A Vow Without Honor

The Wars

Tyrion

He had been to the Reach precisely once, although it had been in his youth and was a memory long lost to him. According to the stories he'd been told, the servants had been tasked with shuffling him from one room to another, keeping him out of sight of the other nobility. Nevertheless, Lady Olenna had found his hiding place and was sorely disappointed to find nothing more than a stunted little boy.

It was probably the only time he'd considered being called stunted a fine thing. For the Queen of Thorns, it was a downright compliment.

Tyrion wished he was in Highgarden now, drunk on arbor wine and bursting with fireplums, likely lost in the hedge maze and burnt under the morning sun. Instead, he was in a large tent resting on some indistinguishable meadow near Nightsong. As Jaime had predicted, the occupants were none too happy to serve, greeting them with closed gates and nocked arrows. The castle had been put to siege over thirty times, and Tyrion had no doubt they were prepared for another, but Willas had surprised him by simply acknowledging their stance and asking that they remain neutral.

"Should we demand their allegiance, it will drive them to the Dornish all the faster," the young lord had explained. "We lose nothing if they remain impartial, but we stand to gain their trust should the enemy push them too far."

"And you think it could come to that?" he had asked.

Willas had shrugged. "They're Marchers, after all. I doubt Stannis Baratheon of all people is capable of inspiring enough love to outweigh their hatred of Dorne."

When Tyrion reached for the remnants of the previous night's drink, he toppled out of his bed and onto the ground. Blades of grass struck his face, despite two layers of rugs lying upon the earth. He cursed nature before resigning himself to his fate and closing his eyes again.

He'd barely grasped at sleep before the tent flap opened. The light of the outside world concentrated perfectly upon his face, before disappearing again as his visitor entered.

"Shall I have your bedding moved, Lord Tyrion?" Perwyn asked, standing at his side. The young Frey had insisted upon accompanying him to the Reach, perhaps to ease himself of the guilt just as his younger brother had done. Despite being knighted, Perwyn had taken on the responsibilities of a squire during their journey, bringing him wine and food, and keeping him alive in general. He hadn't minded and went about his tasks with a competency Tyrion had not expected to find in a Frey. Even so, he found himself missing Podrick more often than not.

"Humor like yours isn't appreciated in the mornings," Tyrion grumbled, hoisting himself off the ground.

"How relieving that it is midday then."

The days were getting shorter. It made being a drunk all the more difficult.

Tyrion looked up at the young knight who, for all his good qualities, still had the misfortune of a Frey appearance. His brown hair was thin and limp, his cheeks gaunt, which made his too long nose appear bigger than it was, but his eyes at least had a steady quality to them. He could hold a person's gaze during conversation, unlike most of his half-brothers. He'd donned the red of House Lannister, finding it safer to travel under, even in a new war that had nothing to do with House Frey.

"Thought I told you not to bother me unless you had wine?"

Perwyn shrugged, leaning his arm on the pommel of his sword. "You may wish to take that up with Lord Randyll. He has explicitly stated we are to no longer have access to the camp's supply."

"Tarly!" Tyrion spat, grabbing his unfortunately empty goblet and tossing it. "Robert couldn't have done us a favor and caved his chest instead."

The man had been a thorn in his side ever since the party joined the Tyrell forces two weeks back. If he wasn't attacking him for his stature, drunkenness, or overall Lannister quality, then it was criticizing his strategy and calling every syllable he uttered a waste of precious air. He could handle the questioning of his character or his mind; he would not tolerate both at once.