20,000," I estimated.
"But as a precaution, we should send ravens to the lords closest to the usurper's territories," suggested Willas, also opting for caution.
'What a shame he is now crippled; he would have made such a great man,' I thought, as he was the most complete child of my descendants.
"I agree, but the most important thing is to send those ravens quickly. We must not give this man any chance to recover. We must take Griffin's Roost before he realizes his mistake," I said, finally seeing a quick resolution to this conflict.