It took all of 5 weeks for my schedule to fall to pieces… I had a really good writing day a few weeks back which basically got me up to this chapter, but in that time I've only managed to get most of next chapter done. There are a number of reasons, but mainly it's been real life and WandaVision. Next week is a big week personally for me so I don't think I'll be able to upload.

Thankfully though, this is a juicy chapter to keep you all entertained with until then. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

I own nothing. All recognisable characters and locations belong to HBO or George R R Martin.

"The Iron Bank are calling in one tenth of the Crown's debts." Lord Tyrell was explaining to the Small Council. Tyland was pleased to see that Tommen had begun to return to Small Council meetings after a couple of weeks of spending almost all of his time alone with the new Queen, and he watched the King listening to his Master of Coin attentively. "Given the planned expenditure of Loras' wedding mixed with the slow rebuilding of the Royal Fleet…"

"How much can we afford, Lord Tyrell?" Tommen interrupted.

Mace looked at his notes once more. "With Winter in the near distance also needing to be thought about… perhaps two thirds."

"The Iron Bank is not an enemy we wish to make." Tyland told the room. "We must find the rest of the coin."

Lord Redwyne agreed. "We can cut back on the ship building. We have enough of a fleet as it stands to mount a reasonable defence of King's Landing with the Royal Fleet as well as my own ships, although if any large armada decides to attack us we would have to rely on the walls once more."

"We should cut down some of the extravagance for the upcoming wedding as well." Tyland suggested. "The important thing is that both Loras and Cersei swear their vows and are bedded, the rest of the pomp… well in my experience it is unnecessary."

Mace Tyrell frowned at that statement. "This is the wedding of the future Lord of Highgarden, Lord Hand. The wedding should befit such a rank."

"If you wish for the wedding to be grand, Lord Tyrell, then you should pay for it." Kevan Lannister sighed. "But the Crown cannot, that is what we are saying."

Mace nodded. "Then I will. House Tyrell shall front the costs of the wedding, while we cut back on the ships." He looked at his notes once more. "Yes, that should allow us to pay the Iron Bank on time."

Tommen grinned. "Excellent." He claimed excitedly.

"Pycelle. You have a raven message." Tyland noticed, staring at the old man intently.

The Grand Maester gulped and nodded. "I do, My Lord. From Castle Black. The new Lord Commander asks for more men to be sent to the Wall."

Tyland scoffed. "They ask that all the time."

Tommen however, seemed more interested in a different part of that sentence. "Who is the new Lord Commander? I should write to them personally, congratulating them."

Pycelle shifted nervously. "I'm not sure that is a good idea, Your Grace. The new Lord Commander reportedly isn't too keen on us in King's Landing."

"Who is he?" Kevan asked.

"Jon Snow, Ser Kevan. Eddard Stark's bastard."

All eyes fell on Tyland at that. "So he isn't fond of us because we won the war and I have married his sister." He surmised. "Despite that, he has asked us for men, and we should do what we can to see that his request is met." He then turned to Kevan. "Speak to the gaoler and have him put the offer out to any prisoners we have in the dungeons."

"Of course, Lord Hand." Kevan bowed his head.

Tommen thought for a moment. "We could also ask for volunteers?" He asked. When eyes fell on him questioningly he carried on. "In the city Margaery… the Queen I mean, she says that there are too many people without jobs. What if we offered them free passage to the Wall?"

The Hand of the King had a think, and he rather liked the idea. "It would eventually mean less mouths to feed within the city." He commented.

"Very good, Your Grace." Kevan complemented. "I shall have the Gold Cloaks begin spreading the message. Lord Redwyne, how quickly could you prepare a group of ships to travel to Eastwatch?"

"A week at most, depending on the number of volunteers." Lord Redwyne replied immediately.

"Then see to it, everyone." Tyland ordered. "This is good work. We can continue when we meet up next."

The men around the table bowed their heads. "My Lord." They all said, each differing in their enthusiasm.

They began to rise from the table and leave, but Tyland noticed that Tommen remained in his seat. "Is there something else I can help you with, Your Grace?"

Tommen nodded. "This duel. It is wrong. We agreed a fair trial."

"This is a fair trial." Tyland explained. "A trial by combat is one of the most ancient forms of justice, one even fairer than a court trial if you believe some of the tales."

