"Your Majesty!" Barristan signaled with his eyes.
Daenerys understood his meaning. The Great Master had already been punished, and he wanted her to show mercy.
After a moment's thought, she said, "I allow you to take his body for burial. You may leave."
"Yes, thank you, Your Majesty!" Hizdahr quickly stood and bowed deeply, grateful that Daenerys had granted his request. He withdrew from the council chamber.
Drogon perched on the Dragon Mother's shoulder as she returned to her quarters. Silently calculating the days, she realized it was time for Tyrion's trial. *I wonder,* she thought, *if, without Shae's impulsive betrayal, he will still be forced to resort to a trial by combat.*
***
Tyrion, his hands bound in chains, was dragged from the dungeon into the Great Hall, already filled with King's Landing nobles. At the center of the hall, seated on the Iron Throne as Chief Justice, was his father, Tywin. To his sides sat the associate justices: Mace Tyrell, Duke of Highgarden and father of Little Rose, and Prince Oberyn of Dorne.
Tywin declared the trial to begin. The first witness was Meryn, the newly appointed Kingsguard, who had been Joffrey's loyal protector.
"While guarding King Joffrey, I witnessed Tyrion strike His Majesty on multiple occasions," Meryn testified, his voice filled with indignation. "Once during King Robert's visit to Winterfell, and again here in King's Landing. Joffrey did not punish him, considering him his uncle. I never imagined Tyrion would ultimately murder His Majesty." Meryn recounted how Tyrion had slapped Joffrey several times, his face burning with righteous anger.
"Do you have any defense against Sir Meryn's testimony?" Tywin asked from his elevated position on the Iron Throne.
"I acted out of familial concern," Tyrion replied. "My dear sister did not raise him properly, so I took it upon myself to discipline him. I suspect my dear father, Duke Tywin, must have done the same at some point, otherwise Joffrey would never have become the beloved king we all knew." Tyrion glanced at Cersei, but she turned her head away, refusing to meet his gaze.
Knowing his son's sharp tongue, Tywin had no desire to respond.
Next came Cersei, who testified that Tyrion had never liked Joffrey and that his beatings were not born of care or education, but solely of spite.
Tyrion did not respond to his sister's accusations.
"Lord Tyrion was very sympathetic to former Hand Eddard and showed great care for Lady Sansa," Varys added, adding fuel to the fire as he testified.
Tyrion glared at Varys, wondering why he would say such damaging things about him.
Varys merely raised an eyebrow in response, offering no explanation.
"Varys, have you forgotten that I defended King's Landing from Stannis's plunder?" Tyrion demanded, his voice filled with resentment.
"I remember it well," Varys replied, "but that doesn't prevent me from speaking the truth."
Tyrion loathed the truth. All the witnesses were speaking the truth, and all the evidence pointed against him. Joffrey had broken his word and killed Eddard, yet Tyrion had sympathized with him. He had repeatedly opposed Joffrey over his daughter Sansa in King's Landing, and had ultimately married Sansa.
Tyrion knew they had all been instigated by his sister Cersei and father Tywin to testify against him. They were clearly trying to kill him.
As Tyrion pondered this, Grand Maester and Royal Advisor Pycelle shuffled to the witness stand, his head bowed under the weight of his heavy Maester's chain.
Drogon would have scoffed at this sight; Pycelle showed no such frailty in bed.
With trembling hands, Pycelle withdrew a paper from his sleeve and stammered, "After examination, I found that King Joffrey died of poisoning. It was a rare poison that suffocates its victims."
Hearing the word "suffocates," Prince Oberyn of Dorne leaned forward, frowning.
"It seems Prince Oberyn recognizes this poison?" Cersei asked, noticing his reaction.
All eyes turned to Oberyn.
"What do you mean by that? I am indeed skilled with poisons. Do you think I poisoned Joffrey?" Oberyn glanced at Cersei, leaning back in his chair with studied indifference.
"Of course, I wouldn't suspect you of this," Cersei said casually. "I just wanted to hear your thoughts on the poison."
"I'm not entirely sure about the poison's composition either," Oberyn replied, clearly unwilling to elaborate. "Let's continue listening to the Grand Maester's analysis."
Hearing this, everyone turned their attention to Pycelle.
"The 'Strangler' is a mixture of several highly toxic drugs. After the fact, I checked the apothecary and found that several herbs and liquids had been stolen."
"Sir Meryn found the body of King Joffrey's fool, Dontos, in a secluded area of the docks. He also discovered this on the body." Pycelle produced the crystal necklace Sansa had once worn.
"This was the necklace Lady Sansa wore when she was married to Tyrion. After King Joffrey's death, it was discovered that Dontos had disguised himself as a servant and taken Sansa away."
"Among the shattered fragments of the necklace, I found residues of the Strangler poison." Pycelle revealed the shocking conclusion of his investigation.
The Hall of Judgment erupted in gasps and whispers. Everyone was talking about Sansa, the girl Joffrey had nearly stripped naked in this very hall, and how she had ultimately poisoned him.
Tyrion stared blankly at the pale blue necklace in Pycelle's hand. He remembered asking Sansa who had given it to her when he first saw it.
She hadn't hidden it from him, explaining that Dontos had given her the precious family heirloom as repayment for saving his life, and asked her to wear it always. Tyrion never imagined the poison would be hidden within the necklace itself.
Though he still didn't believe Sansa was the mastermind behind Joffrey's murder—she was likely only an accomplice or a pawn—this revelation now confirmed his status as an accomplice.
"You thought that because you were a Lannister's father, he wouldn't kill you, so you dared to stay. But my son cannot die in vain. As King of the Seven Kingdoms, you didn't just murder your nephew; you murdered the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. This is a capital offense, and no one can excuse you," Cersei declared, glancing at her father Tywin before fixing Tyrion with a venomous glare.
Tywin cast a meaningful glance at his daughter, the Queen Dowager, but remained silent.
Jaime, hearing his sister Cersei's words, grew anxious. Before the trial, he had failed to persuade Cersei to abandon her demand for Tyrion's execution. He then turned to his father, Tywin.
Tywin showed some leniency toward Tyrion, but only on the condition that Jaime renounce his Kingsguard vows, inherit the title of Lord of Casterly Rock, and marry a daughter of a great noble house to ensure the Lannister lineage.
Tywin promised to spare Tyrion if he confessed to the murder of Joffrey. After the confession, Tywin would request clemency and then banish Tyrion to the Wall to join the Night's Watch—the only way he could survive.
When Jaime told Tyrion about this deal, Tyrion remained noncommittal. He didn't believe his father would honor his promise to let him live, especially with Cersei standing beside them, her hatred for him burning like a wildfire.
She hated him for his birth, which she blamed for her mother's death. She hated him for the countless ways he had tormented her since childhood—even adding something to her soup bowl.
She hated him for constantly opposing her, for striking her son, and for plotting his murder.
-----------------------
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(End of Chapter)