Chapter 47: "Intelligence Gathering"

(Year 294 AC)

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(Jamie Lannister POV)

"They're in here!" A man shouted from outside of the building Jamie was hiding in.

Gritting his teeth, Jamie vowed to kill the man who had sold him out, but first he had to deal with the immediate threat.

Standing just behind the door, Jamie waited until it burst open, and the first man crossed into the room before he moved. With a burst of speed, his sword took the first man's head from his shoulders, then faster than the eye could follow, Jamie drove a dagger into the eye of the next man who had entered seconds after the first.

With two men down, Jamie peered out the open door to see two more men about to enter, and behind them was the man who owned the house he was currently hiding in.

Seeing the two men, Jamie didn't hesitate to throw the dagger he was holding at the nearest man, being rewarded a second later when blood sprayed from the man's throat where the dagger had penetrated and causing the man to drop the spear he was holding.

Seeing as he was the final one, the fourth and last guard turned and tried to run away to get reinforcements. Not about to let the man get away, Jamie grabbed the fallen spear from the ground, and with a simple thrust through the back of the man's chest, he was done. Now it was just Jamie and the rat.

"W-W-Wait-! AH!" The man tried to beg for his life, but Jamie wasn't hearing it. A Lannister always pays his debts, and now he considered it paid in full.

With the immediate threat dealt with, Jamie looked around the area, and after seeing that the coast was clear, Jamie ran back into the building where the two dead men were still bleeding out on the floor.

Moving over to a corner of the room, Jamie moved a large box to the side, revealing a small inset in the wall where two small children were huddled together. The little girl was 3 years old, while the little boy huddled next to her was only 2, and they both shared Jamie's golden blonde hair.

"It's alright, I'm here." Jamie whispered softly to them as he helped them out from the space, he had hidden them.

"*Sniffle* Uncle?" Myrcella asked, looking on the verge of tears. Seeing her watery eyes, Jamie hesitated for a moment before he shook his head, then grabbed both of them at once before he carried them away from their current hiding place.

'I'm so sorry.' Jamie thought repeatedly, knowing this whole mess was all his fault. It wasn't their fault he had slept with his sister and got her pregnant. It wasn't their fault that King Robert found out the truth, and it certainly wasn't their fault when Robert called for their heads.

They were innocent in all of this, and now they might very well die for something they had no part of.

'No!' Jamie thought. He would not let them die. He couldn't stop what happened to Cersei or Joffrey, but he could stop anything from happening to his remaining children.

Running through the alleys of King's Landing, Jamie thought back to how this all came about.

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(Flashback)

Two days before, Jamie was in Cersei's room with her, late in the afternoon, and like he had been doing every day for the last week, he was begging her to flee with their children to Casterly Rock.

"I've told you already, I won't go! I am Queen, and soon enough, Joffrey will be King! Then these rumors won't matter!" Cersei exclaimed in that voice that made it sound like she was looking down on him. She had been doing that a lot lately.

Ever since he came back from Asteria and told her to leave Castian alone, she had been treating him coldly, and refused more often than not to listen to anything he had to say to her. Or reason.

"What do you think is going to happen when Robert finds out? Do you think he'll just let our children sit on the throne! He has no qualms about killing children. When Rhaegar's children were brought to him, he laughed at their mutilated states, and he didn't even know them!" Jamie tried to explain to her why they should leave, but she wasn't hearing it.

Both of them continued to argue for almost a full hour, but their quarrelling came to an abrupt halt when the door suddenly flew open, and a drunken Robert stepped into the room with his face twisted into a furious scowl.

Seeing him, or rather what he was carrying, Jamie's breath caught in his throat while the gasp from Cersei told him that she was just as shocked at the sight as he was. There, in his hand was the severed head of their eldest child, Joffrey.

"NOOO!!" Cersei cried out in horror. Despite the pain he felt at seeing his son's severed head in Robert's hand, Jamie didn't cry out in rage. He knew this was going to happen, and it was only the beginning.

"You whore! I'll mount your head on a spike!" Robert bellowed angrily at Cersei, his anger overpowering his drunkenness.

"And you! I'll mount your head alongside her's!" He added once he looked over at Jamie.

It wasn't lost on Jamie that that the greatest whoremonger in the known world was accusing his wife of being a whore herself, but he knew that now wasn't the time to say anything. Just keeping his head would already be an achievement.

Before Robert stepped closer, Ser Mandon Moore and Ser Arys Oakheart of the Kings Guard stepped into the room, followed by 2 guards that wore the gold cloak.

Jamie had his sword drawn the second Robert stepped into the room, but even he knew he couldn't take on everyone present all at once. Especially Ser Mandon. The man was good with a sword, and very fast. If Jamie wanted to stand a chance, Ser Mandon would have to be dealt with sooner than later.

