Disclaimers: I do not own Games of Throne, A song of Ice and Fire, or Shadow of Mordor.
A/N: First off, let me apologize to everyone who remained loyal to this story since the last time it was updated. Not going to lie, for a while I lost interest in it during the hiatus of Game of Throne while waiting for Season 8, updating this chapter little by little every now and then. Then I saw watch Season 8 and I scream at the TV in anger and confusion. The acting was great, the fight scenes awesome, but the overall story has gone downhill. So I turn back to this story and Ghost of the North after seeing episode 4 hoping to fill the void that the writers of the show have to fill. I pray 5 and 6 will turn out better, but I have my doubts.
Anyway, I hope you forgive me and enjoy the chapter. Now, on to Ghost of the North.
Chapter 7
Iron Defense
The attack started out as a trickle as a couple of men from the left flank, bearing the insignia of House Beesbury of the Reach, broke from their ranks at the front of the army and made their way toward the gate, carrying a ladder while doing so. Before Stannis could even give any thought to it, Ser Hugh Beesbury rode forth on his horse toward the gates himself, urging the rest of his men forward and soon hundreds of men from House Beesbury were charging toward the exact center of the wall where the man known of Talion stood tall, brandishing the sword and shield of his late good brother.
"Stop them! I did not give the order to attack!" Stannis scream at his Stormlanders commanders who then tried to make there way over to the left only for men from House Fossoway on the right to immediately charge toward the wall as well, led by Ser Jon Fossoway, head of House Fossoway. Before long, a portion of the frontline of the army had broken off and was now heading for the walls with the whole contingent of it hailing from the Reach.
"Ser Richard Horpe! Takes some fellow Stormlanders with you and ride to the left flank! Halt anyone else from joining the attack! Any men that disobey is to be put to the sword, be them noble or peasant!", Stannis screams, not even bothering to wait for a response as he looks to his right, "Ser Richard Morrigen, you are to do the same to the right!"
Both of them did as they were ordered and gallop toward their respective destination, each taking with them two dozen men. Stannis then wheels around to face the heads of House Tyrell that were position behind them, "Garlan! Loras!"
Both men snap out of the shock and direct their attention to their king.
"Yes, my liege!", Loras answers over the roar of the army.
"Prove to me that I was right in not punishing you earlier and bring your fellow Reachmen to heel!", Stannis roars as he heads toward the center, Davos right behind him.
Both Garlan and Loras turn to look at their grandmother, who threw a glare at them in response.
"Well? What are you waiting for? Go stop those idiot vassals of ours!", she orders and both of her grandchildren take off on their horses, shouting commands the whole time.
"Archers! Make ready!", Talion hears the captain next to his bellows and watches as hundreds of men on either side of him got themselves ready to fire, including Bronn. Not wanting to appear lazy, Talion too puts down Ser Imry' sword and shield and takes up a bow that was handed to him and draws an arrow from a nearby archer's quiver.
"I suppose if you must if only to keep up appearances", Celebrimbor says.
"Nock!", as every man fixes their arrows to their bowstring.
"Draw!", as they now drew the arrow back and the attacking force kept getting closer and closer.
"And so it begins", Tyrion whispers to himself, "May the Seven see us through this."
"LOOSE!", and within a heartbeat, hundreds of arrows were release from this confide, to soar high into the clear blue sky before descending back down toward the charging mass of Reachmen. Droves of men fell to the ground as the arrowheads found their marks but doing little in stopping the tidal wave of flesh and armor that was heading toward the wall.
"Prepare for next volley!", was shouted across the wall as Talion turns toward Tyrion.
"Might be a fine time for you to vacate the walls", the ranger suggests.
"Believe me, I would rather be anywhere but here, but the men need to see me here ready to die alongside them because let's be honest, I can't rely on my nephew now can I?", he answers before gesturing toward Bronn, who was still shooting off arrows, "Besides, I have him here to protect me."
"Which would be a lot easier if you weren't in this exact spot at the moment", the sellsword comments as the men of the Reach beneath him battle through the arrows and rocks that were being hurled at them and began placing ladders.
Back at the Red Keep
Inside of Maegor's Holdfast, Queen Regent Cersei sat upon her makeshift throne, surveying the noble women and girls that surrounded her.
