WILOW-Ch.455: Veritaserum

Red Keep, King’s Landing

POV of Domeric Pendragon

After giving his verdict on Catelyn, King Eddard turned to King Aegon and said, "I hope this decision is also acceptable to you, King Aegon."

King Aegon nodded and said, "Kingdom of Ashborn approves your decision and will do his part to ensure this punishment is carried out, King Eddard."

In all of Westeros, Catelyn was probably one of the people Aegon disliked most. Therefore, he didn’t seem particularly sorry for her.

The only one in the crowd who seemed truly saddened and shocked was probably Robb.

"High Septon, please annul this marriage in front of everyone," King Eddard said.

Then the High Septon came and announced to everyone that Catelyn’s marriage to King Eddard had been annulled due to the crimes she had committed.

Normally, a Northerner’s marriage could not be annulled by the High Septon. Because Northerners would not marry according to the Faith of Seven, and a septon did not register their marriages.

But Eddard Stark and Catelyn Tully had married in Riverrun in front of a septon according to the Faith of Seven. Therefore, their marriage had to be annulled and erased from the records by the High Septon.

Normally, sending a woman to the Silent Sisters automatically annulled her marriage as well.

But while she was pregnant, Catelyn Tully was to remain in the Tully House until she gave birth to the child in her belly, and apparently King Eddard did not wish to remain married to her during that time.

After the marriage was annulled, King Eddard said, "Men, deliver Catelyn Tully to the members of the House Tully. From now on, she has no further connection with the Royal House of Stark."

Then the men escorted Catelyn to the Tullys. Catelyn kept her head bowed the entire way.

The Tullys’ faces didn’t look happy. After all, a husband sending his wife back to her father’s house for adultery was a disgrace to that house.

But there was nothing they could do. After Catelyn Tully had said those words in front of everyone, there was nothing left for them to say.

Perhaps later, they could try speaking privately with King Eddard or Domeric, at least to try to prevent Catelyn from being sent to the Silent Sisters.

But now he knew that anything they said would be rejected.

Edmure Tully and Blackfish quickly had Catelyn removed from the Great Hall and sent to one of the Tullys’ rooms in the Red Keep.

Staying there any longer would bring more shame to both herself and the Tully house.

"As for Petyr Baelish’s judgment..." said King Eddard after Catelyn Tully left the Great Hall, "I need to examine the evidence before I can make a verdict on him. Vincent Page, give me the documents you mentioned."

Vincent Page was about to present the documents his men had brought him to King Eddard when Domeric interrupted, speaking.

"There is a way we can quickly end this trial without needing these documents, King Eddard. I think we’ve wasted enough time."

"Oh. What method do you have in mind, Your Majesty?" King Eddard asked, and King Aegon looked at him curiously.

Domeric reached into his robe pocket, pulled out a finely crafted glass vial, and showed it to the two kings.

"This elixir is called Veritaserum. It’s also known as the truth serum. It’s something I created under the guidance of the Old Gods. It’s quite difficult to make, which is why it’s so valuable. If Petyr Baelish had quietly confessed his crimes, I wouldn’t have had to use it. But I don’t want this to drag on any longer. Normally, today should be a coronation and a celebration day," Domeric said.

"So, you can make the person speak the truth with this, Your Majesty?" King Aegon asked.

"Yes. Anyone who drinks three drops of this will reveal even their deepest secrets, secrets they wouldn’t want anyone to know," Domeric said.

After saying this, he could see the people in the Great Hall looking at him with admiration and a little fear.

Domeric especially wanted people to know about this potion. If he didn’t use it on Petyr today, he planned to use it on someone else another time.

As long as people knew he possessed such a potion, they would think twice, or even thrice, before lying to him or plotting behind his back. And that was exactly what Domeric wanted.

He didn’t want to spend the early years of his Empire dealing with intrigues behind his back.

Of course, he couldn’t completely prevent them.

But he thought that after today’s demonstration, he would prevent a large part of them, and the remaining ones, serving as a lesson to everyone, would bring peace to the Realm for a while.

Then Domeric handed the vial to Varko, telling him to give Petyr Baelish three drops.

As Varko approached, Petyr Baelish struggled, but the men beside him held him tightly.

Varko ordered his men to lift Petyr’s head and open his mouth. He then dripped three drops of the potion, closing his mouth and pinching his nose. Only after Petyr swallowed a few times did he release the man.

Once free, Petyr Baelish coughed a few times, but then the light in his eyes faded, and he stared at them motionless, like a dead fish.

"Your Majesty, is this normal?" King Eddard asked.

"Completely normal," said Domeric, then, turning to Vincent, he added, "Vincent, take over from here. I want Petyr Baelish to tell us everything about the accusations against him in his own words, and I want everyone here to hear it."

"As you command, Your Majesty," Vincent said, and then, approaching Petyr Baelish, began to question him one by one about the accusations.

And Petyr Baelish, under the influence of Veritaserum, began to recount all his deeds, one by one.

Petyr’s account had an even greater impact on those in the Great Hall than Vincent’s. This was primarily because these confessions came directly from Petyr Baelish’s own mouth.

Secondly, Petyr Baelish narrated the events from his own perspective, allowing people better to understand his hateful, treacherous, and shameless character.

For a while, only Petyr Baelish’s voice could be heard in the Great Hall, and all his crimes poured out one by one.

But towards the end of his accusations, something Petyr said caused King Eddard and King Aegon to rise and roar at him.

What they heard was that Petyr, having overcome his obsession with Catelyn, had now set his sights on Sansa Stark.

Although Domeric managed to calm them and seat them on their thrones, both of them glared at Petyr with fiery eyes for the rest of his speech.

When Petyr had nothing left to say, Domeric told Varko to give Petyr the antidote to remove him from the effects of Veritaserum.

Petyr turned deathly pale after recovering from the potion’s effects, now fully aware of what he had just said.

Because Domeric had erased his memory after their initial interrogation, he knew nothing about Veritaserum or its effects. But now Petyr remembered exactly what he had said.

Then King Eddard began to speak. "Everyone has heard your confessions regarding the accusations, Petyr Baelish. If you have nothing more to say in your defence, I will give you your verdict."

"I didn’t say those things. It’s all because of what they gave me to drink..." Petyr tried to defend himself, but no one in the Great Hall believed him. The things he had just said certainly contained information known only to himself or a very few others.

If the potion hadn’t been making him tell the truth, Petyr wouldn’t have said those things. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"It seems you have nothing more to say, then..." King Eddard began, but Petyr’s shout interrupted him.

"I DEMAND A TRIAL BY COMBAT!"

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Next Chapters’ Name:

Ch.456: Do You Have a Champion?

Ch.457: Camelot – Home Sweet Home

Ch.458: Side Effects of Soul Bond