Tyrion looked out over the city and listened to the roar of the army slowly marching it's way up Aegon's hill. The men on the wall near him were visibly shaken by the scene and he could not fault them for it. The current situation that his idiot of a sister had pushed them into was now on the verge of ending them all. At this point he had two options left, fight a last stand and die with everyone else in the red keep. The second option was sue for peace and hope that Stannis would be merciful. Which seemed to be a unlikely outcome but it did give him and the men with him a possibility of living, more importantly it gave Myrcella and Tommen a chance to live. He knew that Joffrey and Cersei would not be given any mercy, but Joffrey's siblings were innocent and didn't deserve to share in their brother's fate. He turn to face Bronn.
"Bronn, I need you to take thirty men with you and secure Myrcella and Tommen immediately. Once you have them get to the tower of the hand and fortify yourselves there. If you can find any other nobles who were kept by Cersei then bring them as well."
Bronn looked sceptical
"And why would we do that instead of getting the fuck out of here and letting your idiot sister and your cunt of a nephew get their heads put on a spike?"
"It's quite simple Bronn" Tyrion replied "If we run and somehow manage to make through a city filled with soldiers all eager to kill us. Then we will have bounties put on our heads, we will be hunted like dogs by every overzealous knight and sell sword looking to make a name for themselves. I also cannot ensure my niece and nephew's well being if we run nor keep them safe if Stannis considers them a threat."
Bronn shrugged "You could always leave them behind."
Tyrion glared at him, which didn't affect him in the slightest.
"Never, I am their uncle and they are not Joffrey. I will do everything I can to keep them safe."
"I'm not their uncle, why should I care about them?"
"As I stated previously, it's simple Bronn. They die, you don't get paid. I die, you don't get paid. You run, you don't get paid and you get a warrant for you. Was that plain enough for you?"
Bronn smirked "well now, had you just lead with that argument we wouldn't have needed to waste time up here chatting." He turned to the men that Tyrion and he knew had no loyalty to Joffrey or his mother. "Come along lads, we have some work to do. Let's leave the half man to think up a plan to get us out of this mess."
With that the men departed to carry out Tyrion's orders. Tyrion then turned to the five household knights that he had chosen as his guards as well as Pod.
"Pod, get a white banner and meet us by the gates as fast as you can. The rest of you, come with me."
Pod, being the dutiful squire he is, sprinted off to find a white banner as Tyrion lead the knights to the gate. Hoping that his last gamble would be enough to spare him and his men. As he neared the gate his cousin Lancel ran up to him. "Tyrion!" He skidded to a halt "the queen wants you to form a guard for her and her children to escort them through the tunnels to safety."
Tyrion shook his his "That option was lost to us the moment my father was defeated in the city. Any possible route would lead us to a part of the city controlled by enemy forces or a place outside of the city were the enemy has set up camps. Not to mention my dear sister and her mad son have ruined any chance of us receiving aid from anyone except for the Westerlands."
Lancel paled at the realization that Tyrion was right. "So what are we to do?"
"You come with me and hold the Lannister banner, with luck we may just be able to have some of us be spared."
Lancel nodded, then took the banner offered to him by one of the knights and fell in step behind his cousin.
They had arrived at the gate and saw a men at arms captain arguing with a group of knights.
"Sers,"the captain nearly yelling in frustration. "As I told you before. We were sent orders to not fire or engage Stannis's forces by The Lord Hand."
The knights leader scowled at him. "I don't care what the imp told you, the queen has ordered you to hold the wall. That means fighting the enemy and killing them!"
Tyrion choose that moment to interject.
"How about instead of listening to the commands of a self loving idiot who has no plan on how to make it to tomorrow. You listen to a drunken whoremonger with an plan to survive? It just might be a better investment for your long term survival. "
The knights glared at him but stood down when they realized they were the only ones in the vicinity who drew objection to ignoring the queen. Tyrion walked up to the gate and his guards and cousins formed up with him. They waited only a moment when Podrick can running up with the peace banner in his hands.
"Your pardon my lord, it took me longer than I intended to find the banner," he paused to catch his breath "I also saw Bronn and his men my lord, they have made for the tower and were able to escort several nobles in addition to your niece and nephew to it."
"That is good to hear Pod, catch your breath now and unfurl the banner," He turned to the captain of the gate. "Open the gate."
The captain bowed then yelled at the men to open the gate. Once the portcullis was raised, the gate unbarred and opened the captain turned back to Tyrion. "Good luck my lord."
"Thank you captain." And with a final nod to the captain he and his entourage walked out of the gate with the two banners unfurled then proceeded to slowly walk down the hill to the encroaching army.
The forces of Stannis had been slowly encroaching on the Red Keep waiting for the Lannisters to show some form of resistance but had yet to see a single arrow fired in their direction. Argilac watched from the balcony of a tavern as the army cautiously positioned, wondering why they hadn't been fired upon yet. Footsteps signaled the arrival of Stannis along with the Blackfish, Lord Tarly, Lord Velaryon and Lord Bolton.