"TO ME!" Jamie shouted, signaling 4 Lannister guardsmen who were never too far from his sister's room. The sound of footsteps approaching pulled everyone's attention to the open door, giving Jamie but a single moment that he took full advantage of.

With his attention not on him, Jamie lunged forward and swiped his sword at Ser Mandon, who narrowly missed being bisected in two by the skin of his balls. Still, the tip of Jamie's sword had left a gash across Ser Mandon's left side, which gave Jamie an edge over him.

Ser Arys Oakheart didn't let Jamie press his advantage and jumped at him, joining Ser Mandon is pushing him away from Robert, who ignored Jamie and was walking threateningly towards Cersei.

The Lannister knights had arrived and were at the door with weapons drawn but were confused for a moment when they only saw their allies. The gold cloaks took advantage of their confusion and managed to kill 2 of them before the Lannister knights realized what the hell was happening, and promptly began to fight the gold cloaks.

Jamie was doing his best to keep Ser Arys between him and Ser Mandon, not letting them both join together to make it a two on one fight, but he was losing ground in the process, and knew he couldn't keep this up for long.

Thankfully he didn't have to wait long before one of the Lannister knights managed to kill the gold cloak he was fighting and finish off the other wounded one that had killed his fellow knight, then ran in to help him.

Ser Arys' attention was pulled away from Jamie when the Lannister guard attacked from behind them, causing Ser Mandon to jump away, leaving Ser Arys wide open for attack. When Ser Arys turned to block the sword coming to cleave him in two, Jamie took the opportunity to thrust his sword through his back and into his heart.

Ser Mandon had also taken that moment to attack the Lannister guard from behind, taking his head off before he even knew he was being attacked. Jamie was eying Ser Mandon, but his attention quickly shot to Cersei when he heard a feminine cry of pain.

Jamie couldn't do anything as he watched Cersei's head roll to the ground, the sight almost breaking him right in that very moment. If not for the thought of the same thing happening to his two youngest children, he might very well have submitted to death right then and there.

"I'm going to rip out your heart!" Jamie roared in anger, then faked going for Robert, causing Ser Mandon to stumble between him and Jamie, leaving the door completely unguarded.

With no one in his way, Jamie fled the room and ran towards Maegor's Holdfast where Tommen and Myrcella would be. Arriving in only a few minutes, Jamie instructed the servants to stay in the tower while he took the two children away.

He didn't have enough time to grab anything and bringing the servants along was a mistake that he would not make. Ordering them to stay in the tower, he knew that they would not disobey his order, as he was a kings Guard. At least until someone informed them of how the king was out for his head, but by then he was already leaving the Red Keep.

Or at least he was trying to leave. An old man with long white hair stood in his path, and upon the sight of him, Jamie couldn't help the sudden increase in his heart rate.

"Ser Jamie." Was all the Lord Commander of the Kings Guard said to him for almost half a minute. The silence probably would have continued on longer, but the shouting inside the castle spurred Jamie to hurry.

"The gold cloaks are marching on the Lannister knights in the city as we speak, so don't go there. Get out of the city as quickly as you can." Ser Barristan told him, then after sparing the two children a glance, he walked away into the Red Keep.

Things only spiralled even further out of control as more time passed. Jamie tried to get to one of the gates to leave the city, but he had been running through alleys to not be seen, and groups of knights on horseback rode quickly down the streets towards each of the many gates to the city.

If Jamie had gone straight to the harbor from the Red Keep, he might have had a chance to get on a ship and get away, but he knew that by now that it was probably locked down as well. He could only hide for now and hope that help came soon, otherwise he feared the worst for the whimpering children next to him.

The following day, a bounty was put on his head as well as Tommen and Myrcella, and he knew that hiding had become significantly harder.

The number of people he had to kill that day added up to more than he had killed throughout his life up to that point.

Thieves, shop owners, and commoners alike all tried to find him to get the reward, after all it was no small amount. Jamie found a house of a man who sounded supportive of him and claimed to be from the Westerlands. After promising to shelter him, Jamie had opted to rest for the time being, which is what led up to the current situation.

(Flashback END)

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(General POV)

Sitting in the carriage, Will was looking at everyone after he had just relayed all of the information that he had learned about what was happening inside the city. The guard had been very informative, and now Will was pretty much caught up to date on all of the recent events.

"So... Do you think the brothels are still open?" Drox asked, not the least bit interested in some guy he had only seen once in Asteria who happened to be cucking the king.

"Most likely, given that Robert is still king." Will answered, ignoring everyone else's disapproving looks towards Drox.

"What are we going to do?" Jon asked, looking to Will for an answer. If it were up to him, they would already be searching the city for Jamie and the two children so they could help them. It didn't matter that it was none of their business, they were innocent children, and Jon couldn't help but want to help them.

