Three weeks later, rumors began to ferment across Westeros.
In a tavern by the Blackwater in King's Landing.
A ragged wandering singer sat in a corner of the tavern, playing his lute and singing a newly composed ditty.
"Golden lion with golden hair, learns to walk by following his uncle; Father Stag bows his head to stare, why doesn't this cub look like me? Not like me."
The patrons erupted in laughter.
Someone who understood the subtext tossed him a copper coin. "Another one! Give those high-and-mighty lords a piece of your mind."
The singer grinned and began another tune. He didn't notice a hooded man in the corner who, after listening silently, dropped two copper coins and stood up to leave.
This man was an informant planted in King's Landing by the Lannister Family. He hurried back to a meeting point near King's Landing to report.
Then, several secret reports were rushed to Casterly Rock by fast horse.
Oldtown, an inn near The Citadel.
Several sailors were drinking ale and chatting loudly.
"Tell me, how is it that the King's three children look more like Lannisters one after another?"
"Shh, keep it down. Do you want to lose your head?"
"What's there to fear? This isn't King's Landing. Besides, am I not speaking the truth? Go look for yourself: Prince Joffrey's hair, those eyes—he's the spitting image of Queen Cersei and Ser Jaime. Then look at the King, black hair and blue eyes. Where's the resemblance?"
"Maybe it's skipping a generation."
"Skipping a generation? I'd believe it for the Targaryen silver hair and purple eyes, but Baratheon and Lannister? Don't give me that rubbish."
The conversation was overheard by a maester at the next table. He then hurriedly settled his bill and left.
Gulltown, in a dockside tavern.
A drunken merchant slammed the table. "I'm telling you, I have connections in King's Landing. A scribe from the Small Council got drunk and told me himself: Lord Arryn found a huge secret concerning the Prince. Then the evidence vanished the very next day. Guess who did it?"
"Who?"
"Who else? The Queen, obviously. Or that brother of hers, the Kingsguard captain."
Everyone gasped. Someone warned, "Brother, you shouldn't say such things lightly."
"I'm not talking nonsense." The merchant took another swig of wine. "Just you wait, this will come out sooner or later. When it does, the whole Seven Kingdoms will know."
These rumors spread like a plague.
Varys received the reports immediately.
King's Landing, inside the secret passages of The Red Keep.
Varys stood in the darkness, listening to the report of a "little bird."
"Docks, markets, taverns—similar rumors have appeared in many places. The versions vary, but they all point to the parentage of the princes and the princess. Some are turned into ballads, some are drunken ramblings, and others are 'I heard it from a friend of a friend'."
Varys asked softly, "Has the source been found?"
"Not yet. The singers and spreaders of the earliest versions have all disappeared."
Varys was silent for a moment before continuing.
"Continue monitoring. Pay special attention to the movements of Lord Arryn and Lord Petyr."
"Yes."
Wearing soft-soled shoes, Varys drifted into the King's chambers like a silent shadow.
Robert was currently losing his temper at an empty wine cup on the table because old Arryn had just been nagging him again about the empty treasury, and his cupbearer, Lancel Lannister, had failed to refill his cup in time.
"Your Grace," Varys reported directly upon entering, "my 'little birds' playing in the streets and alleys have heard some disturbing rumors. The content concerns the royal bloodline and is highly disrespectful to the Queen and the princes and princess."
Robert's face grew even redder. He grabbed his wine cup and hurled it against the wall. "What horseshit rumors? Who's spreading them? Round them all up and hang them!"
"Calm your anger, Your Grace." Varys looked troubled. "These rumors have spread quite widely, and the source has yet to be found. Moreover, the content consists of crude metaphors—things like 'Golden Lion' and'Stag'. They are clearly fabricated by ill-intentioned people to tarnish the royal reputation and stir up the populace."
He deliberately spoke the words "Golden Lion" softly, which instead made Robert take more notice.
Robert's drunken eyes narrowed. "Golden Lion?" He stood up abruptly, his body swaying slightly. "Cersei and the children."
"Your Grace, perhaps it is merely a coincidence. This could be a malicious plot by Targaryen remnants to drive a wedge between you and the westerlands." Varys's timely "persuasion" only deepened the suspicion with every word. "In the current situation, the realm needs stability; it needs the wealth and support of Lord Tywin."
"Support?" Robert roared. "Horseshit support!"
He turned and saw Lancel standing nearby. "Damned Lannister, get out! Get out now! I don't want to see you!" He shouted, shoving him as he spoke.
Varys lowered his head, concealing a flicker of a smile in his eyes.
Lord Jon Arryn's cough was growing increasingly severe.
He sat in his study with a heavy tome spread out before him. It recorded the physical characteristics of the major noble families of Westeros, with the hair and eye color records of generations of the Baratheon and Lannister families circled in ink.
These past few days, ever since he heard the rumors, he had begun searching for clues.
Black hair and blue eyes were the hallmark traits of House Baratheon.
Golden hair and green eyes were the typical appearance of House Lannister.
Furthermore, whether a Lannister man married a Baratheon woman or a Baratheon man married a Lannister woman, their children were always black-haired and blue-eyed.
Yet Joffrey, Tommen, and Myrcella were all golden-haired and green-eyed, without a trace of the Baratheons. They stood in stark contrast to the previous records.
The truth was like cold shackles, tightening around the old man's throat.
He was loyal to the realm and to Robert, but the scandal before him was enough to tear the Seven Kingdoms apart.
Expose it? Cersei and Jaime would surely die, and the three children would not escape either. Moreover, Tywin would never stand by and allow his family to be shamed. The Westerlands would certainly rise in arms, sparking a civil war, and the Targaryens and their dragons across the Narrow Sea would surely seize the opportunity to invade.
Conceal it? To allow "bastards" with blood of incest and deceit to inherit the iron throne would be a desecration of House Baratheon and the legitimate laws of the Seven Kingdoms; he would not be able to rest in peace.
This left him in a profound dilemma.
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