The night in King's Landing was as noisy as ever.
Lynn stood on the terrace of his newly acquired mansion.
It had once belonged to Petyr Baelish.
He could overlook much of the brightly lit city and smell the cloying sweetness of cheap perfume and desire drifting up from the brothel below.
Money was merely a tool.
His true prize was severing the invisible web Littlefinger had spent more than a decade weaving in King's Landing.
Seven brothels, warehouses at the docks, estates outside the city...
These were more than assets. They were nodes in an intelligence network, hubs of connections.
With all of them gone, Petyr was finished.
"My lord."
A respectful voice came from behind him.
It belonged to a middle-aged man named Robb.
He handled some of the intelligence work.
"We've confirmed everything."
Robb handed him a thin sheet of parchment.
"Janos Slynt, Lord Commander of the City Watch."
"The man is insatiably greedy and a complete coward."
"Every month, he takes a full three hundred Gold Dragons in protection money from your seven brothels."
"And that doesn't include the bribes he receives from other shops, gambling houses, and smugglers."
Lynn took the list.
It was densely covered with records of every one of Janos Slynt's illicit transactions.
Dates, places, amounts-everything was clearly recorded.
"Good."
Lynn tapped lightly on the name "Janos Slynt."
This was the largest armed force in King's Landing, a full six thousand Gold Cloaks.
Yet their commander was a dog anyone could set to work with money.
In Ned Stark's hands, such a force was a deadly double-edged sword.
If he did nothing, the Gold Cloaks would remain a blade hanging over his head.
If he tried to act, he would inevitably face fierce opposition from the Queen and the other powers at