"What about you? Aren't you coming to King's Landing?" Lynd turned to Margaery and asked.
"Do you really think it's appropriate for me to go?" Margaery raised an unhappy eyebrow as she spoke.
It was no surprise she was upset. She had originally been engaged to Joffrey, only for the engagement to be broken off, humiliating her. That led to her engagement to Renly, and eventually to her current reputation as a witch who brings misfortune to her husbands. Everything had gone downhill from the moment she was promised to Joffrey—how could she possibly want to attend the wedding in King's Landing?
Lynd sighed regretfully. "What a shame. I get the feeling a lot of interesting things will be happening in King's Landing this time. It'd be a pity to miss it."
"Interesting things?" Margaery looked thoughtful. Then, lifting her skirt, she ran toward her room, calling back, "Wait for me—I'm going to change."
"My lord, am I going too?" Shireen asked timidly.
Lynd crouched down, gently patting her head. "Of course you are. You're the future Lord of Storm's End—it's only right that you meet the lords of the Seven Kingdoms."
Sansa crouched down as well and said reassuringly, "Don't worry, Lord Lynd will protect us. Those bad people won't dare do anything to us."
Shireen looked at Sansa, then turned back to ask, "My lord, can I bring Patchface with me?"
"You can," Lynd nodded, glancing at Patchface, who was peeking in from outside the door.
Shireen's hesitation disappeared. She ran off cheerfully, holding Patchface's hand as they went back to her room to get ready.
Sansa watched her go and muttered, "What a strange man. I never thought Shireen would get so close to someone like him."
When Shireen was brought back to Summerhall Castle, Patchface came with her. His bizarre appearance and behavior made everyone uneasy. Even Margaery, who had seen her fair share of court jesters, found him unbearable—let alone Sansa, who rarely encountered such people.
Lynd had originally planned to send Patchface to the Black Cave, to let Malora and the others study the ancient power within him. But he soon discovered that the only reason that mysterious force remained stable was because of Shireen.
Whenever Patchface was away from her, the strange power inside him would start to grow increasingly unstable. So, Lynd had no choice but to keep the two of them together.
In a way, this actually made Lynd's research easier. Whenever he needed to test Patchface's inner power, he didn't need to use any complicated methods—just taking Patchface away from Shireen was enough.
"You should get ready too. We're setting off today," Lynd said, turning to Sansa.
"Yes, my lord." Though Sansa had deep-seated aversion toward King's Landing—the place that birthed all her nightmares—she still forced herself to stay composed and answered calmly.
This time, Lynd didn't plan to ride a dragon to King's Landing. Instead, he chose to travel like the other noble lords of the Seven Kingdoms, bringing along a retinue on horseback along the Roseroad. Among his group, however, was a special contingent made up of Redemption Sisters and Silent Men. Their task was to escort Queen Dowager Cersei back to the Redemption Sept once the wedding concluded.
Whether by coincidence or not, along the way to King's Landing, they crossed paths with the Highgarden party at a small town where the Tumbleton Road met the Roseroad. The Highgarden group included not only Lord Mace and his wife, and the Queen of Thorns, but also Ellie Tyrell, who was acting as Margaery's stand-in.
Lord Mace and his company were surprised to see Lynd, but what shocked them more was that they had no idea Margaery was traveling with him.
When they saw Margaery step out from among Lynd's entourage, clad in full knight's armor and removing her helmet, they were all stunned.
As it turned out, when Margaery had gone to join Lynd, she assumed he would inform Highgarden, while Lynd thought Margaery would send word herself. The result was a mutual misunderstanding—neither side had passed on the message. Highgarden had been led to believe that Margaery had gone missing, and had been quietly searching for her ever since.
During the tearful family reunion, Lord Mace, Lady Mace, and the Queen of Thorns began to look at Lynd with a peculiar expression. It was clear they had misunderstood something—especially after hearing Margaery declare that she would continue living at Summerhall and wouldn't be returning to Highgarden. Their looks toward Lynd were those one might give a married man who had seduced an innocent girl.
