Chereads / A Fourth Lion / Chapter 17 - Sneaking out

Chapter 17 - Sneaking out

"Where are we going?" Tyrion asked behind me, huffing and puffing that denotes his exhaustion from descending the ever-lasting flight of stairs we had just walked down.

"Lannisport" I reply, "Don't ask why, it's a surprise." The torch I was holding displaying light around the dark corridor we were both in. Silence pertained for a while as we kept on walking.

"What is this place? I know that there are many different rooms within the Rock but I've never heard of one like this." He says as he looks around at the worn brick walls and the thick collection of cobwebs just above my head.

Deciding to enlighten him a little, I tell him "You know that father has given me access to the Lord's library, right?" I turn around as I ask that question, getting a nod of affirmation, "Well I came across a map of Casterly Rock which showed this passageway hidden behind a wall in the Golden gallery. I investigated it and it turns out that it leads to the Motherhouse in Lannisport." I could almost feel Tyrion's eyebrows rise in surprise, which is understandable as the Rock is renowned as impregnable, probably more so than the Eyrie or Storm's End. Having a small backdoor could be fatal in a siege if the attackers were to discover it, even more shocking is the fact that it is currently forgotten and unguarded.

"Apparently this tunnel was built by "the Thunderbolt', King Tybolt Lannister after he had defeated the first Andal warlords to reach the west. He built this tunnel as a way to ensure that the populace of Lannisport could be evacuated into the safety of the Rock if another Andal host was to turn west. Originally the tunnel lead to just within the perimeter of the walls however with the rise in influence of the Faith, one of the King's of the Rock had it exit just outside the Motherhouse." I concluded, the story of Tybolt Lannister being a favourite of Tyrion's when he was younger.

"But Cerion, the Andal invasion happened thousands of years ago, even with prior maintenance the structure would probably be unstable after so many years of neglect, there is a chance that a section has collapsed somewhere down the tunnel." Tyrion stated, wary of the ceiling falling on top of our heads or weary at the fact all this walking was for nothing, its difficult for a man of his stature to walk such distances.

I tilt my head to left and let out a little hum, "Probably, but I have been down here twice in the last month so the chances of it collapsing in between the time of my last visit to now are slim."

"How much longer do we have to walk for?" Tyrion asks, tired of walking for so long. "Um, probably about another five to t- Oh, we're here." I say as we come across a small flight of stairs leading upwards. At the top of those stairs was a thick metal chain coming out of hole near the ceiling as well as a metal cleat on the wall beside it, similar to what you might see on a dock. Pulling the chain down with my bodyweight, a rectangular shape of the stone wall is pulled inwards, showing us the room on the other side to be a pantry of sorts. The cleat is there to make sure that the door stays open, however I refrain from tying it and let go of the chain after I see Tyrion walk through the door. I follow him in to the room, closing the door behind me.

Tyrion turns around to look at the door as he hears it close, "How will we get back? father will know we have left." He exclaims.

"Father probably already knows we have left, I left a note saying we went to Lannisport with an escort. We'll just have some of uncle Kevan's guards or a couple members of the the City Watch bring us back up to the Rock." I replied calmly, I know father will be anything other than happy with this but I'll deal with the consequences later as I currently have to figure out how to leave the Motherhouse.

Lannisport is famed for having the largest Motherhouse in Westeros, except for the Great Sept of Baelor but that doesn't really count. Anyone is allowed to enter a Motherhouse to pray or seek guidance from the many Septas and few Septons within the building, however some parts are closed off to the public due to private quarters or the residence of the Silent Sisters within the Motherhouse.

I go to the only door in the room and slightly push it open to a crack, my eyes looking in between the gap and down a hallway lit up with candles. Seeing no one there I push it open more so I can fit my head through and look the opposite way, only to see a decorated wall depicting the Stranger. I exit through the door and beckon Tyrion to follow me as we both make our way down the corridor. Turning a corner I bump into something and stagger backwards into Tyrion, making sure Tyrion is alright I turn back to look at what I walked into, only to meet a pair of blue eyes surrounded with a cowled head of grey that extends all over their body: a Silent Sister.

She is just standing there staring at us, Silent Sisters take vows of silence, hence their name. "Excuse me Sister, do you know where the exit is, we got lost after praying in the hall." I say innocently, Tyrion gets the memo as he starts nodding and tries his attempt at puppy eyes. The Sister's eyes narrow for a moment, scrutinising us before she points to a door at the end of the corridor. Of course we weren't expecting her to break her vows just to tell us but pointing works well enough.

From those directions it wasn't hard to leave the Motherhouse, we came out of a side door that lead to one of the three main roads of Lannisport. The Ocean, Gold and River road congregate at Lannisport and meet at the centre, this naturally brings in a lot of trade from merchant caravans and makes travelling a lot simpler. Walking down one of the roads with Tyrion, I head to my destination. I don't really have to worry too much about security, the City Watch of Lannisport is much more numerous, better trained and less corrupt as a whole, with groups patrolling every road and alley.

"We're here." I say as I turn around and face Tyrion, seeing him looking at the building in front of us. Quite a grand building that lays just off the main road, large and tall with high-quality windows. the sounds and the strong smell of perfume wafting from it denotes what it is.

"A brothel?" Tyrion says with furrowed brows, he turns his head towards me, "You've taken me to a brothel?"

I sigh and rub my hands over my face, "Yeah, I know its stupid. I thought that maybe I could take you here to get your mind off of those women but I've been thinking that maybe it wasn't a good idea since we left the Rock." It was more of a spur in the moment decision.

Seeing Tyrion look down at his hands I sigh again and kneel down in front of him, "I'm sorry, I was meant to take you here to have fun but I've only been thinking of myself."

Tyrion looks up at that and purses his lips whilst smiling, "Its okay, I appreciate the effort, maybe some other time." I smile at him and gesture my head to the left, "While we're here, why don't we visit the market? Last time I was there a YiTish man was selling objects from Asshai and my pockets are really heavy from all that money House Martell brought us." I quirk my eyebrow at Tyrion as he laughs and starts walking in the direction of the market.

I go to follow him but the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end and a chill runs own my back. I turn around and look at the building, trying to see who is staring at me. My green eyes connect with a pair of violet eyes in one of the windows, a split second later they disappear. I keep staring at that window in scrutiny until a Tyrion cries out a 'Hurry Up!' behind me, making me turn around and head towards the market with him whilst I keep thinking of those violet eyes within my head.

Unbeknownst to me, those very same violet eyes went back to the window, staring out at my retreating figure whilst they fiddled with a leather collar around their neck.

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Sorry that this is more of a filler chapter but I'm not gonna lie, I have been planning this chapter in my head for the last fortnight and thought it was a great idea, however logic prevailed and I had to scrap it, that might be why this chapter seems to change abruptly at the brothel part and I'm not really happy with how it turned out overall but it is what it is. I chose to edit the second half rather than re-write it at the end.