~~~Third Person, eleventh Moon, 277 AC~~~
~~~Highgarden, The Reach~~~
Lady Olenna looked intently at the small vial with a strange greenish-colored liquid, her countenance remained the same, and even her confident smile never wavered, but if Varys had had sonic hearing, he would have heard her heartbeat quicken.
"What's that?" She asked after a while, folding her hands in her lap, watching Varys intently as if to find out what he was thinking.
Varys asked something else: "What do you think will happen to your house, Lady Olenna? Because judging by the way things look, I don't think it has a good path for you and yours."
"Well, I will answer your question if you answer mine first," Lady Olenna said softly, which caused Varys to pucker his lips. "Come now, Lord Varys, I have heard you are a cunning man, I am just curious as to why you seek me, and well... Also, the meaning of what you brought with you."
"Well, Lady Olenna, I thought you would be more receptive to that one Lord of the Small Council who has taken the time to care about your welfare," Varys said with a disappointed look, reaching out to take the vial, but Lady Olenna took it before him.
"Come, don't be so quick to discourage me, Lord Varys, please sit," Lady Olenna smiling, extending her free hand towards the chair the girl had occupied some time before.
"Well, Lady Olenna, the vial you hold in your hand, contains a strong and dangerous liquid, in the right hands it can change the course of wars, destroy families, or even raise someone to the top," Varys said after taking a seat, gladly taking a piece of goat cheese from the tray he had brought some time before.
"Poison, you say?" Lady Olenna set the vial down on the table carefully. "Not exactly, it's a weakness potion, it was hard to come by, the witches of Xandar don't release potions so easily, but having a connection to the Jaesyrian king has its privileges."
"Weakness potion, and what exactly does it do?" Lady Olenna asked somewhat interested, smartly deciding to ignore the fact of the mention of Varys' relationship with Azrael. "Well, that person who drank it would feel a strange sleeping sensation, so much so that the world would spin around, he would lose his balance and his body would not be able to keep him upright, while any illness, no matter how weak, would kill him in seconds, even a simple flu or fever would kill him."
"It would depend on how much of the potion that person drank, but at the end of the day, that sad person would die quietly, naturally, as if from old age... Now, will you answer my question?"
Lady Olenna looked for a few seconds at Varys, then shrugged, "It is clear that my house is on the verge of extinction, King Aerys is furious, the senseless rebellion of the squids, the retention of his son, he has a lot of anger built up, and no doubt getting rid of the Darklyn and Greyjoy will not be enough."
"My son is bad, very bad, and now, because of him, my grandchildren are in danger, and with them, the future of the Tyrells." Lady Olenna did not make up the situation of her house, she was a brilliant woman, she had survived many years, dodging blows and falls at the hands of powerful men and people.
And no doubt she wanted to survive this as well, "I am not stupid, I know the fate we face, all thanks to the path my son chose, heads cut off? To be consumed by fire? At this point, that jar looks like a better path."
Varys nodded, and a sincere smile... Or at least as big as possible, emerged on his face, "Well, Lady Olenna, you are a clever woman, and you know that the quickest and most correct way to destroy the harmful weeds that hurt the flowers in the garden, is to pull them up by the roots."
An uncomfortable silence spread in the room, and Varys took advantage of it to stand up, "I hope you make the right decision, the Tyrells arose thanks to a Targaryen, and a Targaryen is capable of returning them to the mire, think of your house... In your grandchildren, I leave you the vial, I know you will make good use of it, and I hope to see you again very soon, in better conditions, it would be more acceptable".
Lady Olenna sat there with the vial in her hand, watching as Varys transformed back into a fearful and grief-stricken servant, and then quietly left the room.
After several minutes, Lady Olenna took a brass bell from the table and, gripping it tightly to the point where her knuckles turned white, rang it. "Yes, my lady?" a guard opened the door and asked, due to Lady Olenna's call.
Lady Olenna hesitated but closed her eyes tightly, and the image of her grandchildren came to her mind; "Tell... Tell my son I need him here, it's urgent." She told him, swallowing her saliva hard.
"Emm, he is busy, my lady, I don't think..."
"I don't care what you think!" Lady Olenna interrupted him, "Bring him here, I command you."
