it was a small smile he offered Willas for his kind words about Robb, one more out of POLITENESS than anything else. not that he had anything against the older man, not at all — barely knowing anything about him, and frankly wishing to learn. nevertheless, conversations had never been Jon’s forte, and let alone political ones. truth be told, he’d never even been truly PREPARED for anything of the like. Robb was the rightful heir and, therefore, he’d always been the one their father would take to meetings and visits and other events, so that he could learn how to be a proper ruler. whilst Jon himself had ever been granted education EQUAL to that of his half-brothers, in that respect, he’d been left out for the most part — for what would the other northern lords ever think, were they to see the Warden of the North attending councils with the living proof of his shame && dishonor tagging along like a lap dog?
Jon was very far from being stupid, however, and he knew a great deal about war strategies && tactics — in that aspect, at least, he and Robb were at the same level. and he was unwaveringly LOYAL to his brother and to his family, which well justified his presence there. no, he wouldn’t screw that up, no matter how untalented he could be at social interaction. thus, when Willas implied at his king’s potential lack of capacity to lead his troops adequately, he tried his best to keep his face guarded from emotion. yes, those were, exactly, the rumors that he’d heard… that the youngest Baratheon was a friendly and charming man, but not one you might truly want seated on a throne, for LACKING the discipline for it. whose arse might end up on the Iron Theone, however, was none of the Starks’ concern, so long as the Lannisters were punished for their crimes && the North was accepted as an independent realm. that was all they wished for, and the rest of that game could be played by the southron kings as much as they wanted.
‘ leading and making decisions in times of WAR is never an easy thing — i see the weight that the crown imposes on my brother’s head, and i’ve no doubt it is the same for Lord Renly. i am, therefore, willing to listen to everything you may have to discuss, and hopefully we will be able to come to terms that will SATISFY us both. ‘
The smile he was presented was STRAINED, far from fake but highly unpracticed. He hadn’t expected much else, Willas had no doubt Jon would be a good swordsman, well practiced and versed with his weapons but the finer political details seemed to have been dismissed or overlooked in his education, a thing he understood. Jon might end up taking residence in a castle near Winterfell to serve his brother but even that could be taking it far, he was a bastard and the North was far from Dorne. Part of it came as a relief to Willas, he had spoken to commanders before, veteran knights leading armies that were keen on playing a political game with him, a thing he was quick to halt.
‘ Well, to be frank I think it’s quite different. Nonetheless I very much hope the same, this war should END as soon as we can make it end together. ’
A fresh but intelligent mind on war strategies would be welcome. It had been one of the few things Willas had been able to learn that included war nonetheless he felt rather insecure on the subject, unable to find a counter to every trump card an opponent could play. Fresh minds were brighter than those stale, old and set in their ways. The heir of highgarden had his suspicions as to what might be required to get the North to support Renly, after all Willas knew his claim was close to ludicrous, it could’ve only been less if he hadn’t been Robert’s kin at all. Nonetheless Renly was more likely to succeed, not as seasoned but surrounded by seasoned men and such a large amount of men it was hard not to see the odds might tip into his favour in a matter of days.
‘ I understand your first concerns must be the independency of the North, whilst I cannot directly speak as to what Renly thinks, without doubt it is very negotiable to make the North more separate from the other kingdoms, though complete independency will take longer to discuss. ’
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