Lynd had to explain the situation and asked Sansa to vouch for him—he didn't want any misunderstandings reaching Nymeria.
Although Lord Mace and the others said they believed Lynd's explanation, it was clear they only half did.
Still, they didn't press Margaery to return to Highgarden. On the contrary, they felt it might actually be a good thing for her to stay with Lynd.
They were well aware that, while Highgarden was still nominally Lynd's liege lord, the power difference between them had grown immeasurably. In the recent war, Lynd hadn't deployed a single soldier—he had remained a bystander—yet in the aftermath, he gained control of both Storm's End and Dragonstone. And from all signs, Winterfell would soon fall under his control as well, thanks to Sansa.
With that, the Stormlands, the Crownlands, and the North were all essentially under his influence. And recently, there had been rumors that Dorne's Sunspear fleet had merged with the Miracle Fleet—evidence that Dorne, too, was now within Lynd's sphere of influence. It was no exaggeration to say that if Lynd now wished to claim the Iron Throne, it wouldn't be out of reach.
Although Highgarden and Summerhall had always maintained a cordial relationship, it was nothing more than that. Even if Lord Mace looked down on Lynd's background, he still hoped to foster good relations with him—perhaps even something deeper.
Now, with Margaery's presence, that gap had conveniently been filled. Even if she couldn't become Lynd's woman, just being able to serve at his side was valuable. At the very least, it meant having early access to Summerhall's decisions, allowing Highgarden to prepare in advance.
During the journey, Lynd could clearly sense the shift in Highgarden's attitude toward him—particularly from Lord Mace. He also had a good sense of what they were aiming for. In response, he simply smiled and offered no concrete commitments.
So, by the time they arrived in King's Landing, Lord Mace's family had already given Lynd the nickname "Loach" during their conversations—slippery and hard to pin down.
...
When their party reached King's Landing, Lord Tywin personally led a contingent to greet them at the Gate of the Gods. The welcome was grand, formal, and flawless in every detail.
As they met, Lynd brought Sansa and Shireen forward to face Lord Tywin.
Despite Tywin's usual composure and restraint, even he couldn't fully conceal the flicker of concern in his eyes upon seeing Sansa and Shireen. Still, his greeting to both girls was impeccably proper, without a hint of hostility.
Compared to Sansa—who couldn't mask her fear and resentment—Shireen remained notably calm and composed, which took Tywin by surprise.
Once inside the city, Lynd sent his attendants to deliver their luggage to his official residence. He himself led Shireen and Sansa, along with Lord Mace, to the Tower of the Hand in the Red Keep to attend a postwar council of the Seven Kingdoms.
By the time they arrived in the council chamber, several people were already there.
Joffrey I was seated in the Hand's chair, with Garlan Tyrell beside him. Oberyn Martell, the Red Viper, held the seat of honor to his right, with Roose Bolton and Catelyn Tully seated next to him.
With the addition of Tywin and Lord Mace, every Warden and representative of the Seven Kingdoms was now present—except for the Vale.
Tywin entered without a word and walked straight to his seat. He gave Joffrey a look, prompting the boy to lower his head and rise, yielding the seat. Seeing this, Garlan also stood and offered his own seat to Joffrey. After exchanging greetings with Lord Mace, he moved to a seat in the observation row.
When Sansa entered and caught sight of her mother, she instinctively took a few quick steps toward her—but then abruptly stopped. Her expression grew complicated as she looked at Catelyn Tully.
Catelyn, too, had been watching her daughter with emotion. She made to stand, but was pressed back down by Roose Bolton, who sat beside her.
Catelyn shot him a look of resentment, but when he returned it with displeasure, she lowered her head and did not look at Sansa again.
Sansa was visibly stunned by what she saw. She had never imagined her mother could become like this. Disappointment surged across her face, and the way she looked at Catelyn turned cold, angry, and tinged with contempt.
