Game of Thrones Tales: Lannister Family Values
Summary: In an alternative universe, King Robert calls on a different old friend and brother to assist him. But whose decency, kindness, and sense of honor, while a bit different from Ned Stark's are equally strong. But are the family values of House Addams a match for the ruthless Lannisters?
Part LII…
Dungeons of the Dyad Institute of Barth, formerly the Grimm Fortress of Howling Despair…
"Like…Ser Jonah?" a voice reached out to Ser Jonah Job in the pitch blackness of his cell...
"Khanessi?" he looked round lifting head weakly. Trying to see…Arrgh!...
"Yeah, you…Oh, sorry…" Danys, apologetically, having stepped on Ser Jonah's now groaning form where he lay, making a fine case for abuse of prisoners in the new Republic of Barth by denial of water and food, exposure to cold and vermin…
"You're alive…" Ser Jonah whispered. "I'd…Naturally, being me…Feared the worst."
"No, I'm ok, sorta…What's with you, you all right?" she peered at him as he tried to rise.
"Just a bit…" he gasped as she again stepped on him. "Oh!"
"What?! Did these guys torture you? I said not to…Specifically." She fumed, turning back to the cell door… "Hey! Get a doctor, my chief guy's been tortured or whatever! Hey! We have an agreement here! Come on!"
"Urhh…" he groaned yet again as her barbarian but designer Doofraki heel ground into his groin.
"You are hurt!" she knelt to look over him. "They'll, like, pay for this!"
"I'm…Fine…" he whispered. "Just a bit…Thirsty."
"Hey!" she cried, rising to his anxiety…
Please don't move around me again with those spiked heel sandals…
"Get some water in here for Ser Jonah…"
Mummph! As she stepped on his, fortunately still armor cased, chest…
Well, she means well…If I die now, I die marginally happier for that…
Wait…
Agreement…?
Dear gods, what the f- has she done?!
She'd knelt by him again…He looking at her worried face with a considerable degree of wonder and something so foreign and rare to him that he couldn't quite understand the feeling at first…
Contentment…
"Ser Jonah, you look really bad…" she noted.
In a rather oddly sexy kinda way…And even kinda makin' me feel kinda the maternal thing again…Blanching as he struggled to speak through chapped lips.
"Whare's that water! And the doctor!" Danys called
"It's all right, Khanessi…Don't get up…" he gasped out.
Please…Don't…
Though some other time and place, having her walking all over me could be…
"I don't believe this…They were supposed to take care of you. I put it in our agreement."
Actually, till you came…Except for the water and food and cold…And the guard did say there were supply problems and trouble getting in an aquaduct guy, owing to yesterday's revolution and mass killing…He and the other guards weren't actually in much better shape.
"Khanessi…It's fine. I'll be all right. But what's this about an agreement? Did you come to terms with Trumpo Don and his wizard?"
As in, should I expect wedding bells tonight and the added humiliation of being asked to be best man?
"Well…Like sorta…" she noted, nervously…
"Here!" a voice cried outside the door. "Water, we just got sack water in. Sorry for the delay. Kitchen should be up by this afternoon. You'll be getting a visit from the human rights board and can petition for redress." A sack pushed in through the door's grate.
"That's more like it! And lets see that doctor…And some dinner, soon as you get the kitchen going!" she called.
"Doctor's on her way…" call back, fading off. "Menu's with the water."
She went over and returned with an animal's bladder sack full of water and a menu card.
"Here…Jonah…Ser Jonah…" she offered the water to his lips, looking over the menu as best she could as he sipped, then taking the sack, drank, she finally moving to the grate to get some light…
"Thanks, Khanessi…" Jonah. Lowering sack and carefully managing to turn himself in his armor to where he could sit up.
"Sure…You like beef stroganoff ? I usually try to keep my carbs down but I guess I could go for some pasta tonight…" she asked, looking over the menu with frown as she tried to hold the grate open.
"That's fine…Khanessi? Your dragons? And what 'agreement'?"
"I guess they're ok…I didn't see them since they grabbed 'em but they'd not likely kill 'em and I think I'd sense if they hurt 'em….I'm Mom, after all. We sense that stuff, ya know?"
"You're probably right…But this 'agreement…?"
"Yeah, I kinda had to." She sighed. "There was another one of those creepy clone girls, this 'Rachel' and she kinda made it…'sign this or get croaked'. And that the dragons, my left-over Doofraki, and you'd be hurt."
Me?... " he stared.
"Like, yeah…" she lied, eyeing him, renewed frown. "I mean…You're my military and advice guy and all. I can't lose you."
Especially to that bitch and her sisters who seem to think you rate a 10+ in ruggedly manly yet sensitive hotness…
And Trumpo Don'll still probably want you dead.
"That's very kind, Khanessi."
"Yeah…You want more water?" surprising him with a somewhat nervous smile.
"I'm good, thanks. Later, probably." He eyed her.
