It feels like so long ago since I've updated in such quick succession, but here we are with another chapter of No Mercy, and while it's on the shorter side, it's one I really enjoyed writing. I hope you all enjoy it too!
I own nothing but the OC's, everyone and everything recognisable from either book or show belong to one of George R R Martin or HBO.
Once the excitement of Littlefinger's execution had died down, the Small Council's attention began to shift closely towards the state of the rest of the realm. The threats against the Vale seemed to have worked for the time being, although the lack of news from the Eyrie was concerning even Tywin, Tyland noticed as he sat and observed the Small Council meeting. Scouts had been posted along the High Road however, so the Council would know if any form of army was going to appear from beneath the Bloody Gate.
The biggest concern was the Riverlands. Walder Frey had made his move and Riverrun had been placed under siege, with the Lord Paramount of the Riverlands claiming his right to revoke a title within his own lands. That had annoyed Tywin Lannister more than anything in the last year.
"He thinks too much of himself." The Lannister Patriarch was complaining.
"Then we shouldn't have given him the Riverlands." Jaime shrugged. His wounds all healed up after the duel. "If he thinks highly of himself it's because he believed he earned it, and trust me nobody earned anything that day…"
"We won peace, Jaime." Tyland said coldly.
Jaime scowled. "At a cost, apparently."
"This is Loren's problem, and Loren will deal with it." Tywin interrupted the brothers bickering. "He is assembling a strong host of men and will break the siege on Riverrun before gaining Walder Frey's unconditional surrender."
Jaime scoffed. "The Twins will never fall in reasonable time."
"It will." Tywin said arrogantly. "Because Loren is my grandson, and a true Lannister."
Tyland felt his initial pride instantly drop as he realised Tywin was taking sole credit for the way Loren had been raised, so instead he cleared is throat and spoke to the council. "Lady Forlorn has left the Capital on its way back to House Corbray, the riders left this morning."
"Couldn't we have kept the sword?" Tommen asked, and Tyland was suddenly reminded that the boy King had joined them. "We could have given it to Shireen and Tyrion for their wedding?"
Another thing Tyland had to remind himself about. Tyrion had been summoned back to King's Landing a fortnight ago with his wedding to the last Baratheon coming the next day, and the Imp had locked himself away in his chambers ever since arriving, not speaking to anybody. "No, I don't think so." Jaime shook his head. "Lady Forlorn is a Corbray sword, and its last wielder didn't lose the battle in disgrace. It deserves its true home."
"Jaime is right, we have enough enemies to deal with, we don't need to incite more." Tywin explained. "Very well gentlemen, you are dismissed until the day after next." Tyland stood up quickly and left the Small Council, knowing that he needed to make his way into the city to pick up the wedding gift for his brother.
The entire wedding affair was a lot more subdued than Joffrey's wedding had been. With no Reach bride the breakfast hadn't been needed, so the first time Tyland had seen his brother was inside the Sept of Baelor awaiting for Shireen to arrive. The dwarf had so far refused to speak to anybody other than his squire, Podrick Payne, and the former sellsword Bronn.
"He is still angry." Tyland murmured to Tywin as they stood in the crowds awaiting the bride.
"He is here, he will get over it once it comes to the bedding, I am sure." Tywin said unfeelingly. "Where is Lady Sansa?"
Tyland internally scowled, remembering the screaming that had come out of his wife at the mere mention of attending. "Under the weather."
"Again?" Tywin asked. "She needs to start learning her place, Tyland."
Tyland nodded in agreement but he couldn't respond as at that moment the doors to the Sept opened, and in stepped the 14-year-old bride, with Tommen on her arm. She was dressed in a black dress with sharp golden vines on her arms and shoulders, and Tyland could just about see the golden yellow colour of her maiden's cloak peering over her shoulders. People shifted nervously at the sight of the Lady of Storm's End, and Tyland felt similar. "She's wearing a mourning gown." He whispered. He turned to his Father who wasn't making a noise, but his glare could have killed.
The ceremony was as boring and normal as it could have been. The High Septon said his words and the bride and groom performed their parts as expected. Shireen didn't need to be told to kneel down so that Tyrion could unfasten her Baratheon cloak and attach a crimson Lannister one in its place, and at the end of the ceremony Tyrion kissed his new wife on her unscarred cheek.
