The Kraken and the Lion

Chapter 38

by Technomad

Asha Greyjoy Lannister

When Asha saw what had been brought to them, she gave a gasp of horror. In an iron cage, an unmistakably dead man...visibly rotted, and showing what would be a definite death-wound...was struggling to break free. "This was captured up by the Wall?" she asked.

The black brothers who had brought it nodded. "Aye, my lady. Luckily, we were able to subdue it and put it into this cage. It was at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, so we were able to get some of your people who were there to bring it down to Kings Landing, fast. We thought you might believe us this time!" The brother who had spoken gave the assembled witnesses a very dirty look.

Asha gave her husband a look, too. "Apparently that warning we received from Ser Alliser wasn't wrong, was it, dear?" She shook her head. "Giving him audience earlier might have been a good idea."

Tyrion lowered his eyes, accepting the rebuke. "I was wrong. But, honestly, tales of the dead walking...I'd as soon expect snarks and grumkins!"

Asha had to admit that he had a point. She hadn't believed the tale, either. "Very well. But we're confronted with a clear fact here, and we ironborn deal with facts as we find them." She quirked a grin suddenly. "Usually. My father's stupid rebellion shows that we can be led astray by what we want to believe."

"Yes, anybody can be led astray by what they want to think is true," said Tywin. "However, we've got to deal with this, and deal with it now! Sanson!" At his command, a servant appeared, and Tywin said: "By my authority as Hand of the King, command the Lady Daenerys is to be brought here to see this. Under guard, of course."

"Why do you want her to see this, good-father?" asked Asha. "She's a defeated prisoner. What can this mean to her?"

"She claims to be the rightful Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. And she still may have some control over those dragons of hers," Tywin answered. "We may just need to ask her help."

When Daenerys was brought in, she took one look at the animated corpse and gave a gasp of horror. "I have seen many strange things on my travels," she said, "but this is something new! How did this happen, my lords?"

"We don't know," one of the black brothers answered. "All we know is that we've been having trouble with these...wights?...for some time now. We sent to Kings Landing for assistance, but got sent back a hundred spades and word that if we buried the dead, they would not come walking." Tyrion blushed.

Meanwhile, Asha was looking the soi-disant Dragon Queen over. Daenerys had not been mistreated since her capture, if only due to her high birth. She was wearing local-style clothes, in contrast to the Dothraki garb she had been wearing aboard her flagship. She seemed to have adjusted to her circumstances. As Asha looked, Daenerys looked up and their eyes met for a second.

"My lady...we've met before, haven't we?" asked Daenerys. "You were one of those who boarded my ship, weren't you?"

"Yes, I was." Asha was not sure how to address Daenerys. She did not recognize Daenerys' claim to queenship, but knew that Daenerys might bridle at being called "my lady" instead of by a royal title. "My crew and I were among the first to board her."

"You fought very bravely, I thought," Daenerys said. "You could have been one of my ancestresses. You do know that Aegon the Conqueror's two wives, Visenya and Rhaenys, were warriors in their own right? And that Targaryen women often went into battle?"

"Yes, I did." Particularly since marrying Tyrion, Asha had dived into books when she had the spare time to do so, and had devoured the histories of the Seven Kingdoms and their predecessors. She wished she could have met those long-dead princesses and queens. She thought they would have found they had a lot in common to talk about.

"Queen Cersei also fought very well," Daenerys continued. "But nobody ever called a Lannister a coward."

"Not twice," Tyrion put in. "I was there, too. Remember me?"

Daenerys looked down at Tyrion, and, improbably, smiled. "How could I forget you? You're very distinctive."

Tyrion quirked a grin. "That's a new way to describe me. But enough about old battles. We have a new problem to deal with." He turned to Tywin. "My lord Hand...what are your commands?"

Tywin looked very grim. "We must apprise the Seven Kingdoms of this threat. This civil war must cease, at least for as long as it takes to deal with these walking dead." He turned to the Night's Watch men. "How many of you are here?"

"Twenty, my lord. We kept constant watch on the wight, with some of us always on duty. The captain of the ship wouldn't have let us ship it, even in a cage, in any other way."

Asha had to approve. "Who is this captain? I'll want to see him."

"He's just outside, my lady. Shall we call him in?" At Asha's nod, one of the black brothers left, coming back with a man Asha recognized.

"Thormor Ironmaker! I never thought to see you here!"

Thormor bowed to her. "I never thought to see you set so high, Lady Asha. I must say, marriage and motherhood seem to agree with you."

"Yes, they do. May I introduce my husband? Thormor, this is my husband, Lord Tyrion Lannister of Casterly Rock. And this is my good-father, Lord Tywin Lannister, Hand of the King." Asha went on, introducing everybody there to her countryman and vice-versa. "How did you happen to be at that castle?"

"Since your marriage, my lady, we ironborn have found that trading is as profitable as raiding. We still do not sow…" Asha grinned at the reference to her family's words…. "but with our ships, we can go to where wealth is and gain it. And without fighting!" Thormor grinned. "My grandsire's been grumbling about it. He says the old ways were best."

