The Mountain of Ice and Fire

"Anguy, are you willing to become a member of House Clegane? Ser Gregor's personal guard needs an outstanding warrior like you," Sweetmouth Raff asked with a smile.

"I'd be delighted!" Anguy was a likable young man even when he was lying, and he said it as if it were true. "Ser, you must know that I'm penniless right now, and I'd have no face to go home without making a name for myself… Miss, could you please lower your crossbow…" Julie then lowered her crossbow, which made Anguy secretly relieved. "I would be very happy to become a guard for Ser Gregor. It would be even better if I could become a knight like Ser Raff in the future!"

"Get in the carriage. A marksman like you, as long as you swear allegiance to the Mountain, and perform well in the future, the Mountain will definitely grant you knighthood!" Sweetmouth Raff, with the dignity of a knight, diligently held open the curtain for Anguy.

Anguy's lips tasted bitter, but he had no choice but to take off the longbow from his back and get into the carriage.

Even if the entire city guard were here, they couldn't save him. It's common practice in the Seven Kingdoms for capable commoners to be recruited by nobles as guards or to fill other positions. It's like the Mountain crossing over to find a job during his university vacation.

The Mountain sent his men to pick him up in a carriage, offering Anguy a job he needed.

The only difference was that when the King, the Hand, and the great lords invited Anguy, they used polite words. The Mountain, in addition to polite words, also added Julie's short crossbow and Polliver's nail-like gaze.

Given that the Mountain's sincerity in inviting him was higher than that of the King and the Hand, and he was more eager to find talent than Duke Renly and the Knight of Flowers, Anguy made a wise choice.

Recruiting talent also requires attention to methods. Sending a captain of the guard like Hand Eddard, with his flowery language, to invite Anguy half-heartedly, reasoning with him emotionally, that kind of 'civilized people talking things out' recruitment method was obviously far behind the Mountain's simple and crude approach.

*

Night. Hand's Tower. Study.

Hand Eddard's thoughts were interrupted by a light knock on the door.

"Enter!"

Guard Harwin entered: "My Lord, someone wants to see you, but he refuses to give his name."

"Oh!" Ned was in a bad mood, but he patiently nodded.

Fat Harwin seemed even fatter. Damn it, couldn't he train harder? However, the warm southern climate did stimulate the appetite.

The visitor was burly, wearing muddy, tattered boots, and draped in a heavy brown robe made of extremely rough material. His face was hidden by a hooded cloak, and his hands were concealed in the many layers of sleeves.

"May I ask who you are?" Ned asked.

"I am your friend." The masked man said in a strange, low voice. "Lord Stark, we need to talk alone."

Ned assessed the danger. He could see that although the man was tall, he was not wearing any weapons, or if he was, they were close-fitting weapons such as daggers and short knives. "Harwin, you may leave."

"Yes, my Lord!"

Harwin retreated, closed the door, and stood outside. As long as Lord Eddard in the room called out, he could immediately enter the room. The door closed, and the visitor lifted his hood.

"Lord Varys?" Ned was surprised. "How did you get past my guards outside the tower, and how did you get past the guards on the stairs? They wouldn't let you in if you didn't give your name."

"Lord Stark," Varys said politely, sitting down on his own. "There are secret passages in the Red Keep that only ghosts and spiders know." Varys smiled apologetically. "I won't disturb you for too long, my Lord, but there are some things you must know. You are the Hand of the King, but the King is a fool."

"Disguised like this, I probably wouldn't recognize you even if you were right under my nose," Eddard said in disbelief. He had never seen the eunuch wear clothes made of other materials besides silk, velvet, and the finest brocade. Eunuchs always smelled of lilac, but this man smelled of sweat.

"I will take your words as a compliment to me. This matter is confidential, and if I am recognized, I am dead."

"Then, what is the purpose of your visit, my Lord?" Eddard's tone became sharp.

"Lord Hand, I am here to seek allies! Before the tourney, I didn't know if you were my ally. After the tourney, I knew that you were my only ally."

"Stop beating around the bush, my Lord," Eddard said coldly.

"Well, northerners always lack a little patience, just as they naturally lack a sense of humor. Lord Eddard, our King is a fool, isn't he? Although he is my King, I still have to say that. He is a fool who is in danger without even realizing it. He will soon be finished, unless we join forces to save his life."

Eddard's heart was filled with anger. "Lord Varys, you are the King's Master of Whisperers. Since you know that someone has threatened the King's life, why don't you take action? Why are you talking nonsense here?"

"Lord Hand, you are wrong. My men are spies who gather information, not warriors who wield swords. If I say the wrong thing, or reveal even the slightest hint, within a day, a drunkard's short knife will pierce my abdomen and cut my throat on the street. Who can I reason with then? Have you ever seen a eunuch go out with guards or wear armor? Even if I give the wrong look and someone becomes alert, I dare to bet that I won't live for three days in King's Landing. I will either choke to death on a bun, or fall down the stairs, break my head, and die of excessive blood loss."

