THE BRASH LION
"One child. One still survives."
"At least it was the heir that we got," Jaime Lannister said, sitting at the foot of the council table. Tristan's cousin still wore his golden armor and the snowy white cloak of the Kingsguard, but that pristine white was now stained with the blood of the very king he had been sworn to protect. The Kingsguard that had killed his own king, Tristan thought. And with good reason too, else the entire city might have burned to the ground. Behind the head of the table, Kevan Lannister paced the Small Council chamber, his fist pressed to his lips in thought.
"Too many have escaped," his father decided without breaking stride. "Rhaella and the young prince Viserys have escaped to Dragonstone, and now one of Robert's own men saved Rhaenys from Lorch."
Tywin Lannister said nothing, his hands clasped behind his back as his stony gaze swept out over King's Landing. It was a beautiful day, the sun shining down on the city, but it was marred by columns of smoke from buildings that still burned and funeral pyres for those that had died in the sacking. Below the Red Keep, Lannister and Baratheon soldiers together fought to quell the chaos in the streets. Chaos, Tristan noted, that had been caused by Lannister troops in the first place.
The Small Council chamber was empty but for the four Lannisters, two fathers and two sons. Jaime Lannister had been waiting in the Red Keep as the battle unfolded throughout the city, ready to tell his father and uncle when they arrived of King Aerys' last orders for Jaime to kill Tywin. Tristan had arrived last, traveling with Ser Dell Loren and Lord Eddard Stark, in time to find the killing done; King Aerys, Rossart the pyromancer, Elia Martell, and Aegon Targaryen had all been killed. Perhaps it had been necessary, but the way Gregor Clegane had brutally murdered Elia and Aegon had gone far beyond distasteful.
And then there was Rhaenys Targaryen, stolen away by the bastard Taillefer Snow from under Amory Lorch's very nose. The manticore was still with the maesters, seeing to his torn leg. Tristan had never expected Taillefer Snow to be loyal to the dragons of House Targaryen; he had thought the golden dragons promised him would have swayed his allegiance.
"The queen and her young son will not be a problem," Tywin finally said, turning back to Kevan. "They are on Dragonstone, protected by the last of the royalists. Robert will strangle them into submission once the Redwynes and Tyrells have bent the knee to their new king. More disturbing is the disappearance of Rhaegar's daughter."
"She is only a child," Jaime said, drumming his fingers on the table. "I hardly think she will be a threat. On the run with a bastard."
"And a Tyrell girl," Tristan put in, speaking for the first time. "Taillefer Snow came back for her. For Jocelyn Tyrell."
"Jocelyn Tyrell," Tywin repeated. "Mace has no daughters."
"None of age, at least," Jaime put in. "I think he had a daughter just a few months ago."
"Victor Tyrell's younger daughter," Kevan explained. "A niece of Mace's."
"A cousin," Tristan corrected. His lady wife had told him much of Jocelyn Tyrell over the past year. "A distant one, at that."
"It matters little and less," Jaime said, shaking his head. "The mad king is dead, and the prince as well. And even Rhaegar's son, as Gregor Clegane saw to that matter. The queen and the prince will be bottled up on an island waiting for Baratheon to crush them. What does the girl matter?"
"The girl matters because she is an heir to the throne," Tywin said. "Something you'd best remember. Amory Lorch's failure could cost all that has happened here. I will not suffer another arrogant Targaryen on the throne, and Dorne will not be so quick to surrender if one of Elia's children is still running loose."
"The girl is a Tyrell," Kevan mused. "Perhaps she will try to run back to Highgarden or the Tyrell forces at Storm's End, with the princess in tow."
"Taillefer Snow will not chance that," Tristan said. "He wouldn't risk travel on the same road Lord Stark will need to take to Storm's End."
"Taillefer Snow," Tywin said. "The Snow of Standfast, is that not so?"
"It is," Tristan confirmed. "He did much of the Green Blade's thinking for him."
"And he abandoned his ser?" Jaime asked. He did not seem the least bit surprised. Tristan found himself thinking that he should have seen it as well; Taillefer Snow had somehow been close to the prince.
