JON
Despite the fear that griped his heart, he forced his feet to move out of the keep as he clenched the hilt of Darksister tightly in his fist like the sword was his only lifeline, and he could feel his heart jump into his throat as more screams could be heard.
What greeted him when he made it into the open air, made his blood feel like it was freezing in his veins.
In the pale light of the moon, he could see people try and flee in terror as dead men rushed out from the tree line from the north.
Before any of the black brothers behind him, or the leaders of the Freefolk could do anything, Jon found himself starting to bark out orders. "Get those who cannot defend themselves and the children out of here and lead them south to the Wall." He yelled at Ser Allyn, who had followed him out of the hall and was now staring at the dead with horror on his face as they came rushing forward.
Jon´s words seemed to have pulled the knight out of his stupor and Jon could hear the man start to call out to people to follow him south to safety.
Jon left those who were the most vulnerable in the capable hands of Ser Allyn of Wintertown and hurriedly turned to Tormund and lord commander Mormont. "We need to form a line and get everyone with weapon made of dragonglass to the front and everyone with a bow behind them, we need to set them on fire."
"You heard the man." Tormund bellowed immediately after Jon had spoken. "Let's show these dead cunts what the people of the true North are made of."
As the leaders of the Freefolk and the Night´s watch tried to form a line of defense, a loud piercing shriek was heard. Jon turned and spotted a dead man clad in rotted fur and leather rush forward at where they were forming a line to defend against the dead as terrified Freefolk ran past them to try and get to safety.
The icy blue eyes were fixed on lord commander Mormont like the creature knew that this was the leader of the Watch.
Jon didn't spend much time contemplating what the creature knew or did not know, rather he stepped forward, into its path and swung the newly reclaimed valyrian sword at the dead man´s throat.
The effects didn't disappoint, and like a puppet with its strings cut, it fell to the ground in a heap, never to move again.
But Jon didn't have any time to stop and think, as another dead man came rushing forward, this time the creature headed straight towards him. It´s mouth was opened in a silent scream, and Jon thought for a moment that it looked like the void of death that had greeted him when he had died at the hands of his brothers of the Night´s Watch.
As the dead man came at him, Jon hurriedly jumped out of the way and to his left, and swung Darksister at its knee, effectively cutting its foot off, making it fall to the ground before Jon stabbed into its back before moving on, knowing that the second life had gone out of its body.
The sword of Visenya Targaryen and Aemon the Dragonknight was much lighter in his hands than any other blade it´s size that he had held in his grasp. It was almost the weight of a dagger but it´s balance was perfect, and it was ideal for combat that required one to fight in proximity with others as its small size made it easier to move around.
Jon was now glad for all the time he had spent training at Queenscrown whenever he had time. There was no way for him to count the hours he had fought men of all sizes to improve and hone his skills with a sword, and most of the time he had fought against more than one opponent to make sure that he was in shape to fight in an actual battle rather than some game of the highborn where every battle was fought one on one.
All around him the battle raged, and he could hear the agonized screams of the living, along with the nocking and firing of bow and arrows behind him as the people beside him were cut down by dead men.
Both dead men and the living fell, but the living still fought on and as Jon buried the blade of Darksister into a dead man´s throat and yanked it back out again he could feel someone elbow their way to his side.
He could see a black cloak and the grey blue eyes of his uncle. "Jon, we need to get you out of here and to safety."
"No, we need to get one of the dead men as proof and retreat to Castle Black with as many survivors as we can." Jon countered as a fire arrow flew overhead and buried itself into the skull of a dead man who crumpled to the ground almost as soon as he caught on fire.
And before his uncle could tell him once again to leave for the Wall with the others, a dead Thenn rushed forward at them, making Jon feel the urge to kick himself for being distracted in a middle of a battle. The Thenn swung a crude looking battle axe at his head, but Jon managed to block it just in time with Darksister.
As Jon was about to disengage with the dead man, he watched out of the corner of his eye as his uncle Benjen swung a black dagger that shone in the moonlight, into the man´s throat, making him crumble into the dirt and snow at their feet.
Not for the first time since he had heard the screams of terror, did he wish that he had Algernon, Earendil and Illyrion with him, but he knew that it was still too dangerous for him to call them to fight the dead.
