ASOIAF 8

Carl looked over from where he was staged with his family's troops outside Kings Landing. There were thousands of men in just the Tully section alone, and there were thousands more everywhere. The presence of so many men and horses had trampled any vegetation present in the fields into the mud. The din from so many armored men and horses created a continuous low grade sound.

Seeing such a large medieval army gathered for war was an impressive sight that couldn't be seen in his original world anymore. At most the number of people gathered here would have been going to a concert or sports game. The methods of warfare had long since departed from hand to hand combat, so seeing such an army equipped and prepared for war brought about an interesting feeling. Like his blood was being stirred up to action.

Modern weaponry ensured that any forces that tried to hole up in a castle would be in for a rude awakening as the explosives and artillery would make short work of the defenses, so it was impossible to see such sieges anymore.

But here he was, outside a large castle fortification manned by knights and other combatants, with an attacking army in the tens of thousands, ready to sack the city and depose a king. The stuff stories were made of.

The only group not represented in the joint army that was set on deposing Aerys II and installing Rhaegar was The Westerlands and the Iron Islands.

Tywin Lannister was still dragging his heels, hoping the situation would turn favorably his way before he arrived in a day or so. At the very least he was hoping that his men inside Kings Landing would be able to drag his son away from being held hostage by the Mad King as his Kingsguard. Unfortunately for Tywin, it seemed Jaime was trying his best to be faithful to the oaths he took on joining the Kingsguard, so he was sticking to the King and ignoring the efforts of the Lannister men to get him to flee.

Weeks ago Lyanna had been sent back North with a group of men to guard her, even though she really didn't need the protection. Her father and both brothers had ganged up on her and guilt tripped her into returning home instead of remaining with the growing army.

It had been quite a large family argument between Lyanna and her family that Carl wisely stayed out of. He would support whatever decision Lyanna herself made, but he wasn't going to stick his two cents in.

Lyanna had eventually let herself be convinced to return North for her father and brother's peace of mind. They could be at ease fighting the war without looking out for her.

So while Lyanna had at first grudgingly left for the North to appease her family, she had found herself quite enjoying her time by riding around with her own personal guards, attacking the Ironborn anywhere they attempted to raid.

The squid cunts of the Iron Islands had no real interest in anything other than "paying the iron price". Which was their euphemism for raiding and taking women as slaves, or as they called it, "salt wives". Since the useless squids had no real interest in getting involved in the succession war at this time, they were busy reaving and making nuisances of themselves all around the North while everyone was distracted by the succession war.

Carl was still scratching his head over how it was that the Seven Kingdoms included The Iron Islands as one of the Kingdoms, but not The Riverlands. A bunch of useless pirates got the title, but not his homeland?

The North, The Iron Islands, The Vale, The Westerlands, The Reach, The Stormlands, and Dorne.

The Iron Islands had no industry beyond piracy and raiding, but the Riverlands that was smack dab in the middle of the continent and produced plenty of goods in trade didn't get the prestige of being one of the seven kingdoms? It was surely a load of bullshit that came about because of politics. He would have to do something about that later.

Carl shook the thoughts of instilled pride in his house from his memories of growing up in Riverrun. He paid more attention to his surroundings as he continued his inspections of the Tully men as they made preparations for battle.

The attack on Kings Landing couldn't be carried out immediately, because they had to wait to see what the Lannister's stance was. There was no way they would start attacking a fortified position with an army of unconfirmed allegiance at their backs. If Tywin chose to join the Mad King, he could do a lot of damage attacking their rear while they were busy attacking the fortifications of Kings Landing.

As Carl was rebuking some of the men for sloppiness and not having taken proper care of their equipment, he thought about how surprised he had been that there were surprisingly few clashes of egos in the planning sessions of the commanders and lords. He had expected a lot more arguing.

But the various Lords had been quite professional. Everyone knew what they were doing, so they had gotten down to brass tacks, as the saying went. They all wanted the war over soonest so they could go back to their lands and continue their various ventures. Or maybe they were saving their arguing for after the war, when they would demand concessions from Rhaegar for their good deeds?

