How strange it was that their situations were now reversed. Tyrion the free man and Ser Jorah the prisoner. It helped that he had a strong voice who had the ear of the queen who defended him. He looked to her now, Rhaena, who sat lounging upon one of the stone steps below Daenerys who sat tall and erect in her seat with her handmaiden beside her. What a pair they made. Tyrion was not certain which made him more nervous. The sly grin of Rhaena, or the cold unfeeling gaze of Daenerys. Ser Jorah began to speak, to plead his case to the queen but she cut him off with a simple statement. "You will not speak." She then turned to Tyrion, cold as ice. "My sister says that she can vouch for your character. Since I trust her word then it is true that you are Tyrion Lannister. Tell me why I shouldn't simply kill you? To pay your family back for what it did to mine." Tyrion measured his words carefully, looking to Rhaena who gave him a small yet encouraging nod to tell him not to be afraid. She would protect him. Even if it meant going against her sister. It was enough to make Tyrion feel braver.
"You want revenge against the Lannisters? I killed my mother Joanna Lannister the day I was born. I killed my father Tywin Lannister with an arrow to the heart. I am the greatest Lannister killer of our time." This did not improve Daenerys's expression, it remained as impassive and unaffected as ever.
"So I should welcome you into my service because you murdered members of your own family?"
"Into your service? Your Grace we have only just met. It's too soon to know if you deserve my service." Tyrion's boldness continued to rise as he began to find his own talent for glibness returning to him. "The only one here whom I would trust with my service is your dear sister, Rhaena, who I have known most of her life and she a great portion of mine. I know her. I know nothing of you."
"If you'd rather return to the fighting pits just say the word." Undeterred, Tyrion allowed his silver tongue to work. He spoke of Daenerys's beginning, how she was born during one of the greatest storms in living memory possessing nothing to her name. No wealth, no lands, no army, nothing but her name. He spoke of how her supporters kept her alive, how she moved from place to place often mere hours ahead of men sent to assassinate her, before eventually she was sold to a savage warlord where it was presumed she would never be heard from again.
"And then a few years later," Tyrion continued to narrate, holding the gaze of the queen who remained silent and unmoving. "The most well informed person I knew told me that this girl without wealth, lands, or armies had somehow acquired all three in a very short span of time, along with three dragons. He thought she was our best, last chance to build a better world. I thought you were worth meeting at the very least." Rhaena smirked to herself as she continued to lounge casually upon the steps, watching Tyrion as she had seen him countless times before, using his intelligence and wit to win him the upper hand of a situation.
"And why are you worth meeting? Why should I spend my time listening to you?"
"Because you cannot build a better world on your own. You have no one at your side who understands that land you want to rule. The strengths and the weaknesses of the houses that will either support or oppose you. No one other than your sister." To this Daenerys reasoned that she possessed a very large army and even larger dragons, but still Tyrion came back with his own cunning response. "Killing and politics aren't always the same thing. When I served as Hand of the King I did quite well with the latter considering the king in question preferred torturing animals to leading his people. I could do an even better job advising a ruler worth the name."
"So you want to advise me. Very well." Her sharp gaze now turned upon Ser Jorah, who looked utterly wretched before her. "What would you have me do with him? I swore I would kill him if he ever returned." Speaking softly, Tyrion told the queen he was aware of this promise. "Why should the people trust a queen who can't keep her promises?" The question hung in the air as Tyrion carefully considered his answer, glancing once or twice to Rhaena who betrayed nothing in her expression. She could not tell him what to say that would best please her sister, because Daenerys herself did not know what she wished to hear and therefore Rhaena could not even begin to guess at what it could be. Daenerys was caught between love and anger, and it was a very dangerous place to be. Especially for the object of such emotions.
"Whomever Ser Jorah was when he started informing on you, he is no longer that man. I can't remember seeing the same man as devoted to anything as he is to serving you. He claims he would kill for you and die for you, and nothing I have witnessed gives me reason to doubt him." Pausing for a moment, Tyrion considered once more. "And yet he did betray you." Stepping forwards in order to approach Daenerys, Tyrion stopped when the guards lowered their spears but Daenerys lifted her hand to belay them, allowing Tyrion to continue his approach. "Did he have an opportunity to confess his betrayals?"
"Yes, many opportunities."
"And did he?"
"No. Not until forced to do so." Rhaena could scarcely breathe for the tension in the air. She could sense her sister's rage as it was directed towards Ser Jorah as his life hung in the balance.
"He worships you. He is in love with you, I think. But he did not trust you with the truth," Tyrion continued. "An unpleasant truth, to be sure, but one of great significance to you. He did not trust that you would be wise enough to forgive him." Lifting her chin a little higher, Daenerys questioned if this meant Tyrion thought she should kill him as she had vowed, but Tyrion thought otherwise. "A ruler who kills those that are devoted to her is not a ruler that inspires devotion," he reasoned softly, "and you're going to need to inspire devotion, and lots of it, if you're ever going to rule across the Narrow Sea." By this point Tyrion had drawn level with Rhaena, looking to her briefly as their heads were now at the same height before then turning back to Daenerys who maintained her steady stare upon the dishonoured knight. "But you cannot have him by your side when you do." A brief pause followed as Daenerys weighed all that was said until finally speaking.
