Tyrion couldn't remember the last time he'd been this angry. When the guard had come into the inn to give him the news it was all he could do to not cause a scene right there. This was all he needed, a complication on an already complicated trip. Fucking Clegane, he never thought about anyone but himself. When he'd told Tyrion he had business to attend to he'd been fine to let him keep his secrets but he'd never dreamed it would come to this. And Tess? That was the part that was even harder for him to understand, that Tess would go a long with it. That she would help him in this idiotic plan. Tyrion shoved himself away from the table and stormed up the staircase. They were going to explain themselves. Clegane was standing in the doorway of the room they had stayed in with his back to Tyrion.
"CLEGANE!" He shouted, "Might there be something you forgot to mention about what the fuck the two of you were doing yesterday?"
Clegane turned sharply and glared down at him. He was not the type of man who was accustomed to being shouted at and he matched Tyrion's level of hostility instantly.
"What the fuck are you talking about dwarf?" He snapped.
"I just got a message. That Clegane Keep is has been burning since yesterday. It seems someone drenched the entire place and the road leading to it in oil and set it a blaze. You and Tess wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?"
"What I know, is that it's my fucking castle, and my fucking business what I do with it." Clegane growled.
"Of course that's your answer!" Snapped Tyrion, "Because you're the fucking Hound. You do whatever you want, whenever you want and you don't give shit how it effects anyone around you. You decided to go have a bit of destructive fun. Let's burn down the family home. You can't be bothered to stop and think that now within twenty four hours of a Lannister being back in the Westerlands, there's trouble. Just another fucking Clegane causing mayhem and another fucking Lannister letting him do it. Same shit different brother, and I was an idiot for thinking you would do better."
For a minute Tyrion truly thought Clegane was going to hit him. He briefly wondered how far he would fly down the steps if he did. But Sandor simply glared down at him and said, "Fuck you Lannister." Before shoving past him and stomping down the stairs. Tyrion looked back into the room and saw Tess standing just inside the door. If he'd thought the look on Clegane's face had been bad it was nothing compared to the bone chillingly cold stare on her face.
'Tess...I." He began, but she held up a hand to silence him, and shoved past him down the stairs.
"Tess!" He turned and followed her. She was halfway across the room by the time he reached the bottom, "Look I'll conceded that may have been a little harsher then necessary." He said.
She whipped around at his words and dropped her bag. Her expression was so furious he half expected her to start breathing fire.
"A little harsher than necessary?" She said, her voice low a deadly.
The room had emptied except for the inn keeper who was behind the bar. He looked from Tyrion to Tess and made a hasty retreat into his kitchen. A moment later Bronn walked through the door.
"What the hell is going on in here? I heard yelling." He said.
"And there's about to be more." Said Tess in the same frighteningly calm voice. "Get out Bronn, Tyrion and I need to have a conversation."
Bronn shot him a look that clearly said, I don't know what the hell you did, but may the gods have mercy on you, and walked back out the same way he came in.
"Tess..." Tyrion tried again but she cut him off.
"No." She said, "You got your chance to talk now you are going to shut the hell up and listen understood?"
Tyrion nodded nervously. He'd never seen Tess like this. He'd seen her angry but this went beyond anger, she was trembling with rage and there was no trace of kindness or warmth in her voice or her eyes.
"I don't know when you decided that just because you are Tyrion fucking Lannister that you can talk to the people around you like they're shit you picked off your shoe." He opened his mouth to say that wasn't his intention but she didn't give him the chance.
"NO!" She shouted, "I talk, you listen. I know you didn't have it easy growing up. You were different, people looked at you with scorn. Your father hated you, your family was broken, and you were lost. You've told me this story. Am I getting this right?"
Tyrion nodded, not daring to try and speak again.
"You also told me, that the only thing in your entire fucking miserable childhood that you had was Jamie. Your big brother who loved you, even when no one else did. That he was what kept you going. So now picture with me for a second Tyrion, what it would be like if that big brother that was everything you wanted to be, the one person you held onto in the sea of shit, wasn't good and kind, but was the reason you were scorned, he's the one who betrayed you and hurt you, made you different. Imagine how fucking alone you would feel."
"Oh..." said Tyrion as her meaning crashed down on him.
"Yeah. Oh." Tess snapped.
"But that doesn't justify..." Tyrion began.