"But Dorne won't be happy if Oberyn loses, and Ser Gregor is big." Tommen stated wide eyed. "I want to ban it."

Tyland took a deep breath and shook his head. "If you ban it, then you'll cause more resentment in Prince Oberyn, Your Grace. You know the stories now, do you truly believe that he will be satisfied with an executioner wielding the blade if Ser Gregor is to die?" Tommen stayed still. "He won't, he will then focus on other people he perceives to be involved. Namely every Lannister in King's Landing."

"But no Lannister was involved." Tommen argued.

"In his opinion, all Lannisters were involved." Tyland countered. "Your Grandfather is dead, so he will look to blame myself, Uncle Jaime and Kevan afterwards. Then it will fall on your Mother as the last remaining Lannister of that generation, and then…"

"Myrcella and me." Tommen whispered. "He's already threatened Cella."

"Exactly." Tyland nodded. "But if you let them duel, then he can either deal out justice himself by killing Ser Gregor, or he loses."

Tommen gulped as he weighed up the options. "I can see your meaning, Uncle." He said slowly. "Very well, I will allow the duel to take place."

"Will you be there this time?" Tyland asked. "It would be beneficial if you were."

Tommen nodded. "I will." Was all he said. "Very well, thank you for this talk, Uncle."

"Thank you for coming to me with your concerns." Tyland replied. "This discussion is good for us, it will help you to become a better ruler."

Tommen smiled at that before he too rose and left the room, leaving Tyland alone once more thinking on all the potential outcomes of the upcoming fight.

The Twins were a dreary set of castles, Loren thought. He was at the head of the march as they followed the road along the Green Fork towards the castle on their side of the river and as his horse moved slowly along the road, Loren's eyes were trained on the bridge and joint castles.

Once they arrived and had set up the first set of basic tents up, Loren and his trusted friends and allies were all inside the command tent staring at a map of the Twins working out how would be best to subjugate the elderly Lord Walder.

"It would be near impossible to assault the actual castles." Ser Lyle Crakehall offered. With the majority of the nobles having followed Loren being sons and brothers of the reigning Lords, Lyle was one of the most senior commanders Loren had available.

"If we could get grappling spikes, we could climb up the bridge at the dead of night and take both at the same time." Damian Payne suggested. "Muffled oars could take us to the supports."

"It would take too long, and our men would be outnumbered for too long." Loren shook his head. "No, if we are to take the Twins by force, it will have to be through the front gates."

"Then we should send a parlay." Damion Jast told them all. "Walder knows that we will happily siege him, just as he knows it will take months, perhaps even years to break him. We haven't the time to flank around the Green Fork and besiege from the North so we should open up negotiations, or at least show that we are."

Loren nodded. "We'll give him a chance." He looked around at his group whilst thinking about who he should send. As much as he loved his friends, they were all young and nobody seemed overly threatening to him. He turned to Lyle Crakehall then. "Uncle, take a white banner and invite Lord Walder to parlay."

Lyle bowed his head. "At once." He said calmly, leaving the tent.

"He won't come, Lor." Lambert insisted. "He's old and frail, and I don't think he's left that shitheap for decades."

Loren nodded. "I know he won't, but who he sends as an envoy will say a lot about how he wants to treat negotiations. Ser Ryman is inside those walls and he comes after Stevron in the succession. Sending him would tell me that he wants peace as well."

"And if he doesn't send Ser Ryman?" Damion Jast asked. "If he sends a lesser son?"

Loren stared down at the map with a look of determination in his eyes. "Then I will show him that I am not a weak-willed boy as he believes, I will show him that I am a lion, and I still have claws." He told them all.

Less than an hour later Ser Lyle had returned, and Loren scowled at the envoy that he had brought with him. "My Lord, may I introduce Ser Whalen Frey." Lyle stated.

Loren sighed dramatically. "Ser Whalen, the fifteenth son of Lord Walder."

"Fourteenth." Whalen corrected, though his cheeks went red when he said it.

"Nonetheless, expendable." Loren shook his head disappointedly, noticing the look of dread appearing on the Frey's face. "Your Father insults me."

Whalen frowned. "You insulted him. My Father and Lord Tywin had made an agreement as to a betrothal which you took it upon yourself to break."

