Silver Stag

Rally In The Capital

[King's Landing - Red Keep, Throne Room]

Cersei sat on the Iron Throne. She was surrounded by Jaime, Qyburn, The Mountain and members of her Queensguard.

Many lords were in attendance including Randyll Tarly.

Following her brother's visit, she decided she needed to gather as much support as possible, to even the odds.

"If the Mad King's daughter takes the Iron Throne, she will destroy the Realm as we know it. Her brother has already stolen my daughter, the Princess Aelinor."

Gasps echoed across the room. This brought back memories of when Prince Rhaegar abducted Lyanna Stark, inciting a war, that led to the end of the Targaryen dynasty.

"Some of you are bannerman of House Tyrell, to which my grandson, Prince Aegar, is Lord of Highgarden. But, the rest of House Tyrell is in open rebellion against the Crown. With their help, the Mad King's daughter has ferried an army of savages to our shores. Mindless Unsullied soldiers who will destroy your castles and your holdfasts. Dothraki heathens who will burn your villages to the ground, rape and enslave your women, and butcher your children without a second thought. This is how Olenna Tyrell rewards centuries of service and loyalty."

The lords began murmuring amongst themselves.

"You all remember the Mad King. You remember the horrors he inflicted upon his people. His daughter is no different. Nor his son. In Essos, her brutality is already legendary. She crucified hundreds of noblemen in Slaver's Bay. And when she grew bored of that, she fed them to her dragons. Her brother has dragons as well. The largest, a tempermental dragon who does not hesitate to burn and eat his owner's perceived enemies. That is the man who holds your princess and forced her to marry her."

The murmuring grew louder.

"It is my solemn duty to protect the people, and I will, but I need your help, My Lords. We must stand together, all of us, if we hope to stop her."

Randyll Tarly slowly approached the throne. "She has three full-grown dragons, Your Grace. The same as Aegon when he conquered the Seven Kingdoms. Her brother has dragons as well. How do you propose to stop them?"

Cersei glanced over to Qyburn.

"We are currently at work on a solution, My Lord." Qyburn responded. "And if the rumours are to be believed, Princess Aelinor has bonded with one of his dragons, and a baby dragon has bonded to Prince Aegar. If we can get them home safely, we will have dragons of our own."

"Only one capable of fighting against four others." One of the lords said.

"Yes, but if we can even the odds, one will be more than enough."

The meeting was called to a close and all the lords walked out into the hall outside of the throne room.

Jaime approached Randyll Tarly and began walking with him. "Lord Tarly."

"Ser, Jaime. I believe you know my son."

"Ser, Jaime." His son greeted.

"Rickon, isn't it?"

"Dickon."

"That's it." Jaime walked past Dickon and began a discussion with Randyll. "Thank you for coming. The other lords of the Reach look to you for guidance now more than evrr. They might not have come if you hadn't."

"If my queen summons me, I answer the call. And I've heard what she does to those that defy her."

Jaime and Randyll walked to an unoccupied hallway to continue their conversation.

"Do you ride for Hornhill today?"

"I have an army to mobilize. It won't be long until the fighting starts."

"And what side will you be fighting for? You were the only man to defeat Robert Baratheon in battle. Not even Rhaegar Targaryen could-"

"It's a long ride back to the reach, Ser Jaime. How may I serve?"

"I want you to be my ranking general in the wars to come. I want you to swear allegiance to Cersei and I want you to help her destroy her enemies. All of her enemies."

"Including Olenna Tyrell? I'm a Tarly. That name means something. We're not oath breakers. We're not schemers. We don't stab our rivals in the back or cut their throats at weddings. I swore an oath to House Tyrell."

"You swore an oath to the Crown as well, Lord Tarly."

"I've known Olenna since I was a child."

"She was a great woman, once. Now she's broken. She wants revenge so badly she brought the Dothraki to our shores. The Dothraki in Westeros for the first time in history. I know you don't like my sister, but you have to make a choice. Do you fight with us or with the foreign savages and eunuchs?"

Randyll nodded his head in agreement.

"When the war is won the queen will need someone to act as warden of the south until her grandson comes of age. Someone the people of the Reach can admire and respect. I can think of no better man than Randyll Tarly."

[Under The Red Keep - Dungeons]

Qyburn and Cersei were walking along the torch lit dungeon passing the dragon skulls.

"Have you evrr been down here, Your Grace?" He asked.

"No, I can't say I have. I haven't seen these since Robert had them removed from the Throne Room."

"Curious that King Robert did not have them destroyed."

"They were his trophies. He couldn't keep them around. They would have made him look small. Sometimes he would come down here and look at them. I believe he brought his whores on occasion."

They arrived at the end of the dungeon where the largest dragon skull in the room rested.

"Balerion the Dread. The beast that Aegon rode across the sea. Its flames forged the Iron Throne and brought the Seven Kingdoms to heel. Powerful, but not invincible." He turned and started walking away. "Apparently one of Daenarys' dragons was wounded by spears in the fighting pits of Meereen. If they can be wounded, they can be killed." He walked up a cloth that was concealing something. Reaching up, he tore the cloth down, revealing an artillery-sized crossbow aimed at Balerion's skull. "The finest artilletiers and blacksmiths in King's Landing have been labouring tirelessly, Your Grace. If you'd kindly pull that lever."

She pulled a lever on the machine which launched a giant bolt directly into Balerion's eye socket. The bolt buried deep into the skull and remained stuck.

Cersei stood behind the machine, smirking.

This was perfect. If she could kill the dragons, she could get her eldest daughter back, and have dragons of her own. No one would dare rise against her.