From there the wedding party moved over to the Queen's Ballroom inside the Red Keep where a feast had been prepared. Thankfully, Sansa had decided to turn up to this one and sat beside Tyland as the bride and groom took their seats at the high table. Before the feast began it was time for gifts to be given. The King had gifted the couple a jet-black kitten, while Tywin gifted a gilded golden axe to Tyrion and a fine Lannister sigil necklace to Shireen. Mace Tyrell followed then with a fine goblet, and then it was Tyland's turn.
Tyland was surprised when Sansa followed him up, his wife helped as always by her Northern handmaid, but he didn't let this distract him when he stood before the high table.
"Ah, brother." Tyrion muttered with a grin, his smile not reaching his eyes.
"A fine axe would be nothing without a fine suit of armour." Tyland insisted. "I had Tobho Mott himself craft this for you." He gestured to where Vylarr had brought in a mannequin of Tyrion's size, where an expertly crafted suit of Lannister armour had been made. "May it serve you well and protect you in any battles you may face."
Tyrion nodded, holding up his wine goblet to toast his brother. "You have always been about protecting me, brother. Thank you." He said, and Tyland nodded his head appreciatingly before he stood to one side and allowed Sansa to move forwards. She kissed Shireen on her unscarred cheek and whispered something in her ear before gifting her a golden bracelet with charms of the Baratheon stag hanging off of it.
"Thank you, Lady Sansa." Shireen smiled. Sansa curtseyed as best she could in her condition and took Tyland's arm.
"What did you say to her?" Tyland asked quietly as he helped his wife down into her seat.
Sansa looked up at him with a smile, but her eyes bit at him venomously. "To never forget who she is." Was all she said to him.
After the minor Lords in attendance and other guests had given their gifts Tommen stood up and called for silence. "My Lords, My Ladies, fellow guests. We are here to celebrate the latest union between House Baratheon and House Lannister, and I am pleased to welcome you all here. This wedding is the final action that will bring peace between the Stormlands and the Crown, and moving on from this day I am happy that the two houses of my birth will no longer war. Lady Shireen is the heir of Lord Stannis, and I am delighted to confirm both my cousin and Lord Tyrion as the Lady and Lord of Storm's End. May the Seven bless our family and may peace last between us for generations to come. Let us celebrate the wedding and the peace with the wedding feast!"
Tyland clapped along with the rest of the crowd, but his eyes were on Tommen as he sat down and immediately looked to Margaery Tyrell before anybody else. Impressed at the Tyrell woman's affect on the King, Tyland made a note of her influence as the first course was placed in front of him and the music began.
Peace. Tyrion could only laugh at the word. Tommen's speech had been on his mind all throughout the feast and the dwarf felt bitterly angry about it. He couldn't fault Tommen of course, he was but a boy King being told what to say, although in this instance he wasn't sure if the puppeteer was his Father or the Tyrell girl that was soon to be the King's wife.
Refusing to get angry at the thought of Tywin Lannister, Tyrion instead took another sip of the watered-down wine he had asked for and let out a big, unnecessary laugh at a non-existent joke. He then gestured over to Ser Davos, who was sat at a side table looking like he wished to be anywhere else but here. The former smuggler dutifully came towards him, and Tyrion whispered. "Are we ready?"
"Aye, we are." Davos whispered back.
"Good." Tyrion nodded. He then stood up, being sure to add in some drunken clumsiness for affect. "My Lords." He slurred. "My Ladies. I fear we better move this party to the bedroom before I get too drunk to get it up." He added a grin as the room half heartedly laughed. There had already been agreed that it wouldn't be tasteful to have a bedding ceremony, so he turned to Shireen and held his hand out. "My Lady wife." Shireen gingerly took his hand and Tyrion drunkenly stumbled away from the table towards his chambers. Once he was out of sight of the gathered audience he stopped his acting and walked briskly away, slamming his door and locking it quickly. He turned to Shireen, who had just stood stiffly in the middle of the room. "Do not worry, my dear. I am not bedding you tonight."
"You aren't?" Shireen asked. "But… then we aren't married."
Tyrion nodded. "You are right."
"But the King gave you Storm's End."
"Which I gracefully accept, because it gives us more leniency to plan." Tyrion said as he began to pile his clothes in a satchel.
"You're packing." Shireen noted. "What's going on?"
Tyrion sighed and he turned to Shireen to hold her hands. "You have been through so much, and this marriage is nothing but a plot to steal your rightful inheritance from you. Well I will not dance to the tune of Tywin Lannister any longer. We are leaving, you and I."
"To Storm's End?" Shireen asked.
"At first." Tyrion said. "I'll explain more later, I promise. But for now we have to go." He threw the last of his things in his satchel and swung it around his shoulders. "Your things have already been moved, but we need to go."