"And that's an excuse to rebel?" Loren asked. "Your father has had more wives than I've had namedays, he should have got over it like usual when he realised that he already has an alliance with House Lannister through his son Emmon. Instead he broke that alliance to satisfy his personal pride."

Whalen took a deep breath and started repeating a rehearsed speech. "My Father insists that you stand down your pitiful attempt at a siege and leave his lands immediately. Otherwise he will bring the full might of the Riverlands down upon you."

Loren just grinned. "He can try, though who would answer the calls? He has few friends among his banners and certainly none that would risk open warfare with House Lannister so soon after their last crushing defeat." Whalen couldn't respond to that. "No, here's what will happen. Lord Walder will surrender to me. He will bend the knee to King Tommen Baratheon, and he will agree to the terms that I have discussed with Ser Stevron."

"Stev's alive?" Whalen asked quickly before he blushed again.

Loren took a couple of steps closer towards the nervous Frey. "That depends on how quickly Lord Walder accepts this surrender." He whispered into the man's ear. He stepped back again and continued his terms. "His lands will be shortened as in accordance with this map and Olyvar Frey will travel back to Casterly Rock with me." He handed Whalen a small map of Southern Westeros where the new borders had been drawn on with another piece of parchment, a more official document. "And then we shall return to peace."

Whalen gulped. "He will not like that." He muttered.

"He has an hour." Loren said firmly. "If by that time I have seen no white banner on top of the Twins or I have not had Lord Walder or Ser Ryman in this command tent offering the surrender of House Frey, then Ser Stevron will find himself in perilous danger. Am I understood?" The Frey envoy simply nodded. "Good, then run back to your Father, Ser Whalen, and stress exactly how serious I am." Loren told him.

The Frey Knight nodded again and was quickly escorted out of the tent by Ser Lyle. Loren took a deep breath and turned to Lord Melwyn Sarsfield. "Have a noose set up in full sight of the Twins. Place Ser Stevron in the rope but don't let him hang yet. Let the Frey's sweat until the hour is up."

"At once, My Lord." The Sarsfield Lord bowed, and he also left the tent, leaving Loren alone with Lambert, Damion Jast and Damian Payne.

Lambert almost immediately started laughing nervously. "Seven hells Lor, if I ever doubted who your Father is I definitely won't now."

Damian Payne nodded. "Lord Frey will piss himself once he sees Stevron with a noose around his neck."

"He'll piss even more once I hang him." Loren sighed. "I didn't want to be this, but Walder Frey sees me as a green boy that's not got the heart for such slaughter. I must show him and the rest of the realm that the Lannister's won't simply crumble after my Father is gone. That we are still not a House to cross."

Lambert nodded, patting Loren on his shoulder. "Lord Frey will back down. If not, then you're doing the right thing."

"I hope so Lambert." Loren muttered. "I truly hope so."

As evening fell on King's Landing Tommen and Margaery were readying themselves for a dinner with Cersei. The Queen was putting a necklace on to finish getting herself ready whilst Tommen was explaining all about the Small Council meeting earlier that day.

"And then he said that it will all help me to be a better ruler!" He exclaimed happily. "I'm starting to think I can really do this."

Margaery turned her neck to smile widely at her husband. "Of course you can my love. You are the sweetest King to ever live, the people of the city love you, the nobles of the realm love you too."

"It's not just about being loved though." Tommen said calmly. "It's about being respected, and it looks like my Uncle is finally starting to respect me as a King."

"He did shut your wish down for the duel though." Margaery commented.

Tommen sighed. "He did, and while I still agree with you that trial by combats shouldn't exist, his points were valid. Better to sacrifice one life than to risk a dozen." He didn't see Margaery's reaction as she had her back to him once again, but she nodded. He walked over to her and placed a kiss on her cheek. "You look really pretty."

She really did, her hair was done exquisitely, and her dress was a fine pale gold garment with darker gold roses dotted around the bosom. He watched her smile and pull Tommen in for a kiss. "Gold is my House colour as well as yours my love, we should both show it off."

Tommen smiled and helped his wife to her feet before the pair began to make their way over to the Queen Mother's chambers. Cersei had a wide spread of food laid out on the table, and it was only moments after the initial greetings that the trio were filling their plates up. Tommen then began to explain the same things that he had told his wife to his Mother, but it was clear to see that Cersei wasn't pleased at the turn of events. When he got to Tyland's praise, Cersei just scoffed. "Is something the matter?" Tommen asked.

