A Game of Thrones 4-Book Bundle

appease the Stark boy with his father’s bones and
strip your sister of her protectors in one swift stroke. You give that black
brother the men he seeks, rid the city of some hungry mouths, yet make it all
seem mockery so none may say that the dwarf fears snarks and grumkins. Oh,
deftly done.”
    Littlefinger stroked his beard. “Do you truly mean to send away all your
guards, Lannister?”
    â€œNo, I mean to send away all my
sister’s
guards.”
    â€œThe queen will never allow that.”
    â€œOh, I think she may. I
am
her brother, and when you’ve known me
longer, you’ll learn that I mean everything I say.”
    â€œEven the lies?”
    â€œ
Especially
the lies. Lord Petyr, I sense that you are unhappy with
me.”
    â€œI love you as much as I ever have, my lord. Though I do not relish being
played for a fool. If Myrcella weds Trystane Martell, she can scarcely wed
Robert Arryn, can she?”
    â€œNot without causing a great scandal,” he admitted. “I regret my little
ruse, Lord Petyr, but when we spoke, I could not

know the Dornishmen would accept my
offer.”
    Littlefinger was not appeased. “I do not like being lied to, my lord. Leave me
out of your next deception.”
    Only if you’ll do the same for me,
Tyrion thought, glancing at the
dagger sheathed at Littlefinger’s hip. “If I have given offense, I am deeply
sorry. All men know how much we love you, my lord. And how much we need
you.”
    â€œTry and remember that.” With that Littlefinger left them.
    â€œWalk with me, Varys,” said Tyrion. They left through the king’s door behind
the throne, the eunuch’s slippers whisking lightly over the stone.
    â€œLord Baelish has the truth of it, you know. The queen will never permit you
to send away her guard.”
    â€œShe will. You’ll see to that.”
    A smile flickered across Varys’s plump lips. “Will I?”
    â€œOh, for a certainty. You’ll tell her it is part of my scheme to free
Jaime.”
    Varys stroked a powdered cheek. “This would doubtless involve the four men
your man Bronn searched for so diligently in all the low places of King’s
Landing. A thief, a poisoner, a mummer, and a murderer.”
    â€œPut them in crimson cloaks and lion helms, they’ll look no different from any
other guardsmen. I searched for some time for a ruse that might get them into
Riverrun before I thought to hide them in plain sight. They’ll ride in by the
main gate, flying Lannister banners and escorting Lord Eddard’s bones.” He
smiled

crookedly. “Four men alone would be watched vigilantly. Four among a hundred
can lose themselves. So I must send the true guardsmen as well as the
false . . . as you’ll tell my sister.”
    â€œAnd for the sake of her beloved brother, she will consent, despite her
misgivings.” They made their way down a deserted colonnade. “Still, the loss
of her red cloaks will surely make her uneasy.”
    â€œI like her uneasy,” said Tyrion.
    Ser Cleos Frey left that very afternoon, escorted by Vylarr and a hundred
red-cloaked Lannister guardsmen. The men Robb Stark had sent joined them at the
King’s Gate for the long ride west.
    Tyrion found Timett dicing with his Burned Men in the barracks. “Come to my
solar at midnight.” Timett gave him a hard one-eyed stare, a curt nod. He was
not one for long speeches.
    That night he feasted with the Stone Crows and Moon Brothers in the Small Hall,
though he shunned the wine for once. He wanted all his wits about him.
“Shagga, what moon is this?”
    Shagga’s frown was a fierce thing. “Black, I think.”
    â€œIn the west, they call that a traitor’s moon. Try not to get too drunk
tonight, and see that your axe is sharp.”
    â€œA Stone Crow’s axe is always sharp, and Shagga’s axes are sharpest of all.
Once I cut off a man’s head, but he did not know it until he tried to brush his
hair. Then it fell off.”
    â€œIs that why you never brush yours?” The Stone Crows roared and stamped their
feet, Shagga hooting loudest of all.
    By midnight, the castle was silent and dark. Doubtless a few gold cloaks on the
walls spied them leaving the Tower of the

Hand, but no one raised a voice. He was the Hand of the King, and where he went
was his own affair.
    The thin wooden door