Chapter 161: A Day of Chaos (Part 1)
In the early morning, far fewer people were leaving the city than entering, but the streets inside the walls of the River Gate were equally packed. Most were not there to travel, but to witness the spectacle of Gold Cloaks squaring off against Gold Cloaks.
The arrival of a large force of soldiers the previous night had genuinely terrified the local residents, but as the hours passed without a single blow being struck, the crowd's courage had fully returned with the daylight. People from balconies and doorsteps, from far and near, stared intently at the River Gate garrison, waiting to see how this drama would conclude.
Life was hard, and missing a show this big was a regret one would carry for a lifetime.
"The sun is up! To my brothers waiting outside: the opening times decreed by His Grace must be respected. I shall send men to open the gates first. Once the streets are cleared, I will deliver the criminal our Lord Commander seeks to the Red Keep!" Bywater, having taken a short nap in the sentry tower, stepped onto the wall once more, looking refreshed. He announced this loudly to those outside, not bothering to negotiate or wait for a reply before ordering the gates opened.
After enduring half a night in the streets, the soldiers from the various barracks who had been mobilized were no longer in the state they had been upon arrival. They stood, leaned on spears, or squatted around the garrison, watching with wide eyes as the barracks gate creaked open just enough for a squad of twenty men to trot out. The gate slammed shut immediately behind them.
If they hadn't fought during the night, it was even less likely they would clash now with a crowd of commoners watching. Not even Slynt thought to use that brief opening to force an entry, nor did he suspect that Egger might be slipped out among those soldiers... They simply watched numbly as their colleagues trotted to the massive, heavy River Gate. With the practiced movements of men who knew their business, the squad worked the mechanisms—and after a delay of about half an hour, the busiest gate in the city slowly groaned inward.
The long queues waiting to enter and leave stirred. The moment the gates opened was usually the most stressful time for maintaining order. The soldiers who had opened the gate took up their posts, using their bodies to partition the flow into incoming and outgoing lanes, preparing for a day's work.
The line of those leaving the city began to move, but the usual swarm of people entering didn't appear immediately. Instead, the first to enter were dozens of men in black guarding a carriage. The rest of the crowd and wagons followed at a distance as if avoiding a plague, no one daring to overtake them.
Slynt took one look and his drowsiness vanished instantly. He stood up, looking almost overjoyed. After a grueling night, was the turning point finally here? If the Night's Watch industries dared send men to cause a disturbance in an attempt to rescue Egger, he wouldn't even need to invent a crime to arrest them lawfully. On such a sensitive day, the charge of mobilizing private soldiers for rebellion would be a label they could never peel off!
"Seven hells, that's quite a welcome."
The Watchmen who had arrived in King's Landing only the night before had no idea what was happening. Dormy stared wide-eyed at the mass of City Watch soldiers blocked outside the River Gate garrison. Their gold cloaks shimmered brightly in the rising sun; one was nothing special, but gathered together, the visual effect was staggering. "Are these all gatekeepers? The garrison for this one gate alone must outnumber all the brothers on the Wall. Truly, the capital of the Seven Kingdoms is something else."
Alliser Thorne knit his brows in confusion. As a former defender of the city during the Usurper's War, he knew the composition of the City Watch well. It was normal for the River Gate to be heavily manned, but even during wartime, this was excessive. Had the Gold Cloaks undergone a massive expansion during the decade of peace he'd been away?
Unable to provide an answer, he simply shook his head. "Never mind that. Our business is to get the wight to the Red Keep."
"Hey, they're coming over. Think the King knew we were coming and sent an escort?"
But the squad of Gold Cloaks blocked their path and drew their weapons, dozens of spears leveling at the wight-escort team. "Halt!"
The members of the escort were all Night's Watchmen who had seen real combat. Seeing the threat, they drew their steel without hesitation. The city gate, which had only just been opened, was immediately blocked again by a new standoff. Alliser Thorne scanned the crowd with his sword raised. Spotting a familiar face, he gave a cold laugh. "Heh. Lord Janos Slynt. Quite the reception. I wonder what the City Watch means by blocking us?"
"Ser Alliser?" Slynt stepped out of the crowd, looking bewildered. He realized he had stopped the wrong people. At the end of the Usurper's War, he and Alliser had both been officers in the Watch. When Tywin Lannister had tricked his way into the city, Slynt had chosen to surrender while Alliser had resisted—which was why one was now Commander and the other wore the black. Facing Alliser, he found it difficult to maintain his usual bluster. "What are you doing here?"
"We are escorting a wight to show His Grace," the Master-at-Arms of Castle Black replied testily. "Does that violate some law of the Seven Kingdoms?"
