The Unyielding Stag (Game of Thrones AU/Invincible)
Chapter 14: Renly’s Plan

A/N: The start of Arc 2 Don't worry guys, Renly has a plan!

-x-X-x-

"You reek of desperation, Lord Baratheon. It's not a good look for you."

"Mother!"

Renly chuckles in the face of Lady Olenna's cantankerous attitude and Mace Tyrell's exasperated reaction as they all sit together in the Reach Lord's solar. Fortunately Loras had prepared him well for dealing with his father and grandmother. In fact, his paramour had told him exactly how to handle both the Queen of Thorns and the Lord Paramount of the Reach.

"It's fine Lord Tyrell, more than fine. What is the point of experience if you are not allowed to voice it, no?"

He flashes a grin in Lady Olenna's direction, causing her to narrow her eyes at him. He can tell she doesn't like him but Renly doesn't mind. He's used to old women disapproving of him and his nature at this point. Besides, in Lady Olenna's case, he knows it comes from a place of love. Love… and fear, both on behalf of her family.

It won't be just Mace that Renly intends to convince here, but also the Queen of Thorns. Even though Mace Tyrell is technically the ruler of the Reach and Lord of House Tyrell, it's well known that his mother has an outstated impact on his decision making. Case in point…

"Mother, he wishes to make my Margaery his Queen. This is what we wanted, is it not? Surely you must see the benefits of allying ourselves with Lord Baratheon."

Yes… even Lord Tyrell was already in his corner on this. But then to be fair, Renly has offered Mace everything he wanted. Not only a marriage to Lady Margaery Tyrell, but also the position of Hand once Renly sits upon the Iron Throne.

Olenna lets out a loud harumph, scowling at her son as though she thinks him an idiot. She probably does if Loras is to be believed.

"And how exactly will he put a crown upon my granddaughter's head when he doesn't even control the throne yet? Well boy? What is your plan for taking King's Landing? You aren't even the next in line for the throne, your brother is. How exactly do you intend to not only overthrow your nephew, but also claim jump your brother?"

Renly smiles politely, effecting an air of patience and civility as he looks Lady Olenna right in the eye. Can't afford to show weakness here and now, not in front of a woman like her. Old she might be, but nobody would ever mistake the Queen of Thorns as weak.

Unfortunately, she raises a very good point. None of this should have had to happen. If all had gone according to plan, Renly would already be sat upon the Iron Throne and it would be House Tyrell that would be coming to HIM instead of the other way around.

… He likely would have still have made Margaery his Queen and Mace his Hand in those circumstances given his connection with Loras, of course. However, it would have been up to the Reach to make the deal as sweet as possible. Instead, Renly was forced to come personally to bring the Reach on-side so that he could make this somewhat haphazard plan of his work.

"I'm sure you'd rather we not mince words, Lady Olenna. My brother Stannis is not a well-liked man. Nobody is going to back him in a bid for the Iron Throne, least of all the Lords of the Stormlands. Each and every one of them has chosen to support me instead. That alone should tell you who has the stronger claim between us."

Olenna's eyes narrow.

"All of them?"

Heh, he's definitely caught her off guard there. The incredulity in her tone is palpable and Renly understands why even as he smirks and slowly nods.

It even had the benefit of being mostly the truth. Of all the Lords in the Stormlands, a good majority of them had fallen in line. Only a couple had raised issue with Renly's actions, but they had been easily silenced through intimidation and if that wasn't enough, force. At this point in time, Renly already had the entirety of the Storm Lords behind him.

The Queen of Thorns eyes narrow even further and she scowls.

"How?"

Raising an eyebrow, Renly sits back in his chair.

"I am Lord Paramount of the Stormlands, Lady Tyrell. My men are loyal to me. From the Lords to the Knights, all the way down to the Smallfolk."

Scoffing, the old woman shakes her head.

"You just told me you weren't going to mince words, Lord Baratheon. So tell us how you've managed to rally the Storm Lords at your back so quickly or I will be forced to name you a liar."

"Mother!"

But even as Mace groans at his mother's words, Renly can tellthe somewhat simple Lord of the Reach is just as curious as his mother at this point. After all, even someone as dull and affable as Mace Tyrell can see the strangeness in what Renly is saying. It beggars disbelief to think none of the more important Lords in Renly's lands would take issue with ignoring the rightful line of succession.

