Chapter 26
TYWIN LANNISTER
Tywin had long rued the stupidity of his children. It was a tragedy that he had found himself both preceded and succeeded by morons who failed to see the importance of legacy and family.
He had dragged House Lannister out of the pits of disgrace and decadence single-handedly, and had hoped that his children would build on that legacy. His father had brought their House to ruin, making them a joke within their own kingdom, and it had taken him years to remove those shackles, and now decades later, none would dare insult the Lannister name.
But his children remained hell-bent on reviving his father's legacy, and had now put everything he had built into jeopardy.
"He has Steffon," Tywin raged, as he paced in his solar while the most reviling of his children sat there quietly.
"It could be a lie," the little monster tried to counter, but Tywin knew that he was no fool.
"He has my grandson," and Robert's death had come as a surprise, and the man had been hale and hearty one second, and the next second, his head had been split open by a rock.
It was a death unworthy of a King, and it could not have come at a worse time. The realm was still reeling from the death of its former Hand and the thievery of his former Master of Coin, and now his death had plunged the realm into a succession crisis out of nowhere.
He had spent years plotting to have his blood sit the Iron Throne, to take what Aerys had denied him for years out of sheer spite and jealousy. They had been friends, but the Mad King had let his tongue run loose one too many times, and so when the time had come, he had switched his allegiances, and so Cersei had wed Robert, and he had thought revenge had been had.
One day soon, his own blood would sit on the Iron Throne, and his legacy would be cemented, and yet all his plans and work now lay on the brink of ruin because of the stupidity of his children.
"What the hell were you thinking, Tyrion?" he raged as he turned towards his youngest child.
"Inciting treason against your own nephew, turning one brother against another," and he had expected better out of his grandson, but perhaps he had been wrong. Perhaps he was no different than his idiot children, and how could he be when their blood ran through his veins?
"It was no rebellion," the little monster countered, and Tywin reached for Cersei's letter and threw it in his face.
"Then what do you call this!" and he had never been so enraged in his life, and Cersei was not free of fault either. No.
"Lies," the little monster countered.
"You would believe the words of a traitor over my own," and he scoffed.
"You may think yourself smart, but I am not blind to your machinations," and Tywin had caught his plot.
"Joffrey tried to kill Steffon and me. He tried to kill us both, and you blame me for this," Tyrion countered, and it was Cersei's duty to keep an eye on her eldest, and she had failed in that.
The boy had tried to kill his own brother, all because of the words of a traitor. His mistake was grave, and he intended to straighten the boy himself, but that did not lessen Tyrion's fault.
"You tried to usurp him," and he looked into those mismatched eyes, and he could not deny the accusations.
"Maybe," and finally he spoke the truth.
"But only because I saw him for what he is. A monster. Joffrey, for all the love I bear him, is ill-suited for power, and the Iron Throne comes with great power," he countered, and Tywin wanted to fault his words, and yet they were true.
"You could have tried to rein him in, yet you chose to usurp him using his own brother," and now he was being honest.
"We had no intention of harming him. We had only hoped to secure our futures and prove Steffon's competence so that Robert would be compelled to make the change himself," and yet Robert had died, and war had come.
"He tried to kill Steffon," he retorted as he looked him in the eye.
"Not once but twice. He cut off Tommen's air. He killed a whore just because Steffon slept with it," and that was all troubling indeed, and yet it did not lessen his crime at all.
"We had no intentions of inciting a conflict, but the second he had an opportunity, Joffrey tried to murder us," and whatever the crimes, they had created a mess, and now Tywin had to clean it.
"You should have brought him here," Tywin countered.
"I tried, but Steffon had already made up his mind. He had no intentions of bowing his head to Joffrey, and so he left for Braavos," and now Tyrion hung his head low.
"I just never thought that Stannis would capture him for his own gain," and that was their fault, for they had refused to think. None of them had.
"I just never thought that he had such ambitions in him," and few men were without ambition, but Stannis's actions had surprised them all.
"He has made some grave accusations in his missive," Tyrion whispered as he slid Stannis's proclamation into his hands, and Tywin had already read it many a time, and as it loathed him to admit the fact that a part of him knew that they were true.
For years the capital had been rife with rumors about the uncanny closeness of Cersei and Jaime. Tywin had thought nothing of them all these years, believing them to be whispers initiated by their enemies to muddy the Lannister name.
Yet it was not the first time such rumors had come up, and years ago the same whispers had filled these Halls for a brief moment. But they were simply too preposterous for him to believe, but not anymore.
He had wondered what had prompted Cersei to send away her child in the manner that she had with Steffon, and now he believed that he had his answer.
"Lies," Tywin countered, even though he knew that they were the truth in his heart. Yet he would never admit them.
"Of course," Tyrion added, as he eyed him with a raised brow.