"He… never showed a great love for the Green Blade," Tristan stated. He had missed too much. "Perhaps Rhaegar promised him something more."
"Rhaegar was dead when he rescued the little girl," Kevan remarked. "He could have hidden his true allegiance and prospered under Baratheon."
"He came back for the girl," Jaime said dismissively.
"Regardless of motive, he still has the princess," Tywin pointed out. He turned squarely to Tristan, that stony emerald gaze boring into him. "What would he do? On the run, with a Tyrell and the princess. Where would he go?"
"He has contacts in many places," the young knight said. "It… was always difficult to know what he was thinking. But he is not a good enough rider to make the Tyrells before Stark, and the princess would be far too recognizable to travel with her through the Crownlands."
"We don't need to know where he wouldn't go, coz," Jaime noted. Tristan frowned.
"He had… friends in the Kingswood," he recalled. "And in Brandybottom, on Ser Loren's former lands before Rowan seized them. He could have gone to either of those places, or made for the north."
"The Starks are in the north," Jaime said.
"And Lord Eddard had no stomach for Aegon's death," Tywin added. "The rift created by Aegon's body may separate the two. And Rhaenys' disappearance may steal some of the iron from Baratheon's claim to the throne. The last thing we need are the Tyrells holding out for the missing princess."
"It will be bad enough with Dorne," Kevan assumed. "Rhaenys is as much Elia's daughter as Rhaegar's."
"Would that Clegane had left Elia alive," Tywin muttered. "But, peace will still come with Dorne. They cannot fight the Iron Throne alone. And without Rhaegar, the Reach and Dorne will never ally."
"How would they reach the north?" Jaime asked suddenly. The others turned to him.
"Who?" Tristan asked.
"This Snow," Jaime said. "Lannister forces breached the city before the royalists could mount a defense. All the gates were sealed. I found Clegane only a short time after he lost the bastard and the girls. He could never have left the city, not through one of the gates."
"There are other ways out of the city," Tristan said. "The sewers, the Blackwater…"
"The harbor," Kevan concluded. "Many ships set sail from the harbor, fleeing the battle. More than a few took refugees aboard."
"If they went that way, they could be anywhere," Tristan said. "They could be in Braavos by now."
"No, they could not," Tywin said. "But they may as well be. We have no way of knowing where every ship was bound, or which one they may have taken passage on. We will send word to the pirates in the Stepstones. One thousand dragons for the princess."
"They may not have taken flight at all," Kevan surmised. "They could still be hiding in the city."
"If that is the case, the Gold Cloaks will root them out," Tywin said. "Kevan, I want you to track down this Snow. Find out where he came from, and where he would go. There are precious few places in the Seven Kingdoms to hide a princess with purple eyes."
"Dorne," Tristan said suddenly. Kevan, Tywin, and Jaime all looked to him. Tristan could see his wife's eyes; Ashara Dayne and several in Dorne, especially around Starfall, held the same purple eyes that were so characteristic amongst the Targaryens.
"What?" Jaime asked.
"Dorne," Tristan said again. "She has darker hair, and the eyes. If she can disappear at all, it would be in Dorne."
"Would a Tyrell risk going to their enemies?" Kevan asked thoughtfully.
"Maybe," Tristan said. "But Taillefer… he definitely would. If he comes back to Westeros, he has no choice but Dorne."
The room fell silent. Kevan looked to his older brother. Uncle Tywin remained silent, his hard gaze on his nephew.
"Perhaps Tristan should lead the search for the girl,"Kevan suggested, looking to his son. Tristan fought to remain stoic; at last, he had earned the recognition he craved so dearly from his father. A chance to lead, to prove himself a true Lannister…
"Find the princess," Lord Tywin said at last. "Use whatever resources you need. End the line of the Targaryens, and Castamere will be yours."
"I… I'll do what must be done," Tristan said, struggling to keep his composure. Castamere, the ruin that was once the seat of House Reyne, still held fabulous wealth in its gold mines. The thought of becoming lord over such holdings made him dizzy with pride. His father and uncle, trusting in him, promising him such lands, if he completed the task, thrilled him to no end.
It was not until he left he truly comprehended the task before him.
