Interlude: Meanwhile, in the Vale

Lysa Arryn was dead. The victim of a long illness the seeds of which had been planted while she was still a girl. So much Moon Tea in one so young was always risky, after all, and came with the potential for complications, so said Maester Colemon. Indeed, it was almost a miracle that she had managed to live this long, after all, the signs were there for years. Increasing fevers of the Brain, wildly erratic behavior, increasingly frail constitution.

Fortunately, before she had passed, Lady Lysa had seen fit to appoint a Regent for young Lord Robert Arryn, or Robin as he preferred to be called. The Young Lord was only seven years old and nowhere near prepared to rule. Lysa knew that and appointed Lord Baelish as the Regent to young Lord Robin until such a time as Lord Robin reached his Majority.

Lady Lysa had finally passed a few days ago, and now all were here to bear witness to her funeral. Lady Lysa was being cremated, though, unlike other Tully Funerals, she would be cremated on a Pyre instead of on a boat. Rivers were in rather short supply near the Eyrie, after all. Almost all the Lords and Landed Knights of the Vale were in attendance, as they would be required to confirm Lord Baelish as Regent for Lord Robin. Almost all, that is, save for a notable few.

Lord Sunderland, Borrel, Longthorpe, Torrent, Upcliff, Elesham, and Pryor of the Three Sisters, Witch Isle, Paps, and Pebble were absent. They were in the South, currying favor with the seemingly ascendant King Stannis Baratheon. Given Lord Baelish's long association with the Lannister Cause, it could be taken as a sign that they would refuse to ratify Lord Baelish as Regent for young Lord Robin Arryn. It was a sentiment that was shared by Lord Yohn Royce, Lord Horton Redfort, and Lord Gilwood Hunter, though Bronze Yohn would have hoped that those other, Seaborne, Lords would have arrived to bolster those sentiments.

Bronze Yohn frowned as he watched Lady Lysa's body burn on the Pyre. With just Horton, Gilwood, and himself, his opposition to Lord Baelish's ascension to Lord-Regent of the Vale was doomed to failure. True, thanks to Lord Seawynd's sorcerous contacts, House Royce was beginning to equip their Guards with Runic Equipment, which, when combined with the fact that Runestone Produced a sizable amount of muskets, cannon, powder, and shot meant they had the best-equipped forces in the Vale. That did not, however, make them able to stand against the might of the rest of the Vale combined.

And that was what it would come to, in the end. Lord Horton was an old man, and too wedded to tradition to raise his banner in revolt and join Yohn, should Baelish succeed in being ratified as Regent. Meanwhile, Gilwood is a heavy drinker, and his Youngest Brother, Harlan, was suspected of murdering their father, the Old Lord Eon. Harlan was ambitious and if none could prove he slew Lord Eon, then Harlan getting away with killing Gilwood would be naught but a small matter. A man like that would jump at the chance to gain control of Longbow Hall, should Lord Baelish offer it to him. No, Gilwood would not join Yohn in revolt, or if he did, it would not be for long.

It was unfortunate that Yohn could not have swayed more Lords to his cause. He had the support of Lady Anya Waynewood and had been working on Lord Benedar Belmore and Ser Symond Templeton, but Lady Anya had suddenly cut her support a month or so back, while Lady Lysa had died before Bronze Yohn could seal the deal with Lord Belmore and Ser Templeton. Truly, it was an inconvenient time for Lady Lysa to die from the standpoint of the Stability of the Vale.

Oh, certainly, Bronze Yohn had his suspicions that she had been poisoned by Lord Baelish. It was not as if that was out of the question for a man of such low character. The only thing that stopped Bronze Yohn from levying such an accusation was that Maester Colemon had confirmed that it was illness. Maester Colemon had been Old Lord Jon Arryn's Maester, and Bronze Yohn had never heard his old friend say one word about Maester Colemon being corrupt. Bronze Yohn knew that Jon Arryn was sharp as a blade right up until the end. If Maester Colemon could be bribed by someone like Baelish, Jon Arryn would have figured that out.

Soon, however, the funeral proceedings had ended, and now it was time to get the politics over with. Bronze Yohn sighed as he was led into the Castle of the Eyrie to continue this farce. If it went as he expected, he was likely to be outvoted significantly, which left only a single option if he wanted to avoid the Vale becoming a Puppet for the Lannister Cause in general, and Lord Baelish in particular. He would have to join King Stannis and raise his banner in revolt. Bronze Yohn hoped it wouldn't come to that, but something told him that his hopes would be in vain.