Eddard stared at Varys: "Then who wants to harm the King?"

"My Lord, who wants to harm the King? I don't need to say it again, I believe you must understand!"

"Lannister?"

"I didn't say that, my Lord! However, my Lord has already saved the foolish King's life once, and it is because of your actions that I understand that you are my only ally. I also understand why the Queen is so afraid of you and sees you as a thorn in her side."

"When did I save the King's life?"

"You stopped the King from participating in the tourney," Varys said. "There were more than sixty people participating in the melee, and the arena was so chaotic. The Mountain wielded his black iron spiked mace, and knights fell one after another. If someone accidentally bumped into His Majesty the King, could you say that it was premeditated murder? When the King died, the murderer would definitely look grief-stricken. However, that dignified and compassionate widow would sympathize with him, and what else could our kind-hearted King Joffrey do but forgive him?" The eunuch made a mournful expression. "Or he might ask Ser Ilyn to chop off his head. Killing people to silence them, discarding them after they've served their purpose, there's no doubt that the Lannisters are capable of doing that."

"Are you telling the truth?" Eddard's hand clenched into a fist under the table. The Lannisters' audacity filled him with fear, anger, and a sense of battle. Eddard had always believed that courage came from fear, and now he felt fear. "Varys, you must come with me to see the King. You must tell the King what you have told me."

"No, no, no, Lord Hand, where is our evidence? Do you want me to confront the Queen face to face? To have my little birds fight against the Queen, the Kingslayer, the King's own brother, his entire court of ministers, and all the forces of Casterly Rock? You must know that the Mountain hasn't left King's Landing yet, and his men kill and set fires as easily as eating a bun. Why don't you just ask Ser Ilyn to chop off my head? That would be easier. If I go with you, how do you think the King should judge this matter in the Small Council? The Lannisters wanted to assassinate the King in the melee, so where is the evidence?"

Eddard was speechless!

"If what you say is true, the Lannisters will only strike again."

"That's definitely true!" Varys said. "I'm afraid their next attempt is not far off. Lord Eddard, the King will only listen to you. If it hadn't been for your intervention, the King would have entered the melee, and the consequences, I dare not imagine! Lord Hand, you have made the murderers uneasy. The two of us, working together, might be able to save the foolish King's life, just the two of us." He stood up, pulled up his cloak, and covered his face. "That's all for today. The next time you see me in court, please don't forget to use your usual contemptuous attitude."

Eddard's heart stirred: "Varys, how did Jon Arryn die? Tell me?"

"That thing is called 'Tears of Lys,' very rare and expensive. It tastes as sweet as water and leaves no trace. I was in this room at the time, begging Lord Arryn to arrange a food taster, but he wouldn't listen."

"Who poisoned him?"

"It was someone very close to him, a friend who often dined with him, someone who owed everything to Jon Arryn. But when Arryn's widow, Lysa Tully, fled back to the Eyrie with her family, he chose to stay in King's Landing and quickly rose from stable boy to knight. He wore that shiny new armor and that crescent cloak at the tourney. It's just a pity that he was more foolish than our respected King. He challenged the Mountain in the joust…"

"Ser Hugh." Ned pieced all the suspicions together. "Jon Arryn had been the Hand for fourteen years. What did he do to force the Lannisters to kill him?"

"I think Jon Arryn, like me, also smelled the Lannisters' plot to murder the King. Once the King dies, Joffrey will ascend the throne, and Joffrey is still a child, so power will naturally fall into the hands of the Lannisters."

*

Eddard slowly sat down, Varys's words resounding in his mind, echoing. The Lannisters murdered the Hand to murder the King, and now he himself had become the King's Hand.

And Varys had disappeared like a ghost in the Hand's Tower. He didn't leave through the door, nor did he go down the stairs, but magically disappeared without a trace.

Master of Whisperers Varys's residence in the Red Keep was located on the right side of the Red Keep's gate watchtower, close to the high walls of the Red Keep. The left side of the door faced diagonally across from the throne room. Along the Red Keep's walls to the south, past some simple, low stone buildings, was the White Sword Tower, where the Kingsguard resided.

Clunk, clunk, clunk!

In Varys's bedroom, the stone bed moved automatically without anyone touching it, slowly rising from the ground, little by little. Finally, the heavy stone bed stopped, and a figure crawled out from under the stone bed.

Clunk, clunk, clunk!

The stone bed slowly returned to its original position.

Varys took off his disguise, and suddenly his whole body stiffened. In the dark corner opposite him, someone was leaning against the wall, breathing evenly.