Gendry Baratheon had made it clear he wasn't to be disturbed all day in his office. He had one appointment in late afternoon, and that would be it. Then he must rush to the Opera, with his girlfriend Amerei Frey, to see the production everyone was talking about. "Theon and Jeyne" was a hugely popular work, set in the distant past, but it was young Edric Storm, playing the role of the evil Prince Ramsay, that everyone was raving about.

Enough. What mattered was the Tarly case. And, it was not simple. Nothing political ever was. Old Randyll Tarly was a major donor to his own party, the Free Democrats. They'd held Kings Landing and the Crownlands for the past three decades, to the point where the only elections of note were their own primaries. The Governor had reminded him that Randyll could be very generous, when it came to funding his re-election campaign next year. Or not. And, he'd face quite the contest, in the primary. Robbett Glover, formerly a mayor of the city, was running against him, on a populist platform. "I'll fry them all, till their eyeballs pop out of their heads", he'd bragged before a crowd of supporters, a week ago. The better off in Kings Landing had been disgusted, and the broadsheets had condemned the man in no uncertain terms. But, the voters of Flea Bottom, and the vast council estates that spread beyond the ancient city walls? They loved it. They were the ones who suffered from crime, after all, not the liberals who lived in the posh districts of the city. His own polling suggested he only led Glover by 44-35% on average, far too close for comfort.

But, politics has loyalties of its own, and they go beyond party. The Social Democrats had won the last Federal election, and the Minister of Justice, Sarella Sand, was an old friend from law school. She'd invited him out to dinner, and they'd discussed the case. It turned out that the negotiations to bring Tyrosh into the Narrow Seas Economic Partnership were at a delicate stage. Both main parties were in favour, but the Tyroshi had raised merry hell about this case. It turned out, the Targaryens were very powerful, in that city, and naturally enough, were not at all happy that one of their number should have nearly fallen victim to a murdering rapist, who just so happened to be a member of one of the most prominent families in the Reach. The government wanted Tarly sent down, and she'd dropped a broad hint that Daenerys' brother, Rhaegar, would show his appreciation to Gentry, in highly tangible form, if this was done. It would also smooth negotiations.

What really convinced him, though, had been the details of the case. He'd seen the pictures of Daenerys Targaryen, and Gods, she took your breath away! Any man would want to fuck her. That was just natural to men. Then, he'd read page after page of Sam Tarly's fantasies about her, posted to various websites, and it was like diving into a cess pit. Wanting to fuck a gorgeous woman was natural. Wanting to brand her with hot irons, whip her, shove broken glass inside her, slice off her breasts and her clit, electrocute her, burn her at the stake, that was something else! And, plainly, the man hadn't stopped at fantasy. He'd planned to carry it all out, while filming himself. And then dissolve her in acid! Would she have been still alive as he poured the acid over her, he wondered? There were men that sick. He'd met them, during his legal career.

Yes, Westeros would be a safer place without Sam Tarly being free to walk the streets, he had concluded. Besides, the high profile conviction of a rich pervert would do his chances of re-election no harm at all, among the poorer voters in this city. He spent the next four hours working on the case, taking detailed notes as he went along. Then, it was time to meet his visitor. Petyr Baelish. Probably the best defence attorney in the city. They'd crossed swords more than once.

"Petyr, a pleasure to see you as always. Whisky?"

"Thank you, yes, it's been a hard day." He poured generous measures for them both.

"So, what brings you to these parts?"

The man gave a thin smile. "Tarly's retained me."

"That makes sense, but he's guilty as hell. I'll be pressing for the maximum sentence."

"I think there are weaknesses in your case, Gendry. Real weaknesses. From now on, this discussion is without prejudice." Gendry nodded, then replied.

"I've an idea you're going to tell me that the evidence obtained by "Captain 4 Chan" is inadmissible. Well, I'll be fighting you all the way on that, but even if you win, on that point, there's a ton more evidence that points to his guilt. The hydrochloric acid, the plastic bath, the cameras, the lube, oh, and you know what else the police found? A soldering iron. What do you think Tarly was going to use it for?" Just for a moment, he sensed a flicker of doubt in Petyr's grey eyes.

"Entrapment is a real issue here, Gendry. I can get every online conversation, everything this man posted online, thrown out. The police fucked up here, you know it, and I know it. You have to prove your case beyond reasonable doubt. I'm an expert at raising those doubts. My man doesn't have to go into the witness box, but I can put forward reasons, hypothetically, why he would have had these items in his possession." Gendry was silent awhile. This man was good, very good.

"I assume, you've come here to make an offer, Petyr." The man nodded.

"Drop the charges of conspiracy to murder, conspiracy to kidnap, conspiracy to rape. My man pleads guilty to voyuerism, sexual assault, malicious communications, breach of the Telcommunications Act. You recommend to the judge, he serves six years, is put on the Sex Offenders' Register, and has to wear a tag for the rest of his life, upon release. He's fined a million. Oh, and he's not on normal communal exercise." Gendry snorted with contempt.

"You're wasting my time, Petyr."

"I wouldn't have come here to waste your time. It's a fair offer."

"I'll tell you what's a fair offer. I could drop the conspiracy to murder, but he pleads guilty to the rest. And, he gets twenty years, with the fine and everything else." Petyr shook his head. For the next half hour, they argued back and forth, before finally, Gendry said:

"Here's my last, best offer. I'll drop conspiracy to rape, but your man will plead guilty to conspiracy to kidnap. A twelve year sentence. Take it or leave it, Petyr."

The other man thought for a moment, then held out his hand. Gendry shook it. " A deal Gendry. A good deal all round. Tarly would have to be a fool to turn it down." And that might well be the problem, thought Gendry, as he called a taxi to take him to the Opera. As far as he could tell, Samwell Tarly was a fool.

Notes:

Thanks to Sploot for "Fry 'em till their eyeballs pop out," a real campaign slogan in Alabama.

"Without prejudice" allows lawyers to make admissions, on behalf of their clients, in order to achieve a settlement, without those admissions being admissible, should negotiations fail.