TYRION — Chapter 67

Tyrion faces a daunting stack of promissory notes demanded by the Second Sons. Bantering with Brown Ben Plumm, Inkpots, and Kasporio, he signs escalating sums—culminating in enormous personal notes for the officers—calculating that either Casterly Rock will cover them one day or they will be worthless if he dies. He is assigned to Inkpots for ledgers and warned to keep hidden as an escaped slave.

Inkpots produces the company’s great book, and Tyrion writes his name in red-tinged ink, completing his induction. He is told to take company steel and discreetly equip Penny as well. Tyrion rouses a depressed Penny, conceals her identity, and escorts her to the armory.

Serjeant Snatch assigns Kem to guide them. On the walk, Kem recalls the Blackwater and fleeing Stannis’s defeat; Tyrion deflects with wry talk of King’s Landing and Lannister reputation. At the wagons, the arms are mostly battered; Hammer sleeps off drink while Nail supervises.

Jorah Mormont emerges in mismatched armor, his branded face hardened. Tyrion and Penny pick through the refuse: Tyrion settles on a brutal dirk, rejects heavy or unsuitable weapons, and insists Penny find a helm and protection despite her reluctance. When Penny clings to dreams of her dead brother and lost animals, Tyrion slaps her lightly to break the fantasy and forces her to accept their danger.

Tyrion and Penny confront the hard truths of slavery and survival; Tyrion admits slaves sometimes choose bondage over death but presses Penny to live through the coming battle. Jorah judges the Yunkai’i cause failing against Unsullied and dragons once Daenerys returns. Concluding the Second Sons are on the losing side, Tyrion declares he will contrive their timely defection.