Indeed as soon as they were seated around the blue marble table in the Hall of the Griffon King, Lord Baelish began the proceedings and almost immediately, things began to go wrong.

"My Lords, thank you all for coming. Now, as some of you may already know, our young Lord Robin Arryn is only a lad of seven winters. He requires a regent to rule in his stead until such a time as he comes of age as a man grown." Began Lord Baelish.

"And you believe that should be you, do you?" Questioned Gillwood Hunter, nose and face already rosy with drink.

"Indeed I do." Nodded Lord Baelish.

"And why is that? Why should a Lord who, until recently, only had a small spit of land to his name be allowed to administrate an entire Kingdom?" Queried Horton Redfort.

"Why, because our dearly departed Lady Lysa appointed me as such." Grinned Lord Baelish.

As soon as he said that, a steward arrived bearing a parchment with writing on it. Bronze Yohn couldn't make the writing out, but he could see the wax impression of the Seal of Lord Arryn pressed into the document. That did not bode well for his chances. As the steward handed the parchment to Lord Baelish, Lord Baelish nodded at him and took it.

"Thank you, Benn. Have a look for yourselves, My Lords. Lady Lysa not only signed this document naming me as young Lord Robin's Regent but also affixed her seal to it." Intoned Lord Baelish.

The parchment was passed around and Bronze Yohn knew that the game was up then and there. He could find no fault in the signature or seal, nothing to suggest the document was a forgery. He knew Lady Lysa's penmanship better than most, after all, he and Jon Arryn had been quite close before Jon's untimely death, and he was used to seeing Lady Lysa's handwriting when corresponding with her husband. She would send letters to his wife, Lady Kara, before Kara's death to a chill several years ago, after all.

"I trust this assuages any concerns you may have?" Asked Lord Baelish.

"How do we know this is not some clever forgery?" Questioned Bronze Yohn.

After all, he still had to try to cast doubt upon the document, even if he could find none himself, even if it pained him to cast such aspersions on his Old Friend's Widow like this. He could do nothing less and still consider himself to have done his duty to maintain Stability in the Vale. The look that Baelish gave him boiled his blood, though he reined in his temper. It was a look of condescension that did not belong on such an upjumped, dishonorable, miscreant like Lord Baelish. Not when directed at someone like Bronze Yohn, at any rate.

"Truly, Lord Royce. If anyone should be able to recognize Lady Lysa's Handwriting, I would have thought you would be able to." Condescended Lord Baelish.

"Just because I could detect no forgery does not mean there was none. I am not an expert in these matters, unlike some." Scowled Bronze Yohn.

"Jealous, unsubtle, barbs aside, perhaps we should put the matter to a vote, yes? With the Majority opinion being the deciding factor?" Queried Lord Baelish.

"A vote? What are we? Braavosi?" Asked Bronze Yohn.

"Really, Lord Royce, there is no need to quibble over such things. After all, votes have been used in Great Councils before to decide important matters. I see no reason why such could not determine this as well." Smirked Lord Baelish.

"A Great Council requires all the Lords of the Realm, yet we appear to be several short, even for just the Vale." Tried Bronze Yohn.

"The Lord of the Three Sisters, Pebble, Paps, and Witch Isle have left to curry favor with Stannis. This matter cannot wait for them to return, even if they had any intention to do so. The Vale must be governed, after all, especially in such uncertain times." Refuted Lord Baelish.

And like that, Bronze Yohn's cause was sealed. The vote went ahead as Lord Baelish had planned, and Bronze Yohn found himself one of three Lords out of Thirty who voted against allowing Lord Baelish to take up the position of Lord-Regent of the Vale, to rule in Lord Robin's stead until such a time as he came of age as a Man Grown. Bronze Yohn knew that his two fellows, Lords Gilwood Hunter and Lord Horton Redfort, would not stay by his side for long, so he simply stood from the table as soon as the act was official.

"You are making a mistake, My Lords. Mark my words, this will not end well at all. For any of us." Intoned Bronze Yohn.

Then, with one look back at the Chamber, Bronze Yohn Royce, Lord of Runestone, stalked out of the Griffin King's Chamber. He would leave the Eyrie that same day, though it would be closer to nightfall by the time he was out of the Gates of the Moon, the trip down the mountain taking up almost the whole usable daylight hours. He would return to Runestone, contact King Stannis, and pledge his fealty in exchange for aid against Baelish.

It was the only path left to him now. . .

