Mother Of Monsters [GoT]

𝔰𝔦𝔵.

"What were you two doing last night?" Vaela sat casually beside Jaime and ignored his brother's questions. It was a game, really, but she was the best player. She could ignore them for moons if she needed. Jaime laughed quietly and went to sit beside Tyrion. "Guess you left her speechless, eh?"

She smiled genuinely but refused to be distracted by the Lannisters' teasing. "Why are we here, Tyrion?" The short man smiled kindly and sat on his seat across from her.

"I needed to speak with my brother...didn't know you would be a part of it," the man replied. She smiled innocently and picked up a book laid out of the desk. Her shoulder was sore as she extended her arm but the moment she returned her arm to her side, the pain disappeared. "The Battle Strategies of King's Landing, by the Archmaester Castos." She opened in at a random page and let herself be immersed. She ignored both Jaime and Tyrion as they spoke of this and that, only reading and hearing the words in her mind.

King's Landing has never been breached by force, it's true. The closest it has come to falling was to Rhaenyra Targaryen during the Dance of the Dragons. Even then, the city fell from attacks within and never had to face a full attack by outsiders. She looked up from her book to see Jaime watching her. "King's Landing has never fallen...not from a wholly outside attack."

Tyrion nodded thoughtfully. "The only times it did was during the Dance of the Dragons, by the common folk. They killed all of the dragons who remained in the city, slaughtered thousands of their own and destroyed the Dragon Pit. And when my father took the city for the Baratheon cause." The end of the Targaryens was when they started to cage their dragons, Vaela thought to herself. She looked back towards the page and turned it. On the other side, a drawing of a dragon caught her eye. "What else have you read?"

"Six dragons died in the city during the riots. Three remained outside of it, only to be killed later by their riders' negligence." She couldn't keep the bitterness out of her voice, glaring at the drawing of a dragon's lifeless corpse.

Bronn walked in, then, his eyes scanning the room and falling on Vaela. "I thought we were planning the defense of the city, now we're talking about dragons?" He laughed but there was no bitterness in his voice. He sat at the chair beside Tyrion's desk with a loud groan. "Do we know who we're planning for?"

"Stannis, I'm guessing," Vaela said quietly. "He's the one with a fleet strong enough and an ego big enough." Bronn laughed a little and she smiled at it.

Again, Vaela ignored the men and their talking to read another page in the book she'd taken. During the reign of the Mad King, the city was sacked and taken after the Kingslayer killed the King Aerys and allowed his father passage through the gates. Had he not done this, the city would have remained sacked for the moons or years to come until an imbalance between sides would lead to a victory. "The city would have burned to ash," she murmured angrily. Jaime was the only one to hear her and glanced her way.

With a silent glance, she beckoned him to sit at her side and read the page. "You saved the city," she explained at a whisper. "And no one will ever know." When he brushed up against her shoulder, she felt a sort of pain she'd never imagined. She didn't react outwardly but she wanted to swear a storm.

The Lannister man nodded, a certain sadness in his green eyes. "For the Realm." She did not believe that he meant what he said but she agreed all the same.

"Wonder what they're whispering about...sounding like a couple of fishwives on the docks," Bronn said to no one in particular. He pulled out his dagger and began to aimlessly carve away at a candle on Tyrion's desk. In no time, the shreds of wax piled at his feet.

"That's for us to know and you to wonder, sellsword." The man gave a short chuckle. "Tyrion," she turned her attention only to him. "What plans are in place if the city were to be attacked?"