Chapter 375: Don’t Lie to
WILOW-Ch.375: Don’t Lie to
Regalis Port City
POV of Doric Bolton
Two days after the battle.
Doric sat in the living room in a large mansion in Regalis Port and sipped on so lemon juice.
Tyrion sat on the other end of the table and drank so Arbor gold wine.
"It must be hard for you." He said after a long silence.
"Why would that be?" Tyrion scoffed, "I left that family behind when I gave up my na. I do not care about what happens to the Lannisters anymore."
"You’re usually much better at lying." He said, and then there was silence once again.
After a long mont, Tyrion spoke once again, "The defenses of the City have been upgraded as much as I possibly could. The n and militia had been trained. You need not be worried about the ships coming to our shores."
He took another sip and remained silent, not moving his eyes away from Tyrion, who started fidgeting under his gaze.
"How much do you know about the war going on between the Lannisters and the Northern host?"
"You an the war between House Lannister and the House Bolton?" Tyrion snarked before he grimaced, "My apologies. I don’t know where that ca from."
"Apology accepted." He replied, "But you’ve still not answered my question."
"I know that you’ve defeated the Lannister army outside Riverrun. I know that the Vale has almost reached the Trident. And I know that if my father doesn’t back away, then he’ll get fucked three ways by the three armies." Tyrion said and smiled, "I wish I could be there to see that. But I know my father. He’s too smart to be defeated like this. He’ll probably fall back and retreat to either Harrenhal or King’s Landing."
He took another sip of the lemon and put the glass down on the table. "I am not in Riverlands."
"Of course you’re not." Tyrion scoffed, "You’re here. In the North. Unless this is so kind of magic, and what I’m seeing is a re illusion."
"I ant my army." He said, "It is no longer in Riverlands."
Tyrion frowned at that and clutched his fists. "And where would your army be then?" he asked.
He remained silent for a mont, waiting for Tyrion to get impatient before he finally spoke.
"Ser Lucian Lannister was raising an army outside Casterly Rock on the behest of Lord Tywin Lannister." He said.
"Ser Lucian?" Tyrion raised an eyebrow. "He was not much of a fighter. But he was a halfway decent commander. If he is raising an army then..."
"He’s dead." He said, and Tyrion went silent.
Tyrion opened his mouth and closed it a few tis before he finally let out a sigh. "That’s where the Bolton army is, isn’t it. You sohow crossed the Tooth and then defeated the 2nd Lannister army. You must be proud of yourself."
"Their army was 12,000 strong." He said, "I had 8000 n. We took them by surprise and defeated them within an hour. Of course, I am proud of myself."
Tyrion closed his eyes at his words. "Let
guess." He said and then looked up at him with so anger in his eyes, "You’re now outside Casterly Rock and want to see if I have so way to get into the Castle."
"That is true." He replied. "I want a passage inside Casterly Rock."
In fact, Doric already knew that the passage leading into Casterly Rock was through the Sewers.
While watching the events unfolding in Destiny Line, he had seen Tyrion provide information about the Sewers when the Targaryen army attacked Casterly Rock, and Grey Worm used them to enter the castle and attack the Lannisters from the rear.
But Doric preferred to find another source to explain the origin of this information.
Because of that, he sneaked inside Casterly Rock at night and searched for Tyrion’s aunt, Genna Frey’s mory, but he was not able to find any information about the sewers in her mind.
Which was understandable, as in the many hundreds of years since its construction, Casterly Rock has never fallen.
At this point, Doric could tell his n he had found this information in Genna’s mind, erased it from her mory so they wouldn’t take precautions, and then direct them to the Sewer Entrance.
Or he could claim to have seen a Green Dream or a Dragon Dream about the sewers.
But another idea ca to Doric’s mind. If possible, he wanted Tyrion to give him this information. Willingly.
Because even though Tyrion had done good work in Regalis Port and contributed to Doric in many ways, his loyalty to him was still not at the sa level as his loyalty to Daenerys.
And Doric wanted to take advantage of this situation to increase Tyrion’s loyalty to him.
After all, Doric was the type of person who liked to kill two birds with one stone.
"I... I don’t know." Tyrion said after a long mont.
He walked around the table, sat on it, and looked Tyrion in the eye.
