Snow on the Beach // Tyrion Lannister

37. Take You Down With Me

'Did you bring any wine?'

'No' jon told him.

'Well... thank you for coming to see me. Our queen doesn't keep prisoners for long. I suppose there's a crude kind of justice, I betrayed my closest friend and watched him burn now Daenerys is going to turn me to ashes...' tyrion told him. 'It just occurred to me I'm talking to the only man alive that knows where I'm going. So is there life after death?'

'Not that I've seen' jon told him

'I should be thankful that it's the best I could hope for, I strangled my lover, I shot my father with a crossbow and I betrayed my queen.' tyrion reminded him

'You didn't'

'I did. And I would do it again now that I've seen what I've seen I chose my fate... the people of Kings Landing did not.' Tyrion reminded him. "I should have listened to Jill."

'I cannot justify what happened I won't try' Jon told him 'but the war is over now'

'Is it? When you heard her talking to her soldiers did she sound like someone who is done fighting?' Tyrion asked as he stood up 'she liberated the people from slavers bay, she liberated the people of kings landing she will go on liberating until the people of the world are free. And she rules through the ashes of all of it.'

'And you have been by her side counseling her through all of it, until today.' Jon reminded him

'Until today. Varys was right, I was wrong, it was vanity to think I could help her. Our Queens nature is fire and blood.' Tyrion informed him.

'Then I would be fire and blood to, Jill would be fire and blood' Jon said 'she is no more her father then you are yours'

'My father was an evil man, my sister was an evil woman, of all the bodies of all the people they've ever killed will not be the same as our beautiful queen killed in a single day.' tyrion reminded him

'they left her no choice' jon tried but he knew that was a lie.

'The moment they fell the battle was over' Tyrion corrected. 

'She saw her friend beheaded she saw her dragons shot out of the sky' Jon reminded him

'And she burned a city for it!' tyrion snapped.

'It's easy to judge when you're standing far away from the battlefield' Jon said trying to prove Daenerys right trying to defend her in a defend less situation

'Would you have done it? You've been up there on a dragons back you have had that power would you have burn the city down?' tyrion questioned.

'I don't know' Jon answered

'Yes you do, you won't say because you don't want to betray her to her,' tyrion told him 'but you know.' Jon stared back at him. "Jill wouldnt. Jill wouldnt have. She doesnt want a crown, you dont want a crown from since the moment I met the both of you I knew, I knew that there was something special about Snow."

"Jill-"

"Jill...  she is alright, right?" 

"She is. I don't know what she's doing, she saw you get dragged away and she stomped off." jon admitted. 

"So we know what Jill would do. She made it clear, what about you? She has been saying you should be king for ages..."

'It does not matter what I would do' jon told him.

'It matters more than anything' tyrion told him. 'When she murdered the slavers no one but the slavers complained when she crucified hundreds of nobles, who could argue they were evil men the dorthraki she burned alive, they would've done worse to her... everywhere she goes evil men die and we cheer her on for it. And she grows more powerful and more sure that she is good and right. She believes her destiny is to build a better world for everyone we believed that. If you believed that... Wouldn't you kill whatever stood between you in paradise?' Jon sat down unable to look tyrion the eyes. 'I know you love her and I believed in her with all my heart. Love is more powerful than reason. We all know that look at my brother.'

'Love is the death of duty.' Jon told him

'You just came up with that?" tyrion questioned impressed

'Measter aemond said it a long time ago.' Jon said remembering.

'Sometimes duty is the death of love' Tyrion counted 'you are the shield that guards the realms of men you've always tried to do the right thing no matter the cost'. Tyrion took a deep breath. 'Do you think I'm the last man she will execute? Who is more dangerous than the rightful heir of the iron throne?'

'That is her decision she is the queen' Jon reminded him 'I'm sorry it came to this.'

'And your sisters. Do you see them bending the knee?' tyrion questioned.

'My sisters will be loyal to our queen' jon said but he didn't believe it. 

"Jill?"

"Jill..."

"Daenarys kills me, Jill will just move on and be happy and sing la di da?" Tyrion mused. "I love your sister. I have for years, I don't want her to lose her head to."

They had already made their opinion of daenerys very clear. jon couldn't breathe. What if he was right? What if daenerys turned on him too. What if she...

'Why do you think Jill told me about you? because she does not want daenarys to be queen.' Tyrion reminded him.

'Jill does not get to choose' jon told him.

'Try telling her that." Tyrion countered. "She wants you to be king, but you have to choose now' Tyrion warned him.

++

The iron throne sat among the rubble. The once enclosed walls gone. Letting the snow in. Daenarys approached her throne. She finally had it. It was hers.

"Is it everything you hoped for and more?" Jill questioned. 

"It is." Dany agreed running her hand along the throne. 

"Want to take a seat, test it out so you can hold that memory with you while rotting in hell?" Jill questioned innocently and Dany spun around. 

"I am the queen."

"A wanna be queen." Jill countered. 

"I am the queen."

"Ariella Targaryen. Aegon Targaryen. Twin's born of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen. Hidden in the north as bastards, raised not thinking the world was theirs but thinking that every day was a blessing, a gift, a chance to be someone or no one." Jill remarked moving closer to her. "You thought the world was yours, it made your head big. You thought the crown and the chair belonged to you. You were so confident. We were just Bastards that fought for what was right, tried to keep our family safe and you so easily burned the world down." 

"I am the queen. You will die screaming, the north will melt if they dont bend, don't you see? You have lost."

"I don't care if I lose." Jill corrected. "As long as I take you down with me."