The Dragon and the Hawke 29
Daenerys Stormborn and Tyrion Lannister sit across from each other, eyes locking every so often as they thought of what they might say. In their attempt to start conversation, they had already finished a bottle of wine and were halfway through their second.
Out the window, the sounds of the celebration were flying in, and it was clear that everyone was in a terrific mood. As well as locking eyes, both occasionally looking in the direction of the revels and silently wished that they could be there instead of here.
Finally, after the last drop of wine is poured from the second bottle and into Tyrion's cup, Dany sets her own on the table, "You slew your father?"
Tyrion, having not expected her or him to gather up the courage to speak for at least two more bottles, slowly set the now empty second down and nods, "I did."
"Why?"
The dwarf frowns, leans back, sips his wine, and then he tells her, "Many reasons, I could list them, but they are painful. I would appreciate it if you did not ask."
Dany narrows her eyes, gazing into his own, but can see only a sincere request in the small man's eyes. But she needs to ask, so she asks, "Name the least of his offences, then."
"He was going to have me executed for a crime he knew I did not commit."
"That is the least of his offenses against you?" Now Dany's eyes are wide in horror at the thought of a father being so cavalere with his child's life. She had never known her own, but she had experienced paternity from William Darry and Barristan Selmy, and she could not truly comprehend terrible parenting.
But she did know that it existed. Daario had told her how he became a slave, so she knew that there were despicable parents around, but somehow she had distanced herself from that knowledge. It stirred something in her, hearing how Tywin Lannister treated her son.
Motherly instinct is dangerous, there have been cases of mothers doing incredible and terrible things for the sake of her children. Dany was no exception, after all; she had buried Xaro and Doreah. Seeing a child, though really Tyrion could hardly be counted as a child, treated so cruelly, stirred those same instincts in her as had been stirred when she buried her husband and dearest friend. She actually had to mentally slap herself to stop thinking of the dwarf in such a manner, as the man was currently downing his entire goblet of wine.
Tyrion had not done anything in reply to the queen, except finish his drink and reach for the third bottle of wine for a refill. He is surprised when it is pushed closer by the queen, and stops reaching to look at her.
Again, she asks, "That is the least of his offenses against you?"
"Not even close to the top of the list," Tyrion mutters, taking the bottle and pouring it into his goblet, "If that were the least of it, I would probably have just fled when i had the chance."
"So you deliberately went to kill your father?"
"I did not know it was my intention," Tyrion tells her, nearly going to drink from his cup, but he sets it on the table, runs his fingers through his beard, and then tells her, "I went to his chambers to confront him, and found my whore in his bed, begging for him to return. I… I killed her in a fit of rage, and then I took up his crossbow, and killed him with it for that last offense."
Dany furrows her brow, and shakes her head, "I will need more of an explanation, if you please."
Tyrion sighs, rubs his eyes, and then he tells her, "Explaining would touch on memories I would much rather leave buried."
"I must know," Dany tells him, sure that his story would turn her in one way or another in regards to her favor of him. Marian had always stressed the necessity of backstory; she always said that people came from somewhere, they were who they were, but they became that way through the decisions, mistakes, and trials they had faced in the past.
"Why?" Tyrion's question is a plaintive whisper.
"Because I know it will turn me in your favor," The queen admits. She can already tell that she likes the small man, but she cannot trust him yet. The story that he told her would sway her, she could feel it in her bones, and those feelings were never to be ignored, as Marian had put it. Of course, when she had spoken of that feeling, it was when she was telling Dany why she had melted all but one of the Wise Masters of Yunkai.
But some of Marian's lessons could be applied to different subjects, most of which have nothing to do with killing people, which seems to be the main context of the burgeoning goddess's advice.
Tyrion sighs, frowns, picks up his goblet, downs one cup, then a second, then he tells his story, "When i was a lad of about sixteen, my brother and I saved a girl from a trio of bandits. While my brother chased after them, I helped her up, dusted her off, and kept her entertained while we waited for my brother to return. When he did, we all went to Lannisport."
