A/N: Standard disclaimer here. I don't own ASOIAF and only write for fun.
A:N: I know that it's not usual for me to put another A/N at the beginning but I realized I goofed. I was going through my documents when I realized that I had the first part of this chapter written but somehow I didn't post it. For timeline's sake, the first part of this chapter is set around the same time as the events of Chapter 50, while the second part takes part around the same time as chapters 53 and 54. Sorry for the confusion. I just thought it would be more confusing if I went back and added the first part as 51. Enjoy!
"The Queen intends to send Prince Tommen away." They knelt alone in the sept, surrounded by the shadows of flickering candles, but even so, Lancel kept his voice low. "Lord Gyles will take him to Rosby, and conceal him there in the guise of a page. They plan to darken his hair and tell everyone he is the son of a hedge knight."
"Ah," Tyrion had known nothing of this plot. He wondered if Varys's little birds had failed him, or if it were general incompetence? Or perhaps the eunuch was a traitor, playing a subtle game to help put the Targaryen's back on the throne. He did support Aery's after all. How could a man claim to serve the realm, yet serve Aerys? "You have my thanks, ser."
"Will you grant me the book I asked of you?"
"Perhaps." Lancel wanted his command in the next battle as young knights always thought themselves to be invincible, hacking and slashing their way through the battle without a care in the world.
That night, when the Red Keep was dark, Bronn arrived to find him sealing a letter. "Take this to Ser Jacelyn Bywater." He poured hot golden wax down onto the parchment.
"What does it say?" Bronn could not read, so he asked questions instead.
"That he's to take fifty of his best swords and scout the kingsroad," Tyrion pressed his seal into the soft wax.
"They are more likely to come up the roseroad," Bronn responded. "The last report told us that they still sat at Bitterbridge, waiting."
"Oh, I know. Tell Bywater to disregard what's in the letter and take his men north. He's to lay a trap along the Rosby road. Lord Gyles will depart for his castle in a day or two, with a dozen men-at-arms, some servants, and my nephew Prince Tommen may be dressed as a page."
"You want the boy brought back, is that it?"
"No, I want him taken on to the castle." Removing the boy from the city was his sister's best plan, Tyrion had decided. At Rosby, Tommen would be safe from the mob, and keeping him apart from his brother also made things more difficult for Jon, even if he took King's Landing and executed Joffrey, he'd still have a Lannister claimant to contend with. "Lord Gyles is too sickly to run and too craven to fight. He'll command his castellan to open the gates. Once inside the walls, Bywater is to expel the garrison and hold Tommen there safe. Ask him how likes the sound of Lord Bywater."
"Lord Bornn would sound better. I could grab the boy for you just as well. I'll sit hit on my need and sing him nursery songs if there's a lordship in it."
"I need you here," Tyrion responded, and then decided to be honest. "And I don't trust you with my nephew. Should any ill befall Joffery, the Lannister claim to the Iron Throne would rest on Tommen's shoulders. Ser Jacelyn's gold cloaks would defend the boy, you might be more apt to sell him to his enemies."
"As long as you pay me more, we wouldn't have that problem," Bronn responded simply.
"Precisely," Tyrion said.
"What should the new lord do with the old one?"
"Whatever he pleases, so long as he remembers to feed him. I don't want him dying." Tyrion pushed away from the table. "My sister will send one of the Kingsgaurd with the prince."
"The hound will stay with Joffrey and the rest do not matter. The gold cloaks should be able to handle them easily enough."
"If it comes to killing, tell Ser Jacelyn I won't have it done in front of Tommen," Tyrion put on a heavy cloak of dark brown wool. "My nephew is tender-hearted."
"Come," he said before Bronn could get in another word. "I'm riding with you part of the way.
"Chataya's?" Bronn asked.
"You know me well."
A whiff of something awful interrupted his night with Shae. She stood in the door behind him, dressed in the silver robe he'd given her. Behind her stood one of the begging brothers, a portly man in filthy patched robes, his bare feet crusty with dirt, a bowl hung around his neck. The smell of him would have gagged a rat.
"Lord Varys has come to see you," Shae announced.
