"What are you doing in my room, Edmure?" Brynden was cleaning his black scale armor, he didn't lift his head and continued to polish the black scales.
"Uncle, my father died." Edmure's voice trembled, he closed his eyes and began to cry like a child.
Brynden, who was polishing his armor, stopped what he was doing and raised his head extremely quickly. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. He had visited his brother just over four hours ago and, although he was sick, he was far from dying.
Throwing the armor aside, Brynden stood up, held Edmure's shoulders and asked with a solemn tone. "How did this happen?"
The Blackfish didn't believe his brother had died of natural causes, which meant there were traitors inside the castle. This was the worst news one could have during a castle siege. This made the man's expression extremely grim.
"When I entered the room, my father was dead in bed, there were marks around his neck." Edmure said with a choked voice; tears and snot ran down his face, making Brynden step back with a touch of disgust.
However, hearing Edmure's description, the assumption that there was a traitor became a fact he had to face.
"Does anyone else know?" Brynden asked with a solemn tone.
"Only me." Edmure wiped the tears from his face and replied with a still trembling and fearful tone. However, he stood up and poured himself a glass of water. He drank water in front of Brynden and refilled the glass. This time, when his uncle was completely distracted and thoughtful, he put the poison in the water.
"You did well." For the first time in years, Brynden praised his nephew. Even being stupid, his nephew still knew that his father's murder should not be known by third parties or people's loyalty could shift.
Brynden spoke the praise without even looking at Edmure. He was thinking about who the traitor was; the soldiers would not allow an unknown person to enter Hoster's room.
"Uncle, drink some water." Edmure handed the wooden cup to Brynden, who accepted it without thinking twice. With such shocking news, he was naturally thirsty.
Drinking the water under Edmure's anxious eyes, Brynden seemed fine, which made the Heir of Riverrun even more anxious. He forgot that the poison used had already been diluted in the water once and then a second time in Brynden's cup. The poison would certainly take a little longer to take effect.
"Edmure, you are the new Lord of Riverrun, go to your room and don't come out; I'll take care of everything." Brynden, unaware that he was already poisoned, and by his own nephew, spoke with a commanding tone, as if speaking to a teenager.
Edmure's face darkened. 'So you revealed your true intentions, uncle.' In Edmure's eyes, Brynden's request was naturally to push him away and usurp the castle. The worst thing was that, with his prestige, the guards would obey Brynden.
Perhaps, if it were a calmer time, the soldiers would accept kneeling to him, but in these times of war, having someone experienced and as prestigious as Brynden, the Blackfish, was the best choice for survival. So, the soldiers would choose Brynden instead of him, the true Lord of Riverrun.
When Brynden took a step forward, he suddenly lost control of his legs and fell to the ground with a heavy sound. The Blackfish looked down, confused, and saw blood staining the floor, but he was sure he hadn't hurt himself in the fall.
Touching his nose, he felt the sticky touch of blood and knew he was bleeding from his nose. Brynden tried to get up, but his body didn't respond to his commands.
Suddenly, his expression changed drastically as he looked back to see his nephew, looking at him with a cold and cheerful gaze. At that moment, he didn't need to be a genius to know who had poisoned him.
"You killed your own father and now you want to kill me." Brynden was not stupid; he immediately knew who had killed his brother. This shocked him; he didn't expect that, after hundreds of years without a patricide in Westeros, it would happen exactly in his house.
The motto of House Tully: "Family, Duty, Honor." It was a bad joke from the gods.
"Yes, I did!!!" Edmure screamed; he looked at Brynden with anger and released all the resentment he had accumulated for decades in that instant. "He died for someone he considered a failure and a disappointment. I never felt so good strangling that old bastard!!!"
"You fool, do you really think Viserys was trying to be merciful? He threw the seed and managed to plant it in your stupid heart. When you open these gates, you will be like a pig being served on a silver platter." Brynden looked at his nephew with a touch of sarcasm. He knew he was going to die; the poison was potent, so potent that he couldn't even move.
Even if there were hundreds of Maesters, it would be useless without the antidote, something Brynden didn't expect his nephew to have given, his stupidity.
"He is a prince, he wouldn't lie." After killing his own father and poisoning his uncle, Edmure simply lost the ability to think normally; or rather, he didn't want to think about the possibility of Viserys using him.
He felt he would go mad if it were really true, but he needed 0.1 of hope not to go completely mad.
Despite the anger and resentment he felt, Brynden looked at Edmure and spoke with a weak and solemn tone. "Listen to me, at least once in your damn life. Go to the secret passage and run towards Casterly Rock; Tywin will protect you."
"Don't stay in Riverrun, run as fast as possible to Casterly Rock." Brynden knew that House Tully was finished; he only hoped for a remnant of hope for the continuity of House Tully. So, despite hating Edmure, Brynden was willing to carry his house's motto to the Seven Hells.
To say that Edmure was not emotional would be a lie, because, even in the face of death, the man cared more about his family than anyone else. This made him realize how crazy he was, but there was no turning back.
Brynden began to cough blood, while his nose and eyes began to bleed; his face began to turn purple. Even wanting to save Edmure, he couldn't help but curse how violent and painful the poison chosen by Edmure was.
Brynden, although a bit rude to Edmure, never really mistreated his nephew to receive such a potent and violent poison.
Suddenly, Brynden's body began to convulse, his eyes staring at Edmure. Seconds later, the Blackfish's body stopped moving completely. The sparkle in his eyes completely faded.
Brynden Tully, the Blackfish, had died.
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Note: I have two upcoming books:
House of the Dragon: The Pale Prince
Jujutsu Kaisen: The King of Jujutsu.
The first has 11 chapters ready; the second has 7 chapters ready. I will write both up to 20 or 25 chapters.
As for when to release them, it will be when I finish the second arc of Game of Thrones: The God-Emperor of Planets and finish Percy Jackson: Godwyn the Golden.
Read the advanced chapters on my Patreon!
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Read my other books