"I say we help them!" Aegon exclaimed. He could relate to what was happening, as he had been in a very similar situation when he was a child, only Jamie wasn't some all-powerful magician child that could warp reality like Will was to save himself. Instead, he was a man trapped in a city full of people who wanted to sell him out while he was struggling to keep what was left of his children alive.

"I mean... um..." Daenerys struggled to say what she wanted, as it was arguably not the nicest thing to say, given the responses from the others.

She knew Jamie had done the world a favor by stabbing her father in the back, but a part of her wondered if they could just help the children and let Jamie be killed. She knew it was an awful thing to say, but she just couldn't get herself to forgive the man, even though there was really not much to forgive.

Had he not done what he did, someone else would have, but probably after they dragged her father through the streets. Plus, even if by some miracle that her father kept the throne and she was the princess, she would most likely have been forced to marry Viserys. Just the thought sent chills down her spine.

"Can we help the children?" Daenerys finally asked Will. It wasn't lost on anyone how she only mentioned the children, but at least she didn't right out ask for them to kill Jamie, so no one said anything.

Missandei didn't think it was her place to speak, so she opted to remain quiet and wait to hear what these crazy people would do next. Never in her life did she think she would be a part of a group of monsters that could so casually talk about defying a king, nor the fact that they actually liked to hear her opinion on certain topics.

It was weird being asked what she thought about a certain text from a book or about how Daenerys' hair looked. Being a former slave, it was not her place to have opinions on things, merely to do as commanded.

Still, despite the assurances she received from these people, she didn't think it would be appropriate to speak, even though Will had sent her a questioning look. Thankfully his gaze didn't linger when he noticed how uncomfortable she was.

Will was holding Rhaenys, who was quiet as she stared off into space. When he looked away from Missandei to her, he could see that she was thinking hard on something, and he guessed, or at least hoped it was on the current topic. At the very least he assumed she was thinking about her own past situation that had been similar to what was happening now.

"What do you want to do?" Will asked her. He didn't particularly care about Jamie, but he was leaning more in the direction of helping after everyone else had already voiced their thoughts.

Lannister or Baratheon, they meant nothing to him, but children were a different story. The children being hunted tugged on his little black rock for a heart. He wouldn't spend his life helping others across the world, as then he wouldn't be living for himself, which honestly didn't sound like a life worth living.

In the same breath however, he wasn't just going to stand by and watch as horrible things were done in front of him. Especially to those he knew were innocent, and as far as he knew, Tommen and Myrcella couldn't be blamed in any way shape or form for who their parents were.

Still, he wanted to hear what Rhaenys wanted to do before he decided anything. At his question, Rhaenys blinked her eyes before turning to stare at him.

"They're innocent in all of this. You saved us when we needed you most. I think we should help them." She said as she rubbed her baby-bump.

With the voting in favor of helping Jamie and his children, Will agreed.

"Alright then. Jon. I want you and Asena to scout westward for an hour, then return. I doubt Tywin is just standing idle as his son and grandchildren are being hunted. If you come across the Westerland's army, just fallback and report. Aegon. Scout southwards towards the Stormlands. Robert may be a fool, but his brothers aren't quite so stupid. They'll be preparing for Tywin." Will instructed the two brothers, who both nodded before they Warged into their respective beasts before leaving the carriage that was near the tree line just southwest of the King's Gate of the city near where the Roseroad joined the King's Road.

After they had gone, Will looked to Drox before saying, "I need you to get some information in the Red keep."

Will told Drox everything he wanted to know, then the both of them left the carriage for less than five minutes before Will returned alone.

It had been a minor inconvenience to help Drox get into the city, at which point he knew the warg could accomplish his task. Hell, he bet Drox could have done it without his help, but it was just easier this way.

When Will got back to the carriage, he sat down on the ground and closed his eyes before he began to use Mana Sense to survey the city, then recreated whatever he was seeing on a scale model in the dirt in front of him. He even managed to create replicas of the people he found as well, which made Daenerys and Missandei's eyes widen in wonder as they observed what he was doing.

"Is this how you are going to find them?" Missandei asked in awe once Will opened his eyes almost a little over an hour later. Despite how timid she was, she was slowly but surely coming out of her shell, and Will fully approved of it.

"Yes and no. I'll try to find them with Mana Sense once the others get back, but I'm just using the model of the city to get a better understanding of the city's layout. It helps to understand troop movement and where best to strike to cripple them should I need to." Will told the little girl, whose mouth was agape as she looked at the work of art.

"Is this truly what the city looks like?" Daenerys asked, looking a little confused as she studied the city's layout.

"It is. I can't show you the underground tunnels though, because well, they're underground." Will answered as he himself looked over the small version of the city.

