It was some days before Rhaena was able to move again after her minor setback, but once she had returned to her feet, she felt better for it. Tyrion summoned her instantly and demanded that she sit with him to rest as he ascertained her condition and even Bronn looked in on them, passing Rhaena a bowl of fruits which caused Rhena to smile and tease him for growing soft on her. She accepted them none the less and ate some of the cherries for they were a favourite of hers. There was no way to recover from the disaster of the riots. The people hated Joffrey more than ever and wanted nothing more than to see him dead. Even Tyrion struggled to think of a means to pacify their subjects for he could not fill empty bellies with hope and promises. Stannis was on his way with his entire army and fleet of ships, the crown remained deeply in debt, and each problem seemed to have a dozen more stacked on top of it. Looking at Tyrion, Rhaena wondered why anyone wanted to rule. It looked hard enough being the Hand of the King, to be king yourself seemed to be rather pointless it would age you prematurely from the stress and woe it brought you. Perhaps this was why Rhaena's house all had silver white hair. The strain of rulership had turned their hair white from the pressure of being king.
With the threat of Stannis and his fleet the keep was soon making preparations to be lay under siege, an experience Rhaena would rather avoid if she could. Although Stannis Baratheon would not harm Sansa, Rhaena knew that Cersei was a spiteful woman and would rather kill everybody and especially Sansa just so that they could not fall into anyone else's hands. She would see Sansa dead before she was liberated. Sansa was already in distress so Rhaena did not raise this point to the poor girl as only the other morning, the first of her moon bloods had arrived. She was now a woman and able to bear children. Rhaena had not been there with her but the other handmaiden, Shae, had attempted to help Sansa hide the evidence before they discovered by the Hound who was duty bound to inform the queen. Now Sansa spent a great deal of her time crying in private against Rhaena. "They will make me marry him." She shuddered through her sobbing, pressing her fist to her mouth to try and quieten the sound so that no birds or spiders would overhear them.
"Try to think positively, sweet Sansa. Perhaps he will die in the attack and we shall all be better off without him." Rhaena murmured softly as she stroked Sansa's hair. "I will not let them hurt you. We shall escape from here, together." Looking to her friend in alarm, Sansa's eyes immediately filled with fear and an instinctive protest began to form on her lips but Rhaena cut her off. "You cannot argue with me now, Sansa. If Joffrey lives and by some gods given miracle King's Landing is not taken, you will be forced to marry him and he will beat you, rape you and torture you for the rest of your living life. If Stannis succeeds taking the city then you will become his prisoner to use against your brother and force him to retreat back to the North and renounce his kingship. No matter how this plays, you will suffer, and I will be executed by one king or another soon enough. Sooner if it is Stannis who wins. So do not argue. We are leaving, and we will do so the moment the battle begins. They will be too focused on keeping enemies from getting in. They will not notice someone trying to break out." Pressing her hand to Sansa's face, Rhaena leaned down in order to kiss her eyes then smoothed away her tears. "I need you to stay strong for just a few days more. Leave everything to me. I will get us supplies and funds as well as a path out of this city. I will return you to your brother and your mother. I swear it, by the old gods and the new." There was still a great sense of fear and trepidation upon Sansa's expression, however she bit down upon her lip and drew in a deep breath before firmly nodding her head.
"I believe you." Now the pressure was upon Rhaena to succeed and keep her word. In her mind she could very well imagine Lord Eddard Stark watching over them, petitioning the gods to grant Rhaena and Sansa their mercy. If they had any. Thus far, Rhaena had not known the gods to be truly merciful. They were greedy, vain, demanding bastards. The lot of them. She left Sansa in order to return to her own room but not before she managed to find one of his spies and whisper to them that she needed to meet with Lord Varys in secret. He was perhaps her only hope, though she did not hold her breath that he would willingly help her given the tenseness of the situation and the volatile balance of everyone's position was now in jeopardy. All the same, Rhaena had to try. Varys was prompt in answering her request and was given a message written with lemon juice so that it was invisible until Rhaena held it over a candle, revealing the place and time to meet with him. The dungeons where the dragon skulls were kept at midnight. Scrunching up the paper Rhaena put it into her mouth and chewed until she was able to swallow, destroying the evidence of any correspondence. Now all she could do was wait. Outside her room everyone was rushing back and forth, gathering supplies, stationing men and possibly a thousand other things which Rhaena had little idea about. She did not like sitting so still when there was so much movement occurring around her so eventually Rhaena gave up trying to rest early and instead left her room in order to seek out Tyrion and possibly Bronn to see how they were faring and speak to them, possibly for the last time.
