Tyrion

Ever since his father had released him from the black cells Tyrion had been keeping a low profile in the Red Keep. His father had expressly ordered him to stay in the room that he led him to in the Tower of the Hand until he came and got him. Unless of course he wanted Cersei to kill him. Considering he'd been in this room for days now with little to do and was going more than a little stir crazy, letting Cersei kill him was starting to sound like a good idea.

He was trying to keep himself occupied by writing down every joke involving whores that he knew. Most were bloody awful, but a few could still genuinely make him laugh. While he was writing he heard a knock on his door. That caused him to look up with his brow furrowed. He hadn't had a single visitor besides the servants bringing him his food and emptying his chamber pot since his father put him in here. His father had placed two guards outside his door, men that were more afraid of Father than they were of Cersei, and would do what Father ordered them to. So the odds were that whoever was knocking was not a threat to him. On the other her hand, Cersei could be very persuasive when she wanted to be, that persuasion usually taking the form of a cart full of gold or a hint that she may let whoever she was "persuading" between her legs for a romp in the sheets. So maybe he was about to get his perverse wish and he would be dead the moment the door opened. That was when he heard the voice coming through the door:

"You gonna let me in, cunt? Or just leave me standing around out here like a great fuckin idiot?"

Bronn. The one man other than his brother that he actually wished he could see. The man was utterly amoral and loyal only to himself. And whoever offered him the biggest payday.

Walking over to the door, he threw it open and saw his old friend standing there with a mug of ale in his hand a grin on his face.

"Ser Bronn of the Blackwater. Now yours is a face that I can say I'm truly glad to see," said Tyrion.

"Good to see you too. You gonna let me in?"

Standing to one side, Tyrion waved his arm into his small room and watch as Bronn strolled in. And behind him, was Pod.

"Pod!" Tyrion, exclaimed.

"My Lord," said Podderick. "It's good to see you again."

"It's good to see you as well, Pod. What is that you're dragging behind you?" asked Tyrion while pointing at the large chest that Pod was struggling to drag with him.

"Your armor and weapons, My Lord. The Lord Hand ordered me to bring them to you and to help you equip yourself."

"Ah. I see. Thank you, Pod." Turning to Bronn, Tyrion asked, "Not just a social visit then, I take it?"

Looking around the room Tyrion was in Bronn said, "A bit of an improvement from your last place, I'd wager? And no, not just a social visit."

"A vast improvement. The food and drink are a markedly superior, as is having a real bed to sleep in. And being able to see the sunlight through a window every now and then is a blessed development compared to the all encompassing darkness that is the black cells."

The silence between dragged on for several minutes while Pod busied himself dragging the large chest into the room and getting it's contents set up.

"You're going to make me ask outright, aren't you?"

Bronn replied to Tyrion, "Why not? And no, this time you can't double it. Your Lord Father is paying me now, and I don't think you could double what he's giving me to go on this little adventure with you and your brother."

"Fine. Why did my father send you here and how much is he paying you?"

"First, I'm here to get you ready to join your brother and to protect your skinny little arse on the way. You're leaving King's Landing tonight. Second, he gave me this letter for you. And finally, the reason you can't double what he's paying me is because he gave me Tarbeck Hall."

"Tarbeck Hall? Bronn, it's a ruin. Father destroyed the castle there when the Tarbecks rebelled against my grandfather. He's not giving you anything worth having."

"Well, that's where you're wrong little man. He's made me Lord Bronn Blackwater, Lord of Tarbeck Hall and granted me all its lands and attendant incomes. He's even sent men to begin repairing the walls and the keep. Smart man, your father. Knows how to reward those in his service."

"Well, as long as your happy, Lord Blackwater. But really? Lord Blackwater? Why not just take the name of the Tarbecks and become Lord Tarbeck? I'll grant you that the name has been a bit sullied, but still. It would command respect."

"I'll build my own legacy, with my own name, thank you very much."

Raising his hands in surrender, Tyrion acknowledged defeat. "Can you hand me that letter, please?"

Sliding the sealed letter across the table that he and Tyrion were seated at, Bronn sat back and let Tyrion read.

Sliding his knife under the seal, Tyrion opened the letter and began to read.

"Tyrion,

This letter will, Gods willing, be among the last correspondence that you and I will ever have. Once you leave this city, while I live, you will never return here except at my express command. After you complete your assignment in the North, you will return to the Westerlands and once there, you will assume your new position as Lord of Castamere. Before you depart from King's Landing, you will swear an oath of fealty to me as your Lord. Just put it in a letter and leave it in your room. I have no desire to actually see you again.

