"Reports from Castamere?"
"Production and mining output is as expected, my lord. The very deepest of the mine shafts are still being drained of water as we speak but Ser Damon says that they shall be empty of water within a year. Two more graves were dug for the bones that were found and all the proper respects were given in accordance with your orders. There's also another shipment of gold to arrive by nightfall and outriders have already been sent to meet with the convoy."
Leo Lannister listened as his lord father, Ser Jason Lannister, and their cousin Ser Lyonel Frey spoke about the most recent report as they moved through the many passageways of Casterly Rock. Ser Lyonel was as chinless as his father Emmon Frey, but he was also half Lannister and a loyal man of the Rock. Not like his traitor kin who had sworn allegiance to Robb Stark, and those loyalties were being tested as there were many Freys currently prisoner within Casterly Rock's dungeons. Those very same dungeons that they were now making their way towards.
His father hadn't said what their exact purpose was for going into the dungeons, he simply ordered that Leo was to join him, and Lyonel Frey was coming along as well. The latter's inclusion might have just been for convenience as Leo's father had needed to speak with the man anyway and it seemed that they were going to be killing two birds with one stone. For all that Ser Lyonel Frey was a Frey he was surprisingly intelligent and that made him useful. Leo's father had seen something in the man and had seen fit to give the man some responsibilities.
"And the progress on the construction and rebuilding of the keep?"
Castamere had been undergoing a reconstruction that was now entering its eleventh year. The lands were Lannister lands first and foremost and the gold and silver mines were supplementing Casterly Rock's vaults. Jason Lannister had argued with Grandfather Tywin about reopening them instead of leaving it all to sit and rot. Much the same was going on at Tarbeck Hall though the amount of gold coming out of the mines was smaller than that of Castamere or even Casterly Rock. Still, they were being put to use and House Lannister's vaults had never been fuller, and Leo's father saw fit to keep it that way.
"Still underway, my lord, though progress has slowed since the start of this war. Many of the laborers were called up when the banners were raised."
The three of them turned a corner Leo noticed how the scenery changed as they started to get closer to the dungeons. The amount of gold being displayed on the walls was slowly decreasing, the stone becoming more and more barren as they went on. The wall sconces for the torches soon turned from gold to plain iron and eventually the paintings and what not were gone. It also seemed to get decidedly colder though Leo didn't know how that was. The same number of torches lined the walls and yet he felt distinctly colder.
It might have just been his mind playing tricks on him. Casterly Rock was massive and there were bound to be areas that were colder than others. The dungeons might very well be that place and with good reason. For all that their prisoners were lords and ladies, they were still prisoners, so a little cold was expected. Then again, most of their prisoners were Northerners, so mayhaps this cold wasn't anything to them.
Leo tried to pay attention to the ongoing discussion between his father and Ser Lyonel but found his mind wandering. The fine details of the construction progress of Castamere or how many bars of gold were being produced didn't interest him as much. He'd rather speak on the war effort and what was going on in the rest of the Seven Kingdoms. Word had it that Renly Baratheon was dead, the manner of his death was rife with speculation, and Stannis Baratheon was marching on King's Landing. The North was supposedly in chaos with the Iron Born attacking. They'd even received word from the Night's Watch about supposed dead men rising up and trying to kill the black brothers, as if that would ever happen. It was just the ravings of half frozen madmen.
He had laughed when they had received that particular raven, though his father hadn't so much as grinned or even reacted at all, and Leo just dismissed that as his father being in a foul mood that morning.
By the time they arrived at the entrance to the dungeons Leo had found that there were many more guards present that there usually were. Though, there were also many more prisoners than usual, so he probably should have expected as much. Most of them were men-at-arms who had years of service with House Lannister. They were all big and strong with armor that was polished to a mirror shine and an intermixing of swords and maces. Casterly Rock had large hallways but swinging a bastard or greatsword would be hard in these spaces. Longswords and maces were more suited.
"My lord." What looked like the chief gaoler said as he stood. Leo didn't know the man and he probably wouldn't have ever met him before today. He was a somewhat burly man with a black beard and a scar on his face. Not at all disfiguring but it most certainly had a story behind it. Mayhaps the Greyjoy Rebellion was where he got the scar?
"How are the prisoners?" Jason Lannister asked. The rest of the guards were standing around and waiting for orders with some of them retrieving keys to open the solid steel doors. There were so many of them present that Leo couldn't honestly think of what they all could do all day. There were only so many men needed to patrol the dungeons.
"All present, my lord." The chief gaoler said. "Some of the Northerners got a little rowdy at first but now they've all quieted down. Seems like some time in the darkness has done them good."
"Good, and what of Robb Stark?"
Leo had wondered as much himself. Other than what Isabella had told him about the Lord of Winterfell he hadn't really looked further into it. Robb Stark was their most important prisoner and a key piece in order to make peace with the North or at least important in retaking the North. That was if Stark bent the knee and recognized Joffrey as the one true king of the Seven Kingdoms. He'd also have to give up his own crown and possibly his lordship as well.