"Why is it so... clustered?" Daenerys asked, not able to understand the layout itself. There was no rhyme or reason for the placement of buildings. The streets zigzagged every which way without a care, and the most important thing of all... the smell. Even now she wasn't breathing through her nose, and when she did, it was always near the scented candles near where Rhaenys was sitting.

Whoever designed the city didn't care the slightest bit about a properly running city, nor about the people who lived in it. Comparing it to Oldtown, Highgarden, and the work of art that was Asteria, Daenerys couldn't help but feel as though the capital was a pile of shit. Which fit, given the smell of the place.

'Surely some of my ancestors would have tried to fix this.' Daenerys wondered, not understanding this.

All her life she had been led to believe that the Capital city that her family had created was a marvel to behold, and that it was where people wished to be as they grew older. As far as she could tell, there was nothing special about it, save for the massive red castle off in the distance.

Sure, it was a large city, but everything else about it was disgusting or downright stupid. Changes would need to be made in the future, and she would do her best to help that along. After all, she wouldn't let the Targaryen name fall any further into the dirt, even though it had already been buried a few feet down.

Anyway, Will didn't have to wait long before Jon and Aegon arrived back from their respective scouting missions, Aegon returning to his body about 10 minutes before his brother.

"The Lords of the Stormlands are moving towards the Capital. There are a few hundred foot-soldiers and mounted riders less than a day's march away, then there is another group of soldiers not too far behind them. It also looked as though they were transporting a large number of provisions in carts." Aegon informed them all of what he had seen on the Kingsroad south of King's Landing.

Once he was done, Jon explained everything that he had seen. "I saw 28 scouts along the Goldroad. None of them are keeping to the road itself, and are spread out maybe 300 yards apart from one another. It wasn't a hunting party because they avoided a herd of boars and a herd of deer, and they were all dressed in red armor. I'm certain they were scouts."

After the two brothers finished explaining what they had seen, they discussed what they would do next, though Will explained that they would have to wait later on in the night for Drox before they decided on any course of action.

A few hours later when the sun began to set, Will made his way over to the section of the wall where he had helped Drox get into the city, and once he got there, Will opened up a hole big enough for a full-grown man to be able to walk through comfortably. As soon as the wall opened up, Drox walked through with Shade trailing right behind him.

"You wouldn't think it was possible, but it smells worse inside the walls." Drox informed him as they made their way back towards the carriage.

"Did you learn anything important?" Will asked, ignoring the bit about how the capital smelled. He already knew it smelled horrible from when he was first here, so he didn't need a recap.

"I met this stunning woman from the Summer Isles. She owns her own whorehouse and caters almost exclusively to the rich. Apparently, King Robert calls her girls to the castle on a daily basis. Well, he used to. For the last few days, Robert hasn't called on any whore, as far as she knew anyway." Drox explained, hinting at something important about the king.

"What else did you learn?" Will prodded, wanting to know the full story.

"I learned she knows more about sex than Oberyn and has a tongue like you wouldn't believe! She's also training her daughter in the ways of pleasure. I think I might be in love." Drox stated happily as he stared off into the distance.

He must not have been completely out of it, because he moved his body to the side just as Will's fist was about to connect to the side of his head, narrowly dodging the blow.

He was much faster than the little boy Will had picked up in Pentos all those years ago, and he proved it every day. Not to mention he had been hit more times than he could count and was becoming more aware when Will would raise his hand to him. Or throw stuff at him. He was really good at dodging thrown objects.

"About the king, damn it!" Will growled in annoyance, though that was mostly because he had missed his target than Drox's words on his whore. The Warg always did this, having learned more than fighting from Oberyn, and though some of the stories were interesting, Will really didn't want to hear it at the moment. Maybe later, but for now he wanted to stick to the matter at hand.

It helped that Drox was only ever like this when the situation wasn't completely serious, so at least Will knew that he wouldn't need to storm the gates at this very moment, so that was good. The Warg knew when to press his buttons and when not to, so he wasn't completely stupid. In Will's opinion of course. To Missandei, Drox was plain suicidal.

"He sent ravens to all the kingdoms in Westeros, calling them to arms. Even the North." Drox said as he and Will continued walking back to the carriage at a slow and steady pace.

They were both silent for a minute before Will asked, "Did you really sleep with a mother and daughter together?"

Smiling, Drox answered, "No, just the mother. The girl is only 13 and inexperienced, but she did watch."

The rest of the way back to the carriage, Drox proceeded to tell Will all about the whore who had stolen his heart, or at least fucked his brains out, while Will half listened to the story as he thought about just who would answer Robert's call.

When they got back to the carriage, everyone got inside and listened in as Drox told what happened.

