To the Dreadfort
POV of Tyrion Lannister
"I…" Mance hesitated. "As much I would like to say no, at the risk of sounding superstitious like many others, I feel that the Old Gods are indeed favoring him. Even if Lord Bolton himself didn't make any comment on this subject."
Tyrion just stared at the Ambassador who had been more honest with him than anyone in King's Landing would ever be with anyone. And he found himself wondering if Lord Bolton was truly blessed by the gods.
He was not a superstitious man but the things he had seen in the Bolton lands so far, the prosperity, the wealth, and the things he knew he was about to see soon, had caused him to question whether the Old Gods really existed and whether they are really helping Lord Bolton.
He wondered what it must be like to be favored by the gods. He supposed he would also see that soon enough.
"On that note. I almost forgot…" Ambassador Mance said and handed him an enveloped letter with the sigil of House Bolton, the Weirwood one, not the Flayed Man one, on it.
"What's this?" he asked as he looked at the paper which had a fine print that seemed to be printed by the Printing Press that he had heard so much about.
"It's a warning from Lord Bolton to any and all Lords and nobles that enter his domain," Mance explained to him. "In the last tourney held by Lord Bolton, many lords came to his domain. A lot of their men treated the small folk like they did in their own domain. The results were… not pretty. Now there are a few hundred more men in the Night's Watch. And Lord Bolton has earned a few more enemies in the Lords of those men."
"I… see." He said as he carefully read through the paper seeing how even an assault or rape of one of the smallfolk women was considered a criminal offense with the criminal either losing both his hands, being sent to the wall, or paying a fine of 20 gold dragons.
"It seems like Lord Bolton favors his people even more than the Starks." He said as he continued to read through the paper.
"He does," Mance said with a smile. "He once told me that his people were like his children. And he was like their father. I doubt even the Starks are as loved by their own people as Domeric is on his own."
"I… see." This was something new for him. Down in the South, there were a lot of rumors about Lord Bolton and his lands. But none of them entailed how he dealt with the smallfolk.
But then again, down in King's Landing, no one truly cares for the smallfolk.
He was reminded of his own father and with a sharp pain in his heart, he was reminded of Tysha. His first wife. And how she was raped by 50 men on the order of his father for the crime of being a lowborn who dared to marry a Lannister.
"Are you alright Tyrion," Mance asked in a surprisingly soft voice, and he realized with sudden clarity that tears were streaking down his cheeks.
He quickly wiped them off, wondering why he was acting so vulnerable in front of this man that he had not even known for a day.
"Bad memories?" Mance asked once he had wiped his eyes and he nodded, not elaborating anymore and thankfully, Mance didn't ask anymore.
"To love and be loved by his own people…" Tyrion said, mostly to himself. "Tell me, Ambassador Mance. Did you know that I was once a married man?"
"No. I don't believe I've heard anything about you being married to anyone."
"No, you wouldn't have. My father did everything to remove any rumors about my marriage with the threat of torture and death." He said and chuckled bitterly as he clenched his fists and took out a wine bottle from his stash under his seat. He was going to need it for this talk.
He didn't even know why he was telling anything to this man. But it was good to finally talk about this to someone.
Mance remained silent and just listened. So, he continued his tragic tale.
How one day, while traveling with his brother Jaime, they rescued a crofter's daughter who was almost raped. How he stayed behind to comfort Tysha, that was her name, while Jaime went after the criminals. How they liked each other in the short time they spent together. How he bribed a drunken Septon into marrying them.
How after two weeks of marriage, everything suddenly took a completely different turn. How Jaime told him that their encounter with Tysha was a set-up, that he had organized the event that day by paying a prostitute and some men because he thought it was time for Tyrion to be with a woman. How Tysha really is just a whore.
How then his father Tywin learned that Tyrion had married a commoner, and a prostitute at that. How he sends 50 of his bodyguards to be with Tysha. Forcing Tyrion to watch the whole thing. How Tysha didn't even attempt to struggle. How the guards left a silver coin in Tysha's hand each time.
How in the end there were too many silver coins to count, and Tysha's palms were full but a small hill of silver coins formed in front of her.
It was without a doubt the worst day of Tyrion's life. Being cheated on by the woman he loved and who was his wife hurt him deeply. After that day, he could not feel romantic feelings for anyone.
And, the fact that his father had offered his wife to his bodyguards, even though she was a commoner, even a prostitute, had awakened a hatred in him that he had never imagined could exist.
Tywin Lannister was Tyrion Lannister's most hated person in the world, father or no father. And it was more than impossible for anyone else to surpass Tywin Lannister in that regard.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.124: Lundenhold
Ch.125: One Last Experiment