Chapter 123

"I…" Mance hesitated "As much I would like to say no. At the risk of sounding superstitious like many others, I feel that the Old gods indeed favor him. Even if Lord Bolton himself don't made any comment on this subject."

Tyrion just stared at the Ambassador who had been more honest with him than anyone in Kings Landing would ever be with anyone. And he found himself wondering if Lord Bolton was truly blessed by the gods.

He was not a superstitious man but the things he had seen in the Bolton lands so far. The prosperity. The wealth. And the things he was about to see in the near future.

He wondered what it must be like to be favored by the gods.

He supposed he would see soon enough.

"On that note. I almost forgot…" Ambassador Mance said and handed him a enveloped letter with the sigil of House Bolton (the Weirwood one, not the Flayed Man one) on it.

"What's this?" he asked as he looked at the paper which had fine print that seemed to be printed by the Printing Press that he had heard so much about.

"It's a Warning from Lord Bolton to any and all Lords that enter his domain." Mance explained to him "In the last Tourney held by Lord Bolton, many lord came to his domain. A lot of their men treated the small folk like they did in their own domain. The results were… not pretty. Now there a few hundred more men in the Nights Watch. And Lord Bolton has earned a few more enemies in the Lords of those men."

"I… see." He said as he carefully read through the paper seeing how even an assault or rape of one of the Freefolk woman was considered a criminal offense with the criminal either losing both his hands, being sent to the wall or paying a fine of 20 gold dragons.

"It seems like Lord Bolton favors his people even more than the Starks." He said as he continued to read through the paper.

"He does." Mance said with a smile "He once told me that his people were like this children. And he was like their father. I doubt even the Starks as loved by their people as Domeric is by his own."

"I… see." This was a news for him. Down in the South, there were all manner or rumors about Lord Bolton. But none of them entailed how he dealt with the smallfolk.

But then again, down in Kings Landing, no one truly cares for the Small Folk.

He was reminded of his own Father and with a sharp pain in his heart, he was reminded of Tysha. His first wife. And how she was raped by 50 men on the order of his father for the crime of being a low born who dared to marry a Lannister.

"Are you alright Tyrion." Mance asked in a surprisingly soft voice and he realized with sudden clarity that there were tears streaking down his cheeks.

He quickly wiped them off, wondering why he was acting so vulnerable in front of this man that he has not even known for a day.

"Bad memories?" Mance asked once he had wiped his eyes and he nodded, not elaborating anymore and thankfully, Mance didn't ask anymore.

"To love and be loved by his own people." Tyrion said, mostly to himself "Tell, me Ambassador Mance. Did you know that I was once a married man?"

"No. I don't believe I've heard anything about you being married to anyone."

"No you wouldn't have. My father did everything to remove any rumors about my marriage with the threat of torture and death" he said and chuckled bitterly as he clenched his fists and took out a wine bottle from his stash under his seat. He was going to need it for this talk.

He didn't even know why he was telling anything to this man. But it was good to finally talk about this to someone.

Mance remain silent, listening. So he continued his tragic tale.