While the Dragon Queen was on her way to Casterly Rock, Tyrion beneath the Red Keep finally broke through the last tunnel.
"Above us are the black cells and the cellar. The dungeon has four levels, and in the cellar lies Balerion's skull," Tyrion said weakly, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.
After learning of the massacre at Casterly Rock, he had been desperate to return, wishing he could teleport there instantly. But with Cersei so close at hand, he could not abandon things halfway. He forced himself to press on, overexerting his mental and magical strength to guide the dragonworms in scouting the path.
Compared to his earlier estimate, he had finished at least seven or eight hours ahead of time.
"Are you alright? Can you still go up with me?" Jaime asked, forcing himself to stay alert despite his exhaustion.
He was no better off than the dwarf. Although he had not stayed up working, the events at Casterly Rock and the ongoing war in King's Landing had left him burning with anxiety, unable to sleep.
"Don't rush. Let's rest for two hours first. We need to recover our mental strength to deal with whatever fighting comes next," Tyrion said, grabbing Jaime's arm and forcing him to sit down.
"Varys?" Tyrion called toward the tunnel entrance.
The eunuch had already gone up ahead to scout.
After a while, the sound of long boots pounding against stone floors grew nearer, accompanied by Varys's increasingly clear, labored breathing.
"Seven hells, Euron has gone mad!" Varys's terrified shout arrived before he even descended the steps.
"He's gone insane. He's filled the crypt with wildfire jars. Hundreds of tons!" the eunuch revealed a shocking truth.
"Euron wants to blow up the Red Keep?" Tyrion and Jaime shot to their feet, their expressions changing drastically.
Trembling, Varys said, "I've been wondering why Stannis's army never encountered wildfire attacks.
I even thought perhaps Euron was thinking of the bigger picture and saving it to fight the White Walkers.
But it turns out that madman, once he realized he couldn't hold King's Landing, decided to destroy the Red Keep and take Stannis down with him."
As he finished speaking, the fear faded from his face, replaced by a thoughtful look. If Stannis entered the Red Keep and the wildfire was ignited, even the Lord of Light would not be able to save him.
It almost seemed worth trying.
"We have to rescue Cersei before the Red Keep is destroyed," Jaime said urgently.
"No, we can't let Euron blow up the Red Keep!" Tyrion waved his hands repeatedly, his expression serious. "If the Red Keep is destroyed, not only will we lose a massive stockpile of wildfire, but the walls of King's Landing will be left with a huge breach.
Moreover, in the Dragon Queen's strategy, even if King's Landing falls, the Red Keep and the Great Sept of Baelor must remain as anchors, firmly blocking the path of the White Walkers' advance south."
"You'll understand once you see it. There's too much. We can't move it all," Varys said helplessly.
"Send word to Dragonstone. Ravens are too slow. Deliver a message to the Faith and have them use a glass candle to contact the Dragon Queen," Tyrion said.
After a moment of hesitation, Varys nodded firmly. "That could work."
He then turned to Jaime. "What about you? With the Dragon Queen involved, there's no need to risk going up anymore, is there?"
"I don't think calling her will help. Euron is already planning to blow up the Red Keep. Why would he care about her? It's safer to rescue Cersei first. I'm going up no matter what," Jaime said firmly.
After thinking for a moment, Tyrion said, "Varys, wait here. We'll go up first and scout the situation."
The wide tunnel was paved with stone slabs, echoing with their footsteps. On both sides of the dark passage were one-meter-high stone platforms, upon which were neatly arranged the skulls of dragons born after House Targaryen took control of the Seven Kingdoms.
Like shrines, they commemorated the vanished glory of the Targaryens.
Now, under the dim glow of the lantern, what lay ahead were no longer black skulls that swallowed light, but rows of neatly stacked, eerie green glass jars.
Walking among them, Tyrion felt a strange thrill, as though he were unleashing a crescent-shaped slash within a dragon's maw.
"There should be more wildfire in King's Landing than this," Tyrion said as they reached the end of the cellar, puzzled.
"You still think this is too little? This is enough to send the Red Keep flying," Varys exclaimed.
"This isn't about too much or too little. We need to find where the rest of the wildfire is stored," Tyrion said.
"Before the Battle of Winterfell, the Dragon Queen took one hundred tons from Randyll Tarly," Jaime said.
"That still doesn't seem right…"
As they spoke, they had already left the cellar.
The Red Keep had two layers, inner and outer. The inner layer housed the royal family, including the Queen Mother's Tower, Maegor's Holdfast for the king and queen, the Maidenvault, and the White Sword Tower. The outer layer housed officials, such as the Grand Maester's rookery, the Hand's Tower (which had been burned by Cersei), and the judges' chambers above the four-level dungeon.
Between the two layers stood a wall and a moat that remained dry year-round. Rusted iron spikes lined the battlements, used specifically to display the heads of traitors.
For instance, Eddard Stark's head and those of others from Winterfell had once been mounted there. The infamous scene where Joffrey forced Sansa to look at her father's head had taken place at that very spot.
The problem now was that Maegor, who had built the tunnels, was no fool. The secret passages only led to the outer layer of the Red Keep, such as the Hand's Tower and the rookery.
The inner royal areas, like Maegor's Holdfast and the Queen Mother's Tower, could not be accessed directly.