However… that's where Renly has come up with something rather clever if he says so himself. Smiling brightly, he claps his hands and a moment later a young woman in a maid's uniform is let into the room. Both Mace and Olenna look at the woman curiously, even as she clutches at her dress and looks at the floor, refusing to meet any of their eyes.

Rising from his chair, Renly moves over to the young woman, placing his hands on her shoulders and giving them a good rub.

"It's alright Sara. Lord and Lady Tyrell aren't going to hurt you, nor will they be upset with what you have to say. Please… tell them what you and your sisters told me."

Haltingly, slowly, the woman does exactly that.

"F-Forgive me milord, milady. Me and my sisters… we was assigned to the Red Keep, we was. A-and when the King was… found after the big blast o' wildfire, he was brought back to… to the keep. We looked after him. T-Tended to him in his… final moments."

As she speaks, Renly carefully watches his audience for their reactions. Mace has a look of pity and secondhand disgust on his face as he no doubt imagines what the maid had to go through, what state Robert had been in by that point.

Olenna though… Olenna is clearly intrigued, leaning forward and pursing her weathered lips together.

"And? Get to the point, girl!"

Sara jolts at the older woman's sharp tone, but Renly just whispers soothing words in her ear, still massaging her shoulders. Until finally, she manages to stammer it out.

"T-The King… milady, the King's lips were m-melted together! His face were half burnt off, it was, and he couldn't make any noises! His fingers were crushed; he couldn't write any letters! Milady, milord… t-the Lord Hand lied! He lied about the King legitimizing his bastard, he did!"

Mace sits back in his chair floored by this reveal, eyes wide in disbelief and yet… he also believes it immediately. Olenna is more reserved in her reaction, humming even as Renly pulls Sara back a step and turns her to face him, smiling at her as he looks her in the eyes.

"Very good, Sara. Very good. Please, step out now. Thank you for your time, you've done very well."

Lower lip wobbling, the maid nevertheless manages a tepid smile as she nods and leaves the room. Once she's gone, Renly takes his seat once more… and smiles broadly.

"Both of her sisters will tell the same story. Robert may have survived the initial blast of wildfire thanks to Ser Semly's truly heroic sacrifice, but my brother did not survive in a state that left him capable of speech or indeed any form of communication. I'm afraid to say he died in pain and agony, unable to voice his last thoughts or his final will as King."

Letting his smile drop, Renly leans forward and slams a fist on the table in front of him.

"Lord Arryn is a liar hiding behind a reputation as an honorable and just Hand of the King! I won't deny that Axel Stone is Robert's bastard, everyone knew he had one in the Vale. But that's just it. Axel was raised in the Vale. Raised by Lord Arryn and his men. With this maneuver, the Hand of the King has put his own puppet on the throne. The True Baratheon Dynasty will end with my brother if I don't do anything about it."

Looking between Mace and Olenna, Renly lets out a shuddering breath. Straightening up and squaring his shoulders, he smiles thinly.

"That is why I've already sent letters by raven to the rest of the Seven Kingdoms detailing what you both just learned. That is why I cannot simply stand aside. That, Lady Olenna, is why the Stormlands stand behind me. And that is why… with or without you, we will march on King's Landing within the fortnight, before Lord Arryn can convince the rest of the realm to ride to their defense. If we can remove his puppet from the Iron Throne before anyone else can react, then we still have a chance of salvaging things. Nobody will truly object if I take the Iron Throne. Not once they hear what Jon Arryn has done."

"Here, here!"

Mace Tyrell, of course, is completely sold on the whole story. The Lord Paramount of the Reach has a wide grin on his face, his passions enflamed by Renly's words… just as intended. His mother the Queen of Thorns, however… is less swayed.

"Well. I hope if you have to parade that girl out to tell her story again, you'll have coached her to tell better lies. And I suppose we'll have to hope the rest of the Lords of the Seven Kingdoms are too blinded by their own greed to read between the lines of those letters you sent out."

"Mother!"

This time, Mace stands from his chair, looking shocked and appalled by his mother's drawled, acidic words and acerbic tones. But Olenna is unfazed by her son's grandstanding, instead staring Renly down directly. Renly… just smiles and decides to change tact.

"Your Margaery has recently reached her twentieth year, hasn't she?"

Mace flinches and Olenna narrows her eyes. Renly just shrugs.

