The Sunspear's Lion

Tya Lannister stood outside, enjoying the way the Sun's heat rolled off of her and warmed her up despite the emotional numbing cold she feels inside. The cool wind breeze soothed the Sun's harsh burn, licking her skin gently. She was alone. It was one of the very few times she was less than ten feet away from her twin. She enjoyed his company and his sharp wit; he could quite easily make for an interesting conversation or he could also prove a formidable player in their frequent battles of wits that they both engaged in.

But, just for once, she found herself uncaring about the absence of her favourite dwarf brother and she relished in her solitude away from him. It was in times like these where she craved her own shadow for company instead of somebody else's accompanying them, somebody who could not possibly understand her emotional turmoil and heartache. Plus, the additional factor remained that the one emotion she despised above all others would be written, as clear as day for his twin to see, all over his malformed big head: Pity. And if there was one thing Tya hated most in the world; it was pity.

Oh, he thought she couldn't be able to see it, that he would be able to hid his true emotions in regards to her. And it worked on everyone else, for the most part; their father was another who was always able to see through Tyrion's "deceits", as their father calls it. But he so easily forgets - it so easily escapes his stunted little mind - that she is, and always will be, his twin. His other half. And, as such, she has always been able to read him like a book. Especially in regards to his wife for two weeks: Tysha.

So she takes a deep breath, inhaling pure, sweet air alongside all of the natural fragrances that she liked the most in this small garden of solitude, and she steels herself for the pitter-patter of tiny feet waddling over towards her as best they can. Prepares herself to counteract that much-loathed expression she knew would be smeared across his face as they had both once smeared mud all over Cersei's smug face. And she waits, patiently.

All too soon, however, the Sun begins to disappear across the horizon, dipping deeper and deeper under the clouds until it is no longer visible to the naked eye. Along with it goes the heat and warmth which leaves her body in waves just as the winds begin to pick up violently, raking her slender figure in gut-wrenching shivers. The trees submerging her begin to shake themselves; leaves crackling against the harshness of the wind. Tya's teeth begin to chatter quietly to themselves. Her ragged exhales of air turn to smoke before her very eyes and she turns towards Casterly Rock with all the fondness Robert Baratheon has for a name ending in Targaryen, unwilling to watch the only sanctuary of freedom be torn apart by a rough wind.

As she enters her foreboding, and somewhat frightening, household, she is greeted with her long-time friend: silence. For which she is immensely grateful for. She had no desire to bear witness to her sister's smug sneers nor her older brother's cold emerald eyes, so much like a snake's. She didn't even wish to witness her twin brother, who she was sure would have been staring at her with sadness replacing his usually lust-filled green orbs or watch the pity take shape on his normal, jovial features. And she especially did not want to have to bear witness to their father's indifferent demeanour, as if it didn't trouble him the way it did her when he so easily cast her aside and brushed off her weak protests to the matter. That would only serve to infuriate her even more and she'd had enough anger in this present day to last a lifetime - she almost certainly didn't need anymore!

The only sound that broke the eerie quiet was that of her heels as she saunters as quietly as she can over to the kitchens. Esma, her maid and one of her very few friends she has left in this world - would be asleep right at this very minute and Tya did not want to risk waking her; especially not over something as simple as pouring herself a cup of tea. Besides, the Lannister woman knew the basics of living in a household much more so than her thick-headed older brother, something she liked to pride herself in from time to time.

As she set about preparing the mundane necessity of pouring a cup of tea for herself, she allowed her mind to briefly wonder over to her - and Tyrion's - neglected childhood. How they both had tried so desperately to please their father and garner at least an ounce of grudging respect from the man whom is, arguably, one of the most powerful men in Westeros. But, there was only so much they could do to prove their worth to him before the hard message came reared its ugly head and sunk in. And so they two closed their hearts off - hers much more guarded than her twin's given his brief marital change in status - and turned their focus on their shared dry humour.

They used to play something of a game, of sorts, to share their recent disasters in life over a cup of wine (or two) before laughing at their own shared misfortune. It became a challenge of who can garner the most laughter at their failures of life. Tyrion usually won, what with his blatant disfigurement that had all of Westeros sneering and jeering at behind his back. Let us not also forget about Tysha: Tyrion's two-week wife. However, there were times where she surpassed her little brother at, albeit they were too few, particularly when it came to Cersei and their other brother, Jamie, whom Tyrion worshipped as if he were a deity for being the only one other than her not to smirk at him when he passed by the halls. It was a shame that he did not do the same for Tya, although that was probably due to the time where she once smashed his tiny little cock in when he made fun of Tyrion. She liked to think that it was because of that little incident that he finally realised who exactly Tyrion was to him; family.

