CHAPTER 4
Esther almost burst out laughing at the dumbstruck face Tyrion was currently pulling. He looked like he was about to faint.
"Well? Aren't you going to say hello?" said Esther suddenly uncomfortable in the lengthening silence. Tyrion shaded his eyes and looked at the taller man standing beside him who glanced around and nodded his head almost imperceptibly.
"I'm sorry, I mistook you for someone else." said Tyrion and walked in the opposite direction with the taller man following him. It was Esther's turn to look dumbstruck, she knew he had recognised her even after all these years, why had he walked off without acknowledging her?
At that moment there was a commotion in the opposite corner of the yard and Esther knew she had to get out of sight and plan what to do next.
Tyrion closed the door of his chambers behind him and collapsed into a chair.
"Who was that girl in the courtyard then?" asked Bronn eyeing Tyrion who was gulping down wine like it was water, "and why didn't you want to be seen talking with her?"
Tyrion put the cup on the table and looked out of the window at the setting sun low on the sea's horizon.
"Someone my dear sister must never know is here. Bronn, I need you to find her and bring her here without anyone seeing or hearing you. Can you do that for me?" he asked, seriously.
"I thought my days of getting girls for you was over" said Bronn.
"Please, just do this for me…and remember, no one must see you" said Tyrion still staring out of the window. Bronn was bright enough not to ask any more questions and quietly left the room.
After he had left, Tyrion but his head in his hands and thought back to one of the best and worst days of his life.
Esther had found her way to the massive kitchens and was trying to look like she belonged. She didn't know where to begin looking for her niece. The girl could be in Royal chambers or the dungeons for all she knew and she couldn't ask questions because she didn't know anyone…well, anyone that would speak to her.
"Damn!" she thought.
The kitchens were stifling so Esther walked out into another smaller courtyard that was cut with shadows from the sinking sun. It seemed to be the domain of the laundry workers who were all busy either hanging up or taking down drying washing. Nobody noticed her so she found a shady archway and rolled a cigarette. What to do? What to do? She took a deep drag of the rollup and closed her eyes as she blew out a stream of smoke.
"Lord Tyrion wants a word with you" said a voice in her ear. She turned and saw the voice belonged to the taller man who had been in the training yard. He looked around and then indicated to go with him. Esther ground the cigarette stub under heel and followed him.
As they walked through the maze of corridors and across balconies she tried to memorize the route but it all looked the same and she was hopelessly lost. It didn't matter though; all that mattered was that she was going to be able to speak to the one person in King's Landing that she could probably trust.
As they turned yet another corner she nearly walked into the man's back as he had come to a full stop; in his way was the giant from the training yard.
"What do you want? I thought the King had called you to heel?" said the smaller man. Esther moved towards the wall, trying to keep out of sight.
"Out of my way or I'll kill you" said the giant. Esther noticed that he had a fresh wine jug in his hand and was swaying slightly.
"Now why would you want to do that?" said the man as he moved ever so slightly into a better fighting stance and rested his hand lightly on the pommel of his sword. Esther saw he had a blade strapped to the small of his back and moved closer to him and put her hand on its handle, he stiffened slightly in acknowledgment of her move but did not push her away.
"Get out of my fucking way or I'll kill you and your whore where you stand" the giant said again. The smaller man stepped aside and the giant looked straight at Esther; in one glance she took in his huge physique, his ravaged face, his dark eyes and did not look away. Her stare peeled away his skin like the hottest fire and he knew she had seen the heart of him; she had seen the darkest corners of his mind, the secrets that all the wine in the world could not drown out; the screams, the blood he had shed, the fire that had twisted him into the thing he had become. She had seen it all and she hadn't flinched. He was rooted to the spot and did not move even as she and the smaller man walked up the staircase and out of sight.
Bronn opened the chamber door and pointed for Esther to go inside. Tyrion was still sat in the same place looking out of the window at the now near purple sky.
"Would you like a drink?" he asked.
"Yes" replied Esther wary of what could happen.
"No, Bronn. Please stay." said Tyrion as the man had moved to leave the room.
He passed Esther the cup and finally looked at her.
"I never expected to see you again." he said.