"Pathetic", thought the only daughter of Tywin Lannister, "All of them cowering in fear, praying to the gods for mercy. Fools, all of them." She signals one of the servants nearby to fill her cup, "I, on the other hand, am a realist. I already know the most likely outcome of this battle and have made preparations should the end come", as she directs her attention to Ser Payne, who was standing at the front of the hallway, the Valyrian steel greatsword strapped to his back as he silently monitors the room before looking down at the vial at her side that contain the Essence of Nightshade given to her by Grand Maester Pycelle.
"You mustn't be afraid, Prince Tommen", she hears from her left side and turns to see Lollys Stokeworth sitting next to her youngest son, looking out toward the city's walls, the screams of battle reaching even the Red Keep.
"At least that dim girl is good for something", Cersei tells herself while taking a sip, remembering back to all the times Tommen had mentioned the games he has played with her over the past few days. Though she also heard other rumors about the girl.
"I'm not afraid", Tommen replies, "Ser Talion will keep us safe, just like he did during the riots."
Cersei coughs up her wine, allowing globs of it to hit the floor while causing every person in the room to turn toward her. Still coughing she waves them off as her nearest servants gently patted her back. Once she gains control of herself, she looks back toward Tommen who was still staring at her, "Tommen, come to mommy for a moment."
The boy gets up and makes his way over to his mother and stands next to her.
"I believe I heard you say that...the captain of your guard will protect us, correct?", she asks in a calm voice.
Tommen shakes his head up and down, "If anyone can protect us, it's Ser Talion! The way he swings his sword, no one can beat him! He's probably a better fighter than dad was or even Uncle Jamie!
Cersei could feel that infamous anger of her rising within, but quells it while in the presence of her son.
"Oh, is he now?", she smiles, though on the inside she was anything but happy.
"Yeah, the way he tore through that mob to save me and Lady Stokeworth…!", he started but Cersei had already heard the tale of that day from her son at least a dozen times and it only frustrated her more everything she heard it. True, in the deepest parts of her mind she was grateful toward the man for saving Tommen's life but he should've just taken a reward and left. Seven Hells, she would have allowed him to leave the city if he had asked, anything to get him away from her son.
The wife of the late king tunes back into Tommen's tale just as he was wrapping it up.
"That's lovely, my child. Go back to Lady Stokeworth, will you now? Mommy having some things to do."
As soon as he turns his back to her, Cersei drops the smile she was holding and scans the room, looking for someone to take her anger out on. Her eyes linger on Sansa for a moment, but before she is able to speak, the door to the chamber opens up and Ser Mandon Moore of the Kingsguard enters and makes a beeline straight toward her.
"What is it, Ser Mandon?", she asks as the knight stops in front of her and bows.
"The lads caught a groom and two maids trying to sneak away with a horse and some stolen golden cups", he announces.
"The first traitors of the siege", Cersei says aloud, "Have Ser Ilyn see to them, put their heads on stakes in front of the stable as a warning."
With that, Ser Mandon bows and makes his way toward the King's Justice.
"Funny, despite this I still feel unsatisfied", Cersei thinks as she continues to look about the room until her eyes fall once more on Sansa but she shakes the thought aside, at least for the moment. Then she spots the court jester, Ser Dontos Hollard or Ser Dontos the Red as he is more famously known by, juggling to entertain the occupants of the room even though no one was watching him and Cersei finds herself smiling as the gears in her head started to turn.
"Ser Mandon, one more thing", she calls out to the Kingsguardman while still watching Dontos. When he appears next to her she clears her throat.
"You need every man who has skills at arms at the wall, do you not?", she asks as Dontos finally notices the attention she was throwing his way.
"Truthfully, my queen, it would help", Mandon answers.
"Then take Ser Dontos with you when you go to the wall, surely his skills will aid my dear little brother; he did receive some training from Ser Barristan himself at one point during his tutelage, did he not?"
Mandon looks toward the shock Dontos and then back toward his Queen, but decided best not to question her decision, "Yes, my queen", as he then moves and grabs Dontos by the arm and practically shoves him toward the door, causing a whimper to erupt from the poor man's mouth.
"Oh, and do see that he is placed wherever my brother or Ser Talion are fighting!", she shouts out right before the door closes and she holds out her cup and chuckles to herself while it was getting filled up.
Back at the city's walls.
Talion takes the head off the first man to appear over the walls directly to his right, sending it falling down into the still oncoming wave of Reach's soldiers. To his far left, he sees the first of the invaders get over the rapports and clear an area for the rest of their comrades to follow suit.
"They're on the left wall!", Tyrion shouts next to him while keeping his head down, "We must repel them before they overrun it!"
"What about the right side?", Talion screams as he slashes the throat of a Reachman coming up the ladder, spraying his blood all over the ranger's face.
