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[CASTLE BLACK, GREAT HALL]
"So you admit you murdered Qhorin Halfhand?"
"I didn't murder him. He wanted me to kill him."
"A bastard son of a traitor. What would you expect?"
"Fuck sake, he's still alive" Tyrion sighed. Why couldn't someone take the hint and throw his ass overboard on the way?
"He'll be a problem for Jon" Jaime mused.
"The Halfhand believed our only chance to stop Mance was to get a man inside his army."
"Don't talk about the Halfhand as if you knew him. He was my brother."
"Then you'd know he'd do anything to defend the Wall. The free folk would have boiled him alive, but letting me kill him..."
"The free folk? Listen to him. He even talks like a wildling now."
"Aye, I talk like a wildling. I ate with the wildlings. I climbed the Wall with the wildlings. I... I laid with a wildling girl."
"You admit to breaking your vows, then?"
"I'm fairly certain the vows say nothing about laying with a woman" Tyrion drawled.
"He's trying to assert himself, the rascal" Jaime snorted.
"The law is the law. The boy must die."
"If we beheaded every ranger who lay with a girl, the Wall would be manned by headless men."
"Yeah, you tell 'em Maester!" Arya cheered. She would not accept her brother losing his head for fucking a girl!
"There's a difference between sneaking off to the Mole's Town brothel and sleeping with the enemy."
"A woman is a woman" Tyrion shrugged. "You forget who the enemy is when you burn with desire."
"Must you?" Joanna sighed.
Myrcella had Tommen's ears covered, but she had heard it all and was blushing furiously.
"While we sit here debating which rules I broke, Mance Rayder marches on the Wall with an army of 100,000."
"Impossible. You can't get 50 wildlings together before they start killing each other.
"100,000. He's united the Thenns, the Hornfoots, and the ice-river clans. He has giants fighting for him."
[JANOS SLYNT laughs]
"Giants?"
"Have you ever been beyond the Wall, ser?"
"I commanded the City Watch of King's Landing, boy."
"And now you're here. You must not have been very good at your job."
Tyrion snickered.
"There's a band of wildlings south of the Wall already led by Tormund Giantsbane. I killed their warg and three others. They shot me full of arrows. Their orders are to attack Castle Black from the south when Mance hits it from the north. The signal for the attack will be a bonfire. Mance said it would be the greatest fire the North has ever seen. That's the truth. All the truth. Do you intend to execute me or am I free to go?"
"Hard to do when you've made yourself invaluable to them" Jaime smirked. There was a certain leader-esque aspect to what Jon had done. Rhaegar had done the same multiple times against his father to ensure the mad fool did not burn him too.
"None of us are free. We are men of the Night's Watch. But we won't be taking your head today, Jon Snow. Go on."
[JON nods and leaves. MAESTER AEMON stands to leave, frail and helped by his assistant. He moves slowly down the wooden stairs from the dais to the floor.]
"I am acting commander here, Maester Aemon."
"Yes, you are."
"And I don't trust the bastard."
"I don't trust you either" Jon rolled his eyes.
"He told the truth."
"And you always know when a man's telling a lie? How did you acquire this magical power?"
"I grew up in King's Landing."
"People often forget who his family was and what he grew up in before taking his vows" Rhaegar sighed.
"Life must have been hard for him," Daenerys said sadly.
"He took his vows so people wouldn't use him to depose his brothers and cousins for the throne. He's been through much even before House Targaryen was reduced to two people."
"One though he doesn't know viserys is dead as by that time only Daenerys was alive" Elia stated
Rhaegar nodded his head in disappointment.
[ESSOS]
[The unsullied are marching past DAENERYS and MISSANDEI, who stand on a cliff overlooking the shore while they converse. Footsteps approach, and DAARIO NAHARIS enters.]
"You were told to ride at the back of the train."
"Yes, my queen. But I need to speak to you about something important. A matter of strategy."
[DAENERYS signals for MISSANDEI to leave them. MISSANDEI exits.]
"All right, what is this matter of strategy?"
[DAARIO presents DAENERYS with a purple flower.]
"Some strategy" Arya snorted. He was trying to weasel back in.
"A dusk rose."
"Would you like to walk at the back of the train instead of riding?"
[DAENERYS starts to walk away, but DAARIO follows and presents her with another small flowering plant, this one is white.]
"Well he's persistent" Sansa smiled. As open-eyed as she was, seeing something romantic was still something of a thrill to her.
"And this one's called lady's lace."
"Would you like to walk without shoes?"
"You have to know a land to rule it. It's plants, it's rivers, it's roads, it's people. Dusk rose tea eases fever. Everyone in Meereen knows that. Especially the slaves who have to make the tea. If you want them to follow you, you have to become a part of their world. Strategy."
"Smart man" Tyrion smirked. No better way to get closer to a woman than to use her interests and hopes to your advantage.
Arya's face scrunched up with concentration. It would be nice to learn those things, would be useful. She'd prefer that over learning flower arranging!
[DAARIO presents her with a red flower.]
"Harpy's Gold. No tea from this one. Beautiful but poisonous."
[DAARIO presents the three flowers to DAENERYS in a small bouquet.]
[A man shouts in valerian. She joins, BARRISTAN SELMY, JORAH, GREY WORM and MISSANDEI. They have found a mile marker, festooned by a woman's corpse who points the way to Mereen.]
"What... is this" Margaery asked in shock.
"Cruelty," Varys said coldly. He was in those lands once, and he'd seen too much. Even years of it had not desensitized him to it.
Daenerys bit her lips to hold back the curse at the back of her throat. She'd need to deal with these people. She needed to plan for it once she returned. She could not have these people suffering.
"There's one on every mile marker between here and Meereen."
"How many miles are there between here and Meereen?"
"163, Your Grace."
"163 slaves" Daenerys muttered in horror. How could these people do such a thing?!
"I'll tell our men to ride ahead and bury them. You don't need to see this."
"You will do no such thing. I will see each and every one of their faces. Remove her collar before you bury her."
She understood the command. Daenerys wanted to see each face so she could stoke her flames to bring down the cruelty of the masters.
[KING'S LANDING.]
[SANSA stands on the shore with eyes closed. BRIENNE and JAIME stand on the cliff above. SANSA comes up from the shore. She hears something and realizes that she is not alone. She quickens her pace through the woods. A man trails her, stealthily. She speeds her walk, and comes to a table.]
"Ser Dontos. The king's nameday celebration. I'm sorry. I should have remembered."
"Guess he's got legitimate reasons to remain drunk now" Margaery made a face.
"He's lucky to still be alive, knowing how Joffrey is" Sansa murmured.
"I can't accept your apology. I may be a fool, but I'm a living fool, thanks to you."
"Anyone would have done the same."
"They would not," Margaery said with a smile. "Nobody would risk earning Joffrey's displeasure."
"I don't blame them" Sansa blanched. She knew how cruel Joffrey could be. She was seeing it right now.
"But only you did. I can never repay you. You gave me my life. But this, this is worth more than my life.''
[SER DONTOS gives SANSA a necklace with blue stones. SANSA looks closely at it.]
"Pretty necklace" Sansa's eyes sparkled. Oh, those blue stones would match her eyes so well!
"An expensive-looking gift" Olenna mused. "Wonder how he can afford that."
"He was a Knight once. Perhaps it's a family heirloom" Margaery suggested.
"No knight from a well enough family will end up as stupid as he was" Olenna rolled her eyes.
"You smell a plot," Margaery said finally.
"I always smell a plot, dear" Olenna hummed.