"And I never expected to see you either, especially here and now." Esther replied taking out the tobacco pouch and making a cigarette.
"I take it you are here to fetch Sansa?" Tyrion asked, watching her.
"Is that her name? Damn I should have known that." she said almost to herself.
Tyrion smiled incredulously "You don't even know her name?"
"No I can't remember their names, I've never even met her, I've never met any of them properly. You weren't there when Ned sent me away but he made sure I could never return to Winterfell; there have been no happy family reunions in the last 25 years." she replied bitterly
"Gods has it been 25 years?" asked Tyrion
"You know it has." Esther replied, "and don't even think about trying to convince me that we haven't changed. You look bloody awful for a start."
Tyrion snorted with laughter "And you, my dear, are as charming as I remember. Do you know Bronn, the first time I spoke to Esther Stark she was 9 years old and was beating up a boy twice her size and a good 5 years older?"
"I was 10 and he was three times my size" Esther said acidly.
"Of course" said Tyrion ruefully.
"And why was she beating up that lad?" asked Bronn, playing along with their game.
"If I remember rightly it was because he had called me a bastard dwarf. We were visiting Winterfell just after Robert's marriage to my sister. I was 14 years old and always alone; none of the other children would talk to me. One day I was walking through the courtyard and some of the local boys caught me, they pushed me in the mud and the biggest boy threw a stone at me; before I could call out I saw that boy fall flat on his face with a screaming wildcat on his back. This little girl with a shock of red hair had seen what was happening and saved me" said Tyrion with only the slightest trace of embarrassment.
"So you were saved by a 10 year old girl then. Times have changed since?" said Bronn
"If I remember rightly you asked me to marry you." said Esther taking another deep drag of her cigarette and watched the smoke curl into the lighted candles.
"And if I remember rightly you refused me." said Tyrion, watching the same smoke disappear through the open window.
"I was 10 years old, too young to marry even for your family." Esther smiled as she remembered the blond boy covered in mud with blood dripping down the side of his head, looking at her hopefully whilst the crowded life of Winterfell carried on around them.
"You never married I take it?" Tyrion asked.
"No. I never married. I never had children. I left the convent 19 years ago and have been working in the villages and towns stretching from North to West to East. Those years have been well spent though, I have few regrets." replied Esther, desperate not to have Tyrion's pity, she felt none for herself.
"I wish I could say the same." Tyrion took a sip of wine
Esther did not reply. She had heard a little of what had happened to the great and powerful families after the mad king had been killed but the strange truth of politics was that, although kings and governments came and went, life for the unimportant people remained relatively unchanged; they were still poor and brutalised, abused and forgotten.
"This war will make butchers of us all in time." said Esther.
It was Tyrion's turn to remain silent, how could he deny what he knew to be true.
"I've come to take my niece away before this city eats her alive. Will you help me?" she asked.
"Your nephew has my brother. Since my sister has already lost one Stark girl, Sansa is our only bargaining tool. If you take her I will never see my brother again. Robb Stark will kill him and parade his head for every garrison, town, city and rebel to see. We will loose this war and we will all be executed." said Tyrion flatly, but unable to look at the woman who had always been in his thoughts however deeply he tried to bury them.
Esther felt the bottom drop out of her world. She had not known about the capture of Jaime Lannister and she now she had revealed her presence to a man who could and would use her to strengthen his own family's position in the war.
"But a Lannister always pays his debts and I owe you a debt that needs repaying" Tyrion continued grimly, "I will not speak of who you are unless you try to take Sansa. You can stay here and watch over her or you can leave the city without interference, it is your choice."
He finally looked at her. Her face was white against the shadows and she was staring at him, her huge, brown eyes swallowing him. He saw Bronn move to stand behind her, his hand on his sword.
"I will stay." Esther took a last drag of the cigarette and dropped the end on the tiled floor.
"And you will not attempt to take Sansa?" asked Tyrion
Esther smiled "One day Tyrion I will show you who I really am and why you are the luckiest man in Westeros but tonight I will agree to your request. But when the sea burns and the towers fall I will do what I came here to do."
She stood up and was at Tyrion's side before Bronn could even move. She bent down and kissed him on the mouth, softly. She was out of the door and lost in the corridor's shadows before either man could take a breath.