"The Hound and Bragga seem to have a handle on things over there!", Tyrion replies and Talion briefly looks over to see both men fighting back-to-back, slaying everyone that dare approached them while King Joffrey was watching on from behind his wall of remaining Kingsguardmen.
"Indeed", Talion says.
"How the Seven Hells do you expect us to do that?!", Bronn points out, as he lets loose another arrow into the horde, "There are at least two hundred men between us and there!"
"Leave that to me!", Talion counters as he takes up the shield of the late Imry Florent in his left hand and then jumps onto the edge the wall. Quickly balancing himself, he takes off down the way, drawing looks of surprise and aghast from both sides of the battle.
"What the fooking hell?!", Bronn shouts as he sees Talion take the upper half of another man's head off with his sword as he ran past him while still on the edge.
"He's a bloody madman!", Tyrion states as he witnesses the ranger quickly sheathe his sword then throw his dagger into the side of a man from House Fossoway neck who was just about to get over the walls and pulls it out before the poor lad even started to fall backward.
"Grandmother, are you seeing this?", Margaret asks as she points at the city wall from the safety of her carriage, "Isn't that….?"
"The man who slew Ser Imry Florent", Olenna Tyrell calmly answers, "No lack of courage in that man there, that's for sure."
"By the Gods", Ser Davos bellows as he looks up toward the walls while trying to wrangle the men.
Stannis says nothing as he merely watches on, focusing more on the sword Talion was carrying then his acrobatics skills.
Talion finds himself dodging sporadic arrow fire from the ground as he made his way to the left side. Fortunately for him, the enemy hadn't organized an effective archer line yet and thus individual men were shooting at whenever deem a suitable target.
Unfortunately for him, he was indeed a suitable target as his sixth sense was going nuts as he constantly found himself dodging arrows as well as blocking them with his newly acquired shield. By the time he got to where the enemy was swarming the wall, it was practically riddled with arrows.
Wasting no time, he jumps into the melee as soon as he was close enough, drawing Urfael while still in the air and cleaving Reach swordsman's left shoulder clean off as he lands and then spinning around to shield-bash another nearby soldier in the face with the shield, sending him tumbling back over the wall with a scream.
Discarding the shield and drawing Acharn, Talion went to work clearing the main breach on the capital's wall, alongside what few defenders remain. Deflecting a slash to his neck the ranger of Gondor follows up with an upward slash across his attacker's chest, easily cutting through the armor the man had on and leaving a deep gash that sends him reeling back. He ducks the next blow from an assailant to his left and rams his dagger through the bottom of the man's mouth in response.
"Behind you!", Celebrimbor screams and Talion spins around, swinging Urfael hard while doing so and beheading three enemy soldiers in a single stroke, to the astonishment of those around him. He then proceeded to create a ring of death as he hacks and slashes in every direction. Every strike snuffing out a life, every slash getting him one step closer to pushing back the tide. Soon he was joined by other defenders of the capital, giving him some breathing room. Landing a kick into the gut of his opponent and as he bends over in response, Talion swings upward into the man's head, slicing through it with ease and splitting the poor bastard's in two from the top of his head to the bottom of his neck. Sheathing Acharn, he picks up an ax off of the ground and continues his rampage on the wall, using both it and Urfael in perfect sync, for while axes weren't his preferred weapon of choice back in Middle Earth, he was still trained in them during his early days as a ranger.
"Face me, Talion of Gondor!", the ranger hears from a knight not that far ahead of him whose heavy armor bore the insignia of three yellow beehives on a black pale over a paly black and yellow field, "Come and feel my house's sting for I, Ser Hugh Beesbury, will claim your head and elevate House Beesbury to its rightful place as Lords of the Reach!"
The knight then rushes toward Talion, fully expecting to use the weight of his armor and charge to get him off-balance. But Talion, having no time to waste on duels, merely sidesteps him and lets him run by into the crowd behind him, ignoring the young knight for the moment as he parries a spear thrust to his chest; he then takes both hands of the man wielding it off with a single slice; his screams of agony cut short by a sword thrust to his heart.
"Keep pushing them, men!", he hears beneath him and looks down to see Tyrion next to him, wielding a double-edged ax.
"How did you get here?", Talion screams over the roar of battle as he notices Bronn appear alongside him.
"Well, Talion!", Tyrion yells back, "Thanks to your theatrics from earlier and your superb swordsmanship, you have kept Stannis' men from widening the breach and thus allow our men to reorganize themselves!"