"Your grace, my lords, have they attacked or tried to shoot anyone yet? From what I can see from here they haven't made any move to oppose us."
"The Lannisters continue to maintain their silence," replied Lord Tarly "we have men within a hundred yards of the walls and have yet to see thrown in defiance."
"Could they have found a means to escape?" asked Lord Velaryon.
"Unlikely, it would put them in a city surrounded and filled with their foes." answered Lord Bolton "Even if they did, they would have left a rearguard to give them time to use what tunnels might be available."
"They are might be trying to sue for peace."
The other looked at the Blackfish, with skepticism written on their faces.
"What makes you think those vain idiots would try to sue for peace?" Argilac crossed his arms waiting to hear the man's explanation when the Blackfish simply pointed to the gate. Where a small ggroup had existed holding aloft the golden lion, but also flew a plain white banner.
"Well that certainly makes for a compelling argument." Commented Argilac.
They looked to Stannis who turned on his heel and began ordering the massagers nearby "You, get me a white banner. You, go to Lord Stark and tell him to meet us at the gate. You will go tell Lord Tyrell the same. Uncle, you and Ser Bryandan will come with me. Lords Bolton and Tarly, go to your men and if this turns out to be a attempt to kill or capture me, you will storm the keep."
The messengers bowed and rushed out to their horses as Stannis lead his group to meet the Lannister's group.
Tyrion watched the wall of shields apprehensively, they hadn't made any moves to attack them. Yet the glares that they were aiming in his direction from behind their shields were unnerving. He and his men had halted fifty paces from the stormlanders almost an hour ago. He had seen a messenger on horseback ride back down the street so Stannis should at least know of their appearance by now. Though he really wished he would arrive soon, Tyrion's feet ache from standing on them in armor for the entire night and he really wanted to sit down at some point. As the daydreams of a comfortable chair and a large breasted woman rubbing his sore legs danced in his head Podrick called him back to reality.
"I can see Stannis mi lord."
The short sentence brought his and the others attention to road before them. Just as his squire had said, Stannis was walking up the street with a routine entow. The traditional Baratheon banner flying in the wind behind him as well as the peace banner. The soldiers on the street parted for him and let out a cheer as their king walked by them. Stannis, wearing a plain set of half plate armor, was flanked on his right by two older knights. One Tyrion recognized as Argilac, his trademark battle axe at his hip and wearing a full suit of armor with his personal sigil on the breast plate. The second man could only be the Blackfish, sporting greying red hair and scale armor with the Tully trout in the center of his chest as well as a sword on his hip. To the left of Stannis were two notably younger men. One was wearing armor that was positively ornate in comparison to the rest of the party, Roses adorned the breastplate as well as the helmet that was tucked under the arm of the famed Garlan Tyrell. He was also the only one in the group who didn't have either a scowl or glare upon his face. The final member of Stannis's group was no other than Robb Stark. He had seemingly aged 10 years since they had last spoken in Winterfell. Wearing half plate mail with dark chainmail underneath and a stone etched glare, the new lord of Winterfell looked like the fabled northern kings of old. As the group stopped ten paces from them, Stannis spoke first.
"Lord Tyrion, what do you want?"
Ah yes, stone faced and blunt as a hammer, good to know something's never change, thought Tyrion.
"King Stannis, I am here to offer our surrender. I only ask for mercy for my men, as well as for my niece and nephew"
Argilac snorted at him
"And why would we do that? Your family killed King Robert, Jon Arryn, Eddard Stark, burned half the Riverlands, attempted to usurp the line of succession and declared House Baratheon, Tully and Stark as traitors."
"Don't forget you keeping my sister's hostage and attempting to murder my brother," interjected Robb, "where is Arya?"
Tyrion paused for a moment before answering, noticing Argilac grimacing at the question as well.
"We don't know."
Robb's face didn't change but his grip on his sword's hilt tightened.
"What?"
"We never had Arya as a prisoner, she evaded the men sent for her and has not been seen since that day. We had put out a reward for her but even Varys never found a trace of her."
Robb said nothing but looked to be one step away from pulling out his sword.
"So we can add lying about your hostages to the list."
"Yes you can," Tyrion said, "But these actions are not the work of Marcella, Tommen nor the men loyal to my house. Im asking for mercy to be extended to them, not me or my sister."
Stannis looked at him, his statue like face giving nothing he replied.
"Your soldiers will be spared after they surrender their weapons, your knights will choose the wall or death. You will show Ser Brynden to the hostages your family had taken. Your niece and nephew will be spared and we'll decide their fate at a later date. That is all I will guarantee you."
Tyrion slowly pulled the axe off his belt, then grasping it with both hands held it out to Stannis as he knelt.
"Your grace, I accept your terms."
Pod and the knights followed his example and held forth their weapons along with the Lannister banner. Stannis walked forward and took the proffered axe as the others relived the remaining four of their weapons.
"Go inform your men of what is to come and leave the gate open."
Tyrion bowed his head then turned back to the gate as Stannis turned to call to his men. They responded quickly and formed a column that followed the now unopposed ruler of Westeros through the gates of the Red Keep.