Lundenhold
POV of Domeric Bolton
"Why do you serve the Lannisters, Tyrion?" Domeric asked at the end of the day as they walked along the broad roads of Lundenhold.
"I…" Tyrion hesitated but continued. "They're my family. They may not like me much, but they're all I have. Also, Uncle Gerion, Aunt Genna, and my brother have always been good to me. Even Uncle Kevan can show an affectionate side on particular days."
"So, if I offer you work in my lands, then you won't accept?" he asked, and Tyrion nodded.
"As much as I like your lands, as much as I like everything you've done for your people, as much as I like the systems you've put in place to give rise to the talented, and as much as I like you… I cannot take the offer." Tyrion said sadly.
That sadness in his eyes was a consolation, but he didn't want the consolation. He wanted Tyrion to work for him. Other people might only see a drunk and lecherous dwarf when they look at Tyrion, but what he saw was an uncut gem that requires some polishing.
He wanted proactive, talented men who could take his realm forward on their own violation.
And when Domeric wanted something, he got it.
"Come. There is one last thing I want to show you." He said, stopping a carriage about to pass him by, showing his face.
As did everyone else in the near vicinity, the coachman stopped at once and bowed to him.
The fat merchant riding inside the carriage looked out and was about to shout something before his eyes widened. He quickly climbed out of the carriage to bow to him.
"My lord… How can I serve you?"
"I need your carriage, my good man. I hope that won't be a problem." He said, taking out a purse filled with gold dragons from his bottomless pocket.
The merchant's eyes shone with greed, and he nodded before he caught himself and shook his head. "That won't be necessary, my lord. What's mine is yours. Please take the carriage."
He shook his head and forced the purse into the merchant's hands, who 'grudgingly' took the gold coins. "No. What kind of lord would I be if I took from subjects without properly recompensating them?"
The man nodded, and Domeric entered the carriage. Tyrion followed him.
"Take us to the outer rim of the city. 3rd Common Road. 4th block." He told the coachman, who politely bowed to him and whipped the horse as he waved at the people on the streets before closing the window.
"So… where are we going now?" Tyrion asked curiously.
"To visit the past." He said.
Tyrion looked confused for a moment, but didn't question him.
Tyrion looked out the window, and the carriage descended into silence.
"I know about Tysha." He spoke at last.
Tyrion went still and slowly turned to face him. His face was a mixture of anger and sorrow. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, unable to say anything before he finally mustered the courage. "Mance told you… And to think I trusted the man. I should have never told him."
"What has Mance got to do with this?" He asked, a bit confused, even as the surface legilimency probe told him that Tyrion had informed Mance about Tysha the day he came here.
"Don't…" Tyrion forcibly calmed himself. "Don't lie to me. Mance was the only one I've talked to about my… past. How else could you have known?"
He smiled at that. "Perhaps… the same way I know that your brother Jamie is fucking your sister behind the king. And that the royal children are not actually Robert's blood at all but the result of their incestuous relationship."
Tyrion went pale at his words, and Domeric had to use Occlumency to hide his amusement.
"The same way I know that Jamie killed the Mad King because he had planted thousands of wildfire caches underneath the city and planned to burn the whole city to the ground. In the same way, I know that the Lannister mines have run out of gold. In the same way, I know that Margaery Tyrell lost her virginity last year at her grandmother's direction so that she could learn how to please a man. In the same way, I know that Prince Doran Martell forged a secret alliance with William Derry, sealing a betrothal between Prince Viserys Targaryen and Arianne Martell. The same way I know that Lysa Arryn was once pregnant with Petyr Baelish's child but lost the child because her own father locked her up in a room and forced her to drink moon tea every day."
By this time, Tyrion was practically gaping at him, looking at him as if he were a monster in human form. He was not wrong either. He truly did feel like a monster for what he was doing.
"The same way I know that Tysha was not a whore." He said softly. "Your brother lied to you, Tyrion, on the orders of your father. Tysha was not a whore. She was just an innocent peasant girl who fell in love with you, married you, and paid dearly for it."
Tyrion now had the expression of a man who had lost everything. He licked his lips, trying to get some moisture on them and trying to say… something, wanting to tell him that what he was saying was a lie. That his own brother didn't lie to him even as he knew in his heart that everything he said was the truth.
In the end, Tyrion looked away, gazing outside from the window. His eyes filled with tears, and he focused on nothing in particular.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.133: Visiting the Past
Ch.134: I'm going to King's Landing