◉◉◉◉◉
Daenerys was still a little too young.
There was still too much mercy in her heart, and she still placed too much weight on old customs and ancient codes.
The idea had clearly tempted her, but she had stopped herself from acting on it because of those same old rules.
Truth be told, if Daenerys had simply ordered her three dragons to burn the Red Keep where it stood, then summoned the lords of the Crownlands and directed them north to face the dead, it would have been far easier than trying to persuade Cersei.
If Cersei saw that she could not stop the dead, she could always turn and flee.
But what about the rest of the Crownlands nobility?
Where were they supposed to run?
And if Cersei were removed, Daenerys could ascend the Iron Throne without obstruction. More than that, by organizing the realm against the White Walkers, she could become a hero in the eyes of Westeros.
Aside from the stain of killing a host after parley, the gains far outweighed the cost.
Then again, there was another way to look at it.
They could leave first.
Then, once war formally began, kill her then.
In that case, it would no longer be tied to the negotiation itself.
Daenerys, quite clearly, had reached a similar conclusion.
"Since words won't move her, we should return and prepare separately," she said. "When the time comes, the Unsullied and the Dothraki will sail north."
"We can also try to persuade Victarion. If his fleet agrees to help, I can have the Dothraki and the Unsullied in the North within two weeks."
Two weeks.
Tyrion did the math at once.
That was more than enough time for Daenerys to fly from Dragonstone to the Red Keep, burn it to the ground, and then summon the Crownlands lords to unite against the dead.
Tyrion felt nothing warm for Cersei. In truth, the thought of her dying did not trouble him at all.
But he also knew one thing with certainty.
If Cersei's life were in danger, Jaime would not stand aside.
"Your Grace," Tyrion said, "I think we should try one more time."
Then he turned to Jimmy.
"Jimmy. Let me make one more attempt. Let me go speak with her and see whether she can still be persuaded."
Jimmy looked at the pleading in Tyrion's eyes and gave a helpless sigh.
"You really are something."
"Fine! Go."
"But if you come back missing even a single hair, I will not honor the agreement."
"My keeping that agreement depends on Tyrion being alive."
Tyrion nodded and hurried after Cersei.
…
"What, feeling soft-hearted now?" Daenerys asked, glancing at Jimmy.
Jimmy gave her a look.
"Me? You're the one who didn't strike on the spot."
…
Tyrion caught up with Cersei.
Once, their hatred had been something more hidden, buried beneath family and appearances.
Now it was plain for all to see.
Cersei made no effort to conceal her desire to see him dead. Tyrion, meanwhile, tried reason, emotion, and memory in turn. He even said that he had loved Joffrey and Tommen, his nephews.
Tommen, perhaps.
Joffrey was another matter entirely.
Few people alive could honestly say they had liked that boy. By the end, even his own parents had likely wanted to strike him.
Seeing that Cersei remained unmoved, and sensing that she did not truly intend to kill him at that moment, Tyrion changed tactics.
He provoked her.
"If my life is really what you want so badly, then take it," he said. "Tell your monster to cut me in half and have done with it."
He spread his arms and glared at her.
"Go on... Give the order."
He looked every bit the man ready to die.
But in truth, he was watching her carefully.
For one brief instant, Cersei truly wanted to order his death.
Then her hand brushed lightly against her stomach, and the fire in her eyes dimmed.
Tyrion saw the movement.
Small as it was, it was enough.
Understanding hit him at once.
"You're pregnant."
It was not a question.
It was certain.
Only a Cersei carrying a child would show hesitation like that.
That made everything much simpler.
Tyrion picked up a goblet from the table, poured himself some Arbor wine, and drained it in one swallow. Then he poured two more. Wine like that had come from Highgarden. The North had nothing remotely like it.
"You know, or at least Jaime has already told you, what those three dragons can do in battle. But the one called Jimmy, you probably do not understand at all."
"His name is Jimmy Halstead. There is even a chance he is Targaryen by blood, the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark."
"Leaving aside how many hardened fighters he commands, the fact that he saved Ned Stark's entire family was enough by itself to win him the North."
"And he has another name as well. The Knight of the Laughing Tree. The one said to have beaten the Mountain to death with his bare hands."
"And that eagle of his, Horus, is even more dangerous than a dragon."
Tyrion stepped closer, voice lowering.
"A little while ago, he said that if the Crownlands lords saw the dead with their own eyes, they would have no choice but to march north. The only person difficult to persuade was you."
He looked her straight in the eye.
"If you were in his place, what would you do?"
Cersei still clung to pride.
"Dragons are not invincible."
"No," Tyrion said softly. "Nothing is."
"A spear is only a little longer than a sword, but sometimes that is enough to strike first."
He phrased it gently, but the meaning was obvious.
They did not need dragons or Jimmy to be invincible.
They only needed them to be enough.
If either Daenerys with her dragons, or Jimmy with Horus, truly decided they wanted Cersei dead, she would not survive.
Cersei understood that perfectly well.
She rose at once.
"Fine. I will summon my bannermen and march north."
Then she fixed Tyrion with a cold stare.
"Remember this. I do not go north for the good of the realm, and I certainly do not go because I fear them."
"I do it for my family."
"Tyrion, you are a Lannister too. There is Lannister blood on your hands. You are kind, but never to your own blood."
"I am not kind. But I have never truly harmed a Lannister."
…
Meanwhile, in the ruined Dragonpit, Daenerys had been telling Jimmy the old stories of the place.
Some came from what she had heard as a child. Others from books.
Jimmy listened with genuine interest. The idea that dragons could go from having heads as large as wagons to ending up with heads no bigger than apples left him deeply impressed, though not in the flattering sense.
At that point, even an old woman raising geese could not compete with that kind of talent. Shrinking a bird over generations was one thing. Turning something that massive into something that tiny was practically changing the species.
Just then, Tyrion appeared around the corner, with Cersei close behind him. The moment the others saw them approaching, the conversation stopped.
Cersei, Qyburn, and Jaime walked at the front.
Cersei came straight up to Daenerys and looked her in the eye.
"My armies will not stand idle. I will not leave them sitting in King's Landing."
"I will lead them north and fight beside you."
"The darkness is coming for all of us, and we will face it together."
"And when this war is over, perhaps you will remember that I gave you my full support and asked for nothing in return."
She paused, then dismissed the thought with a cold flick of her voice.
"No! I do not expect that."
"Summon all of our bannermen. Every last one."
At last, Daenerys smiled.
Jimmy, meanwhile, only shook his head inwardly.
Cersei's words were stirring enough, but he did not trust them for a second. A speech like that from her usually meant she was already planning how not to honor it.
Then Jimmy turned toward Victarion.
"Victarion... Lend me your ships, and I'll call our feud settled."
◉◉◉◉◉
~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
◉◉◉◉◉
For early access to advanced chapters on P-atreon:
P-atreon/iamxeno
(Just remove the - hyphen to access normally)
Thank you so much for your support and for reading!