cp6

Chapter 6

"Lord Edmure! Lord Edmure!" I looked up from my papers to see an out of breath messenger come to a halt in front of me. At my raised eyebrow he continued. "Lord Edmure! Ser Marq has returned!"

Well, that was worth getting excited about. I quickly stood up, a few papers scattering around me. "He is in the courtyard?" The messenger's nod was all I needed to set off. At last, real news.

When I got to the courtyard though, I could immediately tell something wasn't right. Ser Ryger was there already, a grim look on his face. And there was Marq Piper dismounting. But there seemed to be only half the guard he had set out with, and while I might not know exactly what Catelyn looked like, I saw no red headed woman with him. Worse still, I saw no Tyrion with him either. There were a couple of grungy looking mean I did not recognize standing among the guard, but neither one was a dwarf.

Marq looked unusually serious as he approached me. "Edmure."

"Marq." I clasped his shoulder in welcome. "It is good to see you back. But, where is…" I caught myself just in time before I could ask about Tyrion. I wasn't supposed to know he was going to be at the crossroads after all. "… Where is Cat?"

Marq's face took on an even more sombre cast. "We beat the news then? That's good at least Edmure, we damn near killed the horses getting back. But. Ahh. Your sister, she was healthy when I saw her. But, she would not come Edmure."

"Would not come? That's why I gave you a guard to escort her…"

Marq looked even more uncomfortable. "Well. Yes Edmure, but she refused. I could hardly force her. And that's not the worst of it… she… she…" he hesitated, and with a sinking feeling to my stomach I had a sense of where this was going. Gathering his courage, Marq continued. "Of all the cursed luck, we ran into Tyrion Lannister at the inn. Lady Catelyn, she accused him of sending assassins after her son Bran…"

There was an audible gasp at that, and Ser Ryger's bald head was turning beat red. "That foul dwarf! That even a Lannister should do such a thing…"

I shushed the man with a gesture as Marq continued. "Yes, foul indeed. Lady Cat, ahh. When she saw I was there with the guard, she denounced Lannister in front of the whole inn, and had him taken prisoner. I told her you wanted her to come to Riverrun, and offered to escort her here, but she refused. She told me privately later she meant to go for the Eyrie and your sister. I gave her half the guard with me to keep her safe."

"Gods be good." That was Ser Ryger again. "She took him captive? The Lannisters won't stand for that… the queen…" he trailed off in horror.

Seeing the look on my face, Marq's voice took a slightly desperate edge as he continued. "What was I to do? She'd already denounced him to everyone. I tried to convince her Edmure, honest I did. But she was set on the Eyrie. I figured the least I could do was to give her some men to take the high road safely, and then rush back to tell the news."

This was a disaster. A disaster. I suppose in part it was my fault for not spelling things out better for Marq. I'd meant for him to bring Tyrion and Catelyn to Riverrun precisely because I knew Cat would call him out. But of course I couldn't tellhim that in advance, so I'd just given him some sob story about escorting Cat to safety. I'd assumed that as events unfolded, that would naturally lead to Catelyn and Tyrion ending up in the Riverlands. Perhaps I'd not appreciated that these were real people, not characters in a story. Poor Marq probably couldn't be blamed, he'd done the best he could with my vague orders. Now though, not only was Tyrion captive and going to the Eyrie, but he was being escorted there by Riverrun guardsmen! This was even worse than what had unfolded in the original time line. If we weren't careful, this was going to essentially look like the Tullys had taken a high lord's son captive.

"Edmure…" Marq had a desperate tone to his voice. "Say Something Edmure."

I shook my head to clear it. "Marq. I won't lie to you, this is a disaster. It's not fully your fault… but you should have brought Cat here as I ordered. And Tyrion too."

"But Edmure! She refused! What was I supposed to do, kidnap her?"

There was a snort from one of the two raggedy men Marq had brought with him. As I turned at the sound the man grumbled, "bloody well should have kidnapped her."