The former was much easier to find, engrossed in books of warfare in his study, learning as much about the subject of sieges and naval warfare as possible. "Your mind has always been your greatest weapon." Rhaena announced as she entered quietly, grinning as she watched Tyrion jump so violently he almost fell from his seat. "I see you are now sharpening your weapon in preparation for the battle, little friend."
"Ah, Rhaena…you almost scared me to death. When did you learn to walk like a shadow? I thought that was Lord Varys's job."
"Perhaps it was from Lord Varys I learned." Rhaena suggested as she picked up one of the books in order to flick through the pages. "I learn a great deal from simply listening and watching, you know." Dropping the book down, Rhaena then turned to properly look at Tyrion. He was staring at her with a tenseness in his jaw, unsettled and apprehensive, even a little fearful. "You could always run." Pulling a chair closer to where he sat, Rhaena lowered herself into it whilst drawing her shawl closer around her shoulders to stay warm. "If you do not want to fight then just leave."
"You know I cannot do that Rhaena. If I leave, then who will direct the battle? My nephew? He has no clue what he is doing. No, someone with at least a shred of intelligence needs to be there to protect the city. The soldiers and the knights will fight the battle, but it is the men with the mind who will win it." Tossing aside the book he had been reading as it was of no use, Tyrion reached for another but as he did, Rhaena's hand closed over his fingers, holding them gently to stay him for a moment. He looked at her then and noted how well she looked compared to before. No longer was her face swollen and bruised, though still pale and drained from her sickness. Her lips were no longer the rosy pink but touched with purple, as if death's kiss lingered upon her. All the same, she was alive and better than she had been in a long time. Her eyes were bright and glittering once more, rich with emotion and life. They were the only indicator of her Targaryen name that remained for she continued to keep her hair dyed a rather indistinguishable shade of brown, neither rich nor dark, more like the shade of a mouse's fur.
"It is a shame they do not value you more, little friend. You are braver than they and smarter too. They would be utterly lost if not for you." Pleased to hear such praise, Tyrion lifting Rhaena's hand and patted it lightly.
"Will you weep for me if I die, my lady?" Her steady gaze remained levelled upon his, leaning forwards as her tone lowered and a glint of fire began to spark within her.
"You are far too good at staying alive to die. I do not think you will find your way into a grave just yet." Pouting at her slightly, Tyrion arched an eyebrow at her which meant he wanted an answer to his question which made Rhaena laugh. "Very well then. Yes, of course I would weep for you, little friend. I would scream and curse and sob until I was nothing more than a shrivelled prune for spending all my tears in my grief." With their hands still wrapped together Rhaena kissed Tyrion's fingers one by one whilst trying to hide her worries as best she could, even as they rattled against her and images plagued her mind of Tyrion being slain. "I have a gift for you." Suddenly remembering that she had previously prepared something for Tyrion, Rhaena let go of him in order to reach into her sleeve and withdraw a crimson silk ribbon. Upon it she had embroidered Tyrion's initials as well as a pattern of vines and flowers in gold. "For luck. I did try to embroider lions on it for you, but I am only any good at flowers, I'm afraid." Pressing it into Tyrion's hand, she watched as he ran the length of the ribbon through his fingers to study her handiwork though he seemed to be rather speechless which Rhaena found to be unexpected. She naturally thought he would make some sort of witticism or intelligent flattery. "It is tradition to send men into battle with tokens of favour and affection, and as you are my protector as well as the only brother I have ever known…do you like it?" Growing increasingly nervous by the silence Tyrion was holding as he continually ran the ribbon through his fingers, Rhaena was shocked to find there were tears in his eyes when he finally looked at her.
"It is beautiful, my lady." His voice barely came out more than a gasp, the height of his fear crushing against him of what was yet to come. Murmuring his name, Rhaena sank forwards to her knees and brought her arms to wrap tightly around her oldest and truest friend. She held him as he began to shed tears and felt him tremble against her as he clung to her. To see him in such a way, Rhaena felt a crushing guilt knowing that despite the state of her friend she intended to run away and take Sansa with her, perhaps the only chance he had of ever seeing his brother alive again. "I'm afraid, Rhaena."
"Only idiots would not be afraid to go into battle." She countered softly as she began to stroke his hair and comfort him in any way she could. "King's Landing has never been breached. Stannis may have the larger numbers and more ships, but he does not have you. In any case, I doubt your father will allow any chance of the city falling and his grandson losing his crown. All you have to do is hold Stannis back until he arrives with reinforcements. It's going to be alright." Drawing in a sharp breath to calm himself, Tyrion shook his head.
