A/N: Axel takes stock and then decides to do so investigating himself.
-x-X-x-
Flying high in the sky over King's Landing was rapidly becoming one of Axel Baratheon's favorite pastis. Right up there alongside working extra hard to put babies in both of his Queens every night… and every morning… and sotis after midday als, if they were all feeling up to it.
A soft chuckle leaves Axel's throat, an easy smile on his lips as he gazes down at the city below and the lands surrounding it. It truly is a spectacular sight, made all the better by the accomplishnts of the past several weeks.
First and foremost, he was officially married to Sansa Stark and Arianne Martell at long last. They were now Queens of the Seven Kingdoms, and he'd had a pair of ornate, more comfortable seats permanently set up in the throne room on either side of the Iron Throne so that they might sit with him while he held court whenever they liked.
On top of that, a representative of the Iron Bank had arrived just in ti for the wedding and Axel and Stannis had co together to haggle with 'Lord Tycho' in order to settle the Crown's debts with the Iron Bank. In the end, it had taken about a quarter of Euron's treasure trove of Valyrian Steel to make things good with the foreign bank but that was a small price to pay for no longer having ANY of his father's debt hanging over his head.
He still had more Valyrian Steel than he really knew what to do with too. Which left the question of how to use the treasure trove. It might have seed like giving a Valyrian Steel Sword to each of his Kingsguard would be a no brainer, but there was one problem with that… ryn Trant. Axel was honestly tempted to just do away with the man, but he was a King, not a tyrant. And the Kingsguard were supposed to serve for life.
Instead, he'd figured out sothing of a middle ground. Rather than give his current Kingsguard Knights each a Valyrian Steel Sword, Axel had ultimately assigned a Valyrian Steel Sword to each of the seven positions in the Kingsguard. It was a minor distinction but nevertheless an incredibly important one, making it so that each blade was to be held by the position, not the n who inhabited them.
However, just because soone was nad to the Kingsguard did not an that they were automatically allowed to wield the Valyrian Steel Sword tied to their position. Instead, Axel had co up with several challenges designed to test the mbers of his Kingsguard in a number of different ways to ensure they were truly worthy of the right to wield Valyrian Steel.
Only once they passed every challenge he set before them were they allowed to wield their position's specific Valyrian Steel Sword. Otherwise, the blades would remain on the walls of the White Sword Tower, enshrined in their places until such ti as they were earned by their potential wielders.
So far, three of his Kingsguard had passed all of their challenges, Ser Sandor and Lord Commander Arys among them. Three more were well on their way to earning the right to wield their own blades… and only a certain ryn Trant was truly struggling to prove himself worthy. Exactly as it should be.
It was good, but at the sa ti Axel couldn't deny that it was strange having a surplus in the treasury for the first ti since he'd beco King. Not to ntion a… mostly functional Small Council as well.
Stannis was serving well as Hand of the King, and Davos was still doing a perfectly competent job as Master of Ships. Such a good job, in fact, that Stannis had the Seaworth Family watching over Dragonstone for him, with Lord Davos splitting his ti and the Royal Fleet between King's Landing and the island seat. At the sa ti, Lord Beric had taken up his position as Master of Laws and so far wasn't doing a half bad job either.
The new Master of Coin, Tyrion Lannister, anwhile, had arrived in King's Landing just in ti to attend Axel's wedding, and then by all accounts he'd gotten right to work. If the dwarf chafed under the scrutiny he was currently experiencing, he did a good job of hiding it. Indeed, so far he seed to be doing quite well in his new position, even if everyone was watching him like a hawk.
Axel knew by now that Tyrion wasn't a bad man in spite of his deformities. But living in the shadow of all the damage Baelish had done would certainly be a struggle for him. Still, it was a struggle he'd chosen, ultimately. Axel had to respect that in the end.
Finally, there was the new Grandmaester, Marwyn the Mage. Axel's first encounter with Grandmaester Marwyn had been… interesting to say the least. The man wasn't anything like Pycelle had been. He was at least twenty years younger for one… but also, he felt less like a scholar and more like a brawler at first glance.
He had a thick neck and a strong jaw, along with enormous hands, a broad chest, and a hard belly. His nose had also clearly been broken more than once, and his hands had calluses on both the fingers and knuckles. If not for his short, squat figure, he could have probably been a knight… but alas, that apparently wasn't to be.
And then there was his personality…
-x-X-x-
"Well t, Axel Baratheon, The Unburnt, Kraken Slayer, Blessed of the Seven, and Avatar of the Warrior."
Marwyn had tilted his head to the side and smirked.
"Shall I go on?"
Axel had looked back at him with narrowed eyes, taking in the Grandmaester's an looking mug for a long mont before snorting derisively.
"You're not what I was expecting of a Grandmaester. Nor an Archmaester, for that matter."
Smiling wickedly had revealed that Marwyn's teeth were stained a dull red for so reason.
"Heh. No, I suppose not, Your Grace. I had to call in quite a lot of favors to get this appointnt. The Citadel doesn't like very much, all told."
