The Hand

Edmure POV

I looked down on Maester Pycelle as he knelt before me. He was found in his chambers and brought to me. The pathetic old man whimpered as I drew my sword. I put the blade against his neck, and he pissed himself. I didn't know if he was acting or not, but I didn't care.

Pycelle told me everything that I asked of him. I didn't even need to torture him. Kevan Lannister took the bastard children and escaped back to Westerlands when we fought against Stannis. Tywin took a ship that drifted away from Stannis' fleet.

"The Maester killed himself at the sight of the city burning," I said to one of my men.

The man understood what I meant, picked up the Maester, and threw him out of the window. Pycelle was a creature of Lannisters. He would never be trusted, even if he was abandoned. Only a few knew of him, and besides me, there were only a dozen of my most trusted men in the Red Keep.

"My lord, the King is coming into the Red Keep."

"Lead him to the Throne Room. I will meet him there."

It was a good thing that Jaehaerys survived. Otherwise, all this death would be meaningless. It was already hard to deal with the quilt, I felt. It was my fault so many died. I knew this wouldn't have happened if I was not Edmure. My actions led to this tragedy.

When I entered the Throne Room, I saw Lord Tarly, Lord Karstark, and many more. Yet, there was no one from the Mallister party. I suppressed my worry as I saw Jaehaerys. His eyes were bloodshot. There were ashes in his hair and blood on his clothes.

"Where are they?" The King asked after seeing me. "Where are the Lannisters?"

"Gone, your Grace. Only Joffrey was found. He was detained. The queen regent killed herself, and the rest had escaped."

"I want them dead, all of them," The king didn't shout, but everyone could hear his voice.

"Your Grace, the Lannister can run, but there is no place they can hide," I said. "We should concentrate our forces on saving the city. Tens of thousands of men are hurt or trapped under rubble. We need to help them."

"Lord Tully is right, your grace," Lord Tarly agreed with me. "The Lannister lost almost all their men, they might return to Casterly Rock, but I promise they won't leave it again."

"You are right. Lord Tarly, I give you control of all the men. Use them to stop the fires and save as many people as possible. Lord Tully, we will need food, healers, and other things to help the people of King's Landing."

"I will send a raven to every lord for them to prepare food and medicine to be brought here. Maesters and healers will come along."

"Your grace, what about your coronation?" Lord Fossoway asked.

"My coronation? And where should I be coronated, in the Sept of Baelor? Look through the window, my lord. It is nothing but rubble."

"The Red Keep didn't sustain any damage, your Grace. We should celebrate your victory."

"And who will celebrate it? The people who lost their homes and families. Are you telling me to show them how better we are?"

"Your Grace, I didn't mean to."

"Keep quiet. We don't have time for this nonsense. If you have nothing better to do, go help put down the fire."

"Your Grace," Ser Garlan walked in.

"Ser Garlan Tyrell, report how many losses your men suffered?"

"Many, we were not far away from the Great Sept of Baelor. There weren't many fights, but a few thousand were lost to the fires. I ordered the rest of my men to help evacuate the smallfolk and stop the fire from spreading."

"Lord Tully, I don't see Lord Bolton with you," Lord Karstark inquired.

"He was hit with an arrow. We rushed to the Red Keep when the fires started. There was no place for us to retreat."

"I don't see Lord Mallister," Jaehaerys commented.

"Lord Mallister was responsible for Iron Gates. Their path was along the Flea Bottom," Lord Tarly said. "The Flea Bottom received the worst of fires."

"Then it seems that we don't have time. I know you are tired, but we have a city to save. Lord Tarly, take half the men already gathered and go to the Flea Bottom. Ser Garlan, lead the men from the Reach and Riverlands to help people in the vicinity of the Great Sept. Lord Karstark, take the men from the North, and secure and clear the streets. We will need them to transport the injured."

With orders given, the lords moved. I stayed behind, as I was expecting Jaehaerys wanted to talk with me in private. Jaehaerys looked at the Iron Throne when we were left alone. His eyes were filled with hatred as he looked at the throne. He already hated the seat even before he was seated.

"Your Grace," I called out to him.

"Call me by my name."

"Jaehaerys."

"I missed being Jon Snow, a bastard of Winterfell. It was simpler times then."

"You are a king now," I told him.

"A king of ashes and graveyards?"

"The city will be rebuilt."

"Do we have enough gold to do so? And even if we did, how long will it take?"

"We start with the harbor. Once trade continues, we can amass more gold from it."