"Pretty ballsy stunt you pull back there!", Bronn tells the ranger as he jams his dagger in the back of an unexpected Reachman, "Sure you'll have every girl at the brothel tonight if we survive long enough once word gets around!"
Talion pays the cutthroat's comment no mind as he drives Urfael through the shield of his opponent in front of him and into the heart on the soldier wielding it before pulling it out and decapitating the next man who took his place after he slumps to the floor.
The man from Gondor suddenly found his left foot hanging in mid-air and he snaps his neck behind him to see that he had somehow found his way to the edge of the rampart and was now in danger of falling back over into the capital. It wasn't the fall that he was worried about, it was everyone nearby who would see him survive the fall that did, especially from such a distance. Thinking quickly, he throws the ax he had in his head, striking a nearby Reachman head-on in the face. He then grabs another nearby Reachman by the arm and uses him as leverage to pull himself back onto the solid rock right before he shoves Urfael into his unexpected helper's gut and then tosses him over the side in his place. Before the body even hits the ground, Talion slays three more men, one with a thrust through the neck, another with a powerful slash across the torso that nearly cut the man in two and the last with a swing downward across the man's face.
Urfael by this time was cover from hilt to tip in red and Talion himself was constantly taking a moment to wipe the blood from his face just to be able to see. He wonders to himself if this would have been his life had he join the army of Gondor instead of killing that noble all those years ago and being sent to the Black Gate. Constantly in life or death struggles where men died by the droves every few moments, his only guarantee of seeing the next day was the strength of his sword arm and the decision of the gods whether or not he was worthy.
This moment didn't last long as more men of the enemy pour over the wall like a flood breaking over a dam and Talion quickly found himself unable to swing Urfael properly without hitting his allies. Swiftly switching to Acharn, he grabs the wrist of a man who sought to make a name for himself as he tried to fell Talion with a downward slash of his ax and instantly disembowels him with a deep cut across his gut. Noticing that the bodies were starting to stack up on the ramparts thus limiting movement, Talion picks him up by the neck and tosses over the walls, causing him to hit the next man coming up the ladders and send them both tumbling back to the ground. He then parries an ax blow from another before quickly slashing its wielder's eyes. The man's screams were drowned out by the symphony of battle before Talion ended his song by plunging Acharn into his throat. Before he had a chance to pull it out, he was tackled into the wall by another Reachman, taking advantage of the blood all over the ground to stop the ranger from getting good footing. It was only thanks to Talion's quick reflexes, forged through training and experience in those hellish lands of Sauron that he was able to stop the man's ax from being implanted into his skull as he grabs the weapon's handle with his left hand and uses his right to latch onto the man's throat. Using his supernatural strength which allowed him to go toe-to-toe with the strongest of orcs and the Black Captains of Mordor, Talion slowly strangled the man, watching his face turn blue and his eyes start to bulge. Even as he let go of the ax in a vain attempt to pry the ranger's hand off of his neck, Talion did not relent as he could feel bones start to click and break. It was during this time that Talion took note of his surroundings and saw that the defenders were starting to falter as the sheer numbers of the attackers started to prove too much for them. Through his wraith's eyes, he saw the Hound was starting to give ground to the sheer weight of the men pressing him. King Joffrey had a look of utter terror on his face as he urges his guards to fight harder, while he himself had yet to draw his blade.
He even saw Bronn having trouble as he and Tyrion were slowing starting to get push back off the walls toward a stairwell.
"The city will fall at this rate, ranger. On the first day, no less", Celebrimbor voiced, "You must rally them!"
"Lean me your magic to increase my voice so that all may hear!", Talion says as he started to lift the man he was choking off the ground, "I shall turn the tide!"
"As you wish, ranger", the Elven lord replies and soon Talion feels a surge of energy rush through his body and Talion's voice boom across the battlefield.
"I, TALION OF GONDOR, HAVE SWORN AN OATH TO DEFEND THIS CITY, AND I WILL EITHER HONOR IT OR I WILL PERISH!" as all eyes turn to him on the rampartS. Talion finally sees the life drain away from the man's eyes and he tosses him over the side, drawing Urfael while doing so, once more calling upon the storm as it lights up in blue flames, "NO RETREAT! NO QUARTER! NO SURRENDER!", echoes from his mouth as he starts carving a path through the remaining Reachmen, Urfael effortlessly cutting through steel and flesh alike, leaving a trail of dismembers bodies behind him.
"By the fooking seven!", Bronn voices, "There he goes with that fooking blue sword of his again!"
