Chapter 59: Misled

Within Winterfell, there was a commotion going on, a letter had come from the Vale several days ago. After the letter was checked and nothing suspicious was found, the letter from Lysa was given to Catelyn in her tower.

Catelyn, after reading that her sister was in trouble, had pleaded for help to be sent to assist her sister and nephew, only to have those pleas fall onto deaf ears. Ned didn't trust the letter, so refused to send any help to the Vale.

Believing that her husband was fully under the control of the Targaryens, Catelyn had began to plan an escape. She wanted to bring her children but knew it to be an impossible task, she knew she wouldn't be able to travel swiftly with her children, so she convinced herself to make her escape alone for now.

She felt that once she made her way to the Riverlands, she could gather men to help her with her sister's issues, then in turn her sister could help her regain her children and status within Winterfell. The Vale was devout believers in the Seven, so she knew she could garner support from the Vale.

So Catelyn had feigned an illness, which got her transferred from the tower to the medical area within Winterfell. After Luwin diagnosed her, when he was unable to find anything wrong, he believed it to be a emotional sickness, which would've made sense considering the emotional stress Catelyn was under recently.

So she was left to rest within the medical dormitory, in the middle of the night Catelyn snuck out of the room she was placed in, grabbed her traveling garb from her room and left Winterfell. She knew the guards habits better than anyone, thus was able to use this knowledge to go undetected during the night, not only thru the castle but also to escape Winterfell.

By the time Luwin came to check on her with Ned the following morning, she was long gone. Ned ordered men to chase after her, knowing that she was planning to go to the Vale, he worried for her since he knew that it was most likely a trap set for him.

Ned knew that Aiden was busy, so wouldn't be able to help until he returned. Several days ago Aiden received a distress call from Oberyn Martell and Gerion Lannister, they had embarked on the last leg of their journey into Ulthos, Sothoryos and then Old Valyria before they were set to return home.

Ulthos was an unknown mystical land at the far edges of the known world, it was far more mysterious than Sothoryos since there was at least trade with the tribes that settled along the northern coastline of the island. Asshai was close to Ulthos but even they had little to no information regarding the lands.

Even Asshai, which was a very dangerous place in itself, feared the dark forested lands of Ulthos. Asshai had powerful sorcerers and sorceresses who were shadowbinders, they commanded dark and destructive magics that set them apart from other magic users greatly.

Yet even the most talented men and women of Asshai who wanted to learn the secrets held within Ulthos never returned. Many believed it to be similar to Sothoryos, inhabited by many dangerous creatures, peoples, and diseases.

Sothoryos was fine as long as you didn't travel deep with the interior of the island, this was why although much wasn't known about Sothoryos, it was possible to gain information on the island from the tribes that traded with Essosi merchants.

They knew the types of wildlife that could be found within the island, but Ulthos was a complete mystery. Due to this it was believed that dark gods lived within Ulthos, making the land impossible to investigate.

Many adventurers seeking fame and fortune had made attempts to at least investigate the land, even just mapping out the lands coastline would garner you tons of gold and fame. Even more if you could bring back samples of wood, soil, bugs, or wildlife that resided on the unknown lands.

This is what Gerion was after, he wanted to surpass his oldest brother Tywin, he was very experienced in sailing, navigation, as well as mapping. He felt confident in his abilities to at least be able to map out its coast at the very least.

He could answer the question if Ulthos was connected to Sothoryos and Essos, or if it was similar to Sothoryos and a seperate island entirely. That was how unknown Ulthos was, nobody knew if it was it's own land or if it was connected to other known lands.

Even sailors of the Summer Isles, who knew the most about Sothoryos and Old Valyria, had no knowledge of Ulthos. The only thing that was known about the land was that it was densely forested and widely accepted to be cursed.

Aiden had left for the lands to rescue Oberyn and Gerion, so Ned knew that he was on his own for now. To try to stop Catelyn from harm, Ned sent a raven to Riverrun, to inform them to stop Catelyn from making it into the Vale.