In the original account, Tywin had died in the Hand's Tower in the outer layer. When Varys killed Kevan, he had to lure him out of the inner royal area and eliminate him in the Grand Maester Pycelle's rookery.
Now, Tyrion and Jaime had to cross that wall.
Fortunately, most soldiers were engaged in battle outside the city, and the defenses inside the Red Keep were as lax as expected.
Besides the main bronze gate, there were several smaller side entrances.
At this moment, Jaime felt grateful he had brought the dwarf along.
No matter the door, whether locked or barred, all fell to Tyrion's nimble fingers.
Along the way, they dealt with seven or eight guards before finally stepping onto the stone stairs of the Queen Mother's Tower.
"Cersei! Cersei!" Jaime shouted anxiously as he ran up the steps.
At the entrance, he and Tyrion killed two Ironborn, but found none of the Faith's knights who should have been there.
By the time they reached the outer chamber of the Queen Mother's bedroom, even the septa was nowhere to be seen.
Jaime grew more anxious. He pushed hard against the thick oak door but could not move it. He had no choice but to open the small hatch above it, and immediately a faint, foul stench drifted out.
"Jai…me…?" After repeated calls and pounding on the door, a weak, hoarse voice, like that of a female ghost, came from inside.
"Cersei, it's me! It's Jaime! I've come to save you! How are you?" Jaime began ramming the door with his knee and hacking at the lock with his Valyrian steel sword.
"Jaime, what are you doing? Why are you making so much noise?" Tyrion shouted from below.
"No…" The lock broke, and the oak door opened. As Jaime stepped into the dark, cold bedroom filled with the stench of blood, he collapsed into a wail of despair.
It was like a grieving woman discovering a child's mutilated corpse.
"Seven hells…" Tyrion, who had rushed over, took one look before cursing and stepping back out.
"Come back. Help treat her," Jaime called.
With no choice, Tyrion returned, deliberately avoiding looking at her face, which had been slashed countless times, and her lower body, stained with blood and filth. Instead, he placed his hands on her bruised chest where flesh had been torn away. White light flickered, bringing her a trace of warmth and vitality.
"Sob… Has House Lannister at Casterly Rock been wiped out?" Cersei cried weakly through her broken teeth.
Caught off guard, both Jaime and Tyrion froze.
"How do you know?" Tyrion asked.
"Sob… Euron said Casterly Rock is finished, that I'm useless now… He couldn't perform anymore, so he had the Ironborn take turns violating me.
Last night, many of them died. He said he would reward the soldiers with their queen to boost morale…"
"Beast! I'll kill him!" Jaime's eyes nearly split with rage. His clenched fists broke skin, blood seeping out, yet he felt nothing.
His anger and regret nearly burst his chest.
Tyrion asked darkly, "Where are the septa and the Faith's knights?"
"The knights were chopped up and fed to dogs. Septa Moelle was also violated by the Ironborn. They killed her in front of the Mother's statue, then threw her body into the sea with a trebuchet as an offering to the Drowned God."
As Cersei spoke, her throat convulsed, and foul, blood-tinged bile spilled from the corner of her mouth.
"Has Euron gone mad?!" Jaime said in disbelief.
Cersei opened her blood-clouded eyes and struggled to focus. When she recognized the man beside her, tears welled up again in eyes that had already run dry.
"He hates Matthew for crippling his magic. He wants to blow up the Red Keep and use King's Landing as a blood sacrifice. He said after this, he would return home with glory and wealth, sit in the Iron Islands, and wait for another chance to rise."
"Don't worry. We've already discovered the wildfire in the Red Keep's cellar. We won't let him succeed," Jaime said softly, holding her face.
"No, no, no! Don't look at me. Please, don't look at me…" As tears washed the blood from her eyes, her vision cleared. She saw the man she loved, still as handsome as in her dreams, and at the same time saw her own current state.
She broke down, sobbing uncontrollably, tugging at the straw blanket to cover her filthy body.
But she had been tormented too severely the previous night and had no strength left. She could only let out weak, kitten-like cries.
Tyrion's eyes stung, and two clear tears fell. He quickly unfastened the lion-headed clasp on his shoulder and draped his embroidered cloak, bearing the red dragon and golden lion, over her.
She clutched the cloak tightly, pulling it up to cover herself completely. Yet she longed to look at the man before her, who wept like a child. Slowly, she lowered it again, leaving only a narrow slit to see through.
"Mother, why have you given us such a fate? Why?" Jaime cried, holding Cersei tightly.
Tyrion was deeply saddened, tears still on his face, but hearing Jaime's wail, he could not help but form a twisted smile.
"The Mother only left behind a scripture to tell people what to do. As for how things are done and how they end, she does not care.
Don't doubt it. She told me so herself. She said not to blame fate, because fate has nothing to do with her."
Jaime ignored him, and Cersei stared only at Jaime.
"Jaime, you're so cruel. After our last argument, you left King's Landing. It's been over two years, and you didn't send me a single letter. I got married, and you didn't come for me. You bastard!"
"I was captured. I wanted to come back, but I couldn't leave!" Jaime cried.
"Who captured you?"
"I… I swore an oath. I can't say!" Jaime said in anguish.
"You're still trying to lie to me? Were you hiding somewhere with that ugly Brienne, having children?" Cersei accused through tears.
Jaime…
(End of chapter)
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