"So that is the Iron Throne," he said, thankful that he was at least fifty feet away from the monstrosity, for it gave off the same sort of light that Valyrian steel did, though nowhere near as intense nor as uncomfortably bright to his eyes.
"Aye, forged in dragonfire by Aegon the conqueror nearly three hundred years ago," replied Varys, who was standing beside him. The pair of them were occupying a hidden chamber off to one side of the Throne Room, from where one could covertly observe the Iron Throne and most of the vast expanse of the Throne Room.
It was probably for the best that he had never tried to claim this monstrosity for himself, for he might never have been even able to sit upon it, due to the way if shined with its uncomfortable magics.
This hidden chamber was about twenty feet above the floor of the Throne Room and had several narrow slits from which to observe the Iron Throne itself and the Throne Room in general. The secret passageways to reach it were rather convoluted, but as initial work had commenced on his hideaway under the Red Keep, he had insisted on his chambers being joined to the access ways to this perch in as most direct way as possible.
He knew he would likely spend much of his time here when court was in session, he had no actual need to, but seeing and sensing the atmosphere of the court would be beneficial to him he was certain.
But then again, it would mean he would have to be in the presence of that dammed hunk of metal, which was giving him a headache just by being this close to it. No, he might forego this perch and reply instead on his thralls to inform him and keep him up to date on the goings on at court. And he could just pluck what he wanted from the minds of whomever he required as needed, so yes, he decided that this roost would be superfluous, except in specific circumstances.
It was well after dark and the great windows behind the Iron Throne were letting silver moonlight bathe the Iron Throne and its attendant Throne Room.
Varys had also taken him to see the dragon skulls, and they had emitted a similar glow to what he was now seeing from the Iron Throne, obviously the magic of dragons was something of an anathema to him. And he wondered, not for the first time, if he might struggle to manipulate these Targaryen's, would they glow equally with the light of the magic that was supposed to flow in their blood?
Was he about to make the greatest mistake of his long, long life? Was his hubris and arrogance finally about to consign him to the true death?
He shook himself to clear his head of these maudlin thoughts, no, he had not seen any evidence of this from the many of the Old Blood in Volantis he had seen, fucked and even drained dry of their blood.
Their blood was like that of any other mortal, though if he was forced to admit it, the blood of those who had the features of Old Valyria was quite...exquisite in taste, it had subtle hints and flavors that he had never encountered before. His vampire leech was very, very partial to its taste and lusted after it with a tenacious passion, which though he was loathe to deny, he had to for numerous practical reasons, not least being that it was father scarce in Westeros compared to Essos in general and Volantis in particular.
"And how is the fallout from the deaths of Lord Renly and Ser Loras affecting our poor King?" he asked in a soft voice.
"Not well, Robert is distraught...."
"At Renly's death, the manner of his death or the fact that it was obvious what he and Loras were up to before their untimely demise?"
Varys gave a little, tight smile at this "a bit of all three master, though mostly at the later, and even more so that his brother's predilections were discovered. Littlefinger was particularly adroit in making sure that Cersei Lannister was made aware of the exact circumstance of Renly's death. Her Grace the Queen has made sure that these details are being spread far and wide, despite Robert's rage and ineffective efforts to suppress the story."
"And the Tyrell's?"
"Their agents are vigorously sniffing around for any evidence as to who the killer was, with no luck so far
"The matter of the bastards of King Robert?"
"Lord Stark is diligently pursuing the crumbs that Littlefinger is laying down for him."
"And Lord Tyrion Lannister?"
"Due to the unfortunate events in Winterfell, he has avoided returning via the land route and is currently believed to be on his way to Kings Landing on a carrack from Eastwatch by the Sea.
His dreams and active precognition had warned him of the events that would surround Lord Tyrion and despite their capacity to cause chaos, of which Baelish was overly fond of to his mind, he had decided that the trouble caused by the capture of Lord Tyrion should be avoided.
But the death of Brandon Stark had neatly avoided all of this, Tyrion Lannister never travelled south from the Wall, Catelyn Stark had never come south, remaining in Winterfell deep in mourning. Allowing him to steer the plotting to the eventuality that he wanted.
His dreams of the imp, as Lord Tyrion was known, had showed him that a smart and shrewd mind resided in the dwarf's head. He could make use of that, and Lord Tyrion would make a good enough Warden of the West once Tywin Lannister was disposed of. He had a certain grudging respect for the Old Lion, his methods were very effective to his mind, but he needed to go to ensure that Lannister power was broken, and that the Martel's would fully support the restoration of House Targaryen that he was working towards.
Of course House Targaryen would be a mere shell, and mere illusion, to hide what lay behind, namely him. He would be the true power in the land, the true King, the secret King Him, Faethor Ferenczy, though the three headed dragon sigil would fly over the land, his sigil, the fanged skull dripping blood with a crimson eyed bat above would rule over all!
"Events in Essos?" he asked casually of Varys, knowing that the man, no, the eunuch, for he was no man if he did not have balls, was well informed of the events that were of interest to him on that continent.
"Proceeding apace, Aegon and his minders are making straight for Volantis, where they will board a ship for Pentos, Prince Viserys and Princess Daenerys are as of yet unaware of Aegon's existence. And they will remain so until they will meet the perfect prince'."
"Viserys will unlikely to be happy with this development though. Should he make excessive trouble he can have a tragic accident befall him," he added with barely a morsel of thought.
"As you wish master," came the swift reply from Varys, who paused and then added. "What, what are your exact plans master, for, for the restoration of the Targaryen dynasty?"
"The three remaining 'heads of the dragon will be revealed, probably just before King Robert finally expires from the attempts of his wife to kill him. About the same time I will use some of my....powers to make sure that the story of Cersei's cuckholding of Robert gains widespread acceptance. The Lannisters will no doubt try and place Joffrey on the Throne by violence, we will prevent this of course, and we will make sure that the inevitable power vacuum is filled as soon as possible with the returning dragons. Lord Stark may prove an interesting pawn in all of this, he may even prove vital to our cause, unwitting fool that he ist"
"You, you intend to use him to grant legitimacy to the claims of the bastardry of Cersei's children?"
"Of course I do, Baelish is even now diligently seeking out Robert's plethora of bastards in Kings landing and ensuring their safety, Cersei will likely act against them the moment claims of her own offspring's bastardry surface."
"Have, have you suborned Lord Stark yet?" Varys asked casually, but the intense intent in his voice was unmissable to him.
"Not yet, in fact I have plans to commence that tiresome task this very evening."
"And the Royal children, once their bastardy is proven?"
"Well, that will depend on our new King will it not, but death for Joffrey is certain, Tommen may be allowed to take the Black."
Varys hesitated slightly before asking "and Princess Myrcella?"
"I will see to the little princess Varys, never you mind, along with her mother, at least initially."
"Yes master," Varys replied easily.