Meereen: Day 2

Tyrion was awaiting sitting on the same windowsill where he had sat the previous night gazing at the bay. When the door opened, he jumped to the floor and went to meet Sansa. He watched her, expecting. She grinned.

"It has gone well," she said.

He took her hands. "I'm very glad for it, darling. Well, you'll tell me later. I'm going."

She bent down to kiss him. "Good luck, my love."

"You're my luck. See you in short," said him as a goodbye. He blinked an eye and was gone.

Daenerys greeted him and Tyrion, after a bow, took a seat on the same chair Sansa had used. The queen studied him carefully, but she had not any more the cold attitude of their first meeting.

"Lady Sansa has told me very interesting things about her time in King's Landing. It was a nightmare for her."

"My nephew, my sister and my father saw to that. They made her life hell. I would like to say that I did not contribute to her miseries, but I would lie. The fact of having to marry me against her will did not help to improve her fondness of me," admitted Tyrion.

"But you treated her well. You took seriously your wedding vows and cared for her, although she rejected your kindness."

"She was innocent and wretched. The only thing I could do for her was to try to comfort her, make her see that she had a friend even though she did not want anything to do with me. It was my duty."

"Are you saying that, when your father commanded you to marry her, you took it as an unpleasant obligation? As a hateful responsibility?," asked Daenerys, with a skeptical smile.

"She is a beautiful young woman, polite and sweet, of the ancient lineage of the Starks of the North, with a claim on Winterfell. She was too good for me, much more than I was able to dream of a wife. Unpleasant? Of course not. Does the pig complain when it finds an exquisite piece of food in the mud? But I did not want her to feel forced to be with me. I did not fancy it being that way. I did not have the least wish to be scorned by her more than she already did for my Lannister surname. I did not feel thrilled by the perspective of facing day after day her indifference and the wall of her distance. Sansa lost much more than me," declared him. "How could I be glad for her unhappiness? How could I feel well with myself, knowing that she was suffering and I could not do anything?"

Daenerys looked at him lengthily.

"Any other man would have taken her without a guilty conscience, he wouldn't have given a damn about what she felt and would have compelled her to consummate the marriage in their wedding night," said her, harshly, though she did not look at him, but at some distasteful memory. "You are a strange man, Tyrion Lannister."

"I am not my father or my sister, nor my dead nephew. I am very far from being the best of men and I don't use to put honour ahead of my own life, except when other lives that depend on me are at risk, and I don't like to have on my conscience the deaths of innocents. Ned Stark was very honourable and I respected him, but his honour served him to end losing his head. I am not like him. I like the game of thrones and I play it well. I was fond of being Hand of the King." He picked up the cup and emptied half of its contents in a gulp. "But I don't enjoy torturing; that was Joff's favourite hobby. I don't enjoy plotting misdeeds; that is my sister's favourite hobby. And I neither enjoy my father's favourite pastime, ruling with an iron hand and without scruples. I would be pleased if there wasn't so much death and horror because they are sights which don't cause me enjoyment. It is true that I have always felt amused screwing over my father, as I would never gain his affection. Every day he has spat at me that he hates me for being responsible for my mother's death. He despises my sense of humour and I have infuriated him as much as I have been able to since my childhood. He denied me of my claim on Casterly Rock and that hurt me deeply. I was a drunkard whoremonger because I knew Tywin loathed that his dwarf son dishonoured even more the already dishonoured Lannister name... I went from brothel to brothel and drank, because... Which woman was going to love me, me, the Imp? All my life I have searched for love and finally found it in Sansa. She is so... unbelievable amazing that I wonder what god must have pitied me. I know I don't deserve her. But I strive to. I would die for her and I will devote the rest of my life loving her at least a fraction of what she deserves to be loved. And to achieve what I want for her, I have come to help the only woman who can change the world. I am a man of action, I possess a political and tactical mind, I like big challenges in which I bring into play all my mental ability. That is what I offer you, Your Grace. What I am inside of this small body is what I have to offer." He stared at her without wavering, or without a single trace of fear.

"You have spoken with the heart, Lord Tyrion. You are brave." He sensed that Daenerys was deeply touched but she kept her iron composure. "I start to make out that we are going to understand one another very well and we can be great allies. My task is very hard; I am not one of those queens who live lazily. I owe myself to my people. They call me Mother. I can't abandon them."

"I know, Your Grace. I wouldn't have come here with my wife, traveling through thousands of leagues for less than you have to give."

She smiled for the first time.

"Do I must conclude them that I am worthy of your services?," she asked, amused, recalling their firt audience.

"You are, Your Grace. Fight restlessly to go on being that way. The throne is not made to loll about on it."

"Like the Iron Throne," pointed her.

"Like the Iron Throne," affirmed him. "I must consult you about a subject."

"On with it," encouraged Daenerys.

"The orphan children who tend to us are lovely. We are becoming fond of them and my wife finds pleasant to teach and educate. During the journey she has been instructing our friend Leena and wishes to continue with that occupation. It has occurred to us that she could set up a school in our adjacent hall for the orphans you have in the pyramid."

The queen's eyes shone with interest.

"It's a great idea. Tell Lady Sansa that she will have available all she needs for her lessons." She remained thoughtful for some moments. "I think that all the freedchildren could receive an education. I have your first mission as my assistant and counselor, Lord Tyrion. Sound out how many among my followers possess instruction as transcribers and educators and if they will be willing to be the teachers of all the children from five years old. We will prepare rooms here, in the Great Pyramid, so they will have spaces for their lessons. Could you start as soon as possible?"

"Of course. Today."

"You can retire. Tell your wife that this project is due to her and that I am very grateful for her initiative. By the way," she added. "I will try to find you a permanent lodging. For now settle in as comfortably as you can in your chambers and we will see."

"Thank you very much, Your Grace." He dedicated her a bow and retired, with his soul lighter than he had felt it in his whole life.