Tyrion III

"Apparently the rumors coming from the south are true. Both the Arbor and Oldtown have fallen into the hands of Stannis and the Martells, along with all their ships and riches. Apparently, someone opened the city gates in the middle of the night, while the Dornish army waited outside, hidden from the eyes of the wall watchmen. The city fell in just one night" Varys informed them as he toyed with his chubby fingers.

"In one night? That's impossible," Cersei said incredulously. "I've been in Oldtown. Its walls are high and strong, taking it would take weeks."

"The walls are of no use if the enemy can pass through them undeterred," Tyron said. "What surprises me most about this story is that an army of thousands of men could cross the footsteps of the Red Mountains without being seen. If I remember correctly, there are dozens of castles covering those roads, both on the Dornish and in the Reach sides."

"If we believe the good Daeron, the Young Dragon, in his conquest of the desert kingdom he used a goat path to traverse the Boneway with his army unseen. Our good Lord Stannis may have carried out a similar ruse," Varys said.

"It doesn't matter how he did it, the important thing is that the two Baratheon brothers have declared war on each other. All the time they spend killing each other is the time we and father gain to deal with the Starks and the Tullys," Jaime said smiling.

Tyrion let out the laughter he was holding since Varys had informed them of what happened. Jaime also began to laugh and even Cersei let out a giggle. In seconds, the three of them were laughing together.

Is this what it took? Is a war all we needed to look like... Brothers?

The grand maester Pycelle did not understand the fun of the whole situation, and apparently neither did Varys, whose face was still totally serious.

"By the gods. Maybe Robert was the smartest of the three at the end of the day," Cersei sighed. But do you really think they're going to face each other? They may end up coming to some kind of agreement..."

"Impossible!" settled Jaime. "They are completely different and do not stand each other. And not to mention that both the stormlords and Reach lords have hated the Dornish for centuries. They won't make peace so easily."

"You may be right, my lords, " interrupted Varys. "But Lord Renly does not yet regard his brother as a serious enough threat to turn around and march to Oldtown to confront him. In any case, the only thing Stannis has caused is that his brother has lost all the pause and calm with which he was marching towards us. He has had to leave behind his siege machines and several of his knights have abandoned him to return south to defend his lands, but now his army is marching here much faster. They'll arrive on a moon, maybe in less."

The laughter of joy ceased immediately. A moon... Tyrion had counted that, at best, Renly would take at least twice that time to reach King's Landing, and even if they had several more months, their chances would not increase much either. Until his father wiped out Robb Stark, the city was helpless. Our hopes fade even further. It's impossible for the city to resist an army of that size. Jaime had been recruiting men and mercenaries, but as soon as Renly knocked down the city gates they would run or worse, they would turn against them.

Cersei drank her wine in one sip and threw her glass towards Tyrion. Luckily for him, the cup passed quite far from his face and stamped against the wall, bursting into a thousand pieces.

"Damn him!" cried an angry Cersei. "Doesn't he realize that if he doesn't march south he might lose the whole Reach?"

He knows it perfectly well, Cersei. But if he doesn't attack King's Landing now, he's likely to lose the kingdom. To Tyrion's surprise, the youngest Baratheon had been smarter than he imagined. That, or he was very well advised. Stannis's strategy was clear: to weaken his brother by making him march with his huge army back and forth until he was so tired and weak that he could defeat him in battle. Afterwards, he would march against them if his Stark allies had not defeated them by then. But Renly hasn't fallen into the trap, and that leaves us with no options.

"There is no point in lamenting now Cersei. What we have to do is prepare the defenses for when he arrives," his brother Jaime said. To Tyrion's surprise, his brother had managed to keep his composure in the face of this desperate situation. That, or he was pretending very well. "Is there any news of Littlefinger and the Vale?"

"Nothing, as far as I know. And even if Lady Arryn accepts the offer, it would take too long at this point to summon her knights and march here. We can't count on her," Tyrion said.

"And how are we going to deal with him? With a bunch of bakers and beggars? We have to send a raven to father at once, make him come here before it's too late."

"Father will not come. He doesn't have enough men to take on Renly either. If he leaves Harrenhal, Renly will destroy him," Jaime replied.

Jaime was right about that too. Tywin Lannister would not leave Harrenhal to fight a lost battle and bury the Lannister cause forever. Tyrion had trusted the Knights of the Vale to join him and together march against Renly but they had not yet received any news from Littlefinger or the Arryns. Just silence. They won't come. Littlefinger will stay in the Vale until the storm passes and he can collect the leftovers, that rat. Damn him, damn them all.

"Perhaps we should accept the inevitable. King's Landing is indefensible. For many soldiers, mercenaries and Wildfire that we have, Renly will take the city sooner or later," Tyrion said, giving voice to what many of them thought at that time.

"The Wildfire is out of the question" replied Jaime. Tyrion had pointed out before that the Wildfire had possibly been Cersei's brightest idea to this point, but his brother had been inflexible about it. "It has as many chances of setting fire to Renly's army as the city. Perhaps less so."

