Varys sat alone in his little room.
Perhaps for secrecy, or perhaps to keep it out of the nobles' sight, this isolated room against the Red Keep's wall had belonged to generations of Masters of Whisperers.
But Varys knew its secrets. He knew the secrets of the Red Keep.
The vast underground tunnels, the "Little Birds" listening from inside the walls of nobles' rooms, the hidden passages connecting every room in the Tower of the Hand to the outside, the path down the cliffs from the Red Keep to the sea...
All he had to do was pull the lever in his bedroom and descend the stairs beneath the flagstones. Then all of it became his most powerful weapon as the Spider.
He considered only Petyr a formidable opponent.
The Targaryen royal family's sudden fall had buried the Red Keep's secrets with it. Varys, the Master of Whisperers, was the only one left who knew them.
But Petyr was different. Unlike the other noble courtiers, that cunning man cared little for honor or appearances. As soon as he arrived in King's Landing, he began courting minor nobles, small merchants, and even the Red Keep's servants, gathering whatever information he could.
Using his position as Master of Coin, he opened brothels and taverns across King's Landing and bestowed favors on lowly servants in the Red Keep. In the end, he became the second man to benefit from its secrets.
Varys often felt uneasy about that.
Petyr served only himself. Petyr prized power above all else. If he discovered Varys's true secret, would he make it public?
Varys did not know the answer, but he had once thought it an impossible question.
Who could know his true identity?
Three days ago, though, word had reached him: Khal Drogo was dead. Illyrio was