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(Flashback)

When Drox got into the city, he walked around until he found a tavern. Knowing they were the second-best places to gather information, he stepped in and got himself a drink.

Sipping on a glass of wine, Drox listened in to the conversations around him, and unsurprisingly, many of them were about the gold cloaks checking people's homes for the King slayer, and about the influx of troops that arrived by ships in the last 2 days from Dragonstone.

After half of an hour of sitting there listening in, Drox made his way to the man who was obviously the owner of the tavern, then dropped a silver Stagg in front of the man.

"Where can I find the best brothel in the city?" Drox asked with a friendly smile on his face.

The man returned the smile before replying, "Up on the hill between the Dragonpit and the Old Gate leading out of the city, there's a brothel called Chataya's. I ain't been there meself, but I hear the king has. If you can afford it, I hear them girls will do things no other girls can."

Drox couldn't help the smile that showed on his face, and after thanking the man, he left the tavern. As he moved about the streets, no one noticed the massive shadowcat moving along buildings or over rooftops. It was crazy how some people just couldn't keep track of their surroundings.

He had to ask for directions twice, but less than an hour later and Drox was walking into the right establishment. He knew it was the right one because almost immediately after he entered, two topless women came over and began to rub their tits on his arms.

"How can we... help you?" Said a tall, black woman with sandalwood eyes standing in a doorway that was hidden by a dark blue cloth.

Her voice was smooth, with the accent of the Summer Isles, something that almost instantly made Drox's dick hard.

He had had the privilege of bedding 6 whores from the Summer Isles in the past, and he remembered each one to this very day as though he had been with them only hours before. That was how much of an impression they had on him.

The question hinted very strongly what she wanted to help him with, and by the gods, he was going to get help.

"I'll take you and these two!" Drox said a little too excitedly as a handful of gold dragons seemed to appear in the palm of his hand. Well, his left hand. His right hand was occupied between the legs of the woman on his right.

If the moans of pleasure were anything to go off of, she was very much enjoying whatever he was doing. Seeing the gold in his hand, the dark-skinned woman smiled at him as she sauntered over, letting the green silk dress she was wearing slip past her breasts and around her waist.

"Right this way." She said to him in that accent that made his legs weak.

The four of them walked into a room with a very large bed, and off to the side of it stood a young girl who looked like a replica of the dark-skinned woman currently crawling on the bed.

"You can look at her, but no touching. She is still learning." The older of the two spoke as she beckoned him to her.

Drox proceeded to have his way with the first two girls for a while, enjoying the time he had as the dark-skinned woman, which he learned was named Chataya, the owner of the establishment, coached the women with him on what to do.

Watching her play with the two women as her eyes stared into his, it was beautiful. When he felt he was truly in the mood and ready to go, he pushed her down on her back and positioned himself above her.

He had only been going at her for a minute before he felt her wanting to change position, and not seeing the need to fight her, he gave her full control.

Chataya maneuvered herself so she was riding him, mixing up their pace from fast to slow every now and then. Not wanting to let her do all the work, Drox picked her up and pinned her to the wall as he fucked fast, then slow.

The two of them were fighting more than fucking, but both seemed to be relishing in whatever they were doing, at least that's how it appeared to the two women and the little girl watching.

When they finished, Chataya was moving her hips slowly across Drox's softening cock as their tongues fought for dominance. There was 10 minutes of that before she rolled off of him and the two breathed deeply.

It was quiet for a minute before Chataya spoke, "Did you...*Breathing deeply* learn anything?!" She was still struggling to catch her breath when she spoke, but she still managed the words.

Drox was confused at the question, wondering what the hell she thought she taught him, but when the little girl standing next to the bed spoke up, he remembered she was there.

Drox listened in as Chataya talked with the little girl, which was her daughter, Alayaya, and the other two girls. She would often point to him and comment on his form and how he handled himself expertly, which only seemed to make him smile wide.

When she finished speaking, the three girls left the room, leaving Drox alone with Chataya.

"Isn't it weird to teach your daughter to be a whore?" He couldn't help but ask. He didn't hold anything against whoring, hell, he loved it, but it probably wasn't something parents would want for their children. At least as far as he could get from Elia.

Oberyn and Ellaria were different stories, but they weren't normal, so they didn't count.

"The gods made our bodies as well as our souls, is it not so? They gave us voices, so we might worship them with songs. They gave us hands, so we might build them temples. And they gave us desire, so we might mate and worship them in that way." She said as she crawled over to lay beside him on the bed.

"My people hold that there is no shame to be found in the pillow house. In the Summer Isles, those who are skilled at giving pleasure are greatly esteemed. Many highborn youths and maidens serve for a few years after their flowerings, to honor the gods. Why should I not want that for my child?" She said, surprising Drox.

