Daeren took a closer look.
Huh!
Count Harren had invited him to Harrenhal, with a note saying, "Keep it quiet."
"What is he up to?"
Daeren could not suppress the curl of his lips.
They all said House Whent was Rhaegar's most loyal supporter, but its principles seemed rather flexible to him.
Maester Harvey was more cautious. "Prince, could Count Harren be harboring ill intentions?"
For instance, plotting an assassination in secret.
"No. Count Harren does not have the nerve."
Barristan answered first, describing House Whent as he remembered it. "House Whent may look prosperous, but it is really like oil poured onto a blazing fire. Their situation is not as good as outsiders think."
It was obvious enough.
During Maekar I's reign, House Roxton of Harrenhal had become obsessed with black magic and descended into madness. House Whent, sworn knights to House Roxton, had helped quell the Harrenhal rebellion.
As a reward, Harrenhal had been granted to them.
House Whent had risen through the ranks, but it could not change its origins.
Its present prosperity was owed largely to the fertile lands surrounding Harrenhal.
But how long could such prosperity last?
There was the curse of Harrenhal, passed down by word of mouth, and the pressure from lords large and small throughout the Riverlands.
If House Whent wished to preserve its glory, it could only cling tightly to the Royal Family.
That was why Oswell Whent had joined the Kingsguard.
And between the Mad King and Crown Prince Rhaegar, it had chosen to follow Rhaegar.
"But the situation has changed now."
Barristan's voice was firm and forceful.
Daeren chuckled. "I have dragons now. Count Harren is afraid."
A noble's rule of survival was not to walk one road all the way to the end.
It was to keep all