Chapter 67: Tywin Angered

As Tywin and his army arrived outside of Kings Landing, his demeanor changed. What he saw brought many questions to mind. Black smoke rose from within the city walls, as if they were already under attack.

He had no idea what was happening, so he had his army make camp and begin seige preparations, he would need to send a few scouts to sneak into the city to try to find out what was going on.

The city gates were surprisingly still open, and no guards could be seen on the walls. It was as if the city was undefended, but Tywin didn't act, he knew this could all be a trap set for him. So rather than attack right away, he summoned the leader of his scouts, a man named Thomas Hill.

Thomas was a bastard who had joined Tywin's retinue many years ago. He was the bastard of a minor noble and had suffered harsh treatment for being a bastard, from a young age he was mistreated by his fathers wife. He was barely fed and had went hungry on a daily basis, so he found a hunter to train him in tracking and hunting from a young age.

Thomas had a talent for it and quickly learned how to use a bow and move silently thru the forests. One day Tywin stumbled upon the boy after he had hunted a large boar, seeing the boy had a talent, Tywin took him in and had him put into his forces.

Armies needed skilled hunters to help them feed the men as they marched. Thomas flourished within Tywins army, and quickly gained a reputation for his skills in scouting, tracking, archery, and infiltration.

Not long after his summons a brown haired man with green eyes and an athletic build, he wore a dark leather armor with pieces of chain mail showing thru various places, walked in and approached where Tywin was with a confident stride.

"You summoned my Lord?" The man asked with a salute.

"I did." Tywin answered without even looking at the man, "What do you make of what is going on?" Tywin asked as he gazed upon the city.

"Hard to say my Lord, it looks as if the city was already attacked, but there is no signs of another army attacking, at least from the outside. Perhaps they attacked from the port, or maybe the civilians revolted after finding out your army was near." Thomas responded respectfully as he studied the city from behind Tywin.

"You don't think it could be a trap? Robert is a cunning strategist, he only ever lost one battle during his rebellion." Tywin stated as he turned to look at the man coldly.

"It's not impossible, but highly unlikely. I doubt the people would appreciate him burning their homes and businesses just to set a trap. We all know what happened last time a fire broke out in the city, almost half of it was destroyed before it was brought under control." Thomas replied after a short pause, he wanted to choose his words wisely, Tywin was known to be a ruthless man.

"I want you to take a few men and go into the city, find out what is going on, if it is a trap, shoot a flaming arrow into the sky, if it isn't then have one of the men ring one of the bells on the tower once. We will set up camp here for now and prepare to seige the city in case it is a trap, if you or your men are captured feign cooperation, ring the bell twice if it is a trap, we will storm the city as soon possible." Tywin ordered as he watched his tent being setup.

"Aye my Lord. I will leave immediately, I should know within a couple hours, this should be enough time for the men to rest, but not enough time for them to get drunk on wine." Thomas replied with a salute.

"See that you do. I'd rather not spend much time outside the walls if possible, Renly and Stannis have been making several moves and I would rather have our men on the other side of those walls in case they are planning to assist Robert." Tywin responded.

Thomas gathered three of his best men and changed their clothing to look like tradesmen and hunters, it would allow them to enter the city without drawing attention since skilled tradesmen moved around frequently in search for work and stable living.

Upon entering the city, Thomas and the men were shocked by what they were hearing. The people talked about how the Queen and her brother the imp had taken back control of the city from the hands of the King who was just as mad as the Mad King himself. How they had stormed the castle and taken the King hostage and that Cersei now sat on the throne in place of Joffrey.

Thomas and the three men gathered as much information as they could before finally making their way to the Red Keep to confirm the information. They saw gold cloaks who hung from buildings along the way as the people cleaned up the bodies of several others from off the streets.

It seemed as if the battle had just ended several hours ago. The streets were crowded with men and women as they began the work of putting out fires and placing the dead onto carts to be buried or burned. They weren't as stressed, they didn't fear the city being attacked by Tywin's army since a Lannister was currently in control already. This was actually the best case scenario, they knew Tywin wouldn't attack his own immediate family.