"He's claimed you." Cersei murmured darkly. "He's using and twisting you to his own agenda the foul monster."

"Mother." Tommen scolded. "That is your brother."

Cersei chuckled. "Did you not complain loudly and often about Joff?" She asked. "Tyland is my Joffrey, tasked with tormenting me as often as he can the arrogant fool. He's failed with his own son so now he has fixated on mine."

"That's enough." Tommen said weakly, but Cersei ignored him.

"You can't see it, you're too young." Cersei was saying. "If he suffered as I have… he wouldn't be so arrogant. If he lost his boy…"

Tommen gasped. "Mother, you should apologise." Tommen insisted.

"Why?" Cersei asked, slurping down some more wine. "He's not here and it's true. Babies are so fragile after all. I know from experience…"

Tommen stood up quickly, his chair being thrown back in the process. "No!" He exclaimed. "You are drunk, Mother. You will not harm my cousin, your nephew. Arthur is an innocent baby."

Cersei just smirked. "All innocents die in war, my love."

"We are not at war." Tommen said firmly. "Come, Margaery, we are leaving." Margaery followed in rising from her seat and left the room without saying a word. Tommen went to follow suit, but he turned back to Cersei as he reached the door. "I believe it best if you do not come to the duel tomorrow, Mother." He told her. "You should stay here." Without waiting for a response he left the room, his legs shaking slightly at what had just happened as he walked.

There had been no response from inside the Twins. Loren had stood by the hastily erected gallows for the last half an hour of the allotted time with his entire army stood at attention behind him. Ser Stevron was stood on a bench, the elder man literally shaking as he hoped for anything to come from beyond the outer walls of the Twins.

"You don't have to do this." Stevron muttered. "I can reason with my Father, he listens to me."

Loren just closed his eyes and took a deep breath before saying. "Then your death will impact him greatly."

"Please." The heir to the Twins begged. "I swear on the Seven, I swear on my life I will bring about a peace. He will listen to me."

"One minute." Lyle Crakehall called from behind Loren, and the elderly Frey heir began to sob.

Loren sighed. There was still next to no movement from beyond the gates of the castle and the Frey banner was still flying proudly atop the walls. In his head he counted down from sixty, watching and hoping eagerly for some form of movement. None came though, and he finished his counting aloud. "Five, four, three, two, one."

"No, please." Stevron sobbed. "I promise, I'll be better… we'll be good allies…"

Loren instead took another deep breath before he kicked the bench away with all of his might. The rope tightened and strained as Ser Stevron dropped, choking on the noose around his neck. It was a horrid sound, the breathless gasps of Stevron as he twisted his bound body to try and find some form of support to catch his breath. He didn't find any however, and after struggling for a few minutes the heir to the Twins was dead.

Loren turned immediately after the man stopped struggling and started handing out orders. "See to it that the siege lines are secured." He told Damian Payne. "I want the siege engines built double time." He then told Lyle Crakehall, before turning to Damion Jast. "Ser Stevron is to stay exactly where he is. I want Lord Walder to look out upon this sea of crimson and gold and to see his son and heir hanging until he surrenders."

"Yes, My Lord." All the responses to his orders sounded, and Loren took his leave back to his own personal tent to throw up and contemplate on his next moves.

Jaime Lannister's arm had near enough fully healed, and so he was back on duty as a Kingsguard knight in full capacity. He did miss the Valyrian Steel sword he had fought with however, and now every time he practiced with his own blade it didn't feel quite the same. He stopped thinking about that once he reached the Small Council Chambers for the second time that same day however and knocked on the door.

"Enter." His elder brother's voice sounded, and so Jaime did as he was instructed and walked inside. Tyland was sat at his desk scribbling out a letter, not stopping to do so as Jaime got closer to the desk.

"You look an awful lot like Father doing this." Jaime joked. Tyland stopped writing for a moment and moved his eyes to look at Jaime for just a moment before returning to the parchment. "That must be important."

"It is a letter." Tyland said slowly. "To the Prince of Dorne."

That surprised Jaime. "Isn't it a bit soon to be writing to him? You don't know who will win."

