It was cold and damp. The castle was depressing. Its occupant had not the sense or the taste to try and bring something new to the place. The things that had once made the castle bearable, its dragon art and sculptures had long been taken down and destroyed. Now all that was there were some paintings of the owner and his wife and child, and that too only in the man's solar.
For weeks he'd been kept here, nobody had thought to see where he had been. That was his own fault. He'd not written to Jaime to say that he'd be coming to King's Landing. Jaime would've told Cersei and then gods alone knew what would happen to him then. Father didn't care enough to know when he was in the Rock. He doubted father even knew that he wasn't in the Rock now.
No, what was annoying him was that a ship from the capital had been seized and brought to Dragonstone and no one from the capital had thought to look into it. He'd expect such tardiness from that old goat, Arryn. But he would have thought that Lord Stark would be on top of it.
The door opened and his host walked in. The man wore grey and was balding. His eyes were the same colour as his brother's but there was no humour in them.
"Stannis." Tyrion said.
"Tyrion Lannister." The man replied sitting down opposite him.
"A lovely place you have here." Tyrion said, deciding to force the man to tell him why he was here, rather than ask it himself. "I really like what you have done with some parts of it. Removing the dragons really adds to it."
"Enough!" Stannis snapped.
That didn't take long. Tyrion thought to himself sadly.
"Do you not want to know why you are here?" Stannis demanded.
"I thought it was simply my company you wanted and that you were too shy to ask in a normal manner?" Tyrion asked innocently.
Stannis gritted his teeth and snarled. Tyrion stopped himself chuckling with great difficulty. Stannis was far too easy to tease.
"I have brought you here because I think you will want to hear what I have discovered." Stannis said once he'd calmed down.
"And what exactly is it that you've discovered?" Tyrion asked intrigued.
"I know it was your sister who killed Jon Arryn." Stannis said simply.
Tyrion raised an eyebrow. He didn't doubt for a moment that Cersei was capable of murder-she'd tried to kill him often enough-but this this was unusual. "And why would she do that?"
"Because Jon and I discovered the truth about her." Stannis said.
Tyrion cocked an eyebrow. "And what truth is that?"
"The children she claims as Robert's are not his." Stannis said.
Tyrion felt something drop, but then he remembered who it was he was talking to and said. "Well, if they're not Robert's who's children, are they?"
"Your brother's, the Kingslayer's." Stannis snapped.
Jaime, you idiot.
Tyrion had always suspected that there was something more to his brother and sister's relationship, but he had never thought more on it. But now that this oaf had figured it out, perhaps then the time was right to play a game.
"I know that they are twins, but even that is going too far. They look like one another yes, but they are not Targaryens." Tyrion quipped.
"There is evidence." Stannis said.
"What evidence?" Tyrion asked.
"Every single Baratheon produced since the marriage of Orys Baratheon to Argella Durrandon has had black hair and bright blue eyes. Something confirmed by The Lineages and Histories of the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms, which gives the descriptions of every Baratheon born since the Conquest. The last time there was a Baratheon and Lannister marriage, the child had black hair and blue eyes." Stannis said.
"That child was born deformed, they could not make out what it was, let alone its hair colour." Tyrion said. "It was not entered into the Lineages as a result. The description given there was demanded by both parties' parents."
Stannis didn't seem deterred. "Then there are Robert's bastards. A girl sired when he was in the Vale looks much like him with black hair and blue eyes."
"A pity." Tyrion said.
"Then there is Edric Storm." Stannis said referring to the bastard Robert had sired during Stannis' marriage.
"And finally, there is a boy who worked at a forge, sired shortly after Robert became King. He now works for Petyr Baelish." Stannis said.
He sounds deluded.
"You have given me the name of bastards, but nothing more. Yes they may all have black hair and blue eyes, but none of them were sired with Lannisters." Tyrion said.
Stannis looked as if he wanted to yell at Tyrion, instead he sighed. "It is the truth and I intend to ensure that it is made known. Your sister and brother will hang."
"And you will sit the throne, is that what this is about?" Tyrion asked. "You want to sit the throne?"
"It is my birthright." Stannis snarled.
"Lord Stark's son is married to Princess Myrcella; you think he'll just let you have her disinherited like this on spurious grounds?" Tyrion asked.
"He will, he is a man of honour." Stannis said.
"Then you are naïve." Tyrion said. He had seen how the Starks had interacted with one another and he did not think that Stark would let a member of his family suffer so.
"And you are committing treason." Stannis said. "Which is a shame because I had thought to offer you Casterly Rock when I became King."
Desire and revulsion fought inside him. The Rock, it was something he had always wanted. But at the same time, he did not want it, if it meant getting it from this man. This being who was committed to war and death.
Eventually, revulsion won. "Thank you, but no thank you. I will take my birthright from a pauper King."
Something changed in Stannis then, his eyes hardened, and his jaw clenched. When he spoke, the words were tight. "Did you know about your brother and sister?"
Yes. "No."
Stannis snorted. "You will rot in a cell here, maybe with some time to think you can reconsider your position." With that Stannis turned and walked out of the room. Tyrion remained where he was, his mind moving.