"Tyrion, I hope you can offer some useful advice instead of merely wagging your tongue," Tywin said.
"Then let me give my opinion." Tyrion cleared his throat. "Our immediate priority is to sow discord among our enemies. We cannot let the great alliance of falcon, fish, wolf, and stag form again, or we will be unable to move."
"How do we sow discord?" Lord Tywin said. "Everyone knows an alliance is inevitable."
"Cooperation is difficult, but discord is much easier. There is only one cold Iron Throne, but we have kings in abundance," Tyrion said. "Besides, Robb is not Eddard, and Gendry is not Robert. They have no friendship, nothing like the brotherly bond between Robert and Lord Eddard, and Eddard is absent now. Stannis and Renly also distrust each other. As for House Arryn, that madwoman Lady Lysa is even less likely to send troops. This is probably just some of the Vale's lords acting on their own. So this alliance of wolf, fish, falcon, and stag is nowhere near as solid as it was decades ago."
"Go on."
Tyrion continued. "We have three valuable hostages in King's Landing: the old wolf and his two daughters. And will young Robb willingly kneel to someone else?"
"Two, in fact," Tywin corrected his son. "Eddard's younger daughter escaped at the time, and we cannot find her now. We do not even know whether she is alive or dead."
"Then we can pretend we hold both girls." The Imp blinked.
"Hmm. Perhaps we could also give the young man something shiny. A position, a marriage, or something else? A crown." Tywin pondered. "But Eddard certainly cannot be released so easily. We must make Robb declare his position to us."
"The crown of the King in the North?" Tyrion exclaimed. "That is far