While you are on your mission, I will send a contingent of men to drain the halls and tunnels and begin repairs on the buildings. You will be responsible for doing the majority of the repairs yourself out of your own pocket once your arrive at your seat. I will do no more than make the castle livable. You may avail yourself of the gold and silver in the mines on your lands. As Lord of Castamere you shall also be granted the overlordship of Tarbeck Hall and The Crag. As such, you are entitled to a share of the incomes from those lands. Use them wisely. I will also provide you with a small allowance to maintain yourself and your household until your mines begin producing again and you are capable of supporting yourself.

Enclosed within this letter is a letter addressed to Jon Snow. It will serve as proof of your bonafides to make the offer that you and I discussed previously. Be sure to prey upon his fear that a Lannister will one day rule Winterfell should he fail to accept your offer. You will have but one advantage in your negotiations with Snow, and that is the claim that his sister, and through your marriage to her, you have on Winterfell. Use it wisely.

Though I am sending you to Winterfell as my emissary, Jaime is in command of this expedition and you will obey his orders in all things. While you and Jaime are on your Northern Adventure, I am sending Ser Loras Tyrell with an army from the Reach and the Crownlands to drive Stannis out of Dragonstone and end his rebellion once and for all. The Redwynes are sending their fleet to augment those ships that are left of the Royal Fleet to facilitate the assault. By the time you reach Winterfell Stannis and his men should be dead. That leaves only the North and the Iron Islands to subdue and Balon Greyjoy will be dealt with after the North is subjugated. In fact, should Snow agree to our terms, you and your brother will offer our force to assist in driving the Ironborn out of the North after the destruction of the Boltons. Should he refuse, you will make the same offer to Lord Bolton.

Do not fail in this assignment and make me regret giving you this opportunity anymore than I already do.

Tywin Lannister

Lord of Casterly Rock, Warden of the West, Hand of the King"

Typical Father. No hint of approval what-so-ever. Though he was still puzzled why he had even done this in the first place. Tyrion had assumed that his father would conduct a show trial, find him guilty, then "encourage" him to take the black as a means of disposing of him once and for all. This was out of character for Father. Though in a way, it did make a sick sort of sense. By giving him Castamere, and the overlordship of Tarbeck Hall and the Crag, he was giving Tyrion a constant reminder of the cost of betraying House Lannister. He was also putting him into a position of real power though. Castamere still had some very valuable mines and by giving him two other houses to rule over, Tyrion would find himself second only to his Father in the Westerlands in terms of wealth and power. Once he was able to fully establish himself there anyway. So he was still left with a conundrum.

Looking up a Bronn after reading the letter Tyrion said, "Well, it appears that we are to be the Lords of the Damned. You, Lord of Tarbeck Hall and me Lord of Castamere. Two of the three castles in recent history who's previous occupants rebelled against my father. Do you suppose this is an honor or an insult?"

"Probably a bit of both. But I'll be honest, I never do get tired of hearing people refer to me as 'My Lord.' So I'm going to see it as an honor. Now, all you have to do is settle this little matter in the North and then I can collect my reward."

"You do know, don't you, that as a Lord of the Westerlands, you'll be required to swear fealty to my father, don't you?"

"Already done that. Small price to pay for getting what I've always wanted. A castle and a title of my own."

"And did my father tell you who your immediate overlord would be?"

"I figured it would be him."

"Yes, well, my father has a habit of leaving bits and pieces out of rewards that he offers as a way to demonstrate his true power. An often unpleasant surprise for the recipient of said reward. It's how he keeps his power secure. By putting conditions on the reward that he doesn't tell you about until after you've accepted it. And now you can't back out of it as it would be seen as an insult to House Lannister."

"Fuck. Who, then?"

"Me."

Bronn was silent for a moment, then broke out laughing. "If you think for one second that I'm kissing your arse you can forget about it. I swore fealty to your father because he honestly scares the piss out of me. I'm not bowing to you."

"Spoken like the sellsword I know and love. See? That's why we get along so well. Your finest quality is that you only care about what's good for you. Please don't disappoint me now by changing."

In reply, Bronn raised his mug to Tyrion and drank deeply from it. That was likely the closest Bronn would ever get to acknowledging him as his Lord.

"My Lord?" Pod broke in. "Your armor is ready."

"Very well, Pod. Help me get it on. I must look the part when I leave the city now, mustn't I?"

After several curses, more than a few bruises and one set of aching balls when Pod accidently hit him squarely in his cock with the edge of his breastplate, Tyrion was dressed and ready. Before he left he wrote a brief letter for his father. He used the same gruff tones that his father used with him. Though he did at least thank him for giving him the Lordship of Castamere. And he did remember to give his oath of fealty to his father.

