That fool Eddard Stark accused me of the same thing. He hinted that Lord Arryn suspected or... well, believed.”  “That you were fucking our sweet Jaime?”  She slapped him.  “Did you think I was as blind as Father?” Tyrion rubbed his cheek. “Who you lie with is no matter to me... although it doesn’t seem quite just that you should open your legs for one brother and not the other.”  She slapped him.  “Be gentle, Cersei, I’m only jesting with you. If truth be told, I’d sooner have a nice whore. I never understood what Jaime saw in you, apart from his own reflection.”  She slapped him.  His cheeks were red and burning, yet he smiled. “If you keep doing that, I may get angry.”  That stayed her hand. “Why should I care if you do?”  “I have some new friends,” Tyrion confessed. “You won’t like them at all. How did you kill Robert?”  “He did that himself. All we did was help. When Lancel saw that Robert was going after boar, he gave him strong wine. His favorite sour red, but fortified, three times as potent as he was used to. The great stinking fool loved it. He could have stopped swilling it down anytime he cared to, but no, he drained one skin and told Lancel to fetch another. The boar did the rest. You should have been at the feast, Tyrion. There has never been a boar so delicious. They cooked it with mushrooms and apples, and it tasted like triumph.”  “Truly, sister, you were born to be a widow.” Tyrion had rather liked Robert Baratheon, great blustering oaf that he was... doubtless in part because his sister loathed him so. “Now, if you are done slapping me, I will be off.” He twisted his legs around and clambered down awkwardly from the chair.  Cersei frowned. “I haven’t given you leave to depart. I want to know how you intend to free Jaime.”  “I’ll tell you when I know. Schemes are like fruit, they require a certain ripening. Right now, I have a mind to ride through the streets and take the measure of this city.” Tyrion rested his hand on the head of the sphinx beside the door. “One parting request. Kindly make certain no harm comes to Sansa Stark. it would not do to lose both the daughters.”  Outside the council chamber, Tyrion nodded to Ser Mandon and............