He moved to the corner of the room and his bookcase, and he felt around on the second shelf for a while before he felt the button. Pressing it, the bookcase clicked, and Tyrion moved to pull it out loke a door, grinning as the familiar archway appeared and the eunuch Varys was on the other side with Bronn.
"The guests have departed." Varys explained. "Your gifts have been moved to the ship discreetly."
"I thought you'd want this though." Bronn grinned, handing Tyrion the axe that had been given to him by his Father. "It's fitting, wouldn't you say?"
Varys looked alarmed. "What are you doing. The plan…"
"Has always been the plan." Tyrion said sharply. "Varys, take the Lady Shireen to the boat and Ser Davos. I will follow shortly."
"What are you doing?" Varys asked suspiciously.
Tyrion stared at the golden axe depicting lions and stags dancing around one another. It was a fine weapon, but one of lies. Stags and lions would never be friends, not again. "It doesn't matter." He said shortly. "Go, before we get caught."
After the bride and groom had left the Queen's Ballroom, the majority of the guests followed suit. Sansa had immediately gone to her chambers citing tiredness as the reason, but Tyland had wanted to catch up on some work while the bedding was taking place. He found his way to his office and settled down, reading reports of petty theft from within the city during the ceremony earlier that day. After more than an hour of signing off on respective punishments and preparing what he needed for the Small Council meeting the next day, Tyland finished up in his office and put the more sensitive documents away in his locked chest before heading back up to his chambers. On the way however, he was called over by Captain Vylarr.
"I thought I gave you the night off?" Tyland asked.
"You did, My Lord. But something has happened." Vylarr whispered carefully. "Lady Sansa has been threatened."
Tyland looked alarmed. "How?"
Vylarr handed him a letter with a thin hole in the top corner. "It was found stuck to the inside of the door with a knife. Lady Sansa insists she didn't see or hear anything until she went to use the chamber pot after waking."
"The inside of the door." Tyland muttered. "So whoever did this got through both guards and a locked door without alerting anybody."
"I am looking into it personally, both guards are in the black cells." Vylarr said calmly. "But the door… only Lady Sansa has a key and she keeps it around her neck at night, it hasn't been touched."
"Curious." Tyland muttered as he looked down to view the note. Immediately he recognised the handwriting, and his heart sank. "Go and find out what you can from the guards, I must speak with the Hand of the King." Vylarr bowed his head and immediately walked away, leaving Tyland with the task to travel to the Tower of the Hand with the words of the note engrained in his head.
Unlike some, I wouldn't kill my brother's wife.
It was Tyrion. If the writing hadn't confirmed it then the message had. Loren must have told him everything, and now Tyrion was after revenge. He walked briskly, hoping that Tyrion hadn't done something incredibly stupid.
As he got to the Tower of the Hand he passed the first guards in the entrance before climbing the stairs. At the top of the stairs another pair of guards were on the door. "My Lord, the Lord Hand has asked for no disturbances." One of them said.
Tyland literally just looked at the speaker with an icy glare, and he saw the man gulp. "What is your name?" Tyland asked coldly.
"Renfred, My Lord." He stammered.
"Renfred." Tyland tested the name out. "Stand aside now and let me speak with my Father on urgent business, or I'll have you thrown into the dry moat."
Renfred gulped and Tyland noticed sweat appearing from under his helmet. "My Lord… Lord Tywin insisted…" Tyland took a step forward, and the other guard immediately opened the door. "Thank you." Tyland said slowly, and he stepped through the doors into his Father's chambers.
Everything was seemingly normal in the Small Council room, and so Tyland quickly moved forwards into the private chambers. The lounge area was also normal, but more surprisingly the door to the bed chambers was slightly ajar. Tyland put his sword hand on Red Rain before carefully pushing the door open. The smell of blood immediately hit his nose, and Tyland grimaced as he brought his sword hand away from the blade to cover his nose. On the bed he saw a grim scene. Half hanging over the edge was a woman, a girl that Tyland recognised as being part of the entertainment at Joffrey's wedding. She was naked, and just below her breasts was a large wound where blood was still slowly leaking from. Beside her lay Tywin Lannister who also had a wound in his unclothed chest, his green eyes wide in surprise, and his body unmoving and grey.
With Shae gone I had to find a different whore for Tywin to enjoy, and I chose one that I knew he had had an encounter with. At Joffrey's wedding the woman who kept Oberyn and Ellaria entertained before they spoke with Cersei was called 'Kayla', and she was also one of the three that slept with Podrick for free.