Even the Hound could see what Talion was doing from where he was surrounded by a mountain of corpses, frozen in fear as he watches Talion's sword blazes as flashbacks of his childhood bombard his mind while King Joffrey looks on as well, his eyes narrow in anger and jealousy.
Tyrion, who found himself separate from Bronn, watches on in amazement for a moment as Talion became death itself upon the city's wall.
"No!", he screams to himself, "As spectacular as this all is, I still have a city to defend!", as he shouts, "You heard Ser Talion, men! No retreat! No quarter! No surrender! Drive them from the walls!"
And for the second time today, a ripple effect occurred, only this time it was the men of King's Landing as those closest to Tyrion join him in his shouting and soon it carrying across the entire wall and to all the defenders of the Capital.
"NO RETREAT! NO QUARTER! NO SURRENDER!", became the rallying cry as the men of House Lannister, the Crownlands and the city's guard surge forward against the men of the Reach, slowly gaining ground while pushing them back off the wall with Talion at the head, joined by Bronn as the two of them work in sync to strike down all who stood against them with the ranger using his supernatural strength and fury alongside the sellsword skills and dishonorable tactics.
"Ser Davos!", Stannis shouted while watching all of this, catching the attention of his Hand who was nearby, "Sound the retreat! It is the only thing that can get the poor excuse for soldiers' attention now!"
"My liege, I know the first day hasn't gone as plan but if you press the attack with all of our forces, we will surely win the day!", Davos pleaded.
"Look upon that wall, Davos, and you will see what I see!", said the late king's brother as he pointed out Talion, "We will no doubt win the day, but the casualties will be immense and I still have the Vale, Dorne, the North, the Iron Isles, the Riverlands, and the Westerlands to pacify before I can securely sit on the Iron Throne! That means we have to rethink our strategy for relying on numbers alone will not gain us a solid victory! Sound the retreat, Ser Davos, that's an order!"
Begrudgingly, Davos looks to one of the Stormlands knights by his side and give the order to sound the retreat. The knight salutes and takes off toward the center while Davos could only shake his head and curse his luck, "There's going to be Seven Hells to pay for this."
Talion, Bronn and the defenders at their back had just finished mopping up the left side of the walls and were about to turn their attention to the right when a horn blast rang out throughout the field. Talion takes the head off of a man from House Fossoway and turns his attention out toward the plains to a sight that he was not expecting.
The rest of the army wasn't attacking. In fact, all of them were withdrawing further away from the capital while the men who have yet to get over the walls retreated down the ladders and away from the capital.
Without warning, the sound of cheers and shouts of victory filled the air around the capital and after a moment, the voices of the wall came together as one…
"SER TALION! SER TALION! SER TALION!", rang out and Talion turns to see that every eye was on him as men raise their weapon in the celebration and praise his name.
"Not a knight!", the former captain of the Black Gate scream but to no avail.
"Looks like you're the hero of the day", Bronn states haughtily, breathing hard as he wipes the blood off his face as he looks at Talion with a smirk, "Not a bad day's work for being outnumbered five to one. Just remember to send some of the girls that visit you tonight my way when you're done, okay? I think I've earned it."
"Congratulation, Talion!", Tyrion's voice rings out as he appears next to the two men, "It seems I was right in having you on the walls this day!"
Talion sees Urfael's flames finally go out and looks to his left to see Acharn still sticking out of the throat of the last man he killed with it. Moving over the bodies that line the floor of the ramparts and trying not to slip in the gore that splatters the ground, Talion retrieves the elfish dagger and re-sheathed it before turning to the Hand of the King.
"Did it all go as plan for you?", he asks causing Tyrion to look up at him with a smile.
"Didn't you notice? Only a portion of their army attack and during the mayhem I spotted Stannis himself trying to herd his own men away from the walls", Tyrion explains, "It would seem I was right in assuming that Stannis put a bounty on your head and it must have been a pretty high one at that for his men to break ranks."
Talion looks out at the plains in front of the city, its grounds littered with the bodies of the dead and dying. The walls of the city fared no better but at the very least the bodies of the Reachmen significantly outnumber the bodies of the defenders.
"There is no time to dally!", Tyrion says, snapping Talion out of his trance, "I will dispatch a messenger to Stannis' camp, asking for a parley!"
"Oh?", Bronn says as he joins Talion and the imp, leaning on the wall for support, "And for what reason would that be for?"
"You'll see soon enough, Bronn", Tyrion answers, "And if we're lucky, I may be able to buy us some time. Now find me Ser Imry's sword and shield, it will be pivotal for this meeting!"
