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What is dead may never die (Chapter 91)
🕑 Added 2023-10-11 15:36:30 +0000 UTCThe trap for the rats
Loras POV
It wasn’t surprising that nobody cared about the Mountain. Even the Hound didn’t bother to take the body of his brother. The last I saw of the Mountain was when he was lifted on the cart after removing his armor. I didn’t care where he was thrown out. I didn’t think he would be coming home. The Lannister might still use him one last time and gift it to the Martells.
Apart from my father’s anger directed at me, my standing in the Red Keep didn’t change much. I could tell more spies were watching me, but I didn’t care about them. I could always slip away from them in the city, and I got used to the rats in the Red Keep. Still, I was careful around the Lannisters. Tywin wouldn’t do anything to me, but Cersei became more hysterical as days passed.
“Ser Loras, your victory in the trial by combat against Ser Gregor Clegane was spectacular. It's a testament to your strength and commitment to seeking justice.”
I should have expected Varys to find me sooner rather than later. His presence got all the rats around me to keep better attention. Everyone was waiting for Varys to say something so they could bring it to their masters and get a slice of cheese. Varys knew it, too. So, every word coming from him would be well calculated.
“My commitment to seeking justice?” I snorted. “If you cared about justice, you wouldn’t have testified against Tyrion, knowing well that he was innocent.”
“I only told the truth, nothing more, nothing less,” Varys replied. “It is my duty to gather and spread information to the people.”
“You say that,” I stood up from the bench I was sitting on to look at Vary’s eyes. “But your actions tell another story. You haven’t provided valuable information to the royal family for too long. You are useless; you know what it is done to be useless people in Red Keep.”
“No need to threaten me, ser Loras,” Varys replied. “I know far too well what it is done to people who fail in their duties.”
It was only a matter of time before Varys was replaced. But Tywin knew how resourceful and tricky Varys could be, so there was no way Tywin would let Varys live. I could tell he had come to me to remind me of that. It was now or never if I wanted to use him for anything. And he knew well that I needed him.
“Go whore yourself to someone else,” I replied, leaving him.
I could tell he understood my message by smiling back at me. I only hoped he could find where the hell Tyrion had gone to. The day after I earned his freedom, he just disappeared. If his little squire hadn’t vanished with him, I would have thought that Tywin would have killed him and thrown his body into the river or something along those lines.
Even Tywin Lannister couldn’t hide two bodies so soon from the eyes surrounding the Red Keep. Varys definitely would have known it. But Tyrion was clever, so it wouldn’t be too difficult to disappear if he got an opportunity. I wouldn't care about him if he had given me the gold and information he promised me.
…
Flea Bottom is a downtrodden area of town, rife with poverty and crime. It is a maze of twisty, unpaved alleys and cross-streets below the Street of Flour on the way down the east side of Rhaenys's Hill. There is no better place to get rid of the rats following me. If they didn’t get lost and stuck close to me, they have only themselves to blame as they bleed out in the narrow alleys beneath buildings, leaning on each other.
Once you get dirt on your face and hear the smell of piss, shit, and blood wash over you, even the keenest eyes will turn away in disgust. Lannisters and my family would never learn. How could they? They have never experienced anything like that in their whole lives. And it wasn’t like they didn’t have people to throw away doing pointless things.
As always, Lady Eri left my room empty for me to jump in from the window without anyone noticing me. After changing my clothes and cleaning the blood from my hands and dirt from my face, I entered the brothel and mingled with the lustful and drunken patrons. Soon, a few girls took me by my arms and dragged me into a private room.
“You know, when I heard that you would fight the Mountain, I thought finally that fool went and killed himself,” Lady Eri’s voice was calm, but I could hear anger. “What were you thinking?”
“I got a chance to kill the Mountain, and I took it,” I replied as we were left alone.
“As fool as you are, I am glad you are alive,” Lady Eri said. “Your little friend came to leave you something.”
“My little friend?” I asked.
“Tyrion Lannister,” Lady Eri replied, pointing at the chest in the corner of the room. “He came in the early morning hours and left what he owned you. Then, after he took food and wine, he left.”
“How much food did he take?” I asked.
“For nine, maybe ten days,” Lady Eri replied. “Plentiful until he reached the next village.”
“Or he simply wanted us to think that he took off on a horse, not the ship,” I said. “The dwarf is clever like that, but at least he kept his promise.”
“That is a lot of gold,” Lady Eri said. “More than one man could spend in their life.”
“Trust me, it's just a change for most lords in the Red Keep.”
“That was before the war. Now, every gold dragon is important. I had some knights trying to haggle the price for my girls.”
I smiled at her. She always knew how to cheer me up. Tyrion Lannister has left enough cold to hire a small sellsword company. It was probably gold taken from my family anyway. It should be enough for my plans. And information about the Lannister men was more than enough to look for my next target.
