Disclaimer: I do not own Game of Thrones or anything related. It belongs to George R.R. Martin, the creator of this wonderful universe and David Benioff and D. B. Weiss who created the show.
Sequel to Lady of Winterfell.
Chapter Two: Tricking the Lannisters.
"Roslin caught a fine fat trout. Her brothers gave her a pair of wolf pelts for her wedding. Signed Walder Frey.' Is that bad poetry, or is it supposed to mean something?" Tyrion asked staring down at the missive that he had been handed upon arriving at the council meeting. He had been summoned to a council meeting and had been a little unnerved when he had found Joffrey nearly bouncing with joy at whatever news had arrived.
Before being summoned to the council meeting, he had been walking around the gardens with his new wife; he still did not know what to make of the fact that his father had forced him to marry Sansa Stark. Though Tyrion had no doubts that it had been done to stop the Tyrells gaining the key to the North as her brother's suspected heir; there had been whispers that Sanira had lost her firstborn. However it was rather suspicious that a newborn had appeared in Beckton shortly after, a boy that was in no doubt to anyone a Stark being hidden away from the world.
"Robb Stark is dead! And his bitch!" Joffrey announced, his pleasure at such news clear to everyone; another King down and one less threat to his throne, he knew just how he wanted to celebrate such news. There would be no more threats to his rule, he was the true King, and he would make all those who had doubted that pay; his mother was right, everyone who was not them were the enemies.
Tyrion flinched at his words, he cast a glance to his father trying to determine how he might feel about such a term regarding his niece. Despite everything, Tyrion had held hope that whatever Tywin might have planned for the Stark King that it might mean that his cousin could be spared; she was family afterall and had Lannister blood in her.
"Write back to Lord Frey. Thank him for his service and command him to send Robb Stark's head. I am going to serve it to Sansa at my wedding feast." Joffrey continued gleefully, he could not believe it and he looked forward to seeing her face. He was sure it would be as fun as when he showed her, the head of her father on a pike along with her Septas; it had been such a great day and he could only imagine how she would take seeing her brother's head especially after what she had said. Joffrey's cruel words were enough to snap Tyrion from his thoughts about his sweet cousin; she was a kind soul, and he would pray for her.
"Your Grace, Lady Sansa is your aunt by marriage." Varys tried to caution his King, he looked around concerned not sure how he would be able to dissuade their King from doing such a thing and causing offence. It was hard enough trying to hide Joffrey's cruelty and his impending wedding to the Tyrell girl was coming soon; there was already so much to do especially with the cost of the royal wedding continuing to climb.
"A joke. Joffrey did not mean it," Cersei replied calmly, she leant back in her chair pleased that there was one less threat to her son's throne; she very much doubted that Stannis would cause them issues now. After the defeat that he is suffered during the last battle, he had been quiet, and she hoped he had learned his lesson and had disappeared for good.
"Yes, I did. I am going to have it served to Sansa at my wedding feast," Joffrey argued shaking his head confused why his mother would say that he was joking; he meant every word that he said. He would take great joy in tormenting her with this, there was no one coming to save her, and she would be forever trapped in the capital as his play thing even if they had married her to the imp.
Tyrion frowned at that, apparently not even having Margaery was enough to completely distract him from Sansa; he seemed intent to continue to torment her in any way that he could. He did not know how he would break the devastating news to Sansa that her brother, mother, and good sister had been murdered; even if he held out the smallest hope that Sanira was alive.
"No. She is no longer yours to torment," Tyrion argued glaring at his nephew, he would protect Sansa now that they had been married and he would treat her with the respect that she deserved. As of now she was the last Stark and the key to the North, it was the entire reason that Tywin insisted that he marry her; he would do what he could even if it meant defying his monstrous nephew who no one else seemed to be trying to control.
"Everyone is mine to torment. You would do well to remember that you little monster," Joffrey stated leaning forward, he did not care what anyone said he was not going to let Sansa go or forget that her brother and father had been traitors to his crown. He would punish her until he was done with her and humiliate her until she realised her worthless place at his court; there would be no escaping for her and his plans for her.
"Oh, I am a monster? You should speak to me more softly, then. Monsters are dangerous and just now kings are dying like flies," Tyrion said before getting down from his chair and walking away from the meeting. He ignored the look his father sent him, knowing he would pay for that comment later, but it was worth it for the look on Joffrey's face, and he did not regret his decision to speak up.
Not even his father was able to control Joffrey and Tyrion knew that such a thing was not a good sign; the boy was unpopular and with Stannis still out there then they had cause to worry. By murdering the Northern King, they might not have brought the North to heel instead they might have forced an alliance that could see the North siding with Stannis against them.
The North would not forget what had happened to the Starks at the Lannisters hands, they would seek revenge even if for now they were under Bolton control. Tyrion did not think that flaying every man that would side against him would earn Roose Bolton the trust and loyalty that he wanted like the Starks had done.
Despite fighting against them in a war, he had never admired the Starks and he had to admit that he had never thought that Robb Stark would do so well; his father had no choice but to have him murdered at a wedding because he could not defeat him on the battlefield. Now he had the unfortunate task of informing Sansa of the deaths of her brother, her mother, and her good sister; she had a right to know before anyone, especially Joffrey, cruelly told her the news and taunted her.
"I could have your tongue out for saying that," Joffrey cried outraged once he recovered from his shock at how Tyrion has spoken to him, he was the king and no one should speak to him in such a way. Cersei took Joffrey's hand in an attempt to calm him, she knew that his tantrums would not be welcomed by her father.