"The hell it fucking doesn't." Tess snapped back, "You can't tell me the thought of putting Casterly Rock to the torch and never looking back hasn't crossed your mind. He needed that Tyrion. I told you that coming here was a way for you to start fresh and put all your pain behind you. Why the hell isn't he worth the same? Do you have any idea how much strength and courage it took him to do that? To face that place where his brother took everything from him? How dare you belittle it, calling it destructive fun? How dare you, who knows exactly how it feels to be crushed by the weight of your past, ridicule him and tell him he'd never change when he just did the most significant thing he knew how to do to show just how much he has changed? How fucking dare you, insinuate even for a second that he's anything like Gregor. He didn't deserve that and you know it!"
She was right. In his anger about what it would mean for him Tyrion had never stopped to think about the reasons Clegane would have for doing what he did. Guilt burned in his stomach.
"You're right..." He said, "I didn't think."
"No. You didn't" she snapped, but she seemed to be thawing, so he pressed his luck and continued.
"It was just a shock. Something like that is incredibly dangerous. Especially if it isn't done properly." He said.
"Why do you think I was there?" Said Tess, "I planned the whole damned thing to make sure it was done properly. You really think Sand was going to set a castle on fire by himself? The man won't even take the seat closest to the fireplace."
"I'm sorry." Tyrion said, he walked over to her and took her hand, "I'm truly sorry Tess."
"I'm not the one you need to apologize to." She said, still not meeting his eye.
"You're right again." He said, and he made to walk to the door, "Does he have any idea how lucky he is to have you in his corner?" He asked her as he reached the doorway. She looked up finally and gave him a small tired smile.
"Of course he does." She said, "But it's not just him you know. I'd do the same for you if someone treated you unfairly, or Brienne, or Davos, or Pod. It's what you do for the people you love, for your family."
Tyrion smiled back at her but turned quickly out the door before she could see how deeply her words touched him. He supposed they really must be family if she could go from screaming at him like she wanted to murder him, to telling him she loved him in the course of one conversation. He walked down the street looking for Clegane. It turned out he wasn't very hard to find. He was in the stable bridling the last of their horses.
"Think I've heard enough of your opinion's for one day Lannister." He said, turning away as Tyrion approached.
"Then I guess I'll change things up and go with an apology instead." Tyrion replied. Clegane paused what he was doing but didn't turn.
"I was an ass." Tyrion continued, "I know that's not a particularly uncommon thing for me, but I think I may have outdone myself this time. I had no right to speak to you like that. If anyone could understand the impulse to burn everything that reminds them of their past, it should be me."
"It wasn't an impulse." Clegane muttered, tightening the bridle.
"I know it wasn't. Poor choice of words. Tess explained it to me, quite loudly and aggressively actually." Tyrion said, and Clegane smiled.
"that sounds about right." He said.
"So can you forgive an idiot dwarf for jumping to conclusions?" Tyrion asked.
"I suppose I can," said Clegane, he pulled the last strap and patted the side of the horses neck, "it's not as if I haven't given you cause."
Clegane led the horse out of the paddock to where the other horses were tied up. Tess was already there a top her mount waiting for them.
"Everyone friends again?" She asked.
"Not sure I'd go that far, but I think he's suspended any plans to cause me major bodily harm." Said Tyrion, going to the smaller pony that had been fitted with his custom saddle. He wasn't a huge fan of riding but he wasn't about to enter Casterly Rock as Lord on a litter.
"For the moment anyway." Said Clegane as he mounted his horse. Tyrion envied him the ease in which he did so, with his long legs.
"It's about fucking time!" Said Bronn, coming out of the tavern across the street, "I thought you girls might never stop whining!"
As expected, it only took them a few hours to ride from Lannisport to Casterly Rock. It was a pleasant ride, through several wooded glens and hilly areas. They passed through one final grove of trees and then it was there looming in front of them. Tyrion knew that it was still miles away but the sheer size of his ancestral home seemed to obscure the landscape all around it. In the distance he could see the flash of the sea touching the horizon.
"Holy shit...I mean I know you said it was huge...but..." Tess's words trailed off as she stared up at the many turrets stretching up towards the sky.
'You know how they say things from your childhood seem bigger in your memory because you were smaller." Clegane said, also looking up at the castle, "yeah...not the fucking case here..."
They rode under the stone archway and into the outer courtyard. A contingent of guards in armor of Lannister gold were there to meet them.
"Stand at attention!" Shouted the guard that seemed to be the leader, "Welcome, Tyrion of House Lannister first of his name, Lord of Casterly Rock and Warden of the West!"
Tyrion dismounted cursing his shorts legs for what felt like the millionth time in his life and stood before the guard.
"I thank you for your most gracious welcome." He said, "my companions and I are tired from our long journey. If you could have someone see to our horses we would be most grateful."