I eyed the lean man warily. He had a dangerous, if unwashed, look about him, as did his companion. "And who are these two?"

The man grunted. "Bronn. And this is Chiggen."

Wait. Why was Bronn with Marq and not Catelyn? "And you are here why?"

Marq looked impatient. "Sellswords Edmure. It's not important, I let them come with us. I figured they'd just spread rumors otherwise."

Bronn must have seen something in my look because he spoke up. "We offered to help your sister. But when this one" a gesture to Marq "gave your guard to her, so she didn't have a need for the likes of us. But all the Riverlands are talking about the Tully Guard. Figured if nothing else, you were looking for men.

Ser Ryger looked distinctly affronted at the idea of the sellswords joining his guard, but thankfully held his peace. Intriguing as it was to see Bronn here, this wasn't what was most important. "Marq, I'm not blaming you, but this is a disaster. Tywin may hate his son, but he won't let this pass unchallenged."

Marq hung his head as Ser Ryger spoke up. "Yes, but what are we to do Edmure?"

I thought on it for a minute. "We must send word to Lord Stark at once. And present our case. We need to make sure someone is there to counter the words of the queen. We must make sure our side of the story is heard." I eyed Marq. "Perhaps your father would be willing to go? It might be best to keep you from court Marq, we don't want to tempt the Queen to have you arrested for your part."

The young knight looked distinctly uncomfortable as he nodded. "Yes Edmure. I'll write to him at once. I'm sorry…"

I sighed and shook my head. There was no point in alienating Marq over this. Frustrating though it was. "It was an impossible situation. You are not to blame, my sister's impulsiveness is." Well, that and myself for not thinking this through better. I should have told Marq to see them to Riverrun by any means necessary, not hidden my intent in sweet words. "We will just have to hope that Lord Stark can convince the King." As they all just stood there, I waved my hand in dismissal. "Enough. Marq, see your men are rested and then meet me in the great hall. Ser Ryger, gather Ser Desmond and any others you think appropriate. We will need to figure out how we will present this to the king, and how to prepare for any actions Tywin Lannister may take."

Ser Ryger gave a grim nod and proceeded to march off, Marq going to follow him. I was about to turn myself, when there was a dry cough from Bronn. "And us my Lord?"

I eyed him and Chiggen for a long moment. Chiggen I didn't know or trust, but Bronn I knew to be skilled, and even possessing some loyalty. "Chiggen was it?" The other man gave a short nod. "Why don't you follow Ser Ryger, he can find a place for you in his guard." The man headed off without a backwards glance at his companion. Bronn was watching me curiously, no doubt wondering why I hadn't sent him off as well. "And Bronn. Walk with me a moment."

In truth, I was pretty intrigued to have Bronn here. He was the first major, or at least semi-major, character I had come across. I couldn't help but wonder if my knowledge of him gave me an advantage in dealing with him, or if I would make too many assumptions about the real man based off the book character. Either way, while he might just be a sellsword right now, I knew he had a lot of potential.

Finally, as we slowly walked towards the keep, I decided to break the silence. "So. Bronn. You are skilled with the sword?"

He seemed to find that an amusing question. "Skilled enough to earn my way."

"And you are looking for employment?"

"I am."

I considered that. "I don't have need for you in my guard. We have plenty enough men there. But if you were willing, I'd take you on as a personal bodyguard."

A long pause. "Why?"

Well, that hadn't been the response I expected. I had thought he would jump at the opportunity. "What do you mean 'why'?"

He eyed me. "I mean. Why is a high and mighty lord interested in taking on a sellsword he's just met ten minutes ago as his personal bodyguard? Seems bloody daft to me."

Heh. Well. Couldn't argue with that. "I'm a good judge of character." He didn't seem convinced by that. A thought struck me suddenly then. A bolt of genius, though I made sure none of it showed on my face. "I've my reasons, but does it really matter as long as the gold is good?"

He grunted at that. "Suppose not. But don't expect me to 'm'lord' you or put on airs."