Although, her self-absorbent older brother and twisted sister tended to have more than just a bone to pick with her, if she were lucky. Between Cersei's cold remarks and Jamie's heated glares, the two twins didn't exactly rank very high on Tya's list of people she enjoyed being around. But she didn't help matters when she once played a spider inside of Cersei's china tea cup filled to the brim with hot tea and watched with sick fascination as eight skinny legs wriggled around desperately around Cersei's painted lips as she delicately drank from it. It was probably the best revenge she had ever performed on her sweet sister and it was so close to perfection too; if it wasn't for that big oaf of a brother who told both Cersei and their father what her actions have just caused. However, even the dark stench of the dungeon cellar she was forced to sleep in for the night didn't damped her joyous mood as she replayed the mental image of the spider falling head first down into the dark of Cersei's mouth. Tyrion couldn't look at their sister for three weeks when she told him.

Tyrion. A small pang vibrated through her heart as the image of her favourite dwarf swam to mind. How could she have forgotten him? How could she not say goodbye to the one thing that made her life bearable? For now, she reflected miserably, she'll never even have his own failing life to keep her smiling nor his company to keep her from going insane. Lord Tywin Lannister would no doubt have her shipped off to Dorne as soon as possible and she wouldn't even have her messed-up family and their maddening tendencies to make her feel normal - now she would have to experience what normality actually was. Tya knew that she had it bad when she realised that she was going to miss the Lannisters of Casterly Rock. If only Tyrion could see her now...

She absent-mindedly took a tentative sip of self-made tea. He would probably be laughing at her right at this very second for her odd notions of sentimentality and say that not even the Seven Hells would prevent him from seeing his favourite Lannister. What would she say in return? A small smile curled at her lips as countless possibilities sprang to mind. She would probably smack him firmly in his short arm for calling her odd but she would also be touched at his brotherly love for her and she, herself, would swear the same vow that not even their father would stop her from wanting to see him and his abnormally large head once more.

With a sigh, though, she was snapped back to the harsh-cold truth of reality. Tywin would be able to keep her and her twin separate from one another and, doubtless, all of the Seven Hells would be all too willing to mutilate them both for the crimes their House has inflicted upon others. And then, to the entirety of Westeros' shock and horror, their father proclaims that his youngest daughter is to marry into the House who take the rape and murder of women and children very seriously. All the while, of course, he rewards his eldest, who has done absolutely nothing to maintain his patience, he makes Cersei Queen. A testimony to how little he cares about his youngest. Tya would probably be hung, drawn and quartered within the hour of her arrival at Sunspear and her sister would be lavished and adored.

There was a persistent nagging feeling present that kept digging into her. It made no clear sense why Lord Tywin would marry her off to the second son of the previous Prince of Dorne whose House was in mourning due to her family's late involvement in Robert's Rebellion. It also wasn't a secret that her husband-to-be wanted to carry on the war and avenge his sister and niece and nephew by attempting to champion the exiled Viserys Targaryen, much to Robert Baratheon's chagrin.

Not that it mattered much, she concluded. They'll soon find out her lord father's motives behind her marriage arrangement and House Martell would face yet another betrayal from their most loathed House. Yet another reason why she and her future lord husband would never be civilised in each other's presence. This much Tya could foretell about her upcoming marriage.

The clock chimed midnight beside her. She jumped and almost spilled the tea she was holding shakily in one hand. Midnight. They would all be asleep right now. She'd missed her time for saying farewells; come dawn and Lord Tywin will have already shipped her off to Dorne without a single person there to witness her disappearance. No one there to hear. It reminded her of House Reyne and what her lord father had done to preserve the Lannister legacy. The whole House was completely wiped from existence save for their hidden treasures which now decorate the halls of Casterly Rock quite nicely, thank you very much.

She shook her head once to banish her gruesome trail of thoughts from her head. There was no point in worrying about it, she hummed as she tidied up the remnants of her drink, for it's probably going to happen to her either way, regardless of her upcoming status as a Princess of Dorne.