Sometime Later
Stannis Baratheon of House Baratheon couldn't have been in a fouler mood even if he was being burned at the stake. First, the attack which he gave no order for failed miserably and was beaten back, boosting the morale of the defenders of the capital while dropping his armies' own and making him look like an utter fool of a commander who apparently couldn't control his own men.
"Thank the Lord of Light my fellow Stormlanders kept their discipline. I will have to honor them while scorching the Reach's houses when this is all over", he thought as he stood alongside Davos and Ser Godry Farring of House Farring, a giant man who has been unofficially nicknamed "The Mountain of the Stormlands." Ser Godry was known as being one of the most skillful swordsmen in Stannis' army and his faith to the Lord of Light was surpass only by a few. Both Stannis and Davos thought it best to bring him to this little meeting they were having in the middle of the grounds between where his army was making camp and the capital. Seeing how at least two of the more than a dozen men currently across from them have started to earn something of a reputation among his own troops, this decision was no doubt for the best.
Tyrion, Bronn, the Hound, and Talion, along with a dozen Lannister troops sat across from the Stormlands retinue of equal size on top of horseback a good distance from the city gates and the invading army, surrounded by the corpses of the fallen Reachmen. By the Hand of the King's calculations, they were just out of the range of either side archers. Though Bronn was quick to point out that their archers could simply move up while they were having their fancy talk.
"So you're just going to give me Ser Imry Florent's sword and shield? No negotiations, no tricks or pretty words?", Stannis asks as he motions to the extra weapons Talion had strapped to his horse.
"I express my sympathies for your loss and feels that it is only right that you have your good brother's arms return to you", Tyrion said from his position seated between both Talion and Bronn.
"If you so feel that way then why was his sword and shield taken away from the battle last night?", Stannis questions.
"We are defending a city that is being besieged by a numerically superior army. The time may soon be upon us that we'll have to arm every man within these walls that can hold a sword and by that time we may be in short supply. To be fair though, all the swords and shields were taken back to King's Landing, not just Ser Imry", Tyrion responded.
"I never did enjoy your company at royal gatherings. Too many words in your mouth for such a small man. But let's be done with this facade.", Stannis wondered for he knew that a Lannister such as Tyrion didn't give anything away for free, "What exactly do you expect from me in exchange for this, imp?"
"This is it. Everything hinges on Stannis being aware of who is around him", Tyrion thought before speaking, "In exchange for you taking this, we will grant you a day of mourning for your good brother, as is a tradition for those that follow the faith of the Seven."
Ser Godry was flabbergasted by what he heard, "You will grant us a day?! Listen, dwarf, despite how this day has gone so far, it seems you have forgotten just what side of the war you are on! How about I come over there and-", Ser Godry screams as he unsheathes his greatsword, only to be stopped by a hand from Stannis who wasn't so much looking at the knight, but more at the man next to Tyrion who had drawn his sword as well. A sword that shined brightly in the daylight as though one was looking at a mirror and nearly blinded him when it was drawn within a heartbeat of Ser Godry drawing his.
"The sword that glows with blue fire", Stannis thought as he looks up at the man wielding the sword for a moment before returning his attention to the Hand of the King, "I will give you one chance to bend the knee and surrender the city to me."
"If only that oaf would have kept his mouth shut, everything would have gone much more smoothly. Guess I have to keep playing if I want to turn this around", Tyrion fumes within his mind, "Say I was to bend the knee to you right here and now, what would happen to the royal family, their loyal retainers, and myself?"
"The false King Joffery wound be beheaded on the steps of the Great Sept of Baelor, his head and body throw into the Blackwater to provide food for the fish", Stannis started, " Cersei would be burned at the stake as an offering to the Lord of Light, her ashes gathered up and dump into the slums of Flea Bottom."
"Well, my idea of heads-on-pike-was way off", Tyrion thought, "And what about Prince Tommen and Princess Mycrella?"
Stannis actually took a moment to think before he answered. Despite being abominations, he had no ill will toward those two, even if they weren't his nephew and niece but he couldn't just let them go, "I will give Tommen the option of going to the Wall as long as he bends the knee and swears to never rise up against me."
"The boy won't last a week there, he'll be lucky to make it past the first day", Tyrion grimace.
"And Mycrella, once she is found, will be given the choice of joining the Silent Sisters", Stannis finishes as he turns his attention upwards toward the ramparts for a moment, eyeing the archers on top as they watch the talks, their bows and quivers not far from their positions.
