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Chapter 11 – Tyrion Lannister

"I must say I received a slightly warmer welcome on my last visit." The imp, Tyrion Lannister, called out in the main hall in Winterfell.

He had intended to pass through Winterfell after travelling to the Wall and to help young Bran per Jon Snow's request. Although it wasn't hard for Tyrion to realise that he wouldn't be getting the same warm reception that he and his family received previously. Not to mention that it was Robb Stark sitting in the chair that his father would usually sit but the most curious thing that Tyrion noted was that Catelyn Stark was nowhere in sight. Since Bran was awake, he would have assumed she would be helping her son with his duties.

"Any man of the Night's Watch is welcome at Winterfell." The young lord Stark quickly retorted.

Yoren, who was accompanying him down to Kings Landing, nodded his head in acknowledgement and gratitude.

"Any man of the Night's Watch, but not I, eh, boy?" Tyrion couldn't help release a smirk.

"I'm not your boy, Lannister. I'm Lord of Winterfell while my father is away." Lord Stark coldly answered.

"Then you might learn a lord's courtesy." Tyrion lectured him. However his attention was immediately diverted when a large man entered the room with Bran in his arms.

"So it's true." Tyrion murmured sadly, the boy looked so small, even for him. "Hello Bran." Tyrion greeted him, "Do you remember anything about what happened?" he inquired inquisitively.

"He has no memory of that day." Maester Luwin cut in.

"Curious." Tyrion muttered. He was unsure if what the Maester was a lie or not. He had a suspicion as to why the boy had fallen from the tower but he wouldn't voice it.

"Why are you here?" Robb asked him impatiently.

Tyrion ignored him and instead he addressed Hodor, "Would your charming companion be so kind as to kneel? My neck is beginning to hurt."

"Kneel, Hodor." Bran ordered him calmly.

"Do you like to ride, Bran?" Tyrion asked him, getting straight to the point.

"Yes. Well, I mean I did like to." Bran answered him bitterly.

"The boy has lost the use of his legs." Maester Luwin informed him.

"What of it?" Tyrion retorted sharply, "With the right horse and saddle, even a cripple can ride."

"I'm not a cripple!" Bran said bluntly.

"Then I'm not a dwarf. My father will rejoice to hear it." Tyrion said in mock surprise. He quickly grew serious and he handed him a roll of paper, "I have a gift for you. Give that to your saddler. He'll provide the rest. You must shape the horse to the rider. Start with a yearling and teach it to respond to the reins and to the boy's voice."

"Will I really be able to ride?" Bran asked him hopefully.

"You will." Tyrion answered him, "On horseback you will be as tall as any of them."

"Is this some kind of trick?" Robb Stark spoke up in confusion, "Why do you want to help him?"

"I have a tender spot in my heart for cripples, bastards and broken things." Tyrion answered easily.

"You've done my brother a kindness. The hospitality of Winterfell is yours." Lord Stark reluctantly conceded.

"Spare me your false courtesies, Lord Stark." Tyrion refused, "There's a brothel outside your walls. There I'll find a bed and both of us can sleep easier."

With that, Tyrion and his group exited the hall intending to get out of Winterfell as quickly as possible. It wasn't difficult for the youngest son of Tywin to realise that his family were suspects in what happened to Bran. He didn't help out the young Stark in order to try and throw off suspicion on his house, and it was only partly due to promising Jon Snow that he would help Bran somehow. However when he saw how small Bran looked in Hodor's arms, he was reminded of the day when he and Steffon first bonded. He had looked so small that day as well.

Flashback

Tyrion stretched out his back just after he had left his chambers. He was in Kings Landing for a few days in order to visit with his beloved family. Although he didn't know why he bothered to sometimes, Jaime was the only one that was happy to see him. Still at least it got him out of Casterly Rock and away from his father for a short time, Tyrion conceded.

He had left his room in order to get some much needed fresh air; after all, spending hours in his room with some whores can make it a bit stuffy. As he walked down a hallway, he heard the sound of crying coming from the courtyard just outside the hall. He walked through one of the several openings between pillars and he was surprised to see Steffon curled up against a tree; his arms were wrapped around his knees. He looked incredibly small, even by his standards.

"Beloved nephew, what troubles you?" Tyrion asked him kindly, as he waddled over to him.

Tyrion didn't react when Steffon looked up and he recoiled slightly in disgust at the sight of him. It hurt to see that his nephew was disgusted by his appearance just like most of the world but Tyrion couldn't blame him. If grown men recoiled at the sight of him, how could he expect an eight year old boy to be mature enough not to? Not to mention that he was being raised by Robert and Cersei. Robert and he didn't interact all that much, so he couldn't expect much help there but the fact that Cersei didn't even hide her contempt for him. No, he wasn't surprised at all that his nephew was repulsed by him.

Steffon didn't reply for a few moments as he seemed to struggle deciding whether or not to answer Tyrion.

"Joffrey killed my cat." Steffon admitted, wiping away the tears from his eyes, "He cut her open and removed her kittens."

Tyrion looked away in disgust when he registered what his nephew had said. He couldn't believe that a nine year old was capable of doing something like that. Deep down he knew he shouldn't be surprised though as he had a suspicion about Joffrey's, Myrcella's and Tommen's true parentage. Two out of three wasn't too bad, Tyrion admitted internally.