Tya headed up the stairs slowly but surely in an attempt not to rouse any of her family members or any of the staff. She wasn't in the right frame of mind to be able to handle an early morning future Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. If that was but a glimpse of Cersei's royal reign then Tya feared for Westeros' future at the hands of their tyrannical queen.

Her heels clicked down the long, cold corridors even as she carefully placed one foot in front, on in front of the other, on the ground with care. Stifling a yawn, she continued on her long and arduous trek back to her long-awaited chambers where she could have but a few hours of slumber before the first light approaches. Tya loved how much her father cared about his youngest daughter.

As she approached her chambers, two things happened almost simultaneously. The first was that her chamber doors have been clawed open viciously, judging by the gaping scrape marks decorating the outside of it. That then brought her to the second realisation: she was not alone.

Icy fear gripped her heart and her blood ran as cold as the winds of the North. Somebody had violated her privacy and was probably still in there right now, awaiting her long arrival. Her mind drew up the images of the possible suspects Tya thought it could be. Her sweet sister was the main suspect - this was her doing, I bet - but Tya knew that her sweet sister wouldn't dare do this now, not when all eyes were on her and her engagement to the all famous Red Viper of Dorne. Then who could it be?

All too soon, however, the unmistakable slurp of wine indicated to Tya exactly who her violator was. A hot surge of anger quickly melted the bitter after-taste of fear she felt. Her fists clenched by her sides as her jaw clamped shut of its own accord, gritting the teeth in rage. She hauled her doors open wide with little resistance due to the previous breaking and entering, and headed inside.

"What are you doing?" The younger of the two Lannister ladies growled dangerously low, still aware of the close proximity her and the other Lannister family members are currently residing and their spying servants.

Tyrion Lannister clambered unsteadily to his feet. A cup of Dornish red wine was held rather loosely in his grasp, too loose, Tya thought.

"Aha! Tya!" he proclaimed loudly followed by a rather big hiccup. He was probably, even in his drunken stupor, well aware of the fact that their sweet sister's chambers were directly opposite her's and was being purposefully loud to distract her from her beauty sleep before being married to the most powerful man in Westeros - or, at least, one of them.

Wine spilled freely from the sudden change in its bearer's position, causing it to fall freely from its confinements and slosh messily on the expensive carpet their father had bought for her. No doubt Tyrion would have a severe telling off to come the morning.

"Oh, fuck!" Tyrion cursed loudly before proffering the whole goblet to her in one fell swoop. "Would you like some refreshment, dear sister? The Dornish wine is particularly-"

Tya slapped away the golden cup with abandon. Tyrion watched mournfully as the goblet smashed all over the place, wine flowing in a red river. He gazed forlornly at the lost substance.

"-good." He cleared his throat and swayed dangerously before righting himself on her bedside table. A drunken grin soon spread across his face. "But then, I suppose, you don't need any Dornish wine to keep you company for much longer, do you, Tya? Not with that new Dornish Prince of yours you're destined to marry." He cocked his head to one side, lost in the haze of alcohol. "What was his name again? It was something beginning with O. Obyla, Odair, O' and there was no one there...to hear!"

"Oberyn," she cut off tersely, not wanting a rendition of her family's most famous tune.

He clicked his fingers. "That's the one! I knew I would get there eventually." His expression suddenly turned dark and his eyes grew cold as he addressed, "Were you even going to say goodbye to your little brother? You know, your own twin," he spat harshly.

"I was! I... I just didn't have any desire to be seeing that pitying look you were bound to wear and - oh, don't deny it," she whispered fervently as he protested. "You know it to be true. I'll be gone come dawn anyway, off to my new husband. You'll probably have forgotten me in a moon's time."

It seemed that her words had struck something in his sobriety. His eyes turned downcast and when he raised his head she witnessed the saddened look that was marring her twin's face and something inside of her gut twisted painfully as she watched his reaction to her honest words.

"I just... just don't want to lose my sister."

Tya wouldn't profuse it but that was what she greatly desired too. She didn't want to be lost in a foreign new country where she would be shot down with every glare that was directed towards her. She wanted to remain here, at Casterly Rock, in Lannisport, where she and Tyrion would try and figure out new ways to ruin their sweet sister's plans or to horrifically humiliate Tywin Lannister with one of their spectacular drunken nights. Her twin would be with a whore, naturally. It was home.