"Your grandsire and I need to have a long talk," Asha told him. "But we're very glad you were able to help out with this. This is a threat to all."

When Thormor had seen what the cage contained, he turned pale and agreed quickly to return to the Islands and speak to influential people there. There was a kingsmoot planned, and all of the captains would be attending.

"I wish I could go," Asha said wistfully. "But I have my own life now. And my babies."

"I hope your babies...babies?.,,are well!"

"They're twins. A boy, and a girl. Names are Balon and Joanna Lannister. For her father and my mother," Tyrion said, with a proud smile. Asha knew that she had a similar smile on. For some reason she did that whenever the subject of her lovely, perfect babies came up.

Stannis Baratheon had been lurking on Dragonstone ever since his catastrophic defeat in the Battle of the Blackwater. It took several weeks, and allowing Jaime to go to Dragonstone to act as a hostage for his safe return, to bring him to Kings Landing, even with the Night's Watch as his escorts and under a flag of truce.

"You don't trust us," Tywin said when Stannis came into the Great Hall.

"After the Red Wedding, I'd be a fool to trust you, Tywin," Stannis said. Asha nodded to herself. She had never met Robert Baratheon's brother, but Tyrion had, and had been very informative.

"He's blunt and to-the-point and convinced that he's Robert's rightful heir and rightful ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. Unfortunately, almost nobody wants him as King, even if it were conclusively proven that Tommen and Myrcella were not Robert's get," Tyrion had explained, in the privacy of their room. "Taking up with that fire priestess was a mistake, if he wants to be King. Whether he likes it or not, people on the mainland of Westeros revere their Seven Gods, or the old gods, and don't see a need for change."

"If he were to try converting us on the Iron Islands, he'd find himself meeting the Drowned God, sooner than otherwise," Asha had said. While she, herself, was no more than conventionally pious, she knew quite a few ironborn who were very serious about the Drowned God and would react quickly and violently to anybody preaching a different faith. And that applied even more strongly to anybody trying to convert them by force. Even the Targaryens had had the sense to leave the Iron Islands' religion alone.

"Robert, may he rest in peace, once said that putting an idea into his brother's head was a dangerous thing to do. Because, once the idea is in his head, getting it out again is all but impossible." Tyrion had sighed. "The Seven...or the Drowned God...only know how this Melisandre creature managed to convert him, but getting him to de-convert, or even to admit that other religions should be allowed to continue, would make climbing the Wall itself look easy!"

Tyrion Lannister

Tyrion had arranged to be present when Stannis Baratheon saw just what the Black Brothers had brought to Kings Landing. He had expected an interesting reaction, and he was not disappointed. Stannis stared and stared at the wight, his mouth opening and closing, but no words escaped.

When he finally turned away, he was very pale. In a low voice, he told Tywin: "You were right to summon me. We must put our differences aside to deal with this menace. I'm told you have the Targaryen woman here, as well?"

"We do. She's seen this as well," Tywin said. "She also agrees that when the dead are walking, the living must put aside fighting among themselves."

"I shall wish to speak with her," Stannis answered. "Are her dragons still alive?"

"They were the last time I saw them, at the big sea battle," Tyrion said. "They learned that our ships could hurt them, so they were flying high. I don't know if Daenerys can call them to her or have them obey her. I heard reports from before her attempted invasion that she was having trouble keeping her dangerous pets under control."

"If she can control them, they may come in very useful," Stannis said. Unexpectedly, he quirked a grin. Tyrion would have been less startled to see him growing wings. "You all remember your history, I'm sure. Do you think wights could stand up to a new Field of Fire?"

Tyrion shook his head. He did not think the undead were invulnerable to flame. He grinned to himself. Trust Stannis to think of fire as a weapon against the undead!

"We don't know how it is that they've started walking. Winter is coming...if you'll forgive me using the Starks' words…but winter has come before, and no sign of the undead. We need to find out just what made them rise." Tyrion had to admit that his father had a good point. But he had never discounted his father's brains. He despised his father, and his father returned the feeling with interest, but unlike his sweet late sister, his father was by no means a fool.

"True. May I summon Melisandre? She sees many things in her flames." Tywin raised an eyebrow. "You've had priests of her order here before. Thoros of Myr comes to mind. Come to it...where is he?"

"We don't know. At last report he was out with a group called the 'Brotherhood without Banners,' a group of rebels who've apparently decided to avenge the Starks by slaughtering any Frey they come across."

"A pity. For all his self-indulgent ways, we might be able to use him. With your permission, my lord, I shall summon Melisandre. She knows more of fire than anybody." Tywin nodded, clearly thinking as hard as he could.

When Stannis had left, Tyrion turned to his father. "Father...are you sure bringing this red priestess here is a good idea?"

"No, I am not sure. But this is unprecedented, and we may well need all the help we can get." That accorded with Tyrion's own view. He, himself, was not at all pious, and would happily welcome the help of any god or gods that existed against the menace that was clearly massing north of the Wall.

