Chapter 317: Visit (4)
"Are you done with your yelling?" Tyrion asked, unaffected by Warren’s reaction. "Are you finally seeing that when you make foolish choices, you affect others? Your poor mother."
"Don’t speak of my mother!" Warren yelled, yearning to get his hands on Tyrion.
"We are both on my land. I can speak my mind, and you will listen. It should please you to know that someone cares about you, as a man from the court inquired about you," Tyrion said.
"You’re wasting your mother’s time and money all because you wanted to confront the Collins."
"Release me, you bastard!"
"For you to go run your mouth to the court and town guards? You’re not trustworthy, which is why you will never leave my dungeon. It would be good for you to stop biting the doctor when he comes to tend to your eyes. One more incident and the doctor won’t come," Tyrion said, watching as Warren struggled to turn.
"Just kill me! Get it over with," Warren pleaded.
Warren’s pride was wounded by having to be in this pathetic state before Tyrion. He would rather die than live like this any longer.
"I am certain that from the moment you decided to approach my family, you were ready for death. Death is too easy, in my opinion. Torturing you like this makes me feel like you are being punished correctly," Tyrion said, denying Warren’s wishes.
Tyrion didn’t need to harm Warren anymore. Warren’s current pitiful state was enough punishment.
Warren started to laugh. He had a secret which would make Tyrion want to kill him, so this nightmare would be over.
"There’s more to the debt I have to pay off. I made quite the offer to get the money I wanted-"
"Save this story for the guards. They are interested in these little things since they grow bored watching you," Tyrion said, tired of Warren’s stories.
"Oh, you’ll want to hear this since it concerns your wife. You’re not the only man who has lusted over her. Plenty of men want her, but they won’t tell it to your face. Plenty of men would pay to spend the night with her," Warren said, waiting for Tyrion to come to him.
Warren was puzzled by the silence.
Didn’t Tyrion love Penelope enough to get upset by this?
Warren rolled on his side so he would face Tyrion, but he was uncertain if he was facing the right way.
"I offered to hand your wife over to him as part of our deal, and he was already infatuated with her. He might still go after her," Warren said, followed by laughter.
Warren braced himself for cold water to be poured on him like other times, but it didn’t come. There was only silence besides the rats he heard running around.
"You cannot hide that you are angry, Prince Tyrion. Your silence is loud," Warren said, but his laughter started to cease.
The dungeon was quiet enough for Warren to be able to hear when Tyrion left, but he wasn’t certain if he missed it since Tyrion wasn’t responding.
"Answer me!" Warren demanded.
The quietness always bothered him.
It was torture that he couldn’t see who was around him.
"I know that you are still there. You must be burning with curiosity about who wanted her. I can tell you if you would only kill me. Answer me!" Warren yelled, desperate to hear a sound.
Tyrion still sat on his chair, his fingers tapping his leg.
Tyrion believed that Warren would be so foolish and brave as to make an offer with Penelope, but rather than react as Warren wanted, he was going to torture the bastard a little.
"Answer me!"
Tyrion looked at the guards who were waiting for his orders.
"Send for Aiden," Tyrion ordered the guards.
Warren’s laughter started up again after hearing Tyrion’s voice.
"Don’t laugh," Tyrion said as he stood up from his chair. "Death won’t come to you soon. You will experience what it is like for a man to break. You will regret not appreciating the simple life your mother offered you, and then you will truly plead for death."
"Cut his food and don’t let the doctor tend to his eyes. Keep the dungeon quiet-"
"It is never quiet. You have released the rats to frighten me," said Warren.
"Rats?" Tyrion repeated, puzzled by this news.
Tyrion didn’t give anyone the order to release rats.
"Did one of you place rats in here?" Tyrion questioned the guards.
"No, Your Highness. The dungeon is newly built. I have never seen any rats."
Tyrion looked back at Warren. He was the only prisoner here so far, and though he was wounded, it wasn’t to the point that it would attract rodents this fast.
"He is hearing things," Tyrion concluded.
It wasn’t a surprise since it was what happened to many who were placed in dungeons.
"Leave him be for a few days. He’ll turn himself mad in no time," said Tyrion.
Tyrion took one last look at Warren before deciding it was time to go look into who Warren owed a debt to.
Warren panicked when he heard footsteps, and they weren’t getting closer. Tyrion was leaving.
"Don’t go! I can tell you who wanted her! Just kill me," Warren pleaded, desperate for the nightmare to be over with.
Tyrion continued on his way out despite Warren’s calls to him. He was not here to entertain Warren.
Tyrion headed near the gardens where he was to meet with Penelope. On his way there, Tyrion saw the guard Aiden running toward him.
"Your Highness," Aiden greeted Tyrion. "I was told you sent for me."
"I did. There are rumours that Warren’s father went to a brothel to pay off a debt. Find out who his father spoke to when he visited the brothel and what his debt entailed. Don’t go looking like a guard. Return to me only when you have what I need," said Tyrion.
"Yes, Your Highness," Aiden replied, ready to leave.
"Take two more guards with you and watch each other’s backs carefully. There is danger looming all over the town, and I will not have any more of your heads sent back to me. Kill who you must to be safe, but don’t get caught."
"I will not place your name in danger, and we shall return," Aiden promised.
Aiden looked forward to completing a task for Tyrion. He had been patiently waiting for his turn to serve Tyrion, and he would not fail now that it was here.
Tyrion looked out in the distance at Penelope playing in the garden, unaware of what Warren revealed. No matter what it took on his end, it would always be like this, where Penelope would know nothing of the terrible ways of men.