“And I thought you left that life once you left the flea bottom,” Lady Eri said.
“I left the shit and blood, but it didn’t leave me,” I replied. “If Stannis and Robb can’t kill the Lannisters, I must do it. Or at least weaken them enough for someone else to finish them.”
“You think they will leave your family alone if you do this?”
“I hope. And it is better than leaving our fate to the hands of the Lannisters,” I answered. “I am not afraid to bow my head and bend my knee.”
“Your family already considers you a traitor,” Lady Eri said. “They will never acknowledge your actions, not after you killed the Mountain.”
“As long as they are alive, they can despise me as much as they want.”
“You have given me a headache,” Lady Eri rubbed her brow in frustration. “I thought you hated them.”
“I do,” I replied. “But they are still my family. They don’t deserve the power they have or the power they are after, but they don’t deserve to be killed off by anyone.”
“I will not pretend to understand your feelings,” Lady Eri said. “Your quest is waiting for you in the second room.”
“Can you take care of corpses?” I asked.
“With so many soldiers coming looking to release their frustrations on my poor girls, I had to find a way or two to remove them permanently. Of course, I wouldn’t risk angering the Lannister or the Tyrells, so yes, I can take care of a corpse or two without anyone noticing.”
I nodded in thanks, and after closing the chest full of gold coins, I left Eri’s solar. It was already late into the night, so most patrons were too drunk or too focused on the girls on their laps to notice me pass them. When she saw me, one of the girls pointed at the room, and I followed her directions. Inside the room, Varys was waiting.
“I thought Cersei had already gotten her hands on your neck,” Varys said as I entered the room.
“Why would you think so?” I asked, furrowing my eyebrows.
“She has started to hire various people.”
“What kind of people?”
“Deplorable ones,” Varys replied. “The kind that would do anything for the shine of the coin.”
“So, you can be useful when you want to,” I said, taking a seat.
“Nothing escapes my eyes in King’s Landing.”
“So, what did you want to talk about?”
“Our time in this city is running out, ser Loras,” Varys answered. “If you wish to get out of here, now is our only chance.”
“And where would I go?” I asked. “You mentioned the Golden Company. Why would I be interested in joining them?”
“Is your fight over with Lannisters, ser Loras?”
“The Lannisters must pay for their crimes one way or another.”
“Indeed, they must, and we share a common enemy in House Lannister. They have murdered countless people for various reasons. Lord Renly wasn’t the first nor the last,” Varys said. “The Golden Company will give you the way to get justice.”
“Enough of your games,” I was close to losing my temper, but I knew better than to shout. “In my eyes, you are no better than the Lannisters, so if you want me to go somewhere, I will need something solid, not your vague bullshit.”
“I want you to come with me to Essos,” Varys replied.
“I have the means to do so myself,” I said. “I can go anywhere I want, and I don’t need your help.”
“Yet you still wanted to meet me.”
“I wanted to hear what you had to say, but if you don’t have anything, I will leave you be,” I replied, standing from my seat.
“Aegon Targaryen, who has a rightful claim to the Iron Throne, is the key to delivering that justice we both desire.”
I stopped and looked at Vary’s eyes. “You want to use a dead prince’s name?”
“Dead to most, but Aegon Targaryen, son of Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, is alive, and it is with the Golden Company. Aegon has been shaped for rule since before he could walk. He has been trained in arms, as befits a knight to be, but that was not the end of his education. He reads and writes. He speaks several tongues. He has studied history, law, and poetry. A septa has instructed him in the mysteries of the Faith since he was old enough to understand them. He has lived with fisherfolk, worked with his hands, swum in rivers, mended nets, and learned to wash his clothes at need. He can fish and cook and bind up a wound. He knows what it is like to be hungry, hunted, and afraid. Joffrey has been taught that kingship is his right. Aegon knows that kingship is his duty, that a king must put his people first and live and rule for them.”
I laughed at his words. I couldn’t stop. Varys looked surprised by my reaction. But he couldn’t blame me. It was the most absurd thing I have ever heard. Maybe there was some truth in his words. No, he wouldn’t lie to me if he intended to show this Aegon to me. But he still thought of me as naïve or maybe desperate. I could tell Varys understood what I had to endure while living in Flea Bottom.
“You made one mistake, Lord Varys,” I replied after finally able to stop laughing.
“And what would that mistake be?”
“I am not some sob story for you to use as you like,” I said, and before he could even realize, I slashed his throat open and leaned to his ear. “If what you said is true and Aegon is a worthy king, I will welcome him with open arms. But rats like you don’t belong in this world. Don’t worry. I will send more rats your way soon.”
As Vary’s lifeless body fell to the ground, I backed off and stabbed the dagger I used into his back. I felt sorry for Lady Eri, who would have to take care of the body. But I needed Vary’s body to be discovered. After all, how would everyone realize that the ones who testified against Tyrion are dying if their bodies can’t be found?
