BEING RE-WRITTEN - тнe lιon and тнe wolғ |jaιмe lannιѕтer|

Pick a God and Pray

How she pictured herself bludgeoning him to death in that very room, how there would be blood on her hands again... perhaps he was testing her, waiting for her to react. Was that the reason for the sharp knife present beside her food? She wanted him to hurt just as much as she did. She knew that he'd lost nephews to the Karstark fury. There was only a minor loss to his family, but not enough, not anywhere close to loss within her own, and she wanted nothing more than to make him suffer just as she had. She wanted him to burn, to die in agony... to know what pain felt like as those you love were taken from you.

Instead she pushed such thoughts away and turned her attention to Tywin. It pained her to speak to him. She didn't even know why she was, except for the fact that perhaps remaining proper was the only thing that kept her sane. She merely stared at the food sat before her on the plate, raising her eyebrow at the boar sausage, her mind trailing to the true purpose behind Tywin's meeting with her. She could feel his eyes upon her, his gaze verdant and as hard as valyrian steel while he seemed to just look irritated by her presence. "Lord Hand..." She greeted tersely.

"Lady Eliana," Tywin acknowledged her coolly, bringing his wine to his lips as he drank deeply, dragging out the tension to unsettle her. "I suppose you're wondering why I wished to see you, are you not?"

Eliana nodded silently, her eyes trained upon him still. "Well, you piqued my interest that's for certain."

"There are things we need to discuss," Tywin didn't even bother beating around the bush, which Eliana preferred somewhat... she found she had no desire to dither with politeness. "A truce if you will."

"A truce?"

"Yes, a truce, with you." Tywin agreed, his voice proud and unrelenting, showing he was a man used to getting his own way; but Eliana knew how to deal with men like that.

She'd never been timid before and she would not be timid then. Intimidation wouldn't work on her, she mused, she had nothing left to lose... what else could they take from her without creating another uprising? The only person they could hurt was her, and she didn't care about herself any longer. "Why would you want to do such a thing? Why would I? You killed my brother, kept my sister hostage and lost the other, beheaded my father... burned the lands and tortured the people of my grandfather... I have no peace to strike with you."

"What make's you think I want your peace, Lady Eliana?" Tywin questioned, "I want the peace of the North and of the Riverlands." The North had been her only home once upon a time, where she grew with her family. She didn't know what it was to her now, but she knew she had begun to lose parts of it with Bran's and Rickon's deaths until it faded completely with Robb's. And while the Riverlands had been her second home, she felt a foreigner there as well. "The North lost the war, and the Stark line can no longer be furthered as you know. The Riverlands are a disaster and the North has become a feral mess, as chaotic as beyond the Wall... " He stated, his voice somewhat pacific. "Roose Bolton is now the Warden of the North, but his hold over it is vociferous. I need it to be firm, before winter truly does come. Your banners have no leader, yet they're obstinate; refusing to pledge allegiance to the King."

"Then what does this have to do with me?" Eliana pressed forward with irritation. She had a suspicion about what he was going to propose, but she didn't want to assume. There was nothing she could do to help contain the North. Feral and untamable was its nature.

He was a cold man, she knew that, but she could be cold too. If she did not want to lose herself in her grief, she could lose herself in her anger just as easily. "Your family are all traitors; Starks, Tullys and Arryns alike, however that being said, their armies are of paramount if Joffrey is to remain King, he needs all the Kingdoms to rule." He paused in his eating, his eyes growing dark and unlighted. "Stannis may have been defeated because of his failed attempt of a siege, but he's gathering more men and more ships with each passing day... and to avoid another siege, I'm going to need the men that rallied with you and your brother, and your uncle."