Carl finished his inspection and made his way back to his assigned tent. Alone in his tent, he pulled out his bastard sword and with a mental command it shifted once more to the more familiar katana shape of Blue Orchid.

He probed the sword with his mind, and felt a faint response. It was unusual, but Carl felt like his sword was becoming somewhat aware. Or at the very least it was more responsive to his powers. His sword had always felt like it was an easy medium to use his powers through, but now it felt like it was reacting and being more willing to respond. Feeling out his mental connection to his sword, it almost felt like it was sleeping at the moment. Like maybe it would wake up one day.

It was one of the strange things about the cultivation worlds, pretty much anything could gain intelligence and a spirit after being soaked in the energy of heaven and earth for a long enough period of time. Rocks, flowers, swords, heck even medicine pills have come alive in some of the stories.

After what happened to Feng Ra, Carl was somewhat concerned that one day his sword would become a person in its own right, and he would have to leave it behind if it really attained sentience one day. He was hoping that it would take a lot longer to happen, so he wouldn't have to worry about it anytime soon.

Chances were that because he got the sword through CP purchase, he wouldn't have to worry about leaving his sword behind in one of these worlds like he did with Rover who turned into Feng Ra. But Carl didn't have anyone to ask for a concrete answer on the subject. So he could only throw the concern into the back of his mind and continue as he was. There really wasn't anything he could do other than to put the Blue Orchid away and never use it again to stop whatever was happening. And he wasn't willing to do that.

With a mental command, Blue Orchid shifted back to the bastard sword shape. It still had the same sensation of responsiveness to Carl in its bastard sword form, although a slightly different feel to it. Carl wondered what would happen if he gained many more shapes for the sword in the future. Would it have a personality for every form?

"Heir Tully! I bring a message from Lord Tully that you are wanted in the command tent." A voice called to Carl from outside his tent.

Carl exited his tent, and saw 13 year old Raek. He was a squire for one of the Tully knights and was often sent with messages around the camp.

"Very well. Thanks for passing the message. How has your practice been of that move Ser Tully showed you?" Carl's uncle Brynden enjoyed seeing the enthusiasm of young squires and knights, and had taken to teaching some of them occasional moves.

"It's hard." Raek frowned. "I can't quite get the footwork down."

"Well, keep working on it. If you can't do it fast at first, do it slow until it becomes second nature. Then try to speed it up, once you've got the footwork down." Carl advised as they were making their way to the command tent.

"Thanks!" Raek commented with a smile. "I've gotta run now, and clean some armor."

"Off with you." Carl nodded as the young boy dashed off to his next duties as Carl continued on his way to the command tent.

When Carl entered the command tent, he saw the various Lords and nobles surrounding Rhaegar. Carl had long outfitted the prince with an invisible communications device that allowed Carl to pass commands to and receive information from Rhaegar. It was all done mentally, so that no one would notice the Prince talking to himself. The last thing they needed was evidence that the Prince they wanted to put on the throne was talking to invisible people. They were working so hard to get rid of one Mad King, they certainly didn't need another.

While Carl had been making his way over to the command tent, he had been mentally reviewing the information that caused the group of leaders to call an assembly. Tywin Lannister had recently increased his armies marching speed, and would arrive outside the city in just a few hours. They had received a missive from him that required a decision in a short time.

The letter had detailed how Tywin was planning a double-triple fakeout to end the siege as soon as possible. The rebels would act like they believed the Lannisters were with them, and pull back from one of the city's gates, letting the Westerlands army guard the gate for the siege.

Meanwhile, the mad king's men would believe that Tywin had faked out the rebels. They would open the gate for his army to join them in the defense, thus making it more difficult for the rebels to take the city due to their bolstered numbers.

But ultimately, Tywin would use the chance to attack. His army would take the opportunity blitz in and take over the Red Keep where the Mad King was, while part of his army would attack the other gates from the inside to let in the rest of the army that followed Prince Rhaegar.

