299 AC, Casterly Rock, a month later
Loren held no special love for his uncles. Tyrion was a lecher and might as well have been born in a brothel, Stannis was so obsessed with honor he took off the fingers of the man who saved his life, and Renly was a sword-swallower who had too great of an affection for flowers. But, they all had least some trait that made them valuable pieces in the Game of Thrones. Renly was charismatic and had control of the Stormlands and the ear of the Reach, Stannis was one of the greatest naval commanders in Westeros and a loyal albeit forced power base, and Tywin was forced to keep Tyrion around for his genius insight and knowledge. But Loren could not say any of these things for Jaime Lannister. Loren had overheard more than one conversation between Tywin and Kevan which usually consisted of both of them berating an unseeable Kingslayer for his stupidity and ignorance and how his usefulness only extended as far as his sword arm.
And now news of his uncle's ambush of Lord Stark in the streets of King's Landing only sent his opinion of the Golden Lion plummeting. What made it far worse is that the pompous fool had the gall to ride through the gates of Casterly Rock like a conquering hero, as if his actions were meant to be rewarded! Such short-sighted delusions of grandeur were brought crashing down by a swift blow from the Old Lion. Lord Tywin had called another war council, unprecedented to his vassal lords, but expected to Loren who had become intimately acquainted with the logic behind his grandfather's actions.
"Our tactics must be adapted due to recent changes in our enemy's plans." Or in other words, due to my idiot son's actions, my former plans have gone to the fires. "We have 60,000 men assembled outside this tent while the Riverlords still scramble to raise their own, this has gone as we expected." Tywin placed six Lions on the site of Casterly Rock while one trout was placed on Golden Tooth's border and another at Riverrun. "But to Lord Eddard's incapacitation due to events in King's Landing, he will not ride with his force to capture Ser Gregor and has instead named Lord Beric Dondarrion to this task." A lightning bolt piece was placed at the God's Eye.
"As such, we will not be able to end this conflict in one swift stroke. Our best hope now is to capitulate the Riverlords in the following weeks by capturing Riverrun and force Lady Catelyn's hand."
"Jaime," drawing the attention of his golden son. You will take half of my forces, 30,000 and march towards Riverrun through the Golden Tooth, take all castles that come in your way and smash any forces arrayed against you. But, do not spend too long on these distractions, the real prize is Riverrun." Tywin said, nudging three lions through the Golden Tooth and onto the River Road, leading to Riverrun. The golden son only nodded his head as was his duty, for his mind could only see what his father told him to see and as long as he could swing his sword he would be content. "Loren you will be his second." The Old Lion commented off handedly, his tone brokering no disagreement and Loren could only grimly nod his assent and glare at his uncle. who only smirked at him.
"I will command the second half of my host, with Kevan as second," The younger and fatter brother only nodded, "We will pass through Deep Den onto the Gold Road. We will take control of the Southern Riverlands and Harrenhal, suppressing any chance of reinforcements or retaliation from Lord Stark. This war will be over by Summer's end and Lion will once again stand above all." The assembled nodded their agreement, understanding they would follow Tywin no matter how they felt, for none of the men assembled wanted to be on the wrong side of the Bringer of Rains.
XXXXXX Outside the Golden Tooth, 1 Week Later XXXXXXXX
"Fuck you uncle," growled Loren at his uncle adorned in resplendent golden armor, white teeth flashing and a boisterous erupting from his throat, oh how Loren wanted to put the golden fool in his place, but alas, he had his duty to attend to.
" So you did fuck her!" The Kingslayer crowed in celebration at his genius discovery, Loren's face only heated further, partly from his uncle's absurd and blaring accusations that could be heard all the way to the back of the army's line, and partly from the amused looks and snickers he heard from both the lords and men-at-arms who rode behind them. Did his uncle not understand that this would only make the lords doubt his ability to command as a second more in jeopardy, or was that his objective? Loren swiftly shook the idle thought away, his uncle could not even plan a raid on Casterly Rock's kitchens.
"I did not fuck her damn it!" Oh, how Loren despised how his uncle had the unique ability to rile him so, something that not even Tyrion could boast of, but not due to lack of trying. "We are about to go into battle and you can only think about who I've fucked!" It was partly the reason why Loren did not want to broach the subject at this instance, but the far more dominant reason was that the lady in question, Alysanne Lefford, father flanked Loren's right and was currently listening intently to the uncle and nephew's conversation, his grey whiskers twitching in rising ire, and Loren had no desire to think of the old lord of the Golden Tooth's rage and the consequences that Lord Tywin would deal when he learnt that his heir had defiled the daughter of one his principal vassals the same day they had met. Loren had not soon forgotten the house arrest he had been put under after his stunt with a kitchen wench in Lannisport. But, the conversation brought memories of the night before rushing to the forefront of his mind, unwanted at the moment but overwhelmingly pleasurable, of the bewitching heir to the Golden Tooth, the feel of her silk-like hair grasped in his hand, the scorching heat of her body against his, the sweet and sensual moans that escaped her pink pouty lips and the feeling of her tight heat around his co- "Ah,what the fuck was that for?" demanded Loren of his uncle who had taken the initiative of slapping his nephew over the back of the head, not painfully but enough to startle him that he had to grasp tightly to the reins of his horse last fall.