"Like…What?" she returned his stare.
"Just wondering about the terms of the 'agreement', Khanessi."
"Oh. Well…I let them study my dragons for a little while, just a few weeks, and take a few samples from them and me, to compare…A little blood and they scrape some skin off…A little eehew but not really too…"
"Khanessi?"
"And then they let us go and give us a boat and some cash to travel to Westeros or wherever we want…All of us."
"They'd let you take the dragons with you?"
"The girls…Rachel and Sarah said so. I'm not sure about the Rachel one…She's sorta in with the wizard original guy but Sarah seems ok and they just need this stuff for their cure. "
"I wonder how Lord Taro takes all that…" he asked, looking at her.
"He didn't wipe out the Council…They did." She replied, arch look. "And they have their own thing, he has his…"
Not bad…Divide and conquer strategy in a nutshell…He thought, nodding approval to her pleased smile.
She may not always seem the brightest bulb in the set but she's been learning…
"Of course that wizard, "Matt" Phat Pree…He's the one studyin' my boys." Danerys frowned. "Which I'll tolerate if it helps his kids. He is sure we got something in us…Genes or something…That'd give him what they need. I think he really does care about them. But anything more or if he hurts them…" grim look.
"You sure you're ok, Jonah…Ser Jonah?"
"If you'd give me a hand to get on my feet again, I'll gladly show you…" he smiled.
"You do look nice when you smile." She beamed, offering hand.
I mean if wizard-copied supergirls think he's bodacious…But I always did like him, it was just I was like a new widow and all that…
…
Camp of Rently Barftheron, outside the fortress of Storming Out…
Large stone hut/warehouse long taken by Rently as his office for his visits home…
Much prefer a comfortable tent palace but my Princeguard Captain Anna Brienne Eleanor and my intel boys and girls all say, stone is the reliable barrier to spies and eavesdroppers here…And of course my Anna Brienne's large sword…
Enter Rently through thrown open door in princely robes, Anna Brienne Eleanor in shining armor following at his heels…He seating himself at a desk set up for him.
"One moment, my Lord…" Anna Brienne urgently, signaling to guards entering after her to search the building top to bottom.
I say, my Brienne's good…Rently eyed her, diligently surveying the large room, ordering her people to peer in each nook and cranny.
Best idea I ever had when my ambitious distant cousin Franklin of Roosevelt broke her betrothed heart by cheating on her with her social secretary/lady-in-waiting to offer her this job.
"All clear, my lord. All right, people…You can all go to your posts. Sydney, you and Tremont take up guard spots at three Westerosian feet from the door. Theodore, you and Miriam cover the windows…Max, you take roof duty. Frances, you and Edgar patrol the perimeter, different directions. Clark, you and Lois will report to me every hour on the hour the status till Lord Rently returns to the Barftheron Keep, changing of shifts staggered in 4 hours intervals, get on with you!" she ordered. The guards saluting as they left…
"You keep your people on their toes, Brienne." Rently beamed.
"It's our duty and my…Our…Pleasure, my Lord…" she replied, standing at attention with solemn look.
"At ease, dear…I appreciate all the efforts but if I'm not safe at my own home holding…"
"No one, especially one so close to the throne, is safe in these times, my Lord." She noted but relaxed slightly at his smiling look.
"I suppose that's true…And that crazy priestess of Stan's would like nothing better than to get dirt on me to show him or Bob."
"She intends worse than that, I fear, my Lord."
"Really?" he stared. "Kill me? The nicest of the Barftheron adults…?"
"All the more reason, given she longs to put Stanislaw on the throne…And you are so much beloved… Er, among the people." She repressed longing look.
"Anna…" he shook head. "You've got to find someone nice. Gods know, if your family were a bit more prominent I couldn't find a more acceptable political match I'd want to wed, but…"
"I know I'm not worthy to tie your sandals, my Lord." She bowed. "I only ask to serve you in all ways I can…"
"Whoa, girl…" he put up a hand. "As an advocate for womens' rights I gotta beg you to be a little less abjectly devoted. Brienne, just because Frank let you down doesn't mean you're not a wonderful girl…"
"Please, my Lord…" gauntleted hand raised. "I have made my peace with the fact no man could love me with the single-minded passion I would pour into our union, subsuming my self and soul to him. I'm happy to be useful and have an active career in a profession I've always longed to succeed in, one normally not fully open to women. And grateful to you, Lord, as always, for your trust in me." She paused. "But if we may forget my own pathetic troubles of the heart and consider your own situation and political fate in these times…I assume you called me to discuss your latest moves in that regard."
