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Lannister : Chapter 13: Reunion at the Lion Gate
🕑 Added 2025-03-24 14:17:56 +0000 UTC
( Tywin Lannister POV )
The Lord of Casterly Rock was not in an especially good mood when he returned to his home. Oh, it was still a good feeling to be under the shadow of the Rock once again, but things had not been going well for some time now. Aerys' court was taking increasing advantage of the King's habit of mocking him, and far lesser men used insults toward House Lannister as a means to advance their status in court.
Tywin kept a book of all their commentary handy, marking off each debt that would have to be repaid in time. Still, it irked him. He had many allies in the court to be sure, Pycelle, wily as the Grand Master was, had fallen firmly into his confidences as of late. The old man was more idealistic than he let on, wanting better leadership in the Seven Kingdoms.
Aerys was proving and increasingly unstable king, so he had turned to Tywin with his suggestions, and Tywin had found most of them sensible. In turn, Pycelle acted as a subtle voice that Aerys did not fear as much as Tywin, but pushing for Tywin's ends. A favor for a favor, it was the basis of all good relationships.
Of course, King's Landing was still grinding him down, like a stone wheel sharpening a steel sword, and then when he rushed home to meet the Dornish party, having heard of them in a Raven from Lord Crakehall, he had been stopped dead by an early spring snowstorm on the Gold Road.
When the snow melted back, part of the dirt road had collapsed in a landslide caused by snowmelt, and Tywin had been forced to stay in Deep Den for a week, though he took some mild enjoyment in overseeing the work teams himself. The Lydden men were competent enough and reasonably dutiful to their task, which saw Tywin pay them each a silver stag as a reasonable reward for their dedicated service. He would figure out a way to reward Lord Lewys later. Perhaps a marriage to one of the Lannisport Lannisters for his son would be appropriate.
At any rate, once the delays had been addressed, he had finally arrived home at the Rock to find no Joanna waiting for him at the gate for the first time since… Tywin shook his head, such thoughts did little but sour his mood. Kevan was still there, dutiful as always, and his children. Cersei, Jaime, and Callum… all of his children except the infant beast that had killed his wife.
"Hail." Tywin waved to Kevan, riding forward and dismounting from his horse before the gathered party. His eyes scrutinized his brother. Kevan was relaxed, which was good, it almost certainly meant that things were going well with the Dornish group. Kevan had a small nervous twitch that would start in his left hand if he was about to tell Tywin some bad news. No such signs were present here.
"Hail Lord Tywin." Kevan greeted him. "I return your castle to you." He made the standard gesture, placing his palm over Tywin's as if passing him a physical key.
Tywin gave his brother a small nod of thanks, which made the man smile, while he turned his attention to his children in turn. First his heir.
"Jaime, how have your lessons been going?" He asked, turning to his elder son, which made the boy's eyes light up.
"I'm doing very well!" Jaime grinned, "Uncle Gerion says I've got a talent with the sword and at riding, and Prince Oberyn seems to think much the same." He preened, and Tywin smiled. He placed his hand in the boy's curly blond hair and ruffled it gently.
"Very good, martial skill does well for a lord." Tywin felt a bit of pride in his son. He had never been a particularly apt knight himself after all. Still "see that you don't forget your other lessons though." He felt pressed to remind the boy. Jaime's preening fell off somewhat at that, but he still nodded in acceptance.
"Yes, father."
"Good." Tywin smiled, turning his gaze to his daughter. "And you Cersei?"
"I've been doing well father!" Cersei smiled brightly, "I've memorized all the houses in the Westerlands, Lordly, and Knightly, and moved on to the Riverlands… I… well I do hope I'll be allowed to take more lessons about lordship and such, like the ones Jaime is taking. I ought to be able to assist my future Lord Husband properly."
Tywin looked down at her for a moment, considering her request. On the one hand, Cersei had always been a bit too focused on boyish pursuits for his liking, but on the other, her mother had done much as she was suggesting now. Tywin nodded. "I suppose that's fair enough, I'll see to it you receive a deeper political education."
The girl smiled at that, and Tywin was struck by just how identical the expression was to Jaime's. Truly they were twins. He decided it was probably appropriate to ruffle her hair as well, even as his gaze turned to his third child.
Callum stared back up at him with eyes of green and a soft smile. "I'm glad you're home father." The boy took the initiative, as he was wont to do. "Did my letter reach you in Deep Den?"
Tywin nodded. "Yes, it did." He gave the boy a small smile. His second son seemed to look more like Joanna every time he saw him, though Tywin thought that was probably just a trick of the mind. Since his wife had died Callum had been writing him letters every ten days or so. While they were no substitute for the loving words of his wife smelling of her perfume, Tywin found he appreciated them nonetheless. They were a frequent reminder that far away from King's Landing there was still a family that greatly cared for him. "How have you been Callum?"
"Well-enough. Prince Oberyn has been spending an inordinate amount of time visiting my study, so I haven't been getting as much writing done as I wanted." The boy smiled. "I think he just likes the view, but he's not bad company."
"Oh, so that's where he's been getting off to!" Jaime blurted out, and Tywin raised an eyebrow as he continued. "Uncle Gerion was wondering- for the first few days he was practicing in the yard with us. He's very good."
"Hmph" Callum smiled. "He's clever, I think he's learned more of my devices than he's let on. I'm almost glad some are unfinished, but I wouldn't be surprised if he copies my press in a few years."
"You don't seem concerned by that," Tywin commented, his gaze moving back from Jaime to his second son. "I know you've got great hopes for that device." It was very hard to imagine the machines his son described just from his letters, but Tywin could tell the boy intended to make something of himself with them, given time. He would have to clamber up to the boy's study himself at some point and see what the fuss was about.
"Meh, the one on my desk is an old p- an early version. I've been working on a design for a better one, one that uses metal letters instead of wood."
Tywin nodded. While he didn't entirely share his son's high hopes for the device's implementation, he could appreciate the value of a large reusable stamp. It would help with things like edicts at least, that needed to be sent out to many lords at once. Once Callum had a finished device he would take one to King's Landing.
Since he'd already ruffled Jaime and Cersei's hair, he reached down and ruffled Callum's too. Though the boy never preened the same way as his siblings, instead he seemed to always be thinking about the next project.
Tywin was no fool, he could see that his son had understood the game of thrones at a preposterously early age, that he was working out every possible means to make himself useful, to make his realm stronger. Jaime and Cersei were normal children, as normal as any other Lannister, but Callum was focused and determined far beyond his years. Tywin could see it in his letters, he had seen it when he was young too. Of his three unblemished children, Callum's mind was closest to his own.
Part of him worried that Callum's intelligence would be a threat to Jaime's rule someday. Already he was seeking to alter the political order of the Westerlands, before even his tenth year. Tywin could not entirely silence those worries within his heart, even as he felt pride in both of his sons. He wished he could be home at the Rock more often, see how they interacted, how much they loved each other. He did not want his legacy to be a civil war that ruined the Westerlands.
Still, as he looked at the two, smiling and chatting as their sister tugged them along deeper into the Rock, he had a hard time imagining it. Perhaps little Cersei could be a peacekeeper between her brothers as Genna was for him?
Actually, that wasn't a half-bad idea. He'd have to speak to Genna about that later. See if she could bring the girl around on it in the long term.
Regardless, for now, they had go speak to the Dorneish party, and Tywin would have to hear out what they were really here for.
