the merest breath of circumstance

[littlelannister]

Tyrion slept poorly. He'd always slept poorly, plagued as he was by nightmares of one sort or another. Though lately they'd been less nightmare and more...unbidden memories of past mistakes and missteps, the gods' preferred method of fucking him right up the arse.

But tonight, nestled among the Second Sons's camp, Tyrion dreamt of dragons. Vague, shadowy shapes as large as castles loomed over him, their breath hot upon his skin. His exposed skin. Some time during the night, he'd been stripped bare. His breeches and tunic, gone. Even his smallclothes had fallen away. He was naked, and though exposed to the savage gaze of the enormous, scaled beasts, he was unashamed.

He woke, then, taking a deep breath and then rubbing at his scarred nose. Frowning, he took another deep breath. The air smelled...odd, and he was sure his poor stump of a nose wasn't the culprit. Gone were the lingering odors of many men crammed into a small space. No stale sweat. No shit. No piss. Not even the acrid smell of fresh vomit, and he knew the mercenaries stayed up drinking well into the night. He knew because he was with them for much of that night.

He sat up in the bed, puzzling over his surroundings. He was in a cell of some sort. And since I've become somewhat of an expert in cells over the past few years, I can honestly say that this particular one houses the nicest accommodations so far. And I've never known prison togs to fit so well. Still, the Eyrie owns the best view. Lady Lysa and little Lord Robert Arryn ought to be proud of that.

His circumstances seemed simple enough. He'd probably been carried off somewhere while he was unconscious. Not the first time he'd been taken against his will, after all.

But he wasn't alone.

The gods have finally granted me a cellmate! A reward for my many years of service to the faith, no doubt.

"And what crime have you committed to have earned your spot in this place of honor?"

Comments

[theycallmecap]

"Gods," Steve echoes. "You believe in several gods?" It made him think of the Greeks or the Romans - or the Norse, except he now knew their gods existed, even if they were... really more like demigods. And nothing much against the Hulk.

[littlelannister]

"Seven," he corrected. "My house worships seven gods, but by no means are they the only deities in the realm. The old gods are nameless and innumerable. Those in the Iron Islands pray to the Drowned God. There is the Lord of Light, and in the Free Cities, there are temples for all manner of religions." He spoke dismissively. Gods were of little consequence in the every day workings of things. They did not fight for their gods.

Apart from the followers of R'hllor, but that was an exception.

[theycallmecap]

"Tell me about this Lord of Light?" Steve requested. He sounded most like the God that Steve knew and believed him, out of all the religions Tyrion had just mentioned.

[littlelannister]

"The Red God?" Tyrion gave a shrug. "I know scarce little about him. His priests claim to see visions of the future in their holy fires, and his followers beg for his protection from the darkness. 'For the night is dark and full of terrors', they say."

He finished off his meal, wiping crumbs and sauce away from his lips with the back of his hand. "Shall we discuss another topic? I prefer my gods to reside in septs rather than in someone's cookfire."

[theycallmecap]

Steve had many more questions, starting with was a sept like a church, and did their visions ever come true, but he relented, and nodded. "Of course. It all sounds so different from what I know, if you let me I'm sure I would fill our twenty-four hours with questions."

[littlelannister]

That a man would truly be interested in what he had to say shocked Tyrion. He spent most of his waking hours listening to others demanding that he shut up.

"Why not?" he asked, a bit more relaxed and amicable now that his stomach was no longer empty. "Perhaps the questions will make the time pass faster?"

[theycallmecap]

Steve smiled thankfully, and warmly, and made a mental note not to ask any more about religion, since it seemed to have upset Tyrion. But everything else was fair game until he was told otherwise, and he had many questions.