"They are nothing but frivolous accusations made by a traitor to further his own gain. There is not a kernel of truth to them, and we will not deign them with a response," for addressing them would only invite more troubles, but that did not lessen their problems in any way.
One could say that Renly Baratheon's claim had favored them, for it had divided the Stormland Houses into choosing between the two brothers, and hence had given them time to gather their strength.
"We will need to save Steffon," and they could not fight this war while such a liability was in Stannis's hands, and so they needed to rescue the boy somehow.
He had acted stupidly and had let his hatred for his brother cloud his judgment, but Tywin would not let his future heir be harmed.
"That we agree on," Tyrion added, and the glare from him was enough to shut him up.
"But Renly marches towards the capital as we speak, and Stannis has enforced a blockade of the city shores," and dealing with one was troublesome enough, and yet he had to deal with both of them, along with his children's stupidity.
"Robert's death has done us no favors, but at least the man was wise enough to give us allies before he met his end," and for all his faults, Robert was not a complete idiot. He simply did not care to put in an effort, but he just might have saved them all by bringing Eddard Stark to the South.
"You speak of the Starks," Tyrion guessed, and he nodded.
"Indeed," for with the Starks came the Tullys, and the Riverlands would prove instrumental in this war.
"Robert made Stark reagent, and had him betroth his daughter to Joffrey. That will help us keep Renly at bay," for with the Riverlands at his back, and the crownland houses at the front, Renly would not be able to march forward with sheer impudence.
He would have to be cautious, and that would buy him the time to deal with Stannis and his ilk.
"You speak as if Cersei has not alienated the Starks already," and he rued their stupidity.
"She would cease that now," and he would make sure of that himself.
"Joffrey is old enough that any reagency would be a very short one. The Starks are the only allies we have right now. I will not have her lose them either," and right now the capital was in complete disarray, and the Council had been torn apart through sheer stupidity.
"It would be best to have Joffrey and Sansa Stark wedded and bedded as soon as possible to cement the Starks by our side," and that was the only way.
"Stark will never agree," Tyrion countered.
"He will if he wishes to survive," Tywin countered angrily.
"For otherwise he would be declared a traitor," and once the wedding was done, they would have the Starks and the Tullys on their side for years.
"Cersei will never agree to this," Tyrion countered, and Tywin scoffed.
"Cersei will do what is best for the realm," and his patience had run thin now, and he was tired of her stupidity.
She thought herself smart, and yet she lacked the intelligence to see the troubles her actions had caused. If only she had raised her children well, they would not be in this situation in the first place.
"We will need to restore the Council and have Stark lead it as the Hand," and now the little monster sat straighter.
"You would have me go back?" and he had no love for him, and would not have shed any tears had the boy King succeeded in killing him.
"No, you have caused enough damage, as it is," but they would need to have loyal men on the Council. Men who would be able to control Cersei's disastrous tendencies while keeping the Stark influence at bay.
"I intend on sending Genna and Kevan to the capital. I can make up a reason for your hasty return, but remember this Tyrion," he warned as he gave him a harsh look.
"You will not make a mention of the assassination attempt on you and Steffon ever again," and those eyes widened.
"What? Why?"
"You need not know why," Tywin warned, and war was upon them, and he could not have his House divided.
"He tried to kill Steffon and me, and you intend to do nothing," and what could he even do now?
"The boy will have his due, but until this war is settled, I will not have the Lannister name muddied anymore than it already is," and if it ever came out that Joffrey had tried to kill his own brother, then they would lose this ear before any battles were fought for no lord would ever support a King who would commit a crime such as kinslaying.
"I know you don't care for me, but I was under the impression that you cared for your grandson," Tyrion teased with a chuckle.
"But I realise now that I was wrong," and he was now.
"You care for nothing except your legacy," and Tywin scoffed.
"I care for the Lannister name," Tywin warned, as he leaned forward.
"It does not seem like it," the little disgrace had the audacity to challenge.
"I do, otherwise you would not be sitting there right now," and he stilled at his words.
"You are a disgrace to me, and my name, and yet I let you live only because you are a Lannister, but know this, Tyrion," and he may have tried to hide it, but Tywin knew of his real intentions behind usurping Joffrey.
There was no doubt in his mind now that the boy was not suited to be a King, yet why would that matter to him? It shouldn't except for one reason.
"Your existence is a mockery to my legacy, and while you may think of yourself as the rightful heir to this castle, you will never become the lord of Casterly Rock," and now he had said it, and there will be no need for secrets anymore.
"Steffon will be my heir," he declared, and he should have done this earlier, then perhaps the situation would not have become what it had.
"I am your son," he countered, and Tywin scoffed.
"You are a disgrace. You should be happy that I let you breathe even after all that you have done," but he would never let him inherit the throne.
"I intend on making the announcement the second Steffon is back," and he had no way of stopping him.
"And what if he never comes back?" he asked.
"Then I would much rather see this House burn down than let it fall into your hands..."
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