Northern lights

53. A feeling

Tyrion Lannister 

Tied up and gagged, Tyrion sat at the beach with his captor. The man wasn't keen on speaking, not even to himself. After all, he was just a good payout for his kidnapper. Cersei will surely be generous to any man who made it possible for her to see his head on a platter. 

As a man hops out of his boat at night, he grabs a basket of fish. He carries it on shore, unaware of the sneaky kidnapper coming up from behind him. In moments, the kidnapper knocks the poor man out with a punch to the face. Looking around, he drags the man out of the water, and throws two coins on him. 

Groaning, Tyrion tries to get out of his binds, but even if he succeeds, what would he do? Where could he go? His captor walks over to where he has Tyrion tied up, frowning at Tyrion who is grunting, trying to cut the ropes binding him with a knife. The man picks up the knife and Tyrion. He throws Tyrion and his supplies into the boat, and then pushes it out to sea. Once it gains momentum, he hops in himself.

He steers the boat as Tyrion, still tied up and gagged, tries to speak. He only succeeds in mumbling, but it's impossible to say an understandable word. Eventually he stops trying to say real words, and instead only tries to be as loud as possible, to annoy his captor. Frustrated, the man comes over and ungags him, and then walks back over to continue steering.

Inhaling sharply, Tyrion sniffles, "Thank you." Pausing, he looks around to try and identify something, anything familiar but it's impossible as the night skies shroud the land. After a long pause, Tyrion clears his throat, "Who are you?"

Visibly annoyed, the man tells him the bare minimum, "Your captor." 

Tyrion wanted to roll his eyes at him, but he barely had any energy for it. So, he asked for the next best thing. "Do you have wine?"

"No."

"I can't sleep without wine", Tyrion complains, hoping that might gain him some sympathy but the man remains unimpressed.

"Then stay awake."

Sighing, Tyrion looks up at the sky. Quickly, he locates the northern star, "You're going the wrong way. My sister's in Westeros. Westeros is west! We're heading east."

The man's jaw clenches, "I'm not taking you to your sister."

Knitting his eyebrows, Tyrion's eyes narrow in confusion, "You said you were taking me to the Queen."

" I am." The man's face softens ever so slightly, "Queen Daenerys Targaryen. She's the Queen I serve."

Tyrion chuckles, "What a waste of a good kidnapping. So happens I was heading there myself!"

The man's eyes harden, nostrils flaring, "What business would you have with the Queen?"

"Gold and glory. Oh, and hate. If you've ever met my sister, you'd understand. So now that it's clear we're on the same side?" Tyrion holds out his hands expectantly but his captor makes no move to respond. "A high born knight from the North of Westeros, down on his luck in Essos. Dragon epaulettes? Bear sigil breast plate." Narrowing his eyes, Tyrion's lips part as he recognizes the sigil and the man it ought to belong to, "You're Jorah Mormont."

Jorah remains quiet, avoiding Tyrion's gaze as he continues talking, "I have to ask how, exactly, were you serving your Queen in a whore house, half a world away? Is it possible, that you were running?" Raising an eyebrow, Tyrion smiles ever so slightly "Why would you be running? And why would she have sent you away? Oh, wait! You were spying on her, weren't you? It's all coming back to me!" Chuckling dryly, Tyrion nods to himself, "I was drunk through most of the Small Council meetings, but it's all coming back. You passed notes to Varys's little birds. She found out, didn't she? Found out, and exiled you."