The begging brother blinked at her, astonished. Tyrion laughed. "To be sure. How is it that you knew it was him when I did not?"
Shae shrugged.
"A different look, a different smell, a different way of walking," Tyrion continued. "Most men would be deceived."
"And most women, maybe. But not whores. A whore learns to see the man, not his appearance, or she turns up dead in an alley."
Varys looked pained, and not because of the false scabs on his feet. Tyrion chuckled. "Shae, would you bring us some wine?" He might need a drink or two. Whatever brought the eunuch here in the middle of the night was not likely to be good.
"I almost fear to tell you why I've come, my lord," Varys said when Shae had left them. "I bring dire tidings."
"Is it Jamie?" Tyrion quickly sat up. If they have harmed him, nothing would save them.
"No, my lord. A different matter. Jon snow has legitimized Gendry Waters, making him Gendry Baratheon. He is the eldest bastard male that King Robert sired. He traveled with the Stark company to Bitterbridge. Ser Cornay Penrose and the rest of the Storm Lords have agreed. He stayed at Storm's End to gather his troops. The Starks will attack from the roseroad. The Baratheon forces will attack from the King's road."
Dismay drove all other thoughts from Tyrion's mind, but still thought, "What of the girl? Shireen was her name. Her mother is a Florent yes? We could use that." He paused for a moment to think. Yes, we could send a message to the Florents that we would raise Shireen to the Lady of Storm's End and perhaps discuss a marriage between her and Prince Tommen."
Vary's frowned. "She has grayscale my lord. Almost all of the Storm Lords have agreed with Jon Snow's decision. Renly was fond of the boy before he passed, and so the Storm Lords are fond of him as well. An ode to his memory."
"Damn him!" Tryion said as he flung his cup of wine that Shae returned with. He barely had been able to take a sip.
Varys smiled, showing off a mouth full of rotten teeth."Who, my lord? Lord Baratheon or Jon Snow?"
"Eddard Stark," Tryion responded. The man had been half a step ahead of them the entire time. It was like he knew what was going to happen. First his bastard, now another one that so happened to be the son of Robert Baratheon? When would this madness end? "Still we must try. We will send a message anyway. Perhaps the Florents will have a change of heart. Tell me, how far are they away?"
Varys glance at Shae. "My lord, must we trouble your sweet lady's sleep with such grim and bloody talk?"
"A lady might be afraid," Shae said, "but I'm not."
"You should be," Tyrion told her, his voice grave. "With the support of the Storm Lords and my father trapped at Harrenhall, Jon Snow will soon turn his attention toward King's Landing."
Varys was waiting outside the stables as promised. His horse looked starved and half-dead. It was impressive the lengths he was willing to go to play his part. A mummer tried and true. They rode out in silence, before he spoke, telling Varys of his need to keep Shae safe. He had told her too much, given her too much of his heart. He still didn't know why he told her about Tysha. "Varys I need to bring Shae to the castle with Cersei knowing. Perhaps she could work in the kitchens?"
"I will do as my lord commands," the eunuch responded, "but I must warn you that the kitchens are full of eyes and ears. Even if the girl falls under no particular suspicions, she will be subject to scrutiny and questions… And such a pretty young kitchen wench will incite lust as well of curiosity."
"I'd sooner have her fondled than stabbed," Tyrion said.
Varys rode on a few paces and spoke, "I have another way. A maidservant who attends Lady Tanda's daughter has been stealing her jewels. I shall inform her, and she will dismiss the girl."
"I see," Tyrion responded. The plan made sense.
"Lollys is timid and trusting," Varys said. "She will accept any tale she is told. Since the mob took her maidenhood she is afraid to leave her chambers. Tyrion shuddered. He remembered the mob. How could he not? It was the morning that they saw Princess Myrcella off to Braavos before she was sent to Dorne. Joffrey had almost single-handedly incited the mob himself, screaming for his guards to kill them all. He was just happy that he got his niece out of there, and hoped that somehow, the Dornish would fight for him.
"She will be close," Tyrion responded, "but the Tower of the Hand is watched, you know as well as I. Cersei would be certain to grow curious should Lolly's bed maid start paying me calls."