"Let him make his threats. Hmm? He's a bitter little man," Cersei soothed softly, she shot a look at Tyrion of disgust, there was nothing that he could do to hurt her sweet boy. Joffrey pouted at her words but said no more, an indignant look upon his face as his mother soothed him from the ills that Tyrion caused him.
"Lord Tyrion should apologize immediately. Unacceptable, disrespectful, and in very bad taste," Pycelle blathered inserting his own opinion in a desperate attempt to appease his Lannister lords. It was pathetic to watch as he eyed both Cersei and Tywin to see how his words were taken, he had been dismissed from his position on the small council by Tyrion and he wanted it back. Joffrey pulled his hand free of Cersei's caress and stomped around the table to jab a finger at Tyrion.
"I am the king! I will punish you," Joffrey screeched like a child, his face all scrunched up as he stared down at Tyrion; a red colour that nearly matched Cersei's dress appearing on his face.
"Any man who must say, 'I am the king' is no true king. I'll make sure you understand that when I've won your war for you," Tywin sighed with a shake of his head, he was disappointed in the boy that stood before him. It would take a lot to manage him especially when Joffrey came of age, there was so little time to warp the boy into something more manageable especially because of this darn war.
"My father won the real war. He killed Prince Rhaegar. He took the crown while you hid under Casterly Rock!" Joffrey hurled at Tywin childishly, the room falling silent as the depth of the insult sinks in. Tywin stared at him unimpressed a frown deep upon his face as he looked at the boy king that he had to contend with to rule the realm.
"The king is tired. See him to his chambers," Tywin dismissed as if talking to a toddler rather than the King, Cersei quickly moved from her seat and tried to lead Joffrey away before he could say anything else. She knew that if he continued to upset her father that it would not end well for Joffrey, her son was already hard to control and he wouldn't like what Tywin did to him if he upset him further.
"We have so much to celebrate. A wedding to plan. You must rest," Cersei encouraged as she attempted to get him out of the room. The look of displeasure on her father's face was only growing as Cersei attempted to guide her son towards the door.
"Grand Maester, perhaps some essence of nightshade to help him sleep," Tywin ordered bored of this conversation already, he had other things to tend to and this delay only complicated things further. Joffrey continued to shout that he was not tired as Cersei all but dragged him from the chamber, not daring to look back as she felt her father's displeasure at Joffrey's behaviour.
Pycelle stands, taking the scroll from the table and shuffles out after them with Varys rising smoothly to depart after him. Tyrion cautiously swivels to leave as well, not wanting to linger least he become the target of his father's displeasure at the King.
"Not you," Tywin states with a shake of his head, he leant back in his chair as Tyrion makes his way around the table to take the seat that Cersei had vacated. His eyes searching his father's face as he tried to assess the situation that he found himself in.
"You just sent the most powerful man in Westeros to bed without his supper," Tyrion noted, he doubted that Joffrey would forget such treatment; it was not going to end well when the boy came of age and could rule in his own right. There was no ignoring what sort of king Joffrey would be, the stars were already aligned on that one especially with the theatrics that had led to the war starting in the first place.
"You're a fool if you believe he's the most powerful man in Westeros," Tywin dismissed, he was the one with the power here and he intended to keep it for as long as he could. Perhaps he would be able to teach the boy a thing or two before he passed from this world, hopefully by then he had grown out of his childish desires.
"I have need for an armed guard. Someone we can trust. They are to go to Beckton and collect the Stark boy from Lady Sylvina," Tywin stated refocusing the conversation, he was tired and had no desire to go around in circles with his son right now. They needed to secure the North for them, they could not allow the Tyrells or the Boltons get a hold of anyone that could be used as a puppet against them.
"I thought the boy was dead," Tyrion replied simply, of course there had been whispers and he hadn't known what to believe himself; he had hoped it was a ruse for Sanira's sake as he didn't wish that sort of pain on anyone. Parents were not meant to alive their children, to bury them before their time; there was no word in any language that he knew that was solely for a parent that had lost a child, they were still a parents.
"Not according to what Varys has been hearing. He's been secured away with his maternal great grandmother," Tywin replied with a sigh, if the marriage between Sansa and Tyrion did not work out and produce children then at least they would be able to mould the heir of the North into a Lannister loyalist.
"He shall be raised here in the capital, trained to be loyal to us before we ever send him back to reclaim his birth right in the North," Tywin explained his plan, it was worth it and it would ensure that the Starks would remain loyal to them for the rest of time. Karlon would become the puppet that Tywin needed to secure the North, he didn't trust the Boltons to remain loyal to him after how they had turned on the Starks for their own betterment. There was nothing to say that they wouldn't turn on the Lannisters when their greed grew greater again; what was to stop them from naming themselves Kings in the North.
"Trained to adore the people that ordered the murder of his parents," Tyrion murmured with a shake of his head, he doubted the poor thing would ever remember his parents as he was barely two years old now if he remembered correctly. The war had meant that both Sanira and Robb had been absent from his life, fighting to secure their kingdom and free the North from the Lannisters after what Joffrey had done to Ned Stark.
A lump formed in Tyrion's throat as he thought about Sanira, she had loved her son no doubt; doing whatever she could to keep him safe, even lying about his death. Now the poor boy was an orphan, set to be dragged away from the only home that he had ever known and brought to a place where he knew no one and there was no denying Joffrey would torment the child.
He had done so with Sansa and those around him had stood there and watched it happened. Tyrion vowed to do what he could to make sure that Karlon was safe while he was in the capital, he would ensure that the boy grew up knowing that his mother had loved him dearly no matter what.
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