"Remove Ser Jorah from the city." Rhaena watched silently as the knight was taken away even as he gazed back lovingly at Daenerys. She believed Tyrion was right. Ser Jorah was in love with her sister. Little good it did for him now, other than to spare his life. Once the door closed, however, her eyes shifted across to Tyrion where her lips naturally tilted upwards in a smile for him, reaching out her hand to brush against his curling hair which had also grown as thick and long as his beard. "You speak well. My sister often remarked of your quick wit and clever tongue whenever she spoke of you." Daenerys managed to force herself to speak, attempting to push Ser Jorah from her mind. "My sister thinks that I should let you live." She allowed the indication to hang in the air before rising to her feet. "I must think on this matter further. Rhaena, I leave him to you. He is your responsibility. Watch him."
"Like a hawk, dear sister." Rhaena promised without removing her sight from Tyrion, raising her brows at him playfully as her sister descended from her seat with Missandei and went away, leaving both Tyrion and Rhaena utterly alone for the first time in…had it truly been almost three years? Gods did time fly. "How about a drink, little friend?"
"I think a drink is entirely necessary." Nodding her head in agreement, Rhaena led the way to her private chambers in order to sit and talk with Tyrion. Sansa was currently with Myrcella and Syrio was with Trystane. None would bother them at least for a little while. "Did you come here by yourself, my dear Rhae?"
"No, Sansa is here and we also found a friend in Braavos, Syrio Forel. He was Arya's swordplay instructor. He escorted us here. You might be surprised that your niece Myrcella is also here with her betrothed, Trystane Martell." A light smirk was tossed in Tyrion's direction as she poured wine for them both then brought the pitcher over with her. "I kidnapped them from Dorne and now they are our guests. Hostages, but still guests."
"You have been busy. I should like to see her, if I may."
"Tyrion, you are not a prisoner here. You may go where you like. I shall have rooms prepared for you and commission new clothing too. Perhaps you should also like a barber to attend to your beard and your hair?" Teasing him lightly, Rhaena settled herself upon cushions whilst Tyrion sat himself upon a chair, drinking deeply of his wine before his cup was filled once more. "You look as if you have gone through hell. Tell it to me, Tyrion. You can share your burdens with me." It was enough to almost make him weep to hear such sweet sincerity. Rhaena, perhaps the only woman to ever truly love him. It was a relief unlike any other to be near her once again and take shelter under her protection as she had once been protected by him. Here their roles were reversed, for she had the power and the authority whilst he had none. His name would not protect him here. If anything it would only hasten his demise. His story soon came bursting forth as he drank greedily of his wine until Rhaena began to slow him, touching his hand each time he went to guzzle at his drink and suggested he pace himself, listening all the while to his woes. What struck Rhaena most was the genuine heartbreak at having killed his lover, Shae, the handmaid who had once served Sansa. She should have known there would have been something between her and Tyrion, she had been very beautiful after all and had no real idea how to serve a highborn lady until the skills had been taught to her. It tore him deeper to admit that he had killed her more so even than admitting to patricide, though Rhaena doubted anyone truly mourned the loss of Tywin Lannister. After enduring all of this on the back of a looming execution, Tyrion had then been forced to endure a horrendous journey in a small box before being taken captive by Ser Jorah, fighting off Stone Men and almost drowning only to be taken by slavers.
"As you can see, my dear Rhaena, I have been through all seven hells and back again." He drank deeply once again. There was no laughter to be had for it had gone completely from Tyrion, so Rhaena merely rested her head against his and eventually felt his hand come to rest upon her and stroke at her hair.
"I should have come back for you."
"Dearest, you were too far away to come to my rescue, and you were finally safe. I would not have wished you back there, not even to save me."
"I should have come back for you regardless, Tyrion. No matter what, I should have tried." Tilting her head so that she could look at him, Rhaena promised that Tyrion would never face such troubles alone ever again. "This is your home now and I am your family. My sister will come to love you as I do, I know it. Once she realises how excellent your counsel is and how intelligent you are she will be unable to let you go. There is no one else who plays the game or understands it as well as you do."
"If that were true, I would still be back in King's Landing ruling the Seven Kingdoms with a whore from each one in my bed." She smirked at the crudeness but made no comment on it. "Are you certain your sister will make a good ruler?"
"She is still learning, but she is doing her best with what she has. She has power, position, strength and men. What she truly needs now is wisdom. Intelligence. Tact. She is proven in battle. Now she must master politics. I have tried to coach her as best I am able, but there is only so much I can offer her. One voice of reason and logic is not enough. She needs more if she is to make decisions upon the opinions and voices of those around her." Since losing Ser Jorah and Ser Barristan, those voices had dwindled so that now very few remained beside Daenerys who could truly guide her. Tyrion's arrival was a blessing and a boon, of this Rhaena was certain. If anyone could think of a way to draw out the Sons of the Harpy and eradicate them altogether then it would be Tyrion Lannister, the one whom everyone underestimated and yet remains alive to this day despite their plots against him. Rhaena was not a gambling person…but she would bet everything she owned upon Tyrion. Each and every single time.