But the main bulk of the chapter was Tyrion related. Loren of course told him everything, though once again he didn't think of the consequences of such a decision. Tyrion in turn has grown against the two eldest of the family and only didn't kill Tyland because he wasn't in bed. The threat to Sansa is simply to let Tyland know. Tywin meanwhile, he was the one who orchestrated Tysha's rape and demise, so he had to die, fittingly with the axe that he gifted Tyrion for a wedding gift.
Varys helped out because he has an ulterior motive, which of course you know about. The question now is how will everyone react to the murder and the abduction of the only trueborn Baratheon?
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.
Next time: News of the murder spreads to the West, while in King's Landing a baby is born…
Reviews:
Rolling Mist 13: I do remember you saying that this one was your favourite!
Supremus85: Lysa Arryn won't ally with anyone as it stands let alone the Bolton's. And I think you are severely underestimating how difficult it is to declare independence. They could in theory just say 'no you don't rule us anymore' but the Iron Throne would be much more profitable for the Iron Bank, the Free Cities etc to deal with unless Lysa had a legitimate claim to the throne for the Iron Bank to work with, so Tommen could just turn around and go 'no we aren't going to trade with you unless you cut all ties to the Vale/North' or whoever is rebelling. That added to the fact that in history the only way to agree an independence has been through either rebellion or diplomatically, and the Lannisters aren't going to agree to that diplomatically. Even in the show, when the North declared independence both times it was only agreed upon legitimately in the final episode, at the Great Council when nobody dared to question Sansa.
The North: I think I've mentioned it before, but for clarification of the people that are still in charge of the major holdings in the North from before the failed rebellion, we have: Roose Bolton, Wyman Manderly, Howland Reed, Lyessa Flint and Barbrey Dustin. As for what comes after this, Seed of the Dragon is going to be a monster and I don't want to start uploading until it's all fully planned which it's not anywhere near close to being yet. I plan on doing the sequel to As High as Honour afterwards, as well as maybe the Golden Dragon if I can sort out the last few chapters in my plan to make sense while not drastically altering Luke's character.
Tommyginger: The Mance detail was something I initially had in more detail, but honestly I couldn't find a better place for it with everything Baelish going on so I just put it in a council meeting as in reality it's so far away from King's Landing they likely would have only discussed it for a small while and moved on. The thing with Daenerys is that she is powerful martially, with a very strong host behind her. We know that Varys is actually working to get her in power at this point so the assassination attempt won't work, and I'm super excited for some of the moments I have planned with her for later in the story. You're right about the things you say about how to bring House Lannister down though. This story was never just a Lannister romp, nor was it about how they'll somehow lose to an underpowered force, it was always a thing of 'what happens when the mightiest empire cracks from within'. I can't answer anything about Sansa without massively spoiling the story, but let's just remember she's not a meek little housewife. As for the water, that was purely a comment on how he was enjoying the moment.
Guest (Although based off of the style of review, you are iHateHotWeather12): You still don't understand the meaning of the word whore and like in your PM's and your review on chapter 19 in August, your dislike of women is shining through clearly (I still can't believe you called women's rights boring and lame, misogyny isn't a good look especially as you've called both Cerenna and Daenerys whores). You also still don't understand how evil Tyland truly is as you're seeing him as the protagonist, he's really not. If you don't like how I'm writing this story then please, don't read it and write your own. I've already discussed with you through PM's how I believe you are misguided in how you understand my story, so again I shall just leave it there and hope that if you ever review again, you lose the misogyny and the idolising of a horrific man.
SilverArrow123: He tried, but luckily Tyland wasn't around. Tywin meanwhile was the orchestrator of it all and was never getting away with it.
TheOnlyKing: Loren married for love when his family were in a strong position, I don't see how that's potentially fucked everything up. He didn't expect issues in the Riverlands because it's not expected of Walder Frey's personality to go to war over a woman, but he's young and should be allowed to make mistakes so long as they can be fixed, which he's already proved capable of in his dealings with House Payne. He's in for a reality check soon, sure, but the majority of readers are very harsh on him purely because they like the murdering rapist that is his Father. Tyland was NEVER the main character, this is a House Lannister story and just as in Game of Thrones there is no main character, just characters where some impact the story more than others. Loren was a kid at the start of it whereas Tyland was an adult with responsibilities, but now Loren is an adult and is growing into his own man with his own ideals and he will continue to be a big part of the story until he either dies or it ends. If you don't like that, then as I said to the reviewer who I believe to be iHateHotWeather you're more than welcome to stop reading and write your own Lannister story.