5th Month of 298 A.C. Winterfell
Prince Tommen Baratheon
The day had dawned bright and fresh and he had woken up happy and clear headed. The fog of alcohol did not clog his mind and he was not filled with anger at the thought of the day. No instead he looked forward to greeting the day like any other, though this one would be special. This would be the day he finally got a chance to prove to everyone what a lying little shit his brother was, his brother, the mere thought of the little shit made him angry, the things he had made Jon swear had been enough for Tommen to want to go there and then and rip his heart out. The only thing that had stopped him from doing so was the fact that Jon had looked so distraught and hurt that doing something like that might have only made him feel worse. And though Tommen had been quite sincere when he had told Jon that they were friends, his friend still seemed so unsure around him as if he feared being dismissed at a moment's notice. And that angered Tommen.
Right now he was in his room meeting with Jon, Robb, his uncle Gerion and Tyrek with Ser Arys acting as a guard watching the door. They were meeting to discuss Joffrey and the various things he had been planning. Jon was the one speaking at present. "The way he speaks makes it seem as if he truly has fought with live steel before and that he truly has beaten Ser Loras Tyrell that does make me wonder whether he is good or if that was just another lie."
"Another lie, mother would have mentioned it in her letters had Joffrey beaten the knight of flowers. That he even claims to use live steel is another lie, mother would have mentioned that as well. He has been living a lie for so long now I do not think he knows the truth from the lie anymore." Tommen responds.
"And that is a good thing, as it means that none of his little minions would have had the guts to tell him the truth about his skill, either that or they do not risk fighting at their full potential against him." Uncle Gerion says.
"Aye that is true, very true." Tommen replies. "Did you manage to go back to fix the armour Jon?"
His friend nods. "Yes my prince I did. I went back last night when most of the castle was asleep and did so."
"And what does Joffrey think you are doing at the moment? Does he know that you are here?" Tommen asks.
His friend is silent, and then he says. "I told him that I had some last minute things that needed to be done for the family. That is where he thinks I am. Truthfully I was somewhat hoping I would not need to go back to him, after all that has happened I do not think I could."
"And I would not try to force you to do so, but it is somewhat something that needs to be done." Tommen responds.
"What do you mean my prince?" Jon asks. "I thought you did not want me to be friends with him."
Tommen is silent and looks at his uncle. And his uncle finally speaks. "Your friendship with Prince Joffrey is something that is somewhat deplorable because of how it came into being, but it is something that has its uses."
"How so?" Jon asks.
Uncle Gerion is silent a moment and then responds. "He believes that you are still his man, he does not know that we know of his plots and plans. If you go to him today and tell him that you have pretended to make up with Tommen, he will be most interested by this and will seek to use you to gather information on what he believes Tommen will do. You can feed him this information, and make it seem as though it will truly happen. Of course it will not happen, but Joffrey does not need to know this. The more he believes you are his man, the more arrogant he will get and the more mistakes he will make."
There is silence for a moment and then Jon says. "Do you think Joffrey will actually accept this?"
"He will want to believe that you are his man, especially now that he is down a squire." Uncle Gerion replies.
A moment's silence and then Tommen asks. "What did happen to Lucas Corbray? And how do you know he is dead uncle?"
His uncle smiles slyly then and merely says. "A Lannister pays their debts boys. A Lannister pays their debts."
Tommen laughs then as do Robb and Jon and Tyrek and then he turns to his friend and asks. "What else can you tell me about my brother Jon? You sparred with him, does he have any particular traits or habits?"
His friend is silent as he considers his response and then he says. "He has this habit of going to his right a lot. He leans over his sword and backward, and whenever he is about to go for a swing his knee begins to shake. That was what I observed when he fought Hendry Bracken."
"A shaky knee? Clearly there is something there, is that not a case of nerves uncle?" Tommen asks his uncle.
His uncle smiles then. "Yes, yes it is. Very much so, clearly the boy has some sort of nervous disposition when he fights. And with him thinking your armour has been tampered with, that confidence is only going to grow. He will be arrogant and will try to do something he is not actually skilled enough to do. That will be when your opening will come."
"And before then?" Tommen asks.
"Before then you must act as if you're being hindered by the left plate. You must make it look as though Jon truly did allow the loosening to happen. Make it look real and the boy will grow confident and cocky, and when he begins shaking, that is when you strike. He will fall and he will fall hard." His uncle replies.
"I will have to take some hits of course." Tommen says thinking about the live steel and how much it will, hurt then then he thinks of Jon nearly crying and merely says. "Very well then."
