Chapter 65: Ian's New Plan
"Quickly! Sir Arys hit the wall! He's killed himself!" Ian's shout echoed up from the cellar.
Soon after, Ian's squire, Keith, and Sir Roger, son of Sir Wylis, came running down the stone steps.
"What's going on?" Roger demanded as he entered the cellar. He saw Ian first, squatting on the ground, and then his eyes fell on the crumpled form of Sir Arys lying next to him.
Roger rushed forward, holding his torch close to Arys's face. A large, bloody crater gaped in the man's forehead. The ground beside him was stained dark red.
"He's already dead. He suddenly became emotional and threw himself against the wall," Ian said, standing up. "I wanted to save him, but the injury was too severe."
As he spoke, Ian pointed to his own blood-soaked clothes. "I tried to help him stop the bleeding, but it was no use."
"Suicide by hitting a wall?" Roger asked, confused. "We tied his hands and feet when we captured him. How did he manage it?" In the middle of his sentence, he noticed the severed ropes lying next to the body. His face flushed with anger. "Did you untie him?"
"I was interrogating him, as your father knew," Ian said, his voice laced with feigned frustration. "But Sir Arys wasn't cooperating. He demanded I untie him and afford him the dignity a captured knight deserves."
"And you did it? Were you not afraid he would try to escape?"
"He doesn't have a right hand! How could he run?" Ian retorted, his own voice rising with manufactured anger, enough to quell Sir Roger's accusatory tone. "I just wanted him to confess more. How in the Seven Hells was I to know he would kill himself?"
"But—" Roger started to argue, but he forced the word back down his throat. He knew perfectly well that if Ian hadn't discovered the truth, his father's forces would have walked into a trap. Once Castle Darry showed its fangs from their rear, they might all have been doomed.
"My apologies, Sir Ian. My head is spinning," Sir Roger said, taking the initiative to apologize.
"The fault was mine," Ian shook his head, indicating he didn't mind the offense.
"So," Roger asked, his voice now calm, "what did you learn before he... did this?"
"A very, very frightening story," Ian said with a grim smile.
"What do you mean?"
"I believe this matter must be reported to the Iron Throne. Because what Arys and his friends are doing is treason."
"Treason?" Roger's mouth fell open. "Isn't that an exaggeration? They were just plundering."
"They are preparing to use the wealth they've plundered to raise an army and sail to Pentos, to join the remnants of House Targaryen."
"Just them?" Roger scoffed. "Do they truly believe they can retake the Iron Throne with a handful of men?"
"Of course not. Under my questioning, Arys revealed a terrible secret," Ian said gravely. "Illyrio, the Magister of Pentos, has arranged a marriage for the last of the Targaryens. They are to wed the 'Beggar King's' sister to the most powerful Khal on the Dothraki sea, and in exchange, this Khal has promised to help Viserys reclaim his throne."
"Seven Hells!"
"I don't know if it's true," Ian continued, "but we must report it to the Iron Throne as soon as possible. A khalasar of a hundred thousand men marching on Pentos cannot be hidden. If His Grace can confirm that, then he can confirm if what Arys said was the truth."
"But there's another leader of these 'Ghosts', isn't there? The one Symond confessed about, Sir Daeron Grafson. He should know a great deal. If we can capture him and force a confession—"
"If it were you, would you confess to treason?" Ian countered. "Just now, after accidentally leaking the truth, Arys chose to commit suicide immediately. He was terrified of his family being implicated."
Ian seamlessly found an excuse to cover for his lie.
Of course, Sir Arys did not commit suicide. I simply silenced him. And everyone else who knows that 'Ian Rivers,' bastard of House Darry, doesn't actually exist, will soon be executed on charges of treason.
"Well," Ian said, changing the subject, "where is your father? I must speak with him about these important matters."
"My father... he just had a quarrel with a Sir Beryn Loel," Roger said, looking helpless. "Sir Beryn is the captain of the first mercenary company we hired. They have been waiting here for a week for the Blackfyre Treasure, and as a result..."
"He cannot accept the fact that the Blackfyre Treasure doesn't exist?" Ian quickly guessed the reason for the dispute.
"Yes!" Sir Roger nodded emphatically. "Sir Beryn is demanding payment based on the treasure's supposed value of ten thousand gold dragons. The other sellswords, even those without such ambitions, have voiced their support for him."
"But the treasure doesn't exist. All we seized from the cellar were eight carts of goods—two of fine liquor, one of quality furs, half a cart of velvet, half a cart of raw silk, and some antlers."
"They want a thousand gold dragons? Is the total value of these goods even a thousand dragons?" Ian asked, cutting him off.
"No! Even if we hauled all this to a place where we could get a high price, we'd get five hundred dragons at most. If we sold it off quickly in King's Landing, it would be less than three hundred," Roger said, his tone turning mournful. "If we'd never mentioned any 'Blackfyre Treasure,' finding hundreds of gold dragons would have been a great fortune for us all."
"But once a man's desire expands, it is difficult to shrink it back," Ian said, shaking his head. "Sir Beryn is no fool. He likely just wants to blackmail you for more. If they were paid according to the original agreement, they'd each only get one or two gold dragons. While that's a fine sum, the gap between that and what they were promised is simply too vast."
"Right then," Ian said, a new resolve in his voice. "I will go and help."
His words made Sir Roger overjoyed. In truth, this was the very reason he had come down to the cellar.
It was a pity that Ian had no intention of actually mediating. He was going to add fuel to the fire.
As it stands, Ian thought, Wylis's forces have an overwhelming advantage over Sir Daeron Grafson's approaching caravan. That is a disadvantage to my new plan.
Not only did Ian not want Wylis to capture Daeron Grafson, but he also wanted to try to rescue Daeron from the ensuing siege and, in doing so, gain his trust.
He planned to use the second son of Lord Grafson as a key prop in obtaining his new identity.
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