"I might be able to slip Shae into your bed chamber unseen. Chataya's is not the only house to boast a hidden door."
"A secret access? To my chambers? Did Lord Stark know?" Tyrion was suddenly grim. "Where is it? I must have a trusted guard put on it immediately."
"Lord Stark knew as little of that door as you did," Varys responded. "Do you not trust me?"
"I trust you like one of my own blood, in truth. Now tell me, do we know when Jon Snow will march?"
"It could be any day now," Varys responded, "although Balon Greyjoy might have bought us some time."
"What has Balon Greyjoy done?" Tyrion asked.
"He declared himself King of the Iron Islands and the North and has attacked. We do not know if he is successful or not, but it seems to have slowed their plans down. My little birds say that they wait for news of the attack before they make any decisions to ride toward Kings Landing."
"And what do you little birds say of his brother, of Robb Stark in the west?"
"That he has taken the crag… but that he was wounded. An arrow to the shoulder."
"That can help us as well. The whole idea of Robb Stark being in the Western lands was to make my father choose. They hoped that he would choose Casterly Rock over Kingslanding, which meant that Jon Snow could march unopposed to Kingslanding. Should Lord Baelish find a way to free my father, they should be able to just come here with Robb Stark injured."
"Robb Stark may be injured, my lord," Varys was grim again, "but his lords still raid and loot and capture. My birds speak to me the storming of Crakehall and Tarbeck hall. They say his men ride toward Deep Den now. The North seems to have a bigger army than any of us could have expected."
"You are sure of this?" Tyrion said and Varys nodded. "Damn them! I have letters from Crakehall and the garrison at Tarbeck Hall. Each signed with the seal of their respective Lords."
"It is amazing what a man would do with a sword at his throat. I am sure they are fakes. Robb Stark wants you to think he is wounded and vulnerable… While the former might be true, I would suggest caution against the latter. The Young Wolf plots in the West."
Tyrion sighed. "No word from Little Finger?"
"Perhaps he never reached the Vale. Or perhaps the Lords revolted against them and he died there. Some of those Lords were very loyal to Eddard Stark."
Tyrion threw his head back and laughed. Nobody was coming to save them. They all would have to depend on a dwarf.
Cersei had insisted the meeting council meeting start without Lord Varys as she had grown tired of waiting from him. Maester Gorman summoned them with a letter from Dorne, and they waited for Lord Varys to arrive before they began. She had already had three full glasses of wine and was growing impatient. "When the eunuch arrives, I want him flogged for making me wait," she said as if she were the most important person in the room.
"Fine," Tyrion said. "We will start without him."
Cersei nodded and Tyrion continued pausing to catch his thoughts. "Balon Greyjoys attack on the North was a waste of time. It seems as the ships Ned Stark built on his western shores were sufficient enough to not only destroy the Iron Fleet but also capture important prisoners. Balon Greyjoy has effectively been neutered. We cannot depend on his distraction to hold up the North any further."
"Useless!" Cersei responded. "I always told Robert that he should have been like my father and wiped out all of them after they Rebelled. Maybe if he had set that precedent, we wouldn't be in this situation. Men would fear Joffrey because of Robert like they fear Jamie because of our father."
Tyrion sighed. Sometimes he wondered if his sister had a brain. If Robert had wiped out the Iron Islands, Jon Snow wouldn't have delayed until he found out about the attack. He would have been on their doorsteps by now. He took a sip of his wine. The news only got worst from there.
"I received word from father as well," Tyrion winced. He was in bed with Shae when Varys brought him the news, and no sooner than the next day did he receive a raven from his father. "Robb Start has used his wolf to find a way to breach Casterly Rock. Baelish was able to provide our father with twenty-five thousand men. He sends fifteen thousand men with Lord Baelish to help garrison the city. The rest he takes with his men toward Casterly Rock."
"It is not enough!" Cersei screeched. "My son commanded that he come here at once. Why is he sending Baelish, of all people instead."
"Robb Stark has used his wolf to find a way to breach Casterly Rock through the sewers," Tyrion held back the truth. Had his sister known he left a breach in the sewers so that he could sneak in and out with his whores, she might have hanged him. He was already dreading that conversation with his father. It was the one thing in his life that he deserved his father's anger for, the one mistake that he made that could have ruined them all.