I laughed at that. It would be refreshing at least to have someone who didn't bother with the titles. "Wouldn't dream of it. I'll make it worth your while though. The pay will be good, and if your service is as I expect perhaps a knighthood or even land can be found for you down the line."

He still seemed suspicious of me. "If an offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is. That's mighty generous, what are you expecting in return?"

I was liking Bronn, I had to admit. It was good to have a break from the stuffiness I was usually surrounded with. "I expect a sellsword's loyalty." He looked dubious at that, so I continued. "I've no problem buying a man's loyalty, but I expect it to stay bought once I do. I expect you to keep any secrets you learn while in my employ, I expect you to guard my back, to follow orders, and if someone else tries to buy you I expect you to give me a fair shot at outbidding them. Which I suspect I will, as I assure you I value your skills highly."

Another grunt. "Suppose that's fair enough."

"Excellent." Now, to put my plan into motion. I'd gotten the idea, I freely admit, from the HBO show. And best to put it out there before we reached the keep and were surrounded by hangers-on again. "Now, I do want you as a guard. I do. I suspect you're quite skilled with that sword. But. Mmm. This stays between us… but I also want your help… and your complete discretion… in providing a little basic training to me."

He was looking at me oddly now. "Training you? In what, the sword?" At my nod the look got worse. "Don't you have fancy master-at-arms and knights for that? I've never heard of you being any good shake as a swordsman, but what the hell do you need me for?"

"Ahh. Well. Yes." How to explain this away? "I recently had a nasty fall from a horse. I'm fine of course, but it did something funny to my head. I've lost all skill with the sword." God, that sounded unbelievably lame and false, and judging from Bronn's face he agreed. "Look, I know it sounds preposterous, but why on earth would I make it up? I tell you, I don't even know how to draw this," I tapped the sword I was wearing on my belt. "It might as well be jewelry for all the good it's doing me. With my father ill, I can't have rumors getting out there that the heir of the Riverlands can't use his sword."

Suddenly Bronn threw back his head and let out a roar of laughter. Thankfully no one was in ear shot, because that was shockingly loud. "So that's why you want my help Lordling?" When I made no response, Bronn continued. "I wondered. Makes sense though. If you went to one of your fancy knights, they'd be gossiping in their cups in no time. But me? If I say anything, it's just a sellsword spreading rumors. Who is to believe him? That the gist of it?"

Well, I have to admit that had been the first thought in my head when I saw him. No point denying it. "I wouldn't word it quite like that, but yes, essentially. I'm counting on your discretion, but if you violate that trust…" I gave a shrug and left it hanging.

Bronn gave a snort. "Ohh, I wont go gabbing. Not as long as you keep your end of the bargain. Don't worry yourself. I'm in this for the coin not the gossip." He eyed me. "Just don't go expecting miracles either. I'm a sellsword not a teacher."

I waved that away. "No worries. I'm not looking to be the next Barristan the Bold. I'll settle for being able to draw the sword without stabbing myself. Honestly, anything you can teach me beyond 'stick them with the pointy end' will be an improvement."

He snorted again at that. "You're a strange one."

"Indeed. But stick with me, and I'll make you a wealthy man."

He gave a feral grin at that. "Strange you may be, but I'm liking you more and more."

And that seemed to settle matters, as our approach to the main keep forced us to cut off further conversation or risk being overheard. At least something had gone right today. Now I just had to figure out what I was going to do with this mess. My grand plan to derail the time-line had gone up in smoke with Tyrion's capture. Likely Tywin was going to start raiding the Riverlands as soon as word reached him. Worse, without Tyrion here, I suspect Robert and Ned were going to meet their cannon fates. I still didn't think sending some sort of out-of-nowhere letter warning Ned was the answer, but it also felt like events were starting to spiral out of control.

If they ever had been in control. I was starting to realize that my knowledge of the books might not be the silver bullet I thought it was. And that was a scary thought. Without that knowledge, what exactly did I have to counter Tywin, let alone all that came afterward.