Hear me Roar - English version

CHAPTER 5 - "Tyrion Lannister"

               After a month of travel, we finally arrive in King's Landing. This city has more than a million inhabitants, each poorer than the previous one, apart from the nobles who reside in the Red Keep, the royal fortress.

               We enter the courtyard of the castle, a beautiful place that has nothing to do with the rest of the city. It's like we're in two totally different places, which never met.

               I get off my horse and allow Arrow to get off the cariole. She could not make the trip ashore; she would have sown panic in the streets. It must be good for her to find land.

               A man whose name I do not know comes to my father to take him to his very first Small Council. This is where all decisions are made, from repairing a road to preparing for war. These five men have the whole Kingdom in their hands.

"We're gonna like it here" I'll tell my sister once our dad's gone.

"The streets stink" rant Sansa as if it would affect me personally.

"You don't live on the street, as far as I know. Stop sulking, the castle is huge, don't you want to explore it?"

"He killed Lady."

               I help Arya down, pretending not to hear our sister. These events happened weeks ago and, while I fully understand his anger, Ned has nothing to do with it. He just gave Lady an honorable death. The only person to blame is Joffrey but his blond hair and blue eyes made Sansa lose all sense of discernment.

"It's unfair" she adds. "They could have taken Arrow!"

"You're going too far! Move on, Sansa. You're not a child anymore."

               In fact, she is. But we are no longer at home. Sansa's whims will no longer be ignored. She will be mocked if she does not behave like the lady she swears to be.

"Help them settle into their apartments." I say to Septa Mordane and Jory. "I will pay a short visit to the Concil."

               Jory, the voice of reason, tries to stop me but I pretend not to hear and enter the castle. Everything here is bigger, more beautiful. Every brick has a story.

               When I arrive in front of the two large doors of the throne room, the guards posted in front of them open them without a sound. I'm surprised they're not trying to keep me out. Perhaps they recognized the House Stark crest or their commanding officer described me line by line.

               In the middle of the room, looking opposite, stands Jaime Lannister in his shining armor of the Royal Guard. Jaime became a member when he was very young thanks to his father, Tywin, at the time Hand of Aerys Targaryen. During the sacking of King's Landing, the Mad King ordered the destruction of the city by fire. Jaime, present at the events, decided to do what everyone would have liked to do at the time, he planted his blade in the back of King Aerys.

               While the early years of his reign had been peaceful, Aerys Targaryen had quickly become psychotic, paranoid. He burned alive anyone who refused to follow his rules. My grandfather and uncle died in this room.

               Despite the service rendered to the whole kingdom, Jaime was called «regicide», reminding everyone that he had betrayed his oath.

"Ser Jaime."

               The knight turns to me with a smile on his face. He, unlike us, hardly stopped on his way to the capital. He arrived several days ago.

"Lady Diana" he greets me. "Welcome home."

"Is that how you see this place? A "home"?"

"My old home was not much more welcoming."