121 Chapter 121

NED STARK POV

"I saw your new Glass houses yesterday." The Lannister dwarf spoke "It's fascinating. This new glass. No bubbles. No milky texture. Pure unadulterated glass. Of course, I had seen it in Kings Landing before. But seeing it here in your glass house as well as your windows reminded me that Lord Bolton truly lives in the North and not in some alien land that I've never heard about."

Ned stayed quiet for a moment. For all that he disliked the second son of Tywin Lannister for his debauchery, he cannot deny that Tyrion was more clever than people ever gave him any credit for.

'Your own best friend lives a life of debauchery.' A voice similar to his own spoke in his mind and he ignored it, even as he realized that he was being a hypocrite for disliking Tyrion for his vices when he tolerated it well enough when his friend Robert did the same.

No, the true reason he hated Tyrion and all the Lannisters was because of what Tywin had done that day in front of the Iron Throne.

He could still close his eyes and see the bashed skull of Aegon Targaryen to this day. And the girl too…

What Ser Gregor Clegane and Ser Amory Lorch had done was unforgivable. And then Lord Tywin had presented the corpse of those poor innocent children like he was presenting some grand treasure.

And his friend. His own friend had laughed and them and called them dragonspawn.

To this day, he wondered if the war had truly changed Robert so much or if he was always like this and he refused to see it.

He remembered the other Lannister as well. Sitting on the Iron Throne with a smirk on his face. Cleaning the same sword that he had used to kill the King he had sworn to protect.

No, the true reason he disliked Tyrion Lannister was not because of his debauchery, though that was there as well but because of his family.

That didn't make Tyrion any more wrong.

"Lord Bolton… is one of a kind." He said, not wanting to disrespect the dwarf who might become the Warden of the West one day. Though he personally doubted that such a thing would happen. "His presence in North is a boon to all of us."

"Is it Lord Stark?" Tyrion asked from behind his glass. How many has the man drunk since morning. "If my memory serves me well, then I think that Boltons and Starks have a history. In fact, some might even say that the Boltons are to the Starks what the Raynes and Tarbecks were to the Lannisters."

"You don't need to worry about any of that Tyrion. The matters of the North will be solved among the Northerners."

"Solved. As if by a betrothal?" Tyrion said while wagging his eyebrows. "I heard rumors in Kings Landing that you have set up a betrothal with Lord Bolton. I had wondered if there was some truth to the rumor."

He stayed silent, not wanting to admit the truth but not wanting to outright lie either. He was an honest man and lies had never come easily to him.

Tyrion took his silence for what it was. "So I see… It seems like you'll have one heck of a good son in a few years Lord Stark. Though I do wonder, why the news of this betrothal did not reach far and wide. I doubt there was any reason to hide such a betrothal. From what I've seen and heard, Sansa is a wonderful young lady on the cusp of becoming a beautiful woman and the reputation of Lord Bolton speaks for itself." Then Tyrion bent forward and said in mock whisper "He doesn't… play for the other team does he. I mean I'm judging or anything but…"

"I think you've had enough drink Tyrion." He said and took the glass away from his hands.

Tyrion looked at his empty hands in surprise, as if not believing that the wine had suddenly went out of his reached before he blinked and smiled "You right Lord Stark. It seems I've had a bit too much to drink. I'll leave you to your… thing and go back to my room."

Then Tyrion jumped down from the chair and wobbled out of the room on his stunted legs.

Only once Tyrion left the room did he let out a breath he didn't knew he had been holding.

The cunning man had managed to take out the secret of Sansa's betrothal from him.

Though in hindsight, the betrothal was really not much of a secret. Everyone in Winterfell already knew about it.

But the conditions attached to the bethrothal were thankfully not revealed so there was really nothing lost there.

That said, he really needed to watch himself in front of Tyrion. The dwarf was smarter than people really gave him any credit for.