"Rather old to still be unwed and without child. But then, we all know why that is. You'd hoped to wed her to Joffrey, no? But Cersei stonewalled you at every turn and Robert let it happen."

It was probably one of the biggest topics of gossip in King's Landing these past few years before the tragic loss of the King and both of his sons. Renly, of course, knew more about the Tyrell side of thing than most thanks to Loras, but he also knew about other parts as well thanks to his place on the Small Council and what not.

Put bluntly… a combination of factors had kept Joffrey Baratheon from being wed to any of the realm's many eligible maidens for years past the time when it normally would have happened. First, there was Cersei Lannister. The Queen had been quietly but intensely opposed to her son marrying anyone for any reason whatsoever.

Then, there was the King himself. From what Renly knew, Robert wanted Joffrey to marry Sansa Stark, Lord Eddard Stark's eldest daughter. But even though Sansa was almost twenty years of age herself and still unwed even at this point, the marriage had never materialized due to the long chill in Robert and Lord Stark's friendship.

Many, many Lords had put forward their daughters to wed Prince Joffrey over the years. All had found their efforts to find a way into the Royal Family stymied by this or that. Most had given up and married their daughters off to others… but a few remained even now.

There were the two most obvious contenders, of course. One was Margaery Tyrell of House Tyrell, twenty years of age. The second was Sansa Stark of House Stark, nineteen years of age. And then there were a pair of even odder ducks.

Arianne Martell of House Martell down in Dorne was twenty-two years old. Her father wasn't hoping to marry her to Joffrey though, instead she was said to be rather… willful and that had chased away any would be suitors. Though the Prince of Dorne might try to marry her off to Axel if Renly didn't manage to seize the Iron Throne, seeing as he knew for a fact that Axel had no Lannister Blood in him.

And finally, both last and probably least, there was Asha Greyjoy over on the Iron Islands. She was the daughter to a Lord Paramount and unwed despite being twenty-three years of age. Of course, she was almost certainly not still a maiden given that she was said to be Captain of her own ship. On top of that… she was Ironborn.

The Ironborn did things differently to say the least, but even Balon Greyjoy might be tempted to throw his daughter at Axel Baratheon if he thought he had a chance of getting an in with the untested King. Either that or he would start another rebellion, but Renly doubted that given how badly he got smacked down on the last one.

Regardless, all of this was to say… despite being the daughter of a Lord Paramount, Margaery Tyrell really only had two options left to her at this point in time. Him… or Axel. Every other outcome would be subpar at best, and a stain on House Tyrell's honor at worst. Smiling at Olenna, Renly gives the Queen of Thorns a knowing look.

"You could perhaps try to get my illegitimate nephew to marry Margaery of course. But you have to wonder if Lord Arryn will allow that or if he'll push for Sansa Stark given his close ties to her House. Meanwhile, if the Reach chooses to back my claim to the Iron Throne, I'm guaranteeing your daughter a crown. I will happily marry her before we even take King's Landing and once I sit upon the Iron Throne, she will rule by my side… as Queen of the Seven Kingdoms."

Sitting back in his chair, Renly spreads his arms apart.

"The choice is yours, really. Gamble that you can somehow slip Margaery in under Lord Arryn's nose or take the sure thing and side with me."

Olenna frowns at him and Renly can tell that she's not entirely convinced. And yet… she doesn't stop her son from speaking up either.

"Well, when you put it like that, it seems obvious doesn't it! Besides, this isn't simply about what House Tyrell gains out of all of this… this is about righting a wrong and correcting an injustice! I've always thought of Lord Arryn as an honorable, stalwart man… to find out that he would lie like this all in an effort to seize more power for himself… unthinkable! We can't let this stand!"

Renly smiles as he and Mace both stand and shake hands. All the while, Olenna looks on with an unhappy, sour expression on her face. But for all her influence, sharp wit, and acerbic tongue… she's still just an old woman grasping at relevance. He would have liked to have convinced her to give her full support, but even just making the Queen of Thorns hold her tongue was a win in the end.

Fortunately for Olenna, Renly has no intentions of losing. He'll do everything he's promising to do. He'll marry Margaery and make Mace his Hand. He'll elevate House Tyrell further than they've been elevated since Aegon's Conquest turned them from stewards into Lords!

All the Queen of Thorns has to do is sit back and not interfere and her House will rise farther than ever before.

-x-X-x-

A/N: Well, I didn't say he had a good plan, did I?

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