ASOIAF/GOT: Minecraft in Essos.

~~~Tywin Lannister, Tenth Moon, 277 AC~~~

~~~Casterly Rock, Westerland~~~

Mace Tyrell was a fat, blustering, pointless tourney-loving, complete idiot, but this... This thing Varys had told me, was something completely beyond common sense, what did he hope to accomplish by closing the Rose Road?

While it was true that the Reach was the breadbasket of the realm, that did not mean that grain could not be obtained from other parts of the realm, Dorne had its crops on the banks of the Greenblood, the Riverlands likewise but to a lesser extent, the North was more prosperous in that matter than in its entire existence, and the Vale and the Crownlands could help each other.

As for the Westerlands, with Janna at my side, it was not going to be difficult to buy grain from Xandar, grain of much higher quality, even if it was a bit more expensive.

So unless winter came, only the Reach would be affected by this, so where was Mace going with this? It was a move that would only cause Aerys, who was so far stable, to explode and order the banners to be called because just as a Targaryen turned the Tyrell into Paramount, a Targaryen could also destroy them.

Especially now that Aerys enjoyed the support of the realm, there had not been a time when the entire realm had been united as a whole, and had only seen something like this in the time of Jaehaerys the Conciliator, Aerys had taken it upon himself to unite the realm for as long as my wedding had lasted.

Nothing was better than talks with a good wine in hand, and Aerys, using his father's teachings, had established peace and unity again, and it was hard for that peace to be broken at the hand of one of these lords. But of course, Mace the fool did not attend my wedding, which made matters worse.

"Lord Tywin," a thick, stiff voice snapped out of my reverie, forcing me to focus on what lay ahead.

Ser Gerold Hightower and Ser Barristan Selmy appeared in my vision, sporting their white armor and impeccable cloaks as Ser Gerold looked at me with respect and attention, "hello, Ser Gerold, Ser Barristan," I greeted them both, they had been faithful men and very good warriors, with Barristan even defeating Maelys the monstrous.

So respect was the least they deserved.

Willing not to waste valuable time, and because I had not yet finished eating, I went to the subject in question of my presence there, "I wish to speak with the king, my Ser, if you like to call him, it is urgent."

Ser Gerold shared a knowing glance with Ser Barristan, and I saw him smiling beneath his helmet, 'what's going on?" I thought.

"Well, my lord, that I think will be up for discussion since the king is busy," Ser Gerold answered me, and as much as my good humor was high, my hunger was too, and I had no time for this, "call him Ser Gerold, the matter I have to discuss with him involves the stability of the realm, so if you don't mind."

Ser Gerold stared at me for a few seconds, time I did not hesitate to hold my gaze steady, only for him to then break eye contact and look at Ser Barristan, to which he nodded.

Ser Barristan then knocked on the oak door, albeit reluctantly, "My king, Lord Tywin needs you, he requests a meeting with you is necessary." With the call to Aerys, we settled to wait a few seconds, until the door opened and Aerys peeked out.

He wore a loose white shirt poorly draped over his body, his hair was messy and he sported some red bruises on his neck and chest... No, they weren't bruises. "What do you want Tywin, can't you see I'm busy?" 'Yes, very busy apparently,' I thought, resisting the urge to smile.

"I apologize if I interrupted something important, but I need to speak with you about something urgent, something you won't like." The simple smile faded, and in its place, a grimace and a frown appeared on Aerys' face. Deep, deep down, I thought I saw something in his eyes. "What is it?"

"My king, I do not think it wise to speak of such delicate matters in the open air," I said, inquiring at the level of care involved in what I would say to him. "Hum!" Aerys snorted, then moved out of the way and gave me passage to enter.

"Darling, open some windows, will you?" Aerys said to his companion. Rhaella got out of bed covered herself with the sheets and set about doing as Aerys asked. For my part, I sat on one of the chairs in the room and arranged the backrest towards the bed, to avoid looking at the queen's nearly naked body.

