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[HARRENHAL COURTYARD]
[In a misty morning, a man twitches while hung by a noose. Another screams in pain.]
"No! What happens to Bran and Rickon?!" Catelyn shouted. Nobody replied so she asked again.
"Cat" Ned placed a hand on her shoulder. "Patience. They'll show us when the time is right. We need to be patient."
Catelyn wanted to snap at her husband, but she'd seen the look in his eyes and softened.
"Go on. Now I want you to tell me what happened. Come on, this way. Come on, speak up. Speak up."
[Above the courtyard, LORD TYWIN LANNISTER listens and sniffs a wooden toothpick.]
"Wolfsbane. A rare substance. This is no common assassin."
"Impressive he can tell what is it by scent" Oberyn whistled. He didn't know Tywin Lannister was educated in that manner.
"We hanged twenty men last night."
"I don't care if you hanged a hundred. A man tried to kill me. I want his name and I want his head."
[LADY ARYA STARK sets the table and listens.]
"We think it was an infiltrator from the Brotherhood Without Banners."
"Pretentious name for a band of outlaws. We can't allow rebels behind our lines to harass us with impunity. We look like fools and they look like heroes. That's how kings fall. I want them dead, everyone."
"That is because they are the heroes" Arya shouted. The man was torturing and hanging men, no hero would do that.
"It's a lot more gray than that, little girl" Oberyn chuckled. "What if it was your father whose life had been in danger?"
"I-" Arya frowned.
"Exactly" Oberyn smiled.
"Killing them isn't the problem. It's finding them."
"Have you gone soft, Clegane? I always thought you had a talent for violence. Burn the villages, burn the farms. Let them know what it means to choose the wrong side."
[SER GREGOR "THE MOUNTAIN" CLEGANE exits.]
"Mmm. Is that mutton?"
"Yes, my lord"
"Don't like mutton."
"The smell does not sit right with him" Joanna muttered to herself, remembering the conversation she had with Tywin many years ago.
"I'll bring something else."
"Leave it. Are you hungry?"
"No."
"Of course you are. Eat."
"I'll eat in the kitchen later."
"It's bad manners to refuse a lord's offer. Sit. Eat."
[ARYA sits and eats the mutton.]
"I have never seen Father this caring or.... Soft" Tyrion spoke.
"Me neither" Jaime sighed.
"He was kind to me once" Tommen supplied helpfully. "He gave me a little lion wooden toy when I was small."
"You're still small" Tyrion teased the boy but kept note of that. Was there more to Father than what he showed to his children?
"You're small for your age. I suppose you've been underfed your whole life."
[TYWIN looks out the window.]
"Mmm. This will be my last war. Win or lose."
"Have you ever lost before?"
"Do you think I'd be in my position if I had lost a war?"
[ARYA shakes her head]
"But this is the one I'll be remembered for. The War of the Five Kings, they're calling it. My legacy will be determined in the coming months."
[ARYA realizes that TYWIN has let his guard down, and considers her options. But he turns back to her and she starts, suddenly.]
"Do you know what legacy means? It's what you pass down to your children and your children's children. It's what remains of you when you're gone. Harren the Black thought this castle would be his legacy. The greatest fortress ever built."
[TYWIN walks to the fireplace.]
"The tallest towers, the strongest walls. The Great Hall had thirty-five hearths. Thirty-five. Can you imagine? Look at it now. A blasted ruin. Do you know what happened?"
"Dragons?"
"Yes. Dragons happened."
[TYWIN pours himself some wine.]
"Harrenhal was built to withstand an attack from the land. A million men could have marched on these walls, and a million men would have been repelled. But an attack from the air with dragon fire, Mmm-mmm. Harren and all his sons roasted alive within these walls. Aegon Targaryen changed the rules. That's why every child alive still knows his name"
"Aegon and his sisters."
"Mmm?"
"It wasn't just Aegon riding his dragon. It was Rhaenys and Visenya, too."
"Correct. A student of history, are you?"
"Rhaenys rode Meraxes. Visenya rode Vhagar."
"I'm sure I knew that when I was a boy."
"Visenya Targaryen was a great warrior. She had a Valyrian steel sword she called Dark Sister."
"Hmm. She's a heroine of yours, I take it?"
[ARYA smiles]
"Aren't most girls more interested in the pretty maidens from the songs? Jonquil with the flowers in her hair?"
"Most girls are idiots."
"You remind me of my daughter."
Arya made a face. "I am nothing like her" she huffed.
"Where did you learn all this stuff about Visenya and her Valyrian steel sword?"
"From my father."
"He was a well-read stonemason. Can't say I've ever met a literate stonemason."
"Have you met many stonemasons, my lord?"
"Careful now, girl. I enjoy you, but be careful. Take that back to the kitchen. Eat what you want."
[ARYA rises, clearing the dishes and walking away.]
"And, girl."
[ARYA stops.]
"M'lord."
[ARYA turns, confused.]
"Lowborn girls say "m'lord," not "my lord. " If you're going to pose as a commoner, you should do it properly."
"My mother served Lady Dustin for many years, my lord. She taught me how to speak proper Properly."
"You're too smart for your own good. Has anyone told you that?"
"Yes."
"Go on."
[ARYA exits and TYWIN ponders and drinks his wine.]
"Father is a lot less tense around her" Tyrion noted.
"Perhaps it has to do with his focus on legacy" Jaime pointed out. "With us, he needs to be stern because we are his children and like it or not we are also part of his legacy. He needs us to be our best selves so we reflect well on him and the family. With the girl he doesn't need to be that, he can be a lot more at liberty and not expect much from the girl in return. So anything more than expected would surprise him pleasantly."
"You are not wrong" Joanna spoke, "your father has always been a serious man. It didn't help that his father was not and made a fool of himself. That would always reflect on him so when his father died, he rid himself and Casterly Rock of all of his things, including the whore he fucked. It was a new start, one where House Lannister would be remembered for what Tywin did, like the Reynes and the Castamere. And he will also be remembered for what his children do since he is responsible for all three of you."
Joanna reached out and grasped Jaime's hand. When Jaime stared at her, she smiled. Jaime smiled back, bringing her hand to his lips.
[QARTH GARDEN]
[DAENERYS TARGARYEN and XARO XOHAN DAXOS walk through the garden, anxiously.]
Daenerys stiffened as her future self came on screen. She snuck a peek at Rhaegar. The man was still angry. She quickly looked away.
"I've demanded a meeting of the Thirteen. One of them did this or knows who did."
"You are one of the Thirteen."
"If I wanted your dragons, I would have taken them. They mean nothing to me on their own."
"Nothing? They're more valuable than anything in the world."
"Shall we look inside my vault and see what selling your dragons would buy me that I cannot buy already? We will get them back."
"There is no we, so why would you help me get them back?"
"I took you under my protection in front of the rulers of my city. A man is what others say he is and no more. If they say that Xaro Xhoan Daxos is a liar, my word is worth nothing. I cannot let this thing happen to you under my roof."
"So it's honour for him" Daenerys said.
"Men hardly have reason to help you out of the goodness of their hearts" Elia said as she heard Daenerys's words. The girl in question turned towards Elia and nodded her head understanding what she was trying to convey.
"But it did happen under your roof."
"Khaleesi, many times in my life, I have been-"
"I don't care where you've been!"
[DAENERYS steps quickly up the stairs. MALAKKO blocks XARO's way.]