Chapter 503

"A Night’s Watch assault on Winterfell?"

After waiting in the freezing wind for over an hour, Roose Bolton finally received news—a development that was both unexpected and deeply gratifying. Aegor, the man who had betrayed him and nearly rendered years of scheming and patience worthless, had, through a bold and brilliantly executed military maneuver, pulled him back from the brink of disaster.

The emotional whiplash—from anger to despair to surprise—was so intense and so rapid that even someone as calculating as Bolton struggled to mask it. For a moment, he wasn’t sure whether to continue hating or begrudgingly admire the infuriating Night’s Watch Commander. Even his usually impenetrable composure nearly faltered, though the shifting hues of Varys’s face—from red to white to green—filled Bolton with quiet amusement. He laughed internally at the eunuch’s discomfort. As for why the green dragon had sought out Aegor and submitted so completely, Roose neither cared to dwell on it nor wanted to know.

"Allow me to speculate boldly, Lord Varys," Bolton said, swallowing the urge to laugh outright and maintaining his customary cool demeanor. "It seems the Queen may reconsider her plans and remain in the North?"

To Bolton’s disappointment, Varys merely shrugged, his composure unshaken. "A servant’s duty is to serve, not to presume to know the mind of their monarch. The Queen’s plans are hers alone to decide; we would not dare to make predictions."

"Indeed, we should not speculate," Bolton agreed, though he suspected Varys was feigning calm to mask his inner turmoil. "Still, as Master of Whisperers, surely you must prepare for every possibility, including the Queen abandoning her plan to return south. Wouldn’t now be the time to consider how to counter the Starks’ schemes to ‘slay the dragon’?"
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Varys knew Bolton was right, though he maintained a neutral facade. Inwardly, however, he had already accepted the likelihood of what Bolton suggested: once Daenerys learned that the Night’s Watch Commander had not deceived her and heard his message in full, she would almost certainly alter her plans. As Aegor had suggested, she would journey to Winterfell to meet him in a matter of days.

The reason Varys hadn’t immediately begun crafting countermeasures was simple: he was busy suppressing the rage that had ignited within him. It took all his strength not to lose composure.

As a master schemer, Varys understood that no plan could account for every variable. Unexpected events were inevitable, and the key to victory lay in foreseeing as many contingencies as possible and maintaining composure when the unforeseen occurred. But no matter how prepared one was, even the most patient and resilient mind had limits.

From the chaos sparked by fabricated letters leading to rebellions in the Vale and the wars against House Lannister, to the shifting alliances in Dorne and the Reach, to Daenerys’s sudden decision to abandon the south and fly to the Gift for that absurd "Battle for the Dawn"—for the past few years, Varys had spent nearly every waking moment patching the holes that unanticipated events had punched into his plans. The effort left him with little time or energy to craft new strategies.

And now, with the Queen’s carefully decided plan to return south likely in ruins, even Varys’s iron will was stretched thin.

Setbacks were normal. But wasn’t there a limit to how frequently they could occur? If meticulously laid plans failed more often than they succeeded, what was the point of scheming at all?

For a moment—one or two seconds—his frustration nearly overwhelmed him. But his unparalleled self-control reasserted itself. He exhaled slowly, suppressing the tremor in his shoulders, and returned to the present.

The southern retreat was no longer viable. It was time to focus on damage control and crafting a solution.
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"Lord Bolton," Varys began, donning a somber, contemplative expression. "For years, I have borne the ignoble reputation of the Spider, serving one regime after another. I have followed this path from King’s Landing to the North, all in the hope of aiding a ruler who could restore peace and stability to the Seven Kingdoms. Tell me, my lord, what are your thoughts on Prince Aegon of the south?"

Roose Bolton, uncertain of Varys’s stance, chose to answer cautiously. "I am not well-acquainted. I would be grateful for your guidance."

"The Prince and the Queen are both Targaryens," Varys explained, "each commanding powerful armies. Together, they could swiftly end the chaos plaguing the Seven Kingdoms. But if they remain divided, the dream of unity will slip further away, leaving the common folk to suffer through yet more years of war. If you were the Queen’s trusted advisor, what would you recommend she do?"

"Marry Prince Aegon and rule the Seven Kingdoms together," Bolton replied immediately, understanding the eunuch’s implication. "Or, at the very least, acknowledge each other’s claims and agree on a hierarchy to unify their efforts."

"Precisely," Varys said, smiling warmly. "That is undoubtedly the best course for Westeros. But, as you know, not everyone places the realm’s welfare above their own interests. Within the Queen’s court and throughout the Seven Kingdoms, there are houses and individuals—whether out of greed or stubbornness—who resist the tide of progress. Some whisper in her ear, stoking her ambition and paranoia, hindering her ability to become the compassionate ruler we need. Tell me, Lord Bolton, what should be done about such people?"

Even Roose Bolton needed a moment to process Varys’s words. It was a masterful reframing of politics: the Starks, who refused to yield, were painted as "obstacles to progress," while those in the Queen’s council who opposed Varys’s vision were labeled "malicious sycophants preventing her greatness."

Varys was offering to help him eliminate the Starks and take their place. In return, Bolton would need to support Varys’s vision of "two dragons, no conflict" and back his political agenda within Daenerys’s court.

"Lord Varys," Bolton replied with a measured nod, "you are the most noble and selfless man I have ever met." He had no intention of probing the eunuch’s ties to Aegon Targaryen or whatever deals lay between them. Practicality dictated that his immediate goal was to seize this opportunity and topple the Starks once and for all. Everything else was secondary. "The outdated factions that cannot keep pace with the times deserve to be swept into the dustbin of history. Those who place personal ambition above the good of the realm are indeed our common enemies."

"You flatter me, Lord Bolton." Varys smiled, knowing the subtle message had been received. Without explicitly naming terms, he had secured a tentative alliance with the future Warden of the North. "But let us set aside these future matters for now. Returning to our earlier topic—since you are so concerned with the Stark family’s schemes, I assume you already have a plan in mind to counter them?"
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