Chapter 24: Rynes of Casamere
Tyrion is used to being ignored but ever since his brother Jaime gave up on his previous job and took on the role of being an aspiring heir apparent, he is now being treated even worse.
In the past he at least had some sort of presence but now he is shunned to the extreme. It seems there is nothing obvious in everyone's behavior but somehow he feels it, in their every gaze there is a difference. Mabey it is him who is different and have become more sensitive to the treatment he had always received.
"You seem off, even for you." His brother Jaime said.
"How do you figure?"
"You have that look I have only ever seen on you when you have a talk with father." Jaime answered.
"Why do you think we were called into father's office?" Tyrion asked but Jaime has no answers as well.
A distance away they heard a loud crash and something breaking. It sounded like someone is angry and breaking things.
Jaime knocked on the door and entered. He had to catch an ink jar flying to his face. "We can come back later if this is a bad time." His words became unsure by the end of his sentence seeing the look on his father's face.
It has been a while since the king announced that he will be going to Winterfell but then out of the blue he couldn't find the queen. He thought she is playing tricks because she doesn't want to go to the frozen lands but it has already been a week and no one knows where she is.
A message finally reached Tywin Lannister about his daughter's absence from the crown lands. Tywin knows better than anyone how his daughter would never pass on an opportunity to show off her status to those Northerners.
As soon as he heard, he called on his best runners to search any clues. They searched for two days and nights but didn't find anything until Tywin called on all the servants responsible for his daughter and found several missing.
All those missing had only a few years of service and didn't particularly stand out. No one knows where they come from or if they have any family members in the crown lands. Only that they were all stupid and mute.
They were good at their job which is why Cersei Lannister liked them. Most importantly they were not attractive which meant the king didn't fondle them. Once, when he was drunk and touched one of them, the others screamed and wailed scaring the King, he never came anywhere near them again.
These are the spies sent by Bree to the seven kingdoms. Of course they are not the same type of peoplein every house. There is no way of tracking them. Cersei thinking they are stupid did most of her planning in front of them which is what was intended.
Ever since she had an encounter with Olivia all those years ago, not only did she lose her most valuable ally her brother Jaime but she lost a lot of men and that Olivia left without consequences. So now, she hate the North even more.
Hearing her dear husband say that he wants her son, her little lion to marry one of those barbaric peasants she lost it. She called in her most savage of the guards and made plans to get rid of this engagement.
"You will find an opportunity to kidnap that girl, Sansa her name is. You will enjoy her as much as you can and then leave her in the open where anyone could find her. She will be ruined and the North will be disgraced." When the three idiots heard her they sent a message to the soap store and a fast ship was sent to the Haunted city where Bree was waiting.
"This is all because she lost to me that time?" Olivia is awakened at 3 am in the morning.
"Mistress, the king means to go to the North next week. What should we do about this?" Bree asked because the ship is due to return soon.
"Kidnap the queen. Her and those who were involved in the tregic death of princess of Dorne all those years ago. Give the men a powerful aphrodisiac and lock them with her." Olivia remembers how this woman had wanted to have her raped too.
"Send people who look Dornish but have them seem like they are hiding their appearance. Lets give Dorne a push." Olivia went back to sleep. She still has a journey to meet a red priestess.
"As you command." Bree left to do her bidding. The next day at night something with a strong kick was put in the wine of the queen. The guards at her door are put to sleep easily and the queen is transported through the tunnels.
When she woke up six hours later she is in a ship. "Who is it? Come out!" She shouted but no one came. Cersei could feel that she is in a boat. When she became too agitated she was knocked out with a sleeping powder.
When she woke up she found out she is not alone in the room. The first thing she noticed is the cold temperature of the ground. She touched herself and found in horror she is not wearing anything.
A distance from her is a group of men. She can recognize her father's hunting dogs anywhere. They are not stripped off their clothes but they are passed out. She looked around and saw that the room they are in is filthy as if it has not been cleaned in many years.
The door is locked and the window are too high to see what is happening. There are four men in the room, their leader is Gregor Clegane. What she doesn't know is that they have been poisoned with a very potent aphrodisiac that will last for days.