He prayed that she could be stopped before it was too late, he knew that even if it wasn't a trap, and Lysa truly needed help in stabilizing the Vale, Catelyn would also seek support from the Faith and the High Septon which would create serious issues for him.

Men were sent towards the Riverlands to try to chase her down, unfortunately for Ned, Catelyn had put much thought into her escape. When she first left Winterfell on horseback, she headed east towards the Kingsroad and Riverlands, however once she reached the Kingsroad, she turned north rather than south to Riverlands.

Instead she headed to White Harbor, she planned to call upon Lord Manderly who was a fellow follower of the Seven, to board a ship to Gulltown in the Vale. She would be able to bypass any lords that would be searching for her since she knew that Ned would call upon her cousin to stop her.

As long as she got to the Vale first, she could get her sister to supply her with some men to head into Riverlands to gather men still loyal to her father to help her and Lysa, this way she couldn't be captured by her uncle and his men.

As Catelyn was making her way to White Harbor, Cersei's ship had just entered Blackwater Bay, flying the flag of a Braavosi merchant on the ship. Tyrion had purchased one from a Braavosi merchant that was docked in Lannisport before leaving. This ensured that they would be left alone by many port masters.

Not even Stannis would dare to hinder a ship sailing from Braavos, neither would the Ironborn. They knew that should the merchant have deep ties to the Iron Bank then attacking or hindering it would have serious consequences, and many Braavosi merchants were tied to the Iron Bank.

The Iron Bank was basically the most powerful entity in the known world. They had access to the largest fleet of ships, agreements with every mercenary group, and could call in favors from many houses and lords in not only Essos, but Westeros as well. They had the most money and many would do anything just to get in the Iron Bank's good graces.

Not only that but many had debts owed to the Iron Bank, so going against them was similar to going against the world itself. You would create so many enemies that it was best to just not take the risk. Even if you killed everyone on board, you had to hope that no one on land or another ship saw the attack, they would tell the Iron Bank what they saw in a heartbeat just to get in the banks good graces.

"Alright everyone, I need everyone's attention, we have a few hours before we make port. I suggest we not immediately attack the Red Keep. The City Watch is no doubt on high alert." Tyrion said as they sailed towards the port.

"Oh, so what do you suggest Imp?" Daven asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Rather than go on the offensive right away, I would suggest we visit the taverns to..."

"Of course you would you little monster!" Cersei interrupted as she walked out of her room. "You never change, you will lead us into the the castle immediately!"

Tyrion angrily shouted back, "Shut the fuck up you stupid whore! If you would've let me finish you would understand more. You have to be the dumbest bitch I have seen in a long while. Unlike you, I know what will happen if we do your plan, we will all fucking die. You want us to storm a castle that has at minimum thrice our numbers with a total of two thousand guards total that can be called upon. So even if we make it in, we won't make it out."

Cersei was about to shout back but was stopped by Daven, he could see his men that had gathered were in full understanding of what Tyrion had stated, he too hadn't realized just how many men they were dealing with fully.

"Alright Imp, you have our attention, you have a plan then I take it? Otherwise you wouldn't have called us all here." Daven stated questioningly. He knew Tyrion had been in Kings Landing previously, so he was inclined to listen.

"Aye, as I was saying, before I was interrupted by a fool with no battle experience or knowledge, we should send men to the taverns to sow discord with the populace for a few days. Rile up the people against Robert. It shouldn't be too difficult, they already hate the fat king as it is. Before I had to flee, the people rioted against him and many were slaughtered by him. So re-lighting the fuse will only take a few days. Once they begin to cause trouble, all the guards will be stationed close to the main entrance to the Red Keep. We can then slip into the castle, while they are distracted, and we will be able to do whatever my sister is after, then slip out without being surrounded. The amount of guards patrolling will be significantly reduced, plus even if we are found out, they won't be able to dispatch every guard. A large amount will need to defend against the mob." Tyrion explained.