Tyland shook his head. "It doesn't matter what the result of the battle will be the end result will be the same." Tyland explained. "Neither of them will live past the end of the night."

Jaime looked shocked. "What are you up to?" He asked accusingly.

"Don't be naïve Jaime." Tyland scolded. "You know both men's capabilities as well as I do. Oberyn is the superior in one-on-one combat and has a known proclivity for using poison. Ser Gregor is doomed, but he is also strong and prone to enough anger to overcome his lack of skill. Either Oberyn wins, or he dies and takes Gregor with him."

Jaime scoffed at the explanation. "So if Oberyn wins you will have him killed anyway?"

"Oberyn Martell is a threat to us all." Tyland said, placing his quill down sharply and looking up at Jaime. "If he wins, he will come after the pair of us. Then he will come after Cersei, Myrcella and Tommen. Dornish vengeance doesn't discriminate."

The mention of Cersei and the children sobered Jaime to the realities of the danger. "He wouldn't…"

"We had Elia and the children murdered and he knows it." Tyland said quietly. "Varys knows it too, he is just smart enough to keep quiet about it. Oberyn however will go to the ends of the world to see us pay for securing Robert's throne and that would harm the family. I cannot let that happen."

"What of Doran?" Jaime asked, sitting himself down. "He will want blood if Oberyn dies in this city as well."

Tyland shrugged. "Perhaps, but Doran Martell is older and wiser than Oberyn and he knows that he would be going up against the might of Westeros. He might plot, but he wouldn't declare a war."

Jaime shook his head, a hint of disgust on his face. "You really do have it all planned out, don't you?"

"Somebody has to." Tyland muttered dryly. "It was one of the first lessons that Father taught me after Mother died. If you plan for many outcomes, only the sheer improbable will surprise you." He picked up the quill again and Jaime watched as he signed his name. "What was it you wanted?"

Jaime had almost forgot why he had gone to the Tower of the Hand. "Oh, right. The King has summoned everyone to the arena. It is about to start."

Tyland nodded, folding the parchment and pressing his seal into the poured wax. "Very well." He then said, standing up and wrapping a crimson cloak around his shoulders. "Let us go and hopefully watch our enemy fall."

'Or you will have to have more blood on your hands.' Jaime thought to himself, but the words didn't leave his head and the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard led his brother out of the room.

Jaime and Tyland were quick to walk down to the arena so that the fight could start, and Tyland was once more in the crimson tent watching two men hack themselves to death, although this time the skill wasn't quite so evenly matched. What Ser Gregor lacked in true skill and grace, he made up for tenfold in power and surprisingly enough, patience. Tyland watched intrigued as the large Westerman cautiously watched Oberyn dance and spin around the arena gracefully as both fighters dodged the others tentative attacks.

"You will confess now." Oberyn said pointing his spear at the Mountain. "What you did to Elia, to Rhaenys and Aegon."

"I did nothing to the girl." The Mountain grumbled in his deep voice as he swung his huge greatsword at Oberyn's head.

The Dornishman deflected the blow and skipped away. "You raped Elia!" He cried with a missed lunge. "You murdered her!" He swung his spear at the Mountain's head, missing again. "And you killed her children." Another miss. The Mountain then attacked himself, swinging his blade for Oberyn's midriff, but the Dornish Prince managed to vault over it, bringing his spear around quickly and slicing into Ser Gregor's side. He pulled the spear out and grinned as he saw the few blood spatters on the steel. "Admit it!" He cried.

Ser Gregor truly roared then, and he charged the Dornish Prince. Oberyn ducked underneath the blade and struck again, this time into the back of Gregor's thigh. Gregor roared again, turning to face the Dornishman. "You're dead."

"Tell everyone what you did!" Oberyn screamed. "You raped her! You murdered her! You killed her children!"

Tyland was getting his next steps ready when Gregor charged again, but this time Oberyn dodged and stuck his spear directly into Gregor's chest. The crowd began to applaud, but Tyland grimaced.

"Is it over?" Tommen asked from beside him.

"Not yet." Tyland said, although whether that was more hope than expectation he didn't know.

The Mountain dropped to one knee as the spear was still stuck inside him, and Oberyn smirked for a moment. "Tell me the truth." He said quietly.

"I did as commanded." The Mountain spat breathlessly. "The order was no mercy. I battered down that door. I raped the woman, I killed the boy." The Mountain's knee stumbled, and Ser Gregor's was forced to catch his balance with his hand on his fallen sword.