Looking at it like that, then yeah it made sense in a weird sort of way. Hell, he didn't worship any particular god or goddess, but if he had to, it would be whichever one wanted him to have sex.

"You are right of course. My apologies." Drox said apologetically.

"If anyone is weird here, it is you." She said with a playful smile on her face, breaking any tension in the room before it could surface.

"Is that right...?" He asked, returning the playful smile.

The two of them did a little back and forth teasing and questioning before Drox decided to call it a night. If he let her push him any further, he wouldn't get anything done before the sun set. Though, he did promise to come back again as soon as he could, and she said she'd be waiting for him.

Besides, it wasn't like he didn't learn anything through his back and forth with Chataya. Apparently, Robert hadn't been by lately, and he didn't call for any girls to the castle for the last few days.

It could have just been because of Lord Arryn's death, but even Chataya didn't believe that would be enough to keep Robert at bay. The man was a whoremonger, and would probably drop his pants in the middle of the throne room when he was giving court.

Anyway, after leaving the brothel, Drox continued on towards the Red Keep with an annoyed Shadow cat beside him. Apparently, Shade didn't appreciate having to sit outside while Drox was getting his dick wet.

Satiating her with the promise of steaks, they snuck past the guards, which was way too easy in his opinion, then through the castle grounds. The trick was acting like you owned the place, like it was just a regular day and that nothing was wrong.

He spared very few people a glance as Lords seldom did, which in turn made many of them avoid his gaze. Oberyn didn't just teach his fighting and fucking, he taught him a bit of politics as well. The man truly was dangerous, but not many people knew just how dangerous.

Walking around the castle, Drox moved along towards the Tower of the Hand. He wasn't actually expecting to find anyone, quite the opposite in fact. With Lord Arryn dead, Drox figured the place would be empty, and hopefully he could find some documents or something else that might prove useful.

All it took was a simple question to a servant, asking where the Tower was, and then he knew. Servants were very useful to 'ignorant lords' such as himself.

'Fools.' Drox thought, now understanding completely why Will refused to have servants in his home in Asteria.

He did his own cooking, cleaning, and even washed his own clothes. He didn't rely on anyone else to do things for him, and he didn't trust anyone to wander his home and share his secrets. Looking at the ignorance around him, Drox knew there were reasons for his paranoia.

Ignoring everyone around him, Drox made his way towards the Tower of the Hand without further interruptions. When he climbed the stairs into the tower, he was happy to see that it was empty. Moving to the solar, Drox found documents spread across the desk, as well as a big book.

"The Lineage and Histories of the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms." Drox mumbled the name of the book, then flipped it open to the page where it was marked.

"House Baratheon." He mumbled again. It took him a second, but he remembered about the rumors and how the King's children weren't his. That stuff just wasn't important enough for him to care about, thus he mostly discarded it. Still, he came here to get information about this very subject, so he should at least pretend he knew what he was doing here.

'The Hand probably figured it out before he died.' Drox thought, then dismissed the book. The information wouldn't help him, as most everyone already knew, and the Hand was dead. Digging through the documents, Drox was confused.

'Why was he looking at ship logs for House Lannister?' He wondered.

Browsing through the information, Drox learned that Tywin had departed for Braavos some time ago, and still had not yet returned. Drox was confused when he read it because none of the shit going on right now should have happened when Jon Arryn was alive and reading this, so why was he looking at the reports?

Leaving it for another time, Drox continued to dig through the records, finding all sorts of interesting information. For one thing, Lord Arryn kept a very detailed book on two major things. The Iron Bank, and House Lannister.

The book was divided in two, one half devoted to the Iron Bank while the other half was devoted to House Lannister. Flipping through the book, Drox read the listed gold borrowed and in what year it was borrowed in, and to whom it was borrowed from.

Drox couldn't be sure how much debt it was without adding up all of the numbers, but after a rough estimate, it was clear that it was in the millions. It was weird that the Hand of the King would be keeping track of something like this, as it was the duty of whoever the Master of Coin was, but Drox just put it down to Lord Arryn keeping tabs on major debt, as both parties were not people the crown could offend lightly. Especially the Iron Bank.

'And they want to take over and inherit this shit?!' He thought, feeling sorry for whichever of the Targaryens took the throne.

Pocketing the book, Drox was still flipping through papers when he heard footsteps approaching the room. With a simple point of his finger, Shade disappeared into the dark shadows of the room, while Drox hid himself behind a wall adjacent to the solar.

One would have to be sitting at the desk itself to notice him, but with the room's poor lighting, there was still a slim chance that he would be spotted. Waiting patiently, Drox remained hidden as the door opened and two figures emerged in the room.

"You told me to put the tears in Jon's wine, and I did. For Robert (Her son, not the fat king), and for us! And I wrote Catelyn and told her the Lannisters had killed my lord husband, just as you said." A feminine voice spoke, her words shocking Drox.