Once awakened she demanded they give her a something to cover herself. They complied but soon, Gregor walked straight towards her and peeled away her cloak with red eyes. The rest is history as all the men went under the influence of the aphrodisiac some were killed by the mountain.
The small folks heard screams coming from the long abandoned Castermere home to the extinct house of Rayne. When it became apparent they are not coming from the ghosts but someone is really in trouble, they sent word to the Lannisters.
If someone is causing trouble in the old castle of the family ruined by the lions, they may be challenging them. When Tywin found out what is happening inside his blood ran cold and his strong legs became as soft as jelly.
Which brings us to the meeting of the three people. Jaime has never seen this kind of look in his father's eyes. It is a look of a wounded animal that is about to go feral.
Tywin moved out and gestured for the two boys to follow him. When they entered a room the smell of medicine took them by surprise. A distance away laid a woman, her legs are hung in a wooden rack, her arms are also clearly broken.
Her neck is a little twisted "The Measter said if her neck is disturbed it will break and she will die." Tywin shed a tear looking at his daugher.
"Who is this person?" Tyrion is the first to break the silence but when he looked at Jaime he saw his eyes full of tears. Tyrion took a closer look and became shocked by his discovery. There, laying under a tun of bandages and heavily sedated is the queen of the seven kingdoms. His dear sister.
Tywin walked out pulling Jaime with him. Jaime crumbles on the chair as soon as they entered Tywin's office. Tyrion is also sad but not to their level. God knows how many girls Cersei has subjected to the same fate simply for having better hair or looking at Jaime for too long.
He wants to stand up and go back to drinking but some how he feels it will be in bad taste. So he stayed and his constant sighing made Tywin throw a candle stand to his face.
"Are we boring you Tyrion?" The question cane out sounding like a growl.
"No." Tyrion sat up straight but couldn't help asking. "Did the king do this?"
"No. He dislikes her but he knows she is neccessary. What could she have done to provoke him to such extremes? No, this is done by my enemies. Retribution for Elia, or the reminants of Casamere."
"Casamere?" Tyrion frowned.
"She was assaulted in the ruins of Casamere. For two days ..." He couldn't finish his statement.
"I am sending you to the North. Find me Olivia Snow."
"Her? Why?" Jaime finally said something. He doubt that girl will be sympathetic to Cersei.
"Reports say she has medicine that can heal bones and deep flesh wounds. Some people who were crippled from war has been seen gathering around her as good as new. Find her and tell her Tywin Lannister needs her help." He said.
"Tyrion, if you fail don't come back."
Tyrion felt his body becomes heavy the further he went.
At the same time, Olivia reached the port of Bravos. When she and Dixon came out of the ship, they are greeted by a party of four all wearing red long dresses.
"Grand priest sent us to get you." Dixon rolled her eyes. This sister of hers is un believable.
"How do you know you have the right people?" Olivia asked them.
"Fiery red hair, long blue dress that follows the wind and a wooden bangle on your right hand. We already know sister Dixon." One priestess said with a smile that is not a smile.
"You are expected, you may say we have been waiting for you for generations."
"And just like that, my curiosity turned into being creeped out. Thank you for that." Olivia's eyes dropped in disappointment.
"So how do you guys know Dixon?" Olivia changed the topic.
"We used to visit her with the grand priest when she lived in the city before she was stolen and sold off."
The temple of the god of light is grand and imposing. Olivia can feel the magic surrounding it. "This sort of magic would be frowned upon by the children of the forest. It wreaks of blood." Olivia comments as they entered the halls a distance away from the altar with what remains of a sacrifice.
"It is a sacrifice to the lord of light. Of course it has blood." A beautiful woman walked towards them with measured steps and stood in front of them with a grace befitting a leader.
"Greetings to the prince who was promised." She said and the other priest echoed her sentence.
"Wow. This kind of reception is abit over the top. But thank you for seeing me. Why am I a prince?" Olivia came forward and greeted the woman.
"It is a prophecy, but first lets get you to understand those symbols." She said creeping Olivia even more. She just cane here and they already know why she is here. She would suspect Dixon but her gut told her it isn't so.
"You have no Idea how excited I am to be the one to teach the language to you. It has been passed down from grand priest to grand priest for the sole purpose of guiding the one who will save us all. For the night is dark and full of terrors."