"We were wed in less than a week," He then tells her, a soft smile playing on his lips, "For two weeks we lived as husband and wife, and it was the happiest time in my life."
Dany smiles at this, but then Tyrion adds, "And then my father found out about my marriage from the drunk Septon that married us. Enraged that I would dare marry a commoner, he had his men grabs us both from our small cottage, and drag us into Casterly Rock's courtyard. He then had Jamie tell me that my wife was a whore he had paid to have sex with me."
Tyrion's face twists into a snarl of hatred and he snorts, "A lie, but one I believed."
He downs another two goblets before he can manage to continue, "My father had each of his men rape my wife, and each was to pay her a silver coin for her services. And then He made me do it."
Dany's eyes widen in horror at the image that Tyrion was painting for her. She had seen many things in her life, and until this moment, the children that the Masters of Meereen had strung up were the worst she had known. Now she had a close second.
"After I was done, my father had me pay her a gold dragon for all of her time, and then he sent her on her way," Tyrion tells her, "And for twenty years I knew that I could only be loved by whores, and whores only loved my gold."
He looks up at her, "And then my brother tells me that he lied, that Tysha was not a whore, and that she did not deserve the fate that Father gave her."
"So I killed him. I saw him with my whore, Shae, after everything he had done to me, told me, trained me to believe. And then I asked him where Tysha was, and he told me that she was wherever whores went, and I killed him for it."
Tyrion downs the last of the third bottle and smiles at her, "Are you happy with my reasons for killing my father?"
"No," Dany tells him, her voice far more even than she had expected it to be, "I am not happy, but I am satisfied."
"Good," Tyrion reaches for a fourth bottle, but Dany stops him
"I would like you sober for the rest of our conversation, if you please."
The dwarf sighs and nods, "Very well, what else is there to speak of?"
"Why have you come to me?"
"Varys," Tyrion tells her, "He smuggled me out of King's Landing, and when we crossed the Narrow Sea, he explained to me that there was a girl, one who I last I heard had been sold off to some horse lord at the other end of the earth, who now had three dragons, a god, and an empire. He also told me that she would give me the chance to do what I do best."
"And what is it that you do best?"
"I run kingdoms, your grace," Tyrion tells her, "For close on two years I was the acting Hand of the King for my nephew Joffrey, who was a mad little shit, and I ran the kingdom quite well despite all of his and my sister's attempts. I can only imagine what i could accomplish working with a Queen who actually cares for her people and her kingdom."
"So you wish to serve as one of my advisors?"
"If you would have me."
"And your friend? Varys?" Dany raises an eyebrow, "You do know that he has deprived me of one of my closest advisors and dearest friends?"
"I do, he told me as much," Tyrion nods, "But that simply proves his worth as a spymaster. With a single letter he removed Jorah Mormont from your direct service. I do not defend this action, but I have no doubt that it was my father who arranged it. Varys does not act without direction."
"He doesn't?" Dany asks, raising an eyebrow in challenge
"He doesn't act against people, I should say," Tyrion corrects himself, "He is always learning, and always plotting, but he will never make a move until someone else can give him a plan."
"Does that make him useful?"
"I believe it does, your grace," Tyrion tells her, "More useful at your side, than dead or dismissed."
"So you're suggesting that I take advantage of his service while he offering them?"
"I am," Tyrion nods, "In his own way, Varys cares for the realm, and you are as much a part of it as anyone else, and you are better for it than any of the survivors running Westeros at the moment."
"Are you suggesting I try and take them now?" Dany asks, raising an eyebrow
"I am saying that you are the best ruler I have seen in my entire lifetime," Tyrion tells her, "And Varys serves for the good of the realm, and you are what is good for the realm. Right now, the realm is your new empire, but the hope is that someday that realm will include Westeros."
They gaze at each other, and no longer do their eyes lock. Instead, they linger, until Dany nods in agreement.