As Tyrion, Bronn and Pod made their way out of the Tower of the Hand and through the Red Keep, he took one last look at it. Whichever way his journey to the North went, he was very unlikely to return here and he wanted to remember it well. In a bit of a surprise to him, Bronn led him to a side gate and told him that they would meet up with Jaime after he had left the Red Keep. Cersei still wanted his head on a spike after all.

Once they had ridden through the city, they exited the city walls by the Gate of the Gods and joined the five thousand men that Jaime was taking North. Not long after, Jaime himself rode through the gate resplendent in his lion crested red armor and red cloak. Wait a moment, why wasn't he wearing the white cloak of the Kingsguard? An icy ball of dread began to form in the pit of his stomach. Unless he was very wrong, he had just figured out why his father had been willing to make a deal with him.

Tyrion and Bronn nudged their horses forward and fell in beside Jaime and Ser Ilyn Payne while Pod fell in behind them beside Jaime's two squires. As they rode away from the city and met up with the men that Jaime would lead into battle in the North, Tyrion saw banners from the Westerlands, the Crownlands, the Reach and even one or two from the Stormlands. His father was sending a message to the North. And that message was, "Look at the power I wield. It is folly to resist me." Somehow, Tyrion didn't think that message would be very well received north of the Neck.

As they rode away from the city at the head of their men, Tyrion looked at Jaime and asked the question that was burning him alive:

"Jaime, please tell me you didn't do what I think you did to get Father to release me."

In his typical, haughty tone Jaime said, "Please, we both know it was only a matter of time before Father would have found some reason to have me dismissed from the Kingsguard. At least now I was able to get something out of what was inevitable. He gets what he wanted and I get to keep my brother's head from decorating a spike."

"It's too high a price, Jaime. You never wanted to be Lord of Casterly Rock."

"It's honestly for the best, brother. You can only take this city for so long before you begin to go a bit mad."

Tyrion was beginning to think that Jaime had already passed that point. He couldn't say that, of course. Instead he started, "Jaime..."

Holding up his gold hand to forestall Tyrion's reply Jaime replied, "It's done, brother. Ser Loras has been named the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. And once we're done in the North, I'll be taking my place in Casterly Rock and learning how to rule the Westerlands from Uncle Kevan. While you will take your place in Castamere."

"And what about Tommen? Are you really just going to leave your," and here Tyrion just barely caught himself. He had been about to call Tommen Jaime's son. He and Jaime had "discussed" Jaime's children while he was sitting in the black cells, but that was a carefully guarded secret, despite the rumors that were flying around the Seven Kingdoms. Continuing on he said, "Are you really going to trust anyone other than yourself to guard our nephew?"

Jaime let out a gruff, almost depressed, laugh. "My dear brother. Without my hand, I'm a bigger liability to his safety than I am an asset. I wager that you could beat me with a sword at this point."

"Ain't that the truth," Tyrion heard coming from behind him. Of course it was coming from Bronn.

"Bronn.." Jaime warned the former sellsword.

Bronn of course just scoffed at Jaime. "What are you gonna do, attack me? I'd win and you know it."

Looking at Tyrion Bronn told him, "This mute fucker next to me and I have been training him ever since he got back to the capital. He's shite with his left hand. Keeps turning the wrong way. His instincts are off."

"Ah. Thank you, Bronn."

Turning in his saddle to look at his brother Tyrion asked him, "Jaime, why didn't you tell me? I could have come up with something to help you."

Waving him off Jaime told him, "It was better this way. Tommen needs more than I can give him as a protector. And I wasn't about to let you die because of Cersei's delusions."

Now that was a revelation. Since when did Jaime disparage their sister? He was, for one of the very few times in his life, shocked into silence. Jaime noticed.

"Pick your jaw up. I do have eyes and a brain. She's different. It hasn't been the same since I returned. Tell me, brother, did she wait while I was Robb Stark's prisoner? Or did she rush into another's arms for protection as soon as I was captured?"

The answer killed him to give, but he owed his brother this. "No. She took another before I had even reached King's Landing at Father's command."

He could see the pain etched plainly on Jaime's face at hearing his words. But he would not pain his brother more by lying to him. Not when it would do him no good. Jaime deserved at least that much from him.

"Thank you, Tyrion," Jaime said. "I suspected as much. You know, I've only ever been with her? She was my first and I've been faithful ever since."

Tyrion had no idea how to respond. How do you respond when your brother openly admits that he'd been fucking his sister for years? Instead he nudged his horse a bit closer to Jaime's and put his hand on Jaime's shoulder and gave him a grim smile and nod. They would talk more later. They had a long ride ahead of them.