In order to show his sincerity, Tywin had sent his second son as a hostage to the rebel forces to ensure they would believe him and go along with his plan.

The moment that Carl stepped into the tent, he zeroed in on the 10 year old Tyrion Lannister who was there as a hostage. The incredibly small 10 year old dwarf was being hovered over by two large guards while looking quite timid. A light scan of the boy's mind gave Carl all the information he needed.

Tyrion Lannister was half convinced that his father had sent him to die when he pulled his own ruse. Tywin did plan on attacking the King's forces and deposing Aerys II, but he didn't plan to open the gates to the other rebel forces. He wasn't going to let the rebel forces in until he had secured a victory on his own, thus putting himself in the preeminent position of having the greatest merit in striking the final blow of the rebellion against the Mad King.

Twyin believed that doing such a move would give him a much greater negotiating position and power in the aftermath of the rebellion to achieve his ends, namely more power for House Lannister.

Tyrion believed that his father hoped that the rebels would kill his useless and hated dwarf son when it was obvious that Twyin wasn't following the plan, thus ridding him of the hated boy.

Carl frowned on the inside at the mind and attitude of the young dwarf. He would have to get a read on Tywin to make sure of Tyrion's conjectures, but from an initial scan it seemed to Carl that young Tyrion had pretty much accepted the taunts and laughter directed at him as proof that he was useless. Especially compared to his older brother that was so physically perfect and good at fighting. Tyrion labored under a harsh inferiority complex.

While Carl wasn't aware of what exactly the dwarf had done in the original timeline, he was under the impression from many internet people that Tyrion was one of the finest minds in Westeros and that he was a stubborn survivor that made himself very useful to more than one ruler.

At the moment, Carl barely saw hints of the shrewd and brilliant mind he was known for. The stubborn will and survivor mentality was entirely lacking. Instead there was years of belief that he was as useless as his dwarf body that was dragging him down.

Carl ignored the arguing Lords and Nobles as they debated the merits and demerits of believing Tywin Lannister and following his plan.

He moved to a seat near the young boy as he pondered what to do about the situation. With the technology, magic, and other skills Carl had, a person's body was pretty much the last thing he looked at, as far as judging their worth as a person and ally of his. It was the most unimportant thing, since he could easily refashion the body, enhance it, clone it, boost it, and train it to great heights.

The quality of a person's body was immaterial. The most important things were their mind, will, and loyalty. Their ability to persevere, to struggle, to fight, and never give up. He knew that the young boy near him had those qualities of character hidden deep down. Apparently so deep he didn't even know he had them himself. It was only through living and struggling through hardship that he discovered those aspects of himself.

So Carl was currently pondering what to do about the boy. His first idea was to get the boy in his camp by healing the boy's body, which would definitely engender loyalty to himself in Tyrion.

In the Stargate world when he had expanded his empire, the key point of keeping the whole thing stable had been putting his own loyal disciples into positions of leadership and power. Their loyalty to Carl, their personal power, and their access to the best tech had ensured that his power and position as the head of the empire hadn't been shaken.

But if he simply gave Tyrion a new body, while it would ensure Tyrion's loyalty, it wouldn't do much for the character of the boy. Deep down inside, he would still believe that the only reason he was worth something was his new body. And if his new body could be given so easily, it could be taken away just as easily. He would never get over the knot in his heart. He would always be paranoid that he was one step away from being useless, all based on his body.

That knot in his heart, that poor mentality, would always fester in the boy's mind and hinder his development.

Carl decided that he would have to take a different approach to the Tyrion's development. It would take a lot more work to overcome the young dwarf's mental hang-ups than normal. But Carl wanted to do it that way, because the hints of a brilliant mind that he ran across made him eager to see what the boy was capable of when given half a chance to shine. If his father Twyin was so eager to throw the boy away as useless and not develop him for whatever reason, then Carl would be happy to take him in and rub his nose in it.