The others climbed off their mounts behind him and they all walked through the massive front doors adorned with two large roaring lions. Ugh, he'd forgotten just how many lions there were, every door knob, every torch bracket was a fucking lion. Hear me roar...Tyrion thought dryly. He directed his friends down the first corridor and showed them the Great Hall. It was easily as big as the throne room in the Red Keep. The far wall had floor to ceiling windows with a breathtaking view of the ocean beyond. Tess let a out a low whistle.
"You definitely weren't over selling this place Tyrion." She said.
"Tastefully understated I know..." He said sarcastically and she smirked. "We'll come back down here for dinner I'm sure. But for now I'll show you all to your rooms." He walked out of the Great Hall and turned left.
"Now unlike many of the great castles, here at the Rock the higher you go, the less grand the rooms become."
They walked up a set of stairs.
"This first level is where my family had their rooms, and where we'll stay. This first door was my room. I think it should suit you fine Bronn." He swung the door open on his spacious room. Many of the trappings of his childhood were still here, his first Cyvasse board, the small wooden sword he'd gotten for his eighth birthday, so many books. It was strange, the place felt so familiar and yet he also felt far removed from it. Bronn walked over to the large four posted bed with it's red and gold hangings.
"At least the bed's big enough." He said. Tyrion rolled his eyes.
"Each of the family rooms comes with it's own private privy and bath. I suggest you get cleaned up and make yourself presentable, or at least as presentable as you can." He said, closing the door on him.
The next room was Jamie's. It was mostly the same as his, except it was obvious by the impressive array of weapons on the walls, that Jamie hadn't shared Tyrion's fondness for books and games. Tyrion remembered all the times when they were children when Jamie would sneak over to his room and stay up late into the night telling him ghost stories, he felt a pang of sadness. For all his faults, there were still days that Tyrion truly missed his brother. He gave Jamie's room to Clegane and then he and Tess kept walking.
"This place is amazing Tyrion." She said, looking all around as they walked, trying to take everything in at once.
"Is it?" He said, "Honestly I'm sure it is, but for me it just is...I grew up here so the grandeur is a bit lost on me...Gods that sounds snobbish doesn't it?" Tess laughed.
"No it doesn't, I understand." She said. "I used to feel that way about High Garden. Everyone who came through the Reach was forever saying how it was the most impressive thing they'd ever seen. I knew logically it was a marvel, but it was just there, day after day whenever we looked up. So to me it just seemed normal."
They passed a set of large double doors with roaring lions.
"What's in there?" She asked.
"That is the main quarters for the Lord of Casterly Rock." He said, looking darkly at the doors.
"So that's where you'll be staying?"
"It appears that way doesn't it?" He said sighing.
"Will it be strange?" She said, "sleeping the the bed that used to be your father's?"
"Oh without a doubt." He confirmed, "but I'm choosing to ignore that particular uncomfortable reality for the time being. Let's show you to your room."
He took her down to the far end of the hall and opened the last door. He took satisfaction in the way her jaw dropped when she entered the room.
"Tyrion..."she said in an awed voice, "I can't stay here."
"You absolutely can, and I expect you to enjoy every minute of it." He said.
Cersei's former room was twice the size of his and Jamie's. It had a balcony facing west that he was sure had a glorious view of the sunset, not that he'd ever been in it at sunset to know. It also had it's own sitting room and a turret with a cushioned circular bench in it. The bed was the true focal point of the room. It sat on a platform against the left wall and had gorgeous ruby red and gold silk draping.
"There's something else I wanted to show you." He said, walking across the room. "while you are here you are a lady and my guest so I would be honored if you would make use of these."
He pulled back a thick velvet curtain to reveal small room that was full of Cersei's beautiful and ornate dresses. Tess's jaw dropped again, but she slowly shook her head.
"Oh no...I couldn't. These are too beautiful and expensive. I'm afraid I'd damage them." She said.
"My sister hadn't even laid eyes on the dresses for over twenty years before she died." He told her, "I doubt she even remembered they existed. They are beautiful creations and they deserve to be worn by a beautiful woman."
Tess looked at them, and he could see her resolve faltering.
"I've made sure that there is a fresh hot bath waiting for you in the next room. I'll see you at dinner." He said.
And he turned and walked out of the room, leaving Tess to her thoughts and finally getting ready to face his own.
He walked back to the double doors that led into his fathers rooms, and slowly pushed them open. The room was huge, but sparsely decorated. That was Tywin, Tyrion thought. He never had time for anything impractical. He walked over to his fathers wardrobe and opened it. Someone had removed all his father's clothing and replaced it with his own. Just this one simple act made him feel more confident. He could do this. He was the Lord of Casterly Rock now, what happened from this point on was his choice to make.