TYRION

"As much as your visits please me Varys, I think you should pay heed to someone else than me," Tyrion Lannister said. "People might get the wrong feeling."

Leaning against the grey wall, Varys chuckled. "Oh, what a beautiful idea that is. The dwarf and the eunuch. Better than those dry old tales of princes and princesses."

Tyrion fluffed the pillow on his featherbed and placed his head on it. "I still find it intriguing. Why do you visit me so often?"

"You're the only amusing person around, to be honest. The Tyrells are too grim, the Martells quick tempered and Queen Daenerys spends hours and hours staring at the map of Westeros."

Tyrion got up and walked to the window. "Are you happy with all the strategies she is making?" Salty ocean wind hit him in the face as he opened the window.

"It appears to me you're not," Varys replied. "I never assumed you'd fret about Cersei so much."

"The battle against Cersei doesn't frighten me one bit," Tyrion declaimed. "It's what comes and after."

"And what is it, my lord?" Varys asked innocently.

Tyrion let out an exasperated sigh. "Jon Snow."

"Why is he a concern of yours?"

"Our queen plans to evade the north after she is done with the south."

"Yes," Varys replied.

Tyrion Lannister shut the window. "Not the most perfect move in my opinion. I have lived northeners, Varys. They are proud people. Believe me, the last thing you want to do is disrupt their tranquillity."

"We do have dragons," the eunuch replied. "Enough fire to melt the frozen folk."

"Dragons can be killed with good steel," Tyrion affirmed. "And when a northerner wields it, not even a giant beast can take him down."

Varys chortled. "You're exaggerating."

Tyrion ignored him. "Jon Snow would have been much better as an ally than a foe. Someone to guard the north for our queen while she rules the south. "

"But would the boy have accepted us an ally?"

"Why would he deny us?" Tyrion stated. "The north has always needed men to face snarks and grumkins and whatever prowls beyond the Wall."

He walked to table next to his bed and poured himself a cup of wine. "To be honest, I've always felt sympathy towards the bastard. Raised in a high family but still treated like scum. No mother's love…. Father not giving enough attention…"

Varys suppressed a laugh.

Tyrion cast him a piercing look. "Your sense of humour is highly appalling."

"I did not mean it, my lord," Varys apologized. "But for some reason I never thought that Jon Snow was Ned Stark's son."

"Balderdash," Tyrion muttered sipping his wine. The swill was strong. It brought tears to his eyes.

"Ned never seemed to like a man who would lie with another woman," the eunuch confessed. "But then again, he was young. And youth makes a person do the most fatuous things."

Hours later, after Tyrion had filled his belly with a million cups of wine and retched them up, they found themselves back in the Painted chamber for the final small council meeting.

"We wish to fight in the vanguard," Ellaria Sand claimed.

Tyrion leaned to the left and whispered in the Spider's ear, "This calls for trouble." Varys gave him a stiff nod.

And he was right. Across the table, the Queen of Thorns cleared her throat. "Aren't you forgetting someone, dear?"

"Not to our notice," Obara Sand mocked.

Olenna glared at her. "Your opinion doesn't signify anything, child."

Tyrion glimpsed at Daenerys. She looked a bit fatigued, with her eyes drooping slightly. He could notice her tussle to keep a straight face. Too much burden on the shoulders of such a young child, Tyrion thought sympathetically.

"The Tyrells have huge numbers," Olenna Tyrell said.

"What good would numbers do if you are a damp squib in the field of battle?" Nym Sand commented dryly. "The Martells have better soldiers."

Daenerys inhaled the dusty ocean air and let it out. "I guarantee that you both have excellent forces. But we are going to have a majority of the Tyrells in the vanguard."

"We will not disappoint you," Olenna said, beaming.

Ellaria wasn't pleased. "Forgive me, Your Grace, but it seems a bit biased."

"Fighting in the rear isn't a shame," Tyrion proclaimed. "You are still fighting for your queen." All the gazes in the room turned to Ellaria.

"Whatever suits the queen," she snorted. She didn't open her mouth for the rest of the discussion.

The meeting lasted till late night. Olenna Tyrell wished Dany luck as she left. Ellaria and her Sand Snakes did not make any such gesture.

Tyrion trotted to the door, the eunuch by his side, eager to slurp some dreamwine and fall into an endless sleep.

"Wait," a feeble voice called out. Daenerys Targaryen was approaching them.

"I found this in my chamber," she said handing Varys a letter. Tyrion squinted at it. "Dear Godfred," it read. "I want to start with an apology…" He tried to read the rest of it but the words were a blur.

"Do you have any information about this person?" the queen asked anxiously.

Varys scanned the letter and then looked at Daenerys. "I do."

Nothing can escape the spider's web, Tyrion thought.

"Tell me," the mother of dragons commanded.

"Lord Godfred of Asshai," Varys narrated. "He became a maester at Oldtown in his forties. A gifted man, one of his kind. His healing powers were magical. He was the grand Maester at the court when Aerys Targaryen became the king. The only man in the court who had the courage to oppose the Mad King. He used to treat Aerys after his hunts. One time, a wild boar attacked your father. It was a bloody mess. The tusks went right through the Mad King's chest and came out of his back."

Daenerys winced. Even Tyrion could not help but cringe.

"Everyone was certain that the Mad King wouldn't make it," Varys went on. "But then the Lord Godfred made the impossible happen. No one knows what he did since he insisted on seeing Aerys alone. In a day, Aerys Targaryen was completely healed. And right after three years, Aerys ousted him."

"Why?" Tyrion asked. "This man literally saved him from the jaws of death."

"He asked for mercy," the eunuch replied solemnly. "Not for himself, but for the innocent folk whom Aerys burned pitilessly."

Daenerys stared at him, her eyes glinting with keenness. "Is he still alive?"

Varys nodded. "After being dismissed by Aerys, the maester traversed to Tyrosh. My little birds tell me that he is quite successful."

"We need him on our side," the queen said at once.

"Very well," said Varys. "I shall send a raven to Daario Naharis…"

"Daario is a man sharp with the sword and blunt with the tongue. We need someone with a sharp wit and understanding. Someone who has dealt with my father."

Tyrion's palms began to sweat. He knew where this was going.

"I will be honoured, Your Grace," Varys said coolly.

Tyrion stared at him, stupefied. He had expected the eunuch to utter at least a word of protest. "But what about our plans…"

"Like I'm going to prove my bravery on the battlefield," Varys said teasing himself.

"Not the field, Varys! The queen needs you for the planning and execution!"

The Spider grinned. "The queen has you."

Tyrion squinted at him suspiciously. Why is he so keen to meet that man?

"He will be gone only for a short time," Daenerys assured.

"It is my pleasure," Varys told her, smiling. "I swear to you I will return with the Maester at my side."

"I hope you do," Daenerys said and left the room.

The thrum of crickets could be heard from nearby. Tyrion stood fixed to his spot, lost for words.

"Well," said Varys cutting through the silence. "Don't miss me too much."

"Not in my wildest dreams," Tyrion laughed. "Finally, god has given some peace to me. I don't have to inspect my closet every night to see whether you are in it."

Laughing, Varys scurried away. Tyrion Lannister stared at Spider's shadow on the wall as it became smaller and smaller before disappearing.

Indeed, Tyrion was going to miss him.