"What is it you want to talk about so badly? And be quick, do me a favor," Aerys spoke, sitting down in another of the remaining chairs, "the Reach, well, more specifically the Tyrells, have closed the passage of the rose road, and have refused to allow the grain to circulate to the rest of the realm."

"And why would they do that? I don't remember Lady Olenna as being so irrational as to act that way, and there is no reason why they would refuse to sell the grain, they can't do that, they don't even fully control the production of it." And in that he was right, the Reach's grain monopoly was not under the Tyrell but was distributed among House Ashford, House Flooty, and House Redwyne.

So to stop the sale of the grain in its entirety to the rest of the kingdom, the Tyrells had to have the support of these other three houses, so either they got their support or, Mace had done something to achieve his plans without their interference. Something unlikely.

"Lady Olenna has no part in this, and from what Varys told me, Mace seized power, locking his mother in her chambers, right now, she is nothing more than a prisoner in her own home," I let him know, while the famous Queen of Thorns was not a woman completely to my liking, that did not take away from the fact that she was a woman with a very good thinking head on her neck, and losing a woman of her caliber to the outbursts of her stupid son was a hard thing to contemplate.

"And how the hell did he do that? The very fool easily has to keep his mind too busy not rolling down the stairs to come up with a clever plan to take the reins of the Reach," Aerys said with a laugh, and I didn't know what to answer him, because everything he had said was true, but also the fact that now, if we didn't fix this matter, a food crisis could be expected within the next year.

And bracing myself for the reaction Aerys would make when I told him the following, I dropped the bombshell; "Whatever method he used, it worked for him, and now we find ourselves in turmoil, if it had only been this, there would be no problem, but it's also about the Ironbone, Varys thinks they are organizing a rebellion."

"WHAT DO THOSE DAMNED OCTOPUSES WANT TO ACCOMPLISH!" Aerys raged, I knew his poor view of the Ironbone, if it were up to him, the Iron Islands would no longer exist, "Haven't they been content to pillage, rape, and plunder whenever they please! What now they want to hurt my realm? Let them dare to try and I'll be sure to destroy their damned barren islands stone by stone."

Waiting for his anger to pass, I continued speaking: "Varys says they have been preparing a massive fleet. The raids on the West Coast have stopped, and you know when that happens, it's because they are regrouping for something stronger. I recommend acting as soon as possible to see to the safety of the West Coast and send ravens to Arbor and the North reporting a possible Ironbone attack."

"Yes, yes, let's do that, I don't know why Aegon didn't burn those damned Isles with Balerion, it would have done the realm a great favor," Aerys said, sighing, and I noticed that the short but meaningful conversation had tired him out. "There is one other thing."

"ANOTHER!" Aerys' shout startled me, heavy was the crown, and now Aerys would feel the weight in full. "Your Grace, is everything all right?" on the other side of the door, Ser Gerold made himself known, apparently Aerys' shout unsettled him, "Yes, I'm fine, go on about your business!"

"Lord Denys has refused to pay taxes for the past two moons, Varys mentions that he desires a charter for his city that would give him more economic freedoms, as well as certain rights for his citizens..."

"NO," Aerys replied simply, with gritted teeth and a fury about to come out, "Lord Denys will get nothing but death if he continues this charade, I will not bend to the Tyrells to lower his tax rate, and I will not give a charter to the Darklyn, a lesser house with no rights whatsoever to it."

"We will leave tomorrow," this last sentence took me by surprise, "yes, you heard right, I had intended to travel in four days, but no longer, we will travel tomorrow back to King's Landing, you will come with me, what Lord Denys is doing is plain and simple treason, and he will take it back or I will have his head on a pike."

"But what about Azrael, he's still here, it could be construed as disrespectful for us to leave unexpectedly," I said, unwilling to insult the man I expected to get a lot of things from. "I'll talk to him after this, he'll be traveling to King's Landing too anyway, so we'll see each other in the capital after all."

Well, if that was the case, then there would be no problem, with Aerys knowledgeable on the subject, one could begin to prepare the realm in case of a war, something no one wanted, but as always, they were formed out of greed or men's desire for powers.