"Of course not." What in the hells is a wight? Slynt glanced at the cage. "But I wonder, Ser Alliser, what are you doing in the company of Tyrion Lannister?"
"A chance meeting. The gates opened so late we ended up together in the queue," the dwarf said, looking up with a smile. "Lord Slynt ordered the Night's Watch office to be relocated; I've simply brought men to carry it out."
"Why not use the King's Gate for a move? And does it require so many men?" Slynt swept a cold gaze over the numerous men in black following the carriage. It was easy to tell the real Watchmen from the fakes by the quality of their clothes. "I suspect you've brought a mob to defy the law and rescue your accomplice—or perhaps to attempt something even more treasonous."
You're not entirely stupid, Tyrion thought with a smirk. "My lord, I haven't a clue what you're talking about. We are all law-abiding citizens of the realm. We entered through the main gate, and we come empty-handed. What could we possibly do?"
Slynt checked the hands of the black-clad security team; indeed, they held no weapons. This gave him no reason to use lethal force... but he steeled himself and motioned to his men. "Ser Alliser, take your men and go. As for these fake 'Watchmen' who have taken no vows, they are suspected of involvement in a serious crime. I am taking them all for investigation!"
The Gold Cloaks from other barracks, following orders, began to close in. They didn't dare attack the garrison of their fellow Watchmen, but arresting a mob of unarmed civilians? There was no danger in that.
The Watchmen from the Wall sheathed their weapons and walked a distance with Alliser Thorne, separating themselves from their brother unit to avoid being caught in the crossfire. They watched the massive arrest with a myriad of questions.
Tyrion stood his ground, his expression unchanged as he watched the Gold Cloaks—who outnumbered his men several times over—swarm past him to restrain and lead away his security guards one by one. The scene was orderly, with no conflict or bloodshed. He had brought these men into the city hoping to find or create an opportunity to bail Egger out, but Slynt wasn't giving him an opening to play his hand.
Fortunately, this wasn't entirely unexpected. Tyrion had already considered the possibility of provocation and arrest. That was why he had ordered the security team to remain unarmed and to offer no resistance under any circumstances. Dozens of men standing perfectly still while being arrested not only tied up Slynt's manpower but also left the Commander with nothing to use against them in the eyes of the crowd.
The dwarf wanted to curse, to mock, to threaten... but in the end, a thousand words were distilled into a merchant's hollow pleasantry: "Lord Slynt, very well. I wish you luck with your 'investigation'."
It was the third day since the campaign to topple Slynt had begun. Because the news had leaked, things were spiraling out of control. Tyrion began to feel uneasy. He started to wonder—was it time to ask his big brother in the Red Keep for help?
But Slynt stared at Tyrion with a dark expression for a moment, then suddenly added a new command: "Men, take Lord Tyrion as well. I suspect he is also linked to the brawl and murder that occurred last night."
"Slynt, have you lost your mind?" Tyrion snapped his head up, his eyebrows arching higher than they had when the wight appeared. He never used Cersei or Jaime's status to intimidate people; with a father like his, the name Lannister carried enough weight on its own. He had never expected Slynt to dare move against him in public. "You arrest me? Guess what my father will do when he hears this news."
Slynt grinned, showing his teeth. "I haven't lost my mind, nor am I 'arresting' you. I have no interest in guessing what Lord Tywin will do. You wished me luck with my investigation, did you not? That requires Lord Tyrion, and your accomplice Egger West, to cooperate."
No matter the excuse, the fact remained that the City Watch had seized a Lannister in the middle of the street. The Imp was unmistakable in King's Landing. Amidst the shocked murmurs of the onlookers and Tyrion's own stunned expression, his squire Jak was disarmed, and he himself was gripped by a Gold Cloak on each side and hauled away from the entrance.
Slynt had informed Robert yesterday that the Queen was trying to bribe him for a coup, and the King had ordered him to bring troops to the Red Keep today. If the Baratheons and Lannisters truly broke into open war today, then this little Lannister delivered right to his doorstep—one of Lord Tywin's own sons—would be a noble prisoner of immense value. Better to have him in hand now than to hunt for him after the business at the Red Keep was done. If he had misjudged the situation, he could always release him later, citing a cleared investigation.
The Lord Commander's plan was beautiful, and the execution had met no resistance. It was only a stroke of extreme misfortune that the sight of Tyrion Lannister surrendering and being hauled away by two Gold Cloaks was witnessed by his brother, Jaime Lannister—who was currently preparing to leave the city via the River Gate to board a ship for Dragonstone on the King's orders.
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