The hall was deathly silent.
Varys's corpse lay sprawled on the tiled floor. Blood slowly spread beneath him, and its metallic tang filled the air.
Littlefinger stood a few paces away, a muscle twitching in his face. He stared at the corpse, his thoughts racing.
Varys was dead.
The old rival he had fought openly and in secret for so many years had died just like that.
But this was no time for reflection.
He raised his head, put on his mild smile again, and spoke. "Your Highness is most discerning. I served alongside Varys on the Small Council in King's Landing for years. I noticed long ago that he was scheming across the Narrow Sea, but I had no evidence then and could not expose him rashly."
"Now the truth has come to light. He was indeed a Blackfyre remnant and deserved to die. Your Highness saw straight through his disguise. Such insight is truly admirable."
When he finished, he looked cautiously at Aegon, his expression deferential.
Aegon did not respond.
He toyed with the Valyrian steel dagger in his hand as though he had not heard Littlefinger at all. Only after a long while did he speak slowly.
"Lord Petyr, you've certainly done a great deal during your years in King's Landing."
Littlefinger's smile stiffened slightly.
"Turning Stark against Lannister, betraying Eddard Stark, starting the War of the Five Kings," Aegon said evenly, as though recounting something that had nothing to do with him. "Plunging the Seven Kingdoms into chaos."
"Chaos is a ladder? You've certainly kept yourself busy."
A fine sheen of cold sweat broke out on Littlefinger's forehead.
He had never expected Aegon to know even these things.
The deeds he had believed flawless, the secrets he had thought long buried beneath the fires of war,