Surprised, Axel had tilted his head to the side.
"Oh? Why is that?"
Marwyn had just shaken his head in response.
"Sa reason they don't like you very much, my King. Because they don't like things they can't understand or control."
That… Axel had grunted, eyes narrowing once more.
"Then why would they appoint you, exactly?"
Again, the Grandmaester had grinned.
"Like I said, I called in a lot of favors. I don't mind telling you that the Conclave, where they pick the new Grandmaester, is silent and anonymous voting. So all I had to do is go around to everyone who owed sothing ahead of ti and demand that they vote for ."
Axel blinked, while Marwyn's grin widened.
"None of them were willing to admit to one another that they owed anything, see? But they also figured that I couldn't possibly have enough support anyways. So they didn't bother chatting with each other ahead of the vote either. They all figured they could repay without their singular votes aning too much. Heh. In the end, I won by a landslide… and the grey sheep are all too full of pride to nullify the results and hold another vote just yet. Might be that they get it into their heads to recall eventually though. We'll just have to wait and see."
That had made Axel frown, even as he'd turned the Grandmaester's words over in his head.
"And why exactly did you spend all of your… favors on getting this appointnt, Grandmaester?"
Leaning on his Valyrian Steel Rod, Marwyn had just chuckled.
"Simple, Your Grace. What you can do… there's nowhere I'd rather be right now than here in King's Landing, studying you."
Stiffening up at the ti, Axel had growled in response.
"Is that right?"
Far from being intimidated though, Marwyn had shaken his head, still grinning rather madly.
"You needn't fret, Your Grace. I'll keep my distance. Watch from afar. Still, sothing tells that you yourself don't know everything about what you can do. If you wished to run your own experints with my help… well, you know where to find . And better than any of the other Archmaesters. I'm not likely to try and further test the limits of your immunity to poisons without your express permission, after all."
Now that had truly alard Axel. Not for his sake, but because the implication at hand was of sothing that could only be described as conspiracy. He'd stepped up to Marwyn then, not even to truly intimidate him, but rather to make it clear that he wasn't about to let the other man walk away without answers.
"Explain. Now."
The smile had dropped off the newly appointed Grandmaester's face and Marwyn had straightened up to his full height, even as that left him still having to crane his thick neck back to look Axel in the eye.
"All I can really say is this, Your Grace… the Citadel has been working towards their perfect representation of the world for a mighty long ti now. And it's not a place where magic is allowed to hold sway. I would ask that you look back and really question… was every poisoning you experienced during your childhood REALLY the work of Cersei Lannister alone?"
That question had shocked Axel just long enough for Marwyn to mutter sothing about him 'being around to talk more later' before stomping away.
-x-X-x-
Needless to say, that encounter had been more unsettling than Axel had been fully willing to admit at the ti. So much so that he hadn't spoken to the Grandmaester alone since.
He probably would eventually, if only because Marwyn was right that he didn't fully understand everything about himself and part of him DID want to learn more. However, for the mont at least, Axel would rather just take a mont to breathe.
Of course, he couldn't entirely rest easy. Not when the position of Master of Whispers remained vacant. Like he'd ntioned to Stannis, the Master of Whispers seat on the Small Council was not always filled. In fact, throughout the last three hundred years of history, the position had been vacant plenty of tis.
… Then again, peace was never a guarantee. He'd thought they were at peace when Baelish bombed the Small Council Chambers and Euron Greyjoy declared war on the Seven Kingdoms. To be fair, that was then and this was now.
Axel didn't believe there was a single Lord in the entirety of Westeros who would dare to rebel against him anymore, not after everything he'd done. Especially not with the Faith and the smallfolk all but venerating him as a living god as well.
Any Lord who tried to start sothing at this point would be more likely to have their soldiers turn on them in order to appease Axel, rather than chance having to fight him. Especially after how badly blind loyalty had gone first for the Stormlands and the Reach during Renly's rebellion, and then for the Iron Islands during Euron's war.
But just because Axel was confident that no one in the Seven Kingdoms was likely to try anything… didn't an there weren't those outside of the Seven Kingdoms who might try sothing.
Frowning now, Axel looks down at his city from where he's flying high above it. Then, he starts to descend towards the Red Keep. He might not have a Spymaster at the mont, but he could still make inquiries of his own, right?
It only takes a few words to have Thoros of Myr summoned before him. Axel considers doing it in the throne room at first but ultimately decides against it. Instead he just has the Red Priest brought to a small room for a private one-on-one chat.
Apparently, Thoros had been a drinking buddy of Axel's father once upon a ti, so in recognition of that, Axel thought he would… be as gentle as he reasonable could be.
Although, as far as first impressions go, he has to admit that Thoros… doesn't leave a very good one. The man is fat, shaved bald, and wearing flapping red robes that are so old they're tattered and sewn back together in several places. The original red of the robes is also starting to fade out, leaving an almost pinkish shade instead.