He had been around Oberyn way too long not to know that by 'Tears' the woman was referring to the Tears of Lys, a most deadly poison, and a terrible way to die. Drox had thought Queen Cersei had poisoned Jon Arryn before her death, but now he knew differently.

"Quiet, my dear Lysa. We are not safe in these walls. You never know who is listening." A soft male voice spoke, followed by what Drox knew to be kissing.

"Oh, my sweet Petyr! Take me now!" The woman practically demanded as she began to tug at the man's belt. Peeking around the side of the wall, Drox saw that the man's back was to him, and the woman was crouched down in front of him.

Drox had no idea who the two of them were, but he guessed that the woman was Lord Arryn's wife, Lysa Tully, based on how the man had called her 'Lysa'. He still didn't know who the hell he was, but he figured he was someone important if he was transpiring to kill the Hand of the King.

'Or an idiot.' He reminded himself.

People did very stupid things without realizing it, and he could only wonder for now if the man before him was truly an idiot. He watched as she sucked his cock for a good minute, then hiked up her dress and turned around so he could stick his dick up her cunt.

'Honestly! Could you do something less interactive?!' Drox shouted in his mind, cursing the two.

If they were truly passionate about one another, they would be face to face as they shared the dance of tongues, while his hands explored her sensitive chest, while still being able to fondle her ass.

If they were facing each other, the guy could lift her off her feet and really get in there, but as they were, it was maybe good for a light spanking. The position wouldn't allow for easy access to her tits, and to reach around to play with her cunt would make it awkward to thrust in and out, given his smaller than average size.

'Sex should not be this boring!' Drox cursed the two of them as he waited for them to finish up. Thankfully he didn't have to wait long, which again seemed to infuriate him.

'At least go more than 3 fucking minutes, you one-pump-chump!' He wanted to yell out loud towards the two as they straightened out their clothes, then left the room.

Listening to the woman hold back her screams was almost painful, as it sounded more like a dying cow than it did a woman moaning in pleasure.

The whole thing had been a major turn off, and any desire Drox had to go back to Chataya's brothel tonight was now gone.

Quickly finishing up his search of the room, Drox called Shade and the two of them crept their way out of the Tower and towards the Grand Maester's quarters. There was usually lots of information there. At least he figured there would be, considering the position the man held.

Creeping into the room that belonged to the Grand Maester, Drox immediately noticed the bottles, books, and plants that littered the room in a mess that spoke of a poor care-taker.

'You'd think he'd be more organized than this.' Drox thought as he began to maneuver about the room, trying his best not to touch things that didn't need to be touched.

Potions still creeped him out when he neared them, mostly because Oberyn had used him as a test subject for a few weeks when he was brewing harmless potions. They weren't so harmless. He had the shits for 3 days straight after one of the tests, and had Will not been there to heal him, he feared that he might not have made it.

Going over to the desk, Drox found a book off to one side of the desk, with "RAVENS" written on the front of it. Curious, he picked it up and opened it. After a few seconds he realized that they were messages sent by ravens to various places throughout the Seven Kingdoms.

The book showed what was written, when it was written, where the message was sent to, who it was for, and who had sent it. Scanning a few of the messages, Drox smiled at the blackmail material and filed it away for later use.

Towards the end of the book, Drox saw the most recent messages and knew at once that they had been sent recently. The North, Vale, Riverlands, Stormlands, the Reach, and even the Iron Isle had all been sent ravens, demanding a call-to-arms against the Westerlands.

Dorne had also been sent a raven, but the message wasn't for a call-to-arms, but an invitation of sorts to destroy House Lannister.

'The enemy of my enemy is my friend, route... what a joke.' Drox thought, knowing how House Baratheon was on Oberyn's shit-list just as much as House Lannister was.

Inviting the viper into the house so it could eat the mouse was not something that would go well, and Drox highly suspected that if Oberyn did come, they would be killing Robert, Stannis, and Renly as well.

As Drox was reading the messages, the door to the room opened and an old man walked inside. As soon as he had heard the doors latch open, Drox had hit the floor behind the desk, and in the dim lighting of the room it would be hard for him to be noticed.

When the door to the room closed, Drox could see the old man who had been slouching, suddenly straighten up and roll his shoulders before raising his arms into the air. Drox heard the man let out a sigh of relief before he began moving quickly towards the desk that he was hiding behind.

Maneuvering himself to the opposite side that the old man was walking around, Drox remained hidden as the old man sat down in his chair.

He was going to wait for a while until the old man left the room, but a sudden intake of breath, followed by stuttering ended that plan. Evidently, the old man noticed Shade in the corner of the room and was beginning to panic.