Thomas was surprised to see that Tyrion was already assisting in coordinating the rebuilding process, hiring new guards, even beginning to set up defenses along the port in case Stannis made a move. He witnessed several crates of green liquid being loaded onto a ship as they passed by the port.

As they passed by the port Thomas noticed a small man with blonde hair giving out orders to several dock workers.

"Careful not to drop those crates! If you do we will all be dead, as would the city." Tyrion shouted as a couple men almost stumbled as they carried a large crate.

Recognizing the short statured man as Tywins youngest son, Thomas and his men approached him with caution, they wouldn't let their guard down until they have at least sent the signal to Tywin.

"Lord Tyrion?" Thomas said as he got near the small man.

Tyrion turned and scrutinized Thomas as the man approached, but after taking a look at the man who called him, Tyrion recognized him as one of his fathers men.

"Ah, my father's favorite bastard, Thomas Hill. How was your march from Lannisport, uneventful I hope." Tyrion said with a confident smile.

"Aye, we just arrived outside the city. Your father sent us to investigate what was going on in the city. It looked like either a trap or a battle had occured, so he sent me to check out what was going on before he brought in the army." Thomas responded, accustomed to how Tyrion acted.

"Aye, just in time too. Stannis is making a movement, so his men may be needed to defend the city should he be moving to attack, we are short on fighting men currently, so I am preparing a little gift for him to hopefully thin his numbers a bit to ease the defenses, just in case." Tyrion responded as he pointed to the ship being loaded with the crates.

"I see that. So what exactly happened?" Thomas asked curiously.

"Well as you can see we successfully took the city. Robert is in the dungeons along with several others, the man was caught with his pants down quite literally. I was able to secure the loyalty of the Kingsguard, my dear sister is now with Ser Boris getting her revenge I imagine. Ser Barristan luckily was sent on a mission to check on the Vale by Robert, so that made our jobs much easier. So if you could get my father and his men into the city as soon as possible so we can prepare for a possible battle I'd appreciate it." Tyrion explained as he began to make his way back towards the Red Keep.

Thomas looked to the men that had come with him, "Take a horse and ride out to Lord Tywin, inform him of what Lord Tyrion has stated, they will probably need to relocate the army to prepare for a possible assault by Stannis. I will accompany Lord Tyrion back to the castle to see what he has planned."

After Tywin learned of what was happening, he quickly made his way into Kings Landing to gain control of the situation. He knew his daughter well and knew that if he didn't stop her, she could ruin many things. He didn't fear what she would do to Robert, what he feared was what she would do with Arianne Martell.

They needed Dorne on their side desperately, he had kept track of what was happening in the Vale, Stormlands, Reach, and the Riverlands. So he knew there was something going on, if anything happened to Arianne or her brother, it would put them at a complete disadvantage.

Upon arriving at the Red Keep, Tywin summoned his children immediately to the throne room, he had a bad feeling creeping in the back of his mind.

As Cersei, Joffrey, and Tyrion walked into the throne room, they felt an oppressive feeling in the air. Tywin's back was turned to them as he stood half way up the stairs leading to the Iron Throne, he stared at the throne made from thousands of swords that once belonged to conquered kings.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Tywin started after he heard the steps stop not far behind him, though he didn't turn to the three to speak to them, "This continent once held so many kings, until they were all brought to heel by a man, his two wives, and their dragons. That rule lasted almost three hundred years, almost half of that was without the use of a dragon. Do you know how they did it?" Tywin asked.

"Power." Joffrey called out confidently.

"Boy, keep your mouth shut. I wasn't asking you, in fact I know you don't know a damn thing about what it means to be king, this is due to your insufferable parents. Something that will be corrected." Tywin stated angrily as he couldn't stand how Joffrey was.

Before Joffrey could respond, Cersei quickly covered his mouth and answered, "They snuffed out dissidence."

Tyrion let out a sigh at his sister's answer then gave one of his own, "Diplomacy, they put the right people in places of power and formed alliances."

