Aggressiveness:
Tyrion Lannister was in his office as he filled in some paperwork. He was busy trying to prepare King's Landing for a siege. He knew that Stannis and Renly were fighting each other in the Stormlands but as soon as one of them won, they would attack King's Landing. Robb Stark was no threat since he would have to take Harrenhal first. Stannis was a seasoned commander but Renly had over 100,000 men and at most, Tyrion had maybe 15,000 at King's Landing from the other Crownland houses. Tyrion was busy trying to find ways to defend the city but his job would be easier if his sister didn't keep trying to interfere at every turn.
Cleos Frey had arrived with Robb Stark's terms for peace and as expected, Cersei just tore it up but Tyrion decided to return Ned Stark's remains and the remains of his household as well. While it would not be much it was a sign of goodwill from him. The Stark sisters were currently remaining in King's Landing under his protection but he did suspect that Astrid may have done something big. When the guards had gone to retrieve Janos Slynt to send him to the Wall, they found him brutally murdered in his cell, stabbed many times. Tyrion suspected Astrid may be involved but he had no proof and to be honest, he didn't care; Janos deserved what he got so there would be no investigation.
Tyrion had also begun to plot behind his sister's back; one way you win wars was by making marriage alliances so he had offered Princess Myrcella to Prince Doran's son Trystane Martell. He had used this as an opportunity to remove Pycelle from the Small Council because he was passing secrets to the Queen which she was not to know about. So, he told the three members of the council that he was planning to marry Myrcella off to different people. Pycelle had been told the truth to marry Myrcella off to Trystane Martell, Varys had been told that Myrcella would be married to Theon Greyjoy and Baelish had been told that Myrcella would marry Robin Arryn.
When Cersei had confronted him about his plans and she spoke about Dorne, it exposed Pycelle and so he was able to arrest him. Baelish had been unhappy about being made a fool off but he had sent him to the Stormlands. It got him away from the capital and he took the remains of Ned Stark and his councillors with him to return to Catelyn who was in the Stormlands speaking to Renly Baratheon about an alliance.
Speaking of the Stormlands, Stannis had sailed into the Stormlands to fight his brother Renly. Tyrion was happy enough to let them fight each other and it gave him more time to prepare King's Landing for a siege. Renly had been camped at Bitterbridge holding another tourney which made Cersei laughed, Renly was spending more time holding tourneys than fighting the war. Now Renly was forced to turn back to fight Stannis.
But despite the fact that Tyrion had more time to prepare King's Landing, he had to deal with what was going on back in the Westerlands. After his father had been forced to retreat to Harrenhal and his cousin Stafford Lannister was raising another army at Oxcross in the Westerlands. At least he was until he had been ambushed by Robb Stark's army and his army destroyed. There were many different rumours going round about how Robb had achieved this, he had gone past the Golden Tooth and now his army was in the Westerlands and with Stafford's army destroyed, they were free to move around the Northern Westerlands freely which would make his father look like a fool as he couldn't defend his own lands but he was now trapped at Harrenhal.
Tyrion began going through some papers which he was planning on how to defend the city when Stannis attacked. Stannis knew this city and he knew how to fight, with his fleet, he would most likely go after the River Gate which was better known as the Mud Gate due to it being close to the Bay and also the gate was old which Stannis knew, a ram would bring the gate down in minutes. Stannis had a small army right now but if he got allies then he would be a major threat since he was a skilled commander and all the good commanders the Lannisters had were in the Riverlands.
He was interrupted when he door slammed open and Podrick ran in "My lord!" he gasped "You need to go to the great hall right now."
"Podrick calm down." Tyrion said when he saw Podrick was out of breath "Now what's going on?"
"It's the King" Podrick replied after he took a few deep breaths "He ordered a few of his men to take Ladies Astrid and Sansa to the Great Hall, our guards tried to stop them but they claimed the King's orders overrules the hand."
Tyrion was beyond angry once again, Joffrey had done it again. He quickly Podrick to fetch his Mountain Clansmen as well as Captain Vylarr who was loyal to his father to head to the Great Hall.
…
"You are both here to answer for your brother's latest treason!" Joffrey snarled in front of the court. The people of the court had gathered and Astrid and Sansa had been dragged him. Sansa was kneeling on the floor while Astrid was being held roughly by both Trant and Blount. She had put of such a big fight that she had to be held tight and at any moment, she could break free. Joffrey had redesigned the court to include iron spikes along the walls and fires surrounding the pillars. Joffrey was pointed his crossbow at Sansa who looked scared while Astrid was beyond furious. If looks could kill then Joffrey would be dead.
