The Vengeful Lion of House Lannister

Tywin Lannister POV

It had already been a moon since Prince Jaehaerys and his family had arrived at King's Landing as well as the week after Lord Ormund Baratheon and his family arrived. The Capital despite the cold, was slowly beginning to fill with people, as well as King Aegon V's court. King Aegon's time was constantly in demand and I was expected to be present during the times he held court to welcome nobles as well as deal with their disputes together with the disputes of the small folk.

Many would take this opportunity to come to the capital as this was one of the few times during the winter years. Many including minor nobles didn't have the means during the winter to travel to King's Landing. Bandits, weather and just not having resources for the journey were the most common reasons that most refrained from traveling during the winter.

The Tourney of the King was an exception, for the nobles, it brought opportunities to the political astute to secure matches for their children who came of age, business opportunities and for glory during the tourney itself, young knights and squires would distinguish themselves.

 Today had been one of the days where my schedule had been free as The King was busy planning a banquet to welcome the Lords of the Westerlands who would arrive within the next couple of days. Tytos, true to form had allowed almost every noble in the Westerland to accompany him in his retinue and when he should have been here more than a week ago, had only now entered the Crown Lands.

He had allowed a bunch of leeches to tag along, each night they had drunk and feasted and made merry at the expense of House Lannister which caused the distance traveled each day to be cut down. I had almost popped a blood vessel when I heard this and if it wasn't for King Aegon, I would have taken the men I had available and ridden out.

Instead, Prince Ducan had graciously accepted the role as the diplomatic envoy and went to meet them. They wouldn't dare delay any further if a Targaryen Prince was present and proclaimed that the King eagerly awaited them and would hold a feast in their honor. 

King Aegon himself had just been relieved that their journey had been free of incident and wanted to keep it that way. It was also the least he would do for me, as he was also increasing my list of jobs that he had me doing for him. Along with cup-bearer, Lord Confessor and now, royal babysitter.

For the last moon, both Aerys Targaryen and Steffon Baratheon were my new shadows, both their father seemed to have favorable impressions of me thanks to the King and now thanks to their sons. King Aegon had justified me doing this favor to him as I was close to them in age and it would serve us well to form bonds with them for the future.

He didn't need to oversell it to me as I would never pass up such an opportunity. The only restriction I had was to not expose them to my activities as they pertained to the Lord Confessor. As such, most of our time spent together was at court, touring the city and training.

Gerald had left a favorable impression as well; however, he had been called away together with Prince Duncan. Robar, Ilyn and myself, accompanied by Aerys and Steffon were now in the training yard practicing for the upcoming tourney.

We were taking turns in the yard as many others were also doing the same. I would have preferred if we had done this back at my manse but Ser Wyl Cobray, the King's Guard who had been assigned together with 4 House Targaryen guards had completely turned that I idea down. The man was old and cautious and preferred to do nothing that would result in too much risk.

So instead, we were at the Red Keep training, I was now facing both Aerys and Steffon. They were actually pretty good for their ages; Aerys was 9 and Steffon just shy of 8. Both however had been training since around the age of five so they were well acquainted with their swords.

What they didn't know was that under my helm I hadn't even had my eyes open the entire time. After a few weeks of watching them spar, I was working on a new combination of skills, 'Memory Recall, Spatial Awareness and Observation, combined with Warrior's Luck'. I was able to replay in detail all of their limited move pool and hear them moving around while spacial awareness helped me know my location at all times.

I was using sword and shield, so I was mostly blocking their move and the only time I actually struck was to finish the round. I was also utilizing 'Sword and Sheild Proficiency paired with Deception and Striking', this further added to my unpredictability.

I was using them the whole time to train my skills. If I used this against Ilyn on Robar, they would have quickly overwhelmed me but instead, Aerys and Steffon were fighting with all they had which made it all the better for leveling my skills, one wrong move and they could injure me. They had gotten lucky with unsharpened training swords a couple of times.

However, for the past couple of days I had grown to the point that unless they stepped up their game, they wouldn't even pose a threat. Both had improved as well but slowly. They also lacked stamina as they were already winded after around 15 minutes straight.

"COME ON YOU TWO, I'VE SEEN LIVELIER SLUGS CRAWLING IN THE GUTTERS." In typical fashion, Ilyn heckled as he and Robar watched from the side to my ire. I had warned him but he was clearly not taking heed. Something I would have to deal with myself. Maybe book Aerys had the right of it when he had Ilyn's tongue pulled out with hot pincers.

Just as I was about to call Ilyn up to face me, one of the onlookers chose this moment to make himself known. "YOU, HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL FAMILY LIKE THAT." The young man shouted and came marching up to us. He clearly was unaware of who we were, all of us excluding Aerys wore training gear, Aerys wore the unmistakable colours of his house.

As I turned to inspect the interloper, I instantly understood what was going on. The young man had pale blonde almost platinum hair and deep plumb-coloured eyes, I also observed that he was wearing the colours of House Velaryon. 

House Velaryon was a house in decline during this period since King Maekar's reign. They had been passed over for House Redwyne instead for Master of Ships due to a succession crisis as well as compensation for the broken marriage pact between Prince Daeron and Olenna Redwyne; the future 'Queen of Thornes.

