"You're sending him a raven." Sansa's voice sounded, suddenly at his side.
"Fuck." Tyrion groaned, hating to have been caught. While he was in good standing at Winterfell, Sansa could very well consider this an act of Treason. She'd left him no time to formulate any type of believable lie and he was forced to go with the truth. "I am," He admitted confidently, "He needs to know."
"She doesn't want him to know," Sansa reminded him, her words heavy with disapproval.
"He has a right to know. And it isn't as though we will be able to hide a blonde haired, blue eyed child born to the first female Knight, at Winterfell nine months after The Great War, from the gossip of Westeros."
"How can you defend him?" She wondered how he lived with himself. How could he stand before her, before Brienne, before Winterfell, knowing that he had helped Jamie escape. Helped Cersei escape.
She had promised him, Ser Davos and Lord Varys safe haven in Winterfell if things took a turn for the worst in Kings Landing. She had done it as a show of goodwill for all they had done defending Winterfell from the dead, a decision she was beginning to regret.
She should have had the guards slam the gate closed in his face. "Your idiot brother spent a month with her. Pretending to be happy. Letting her believe they had a future..."
"Pretending? Jamie Lannister has never pretended to be anything in his entire life. Do you have any idea how hopelessly, ridiculously, disgustingly in love he is with your lady Knight?"
Sansa scoffed and shook her head. "Yet he left her heartbroken in the middle of the night to return to your sister."
He could hear the hatred. The venom on her tongue when she spoke of Jamie. He didn't blame her. He knew what it looked like.
He shook his head quickly, and finally turned so he was looking at her. "Do you know what I had to say to talk him out of sending a raven to Tarth asking for her hand?"
"He planned to send a raven to her father? And you stopped him?" She narrowed her eyes at him, acqusingly.
Lord Varys was right, he did talk to much. Shut up, Tyrion was advice he had to start taking more litterally. "I merely advised him to wait a little longer. That perhaps waiting until the war was over made more sense. It had nothing to do with his feelings for Ser Brienne or lack there of. And I certainly did not tell him to return to Cersei."
"If this is the truth, why in seven hells is he with Cersei?"
Simple question. Horribly messy answer that he didn't even know where to begin answering.
"Sansa..." He started eyes flicking up to meet hers, "You have to trust me. We had a plan. A means to end this all. Rid Westeros of Cersei once and for all. Jamie was already meant to be on his way back here to be with Ser Brienne. Ask for her hand. Have half a dozen little Golden Lion cubs and live happily ever after. But it's all gone to hell. Nothing has gone as planned or expected." He stopped to take a breath, steady himself. "It's all a fucking mess. And now Ser Brienne is carrying his child. Sending the raven is all I can think to do."
"What's happened?" She asked, half curious, half concerned. "What has gone wrong?"
"I..." He wanted to tell her. If he could trust anyone it was her. "I can't...the less you know, the safer you are."
"I don't need you to protect me, Tyrion. Anything that puts Winterfell or my people at risk is something I need to be privy too."
He sighed before nodding reluctantly. "Allow me to send the raven and after we will go to your salor and I will explain what I can. But you can't say a word of any of this to Ser Brienne. Not a word."
Sansa paused monetarily. The last person she wanted to decive was Brienne. Though Brienne would be first to implore her to do whatever she needed to ensure the safety of Winterfell. And if what Tryion told her could help mend Brienne's heart, it would be worth it. "All right then, send the raven. I will wait for you in solar."
Tyrion nodded gratefully and offered her a soft smile. "Thank you." He watched her walk away, and forced out a hard breath. How had all of this gone so badly? How had a simple plan to get Cersei and her child out of King's Landing ended here?
He looked at at the scroll in his hands and read it one last time.
Golden Lion Cub with Sapphire eyes due at Wintrfell in seven moons.
He rolled the scroll and clasped it tightly, heading off for a raven.