"I'm sorry, nephew." Tyrion said sympathetically, "I know that it is hard losing someone you care about, especially by the hands of family."

Steffon looked at him in wonderment, "You do?"

He would have to word this carefully. Steffon was only eight years old after all. "When I was thirteen, I met someone who became incredibly important to me." Tyrion told him, "However when my father found out about her, he wasn't happy. We weren't supposed to be together and he punished her severely. I haven't seen her since and I don't know whether she is alive or dead."

It would be best that he didn't tell him the truth about what happened with Tysha but he figured that the whole truth wouldn't be a help to Steffon. The way he worded it should be good enough.

"Did you ever try to find her?" Steffon asked him curiously.

Tyrion shook his head, "There was nothing that I could do. My father isn't one to cross with, not even back then. There is something that you can do, though."

"What do you mean?" the young Baratheon wondered.

"You can tell your father what happened. He should do something about it." It wasn't a secret to Tyrion that Robert had little to no love for Joffrey and so he didn't think that even Robert wouldn't be too impressed at the sight.

"He already did," Steffon admitted with a slight smile, "he smacked him in the mouth. He lost two teeth."

"What did your mother do?" Tyrion asked him. Somehow he didn't think that Cersei would be too impressed with Robert's retaliation.

"She yelled at father again." Steffon answered, "At no point did she even scold Joffrey for what he did to my cat."

"I'm not too surprised." Tyrion nodded slightly, "Your mother isn't one to punish Joffrey, so you need to make her understand just how much Joffrey's actions hurt you. Can you do that?"

Steffon didn't answer for a moment and then he nodded.

Tyrion ruffled his hair slightly before he departed. While Joffrey was Cersei's golden child, he knew that she loved all of her children and she wouldn't ignore Steffon's pain if he brought it up.

Two Days Later

It was a dull day, the heavy clouds filled with water were blocking out the sun. Tyrion would be heading back to Casterly Rock in two days and he would try and enjoy the last two days here in Kings Landing as much as possible. That meant only two things; drinking wine and bedding whores.

It was hard to do these at Casterly Rock under that watchful eye of Tywin Lannister, so Tyrion intended to go full out on the best whores Kings Landing had to offer. Just when he was preparing to head out of his chambers to find one of Littlefinger's brothels, there was a knock on his door. To his surprise when he opened it, there was Steffon with a large book in his hands.

He had heard about his nephew's actions yesterday. Apparently he had attacked Joffrey in a rage about what Cersei's eldest had done to his cat. When Tyrion had told Steffon to do something about it a few days ago, he hadn't expected Steffon to attack Joffrey.

"What're you doing here, Steffon?" Tyrion asked, looking down at him slightly with a frown. The boy was almost the same height as him. Steffon had been grounded for his actions; something that Tyrion thought was unfair considering that Joffrey escaped punishment for his actions towards Steffon's cat. Perhaps the hit Joffrey received from Robert had been enough punishment.

"I came to ask you for your help, uncle!" Steffon asked him brightly, holding up the book in hands. Tyrion took notice of the title and discovered that it was a history book. Although what was more surprising was how happy Steffon was to see him and there wasn't even the slightest hint of disgust at the sight of him.

"Aren't you supposed to be grounded?" Tyrion questioned him.

"Yeah," Steffon admitted sheepishly, "I'm supposed to be learning history from Grand Maester Pycelle, but he is so boring." The young Baratheon finished with a whine. "I was hoping that you wouldn't mind helping me with my reading."

This hadn't been in his plans for the day, but Tyrion couldn't deny the request from his nephew. This would be the first time that a family member apart from Jaime that genuinely wanted to spend time with him.

From that day on, Tyrion and his nephew grew closer until he became the person that Tyrion cared about most in the world. This also helped Tyrion's relationship with Myrcella and Tommen, who were encouraged by their beloved older brother to get to know him. For this is, he was eternally grateful for Steffon.

End of Flashback

Seeing Bran looked so small and sad made Tyrion remember the feeling he had of seeing Steffon cry back then. It wasn't the first time that he had seen his nephew cry over the years as he was the one that had to comfort him whenever Cersei hurt him by siding with Joffrey or being indifferent to Steffon. Over the years, Steffon had grown into a fine teen boy, slowly becoming a man and he felt immense pride in him. Although there was a bit of worry as well, Steffon had also seemed to gain more of his selfish desires from him. Desires such as doing what he wanted and to yearn for a life that he just couldn't have.

He hoped that his influence didn't come back to hurt his nephew.

End of Chapter

If you like it then review it. If you don't like it, then don't read it.

Again, this is another short chapter. I'm sorry that I couldn't do more this week.

This chapter was important to do because I wanted to show that Steffon didn't always like Tyrion. I had to show that under the influence of his mother and others at Kings Landing, Steffon couldn't accept Tyrion's appearance. That was until Tyrion gave him some advice and comforted him a little. I'll show Steffon's point of view on Tyrion in another chapter.

We head back to Kings Landing on the 16th of November for an Arya, Eddard or Sansa POV.