"Well, I guess that's a little better", Tyrion tells himself, "And what of everyone else?"
"All Lannister troops that surrender will be given a choice of bend the knee, the Wall, or the sword. The Small Council including yourself won't even be given that option. You will all be exiled to a small isolated island on the Stepstones to live out the rest of your days, constantly surrounded by a Royal Navy patrol that will make sure you die there", Stannis informs him as he brings his attention back to the Joffrey's Hand of the King.
In the back of Tyrion's mind, he was actually contemplating whether or not this would be better than having to keep dealing with Joffrey and Cersei before his conscious got the better of him. Thinking quickly, he decided to use this for his plan, "Well Stannis, I have received your terms and will take them to the king. If you can give us until after you have performed proper rites for your brother, you will have your answer."
"You have an hour to give me your answer. No more, no less. If not, then I will storm the walls at first light.", Stannis states, "And this time I will take them."
Tyrion had to suppress a smile for this was exactly what he was expecting from the man, "But don't you want to use the time to perform the proper funeral rites for your good brother in the ways granted to him for following the code of chivalry, such as standing last vigil?"
"I follow the Lord of the Light, such rituals of the Seven are beh-", Stannis began.
"Ahem!", Davos suddenly cough, catching his king's attention. Stannis turns his attention toward the man and sees his eyes motioning behind them. Stannis turns his head back for the briefest of moments and did not like what he saw.
Directly behind the six knights of the loyal Stormlands houses were another half a dozen knights of the Reach houses, at least three of them of House Tyrell. The Reach was second to the Vale in faith to the Seven and chivalry and these knights would no doubt send word back to their lords about Stannis not performing proper funeral rites for one of their own.
He returns his focus back toward the men in front of him, particularly the dwarf, "So that's the little man's game. If I don't give him his little request, there is a good chance the majority of my army won't take kindly to it seeing how they still blindly follow the Faith of the Seven. But if I do, then he buys more time for reinforcement to show up. I still have at least five kingdoms to pacify, I can't waste time and resources here."
Stannis turns to the campgrounds behind him, noticing how easily the banners of the Reach Houses far outweigh the banners of the Stormlands, "Also, not every house of the Stormlands follows the Lord of Lights, they still claim the Seven. I risk not only isolating the vassals of House Tyrell but at least half of mine own. I could be right back where I started, possibly worse."
Stannis narrows his eyes in anger as he looks down at Tyrion, "Clever little imp", he grumbles under his breath before speaking aloud, "Very well then. I will expect your answer two days from now while I prepare my good brother for the next life."
"Two days?", Bronn asks aloud, "Don't you noble types take up to seven for this type of stuff?"
"Do not push my gratitude or else I'll just send off Ser Imry Florent after I put your head on a pike", Stannis threaten and Bronn merely holds his hands up.
Stannis finally brings his attention back toward the man who was directly on Tyrion's right, "I'll take my brother's sword and shield now."
Tyrion turns toward Talion and nods his head, but he merely shakes his head as he points over at Ser Godry who still had his greatsword out.
"You may sheathe your sword now, Ser Godry. And once you're done with that, go and receive Ser Imry's arms.", Stannis orders as the large knight hesitate for a moment before complying with the command. He trouts forward on his warhorse for a distance, stopping at the halfway point between the two parties.
"No sudden movement if you don't mind, Talion", Bronn tells Talion as he too puts his sword away, "Just go up there, give him the stuff and come back."
"For once, the rouge has a point", Celebrimbor chimes in, "It would be best to exercise caution in this matter."
"Will you cunts get on with it?", Sandor voices loudly, catching everyone's attention including Talion and Stannis, "I haven't got all day, you know?"
Talion merely motions his horse forward toward Ser Godry, ready to get all of this over with. As he approaches the knight, Ser Godry suddenly started speaking to him.
"So you're Talion of Gondor. I must say, you're not as impressive as I would have imagined.", he began as he looks Talion up and down, "Twas your lucky day that I did not join in the attack on the walls earlier or else when would not be having this little parley of ours."
"I have fought orcs who have boosted less than this fool", Talion tells himself as he extends the sword and shield in his arms to the brute, "Here."
Ser Godry glares down at the man but says nothing as he accepts them and turns away back to his line. Talion turns around and was about to do the same when a voice calls out to him.
"Ser Talion of Gondor, was it?", Stannis calls out, promptly the Ranger to stop in his tracks.
"Just Talion if you don't mind", he answered as he reels around to face him.