Oberyn grinned. "Finally." He said dangerously. He ripped his spear out of the Mountain and turned to face Tyland, pointing his spear at the hand of the King.

Tyland hadn't heard a word of that exchange, but he glared down challengingly at Oberyn as the Dornish Prince took a few steps forwards. "A confession, Lord Tyland." Oberyn called. "Now, it is…"

A blade pushed its way through Oberyn's chest. The gasps around the arena were evident but Tyland could only watch in silence as from behind Oberyn, a darkened giant rose to tower over the Prince. Tyland heard a scream from a woman over to the side, but his smile was genuine as the Mountain then roared with everything he could and ripped his sword upwards. Brain and blood splattered everywhere as the Red Viper's head was cleaved in two, both sides still attached to some form of body. The thud of Oberyn's body hitting the floor was deafening, and the crowd remained silent.

Tyland turned to Tommen who looked terrified at the sight. "You need to declare Ser Gregor innocent, by word of the Gods." He whispered.

Tommen nodded and stood up, his legs trembling. "In the n…name of the Gods. I, Tommen of the House Baratheon do declare Ser Gregor innocent of the accusations." He stammered.

Tyland nodded, patting Tommen on the shoulders as the King sat down again. "Well done." He praised.

"That was horrid." Tommen whispered, as another large thud took their attention. Tyland sighed as the Mountain had collapsed too, but he didn't panic. Instead he began to plan his next moves. Dorne would still want vengeance he knew, but by all the laws in the Seven Kingdom's they could get none legally. The thought almost made him smile once again.

Both Ser Gregor and Oberyn are expert fighters, and Tyland knew that. He planned for Oberyn to die because he had faith in Ser Gregor, and he can work with Ser Gregor dying too even though the Mountain was a loyal weapon.

The first scene was important for me to get the slight manipulation of Tommen into the forefront. Tyland watching on seeing that Tommen is capable whilst still pushing him towards the Lannister's own agenda was fun to think of. Tyland wants the fight to go ahead, he wanted Oberyn dead and he got his wish.

The Cersei scene was initially meant as filler. We now have Tommen and Margaery as well as Tyland and Sansa as married and moving forwards in their lives so a calm before the storm moment of Cersei complaining was intentionally just put in as her resisting change, but the way it worked with Tommen standing up to her was an interesting thought process and one meant to isolate Cersei even further…

Finally, over in the Riverlands Loren is starting to show his ruthless streak. Before Cerenna and everything he would have probably tried to find a way to get the matter solved without bloodshed. Now though, he knows he needs to see his threats through, and he has just executed the heir of a Lord Paramount. Walder will now know he is serious, but will Loren manage to keep who he is intact?

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter.

Next Time: Loren steps up the pressure on Walder Frey, and Cersei turns to her last potential ally…

Reviews:

Supremus85: I don't think I am, so stop talking about it because it's a boring back and forth.

TheTrickster96: I said in Chapter 2 that in my eyes he's sort of an unemotional, uncomedic Owen Wilson, but another reviewer views him as just a young Charles Dance which is probably better.

expert93: Wow thank you!

sniperbro1998:'Tyland stood, assessing the situation before turning to his men. "Gregor, Armory, go and do what needs to be done. No mercy."

"Yes My Lord." They said, quickly leaving the Throne room.'

That's the direct quote from the first chapter. I personally meant it as if Tyland just ordered the murders, but he knew Gregor Clegane well enough.

Rolling Mist 13: Cersei and Tyland are some of my favourite pairs at the moment. The open animosity between them is brilliant to write.

7alice9: Tyland could never. For one he isn't a sexual person at all, he's only doing what he is to Sansa because it's required of him and secondly, he was disgusted when he caught Jaime and Cersei.

iiv: In this fic the Mad King's reasoning was that he was stealing the pride of the Westerlands. Jaime was still the charismatic swords master at a young age in this story, and he was still in love with Cersei and wanted to do anything to be with her. With Cersei and Tywin in King's Landing she would have still pushed for Jaime to be named to the Kingsguard and Aerys would have been delighted at the thought of stealing the greatest swordsman in the West. Tywin would still have understood that it was a threat and would still have resigned.