The dwarf

Gary had actually misunderstood. Only the better-known members of House Stark were given "wolf" nicknames by outsiders.

Eddard, for example, was known as the "Silent Wolf." Benjen's nickname back then had been "Wolf Pup," their elder brother Brandon had been the "Wild Wolf," and their late sister Lyanna had been the "She-Wolf."

In Gary's generation, only he and Robb were widely known. Thus Robb was the "Young Wolf," while he was the "White Wolf."

Tyrion went into the inner room to put his clothes back on.

Gary remained alone in the hall, facing the waves drawing ever closer to him.

"Ahem, don't come any closer. Well, thank you for letting me enjoy such beautiful scenery."

He took several silver stags from his waist and gave each woman one.

The waves knew he was not interested, so they accepted the silver stags and tactfully covered their exposed charms with gauzy fabric.

Tyrion returned fully dressed and said to Gary, "Your name is Gary? Aren't you House Stark's White Wolf?"

Gary could not be bothered to explain and reminded him, "A Lannister always pays his debts."

Tyrion straightened his clothes and said solemnly, "Come on. I'll take you to get your gold."

Only after following him out of the establishment did Gary say, "I don't need your gold. Can you arrange for me to see the king?"

Tyrion could not help looking back. "You want an audience with the king?"

"Is that difficult?" Gary asked in return. Tyrion was the queen's own younger brother. If even he could not get him an audience with King Robert, Gary would have no choice but to sneak into the Red Keep at night.

Tyrion stopped walking. "Not difficult, exactly, but not simple either. Let me think of a way."

Gary suggested, "You can see the king, can't you? Couldn't I just pretend to be your guard?"

Tyrion shattered his hopes. "Pretending to be my guard would only get you into the Red Keep. How could I possibly bring a personal guard into an audience with the king?"

Gary said no more. He believed that with Tyrion's status and connections, he would certainly be able to get him an audience with King Robert.

At a street corner not far away, Arya saw that Gary had left the inn. She immediately gave the reins a gentle shake, making the warhorse walk slowly toward him.

Tyrion thought of a solution just then. "I have it. My brother Jaime is a Kingsguard in the Red Keep. With his help, you'll be able to see the king. However, this would be an unofficial meeting, and you must have a legitimate reason. Otherwise, neither of us could bear the king's wrath."

Gary certainly had a legitimate reason. "You needn't worry about that. I want to ask the king to send someone to take this girl back to the North."

A girl?

Tyrion turned and saw Arya riding toward them. "You're asking the king to do something for you?" he exclaimed. "You... you certainly have some nerve."

"She's Eddard Stark's younger daughter. With that identity alone, I believe the king will certainly help," Gary explained calmly.

Tyrion also knew of King Robert's friendship with the Duke of Winterfell. Understanding dawned on him. "Why is House Stark's younger daughter with you? And you still won't admit it? You are the White Wolf!"

Gary fell silent. He always felt that this name belonged to someone else, so he strongly resisted it.

Arya rode up to the two of them. Looking curiously at Tyrion, she asked, "Luke, his head is so big. Is he a dwarf?"

Gary said helplessly, "Arya, that's very rude. Apologize."

Who opened their mouth by picking at someone's wounds? Had Arya not been young enough for her words to be taken as innocent, Tyrion would probably have been furious already.

"S-sorry, sir." Arya realized she had been rude and hurriedly apologized.

Tyrion indeed took no offense. "It's fine. She's a child. Back to your business-with your Stark connections, this will be easy. I'll mention this to the king. I believe he'll summon you soon."

"Thank you. Then I'll await your good news."

Gary took the horse's reins and was about to leave, but Tyrion called them back.

"Wait. From the look of you, you haven't been in King's Landing long, have you? If you haven't found somewhere to stay yet, why not come with me? My house is far more comfortable than an inn. Not only is it on high ground, overlooking most of King's Landing, but it also has a private courtyard where you can relax."

Gary had already intended to befriend Tyrion, so he agreed. "Then sorry for the trouble."

Tyrion led the way. "I rarely stay there, actually. Most of the time I'm at various... er, there's a child here, so I won't mention it. In any case, make yourselves comfortable. I'll go see the king as soon as possible."

"Thank you." Gary deliberately warned him, "There was something wrong with that man earlier. He dressed like an ordinary commoner, but his fighting skills were anything but ordinary."

Tyrion was highly intelligent and had already seen through it all. "I know. Plenty of people in King's Landing dislike me. Who knows which one was playing a trick on me? It's fine. They wouldn't dare actually do anything to me."

Though his father did not value him, the Lannister saying "always pays his debts" was more than mere words.

The three proceeded on foot at an easy pace, talking and laughing along the way.

King's Landing had three hills in all. Each had a distinctive structure upon it.

Visenya's Hill in the southwest was home to many exquisite buildings, the most famous of which was the Great Sept of Baelor. It housed statues of the Seven, making the area steeped in religious atmosphere.

Rhaenys's Hill in the northeast, by contrast, had few buildings. Beneath it, however, lay the long-abandoned Dragonpit, which held many dragon bones. Back when dragons still existed, this had also been where the Targaryen royal family kept them.

The last and tallest hill was called Aegon's High Hill. It stood in the southeastern corner of King's Landing, with a towering castle-the Red Keep-atop it.

That was the king's castle, and also the location of the pinnacle of power-the Iron Throne.

Gary and the other two crossed half of King's Landing, walking all the way to the vicinity of Aegon's High Hill.

This was King's Landing's wealthy district. Not only were there few people and clean streets, but even the roads were much wider.

Tyrion brought Gary and Arya to the courtyard house he had bought. He had a servant lead Gary's horse to the stables, then personally took them to see their rooms.

Carrying several large bags of luggage, Gary followed behind Tyrion with Arya.

The two kept looking around like country bumpkins visiting the city.

"Truly worthy of the richest family in Westeros, buying such a large house in King's Landing, where every inch of land costs a fortune."

Gary could not help exclaiming in admiration.

Arya also wandered curiously here and there. The exquisite murals, lifelike reliefs, and beautiful clothes dazzled her, and she loved them all.

Though House Stark was not poor, the North lacked material goods, making it difficult to achieve the degree of luxury found in King's Landing.

Only after assigning them their rooms did Tyrion explain, "I bought all this with money I earned myself. I didn't spend a single coin from House Lannister."

He had endured an unhappy childhood, which left him with little sense of belonging to House Lannister.

Gary set down his luggage, took out a gold dragon, and tossed it to Tyrion. "For room and board."

Tyrion looked a little hurt. "I thought we were friends already, little White Wolf."

Gary spread his hands. "If you stop calling me by that nickname, we'll be friends."

Tyrion accepted the gold dragon and joked, "Hmm, just one gold dragon? That's too little. Looks like I can only provide bread."

Gary did not mind. Noblemen's bread was not the black bread commoners used to fill their bellies; it had to meet high standards of flavor and texture.

"That's fine. It's been a long time since I've had bread I could swallow."

From their conversation along the way, Tyrion felt that Gary was far too innocent. He told him everything, holding almost nothing back.

Does he trust me this much when we've only just met? Are all northern nobles this innocent? Never in his life had Tyrion met such a guileless nobleman.

Moreover, he could see neither prejudice against dwarfs nor pity for him in Gary's eyes. Talking to Gary, he felt like a normal person for the first time.

They enjoyed each other's company. Perhaps that was the fundamental reason Tyrion had taken the initiative to befriend Gary.