Meereen: Day 3 – 4

As he knew that sleep would not come easily, he accommodated on the windowsill. The beautiful scenery of the bay relaxed him and let him think with clarity.

Tywin, the terror of the Seven Kingdoms, was dead. It was difficult to take in. Not only because his stony and hard hand had glided over him like a cold shadow since Tyrion was born, but because he had the whole realm in his fist for so many years. But he was also who kept it united until Joffrey sat on the throne and began with his mad deeds, and his grandfather was too far away waging war on the Starks to stop his grandson.

His father fought for the peace of the realm at any price, though that entailed eliminating entire houses at a stroke. No one dared to question Lannisters' honour or pride, or stand up against them without obtaining the worst of condemns. To utter Tywin's name was to name horror, the most implacable justice.

Would it be the hand that had murdered him, if that was the case, the same that had poisoned Joffrey? If Littlefinger was behind all that, he was more than capable. Tyrion visualized him with his wily smile and the monstruous ambition reflected on his eyes, and he expected anything of that man. Perhaps that was what he set out to, breaking the spine of the realm to weaken it and sow confusion. According to a proverb Tyrion had read, it was possible to take advantage of the building of a civilization, as well as of its collapse, and Littlefinger did not care about seeing the Seven Kingdoms burn if he sated his craving for power. He was like a voracious vermin that never had enough and, when he had devoured the basement of a house and saw it fall, went looking for the following one.

That was like Tyrion imagined him.

On the other hand, the enigmatic Varys was an extremely tricky character also. He possessed a higher amount of information than anyone else in the world, but Tyrion believed that he used only the secrets he considered convenient for his purposes. His inner voice said that the Spider really looked after the realm, not for any specific king or queen. In fact, the kings came and went and he, as he had told Tyrion once, continued to row. If he had decided to remove Tywin off the board, it was because he had stopped being useful for Varys's aims. If the Spider was the murderer, he did it because he wished a change. Perhaps his intention, like Littlefinger's, was to weaken Westeros and thus prepare the ground for...

Click. A little light lit in the bottom of his brain.

Daenerys.

What if Varys was preparing the ground for Daenerys?

She was getting stronger with every passing day and Varys knew it better than anyone in Westeros. She was the most suitable candidate for the Iron Throne. Tommen was a characterless puppy and Stannis with his red witch and his god of fire was disgusting. Varys loathed Stannis. Tyrion remembered the conversations in which the eunuch had confessed him his horror of black magic and those who practised it, since a mad wizard had castrated him as a child to offer up his attributes to some fire demon.

He would never allow a follower of a bloodthirsty god of fire to sit on the throne.

Recently Daenerys was very well informed of certain things. She had known opportunely that Ned Stark had confronted Robert to save her. She also knew very soon the news of Tywin's death. And following that reasoning, he wondered...

He had no idea of how he must feel regarding what he was thinking.

Had Daenerys conspired with Varys to kill the Lannister patriarch? Or... Had Varys acted on his own, without revealing that part to her? If that was the case, Daenerys was intelligent and at least she would wonder if the Spider could have something to do with the old man's death.

Either way, Tywin was no more an obstacle. But... Would Tyrion like to find out that she had taken part? Would he stay as if nothing had happened and would go on without a second thought? It was true that his father had not loved him and Tyrion broke all bond when he escaped. What did it matter already?

No, his inner voice exclaimed roundly. She's not that way. He knew too well that he had always been a hopeless romantic, but he wanted to believe that Daenerys had trustworthiness. He rarely was wrong when he judged people's nature, and his judgement dictated him with no doubt that she was not a person who acted despicably. She was not like Tywin. Or like the Mad King in his worst times.

He shook his head and forced himself to focus on present and near future. He must look on the bright side. Tywin would not screw him over any more, or turn anyone's life into hell. Daenerys was strong and unsparing with enemies, but generous with friends, pitiful with the feeble and had sacrified herself entirely to her cause and her subjects. Tyrion had taken his decision already, he had taken sides for her and would not let any insidious spider to sneak into his solid lucidity.

He reflected on Varys's next step. Would he stay in the Red Keep, watching how Cersei succeeded in ruining Westeros and thus she would contribute to speed up his plans to serve the kingdom to Daenerys on a silver platter?

All right, not so much as on a silver platter, of course. But a shattered kingdom claimed for a savior hand that came to give back peace and prosperity.

Or maybe the eunuch any day would take a ship to Essos and make the same journey as Tyrion to join the Dragon Queen's service.

Tyrion doubted it. Varys in Meereen? What for? What did mean to him a simple city when he already controlled the grafts of the Seven Kingdoms?

No, Varys would await in Westeros. His place was there. For keeping in contact with the queen, ravens were a fast and effective system and for the moment was not necessary to be next to her physically or geographically.

Tyrion told himself that the best was not to worry more about it. He was sure to have got to the bottom of the matter. Daenerys was as he judged her and Varys was a necessary and valuable ally for her, did she like it or not. Kings and queens should keep close those they did not like or liked less.

And the definitive thing, what calmed him down once and for all and helped him get back his conviction, was that he finally was doing the second thing which he liked most in life, the game of thrones, very far behind, of course, from seeing Sansa's lovely face and making her happy.