And Tywin himself had given Carl the perfect way to accomplish it. In his correspondence Tywin hadn't been so crass as to blatantly call his son collateral. He had used the excuse that he was sending him to be fostered with House Tully.

Apparently Tywin believed that with the poorer position that House Tully had among their peers, in addition to their close geographical position to the Westerlands, House Tully would have to think very carefully before doing anything to rouse House Lannister's anger. And that Tywin could easily bully House Tully into compliance whenever he desired.

Carl snorted at that idea. Even without his abilities, his father Hoster Tully was quite a stubborn man. There's no way he would kowtow to the Lannister Lord. He was too proud of his own position.

There was the additional fact that the presence of a hostage that Tywin didn't care for wouldn't be nearly as big of a preventative measure against Tywin as most would initially believe. If the hostage was Jaime Lannister, there might be some deterrent effect, but not his hated dwarf son.

Picking up those ideas from Tyrion's mind led Carl to believe that Tywin hated anyone having power or authority over him, and was willing to resort to underhanded and cruel means to attain his goals. Which matched up with what little Carl knew of the man from the Canon books and show, and what he had learned from his spy bots since arriving in the world.

Carl had introduced himself to Tyrion and started chatting with him as he thought over his plans for the boy. Carl was pleased that despite the young boy's timidness and inferiority complex, he did show his brilliant mind in conversation. He even showed hints of a stubborn will and refusal to give in on the points that Tyrion knew to be true from his reading when Carl would contradict his statements to test him.

Carl was pleased that the basic enthusiasm and stubborn will was there inside Tyrion. He just needed to use some methods to bring it out.

The meeting ended up being a short one, since the machinations of Tywin had given them very little time to debate. Which was probably what Tywin was counting on. If they didn't make their decision in the next two hours, the window for acting would disappear.

After Tyrion was questioned by the group of Lords, the decision was quickly made to take a chance on the Lannister Lord's plan. It was their best bet to end the siege quickly, with the minimum amount of bloodshed.

Carl made his own secret arrangements. Tywin's plan to delay opening the gates for the rest of the rebel army until he had already secured a win were destined for failure. Carl's sent some invisible Petes, those handy spiderlike robots that he first made in the Stargate world, to ensure that the gates were opened at the same time as the Lannister army entered the city.

While Tywin would still get some credit for the plan, the rest of the lords would still be annoyed by the highhanded manner he implemented it, without consulting any of them. And since they would all be entering at the same time as Twyin's men, it would be readily apparent that someone other than Tywin had cracked the gates for them, thus lowering the man's credit in the battle.

Carl smirked a bit inside at being able to foil the man's ambition, even if just by a little. It may be petty of him, but who said that nobles weren't allowed to be petty? Who made the Lannister Lord such a dick that Carl wanted to mess with him a bit?

XX

A few hours later, the rebel armies were ready for battle. The far gate that Tywin's men would "besiege" was cleared of their men so the Lannisters could take their place and enact their plan. The Petes were in place to open the gates the moment the Lannisters began entering Kings Landing.

Hoster had pulled rank and ensured that Carl wasn't going to be the first to charge in, since he didn't want his heir to risk dying in the fight. While Carl had plenty of methods he could use to override the man's orders, he decided that he would accede to his father's orders.

Mostly Carl did so because he found himself being put in charge of the 10 year old Tyrion, and ordered to stay out of the majority of the fighting to keep their hostage, and himself, safe.

Carl had no hand in making sure the young Lannister lad was his responsibility. Nope, Carl was completely innocent there.

From the time that Carl first began spending time with young Tyrion, he began working on the boy's attitude. Because of the years of heaped up abuse and scorn, the young lad pretty much eschewed all physical labor or exertions. He figured he wouldn't be good at it anyway with his stature, so he avoided letting people make a mockery of him.

Carl wasn't going to have any of that idea of avoiding physical exertion. Despite not having the best body, it was still his body. He could still accomplish many things, even great things with it, if he only worked hard. So Carl assigned certain chores to the lad.