The massive Shadow cat, seeing that it was discovered, crept out from the dark corner and stalked towards the old man, who had already shit himself, if the smell was any indication.

"And you give me grief about being caught." Drox spoke to Shade, earning a growl in return.

For the old man's part, his eyes were still glued onto Shade, which was smart. Of the two, the shadow cat was more dangerous, or at least would kill him before he had the chance to speak. Drox would of course try to get information first, so he was definitely the safer of the two. At the moment anyway.

Looking at the old man who he assumed was Grandmaester Pycelle, Drox said, "Here's how this is going to go. You're going to tell me everything I want to know, or I will feed you to the cat. Your choice."

It took a few seconds for Pycelle to calm down, but when he did, he began to sing like a bird, telling Drox everything he knew, which was quite a bit actually.

Pycelle told Drox about which sections of the city had been searched for Jamie Lannister, and the supposed sightings of the man. There was also the information on the killings in the city, mostly anyone that had anything to do with House Lannister.

There were also a few Lords from the Westerlands that were imprisoned in the dungeons to be used as leverage against some Lords, but according to Pycelle, they were already marked for death.

Stannis Baratheon was also sailing the royal fleet from Dragonstone to King's Landing, while his brother Renly was gathering the Lords from the Stormlands.

As for the king, well, let's just say Drox was not expecting the news he learned. According to Pycelle, Robert was actually happy. Happier than he'd been in years in fact.

Sure, he was upset about the children not being his own, but he loathed Cersei and her brother. He also really loved war, and with this, he would get to go to war, while also being able to get rid of the debt the crown owed the Westerlands, and get to kill the Lannisters.

Lord Petyr Baelish had pointed out the not owing debts bit to the king, something which seemed to make the man laugh. Robert was now planning out the assault on the Westerlands with his Small Council, as well as setting a trap for Lord Tywin when he returned from Braavos any day now. Lord Varys, "The Spider" Pycelle called him, had come up with the trap, much to the King's approval.

After a good hour of questioning, Drox walked over to the old man, then faster than he could react, he slashed the blade of his dagger across the man's neck, cutting his throat open.

Drox didn't want any witnesses to him having been here, and he didn't doubt for a second that Pycelle wouldn't try to rat him out when he was gone.

Plus, after learning what he knew from spying on the Archmaesters at Oldtown, Drox didn't feel the slightest bit guilty about killing the man. There was also the fact that he knew what Will had done to those Archmaesters.

Word had spread not long after the wedding about the deaths in Oldtown, and Drox was smart enough to connect Will to it, given how every person on the list he had given him that needed to die, had in fact died.

Will suddenly leaving for a few days before, the timing could only mean that it had been him. Drox would never say this out loud of course. The fact that Will hadn't mentioned it to anyone, Rhaenys included, Drox knew Will didn't want anyone to know, and he could understand why.

Anyway, after killing Pycelle, Drox pocketed the book with all the messages sent by raven, then decided he had gathered enough information. Plus, it was getting to the meeting time with Will, and he didn't want to stay any longer in the shit-smelling city then he had to.

Getting out of the Red Keep was much easier than getting in, as he simply just walked right through the gates without the guards even batting an eye at him. They didn't care about people leaving, just entering.

All he had to do was cause a minor dispute with some random guy for the guards to walk away from the gate for a minute so Shade could get out, then it was a simple walk back to the wall where Will would meet with him. He only had to wait a little over 20 minutes before the wall opened up, at which point he walked through.

(Flashback END)

--------

(Jamie Lannister POV)

Jamie was huddled next to Tommen and Myrcella, who were both wrapped in the white cloak that he once wore on his back. They had been exhausted after the day's events, and so was he.

He was on the brink of falling asleep, but the fear for his children was what kept him going. He had finally found a place for them to hide, one that he was sure he could hide out in until he figured out a way to get out of the city.

He already had his armor covered with peasant clothes, and both Tommen and Myrcella no longer wore the fine clothes of royalty, but the clothes of commoners.

Jamie was hoping to be able to sneak them out of the gate by posing as commoners, but he was too well known in the city for him to want to try it. He knew however that he didn't have much of a choice.

Relying on his father to come save him was foolish, as that could be days or even weeks away from happening. He didn't have days or weeks. The city watch was closing in, and he was running out of places to hide.

Feeling as though it was safe enough to get an hour or two of sleep, Jamie closed his eyes for what felt like a minute before he was suddenly startled awake by a kick to the leg.

Before he could bring the sword in his hand up to face the person in the room, the tip of a blade touched his throat.

A light suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the dark room, and Jamie had to turn his head and close his eyes so as not to be blinded. S

lowly blinking to get used to the brightness, Jamie finally got a good look at the one holding him at sword point, and as soon as his green eyes met those familiar demonic red eyes, he knew only one thing.

He was fucked.