For obvious reasons, getting the remnants of the Stark forces to cooperate was very difficult. The leader of what was left, Ser Brynden Tully, rejected the first approaches with utter scorn. "Fool me once, shame on you!" he yelled from the battlements of Riverrun. "Fool me twice, shame on me! I'm not coming into your damned trap!"

It took a personal appeal by Stannis Baratheon, whom Ser Brynden was amazed to see appear below his battlements, and the release of Edmure Tully and his wife, to get him to talk. Finally, he agreed to go south under a flag of truce. But with conditions.

"You send me the Kingslayer, the Imp and his wife, and Kevan, to stay here at Riverrun, and I'll come south!" called Ser Brynden. A mocking note came into his voice. "Unlike some people, we Tullys honor guest-right!"

When Tyrion heard about this, he sighed and turned to Asha. "Fancy a trip up to Riverrun, my love?"

Asha was busy fussing over her babies but looked up. "What in the world do you mean?"

"The Blackfish has agreed to come here under flag of truce, but only if Jaime, Uncle Kevan, you and I go to stay at Riverrun as hostages for his safety." He sighed. "That damned Red Wedding! We'll never live that down!"

"Your father was right, you know, darling." Getting up, Asha put her arm around Tyrion. "Really, there's no difference between killing a dozen or so men at dinner and a thousand or so on a battlefield."

"What sticks in people's throats is the treachery of it," Tyrion grumbled. "If we'd infiltrated into the Twins and attacked, that would be one thing. But for those damned Freys to welcome the Starks in, treat them as guests, and attack them...that's seen as blackest treachery." He gave her a quizzy look. "How would it be seen on the Iron Islands, if a lord welcomed guests into his hall, fed them, and then attacked them?"

Asha looked very thoughtful. After a moment, she nodded. "I see what you mean. We ironborn are hard and harsh, but even among us, guest-right is considered sacred. I can imagine how my nuncle, Aeron Damphair, would react!" She looked grim. "He'd probably excommunicate any lord who did such a thing."

"Your nuncle Euron would have done it," Tyrion pointed out.

"While I'm aware that he's hardly cold in his tomb, I have no hesitance in saying that my late nuncle Euron was known as one of the most treacherous, untrustworthy men in the Seven Kingdoms. I don't know of anybody that would have trusted him. I would not mind knowing just how he managed to get a kingsmoot to make him a king."

"Bribery, blackmail and arm-twisting, I imagine," Tyrion sighed, visibly dismissing Euron Greyjoy and all to do with him. "So...back to my question. We've been asked...as in 'requested and required'...to go to Riverrun to ensure Edmure Tully's safety down here in Kings Landing. Do you know of any reasons why we can't go?"

"I have two of them here," Asha replied. "But they're at an age where their nurses can take care of them. They're starting on solid food now. And we nobles have duties and obligations that the smallfolk don't have. I'll get started figuring out what we'll need to pack along." She sighed and held her babies close. "I just hope things go well, and that we're back home soon. Balon and Joanna are growing so fast! I don't want to miss out on any part of it."

"Neither do I, my love," said Tyrion. "Pity we can't bring them along, but they're too young."

Asha Greyjoy Lannister

A short while later, the Lannister party reined in at the gates of Riverrun. Despite the flags of truce they bore, the gate was shut tightly, and they could see archers tracking them from atop the walls.

"Don't make any sudden moves," warned Jaime. He'd perked up, surprisingly, when told he had to go to Riverrun. Rather less surprisingly, he'd insisted on bringing along Brienne of Tarth. She rode beside him, and Asha had thought many times on the way north about how to make it so they could be a couple openly.

"As if I'd be stupid enough," muttered Tyrion. He turned to Asha. "I'd almost rather go back up to the Eyrie than enter here!"

Asha scowled. She had heard him tell of his time in the Eyrie, and hoped one day to meet with dear Lady Lysa Arryn. She had some ideas about how to deal with that madwoman, in much the same way she had dealt with Cersei. The description Tyrion, and others who had met the Lady of the Vale, had given her made her sure that Lysa would be much less of a challenge to deal with than Cersei had been.

Cersei, for all her faults, had had plenty of courage, and her soft life had not entirely robbed her of strength. Lysa Arryn, on the other hand, was fat and lazy, at least according to descriptions. Beating the daylights out of her before dragging her to, and tossing her through, her own damned Moon Door, would be child's play for her, Asha thought.

After a short wait, a small sally port opened. Brynden Tully appeared, along with several fully armed Tully men-at-arms. "Well, come on in," said the Blackfish. "I didn't expect your side to agree to my terms, but you have, so I must honor my half of the deal. We'll get you settled, and then I and my escorts will ride to Kings Landing to see this wight you speak of."

With a feeling of distinct forboding, Asha rode in as the great gate creaked open. As she rode under the archway, she wondered if she would ever see her babies again.