"You are lying very badly, Tyrion." He said, "If you do not want to tell , then say so. I’ll accept your reasons because I know that even after leaving the Lannisters, you still love so of them. I’ll not force you to choose between your lord and your family. But do not lie to ." He finished in a whisper, and Tyrion looked down and nodded.
"I... I know a way." Tyrion said and paused for a long mont to wipe the tears from his eyes, "Sorry. I know you’ve done a lot for . You gave
Tysha. Gave
a family that loves . Gave
a place to live. But... I cannot betray my family either."
After a mont’s pause, Tyrion asked him, "What would you do, my lord? If you had to choose between your loved ones and your lord, which would you choose?"
"It’s quite simple. Of course, I would choose those I love. A man’s first and foremost duty is to protect those he loves. Everything else cos second." He said.
"Huh?" Tyrion stared in surprise.
He nodded and stepped away from Tyrion. "I do not bla you, Tyrion. I even respect you for trying to protect your family."
He paused to take a sip of his lemon juice and continued, "I don’t think it’s right to force soone to choose between their family and their duty. That’s why I try to avoid such a situation whenever possible. And if soone chooses their duty over their family, I consider them either a fanatic, ungrateful, or malicious. And such people have no place near ."
"Then... then why are you here, my lord? Why are you forcing
to make this choice?" Tyrion asked, tears streaming down his face.
"You still don’t understand, do you? I am here to give you an opportunity," he said.
"Opportunity?"
Doric looked at Tyrion’s face for a few seconds and said, "You should know
pretty well by now, Tyrion. I’m soone who tries to shed as little blood as possible, but I won’t hesitate to do whatever it takes to achieve my goals."
He then added, "If there’s a less bloody way to capture The Rock, I’ll use it, but if I can’t find one, I won’t hesitate to use wyverns to blow up the castle with wildfire bombs. Know this. Casterly Rock will fall to . And I’ll take all the gold and wealth inside that Castle."
Tyrion looked broken at that, and he added, "What I’m wondering is why you didn’t use the leverage you had to protect your loved ones. Will simply keeping your mouth shut and doing nothing really protect them?"
"You... you want
to bargain with you using the information I have?" Tyrion asked incredulously.
"Normally, I wouldn’t allow soone who has pledged their loyalty to
to attempt such a thing. But if soone is forced to choose between their family and their lord, I may make an exception to find a middle ground." He said.
Tyrion stared at him in astonishnt for a few seconds, then wiped the tears from his face, straightened his back, and said, "If that is the case, my lord, I would like to inform you that I possess information that could buy you ti in your campaign in the Westerlands and save the lives of many of your n. And I wish to use this information to bargain with you."
Doric sat down opposite Tyrion again and said, "This sounds more like the man I know, the one who argues that intellect is mightier than the sword. I am listening, Tyrion. Tell
your demands."
"I want as little bloodshed as possible in the Casterly Rock attack. No won, children, or elderly people should be hard, nor should any man who surrenders. I also want special attention to be given to my aunt Gemma and her child’s safety," Tyrion said.
Doric waited for a mont, and when Tyrion didn’t continue, he asked, "Is that all? I thought you’d at least want so of Casterly Rock’s wealth."
"I’ve abandoned the Lannister na. I don’t need their riches. But if you could bring
a few items from the castle to remind
of my deceased mother, I would be grateful. Things you wouldn’t find valuable. Perhaps a few paintings or so furniture."
"No problem. I accept your demands, Tyrion. But besides the secret path to the castle, I will make one additional demand." He said.
"What is it, my lord?"
"From now on, I don’t want you to lie to
under any circumstances. If sothing is bothering you, tell
you want to talk privately, and tell
what’s bothering you on my face. I’m not like those other two-faced lords. You should know that I will do whatever I can to resolve the issue. But never lie to ," he said.
Tyrion looked down in sha and said, "I accept your demands, my lord."
"Good, then we’ve reached an agreent," he said. "Now tell
about the secret passage."
Then Tyrion told Doric everything he knew about the sewers.
After their conversation, Doric was about to leave when Tyrion said: "My lord... Thank you... Really."
"You’re welco, Tyrion," Doric said with a smile, and then apparated.
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Ch.376: Till Her Last Breath
Ch.377: Mines of Casterly Rock
Ch.378: Hostages
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