With that they all stand and walk from his room, Tommen leads their group, feeling confident, though he has never fought with live steel before, he has skill and talent and he knows where his brother's weaknesses are now. When they come to the armour he nods to his friends and then with Tyrek's help puts on his armour, which shines silver in the sunlight. The armour weights somewhat heavily on him as he walks from the armoury to the sparring yard. His brother and his brother's squires are already there when he arrives. Jon hurries over and begins whispering in Joffrey's ear, and he sees his brother look at him and then smile before patting Jon on the back, and though he knows Jon is only lying to Joffrey he still feels anger at the sight.
His brother comes to meet him in the middle of the sparring yard then, and after Tyrek and Jon have handed them both their swords, steel swords, his brother looks at him and smirks. "Have you come to meet your fate then brother? There is nothing wrong in surrendering now."
His brother is dressed in golden armour similar to what Tommen has seen Uncle Jaime wearing and the smug smile on his face is what makes Tommen reply. "I would not dream of surrendering to someone like you. When I have beaten you, you will be the one asking for mercy."
His brother laughs then. "Such arrogance, from a boy who has never fought with live steel before."
"We both know you have not either. Your lies will show through before this is over." Tommen responds before he sees the favour attached to his brother's armour.
His brother sees this and smirks. "She gave it to me, your dear Sansa. She seems to find more joy with me than with you. But then again so do most people."
Tommen says nothing he merely brings his sword up as does Joffrey and when Ser Rodrik begins reading out the terms of the duel and then says they may begin, Tommen feels his heart beat quicken, and they start off with their swords locked together. Both pushing against one another trying to force the other to break, neither do though, and Tommen can see the sparks flying and he grunts with the effort but still he keeps pushing against his brother's own sword.
Eventually through sheer strength Tommen manages to force his brother's sword to the side, he then brings his own sword up to slash at Joffrey's front striking a blow, his brother cries out and then snarls and begins his own attack. Joffrey is very quick, Tommen will give him that, he is quick but his swings and his strokes are very erratic, there is no motion to them and this allows Tommen to block most of them and those he does not block he is able to duck. His brother keeps at it though and eventually manages to land a hit or two, one which leaves a cut on Tommen's face, another which hits his armour.
His brother smirks when he sees this. "Ready to submit yet?"
"Never." Tommen growls back, and then he begins his own flurry of strokes, using his greater strength and weight to push Joffrey back, he pushes him further and further back, and his brother just about manages to defend himself. More often than not his brother gets hit and takes more and more cuts and dents to his armour, his face is also cut in two places. But still Tommen keeps pushing anger fuelling him.
Joffrey manages to get his sword up to block one of Tommen's swings, and though his face is straining with the effort he still manages to grit out. "You know Sansa is watching this fight don't you brother. She is watching this fight, and she wants me to win. She wants me to beat you to teach you a lesson. She does not care for you, and she never has. And Jon, Jon wants me to beat you as well. You see you are nothing but the second best, you will always be second best. You could have been so much more but your actions have brought you here."
"For someone who claims to be such a good fighter, you talk too much. Are you sure you are not scared brother." Tommen grits out before he pushes with his weight and forces Joffrey's sword to fall from their deadlock.
His brother says nothing but merely advances forward and then begins swinging his sword once more. Tommen manages to block the swings, noting that as Jon had pointed out whenever he gets ready to swing his knee shakes, he uses that and feints to his left, and as Joffrey's eyes light up, he rams his shoulder into Joffrey causing his brother to go off balance and before his brother can do anything he brings his sword up to hit Joffrey in the face. His brother stumbles backward and Tommen follows, his anger drives him and guides him toward hitting his brother's armour repeatedly with his sword. More and more dents begin appearing in his brother's armour and as blood begins to flow out from those dents, he wonders if perhaps he should stop, but a voice inside of his head is telling him not to.
His brother stumbles forward blood falling from his armour and from his mouth, he raises his sword in an attempt to retaliate, and Tommen swings his sword and swats his brother's sword aside. Moving his sword to one hand, he curls the fingers on his right hand into a fist and punches his brother square in the mouth, the force of the blow forces his brother backward another punch throws him to the ground. Tommen moves to stand over his brother, and looks at him a moment, Joffrey's eyes are wide with fear, his mouth and face are bloody, he feels nothing but contempt for his brother, and as he raises his sword he hears gasps going around the sparring yard. He says a quick prayer and then brings the sword down to the left of his brother's head. His brother looks as though he might have wet himself, and Tommen has to hold back a laugh before he proceeds to spit on his brother's face, before turning round and walking off.