Despite laboring under an inferiority complex a mile wide, the young boy did have a sort of pride of his own, as he stubbornly completed the tasks Carl set him. He was quite awkward at first, but with his intellect he soon got the hang of handling the gear that Carl put him in charge of.

Since Tyrion was convinced from a young age that, with his dwarf defect, he wouldn't ever be able to shine in anything physical, he had pretty much never worked on testing his body's limits, working, and learning to fight beyond the vary basics. If he wasn't going to excel, and he was going to be made fun of for it, why bother?

But Carl didn't accept any excuses from him as he immediately set the boy physical tasks that would push him. Whether it was to reach for things out of easy reach to make his mind work and come up with alternate methods of accomplishing the goal, or lifting and carrying heavier loads than he usually did. Carl was determined to make the boy learn his limits, and push past them.

It was exactly what he did in the martial arts training for everyone Carl trained. It was just that at the moment Tyrion absolutely hated Carl's guts for forcing him to do the work. Tyrion was convinced that Carl was forcing him to do such work in order to mock him and laugh at his expense.

The slight smile on Carl's face from watching Tyrion work probably wasn't helping the impression that Tyrion had of Carl. But the slight smile on Carl's face wasn't mocking, it was from watching Tyrion refuse to give up or give in. It wasn't to mock the boy as Tyrion was currently thinking.

Eventually, all the chores that Carl had set Tyrion were complete, and Carl had Tyrion on a horse next to him. He looked especially small mounted on a normal sized horse. And the scowl on Tyrion's face showed he was fully aware of how small he looked on the horse, and felt that it was another method of mocking him.

Carl strode up to where the lad was sitting his horse. As he stood there, he glanced sideways and slightly up at the scowling boy sitting his horse. Tyrion was currently looking down at the horse's neck to avoid the mocking looks he was sure he would see in the men's faces around him.

Carl nudged Tyrion's leg, and when the boy glanced at him angrily, Carl gestured around their vicinity. "Really look around you Tyrion. What do you actually see, as opposed to what you expect?"

Tyrion stared at Carl, unsure of what he was getting at. "What?" The young boy asked.

"Really look around you, Tyrion." Carl repeated. "Use that mind of yours. What do you see? Describe it for me."

And the boy took his vaunted intelligence and used it as he looked around. "The soldiers are busy packing up the camp. They are making sure their personal supplies won't be stolen while they are busy at the battle. Some of them seem nervous, like it's their first battle. But the veteran's seem to be keeping them too busy to think much on their nervousness."

Carl's encouraging look at the young lad's perception seemed to shock the boy.

Tyrion's face started losing the scowl that he had been sporting as he stopped thinking of what he probably was suffering under, and actually looked around at what was actually happening.

"Everyone keeps looking over at the gates, as if they are wondering if they will really open or they will have to fight while being bombarded by the arrows of the defenders. Everyone is so preoccupied with their actions, that they aren't even paying me any attention." Tyrion was shocked at the revelation.

"Yes, Tyrion." Carl replied. "It seems to me that the Lannister men have grown used to mocking their lord's son, because he doesn't have Tywin's favor. They are following their Lord's example. They use someone who is in a worse position than them to make themselves feel better. But our Tully men don't have that habit instilled in them for 10 years. To them, you are the Lord Lannister's son, and a valuable noble that will ensure your father's cooperation."

Carl wasn't surprised to see a scowl once more on Tyrion's face at the mention of his father.

"I had a few reasons for working you so hard over the last hour." Carl admitted to the boy, and was unsurprised to see the boy's scowl turn on him. "And none of it was to mock you for your stature, boy."

"Then, why?" Tyrion's face had changed from scowling to blank from feeling at a loss for lack of answers and uncertainty about just what was going on.

