Daenerys nodded without asking what the two women had been arguing about. She trusted Tyrion's judgment and believed his analysis was probably correct.
"The marriage alliance between Highgarden and House Lannister..." Tyrion was about to say that the alliance between the two great houses was already all but settled and nearly impossible to disrupt.
Then he suddenly remembered that the Queen of Thorns, Olenna, had been one of the masterminds behind King Joffrey's poisoning. Varys had already learned this from the mysterious informant—surely he wouldn't let such valuable information go to waste.
When Tyrion stopped halfway through his sentence, Daenerys looked at him in confusion. Just as she was about to ask, Tyrion abruptly said,
"Your Grace, do you know who was really behind Joffrey's murder?"
Daenerys had first learned of Joffrey's death from Tyrion. At the time, he had only described the general events of the Purple Wedding and his own trial, never revealing who had orchestrated the assassination.
Seeing Daenerys shake her head blankly, Tyrion thought to himself, Just as I expected. Even the mysterious man never told her this.
Hearing Tyrion's question and noticing the expression on his face, Drogon knew he was once again trying to guess the mysterious man's identity. He immediately put on an innocent expression, pretending to know nothing.
Tyrion stopped trying to read anything from the face of a little dragon and explained,
"It was the Queen of Thorns of Highgarden, Olenna, who conspired with Petyr Baelish, the Master of Coin in King's Landing, to poison Joffrey. Sansa Stark, the daughter of the Duke of Winterfell, was involved as well, though she probably had no idea what was happening."
When Tyrion finished, Daenerys' beautiful violet eyes widened in surprise. She had never imagined Joffrey's death involved such a complicated conspiracy.
Curious, she asked,
"Do you know exactly how they carried out the poisoning?"
The moment the words left her mouth, she realized that Tyrion had been the greatest victim of the Purple Wedding, and that the murdered king had also been his nephew. Asking for the details suddenly seemed rather insensitive.
But it was too late to take the question back. She could only wait awkwardly for Tyrion to answer.
Tyrion noticed her discomfort, but he didn't mind.
He had never cared about that monstrous nephew of his, and the suffering he had endured because of the Purple Wedding no longer bothered him. He calmly recounted the entire chain of events behind the Purple Wedding.
Although Varys had never told him every detail of the poisoning itself, Tyrion knew enough of the overall plan to satisfy Daenerys' curiosity.
After listening, Daenerys immediately asked another question.
"Why did they want to kill Joffrey?"
Regicide was among the gravest of crimes. She couldn't understand what had driven Olenna and Petyr to take such enormous risks—or what they hoped to gain from it.
"Olenna probably didn't want her granddaughter marrying Joffrey. Compared to him, Tommen is far kinder. He's also younger and much easier for Margaery to influence."
"As for Littlefinger, Petyr Baelish..." Tyrion shook his head slightly. "His motives are much harder to understand. Even I don't know why he wanted Joffrey dead."
Without concealing anything, Tyrion shared the conclusions he and Varys had reached.
Littlefinger really is a world-class troublemaker! Drogon thought to himself after hearing the explanation.
Daenerys wasn't surprised that Drogon knew who Petyr Baelish was. In her mind, Drogon had practically become an all-knowing little dragon who could even foresee the future.
After hearing Tyrion's analysis, Daenerys couldn't help wondering how he had obtained such highly confidential information.
It must have been after his trial by combat. Otherwise, he would certainly have revealed the true masterminds during his trial to clear his own name.
After a moment's thought, she decided not to ask. It probably involved some of Tyrion's own secrets, and even as queen, she shouldn't pry.
Then another thought occurred to her.
If this information were secretly passed to Cersei, she would never ally herself with the people who had murdered her son. Highgarden would then be forced to seek a new ally—and perhaps she could seize that opportunity.
Just as she was about to voice the idea, she suddenly realized that if someone as politically inexperienced as herself could think of it, Tyrion certainly had as well.
Seeing the changing expressions on her face, Tyrion guessed what she was thinking. Before she could ask, he explained,
"Varys uncovered all of this through his own intelligence network. I'm sure he already has plans for how to use the information."
"But if we rashly tell my sister Cersei the truth, she'll execute both the Queen of Thorns and Margaery, then march her armies against Highgarden. We would gain nothing from it, while King's Landing would only grow stronger."
"And using the secret to blackmail Highgarden into abandoning the marriage alliance isn't wise either. In Olenna's eyes, there simply isn't a stronger ally than King's Landing."
"Besides, if Highgarden were to cancel the engagement unilaterally, even if my sister secretly welcomed it, she couldn't allow such a public insult to the royal family. And with my uncle Kevan Lannister still alive and highly respected, he would never agree to abandon the alliance with Highgarden."
"As for Stannis, the only other viable ally Highgarden might consider, he was defeated at King's Landing and is barely able to protect himself. Olenna likely wouldn't even consider him."
"So Varys has probably already decided how best to use that piece of information."
After hearing Tyrion's analysis, Drogon felt as though his head had doubled in size.
Thankfully, he'd chosen to pass the information to Varys in the first place. Had he tried handling it himself, he never would have worked through something this complicated.
Daenerys listened with her lips slightly parted. With her own limited political instincts, she couldn't possibly have reasoned so deeply, and couldn't help admiring both Tyrion and Varys.
Even as she admired the intelligence of her two advisers, she felt a trace of regret. She couldn't leave her current position, and so a potentially powerful ally might slip through her fingers.
"What about the other great houses?" Daenerys continued.
"Stannis can never become our ally. He'll never abandon his claim to the Iron Throne. He has already sailed away from Dragonstone with his fleet, though no one knows where he went."
"The Iron Islands are now ruled by Balon's brother, Euron. I don't know much about him. I've only heard that he captains the Silence, and that he tore out the tongues of every member of his crew so the ship would truly live up to its name."
"The Ironborn believe that 'what is won by the sword is better than what is earned by the plow.' He wouldn't make an easy ally."
"If Your Grace returns to Westeros, you may also face two powerful and unexpected enemies: the wildlings... and the White Walkers."
"The wildlings... and the White Walkers?"
Daenerys had expected to hear about potential allies, not two completely unfamiliar enemies.
"The wildlings are the people who live beyond the Wall," Tyrion explained. "As for the White Walkers... I only heard stories about them when I visited the Wall years ago. I don't know the details. The Night's Watch claims they're dead men who return to life, and that they're extraordinarily difficult to kill."
Daenerys had never imagined that people still lived beyond the Wall at the northernmost edge of Westeros.
And it was the first time she had ever heard of the dead returning to life.
The thought immediately reminded her of the grotesquely swollen heart of the Undying.
Could the White Walkers be strange beings like the Undying... or the warlocks?
-----------------------
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