Lone Wolf || Tyrion Lannister

Chapter Nine

Despite himself, Lord Baelish smirked at the red-haired north girl. "I'm saving myself for another," he replied.

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her," Ros replied with a cheeky smile. She was smarter than anyone gave her credit for, however, she enjoyed playing the role. She learned a lot in her profession, while a deplorable position, Ros was content enough.

"A stupid saying," Lord Baelish scoffed. "What we don't know is usually what gets us killed."

"She must be very beautiful," Ros replied. She was curious about the Lord she would be working with. She knew of Lord Baelish and knew he was a dangerous man in his own way. If she was to work for him, she wanted to learn as much as she could.

"No, not really," Catelyn was a beautiful woman, however Lord Baelish knew that there was always someone out there who would be prettier than her. And he may have found just that woman, in an ironic sort of twist. The thought of the pretty young woman brought the faintest of smiles on his face. "Impeccable bloodlines, though."

"I do believe my Lord's in love," Ros teased, having caught the undertones of his voice.

"For many years," Lord Baelish admitted. "For most of my life, really." He mused, mostly to himself. "And she loved me too, I was her little confidant, her plaything." He smirked. "She could tell me anything, anything at all. She told me about all the horses she liked, the castle she wanted to live in, and the man that she wanted to marry."

In spite of himself, the thought of Brandon Stark still caused a flicker of irritation and ire to course through him. However, he let it go so as not to alert the woman before him. Lord Baelish could tell she was smart, at least, smarter than she was letting on.

Perhaps he could use her wit in the future.

"A Northerner," he continued. "With a jaw like an anvil," he suppressed a sneer. "So, I challenged him to a duel, I mean, why not?" He scoffed to himself. "I'd read all the stories; the little hero always beats the big villain in all the stories." How foolish he was in his youth. "In the end, she wouldn't even let him kill me. So, he gave me a nice little scar to remember him by, and off they went."

Lord Baelish had made a mistake in his youth; he fell in love with a girl and was willing to do silly things for her. He was not a fighter, not in the traditional sense. Therefore it was an idiotic notion that he could defeat Brandon in a duel. Now, Lord Baelish was determined not to make the same mistake again.

He was not going to let feelings for a woman be his downfall.

"Is she still married to him?" Ros questioned. She caught the underlying irritation he still felt towards the man, and couldn't help her curiosity. It wasn't uncommon for her to hear men speak of the woman they loved but lost to another. It seemed a common thing, so she wasn't surprised to know that it had happened to a man like Lord Baelish.

"Oh no," Lord Baelish mused. "He got himself killed before the wedding and she ended up marrying his brother." He remembered his morbid satisfaction when he heard that Brandon was killed by the Mad King. However, it did little in terms of his feelings towards Catelyn. "An even more impressive specimen, she loves him, I'm afraid." Lord Baelish sighed.

However, while Lord Baelish loved Catelyn, and was fairly certain there would always be a part of him that would, he now had his eyes set on another. It was a wicked plan he had in mind, one he hoped would work. He just needed to take the right steps and try and lead the girl down his desired path.

"Do you know what I learned, losing that duel?" Lord Baelish asked as he walked over to where she sat. "I learned that I'll never win, not that way." A sword wouldn't make Lord Baelish the victor, but his mind would. "That's their game, their rules. I'm not going to fight them; I'm going to fuck them." He smirked. "That's what I know, that's what I am. Only by admitting what we are can we get what we want."