Without a word, she sat down directly across from her mother and locked eyes with her in silence. Catelyn no longer looked down. Instead, she raised her head and met her daughter's gaze with calm steadiness.
Lynd was also caught off guard by Catelyn's transformation. He could sense that Roose Bolton had used some means to tame her. Although she still retained some emotional depth, she had completely lost her sense of self. Her body and mind were now fully aligned with Roose Bolton's will. It was as if she had undergone the trials of the Redemption Sept.
But the change in Catelyn was fundamentally different. The trials of the Redemption Sept combined religious indoctrination with powerful potions and magic, producing a kind of mental branding. Because of the magical core of those methods, anyone who had passed the various levels of Redemption Sept trials would exhibit a faint magical aura.
Yet Catelyn showed no such magical fluctuation. Her mind had been broken and reshaped purely through mundane means—those used on ordinary Smallfolk.
The Bolton family's reputation as skinners stretches back through Westerosi history, known for mastering the most advanced torture methods on the continent. In his past life, Lynd remembered Ramsay Snow's twisted breaking of Theon's mind—a crude version of the techniques. But Ramsay was far less refined than Roose Bolton. It was highly likely that Roose had taken advantage of the psychological trauma Catelyn suffered after Robb Stark's death, seizing the moment to twist her mind and reduce her to a puppet under his complete control.
Lynd had no intention of interfering in Catelyn's situation—that was for Sansa to handle. He gestured for Shireen to sit beside Sansa, then took the seat directly across from Tywin.
Just then, Varys and several other Small Council ministers entered the chamber, among them Petyr Baelish. Though Littlefinger wore his usual smile, it was clearly strained—especially when he saw Roose Bolton rest his hand on Catelyn's leg. His fists clenched unconsciously.
Since this wasn't a Small Council meeting but a gathering of the Seven Kingdoms' Wardens, Varys and the others were not permitted to participate. Like Garlan, they could only sit in the observation gallery.
Soon after, Jaime, Daven Lannister, Addam Marbrand, and other younger members of House Lannister arrived, taking their seats behind Tywin.
"Looks like everyone's here. Let's begin." Tywin glanced around the room and spoke. "With the exception of the Vale, the Lords, princes, and Wardens of the remaining kingdoms have all gathered. This past year of war has drained us—of wealth, supplies, and lives. Every kingdom involved has suffered heavy losses, and the smallfolk are struggling to survive. We can't afford to keep tearing each other apart. Our true enemy lies north of the Wall. Now is the time to end the infighting, restore order, and unite our strength against the inhuman threat that awaits us there."
As he said this, he looked directly at Lynd. "Prince Lynd, would you agree?"
"You're right, Lord Tywin," Lynd nodded, then smiled. "I've said before—so long as it doesn't interfere with the war against the White Walkers beyond the Wall, I won't involve myself in the Seven Kingdoms' civil war. For now, your conflicts haven't reached the North, so if you're still eager to keep fighting, I won't step in."
The moment Lynd finished speaking, everyone in the room gave him strange looks. Though he sounded entirely rational, speaking as a neutral party, not a soul present—including the young Shireen—actually believed him.
After over a year of war, the North, Riverlands, Vale, Westerlands, and Stormlands had all paid dearly in blood. Even the Reach, which entered the war in its final stages, had suffered significant casualties. And yet, Lynd had done nothing—sent not a single soldier—and still claimed the largest spoils of victory. The rest were left to pick over what remained.
A so-called neutral party had become the biggest winner.
Not only Tywin, who had been directly involved in the war, but even the Reach felt duped.
If anyone truly believed Lynd and chose to keep fighting, they would have to consider the possibility that in the end, Lynd might ascend the Iron Throne without spilling a drop of his own forces' blood.
And so, even those among them who had originally hoped to reignite conflict and profit from chaos quietly abandoned those plans. It was clear now—letting things end here was the smartest move.