"You are a terrible liar, Rhaena." Now she chuckled a little, drawing back and using her shawl to dab at his face until it was dried from his tears.
"How vexing. I am usually a very good one." Offering him a smile as she knelt before him, Rhaena was then reminded of her guilt. Part of her wished to tell him everything whilst the other part of her warned her not to trust a Lannister, not when the life of another Lannister was on the line and Tyrion loved his brother Jaime more than anything. It was excruciating, trying to bring herself to a decision but her mind was pulled both ways until she felt like she would rip herself in two. Her head bowed and her tongue seized up, but in the end it was too much to keep hidden. She owed Tyrion the truth from her own lips. She was about to betray him, the least she could do was have the courage to tell him so herself. "Lord Tyrion…I plan to leave." She finally spoke though the moment she did so a flood of dread washed over her as Tyrion's eyes widened at her. "Before the conclusion of the battle. It is…it will be my only chance for freedom I am ever likely to get. I have to leave…and I am taking Sansa with me." When she looked upon his face, Rhaena near enough burst into tears. "Please do not look at me like that, I beg of you."
"Why are you telling me this? I could have you locked in your room or in a dungeon. If you take the Stark girl then my brother…my brother…" Nodding her head quickly, Rhaena jumped as she gripped onto him securely in her desperation to explain.
"I will return him to you. Once I have delivered Sansa to her family, I will bargain with Robb to let your brother go. If I cannot persuade him then…then I shall find a way to free him if he has not managed to do so himself already. I give you my word. At the very least, I shall protect him for you. He will be alive and well treated, and one day he will come home to you. I swear it." Biting down upon her lip, Rhaena gave Tyrion a small shake. "You know I cannot stay any longer. Everyone other than you wants my head on a spike, and if I fall into the hands of Stannis then he will sacrifice me to that burning god of his. He would roast me alive. I cannot stay. Not if I want to live, and Sansa will only continue to be a prisoner and a pawn. She belongs with her family." Pressing his eyes closed, Tyrion began a long debate within himself, arguing one point to the next as his emotions also shouted their opinions. He was torn between one love and another. The love for his brother and the love for the girl he saw as his sister. It was a terrible thing to have to decide, but in the end it was the imploring eyes of the girl before him which won. Tyrion had always had a softness for a girl in tears. He knew she was right. His protection lasted only as long as he was Hand of the King, but in truth he was only filling the position of his father. If Tywin Lannister returned to King's Landing, the first order he would give would be to have Rhaena executed just to lessen his number of burdens and complications. Despite his position, Tyrion knew he was ultimately powerless in the face of others.
"Alright." He finally conceded, turning his face back to Rhaena and returned the favour of drying her face with his hand and sleeves. "You are right. You must go. I will help you."
"I have asked to meet with Varys, to see if there is something that can be arranged in secret. Your hands must be utterly clean of this Tyrion, or your sister and your father will never forgive you for it. They will punish you." Insisting that he allow her to handle the matter, Rhaena finally began to relax against him. "One day I will make certain to repay you for everything you have done for me. Somehow, I shall also pay my debts."
"Oh my dear, sweet, wonderful Rhaena." With his hands upon her shoulder and cupping her face, Tyrion brought his forehead to rest against hers and close his eyes to bask in her presence. "You have already given me everything. Your friendship is a price I could never have met, not with all my father's gold, yet you gave it to me regardless. You are important to me and I cherish you, so do not ever think about debts where you and I are concerned." Lifting her chin so that she would look at him, Tyrion brushed at the final tear as it trailed down her cheek. "I would give you the world if it were something I could do."
"Or perhaps one day, I will give you the world." She countered teasingly, satisfied that now that they were to part ways, they would do so and still be close friends. Although she had adamantly refused any help in arranging the escape, Tyrion insisted that Rhaena take some gold with her, reasoning that she would need it if she was to reach Robb Stark in the North. He gave her a rather fat and heavy purse, forcing it into her hands and refusing to take it back. More grateful than ever, Rhaena returned to her seat and instead spent the afternoon combing through books at Tyrion's side to help him with his preparations as much as she could. Before she left, Tyrion asked her if she would come to see him one last time before she was to leave and Rhaena gave her word that she would, giving Tyrion a smile and a curtsey before being on her way. Her head was spinning and although she felt low and a little sick in her stomach she also felt relieved. The gold was hidden under her shawl and she made certain to hide it away in her room until she would have need of it. There were still a few hours before her scheduled meeting with Varys, and so she spent her time composing a list in her head of everything she would need, pacing back and forth whilst the moon rose high in the sky and the city slept with one eye open, dreading the moment of Stannis Baratheon's arrival.