Chapter 53 - Reaction from All Parties (III)

"Always expect betrayal from the one you least expect, believe me, it makes the pain less painful." Advice from an old woman, Olenna of House Tyrell.

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The Reach - Highgarden.

Margaery stood in a corner watching her parents, siblings, and grandmother argue with heated and somewhat rude words, especially from her grandmother, Olenna. The girl could feel the tension in the air.

Mace Tyrell, Lord of Highgarden, Lord Paramount of the Mander, Defender of the Marches, High Marshal of the Reach, Warden of the South, and head of House Tyrell, looked at his mace and asked with a slightly worried tone. "What are we going to do, Mother?"

Olenna looked at her cowardly son, still amazed that such a stupid creature had come out of her womb. She let out a tired sigh and looked at her son with a hint of coldness that made the Southern Guardian shiver. "Stop acting like a child, you're the fucking Guardian of the South, act like one, you big green stupid pig."

Mace simply lowered his head and acted like a child at his mother's words, which made his wife, Alerie Hightower, laugh and hold her husband's arm, gently comforting him.

"A raven arrived from King's Landing, it was the King inviting House Tyrell to a tournament in honor of Prince Joffrey's name day." With his wife's help, Mace spoke in an excited tone. In his eyes, this was House Tyrell's chance to be betrothed to the Crown Prince of the Iron Throne.

Seeing the growing ambition in her son's eyes, Olenna let out another weary, helpless sigh.

"You stupid son, have you forgotten the news we received a week ago? How could you even consider going to King's Landing at this time?" She spoke in a scolding tone, her face showing an expression of anger at her son's thoughts. She didn't understand why her son was so ambitious when he was so mediocre in every way.

"But those are just rumors." Mace replied to his mother's words with an expression of dissatisfaction at his mother's hesitation.

Mace's response was to have Olenna's cane slam into his body over and over again, the old lady by this point livid with rage.

"Rumors? You say that hundreds of identical pieces of information are fucking rumors!" Olenna shouted angrily, she really wanted to die right now and stop stressing over every single thing her son said. Unfortunately, she had to stay alive or her stupid son would destroy House Tyrell in less than ten years.

"Sorry Mother!!! I'm not going to answer you anymore, just stop hitting me." Mace begged, shielding his face with his thick arms.

Olenna stopped beating her son and listened to his pleas, then looked at her eldest grandson, Willas, and asked in a gentle tone. "What do you think, Willas?"

"Reinforce the border in the west and prepare for war." Willas did not hesitate to speak his mind.

Willas' words brought a smile to Olenna's limp lips, if Mace had 10% of her grandson's intelligence and wit, she wouldn't be so worried.

"Why?" she continued.

"Because with the news of Prince Targaryen and his dragon, along with his army of fanatics, they're coming to Westeros sooner or later. Anyone with a brain in the right place knows that alliances must be made now to unite against the reconquest of the Targaryen dynasty." Willas replied in a soft, calm tone.

"Tywin Lannister is a cruel and merciless man, those who are not on his side must be exterminated." The Heir of Highgarden finished.

Turning to look at Mace, Olenna couldn't help but speak with a hint of sarcasm. "If you had 10% of Willas' intelligence, I could die in peace, knowing that House Tyrell will survive longer."

Mace ducked his head like a child being scolded for doing something wrong, which, though strange, eased the tension in the room.

"You're right Willas, the old lion is merciless, he'll slit our throats the moment we turn our backs on him." Olenna spoke calmly and continued.

"Unlike the other Great Houses, we fought for House Targaryen in the rebellion twelve years ago, as long as Prince Targaryen has any intelligence, he knows that an alliance with House Tyrell is profitable and more reliable than the other Great Houses."

Olenna finished. "We just have to wait and prepare to bend the knee in the future and remain the guardians of the south. The Highgarden will not become another Harrenhal in my lifetime."

"Can we trust this Targaryen prince, Mother? Isn't it better to let Margaery marry Prince Joffrey?" Mace couldn't help but speak his mind; as Lord of the Highgarden, he had the right to speak his mind, didn't he?

"You fool." Olenna sighed. "House Baratheon looks strong, but it isn't. It's in debt, almost bankrupt, with millions owed to the Iron Bank and to us. Dorne will attack the Lannisters at the first opportunity. The Vale is strong but has few people, House Tully can't control its vassals and they're weak. The North is powerful but difficult to rally in a short time."

"My spies in King's Landing have already told me that Joffrey is madder than Aerys and crueler than Maegor. Tommen is a naive child and too young to rule anything. Stannis is the heir presumptive after them, but no one likes him.

"Renly is even worse, a pillow biter can't be king. Five choices of kings, but all unfit. Which means House Baratheon will have a succession battle for the throne if a certain mad prince dies.”

"Westeros needs but one spark for the flames of war to sweep across this continent once again, and that spark is Aenar Targaryen and his dragon, who burned forty thousand men alive in less than fifteen damned minutes." Olenna finished, sitting back in her chair with a calm expression on her face.

Olenna's words made Willa's eyes widen; in his eyes, his grandmother's words meant that Prince Joffrey would die at any moment.

"Who is going to kill Prince Baratheon?" Willas asked incredulously, although as his mother had said, House Baratheon was not very strong, but it was still the royal house of Westeros, many respected and accepted Robert Baratheon's call.

Olenna rolled her eyes, her lips curving into a mischievous smile. "I'm not saying the little lion will die, but his death could come in handy for a lot of ambitious people."

Olenna's smile made everyone, including Margaery, feel a chill run through their bodies. No one doubted that this would happen; the woman before them had earned the nickname Queen of Thorns for her sharp tongue, but also for her intelligence.

"What are we going to do, Mother? What if Robert calls his banners and marches into the Reach?" Mace said in a cautious tone, even if the Reach had plenty of troops and food, Robert was still king and he could summon an army of hundreds of thousands.

"If they attack, burn all the crops and watch the pigs eat each other." Olenna's words were cold and indifferent to the deaths of millions.

The Reach was the kingdom's breadbasket, selling food to all the Seven Kingdoms at the lowest price; if the crops were burned, the famine in Westeros would rise to a most alarming level. To the point where only those with fertile land would be able to save themselves.

The North, for example, would be one of the hardest hit; even with the help of the Reach, they still couldn't meet the food needs of the Northerners, let alone without the Reach.

You could say that Olenna's proposal was to hurt herself and hurt others more. The woman was ruthless and could sacrifice an arm to cut off two arms and legs of her enemy.

Willas looked at Olenna with admiration. Perhaps because he was young, he wasn't so determined to do something so drastic, for the damage to Reach itself was incalculable.

He might do such a thing, but he would certainly hesitate and not be as determined as his grandmother.

Mace shook his head repeatedly and denied such a suggestion; how much would House Tyrell lose by burning all the crops? There were so many Golden Dragons that he didn't even want to think about it.

Seeing her son nod and mutter, Olenna didn't need to be a mind reader to understand her own son's thoughts.

And that left her speechless. She really doubted that Mace was her son, maybe she'd had too much to drink and slept with her sister's husband...

Olenna pushed these thoughts about her son aside and muttered to herself, smiling mischievously.

"I really want to see what will happen to King's Landing if we stop feeding the city. They'll devour each other like starving pigs behind the walls."