The guard hesitated, but still nodded, "Yes, my lady, I will." He said, then closed the door, leaving Lady Olenna alone, giving her the privacy to shed a few tears.
.
.
.
.
"Knock Knock!" Hours later, knocking at the door brought Lady Olenna out of her reverie, running her palm across her cheeks to wipe the weeping face. "Come in!"
"Ah, mother, how good to see you!" As fat as ever, Mace Tyrell walked in at a brisk pace, which caused his belly to sway, "Muah!" He reached his mother and planted a hearty kiss on her cheek, "You look prettier. You see? Being here, taking care of you from all that stress, has done you good."
Lady Olenna smiled, resting her hand on the cheek that Mace kissed, "Yes, being here has made me think a lot, I've thought about what's going on, what you're doing, and I wonder, are you willing to go through with this? We both know that continuing down this path we run unimaginable dangers, the whole kingdom against us, protecting us from assassins, losing the love of the little people, endangering your children."
Mace was angry, "Again with the same thing, mother? I told you I'm not changing my plans, everything is going well, the Lannister fleet is out of the way for the moment, the Vale entered a civil war thanks to our Greyjoy friends, and even Lord Denys has helped in our plans without even being aware of it, everything is going well, and you must be happy with that."
"Yes, I know, it's just... Well, I think I'm old now, and I don't want to die knowing that my son and grandchildren will follow me fast to the grave," and it was with this, that Lady Olenna looked profoundly old, the wrinkles on her face seemed to accentuate, and her eyes looked darker and more tired.
"You don't have to worry, everything is fine, you will even be able to see it from your window before you bring it from this world, don't worry," Mace said softly, and made Lady Olenna sigh, "Then you have already decided them... It's okay".
Lady Olenna then stood up and walked over to the jug of wine that Varys the servant had brought hours before, she carefully poured some wine into two glasses, and offered one to Mace, "Then I will help you if I cannot change your mind, I had better help you in achieving your plans."
Mace smiled, and his raucous laughter caused his belly to move like a tide, "See, it wasn't that hard, with you on my side, House Tyrell will rise again, we will become greater, and that will help in my plans... Our plans."
Lady Olenna nodded, sipping her wine and watching Mace do the same, "I only want what's best for our house, you know that, don't you? You know what I love, you. Because I know I don't tell you that very often, and maybe it's my age speaking for me, but I love you very much."
Mace set the empty cup down on the table, and smiled at his mother, "Yes, I know you love, I know that much." Mace smiled, but then his smile turned sinister. "Then why did you decide to poison me?" The question made Lady Olenna's complexion turn pale. "What are you talking about?"
"Don't act like a fool now, Olenna. I know what you've done. Did you think that I, someone trained in how to kill people quietly, wouldn't know when I was being given poison?" Mace rose gently from his chair, bringing his face close to Lady Olenna, who was currently frightened.
"You don't know who you're dealing with woman, and just so you know, your poison is no good with me," raising his hand, he brought it up to his chin, and in a grotesque act, dug his fingers under his 'skin', and with tug, there was Mace's face hanging from his hand, as a completely different person appeared.
"A... A Faceless Man, but how? The Xandarians killed them." Lady Olenna was able to utter those words despite her terror, which made the Faceless Man laugh, "You know nothing, Lady Olenna, and you will die without knowing it..."
As the Faceless Man was about to reach out and grab Lady Olenna's neck, he suddenly stopped, as the veins in his 'face' turned blue, and strands moved beneath his 'skin', like maggots.
"You... What poison was that? This can't be, no, no, no, no, I'm immune to all the poisons of this world," the Faceless Man went mad, staggering as he ripped off one face after another, from faces of children, women, old women, even babies.
"My lady, are you okay?!" The commotion inside the room alerted the guards outside, who did not hesitate to enter in sign of some danger, and the sight startled them.
Dozens of face skins were strewn across the floor, Lady Olenna was sitting in her chair with a pale face, while they thought it was Mace Tyrell, their lord, writhing on the floor with his skin turning green and rotting.
Still, the guards did not stand idly by; they reached Lady Olenna and pulled her close to the door, as Mace's body broke, his skin melting and his bones turning to dust. It was clear that the situation had changed; it remained to be seen for better or worse.
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