Sansa was beginning to look scared but she refused to show it "You Grace" she stated "Whatever my traitorous brother has done, I had no part of it. You know that, I beg you..."
"Cousin Lancel, tell her of this outrage!" Joffrey ordered
Lancel Lannister, eldest son of Kevan Lannister stepped forward "Using vile sorcery, your brother fell on Stafford Lannister with an army of wolves. Thousands of good men were butchered and after the slaughter, the Northmen feasted on the flesh of the dead."
Astrid scoffed, that was beyond ridiculous, they were just trying to make excuses but from the gasps, some people believed it. How silly these people were to believe such rubbish.
Joffrey also scoffed "Kill you and your sister would send your brother a message. But my mother insists on keeping you both alive." He slowly lowered the crossbow and Sansa let out a sign of relief as Joffrey put the crossbow down "Stand." Astrid had a feeling that Joffrey was not done and she was right "So we'll have to send your brother a message another way." He looked at Trant, "Ser Meryn, leave Astrid in Blount's hands, Ser Mandon take Meryn's place" Ser Mandon Moore walked over and held Astrid as Meryn Trant let go of Astrid and walked beside Sansa. "Leave her face, I want her to remain pretty."
Before anyone could react, Meryn punched Sansa in the chest so hard that it knocked the wind out of her and it also made the crowd gasp in horror "HEY LEAVE HER ALONE YOU COWARDS!" Astrid roared and began struggling harder "HURT HER IN ANY WAY AND I'LL TEAR YOUR TROAT OUT AND SMASH YOUR SKULL!"
Joffrey was actually amused by Astrid, her outburst made him laugh because he knew that she wouldn't do anything of the sort because that will get her killed. "Tear her robe." He added and then Trant tore the back of Sansa's dress. Sandor looked disgusted and the crowd horrified but too afraid to do anything. "Beat her; I want to see her beg but leave her face." Trant drew his sword but he was unable to do anything with it. That was because at that moment, Astrid managed to throw her head back and then break the hold of the men holding her. Astrid charged forward and knocked Trant to the floor had which caused the crowd to gasp in shock. Astrid had torn her dress so she could move quickly and she punched Trant in the face, then she punched him again, and again which left his face all bloody and his nose flattened.
The Kingsguard Preston Greenfield ran forward to stop her but Astrid picked up Trant's dropped sword and stood by her sister, she was ready for a fight. If she was going down then she would take down these coward Kingsguard, most of them were poor fighters, the only exceptions being Aerys Oakheart and Mandon Moore. But no fight broke out as the Great Doors slammed open and Tyrion marched in angrily with his clansmen, Bronn and Captain Vylarr with him.
"What is the meaning of this?" Tyrion demanded, he was beyond angry now, off all the stupidest things he could have done, he had tried to have the Stark Girls hurt in front of the court which only made him look like a complete mad king. "Someone give the girl here something to cover herself." Sandor Clegane took off his white cloak and wrapped it around Sansa's shoulders, Astrid glared at him but she allowed it. Tyrion turned back to Joffrey "What do you think you are doing? Those girls were under my protection, you had no authority to have them dragged here."
"I'm punishing them!" Joffrey snapped
"For what crime?" Tyrion demanded "They had no part in their brother's crimes!"
"She's dangerous!" Joffrey shouted pointing at Astrid who held Trant's sword "She harmed one of my Kingsguards!"
"Only because you had him beat her sister!" Tyrion snapped "What kind of Knight beats helpless girls!"
"The kind that serves their King Imp!" Blount snarled
Astrid smirked "You're no Knights, you pathetic in fighting and your little better than Thugs, I can beat you easily."
"Lady Astrid, that's enough" Tyrion said calmly "Captain Vylarr, escort the Stark Girls back to my household. I'll be speaking with my nephew, and take that fool Trant to a healer."
"Understood my lord" Vylarr stared and Vylarr calmly took the girls away, though not before Astrid kicked Trant in the head and spat on him.
Tyrion shook his head and then glared at Joffrey "You should consider yourself lucky that my father is lord of Casterly Rock and not me. Because if I was, then I would have taken the entire Lannister host back to the Westerlands and left you here to face your uncles alone."
Joffrey stood up angrily "You cannot speak to me like that!" he growled "I am the King, I demand respect!"
"Respect is earned, not given!" Tyrion hissed "Kings have a duty and so far, all you've done is torture innocent girls and start a war."
"I am the King!" Joffrey growled "And I can do what I like."
Tyrion smirked "Aerys II, the Mad King did as he liked. He burnt people alive with wildfire and he raped his wife because he wanted to. His son Rhaegar kidnapped Lyanna Stark who was to marry your father. They both did what they liked and I'm sure Jaime's told you what happened to them."
