Chapter 125 122

Pentos.

How many stories and great events had unfolded within these walls? And how many would never see the light? No one could say. But with every passing year, with every new act played out within them, these narrow tunnels had grown weightier with historical significance. Today two men walked at an unhurried pace through catacombs that had stood since the dawn of ancient Valyria. No books would be written about their conversation, no ballads sung, no one would ever think to remember it, and yet here and now it was precisely they who were setting the direction of history.

"And who managed to outplay you, my friend?" asked the taller of the two, an extraordinarily fat man.

"I'm afraid that remains something of a mystery to me," replied the second, a fair match for the first.

"Don't sell yourself short, Varys," Illyrio Mopatis said cheerfully. "I don't believe you have no ideas at all."

"The Starks strike me as the most obvious answer, only I don't quite believe in their... inventiveness. One might chalk it up to chance and luck, but they have nothing to do with it." Varys stopped abruptly and met his friend's eyes. "The Red Keep was long since surrounded by my people on every side; not a soul could enter without my leave. And no matter how many times I turn it over, I arrive at the same conclusion: this was not accomplished without magic." The Spider's distaste for anything magical was as sharp as ever.

"Who?" Mopatis liked the mystical no better, and was equally eager to move past it.

"Who stands to gain from neutralizing the Old Lion, disrupting the balance of power, saving the Stark children, and removing me from King's Landing?"

"Any number of people. Oh, I remember now, you used to speak often of someone called Littlefinger... But it wasn't him." He waited for his friend's confirming nod before continuing. "If not him, then who?"

"For many months there was what I came to think of as the miracle of the North, which is precisely what brought suspicion down on me." Catching his friend's puzzled look, the Spider elaborated. "At some point the Starks became the best-informed people in the kingdom; they were learning of their enemies' plans before the Lions' and Roses' own field commanders were. It allowed the lord and heir of Stark to dominate on the battlefield. Once I had gathered all the available information, I concluded that the sorcerer was working on Stannis's behalf. And then, quite unexpectedly, word came that the elder Baratheon had a red priestess from Asshai in his retinue."

"Asshai..." Mopatis had been to the Shadow Lands once, and the journey had left a mark that never quite faded. "A wretched place. You think it's her?"

"I have no other candidates," the Spider admitted.

"Then we must do what we can to hasten Stannis's fall."

"Agreed."