"Do you want us to leave the capital then, the Iron Throne?" asked Cersei choleric. If she'd had another glass at hand, Tyrion didn't doubt that she'd tried to throw it at him again. "You're more of a fool than I thought. If we do that, everyone will take us for cowards. The whole kingdom will think Joffrey is a false king."

"To be fair, almost the whole kingdom thinks it already, " replied Tyrion. "If we don't leave the city now, Renly will take us prisoners or stick our heads in a spike. If we run, we'll live to fight another day. The war will not end when Renly takes the city."

"Maybe..." said Pycelle thoughtful. "Maybe Lord Tyrion is right in this matter. It may be wise to withdraw our forces from the city and wait for a more auspicious time to face Lord Renly. During the Dance of Dragons, Rhaenyra managed to take the city, but she couldn't keep it in her possession, and that led her to her doom."

It's quite convenient for his part not to say that even after Rhaenyra's death, Aegon lost the war. Despite the loyalty the grand maester claimed to profess to the Lannisters, Tyrion knew that at this time all he wanted was to save his skin. When the time comes, will you open the doors to Renly just like you did to father at the end of the Rebellion?

"What about Lord Stark?" asked Cersei thoughtfully. "Does he still refuse to cooperate? If we can get the Starks and the Tullys to become our allies, there will not be a need to flee like cowards."

"At the moment I have only managed to get him to agree to declare himself loyal to Joffrey in exchange for us releasing Sansa. But I doubt the Young Wolf will agree to lay down his sword. He'll say we forced him to do it under torture," Tyrion said. Which is not entirely a lie. "And sending him to Riverrun to take over the northern army is not an option. He'll defect us as soon as we let him free."

"Are you telling me that we have the Warden of the North and one of his daughters in our possession and it is of no use to us?" said Cersei angry. "I wish you'd fallen off the Wall. So that father didn't have to come to your rescue, and we wouldn't be in this mess."

And if you had given birth to a legitimate son, right now we wouldn't have to worry about Stannis or Renly. But you had to be too proud, didn't you?

"Enough, Cersei, " said Jaime angrily. "Tyrion is not to blame for this situation. I want you, Joffrey, Tommen, Myrcella and the rest of the Council to be ready to leave the city in five days. Take only what you need, I want you to go through as unnoticed as possible."

"What are you going to do?" asked Cersei. Tyrion noticed how all the rage had disappeared from her voice and noticed some... concern.

"I must stay to defend the city. A difficult siege can greatly weaken Renly's army, making it easier for you to defeat him in the future," his resigned brother replied.

"Jaime you don't... you don't have to. Your duty is next to Joffrey, next to the king. Another can take your place in the defense of the city. Lancel, Uncle Steffon, myself. You're much more important," Tyrion stammered.

"No!" said Jaime. "If the gold cloaks find out that the king has left the city, the little moral that they have left will collapse. Gods, Janos Slynt will deliver the city to Renly without hesitation. I'll pretend to be Joffrey. Lancel could do it too... but he's just a kid and he's never been involved in a battle. It must be me."

"Tyrion's right, Jaime. Let someone else take your place, yours is next to m-, next to Joffrey," Cersei pleaded. "You are the Hand of the King and the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, you cannot abandon your king like this."

"I'm not abandoning my king!" roared Jaime. "If I do this, it's for Joffrey to have a chance to win this war. So that you, Tyrion, Tommen and Myrcella can survive."

"And where do you suggest we go?" asked Cersei. The tension in the room was so palpable that Tyrion feared for a moment that Cersei would order the red cloaks to execute them all. The grand maester looked back and forth nervous as Varys smiled restlessly. "To Harrenhal?"

"Yes. You'll be safe with father, at least for the time being. It would be best to retire to Casterly Rock and wait for Renly and Stannis to kill each other, but that decision is no longer up to me. You will take two hundred gold cloaks and several mercenaries, in addition to Tyrion's clansmen. The rest stay with me to defend city."

Cersei, defeated, closed her eyes and nodded. "I also want Sir Meryn, Sir Mandon and Sir Preson to come. Joffrey will need his kingsguard. And we must also take Ned Stark and his daughter."

"Granted, but the rest of the kingsguard stays. If all the white cloaks left the city, it would be quite suspicious. If there is no objection, then this session is over."

The Small Council members got up to start preparing their things for when they had to leave. Tyrion noticed that Cersei didn't even turn back to look at Jaime when she left, but he knew they'd make peace before they split up. They can't split up when they're angry. They should not...

Before Tyrion left the room too, Jaime called him and brought him back.

"Jaime. I hope what you want to tell me is that this is all about a joke and that you're coming with us to Harrenhal."

"No. What I have said is no joke and I intend to keep my word until the end, no matter how surprising it all is."