"You've always been my shrewdest political advisor, besides…"
Slight tearing…Oh, Lot…My Lot…
Been there, known that…Brienne eyed him sympathetically…
If only I could share your pain in a meaningful way, oh my Rently…
"Well…Anyway you're my chief advisor now, as well as the best security chief I could hope to have…" he beamed. "Cousin Franklin at least taught you the ins- and-outs of the Game as well as your dad taught you swordplay before he so stupidly let you down." He eyed her stricken face…
"Sorry…As to business…There are, as you've guessed secret matters underway with me here, even more than my negotiations with Stan…"
"Your brother can't be trusted, my Lord. Not that he isn't a man of honor but he is desperate about the Throne and blindly heeding the advice of a madwoman…"
"She is nuts, isn't she?" Rently shook head. "I've been trying to get the goods on her to bring to Stan to break that hold she has on him but so far we can't get beyond her being a former prostitute…And for her crazy Faith, that's actually a positive. Being formerly oppressed, poor, and a penitent ex-sinner and all that fits the LL profile only too well…So long as she can come up with the occasional minor miracle to show her Faith's got power. And she does seem able to pull some impressive stunts off…However she manages it."
"Yes, she plays a good Game that way." Brienne nodded. "I've my sources out as well but her followers either know little of her past, or are not breathing…She's covered her tracks well. Though I suspect there's something there, in her past, something that could ruin her. As well as proving her 'miracles' can be explained by the laws of Natural Philosophy."
"Well, keep at it…For the sake of these poor people here as well as for my ambitions…" he smiled.
So like him…He really cares…Brienne inwardly sighed.
"Now as to the secret matter…" he adopted confidential tone…
"Anything to do with the return home of Ser Thomas of Boylen, our ambassador to Bravvos…And his charming, beautiful, womanly…In short and I mean short…All the things I'm not…Daughter, Margeary?" she eyed him, just the slightest arch in her look.
"Damn you girl, you are good." He beamed. "How'd you get that intel?"
"I read the court journals, my Lord…And knowing he was due to return…And that he is after all the best possible ally for you outside winning Tywin Lannister to your court or getting Stanislaw to forego his own claim, I checked the shipping news and saw his vessel's fleet of transports and merchant men would be docking here first, to pick up supplies and unload some goods. I put two-and-two together and deduced you'd likely arranged a meeting to hold while visiting here, ostensibly to talk over political affairs with Stanislaw."
"I don't know why I bother with spies when I've got you, Brienne." He shook head, grinning. "Right on the nose, girl. I'm meeting with Ser Thomas tonight and negotiating an alliance with the Boylens and the Markwells. Ser Lotus…."
Oh…Bowed head..
"…Well…He helped arrange it…We're political allies, as well as dear friends, you know. Very…Dear…Friends…" sigh.
"Yes, Lord…" sighing herself.
"But of course now he's gone and allied himself with Lord Addams, even to the extent of marrying that chit of a girl of Addams'…Wednesday, you know her?"
"Slightly my Lord. Very young, I believe." My heroine savior, the girl I shall forever be grateful to …Not that there's anything wrong with Lord Rently's…Preferences…But better a political match than a love match for my…My Lord. Safer, I mean…For his heart…
And mine…
"Well, let him be happy in his choice." Sigh. "We're still political allies and very dear friends of course…If no longer…So…Very…Close…" tearing up.
"Sorry…" he waved a hand.
"It's very hard to lose a friend so close to another…I mean of course exchanging the intimacy of brotherly love and comradeship for that of marriage, it's gotta cut down on your bro time." She noted hastily.
"Exactly…Though I hope to still consult with him a great deal…Anyway, a marriage is necessary for me to cement alliances with both Houses and Margeary fits the bill. And she's pretty and sweet, as well as clever, they say."
"Yes. They always are…" sigh.
"Anna…If it ever made political sense…Know that I'd choose you in a hot minute." He shook head at her wistful look.
Hell, with considerable pleasure…She's the smartest girl I know, can fight like the Heavy, might even give Lady Maud a run for her money, and has such a warm heart when not on duty to kill anyone threatening me…And heck, being so butch in that armor…Gods, I actually do sometimes think I could…
"You're so…Kind…My…Lord…" she teared. "But of course you must do what's best for the kingdom."
"I'd be very lucky, Brienne…As will some lucky fellow one day, mark my words." He nodded. "Anyway as to my new alliance…I'll need you and your best people to provide security. None, especially Stanislaw and that crazy fanatic of his, must know of this alliance. Even Rob might be upset by the shift of power implied therein. Not that I'd ever challenge him for the throne, but…When he should go… Tommen's a nice kid but…"
"Westeros will need a grown man of House Barftheron to rule." Firm stare.
"At least I'll be in position to deal with whatever comes…So this marriage alliance must come off and remain secret till I'm ready to announce it. No one must learn of it prematurely."
"None shall, if I can help it, my Lord." She nodded grimly.
"Thanks, darling." Fond beam.
Heck, you know, if Lot is really gonna be a prick and abandon me for that kid, I could possibly see my way to better appreciating my Guards Captain…At least when she's in armor, looking rather hot with that butch cut.