What IF

Chapter 11

The Stunted Lion

Tyrion sat in the cells of Dragonstone pondering miserably at the poor state of his life. Everything had gone horribly, the only good thing was that he still had his head but Tyrion knew that was a temporary matter that would be soon resolved when he was no longer being leveraged to use against his father, not that his father would care. Something the Targaryens had no knowledge of at least.

Tyrion and Varys had been in their cells for almost a week or more, it had probably been a fortnight, he had truly lost his baring of time. He lounged in his cell that reeked of his chambering pot. He would admit that the cells were an improvement to the tormenting nightmare that was the sky cells of the Vale or the dark cells of the red keep. This had sunlight through the window with an ocean view and there was no fear of falling to your death as you slept.

He looked outside the railing prison bars were unsullied guards stood posted on the edge of the door. Tyrion tried to converse with them, to gather more information about them and their rulers but the men would only glare at him with an all-encompassing face. He truly couldn't talk his way out, his one gift that had always assured him safety. He then stared at the man who had a cell across from him. The man who put him in this conundrum.

For the past fortnight Varys had sat there with his shoulders hunched in complete silence. His eyes were red with rage and sadness. It took some prodding from Tyrion to take his daily meals, the imp didn't know why he was helping the mopey spider but he felt it best to have company before he inevitably gets executed.

Today was different as the spider had finally reemerged from the dark corner he was placated in and moved to the edge of the rails and glanced at Tyrion. He now looked more composed and the spider had the nerve to have a confident smirk about him. Gone was the wallower of yesterday.

'So the spider has crawled out of his web of misery' Tyrion commented dryly. Varys gave him a small smile.

'Forgive me my lord if I needed a minute to mourn my dead nephew. Given that you so recently lost your own in Tommen, I thought you would weep for me in solidarity' Varys replied in jest.

'Nobody weeps for spiders' Tyrion remarked bitterly.

'Or whores' Varys said with a knowing smile. Tyrion smiled back but his grin evaporated quickly and an unquenched rage washed over him.

'You're a fucking idiot. You know that right' Tyrion said flatly, hoping to keep the vitriol out of his mouth. Evidently it didn't work because Varys caught on to his tone. He kept his hands in his sleeves and eyed him with determination.

'Tell me Lord Tyrion, what angers you more, the fact that I hid this from you or the fact that you weren't smart enough to connect the dots yourself?' Varys questioned in that sing song voice of his that Tyrion detested. Tyrion's ire rose.

'What angers me Lord Varys is the fact that you brought us to House Targaryen. A house that has three full grown dragons, one hundred and twenty thousand infantry men at their disposal, a house that is so powerful that they can wipe out a whole city to ash in a matter of hours. A house that is hell bent on wiping out all their enemies. And now it has just been revealed that you are a Blackfyre, one of House Targaryens greatest enemies. A predicament that will most definitely ensure my death, that lord Varys is what angers me' Tyrion said as he seethed. He knew his anger was for naught. His death would be imminent but he felt that he was vindicated in his blame of the spider.

Varys much to Tyrion's annoyance didn't seem that perturbed; in fact by his demeanor the man seemed almost cheery.

'I apologize then for my assistance to lead you to your rage my dear friend, our plan has rather gone disastrously bad' Varys remarked somberly.