Silver Stag

Preparing For Stannis

[King's Landing - Red Keep, Tyrion's Chambers]

Bronn and Lord Tyrion Lannister sat in his chambers. Tyrion was attempting to read, but he was quickly annoyed by Bronn's fingernail scraping with a compass.

"Do you have to do that here?"

"I like to keep me hands clean."

"Yes, but do you have to do it here?"

Bronn looked at Tyrion, then threw the compass down on the desk in front of him.

"You should start wearing the gold cloak."

"I don't want to wear a gold cloak."

"You're commander of the City Watch. You shouldn't be dressed like a common-"

"A cloak slows you down in a fight. Makes it hard to move quietly. And the gold catches the light, so you're nice and easy to spot at night."

"Well, you're not sneaking through alleyways any longer. You're supposed to stand out."

"We had a deal and wearing a gold cloak wasn't part of it."

"Fine, fine. No gold cloak."

Tyrion returned to his work. Bronn sucked his teeth and drummed his fingers, continuing to look at Tyrion.

"What?"

"What?"

"What? What? Why are you staring at me?"

Bronn scoffed. "You don't want me cleaning me nails. You don't want me looking your way. Why am I here?"

"To help me plan the defense of King's Landing."

Bronn laughed as he stood up, and began to pace around.

"Stannis will be here any day."

Bronn picked up a book from the pile as he walks past.

"And one of these explains how to beat him?"

Tyrion gestured to the volume that he was reading. " 'An History of the Great Sieges of Westeros' By Archmaester Shevelathin. Shevelatesh."

"Chevalteesh. I'd swap all your books for a few good archers."

Varys entered. "My Lord Hand. Commander. I must compliment you on the gold cloaks' performance these last few weeks. Did you know there has been a marked drop in thievery?" He sat.

"I did not know. And how did you accomplish this marked drop in thievery?" Tyrion asked.

"Me and the lads rounded up all the known thieves."

"For questioning?"

"No. It's just the unknown thieves we need to worry about now."

"We talked about this."

"Aye, we talked about it. Have you ever been in a city under siege? Maybe this part's not in your books. See, it's not the fighting that kills most people. It's the starving. Food's worth more than gold. Noble ladies sell their diamonds for a sack of potatoes. Things get bad enough, the poor start eating each other." Bronn sat back down at the table.

"The thieves, they love a siege. Soon as the gates are sealed, they steal all the food. By the time it's all over, they're the richest men in town."

Given the circumstances, my lord, I believe extreme measures are warranted." Varys said.

Bronn nodded.

"Ah. 'The Great Sieges of Westeros.' Thrilling subject. Shame Archmaester Ch'Vyalthan wasn't a better writer."