"For once you could live up to your reputation and break it one more time. It's almost a hundred thousand soldiers marching this way. It doesn't matter if it's you, me or Janos Slynt who defends the city, you won't scratch Renly."

"According to Varys, it's about seventy thousand now, but I guess your point is still valid. However, you're wrong about one thing. If I get Renly to suffer by taking the city, his army will end up tired and many will want to return to their lands away from the war. If I succeed, you and father will have a chance to win."

"Father? The same father who thought he could defeat the Tullys and the Starks in less than a month and ended up being humiliated by a fifteen-year-old boy? The same father which the only thing he has only achieved by attacking the Riverlands is that we have no ally left in all the Seven Kingdoms? The same father whose stupidity cost Uncle Kevan's life? That one?"

"Yes, that one. The same one that wiped out the Reynes, the Tarbecks and created the most feared dynasty in all of Westeros. If anyone can turn this situation around, that's him," Jaime said.

"Destroying two smaller houses from the Westernlands and sacking a defenseless city through deception does not make you a great general, Jaime. Robb Stark, Randyll Tarly and Stannis Baratheon are good generals, and they are all our enemies. Father, as much as it pains me, is not. He's got his name to inspire terror all over Westeros, but when this war is over, the only thing it will inspire is laughter," Tyrion said with scabies. "Don't die for a lost cause, Jaime. Let me defend the city. Maybe I'm not good at fighting, but I'm smart. I can organize the defense of the city as well as you."

"I'm not going to die here, little brother. If things get ugly, I'll take a boat and go to Dragonstone with all the men I can save. Don't get sentimental yet."

"You're a good liar, I admit. You and Cersei are twins in that. But I know you better than anyone. You won't run, you never have. You're trying to die in this city. Why? I don't get it."

"Let me do the right thing for once." His brother's voice had a strange mixture of solemnity and melancholy.

"The right thing to do? Jaime, let them say whatever they want, but killing Aerys Targaryen was an act of courage and it must have happened much earlier. Defending this damn city on Joffrey's behalf is not. I know he's your son, I'm not as blind as our father, but believe me when I tell you that at this rate, he'll become a new Mad King, or worse. Don't waste your life like that, please I beg you. You don't owe Joffrey, father, Cersei or me anything."

"That's not entirely true," wavered Jaime. "I... I do owe you a debt."

"A debt?" said Tyrion bowing his head. "I don't understand you... All my life, you've been one of the few who's never treated me like I'm a monster. If anyone should be grateful here, it's me."

"You're wrong... I did a horrible thing. Many years ago."

"What is it about? Come on, tell me. It can't be worse than what father's going to do to me when he finds out I'm still alive while you dig your grave in this city."

"Tysha."

"Tysha? What about her?" Tyrion didn't understand anything.

"She wasn't a whore. It was what she looked like, the daughter of a peasant we stumbled upon in the road. When he found out that you had married her, father forced me to lie to you, he told me that she only loved you for your gold that, after all that made her nothing more than a whore, that..."

Before Jaime could finish his explanation, a glass crashed into Jaime's head, filling his forehead with cuts for which he soon began to bleed.

"I'm sorry, Tyrion, I really am. I thought father would just annul the marriage, I didn't know that..."

"That he would order his whole guard to rape her?!" said Tyrion choleric. "He forced me to look, Jaime, forced me to watch each of them rape her and then forced me to do it too!"

"Please, you have to believe me." Jaime's voice was just a whisper. The blood was flowing from his forehead wound and he couldn't even raise his head to look to Tyrion face to face.

"Do I? And why would I? You've lied to me all these years, why not now too? As far as I'm concerned, the only reason you didn't rape her too is because she wasn't blonde with green eyes."

"No, Tyrion, I would never have done that to you. If I've hidden it from you so far, it was out of sheer cowardice. It's ironic, I've never been afraid of anything except my younger brother's wrath. I'm really pathetic."

"All my life I have believed that of you two, Cersei was without a doubt the worst. For the Seven, I'd strangle her if I could, the gods know she deserves it. But you... I would have given my life for you without hesitation, but you're as rotten as she is." Tears drenched his face as he spoke. He wasn't even able to remember when he had started crying or why. Was it for what Tysha had to suffer? Tysha, an innocent girl whose only crime had been to love him. For his brother's betrayal? Or for the kind of person that had made him?

"Hopefully you find the death you want in this city, Jaime," Tyrion said as he got up and heading for the exit. "Because I swear to you, if I ever see you again, you will pay the debts you owe me and far more."

"Brother..." Jaime called him one last time.

"Don't you dare call me that, " replied Tyrion without even daring to turn to look him in the face one last time. "You stopped being my brother that day."

Sorry for the long wait, but between the summer vacations and that this chapter was far more difficullt to write than expected, we're already in October. First it was going to be a Sansa chapter, that ended up being descarted when it was almost complete. It seemed too redundant and aported almost nothing new. Hopefully the next one doesn't take as long as this one.

Coming up next: Stannis Baratheon vs Mace Tyrell