"I understand," Cersei said, her anger cooled. "We must not let those savages take the Rock. Reports say that Robb Stark barely holds a force of five thousand men in our lands. Hopefully, my father routs them quickly and brings my son the boy's head. I grow tired of the Starks."
"Our official reports say that he only has five thousand men, but Varys," Tyrion started. His sister rudely interrupted him. He let her talk while he drowned himself in his cup.
"And where is Varys?" Cersei sneered. "His little birds have proved useless against the Starks so far. Why should we believe him now?"
He had to admit, his sister had brought up a good point. He could only pray to the gods that she was right, because if Varys version was true… gods help them all.
"I have grave news," Gand Maester Gorman spoke shakily after a few moments of silence. Tyrion downed his glass and reached for the pitcher to pour more wine. Just when he thought that the gods could be kind…
"An urgent letter from Dorne arrived today. They say that Princess Myrcella was kidnapped..."
The man continued to speak but Tyrion did not hear him. Cersei rose swiftly from her chair and threw her cup of wine, aiming for his head. He barely had time to duck out of the way. "This is all your fault!" She screamed. "I never wanted her to leave. You put my daughter, a princess of the realm in danger! "I'll have your head for this! Guards put him in chains!"
Luckily for Tyrion, Lord Varys entered the room. His face was grim, and his cheeks were red. He must have run there.
"I have grave news, my lord, my Queen," the eunuch started, seemingly oblivious to what had happened. "As you all know, Ser Boros had been escorting Tommen and Lord Gyles to Rosby. Lord Tyrion did not think it would be enough, so he send an additional fifty gold cloaks in secret to help protect them. They were ambushed. By a group of men from the North and Riverlands. They knew exactly the disguise that Tommen would have. He is now their prisoner."
Cersei fainted hysterically, and luckily enough Maeaster Gamon who was to the right of her caught her before her head could hit the ground. Lord Tyrion was in shock. He slumped in his chair, his mouth gaping.
Maester Gormon worked quickly to revive her and suddenly she was awake and screaming again.
"Calm down!" Tyrion finally shouted and surprisingly his sister stopped talking, but if looks could kill. "I am upset about this as you are but we must keep our heads! It is clear to me that we have a traitor in our midst! Do you not see it? How is it that our enemies knew of all of our moves when we went through great lengths to keep them secret?"
Cersei looked around the room, glaring daggers at each of them before turning to the Maester, her eyes wide.
"You," she shouted. "Your brother is Mace Tyrell. You have been giving them information this whole time! She lunged at the man, scratching and clawing at his face before she began to choke him. It took three guards to release her. As mad as his sister had been, he had to agree with her. The Maester would have been the first person he questioned as well.
"I am your queen," she shouted. "I will have your heads for this!"
"We will question him. We will question them all," Tyrion shouted over them. "Guards please arrest Maester Gormon and Lord Varys and take them to the black cells." He looked at the eunuch apologetically, but surely the man understood. The only people that knew of some of these plans were the people in this room.
The doors to the council burst open again, but this time Lord Baelish walked into the room, grinning like a mad man. Behind him, his guards pushed Benjen Stark through the doors in chains.
The master of coin surveyed the room, his smile growing wider, and said, "What did I miss?"
Cersei lunged for his throat next.
AN: Another one is done! Here we have Cersei sending off Tommen and Varys telling Tywin about Gendry, which should have happened ages ago. I wrote the chapter and somehow forgot to post it as I explained above. My bad!
For the second part, it takes place a few weeks later and the Lannister's stream of bad luck just seems to continue. Over the next few chapters, we will have some battles that wrap up this war... and then on to the next part of the story.
Next is Robb, I think!
Until then, thank you for all the reviews, alerts, messages, etc!
Young!
Edit: I must have been high last night when I posted this because whew child! I read this back this morning and I noticed some mistakes. Tried to fix them the best I could. I rely primarily on Grammarly to fix my mistakes, so hopefully it's better. If not... then I still could always use a beta lol. Sorry!
Thanks again,
Young!