Everyone knew the threat, both these men ended up getting killed by their enemies "No one threatens the King in the presence of his Kingsguard!" Blount growled and drew his sword.
Tyrion laughed "I'm not threatening my nephew, I'm educating him." He stated and he turned to Bronn "Bronn, next time that Ser Blount or any of these fools speak up, kill them." Bronn shared a nasty smile which made them worried "You see, that was a threat, see the difference? Now if you don't mind, I need to carry on making preparations to protect this city from the threat of your uncle. As for which one, I don't know yet but we will soon when they're done arguing in the Stormlands." He then walked away from the room leaving an annoyed Joffrey behind.
...
The Lannister Guards had taken Astrid and Sansa back to Tyrion's household at the Tower of the Hand. Astrid had held Sansa while she calm down as she sat on the bed. Sansa's dress was still torn but she had changed into a nightgown with help from her new handmaiden Shae. After Sansa had calmed down, she looked at Astrid "You were right." She stated "You were right about the south and the prince. I should have listened to you."
Astrid sighed "I know we never really got along but when you believed the fairytales, you never saw the truth, neither did mother, she's never actually seen the truth of the Game of Thrones. Here in the south, only the strongest win and in this case, the strongest are the Lannisters."
Sansa looked at her "How is it you know so much about the Game of Thrones?" she asked
"Because I've seen it." Astrid replied "Years ago mother brought me south to Riverrun, she hoped that a visit south would make me more like a southern lady. She was wrong, she was naive, the south looks wonderful and beautiful from the outside but deep within, there is corruption and corrupt men will do anything to gain power. King Robert was holding a tourney at King's Landing and Catelyn brought me to King's Landing to watch this tourney as her brother Edmure was taking part. All I saw was southern knights playing games but while I was in the city, I saw who the prince really was, I actually saw him acting like a spoilt brat and I heard stories from the servants about how he once cut open a pregnant cat just to see the unborn kittens. He also killed his brother Tommen's pet fawn."
Sansa sighed "If you had told me these stories when I first came south, I wouldn't have believed them but now that I've seen the truth about Joffrey, they are most likely true."
"He'll never have real power even thought he says he does." Astrid stated "Tywin Lannister will be the one who will rule the lands, he will be much better than Joffrey, while a cruel man, he is an effective ruler but he will do anything to protect his legacy and the power that his house has gained."
"We're prisoners here." Sansa stated "Until the war is over we will remain here and the Lannisters will use us."
Astrid smirked "The Lannisters won't be able to use us if we get out of here." She stated
Sansa looked at her "But how can we do that?" she asked "The city is being watched and even if we do escape, we're deep in Lannister controlled territory."
Astrid smirked back "I didn't spend the days I was here in King's Landing during that tourney just sitting around sister. You see I spent some time exploring and I discovered that there are miles of underground tunnels built under this city. When the time is right, I plan to get us both out of here; we just have to wait for the right time. We'll have to remain off the road to avoid the Lannister patrols but if we follow the Blackwater Rush, we'll end up deep into the Riverlands in our brother's territory."
"And you think that we can do that?" Sansa questioned
Astrid smiled "I'm sure we can, we just have to play along with Tyrion for now. I'll carry on planning to make sure we get out but once we're out, we'll have to move quick so we can put enough space between us and this shithole as possible. And once we get back home, I'm going to make sure that the south understands what we northerners are capable of."
Chapter end:
Author's Notes: Well another chapter complete and I would like to say I am glad of the response I got to Astrid killing Slynt in the previous chapter; you will be seeing more things like that in coming chapters. With this coronvirus outbreak, my University has shut but I still have work to be doing for Uni but I will have a lot more time after I finish my work. Also, I would like to say this but I would like to know if anyone has had any problem with a reviewer who has been writing the same thing over and over. Despite people liking the last chapter, I'm still having problems with this one guest reviewer who is writing the same comments about requesting I change the story and I thought I made it clear that will never happen and nor will I be writing an alternative story. Let me say this, if Astrid escaped King's Landing at the coup, she would just end up being captured by Tywin Lannister and then she would be unable to start her revenge which will be coming in a few chapters time. I would like suggestions as to if there is a way to get rid of this reviewer because this reviewer is doing nothing but harass me and is a total disgrace to the Fanfiction community and is taking advantage of the fact that I can't block him. I will not let the actions of this reviewer ruin this story for everyone else because this story is still one of my most popular, I just want this guy to go away and stop harassing me and I would like suggestions as to how to deal with this, I've already activated the moderating reviews so now I can decide whether or not guest reviewers are accepted and any review that demands I change to story, an insult, a rant about how you hate this story or these 'corrections' will not be allowed on.