"The Stark boy hasn't said a word since his defeat and capture." The chief gaoler replied and nodded at Leo. That had been happening more often than not after the battle. His first taste at war had ended in victory and Leo had felt pretty good for the first week after the fact.
Now he was ready to head on back into the fighting, but instead he'd been ordered to remain at Casterly Rock with his father, and while annoyed at that he could see the merit in it.
"He has said nothing?" Jason Lannister asked as the gates were unlocked. Half the guards accompanied them with torches as they made their way into the dungeons. Leo grabbed a torch for himself, and his eyes went over the many thick wooden doors that lines the hallway.
"Not a word, my lord. It's like his tongue stopped working."
Leo wondered if he'd hit Stark a little harder on the head than he first thought. If the man wasn't speaking at all then there was something wrong with him. His tongue wasn't removed or anything, so it had to be something with the mind. That was the only explanation that Leo could come up with as to Robb Stark's quietness.
"And the other prisoners?"
"They've mostly quieted down. Some of the Northerners are still a little more violent than others but they've settled down for the most part. Though, the one they call Greatjon still has fight left in him. The man's nearly as tall as the mountain was."
Leo's father didn't react to those words. He didn't like it when people brought up Ser Gregor Clegane in conversation. The memories from that day were apparently still fresh in his mind, or that's what Leo's mother had told him. That and the occasional nightmare all plagued his father and Leo hoped that Gerold was fairing better in King's Landing. Hopefully Gerold didn't become as cold and calculating as his father had, not that it was a bad thing or anything, but when Gerold left he still had a jovial attitude to him. Leo didn't want that to disappear.
"Very well."
They made the rest of the journey in silence. The only sounds filling the air were that of boots hitting rock and ringmail clinking against itself. The torches fluttered and crinkled ever now and then, and Leo's eyes wandered over the many doors they passed. Each of them held a prisoner of some sort within. There were no torches within the cells and the only light that shined into them was from the torches lining the wall sconces in the hallway. What glimpses Leo did catch from the tiny, barred window showed prisoners curled into themselves on the floor or upon a straw mattress.
Lords and knights, they may be, but they were prisoners first, and they were treated as such. Food and water were given and any wounds they had were treated but that was it. There were no tower cells for them, these traitors to the crown, and Leo didn't feel sorry for them. They'd thrown their lot behind a false king, and they'd failed.
"Here we are." The chief gaoler said as they arrived upon a nicer looking prison cell. The door was Ironwood and thick with metal bands roping around it. There was an actual torch within this cell and Leo noted that there were two guards stationed on either side of the door. Both of the men stood from their stools as the party approached and bowed to Leo's father.
Leo quickly came to realize that this was Robb Stark's cell.
"Stark's barely eaten his food or drank his water." The chief gaoler continued as he peered through the little barred window. "But enough that he's surviving. The maester says that his wounds are all healing up and all. Might be that the defeat took him a little harder than the others." A finger was jerked over his shoulder at the other prisoners they'd past on the way here.
"He's starving himself?" Jason Lannister asked, a frown upon his face.
"Mayhaps." The chief gaoler shrugged. "We've been giving him proper food and he's not eaten it."
"I see, where is his latest meal?"
A wooden bowl filled with some bread, jerky of some kind and cheese was brought forth. Nothing special about it and though it looked plain it was edible. There was a wooden cup of water as well and Leo noted that it was all untouched. Was the Lord of Winterfell really starving himself?
Jason Lannister took the bowl and cup in his hands and peered within the cell. What he saw must have confirmed something to him because the next moment he was ordering the cell door to be opened. The chief gaoler started to argue against that but one look from Leo's father stopped that. Ser Lyonel and the rest of the guards were on edge and there were hands on the hilts of their blades. Leo too didn't like the idea of his father going into the cell with a prisoner whilst unarmed.
"Open the door, the rest of you are to remain outside, and only to come in on my orders." Jason Lannister said.
They all nodded, and the chief gaoler withdrew a key and unlocked the door to the cell. The Ironwood creaked slightly and as the door opened, they all got a better glimpse and the King in the North. Robb Stark sat in a corner of the room with his back to the wall. His legs were drawn up and his arms were wrapped around them with his chin resting on his knees. He looked unshaven and whilst a little disgruntled he was otherwise clean. There were some bandaged wounds but nothing else. He looked well treated for a prisoner and Leo noticed that his cell had an actual bed with feather pillow and blanket. Amenities for a king.
Though this king was not using any of these amenities.
Leo watched with everyone else as Jason Lannister walked into the cell with bowl of food and cup of water in hand. The door was closed behind him by one of the guards and they were all left to stand and wait from outside. The little window into the cell was the only thing they could look through and none of them did so. They had not been ordered to not look but it seemed to be an unspoken agreement amongst them. Whatever was said between the Heir to Casterly Rock and the Lord of Winterfell and King in the North would remain between the two of them and the two of them alone.