"Tell me, why is a man of your martial prowess wasting his time and talent fighting for an imp and an abomination of a king?", Stannis asks, "If you were to come fight for me, I would make you a commander and you would easily climb the ranks of my army."
Talion gives pauses for a moment before replying, "As I said earlier, I swore an oath to defend this city and I intend to uphold it."
Inside the Tower of the Hand
"Now, are you sure this plan of yours will work?", Tyrion question as he, Talion, Varys, and Bronn, stood around a table in the Hand of the King's bedchamber, analyzing a map that the Spymaster brought to them. The sun was about to go down in a few hours and the campfires of Stannis' army were starting to fill the field in front of the capital's walls.
"There's no such thing as a concrete plan in war", Talion explained, "All we can do is hope for the best. Now let's run over the outline again; how many men of House Stokeworth are in the city right now?"
Varys looks down at a slip in his hand, "At last count, there were little over a hundred men. Lady Stokeworth's personal capital guard."
"And I am to assume that they all have armor and shields with House Stokeworth's sigil upon them?", Tyrion asks to which Varys nod.
"Counting their backup armor and shields, we have enough to fully fit up to two hundred men."
"Perfect, on to the next order of business", Talion press on, "How many ravens have been sent out since Stannis arrive?"
"Six", Bronn answers, "All of them shot down before they could get over Stannis' army and all of them were carrying the same messages of calling for aid from House Lannister. I assume you have a good reason for that."
"For now, no, but it may play into our hands later", the Hand of the King states, "Did you gather up the men as I ask?"
"Yeah, yeah, about a hundred of the best archers we got in the city are waiting for you near the stables", said the sellsword, "Along with Shagga and some of his more discipline men, if such a thing exists for them."
"Excellent, now let's take a look at the map", Tyrion declares as he stands up in his chair in order to have a better look, "Seven Hells, there must be twenty miles of tunnels here."
"Closer to fifty with some of them even reaching out as far as the Kingswood, though a number of them have caved in over the years", Varys corrects him, "The Targaryens built this city to withstand a siege but they weren't foolish enough to not have a back-up plan should things not go their way, especially Maegor the Cruel."
Talion, Tyrion, and Bronn study the map intensely for a moment, taking in all the detail of it.
"What are all these tunnels with lines through them? The cave in ones?", Talion asks only to receive a head shake from the eunuch.
"Tunnels that have traps", he answers, "I suggest you avoid them."
"Are you absolutely sure Stannis does not know about this?", Tyrion question.
"Only the Targaryens Royal bloodline, the other now dead Master of Whispers and I know about these tunnels; the kings and queens of old wouldn't even allow them to let their own Kingsguard know about their existence; well, at least none of the current ones anyway", Varys replied, "Also, by the grace of the Seven, all of the entrance start right here within the Red Keep. Something else the Targaryens saw too."
"House Stokeworth's equipment, ravens, archers, and tunnels", Bronn interrupted, "Just what the fuck do you blokes have plan and how it's supposed to help us?"
Tyrion and Varys look toward Talion who rolls his eyes in annoyance.
"It would be wise to inform him on what's going on", Celebrimor said, "You do owe him a debt as much as I hate to admit."
Talion says nothing as he speaks, " "There is a tale from my homeland, Gondor, about our allies to the north, the nation of Rohan", Talion starts, "A tale that involves their ninth king, Helm Hammerhand and how he struck fear into the hearts of an army that was besieging him."
Preview of the next chapter
"But my liege, we could have overrun the wall if-!", the knight stammers out before a glare from Stannis silences him.
"We're attacking King's Landing! One of the most fortified cities in Westeros!" Stannis roars, "We are not attacking Caste Black from the south or Moat Cailin from the north!"
Shouts and screams suddenly fill the air outside of the tent as one of the guards came rushing in, "My liege!"
"What is happening out there?!", Stannis demands.
"We're under attack!", the guard answers.
"By who? The gates are being closely watched and there are scouts all over the place keeping eyes on Dorne, The Vale, and the Westerlands!", Davos states.
"That's just it, my lord! We don't know who is attacking us! They appear out of nowhere!"
A/N: Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I must go watch episode 5 now and hope for the best. After that, Ghost of the North.
Also, I drew inspiration for Talion's speech from the Warhammer 40k book/youtube film: Helsreach:
I have dug my grave in this place, and I will either triumph or I will die! No Pity! No Remorse! No Fear!
-Reclusiarch Grimaldus of the Black Templars (Helsreach Crusade)