"I know that look," Jaime grinned mischievously. "When we're done wiping up these Rivermen you're going to tell me exactly how my nephew got in bed with one of the most desired women in the Westerlands." He kicked his legs into his horse's flanks cantering through and inspecting the assembled forces that made up the vanguard, leaving Loren alone with the other vassal lords. Seeing Lord Leo turn to speak to him, Loren quickly sped off after his uncle neither having the time or they want to deal with the fallout of his actions yesterday.
The vast majority of the army would stay in the reserve, something that Loren and Jaime both agreed on, considering there were only 5,000 men arrayed against them, less than 1,000 of those professionally trained, with the vast majority scoured up by Lords Vance and Piper in their rush to guard the border of the Riverlands. Jaime, as the acting commander had decided to utilize 10,000 of the 18,000 foot that accompanied them, 5,000 of the 8,000 archers, and 1,000 of the 3,000 horse. Loren would have preferred far less cavalry and more archers, for horses were precious, but any man could be given a sword, but his argument was weak anyway, for there would be minimal casualties for them no matter the composition of their armies.
From his vantage point, Loren could make out the Rivermen army below them. Lords Carlon Vance and Clement Piper had assembled their force in a defensive position upon one of the many low-lying hills that stood on the lands outside of the Golden Tooth, their peasant footmen forming a wall on the front of the hill, and Lords Vance and Piper behind them with their veteran knights and retainers,
Ser Addam Marbrand took the left flank, Loren took the right while Jaime led the center along with the rest of the vassal lords who rode with them. The Lannister army came to a stop 50 yards from the entrenched Rivermen army, close enough that Loren could spot the wavering of spear tips, and hear the prayers through leather and steel helmets alike. 'The Seven can't help you now,' Loren thought. 'Only the gods of war and death can save you now.' Loren raised his arm in tandem with Ser Marbrand and his uncle as the trumpet blared from behind. A host of archers stepped through the ranks across the whole army and knocked their arrows, drawing back their powerful longbows. "Loose!" Jaime cried and at his call, the storm of arrows was released into the sky. Loren had never seen war before, of course he had been exposed to comings and goings of conflict and as the son of the Demon of the Trident and the grandson of the Old Lion, he thought he would be prepared for what he would see in his campaign. But, no prestigious lineage or maester's teaching could have prepared him for the sound of steel tearing through hardened leather, chainmail, and caste-forged steel alike, and the groans and screams of agony the reverberated through the fields that were now soaked with blood. Loren turned to his men, secretly hoping his revulsion and horror were not unique to him, but he was disappointed, only grim acceptance existed on their faces. Loren hardened his features and turned back to the unfolding slaughter, as the peasant shieldwall began to fall apart piecemeal from the storm of arrows.
For what seemed like an eternity, Loren thought this would be the end of the battle until he saw movement in the banners of the Riverlords and the blaring of a horn on the other side of the field. The shield wall upon the hills dissolved and from it, the lords Vance and Piper charged forward with their retinues, their peasant levies following behind, a suicide move but the only move they could have made in their situation. The Lannister longbowmen turned their attention towards the onrushing tide, releasing a final stream of arrows before retreating behind the safety of the footmen who stepped forward forming a shield wall themselves. It proved to be unnecessary as the barrage of arrows took down the vast majority of the rabble that came towards them with knights, footmen, and peasant levies falling at will. The remaining Rivermen crashed into the Lannister line, their momentum halted and many of the riders were thrown from their horses where they were quickly dealt with by the footmen behind the line. A horn sounded from their own lines, three times, the signal to attack. The horse and footmen that stood behind the spear wall wheeled around, slamming into the already demoralized Rivermen's flanks.
The first man that Loren met was some man on foot in chainmail, his face hidden behind a steel helm, and with a quick stroke of Loren's blade, the man joined the pile of bodies that decorated the ground. Loren felled many more men that day, many of the peasant levies, one or two were mounted hedge knights, and the most significant was Lord Vance himself who took a sword slash that cut through his chest plate and then another that cut his spine, paralyzing him. Loren only learned after the battle that Lord Vance fell face first into the ground and unable to move, suffocated.
Loren threw off his helm, letting the cool breeze soothe his face. The battle was won and it was simply time to clean up the remaining Rivermen, it was total victory, but it was only the first in the inevitably many that he would fight in. That night, Loren did not take part in the celebrations. As the men drank their asses off around the fires and the camp followers worked all night, Loren took comfort in his tent, hoping that the Seven would grant him peace this night, but the Seven were not merciful, and they did not.
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