"A multitude of reasons, really. To keep you busy and keep from worrying, just like the rest of the men. To see what you're truly capable of doing." The scowl returned on Tyrion's face. "Unlike others, I'm not going to assume that just because you were born a dwarf, that you are useless. If a nine foot tall giant is chopped at the knee with an axe by a six foot tall man, or a three foot tall dwarf, it doesn't matter to the giant. He'll still be wounded, crippled, and easy pickings." Carl explained as Tyrion's eyes widened in shock.

"To the nine foot tall giant, the regular sized man was considered weak and puny. Just like a dwarf is to a regular man. Does that mean that the regular sized man should accept the mockery of the giant, simply because he wasn't born a giant? Isn't he still a capable man in his own right? So why should the dwarf accept the mockery of the regular sized man?"

Tyrion seemed to be in a daze, the words that Carl spoke to him echoing in his ears. These were ideas that he had never considered. No one had ever spoken in such a way to him. They never considered him a normal person, why would they try to help him gain perspective?

"Give the dwarf an axe, and he'll chop the regular sized man down to size just as well as any other." Carl finished as he pulled out an axe suited to Tyrion's stature and handed it up to the boy.

Tyrion grabbed the axe with both hands mechanically. He couldn't keep his eyes from staring in wonder at the axe. The new ideas kept floating around in his head. The new possibilities. He felt the weight of the axe, the solidity. The weight of Carl's words. He was growing to like that axe the more he looked at it.

While Tyrion was staring at the axe in wide eyed thought, Carl attached the holster for the axe to Tyrion's horse.

"There's the holster for you to put your weapon away when you're done fondling it." Carl stated while lightly slapping the boy's back, and started laughing at the red faced shock the boy had at the joke.

"What? But-" Tyrion sputtered.

"Just a joke among fellow men, Tyrion. Don't worry too much about it." Carl waved him off with a grin.

"Thank you." Tyron whispered too low for most to hear as he reverently holstered his axe.

Carl completely ignored the suspicious watering of the boy's eyes as for the first time he was treated like a man, like a comrade. Mounting up on his own horse, Carl threw a friendly smile Tyrion's way.

"Now, we won't be in the thick of the fighting today. My father doesn't really want his heir to be in the thick of battle, so we'll be coming up in the reserve forces. We shouldn't see too much fighting, but best keep your guard up and your axe handy. You never know what might happen."

Carl pushed down the voice inside him saying a 10 year old had no place on the battlefield. This was a different world from where he originally grew up in, and the children here grew up quick. He had experienced that first hand. And he wouldn't be bringing Tyrion directly into the thick of combat, he would be part of the forces that were in charge of organizing things after the main force charged in.

A loud banging sound was heard from the direction of the city, and when Carl looked over, he saw that his Petes had arranged the opening of the gates right on schedule. The rebel army's leaders saw the sight they were expecting and led the charge into the city.

Tyrion followed behind Carl as he finished organizing the camp and the men who would be doing the mopping up and organizing behind the main force.

The next couple of hours was both boring and bloody, at least for Carl as his group moved into the city. Carl kept up a conversation with Tyrion as he explained what was happening, why he was giving certain orders to his men, and also sought Tyrion's own opinions on matters. He took it as an opportunity to teach the boy and get him involved.

Carl was very pleased with the boy's swift progress. At first Tyrion had been incredibly hesitant when Carl asked his opinion, sure that a sarcastic quip or mocking joke at his expense was about to come his way.

But when Carl and the men around him failed to do so, and even listened carefully to him, either agreeing with him or correcting his thought process as appropriate, he began to really open up. Like a drought stricken plant, he soaked up the positive attention that he had only ever got from his older brother Jaime and one of his aunts and uncles. The experience of being listened to and taught without mockery was exhilarating for the young man.

Carl's group of men continued following behind the main forces, piling bodies out of the way, setting up guard checkpoints around the city, and generally keeping the city organized. He had to order some looters captured and rapists hung when they were caught. Apparently some people thought they could get away with that kind of behavior in the chaos of war. Some nobles may have ignored it, but Carl wasn't about to put up with that shit.