As the main bloodline had ended and passed on to a cousin, the current Lord of House Velaryon was around 20 name days. From the looks of it, this was probably him. He was blatantly seeking to ingratiate himself with Aerys. It was only a matter of how he chose to do it, he obviously wasn't aware of the politics at play in the court or what my identity was. I wasn't able to say how long he had been in the training yard, as my eyes had been closed. 

As he approached Ser Wyl stepped forward and blocked his way. "That's far enough." He said in a commanding tone as the man was marching up.

"So even a member of the King's Guard would allow a Royal to be abused." He said with indignation causing the old knight to become annoyed. In truth, he had warned me of Ilyn's behaviour before and Ilyn had toned down for the most part. He had just chosen this moment to lapse.

"That's not your concern, what is your concern is how you approached. Don't take another step forward with a sword on your hip" Ser Wyl replied with his hand on his hilt and the guards following suit. The young man took a step back and gulped deep, but it wasn't in fear but more of indignation as his breathing was heavy and his fists were balled.

"I will have words with Prince Jaehaerys later for this, and you, what is your name?" The man now fuming demanded threateningly as he pointed at Ilyn.

"Ser Ilyn of House Payne." I answered before Ilyn could retort; he wasn't stupid but he was reckless. The last thing I needed was for him to let this situation get out of control. Ilyn realized that he had made a mistake if I spoke up before he could.

"Who are you to speak to me, are you, his squire?" He demanded now looking at me. I could understand his leap in logic as Ilyn wasn't even 20. Worst, was if he even recognized the name of House Payne as they were barely known outside of the Westerlands.

"Does it matter, you will report this to Prince Jaehaerys, please be on your way Ser." I responded sternly not allowing for it to be dragged out.

"That is Lord Aethan Velaryon to you." The commotion had attracted the attention of all those present in the Yard and a burly knight also from House Velaryon came up beside his Lord.

"My Lord, do you wish for me to give them some pointers?" The newcomer asked and I could see the expression on Lord Velaryon's face subtly changed. I already knew what he was about to say before he said it.

"That is an excellent suggestion, Ser Payne, you who presume to chastise the prince's son so harshly, let me see what you are made of and if you can stand up to me instead." He said loudly while trying to get the onlookers on his side. Unfortunately for him most of the knights and the few nobles present knew exactly who I was.

"That is quite alright Lord Velaryon. You have already made your displeasure clear. If you truly want to exchange blows, wait a moon until the tourney, Ser Ilyn will be participating. Until then, fare well my lord." I said dismissively.

This had taken him aback as he wasn't expecting to be dismissed and as I turned, I could see Ilyn licking his lips and raising his eyebrows suggestively at the man. I would definitely have to have words with him. The only reason I had brought him was to pair up and train with Robar for the benefit of both of them in the upcoming tourney but now I was regretting it as Ilyn loved to attract trouble.

"Aerys, Steffon, I think that was enough for today. Let's head back" Both boys had been standing there the whole time stunned not quite sure how to react, they were still children after all. Aerys quickly came to his senses and ran after me as I had turned and was walking away, Steffon quickly followed, Ilyn and Robar followed alongside me.

As we left the Ser Wyl and the guards fell in step and left the training yard. I had glanced back and caught the look of utter confusion on Lord Aethan Velaryon.

As we walked Aerys sped up and Steffon followed to walk alongside me so I slowed my pace some.

"Why didn't you let Ser Ilyn fight him?" Aerys asked disappointedly. "I'm sure he could have won, Ilyn is strong."

"He probably could have but why risk it, we have nothing to gain from doing so. House Velaryon is a House that has declined over the last couple of generations. Aethan Velaryon seeks to make a name for himself, his father was a ship captain and the cousin of the last Lord of Driftmark.

After failing to produce any heirs and his brother was lost at sea, when the last Lord of the House died, his title should have passed to Aethan's father, but he was sick and wasn't expected to recover. The title passed directly to him as he was next in line. That was less than a year ago.

He is seeking to make a name at Ilyn's expense. Even if Ilyn does win, what does he gain? If he injures him, it will reflect poorly on Ilyn. The King will be notified and will have to seek justice if a landless knight was to injure the Lord of House Velaryon. Who does that reflect poorly on if that happens?"

Aerys quickly caught on and his eyes widened as he looked at me. "I would have to take responsibility, because Ilyn is my sworn sword, his actions reflect on me. He was wrong to begin with, and I will be dealing with him. In future, let this be a lesson, you may not give an order to your men, but their actions reflect upon you as their leader. I have failed to discipline one of my own, something I will correct."

This was not just a lesson for Aerys but for Steffon and the benefit of my witness Ser Wyl Cobray when he will be asked to report on what transpired. I had long since made plans to deal with the future Mad King before he becomes a problem, but that didn't mean to say that I wouldn't play the part of a stern older brother figure.

Also, the irony wasn't lost on me, in the books, when The Mountain and Amory Lorch had raped Elia Martell and murdered her and her children, OG Tywin had given the Martells the excuse that he had never given the order.

 With that, my baleful glare fell on Ilyn as we walked and it was at that time he knew, he had fucked up. Ilyn would have his chance during the tourney to pay back Aethan Velaryon for the punishment he was about to receive.