"For the night is dark and full of terrors." The sound reverberated from all around them making the clumsy Olivia stumble in fright.
"Can we have this meeting somewhere subtle? Where walls don't suddenly burst out in spontaneous chants?" The last part is said in a hush tone. Dixon is amused by her behavior.
"You two may go to an inn, I will find you with all the materials for our lesson. I am told you were learning under the children of the forest? I plan to be even more thorough so you are well informed." She said her piece and Olivia is practically dragging Dixon out of the temple.
"Okay we are out, can you stop pulling me? How are you so fast with those short legs?" In the past few years Olivia has grown taller than before almost at 1'85 but she is not as tall as the medicine fairy Dixon.
"My legs are tall enough, I am not trying to reach for the moon." She grumbles.
"The moon? Hha! As if." Dixon sneered. They booked a room and took baths awaiting for the red priestess.
"If you had friends in the red temple then how come you were still sold as a slave?" Olivia suddenly asked.
"I met her once, she said 'it won't be long now and your collar shall be cut down and your scars disappeared.' She is such a ..." *knock* *knock*
"...creep." Dixon said as she opened the door.
"Welcome." Olivia is a little creeped out by the timing of this red priestess.
"The children of the forest didn't want to teach you this for a reason. It is a language that communicates a spell for the dead...." The lessons began as soon as she entered the room.
In Kings landing Varys finally caught wind of what happened to the queen and didn't waste time reporting it to the king. Robert rode to Casterly rock to demand his queen be returned.
Varys didn't tell Robert that Cersei has been assaulted and injured but that she is at Casterly rock with her family. He made the king insinuate that he probably said something while drunk to upset her. Robert knows without the Lannisters Kingslanding will be open to attacks from all sides, even the city guards are all from the Lannisters.
This is why he wants to get a new party to help him agaisnt the Lannisters in court. The only person he can trust is Ned, all this is Cersei trying to prevent him from gaining another ally that is not her father.
Without Arryn as hand, there is not a single soldier from the Vale. He went to get Cersei back because his reign will be full of uncertainty and chaos otherwise. Varys had been the one to lead him to these conclusions.
The delay of traveling to the North is what made Varys too antsy he feels like another player is stepping on his plans which is why he is accelerating the plans. He will be working on planting evidence to suggest the Reach os responsible for Cersei's attack which will confuse the lions long enough to get the Wolf south.
It doesn't matter which enemy chips away at the lion's power as long as it does. The attack on Cersei is too much of a coincidence, just as the king is about to go North something this tragic happens? It's like someone is trying to stop the king from leaving.
If they are strong and bold enough to go against the Lannisters, it will be best Varys stands down and see what happens next. Hearing they had done it in the ruins of Casamere made Varys take another look at his list of Lannister enemies. The most obvious suspects is Dorne but Varys knows Doran will not do this which leaves him with Oberyn Martel.
In the North, Tyrion finds out that Olivia hasn't been to Winterfell since she went to Kingslanding 4 years ago. He sent a letter to his father and then enjoyed the North with all its comfort.
When he came through Saltspear the sight of Borrowtown took him by surprise. The place is not barren or without any vegitation anymore. As soon as you enter the North there are tall wallls and even larger buildings the endless stream of transparent glass houses with numerous crops can be seen after entering the 'housing district ' as they call it.
People here eat better than him. They have coffee, beer and many other things he hasn't had before. This was bought at a simple inn. Down South food like this is paid good money for. The alcohol is plentiful especially that strong stuff they call vodka.
The news is that Olivia is probably somewhere close, protecting the North from harms way. He heard about a fleet of ships coming to attack the North sent by Myr because of the wine sold by Winterfell. They say she came riding the waves like a mermaid and brought forth stoms to swallow all the ships before returning back into the ocean.
They say she has turned into a mermaid guardian of the North. If you go into the sea and pray to her, she will fulfill your wishes. Tyrion doesn't believe this but he paid for a few soldiers who were there and they told him what really happened.
He made a final decision to go North. If she is still around she is most probably North of the wall. First he will spend a few more days gathering information to make sure she is not south of the wall and then he will go freeze his balls off in the Nights watch.
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