"You chose me to become the King so you could control me," I was surprised he knew. "I thought I needed to rule outside your control for the realm to prosper. Yet I was mistaken. I am just a boy that knows little of what it means to rule. I need you to rule."

"It is true. I thought that I knew better than everyone else. If I had the blood of kings, I might have taken the throne myself. But this destruction was my fault. I could have defeated Tywin in Riverlands, and the Lannisters would have fallen afterward. Yet I deemed it to be too risky and costly. I no better suited to rule than you, Jaehaerys."

"So, we are both failures?"

"You have not failed anyone. What you don't know, you will learn. You will be a great king that brings peace and prosperity to the realm."

"Not alone," Jaehaerys replied. "I need a hand. I need you by my side."

"I already failed."

"Then fail again, I can't rule alone, and it was you who brought me here. Who else could I trust to be my hand?"

"Your uncle, Ned."

"You heard that Ironborn are raiding the North. My uncle is needed back in the North."

"Very well, at least for now, I will stand beside you as your Hand."

"Good, now Lord Hand, what do you advise me to do next?"

"Even if I don't like it, I would advise you to marry Margaery Tyrell, to ask for Tyrells to rebuild the city. Make a seat in your small council for city management or something, and let one of Tyrells sit on it."

Jaehaerys nodded and sat on the Iron Throne. He calmed down and looked at the smoke-filled sky through the window. With a slight bow, I left him alone. I had a lot of things to do. I needed to fix the mess I had created.

…

Tyrion POV

Even miles away from the city, I could see the smoke. How many have died? Thousands? Tens of thousands? Or has the number reached a hundred thousand? The Lannister name will be cursed by everyone who survived.

I looked at the person responsible for it. Tywin Lannister looked at the city with empty eyes. Even when our ship sailed further and further away from King's Landing, it looked like we would never escape the sight of the smoke. I feared a ship would show up from the horizon to hunt us down. And all that could protect me would be a crossbow on the barrel next to me.

The men with us looked nervous, to say at least. Every single of them had some attachment to King's Landing. Seeing the capital burn like this, I could only imagine what they felt and thought. Yet I was mostly curious about what Tywin thought about it.

"So, what now?" I asked him.

"Kevan will hold Casterly Rock until we return."

"Return from where?"

"From Essos, we will hire sellswords to fight for us. Once we make an army, we will take what is ours."

"With what we will pay the sellswords?"

He didn't answer. I knew it was all lost. Nobody would welcome us even if we came back with hundreds of thousands of men. Everyone will fight nail and tooth to keep us away. By Tywin's words, the Targaryen bastard will be too busy rebuilding the city to do anything. Yet I believe that we gave him the Seven Kingdoms by taking away King's Landing from him.

"Tell me, did Edmure tell the truth about Tysha?"

"She was a whore, there nothing else to it."

"Was she a whore before meeting me or after?"

"Don't concern yourself with such things."

"Answer me," I didn't know where this anger came from.

"She should have known her place," That was all I needed to hear.

"Where is she now?"

"Wherever the whores go," Tywin replied.

I had not even realized that I had picked up the crossbow next to me and pointed it at Tywin. He looked shocked but not afraid. He looked like I was a child throwing a tantrum. The men near us reached for their swords.

"I am your father, Tyrion. Put down the crossbow."

"I have a brother I won't ever see. I have a wife that I will never be able to find. But I have no father. I never did have a father."

The bolt pierced his stomach. Tywin staggered backward and held to the rail for support. The men drew their swords and awaited Tywin's order to kill me. I awaited it, for I had nothing to lose. They will call me the Kinslayer, but a Lannister name can't get worse.

As Tywin looked at me, he opened his mouth. He didn't have a chance to say anything before a sword pierced his neck. Bronn stood behind Tywin and pushed him over the deck's rail into the cold sea.

"Now you are the lord, Tyrion," Bronn said.

I turned to look at him and then to the other men. Everyone knelt to me. I should have done so ages ago if I knew that it would be so easy to take the seat from my father. Yet now, that seat meant nothing.

"Where are we sailing, my lord?" Bronn asked.

"To where the whore go," I answered. "We will sail through the Lys, Tyrosh, and Myr. We shall enjoy the best whores in the world as a Lannister should."

A.N. Sorry for not posting last week. My laptop decided not to turn on anymore. I only got my sister's old laptop a couple of days ago. I will start posting every Sunday, as I did before. If you like more chapters, up to five advanced chapters, please support me on pa treon. com \ ironwolf852