"Finally, took three tries, but its better than nothing. Their true power was loyalty, once they lost that loyalty, it was their downfall. Robert was able to take the throne after he killed Rhaegar, but Robert didn't try to ally himself fully with the realm. The throne is weakened, the realm is split into four seperate kingdoms now. Where is Arianne Martell and her brother Quentyn Martell?" Tywin asked as he turned around and began to walk down the steps towards the three, his face showed a cold expression.

"She is were she belongs, in the dungeons with all the rest." Cersei answered with her head held high, however she began to sweat a little.

"Remove her at once. She will remain as Joffrey's fiancée, she and Joffrey will wed as soon as he turns twelve name days." Tywin ordered.

"Never I refu...." Cersei started to refuse but was slapped by Tywin, causing her to fall to the floor.

"You will do as your told or I will remove you completely from this capital and lock you in Casterly Rock. Don't think for once your actions give you a pass for disobeying my orders to remain in Casterly Rock!" Tywin shouted angrily.

He had been learning a few things as he waited for them to appear, he hasn't heard much, but what he has heard was unsettling, to put it in simple terms.

What he didn't know was what truly happened to Arianne after they had gained the castle, "Bring her here immediately."

Now even Tyrion was beginning to sweat, he knew something was going on, he had left Arianne in her chambers, this was the first time he knew she had been moved, he had been preparing defenses against Stannis since they had detected movement from Dragonstone.

"I refuse to marry that woman, in fact it's impossible now." Joffrey spoke up with a manic grin.

Tywin glared daggers at Joffrey which caused him to back up a few steps in fear, he quickly looked to Cersei who was wiping the blood from her lip, anger could be seen in her eyes, but she didn't dare act out just yet due to it not being the right time.

"What did you do!?!" Tywin shouted out angrily at Cersei as he stared down at her, causing her to freeze in fear.

This was exactly what Tywin feared, he knew something happened, and his daughter was the culprit. Grabbing her by the hair Tywin pulled her up to her feet, "I asked you a question."

Cersei held back a cry from the pain as she looked into her father's eyes, she gathered her courage and answered, "I did what was needed to be done. She wasn't worthy of my Joffrey. So she had to go."

"Sister, you didn't..." Tyrion looked at Cersei in horror but she cut him off.

"I'm not your sister you damned imp, don't ever call me that, and yes I did. I gave her, Quentyn, and that Pycelle to the worst of the worst in that dreaded dungeon. They no longer breath now." Cersei answered back hatefully.

"Do you have any idea what you have done, you stupid bitch. I should have the same done to you!" Tywin slapped her once again in anger.

"Now Dorne will join either of the Baratheons or those insufferable Targaryens. You have alienated us completely, and for what? Jealousy? Envy? You may have just killed us all you cunt." Tywin kicked her after she fell to the ground.

He was pissed beyond belief. Now his options were limited, Dorne would seek retribution against his family, two of Doran's children were now dead, both were true-born, not bastards.

"We needed Dorne, they could get close to those Targaryen children to assassinate them, but now, rather than going against them, they will try to sink their fangs into us! We needed that alliance, no other option is viable. What about word of Myrcella and Tommen?" Tywin asked, his anger evident in his voice.

"We have yet to find them. I am worried that something else has happened. None of the Kingsguard or other guards we have questioned know anything. I have offered a high reward for any information regarding their whereabouts but so far none have come forward. The only one we haven't asked is Ser Barristan, Robert sent him to the Vale to question Littlefinger on what is happening with the Vale since no word has come from the Vale for a while. I haven't been able to send men after, but I did confirm he left alone so I couldn't risk sending men after him in case Stannis is attacking." Tyrion answered quickly.

Tywin frowned as he tried to think of his next move, he doubted Stannis was attacking, but it couldn't be ruled out.

"Ser Boris!" Tywin shouted causing the fat man to come striding into the hall in a hurry, "Escort this disappointment of a Queen to her chambers, if I find her outside that room until I say otherwise, I'll remove your head from your shoulders."

"Leave me, I need to come up with solutions to the problems she has created." Tywin stated as he walked up to the throne and sat upon it to think.