In this chapter Tyrion and Bronn are starting to warm up to Iywel and Harterne. I don't think Tyrion trusts him though. This chapter was written with the help of KidWinTinker. I know George R. R. Martin doesn't like Fanfiction, but I'm sure he would be proud of this chapter. But that's just me guessing.

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The four of them stood in a face off. Iywel and Hartene against Tyrion and Bronn. The fact that his life had perhaps been saved by the rich and famous Lannister and his pet soldier, did nothing to make either Iywel or Hartene grateful. Both of them had been around King's landing long enough to know that nobody did favors like saving somebody's life unless they wanted something in return. Iywel waited patiently for the Imp to start speaking, while glancing nervously at Hartene to ensure that he wasn't going to threaten either the Imp or Bronn to find out what they had in mind.

Tyrion's mismatched eyes stared back at Iywel, studying him carefully. Whether he realized that Iywel was waiting for him to make the first move and had decided to take the bait, or whether he was simply not concerned with such things was something that Iywel would not know for sure when Tyrion said "That was a job well done."

"Knew the Lannisters were rich. Didn't know they were funny too" snapped Iywel.

Tyrion and Bronn exchanged glances.

"What's your name lad?" asked Bronn.

"Robb Stark" said Iywel.

There was a pause in the conversation after that. The same tension that had been present before Tyrion had spoken returned, except slightly more so.

It was broken again when Hartene picked up the fallen body of the soldier and palmed the skull with his right hand. Then grunting slightly, he pulled upward causing blood to rush out of the space where the soldier's neck had once been attached to the rest of his body. He followed this by flinging the body away with his other hand. Tyrion, Bronn and Iywel watched it fly, their stomachs clenched but betraying nothing on their faces. Hartene then followed this up by crushing the skull with his bare hands, the crunching noise louder than what any of them expected to hear.

"Your friend's a lot more subtle than you are" remarked Bronn to Iywel.

Iywel groaned inwardly, but said "Glad we understand each other so well." The smile on his face fooled no one, nor was it intended to.

Tyrion cleared his throat. All the heads present turned to look at him. That one simple act could command so much respect even when it was a malformed dwarf amongst a scene with multiple warriors, each of them seasoned, and an overabundance of fresh human blood, spoke of the power of gold, something that all sell swords valued perhaps even more than they knew it.

"I believe we got off on the wrong foot" said the dwarf. "I believe that I need no introduction, nor does my companion Bronn. You have no doubt already heard something of his ambition and the abilities he possesses with which he aims to achieve them."

"I hope to be a knight one day" said Bronn, as if on cue.

Tyrion continued "Since you happen to have the unfair advantage of knowing a great deal about us, and we almost nothing about you…." he paused before turning momentarily to Hartene, "apart from your penchant for mutilating already dead bodies" and then turning back to Iywel "we simply thought it fair that you tell us a little about yourselves."

Iywel gestured at Hartene. He could rely on the big man to understand what the sign meant. Lay down your weapons, not all of them, just the ones they can see and let me do the talking.

Hartene removed the sword attached around his belt and let it fall to the ground. Iywell did likewise. "Peace" he offered, looking at Bronn. "Go fuck yourself" said Bronn. "That's not how a knight behaves" said Tyrion. Bronn gave him a furtive look for no more than a fraction of a second, but then nodded and dropped his weapon as well. Iywel didn't miss it though. If they had been in private Bronn would have clearly told the Imp to go fuck himself as well. Not so much master and servant as a couple of friends then.

Iywel reached into his pocket and for a moment, Bronn and Tyrion went tense. They relaxed when he brought out his pipe and a strange contraption. He turned the wheel on the small box a couple of times and a few sparks flew. Soon he was puffing away again as Tyrion and Bronn looked on at him. He felt himself relax again and looked around to re-assess the situation.

"Looks like Hartene did you a favor by getting rid of that stack of meat. Sure, he made a mess but at least now, no one's going to go around asking questions about whether the maesters' have discovered something new and deadly or whether the mercenaries from Dorne have found their way into King's landing. What with all the rumors going about your siblings, I'm guesing that you have more than enough on your plate to handle at once" said Iywel. As soon as he finished talking, there was something in his voice which seemed to be clearly saying tell me I'm wrong, I dare you.

"I do have my hands full yes. But not about what people are saying about Jamie and Cersei" said Tyrion. Iywel stared at him. The dwarf was being honest. Not just honest, but also plain and wholesome. There was nothing in the statement designed to mislead, and nothing in it to create a sense of mystery where none lay.

"I really did mean what I said earlier" Tyrion continued "apart from the point where he ambushed you and lay on top of you of course. I sensed your line of questioning. We were watching from here for quite a while you know…"

Iywel glanced at Hartene, admonishingly.

"… no don't blame your companion, he was too busy looking out for your life to notice us. I doubt he would have noticed in any case, but that's a separate matter altogether.

My point is, I appreciate your method of trying to obtain information. So let's get to the point. But first, I'm going to need your names."

Releasing a puff of cigarette smoke, Iywel gave his true name away. He then did the same for Hartene.

"What about your last names?" asked Bronn, a second too quickly before Tyrion put his hand up motioning him to stop.

"Stone. We're kind of brothers that way."

"I see" said the Imp. His forehead furrowed in concentration for a second as if dealing best how to deal with this new information. Bronn simply looked bored as if the information meant nothing to him. Iywel looked at that face and realized the intent behind it immediately. Bronn has a past that he is ashamed of as well.

The Imp and Bronn both knew the implications of the surname. Bastards across the seven kingdoms were given surnames according to where they were born. The northerners in Winterfell used the surname Snow. At the other end of the kingdom, the southerners in Dorne used the surname Sand. It was flower in Highgarden. And so on depending on where you came from. King's landing in particular did not have its own surname, though the bastards within this region adopted the surname Waters. The surname stone meant they were from the Vale of Arryn.

"You need not have mentioned that" Tyrion remarked. "There are many low born here in Westeros. None of them use a surname. You could have just told us that you have none."

"Don't know how good you are with recognizing accents. Couldn't take that chance. Blow up what little trust is built between us."

"That's a good gesture on your part then. Well, in return I do have some rather important news. News that concerns not only the folks here in King's landing but also the good folks all the way out at the Vale. How is Lysa Arryn by the way?"

"Needs a good fucking that one does" said Hartene as if that were all that was required to be said on the matter. He nodded twice as he said it, as if to assure everyone that his words were true.

"Excellent then" said Tyrion. "I think we need to find us some place more private to discuss these rather sensitive matters."

"I could not agree more" said Iywel turning to look at the nearby building that had the sigil of a mockingbird on it.