After some time, Carl saw that everything was organized, and so he made his way to the Red Keep, the castle of the king. As he and Tyrion were walking through the halls of the keep, Carl saw many soldiers guarding the various halls and intersections, making sure there wouldn't be any surprise attacks or retaliation.

Carl's senses were spread out through the castle, and saw the various servants and courtiers cowering in their rooms, hoping the battle wouldn't sweep them up in it. His various spy bots had already mapped out all the hidden passages, so Carl was watching to see if anyone was sneaking around. Carl noticed that something interesting was happening in the throne room, so he sped up his and Tyrion's pace.

While Carl was making his way over to the throne room, Ned Stark and several soldiers had broken into the throne room, intending to arrest the king. But they found the king dead on the floor, and Jaime Lannister sitting slumped on the Iron Throne. As the various lords were trickling into the room, Jaime had admitted to killing the king. Ned had then labeled him as "kingslayer" in disgust for the young man breaking his Kingsguard Oaths.

Carl saw the whole scene from the feed from his spy bots. So when he arrived at the throne room just after Ned labeled Jaime with the shameful title for breaking his oaths, he decided to make an entrance.

He slammed open the doors of the hall, creating a huge booming sound. Without breaking stride, he entered the throne room with all eyes fastened on him, little Tyrion just behind him.

"Tyrion!?" Jaime called out in shock at seeing his little brother there.

"Jaime! I'm glad you're all right!" Tyrion's face broke out in a genuine smile at seeing his older brother as he rushed to Jaime's side.

"Is that an axe? What are you doing with an axe?" Jaime asked in confusion, while the rest of the men in the room waited to see what would happen.

"Yes, it's my axe! I can chop any man down at the knees, to make them more fit to fight!" Tyrion proudly announced as he brandished the axe.

Tyrion noticed that the grins of the men around the hall at his words didn't contain the same contempt the Lannister men would, even if they didn't seem to have much respect. But now, his mentality had changed greatly. Instead of feeling embarrassed, or resentful, he simply smirked back at them, daring them to say anything.

If anything, the boy's proud stance and challenging stares earned him respect from those present. No one liked a mewling coward, and the Lannister boy was showing plenty of spirit, which earned him respect.

"What happened here, brother?" Tyrion asked, looking around and seeing the king's corpse.

"Your brother killed the king." One of the men nearby answered when it looked like Jaime hesitated to say anything.

Tyrion knew his brother's character, and knew how much he had desired to be a great knight. How much he cherished his honor and oaths. So the fact that Jaime, one of the Kingsguard, had acted against his king meant that something had to have happened.

"What happened, Jaime. Tell me everything!" Tyrion demanded. Even at ten name days old he knew his older brother wasn't the best thinker, despite all his other good qualities. So he had to insist on hearing the whole tale.

Jaime seemed to slump a bit where he stood, no longer looking so defiant, only tired and slightly broken.

"I was guarding the King when he heard the news that the rebels had made it into the city." Jaime began his tale, looking only at his young brother. "We were in the throne room here. The King had me call the Alchemist Guild's master. When he arrived, King Aerys II was raving about how he wouldn't allow the rebels to win. That he was the Blood and Fire, and with fire he would win." Jaime paused, looking somewhat haunted, before continuing.

"The King asked the alchemist if he had carried out his order. The alchemist assured the king that the wildfire was placed all over the city, and with a single act, they would all burn. The entire city would burn."

Jaime's haunted words caused every man in the hall to gulp in shock and fear. If that was true, then every man of the army would have been burned to death in the most horrible flames. Every single one of them owed their lives to Jaime Lannister for preventing the wildfire from being lit.

"I couldn't let that happen. Aside from all the people in Kings Landing, I heard that Father, uncle, and everyone was already in the city. So…I killed the alchemist before he could leave the hall and then cut down the King. I broke my oaths so everyone wouldn't die horribly in fire. I couldn't let that happen." Jaime's voice trailed off.