Nonetheless, she was deeply touched by her twin's words to her. The abandoned chalice crashed on to her carpet as a result of Tyrion's erratic swaying and knocking over the whole of his wine stash as he desperately awaited her arrival. He let out a string of curses at the loud crash but otherwise made no further move to pick it up. She lifted a dainty eyebrow when he instead directed his sweet and innocent directions on to his twin. After a while, Tya broke the spell with a snicker and watched with glee as Tyrion raised his head from his previous defeated stance to stare at her in bemusement. Before long, both the Lannister twins were sharing in their combined peels of laughter.

Laughter was the one thing that the Lannister twins relied on to see them through in life. While most ordinary people would simply cry over their awkward situations, Lord Tywin drove in to his children that to cry was to be weak. And if there was one thing you should never do in life, it was to show weakness. "A lion is not a sheep," was one of infamous teachings.

It was a welcome change for Tya, she realised, to be able to let loose her emotions in a whole whirlwind instead of stifling them up and pretending that everything's okay. Because it wasn't, and it probably never would be from here on out; at least, not in Tya's viewpoint. But at least she had this night which she would forever hold and cherish in her heart before it would be replaced by rage and contempt from the Martell Prince.

Their laughter died out before long, still with a case of the giggles as they waited for the remnants of their laughter to dissipate. Tya briefly glanced over at Tyrion to see whether he needed the release as much as she did and it appeared that she had been proven right. Her heart softened for him. It can't be easy knowing that everybody you meet will snicker at you behind your back.

She made a vow there and then that when she was a Princess of Dorne then she would not stand for anybody making fun of dwarves or cripples. There was no point in swearing before the Gods that she make sure that the bastards of Dorne are treated fairly because she knew that they were far more tolerant of children born outside of marriage than the rest of Westeros will ever be in their lifetime.

"Oh, Gods. I needed that," her twin sighed as he tilted his head back as if awaiting for some heat from the Sun to warm up his face. Tya shivered as that thought hit her; it was chilly in here.

"Well, I had better get back to my own chambers. We wouldn't want people to believe that we were actually having a normal conversation in here, do you, Tya?"

She rolled her eyes at his attempt at humour. The effort was lessened slightly by the lingering wet trail of tears still tracked on his cheeks.

"You know as well as I do that any conversation we do have, Tyrion, is not as normal as you make it out to be."

The handsome grin was back on her twin's face, bathing Tya in its glory. "That I do, sister. That I do."

Tya watched as her little brother swaddled over to the broken door of her chambers - he at least had the good grace to look ashamed of his poor conduct before opening his mouth and announcing that it was just due to the wine he had - and she knew without a doubt what she would do next was risky and would entice questions should they get caught.

Swallowing dryly, she called out, "Wait, brother. You can stay here with me for the night."

Tyrion's eyes widened at his sibling's demand. Did she not know how bad it would look for them should they be caught. "I-"

"It will only be for tonight. I promise. I... I can't sleep on my own. Not anymore. " And the saddest part was that it was the truth tumbling out of Tya Lannister's painted mouth.

She could see that her words were having some effect on her brother. She waited patiently and resisted the urge to cry out with joy as she saw him cave in to her request with a mock-aggravated groan.

"I'm not telling Father when we get caught," he warned as he slid on to the couch.

This time Tya did roll her eyes. "If we get caught. And I'm not tidying up whatever mess you made that I, apparently, made you make."

"...That made more sense in your head, didn't it?"

"Shut up, brother." Tya could practically feel the man's smirk as she uttered the childish words. She knew they were coming but she did not have the heart to refuse them. She yearned to be a child again, so innocent and pure against the horrors of the world.

Tyrion blew out the candle next to him and plunged her room in darkness. She knew that it would not be long now until he started snoring. Once he's had his fill of wine, he never stopped making noise all through the night whether he be in the company of dignified ladies of the court or in the whorehouses. Tya smiled gently and turned over in her bed, knowing that it would be for the last time.

And when the dawn did approach, when Tywin Lannister ordered for her to up and ready as soon as possible, she looked around and found no trace of her brother. Save for a note tucked into the goblet she had smashed the night prior. Picking it up gently, as if it held all the answers in it, she read it. And she laughed. Somehow, with the note tucked securely amongst her things, Tya knew that at least she had her brother, if nothing else. And she knew, without a doubt in her heart, that she would survive whatever torture the Dornishmen would put her through. For him. For her little brother. And for a promise she had to keep.

A lion still has claws, sister. And, remember, make sure that you give me more Dornish wine while you're there. I'll need more for when Cersei awakens. - Tyrion