XXXX

Petyr Baelish, Lord of the Fingers, Lord of the Mountains of the Moon, and now, Lord-Regent of the Vale of Arryn, sat back in his chair, a self-satisfied smirk on his face. This morning's meeting had gone just as he had planned for it to go. He had outmaneuvered that Old Warhorse Lord Royce quite expertly if he said so himself. Now he was sitting pretty, the power behind the throne in the Vale, and could begin planning his next steps.

Oh to be sure, he had expected someone to raise a stink about poor, dear, departed, Lysa's cause of death. After all, it was suspicious and he had poisoned her. They would not be wrong to assume that, but he had underestimated Bronze Yohn and his Ilk's attachment to Old John Arryn. Apparently, that attachment had extended far enough to cover Maester Colemon. The Sentiment had proven to be a fatal weak point in Bronze Yohn Royce's Strategy, and Petyr had pressed that weak point sorely in his preparations for this morning.

True, Maester Colemon was not corrupt in the usual ways, bribery did nothing to sway him for example. He also was an upstanding member of society with little to use as blackmail. However, Maester Colemon was a coward, and threats worked quite well, especially when delivered by one of Petyr's Mountain Clansmen. The Mountain Clans had such colorful turns of phrase, especially when delivering threats. They could be quite imaginative indeed, evocative enough to even get the normally incorruptible Maester Colemon to do as he was told.

Then there were the ways that he had prepared for the vote. Lady Anya Waynewood had been firmly on Bronze Yohn's side until recently. House Waynewood had a number of outstanding debts, after all, and it was a simple matter for a man of Petyr's wealth to buy up all of those debts to use as a blade poised to lop the head off of House Waynewood if Lady Anya did not do as he said and abandon Bronze Yohn's cause. Meanwhile, a few modest bribes and a bit of carousing got both Lord Benedar Belmore and Ser Symond Templeton to foreswear joining up with Bronze Yohn.

Lord Benedar was quite corrupt already and more than willing to play along if there was something in it for him, while Ser Symond was easily swayed with a night in one of Petyr's Gulltown Brothels. The Knight of Ninestars did not often seem to enjoy female company, likely due to his relative youth and the rather large, beak, of a nose that he had. Indeed, one night of whoring alongside Petyr, while Petyr kept plying him with wine and women, was enough to make Ser Symond into a friend for life.

Many of the other Lords of the Vale were already in Petyr's Pocket, and most of those who weren't were not present, having run off to join Stannis in the South. Only Bronze Yohn, Lord Gilwood Hunter, and Lord Horton Redfort remained to oppose him this morning. Three out of thirty lords would not have carried the day, and Lord Redfort would align with the consensus out of tradition, while Lord Hunter could be easily managed by setting his brother on him if necessary. Bronze Yohn would stand alone, at least until Stannis could send forces, and that would be plenty of time for Petyr to come up with a solution.

In the meantime, Petyr would be able to send forces into the Riverlands from the Vale in order to Bolster the Lannister Forces there. He had been promised the Lordship of Harrenhal if he could sway the Vale of Arryn to the Lannister Cause, and that would be yet another seat of power and prestige to add to the various others he had collected. Once he had Harrenhal, then he would be one step closer to his goal of becoming the Lord Paramount of the Riverlands. Once Petyr was a Lord Paramount, none could claim that he was of inferior stock to anyone else. Petyr Baelish would relish the moment when he could take that old fool Hoster Tully's place.

And in doing so, he would show those who looked down on him all his life what true power was. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we have the next chapter. The Vale has effectively become Littlefinger's via machinations, and he thinks he'll also be getting Harrenhal soon, largely because he was promised it by Cersei if he could bring the Vale into the War on the Lannister's side. Meanwhile, Bronze Yohn stands alone, though he looks to Stannis to stand with him, only time will tell how well that works out for him.

A note on Littlefinger's motives. This is Book Littlefinger, where a lot of his motivations are tied up in everyone claiming he wasn't good enough for Cat back when they were kids, alongside Hoster Tully's treatment of him during his fosterage at Riverrun. The Guy is, effectively, doing all this because he didn't get the Girl he wanted when he was a teenager and the reasons people told him for that have given him a complex. The Show exaggerated that to a ridiculous degree, to the point where he was willing to burn everything down to be King of the Ashes, something that the Books don't show him trying.

At any rate, the next chapter will be an interlude on Pyke, then we'll see the Wall and Targs before going back to Ricasso's POV.

Stay tuned. . .