Daven thought long and hard on Tyrion's words, it made sense, it would split the attention of all the guards inside, and limit any reinforcements they could summon to attack them. Even if they sent the signal to summon those that are off duty, with a mob out front of the castle, they wouldn't be able to get in so easily.

"Well done cousin. That is a good plan, so we would only need to worry about the Kingsguard. Have you an answer on how to handle them?" Daven replied with a smile, he had a new found respect for Tyrion now that he sees the man have a mind for battle.

"Sadly no. But there is really only two we need to worry about. Ser Barristan Selmy and Ser Sandor Clegane. Last I knew Ser Boris and the rest can be bought, and the Hound is fearful of fire, so really it's only Ser Barristan that will be the trouble." Tyrion said with a sigh.

"Nothing a group of soldiers can't handle, no matter how good one man is, once they are surrounded, they won't last. Alright cousin, we shall go with your plan." Daven stated with a nod.

"Aye..." The other soldiers stated in agreement.

"I don't approve..." Cersei started to say but was cut off by Daven once again.

"Your brother is correct, your highness. Should we not do as he planned, we will surely fail. My men and I don't intend to die needlessly. This plan is our best option, I would rather fight maybe fifty guards and six Kingsguard rather than five hundred backed by another fifteen hundred that would easily be called to reinforce them." Daven stated calmly.

"That Imp is no brother of mine. This is not what we agreed on." Cersei stated angrily to Daven.

"Aye, it may not be, but you also failed to mention the amount of forces within the Red Keep. Had I known how many guards are within the castle at once, I would've brought more men. I figured about three hundred men were were stationed which is managable for my men. But three times our number is not good odds, even if we have the element of surprise. Unless you can point us to where at least a little over a hundred guards are at once, then we can go with your plan, but I doubt there is such an area." Daven stated as he raised and eyebrow.

Cersei scanned the men and saw that they were chuckling at Daven's comment, she knew she wasn't going to get her way, before turning around and going back into her room she gave Tyrion a hateful glare.

"It's a good thing looks can't kill, I'd have been dead for sure with that one." Tyrion said as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

He was nervous that they wouldn't have listened to his plan. Although he himself also had no actual battle experience, what he did have was experience in reading several strategic books. He was an avid reader all his life, he was trained very loosly in physical combat, he was a noble after all, but training and actual combat was two seperate things completely.

"Aye, but they can't. Come, let us talk more on what our men should say in these taverns to get the most out it. We will need a large enough turnout to ensure they pull most guards to the mob." Daven said with a chuckle.

Daven was beginning to like this dwarf cousin of his, he hadn't spent much time with Tyrion, this was due to Tywin. He kept Tyrion away from most all the public, that included other family members. The only family member that was kind to Tyrion was his brother Jaime and uncle Gerion.

Tywin was ashamed and disappointed in Tyrion, all because he was an ugly and disfigured dwarf. No matter what Tyrion did or succeeded in, Tywin always found fault in something. When there was no fault that could be found, Tywin would act as if he did nothing special, he would state that Tyrion only did what was expected.

Tyrion had suffered all his life from not only cruelty from his father but also his sister Cersei, in fact she was even more cruel than Tywin in many ways.

Now Tyrion felt warmth within his heart, he could feel the change in his cousins thoughts. Tyrion felt as if he finally received what he had beed looking for all his life, to be accepted and respected.

He felt this made the risk worth everything, although no one openly talked down to him, this was only because of him being a Lannister, but he could see how people viewed him.

Now he could see the men aboard this ship no longer had a demeaning look in their eyes when they looked at him. He had earned a bit of respect in these mens eyes, they knew that he had increased their chances to live past this mission.

Tyrion discussed several things that the men should say within the taverns, he even began to hand out several gold dragons to each man. The idea was for them to buy the better drinks for the men within the tavern, increasing the chances that what they said would be accepted by the patrons.

The men hid their armor and dyed their hair using silt to hide their golden hair if they had the typical blond of the Lannister's, as well as waiting till nightfall to make port.