Thoros looks downright nervous to be in Axel's presence as well, despite having quite the reputation as a fighter. Of course, to be fair, he's probably heard the sa things that everyone else has by this point. Not to ntion Axel's connections to the Faith of the Seven likely make him anxious, since he follows another religion entirely.
"A-Ah… Your Grace… you summoned ?"
Axel nods sharply before gesturing to the table… where a pitcher of wine and a pair of goblets rest.
"I did, yes. I had so questions for you, Thoros of Myr. Please, have a seat and feel free to pour yourself a drink."
As expected, the Red Priest's eyes light up at the offering. He's well known for his love of drinking. Apparently, it's just as strong as his love of fighting and won. It's not surprise that the rotund man quickly sits and pours himself a cup of wine before giving Axel an appreciative nod.
Axel is kind enough to let Thoros swallow his first gulp before asking his most pressing question.
"Tell Thoros of Myr, has the Lord of Light talked of in the fires? Has he ordered you to act against or try to harm in any way?"
Thoros freezes in place, choking on his own tongue for a mont since he doesn't currently have any wine in his mouth. Then, he shakes his head most vehently.
"N-No Your Grace! Most definitely not! Why… what would make you ask such a thing?"
He watches the other man carefully for any sign of deceit for a mont… but he doesn't see anything. Smiling thinly, Axel hums.
"Never mind that. They say a Red Priestess travels with Daenerys Stormborn and that she helped the last Targaryen hatch the first dragons seen in decades. Have you exchanged any letters with this Red Priestess?"
Again, Thoros shakes his head.
"I-I have not… does this Red Priestess have a na, Your Grace?"
Axel frowns. Unfortunately, while he's sure that she does, he doesn't know it. Varys had never given him that. As well, Thoros once again seems to be telling the truth as far as he can tell.
"Never mind that as well. You've received no letters from her or any other mbers of your faith? And you've had no ssages from your god about , one way or the other?"
Swallowing nervously, Thoros shakes his head a third ti.
"No, Your Grace. I have not. I… I am quite sure that R'hllor has no enmity with you either. After all, he is the God of Fla and Shadow and you are The Unburnt! Even if you follow the Seven, your trial with the wildfire should still an sothing, even to those of us in the Red Priesthood!"
Huh. Axel really didn't get the sense that Thoros was trying to deceive him, or that he held any animosity towards him either. If there were sches against his person, this man was not part of them. Honestly… what a relief.
Letting a broad smile spread across his face, Axel inclines his head towards the older man.
"Thank you for answering my questions, Red Priest. You make take the rest of the pitcher with you on your way out. Go with my blessing."
Thoros' eyes light up and he hurries to grab the pitcher from the table, bowing profusely and almost spilling it in the process.
"M-Many thanks, Your Grace! You are truly a King among Kings!"
Axel huffs in amusent at that, watching the other man all but flee the room. So that was Thoros of Myr. Hmph, a far cry from what his reputation as a brave madman with a flaming sword painted. Still, the conversation had been quite the enlightening one, as well as a relief. In just a few short minutes, he'd managed to ascertain that the Lord of Light seemingly had no designs on him in the sa way the Drowned God did.
Heh, who needed a Master of Whispers, really? Axel Baratheon could just do it all himself!
-x-X-x-
He'd lied to the King. Oh fuck, he'd lied to the King. It doesn't really settle in until Thoros is already away from the Red Keep, drinking directly from the pitcher of wine he'd been allowed to take with him. But when it finally hits him, it hits hard, his hands shaking.
To be fair… he hadn't lied outright. No, rather… Thoros had simply told a few little lies by omission. Technically, everything that had co from his mouth HAD been the truth. After all, the King had simply asked if he had spoken to R'hllor about him, or if he'd exchanged correspondence with anyone over in Essos!
And the truth was he hadn't! On both counts! Mostly because, well… Thoros hadn't dared look in any flas since Robert Baratheon had died in that nasty wildfire explosion. He… he hadn't communed with R'hllor in many, many months now. Thoros had been avoiding it for quite so ti, unable to even look at a torch without feeling a trembling fear start to overco him.
Everyone thought he was so incredible warrior with more bravery than any other ten knights combined. But the truth was, Thoros… was a coward. It was all the drink, really. It was only when he got really, really drunk that he could fight with one of his many cheap swords set afla by wildfire.
Except, even getting drunk hadn't given Thoros the confidence to use wildfire in quite so ti. Not after what happened to Robert and his heirs… and then also what had happened to Axel and his Small Council.
There had also been a few letters from Essos that Thoros hadn't told the King about. But then, Axel had been very specific! He'd asked if Thoros had exchanged letters with a Red Priestess! Which he hadn't… because Thoros had thrown away every letter he'd received without reading them or even so much as opening them!
He was… he was a Red Priest in na only these days. And he had no desire to gaze into the flas or communicate with any of his fellows back over in Essos ever again, if he could help it.
So yes, he'd told the King a few lies by omission. But… it was probably fine. After all, who would be stupid enough to fuck with Axel Baratheon at this point, right?
-x-X-x-
A/N: Haha yeah, who indeed…
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