"You did the right thing, Jaime Lannister." Carl firmly and loudly proclaimed. It was a hard decision for a 17 year old raised on tales of Knights and honor to do. Go against his oaths and honor to save so many lives. Carl moved up next to the young man and patted him on the shoulder in solidarity. "You saved us all from a horrible death. You made the right choice."

Little Tyrion also stepped up next to his brother, assuring him he did good. Tyrion had his axe brandished and glared around at any man who dared to say otherwise. Carl smirked inside at the show of gumption for the 10 year old. He was well pleased the young boy seemed to be progressing so fast.

"You did the right thing." Ned Stark also asserted in his stoic way, also going up and patting the shocked young man on the shoulder. Just a moment ago Jaime was being condemned by those same men, who were now thanking him and patting his back, smiling and friendly. The abrupt turnabout really threw Jaime for a loop for some time.

Just then the various Lords and commanders of the rebel army, along with Prince Rhaegar, entered the throne room. They had taken so long getting there because of the need to organize their troops and make sure everything was secured.

Rhaegar Targaryen, Tywin Lannister, Doran and Oberyn Martell, Rickard and Brandon Stark, Hoster Tully, Jon Arryn, Mace Tyrell, and Robert Baratheon strode into the hall, looking around at the commotion going on.

"What's happening here, then?" Robert loudly asked when it looked like no one else was going to talk.

The men who had heard the tale from Jaime's own lips hastened to tell their lords what had almost happened. Many of them were watching Rhaegar to see what his reaction would be. Even though the King had gone mad, he was still Rhaegar's father after all.

After hearing the tale, Rhaegar stood for a moment with his eyes closed, thinking over the revelation and mourning his father. At least in everyone's eyes that was what he was doing. In reality he was receiving his orders from Carl.

Opening his eyes, Rhaegar strode up to Jaime and stood in front of him. "Despite being my father, Aerys had long since lost the mental faculties to rule properly. You have done us a service in ensuring our loyal lords and people were not massacred in fire. In reward, we will release you from service in the Kingsguard to return home with a large reward. You have given us loyal service, but it is still a hard thing to have to make that choice. Go home with your family and come to terms with what you had to do. There are other ways to serve the realm than to be a Kingsguard. As your father's heir, I'm sure you will do great good in the Kingdom."

Carl could see Jaime straitening up, his spine once more straight and proud, at the words from Rhaegar, who he looked up to. Out of the corner of his eye, Carl saw Tywin looking stern but pleased to have his heir back, and not being shamed for breaking his oaths as a Kingsguard.

Rhaegar then turned to the Hall in general. "This has been a very difficult time for the Seven Kingdoms. War has wracked our land, but now justice will once more be had in the land. We thank everyone for their loyal service. The rest of the day should be used in securing the city and the surrounding lands. Tonight we will have a feast and memorial for our fallen brothers. On the morrow we will meet in council to ensure the running of the kingdom is back on track."

Cheers rang out at the Prince's announcement.

The men in the hall then broke up into various groups as they started organizing. Jaime seemed to be avoiding his father, but attached himself to his younger brother, Tyrion, who remained at Carl's side as they went about their duties.

Aside from organizing and ordering around the Tully men, Carl kept up conversation with the two brothers, getting to know them better. Carl also sent a message to Lyanna that the rebellion was over, but she already knew the details, having watched the streams from Carl's spy bots.

She had originally been furious at her father's announcement that she wasn't to participate in the war. But she eventually acceded to her father's demands. Family bonds were still a huge part of her life, even though she had learned and grown so much from her time with Carl. Since she couldn't participate in the war, she found something else to do, and was busy decimating all the rapist reavers of the Iron Islands.

Carl couldn't say he was sorry to see those squid cunts being killed. At least the more despicable ones among them. He would have to determine if there were some that could be weaned away from their culture of rape and pillaging, and be integrated more into the Seven Kingdoms which they were supposed to be a part of.

But that would have to be for later. For now, Carl had things to be doing, and people to be tracked down from where they were hiding in Kings Landing, having fled the Red Keep through the various tunnels.