He didn't want to risk a catastrophe like when the Night King shot down Viserion, during their mad journey to find a dead man to prove to Cersei and Daenerys that the Others were coming for them all, and until the dead and the Others were dealt with it didn't really matter who sat on the Iron throne.
Whatever happened, the Night King could not get a dragon of his own to bring down the Wall like last time.
They had to make sure that the Wall would keep standing and if only one of the White Walkers were here, then they might be able to bring down one or more of the dragons and resurrect them as their own.
Terror filled him just at the very thought of the dragons that he had hatched dying, and he had to force himself to shove those thoughts aside and focus on the battle before him.
But even now, such a long distance away from him, Jon could feel their thoughts as his own as he could feel Ghost´s thoughts and feelings as well; and it took everything he had to make sure that they didn't come rushing over the Wall to defend him.
It was easier with Ghost, as he couldn't fly and it would take him weeks just to get to Castle Black, but the dragons had grown so much that they would make it here to Craster´s Keep in just a few short hours if they decided to fly over.
They kept on fighting for what felt like hours, and not long after uncle Benjen had made his way over to Jon, the first ranger of the Night´s Watch disappeared from his sights and into the fray, only to be replaced by Tormund, who fought his way over to him, bellowing out swears and hollering insults to the dead men.
Jon heard the large man let out a booming laugh as they kept pushing back the dead. Thankfully, it seemed like it was only a small scouting party, otherwise it would have been impossible for them to hold back their enemy.
"KEEP PUSHING THEM BACK" Jon yelled at the black brothers and Freefolk who were fighting side by side and the sight was both comforting and horrifyingly familiar to Jon.
It was heartening that both Freefolk and the Night´s watch could work together but horrifying and more than a little sad that it took the threat of the dead to force them to see that they had more than enough in common to work side by side.
More fire arrows flew overhead and lit more of the dead men on fire, and some of the arrows continued to land on the large sentinel trees in front of them, bathing the dark forest around them in a warm glow as they caught on fire and brought heat to the air around them.
He could feel the chill of the night air flee from him, and while not nearly as warm as the fires from Algernon, Earendil and Illyrion, it brought courage to his heart and some of the weariness seeped from his muscles and he felt himself fight fiercer than before.
But as soon as the warm feeling came, it disappeared as the fires in the trees blew out like candles, and the cold returned with vengeance.
Out of the tree line it made it´s slow trek. The pale white body of the Other shone in the moonlight and it´s frozen blue eyes were alight in cold amusement like it thought that the very fact that they dared to defend themselves against its minions was the most hilarious thing that had ever happened.
The White Walker said something in what Jon assumed was his language, but to him it sounded like an icy lake, creaking, and groaning when you put too much weight on it.
It looked over the men around it with it´s cold eyes, until they landed on uncle Benjen, who was closest to it. The White Walker looked Benjen over before making his way slowly over to him as terror seemed to grip every man that had seen it.
It said something again in its cold tongue that no man or woman in the clearing could understand. He doubted that any living person could ever understand it´s language, it was like human ears weren't meant to comprehend its words.
The Walker made his way to his uncle, and Jon glanced at the sword in his uncle Benjen´s hand. Castle forged steel would never hold up against the weapon of a Walker, like he had seen during the massacre of Hardhome.
Jon griped the hilt of Darksister tighter in his fist and rushed forward.
Only to have a dead man come screaming towards him. The corpse came so suddenly at him that he almost didn't have time to cut off its hand and then it´s head to save himself.
But when its head rolled off its shoulders, he continued to make his way to his uncle. When he started to run towards them again, he could see the Other had closed the distance and was swing it´s great sword down at the man.
Benjen dropped the dragonglass dagger that he must have gotten from one of the fallen Freefolk in favor of blocking the great sword with the strength of both of his hands.
As soon as the icy weapon of the Other clashed with Benjen´s castle forged steel, his uncle´s sword shattered into thousands of pieces, and Benjen Stark let out a scream of pain from the force that the White Walker had used to bring down its blade.
Jon felt like his legs were burning from the effort it took to sprint to his uncle after having spent such a long time fighting an enemy that felt no pain or exhaustion.
Another dead man came at him to stop him from getting too close, but this time Jon was ready for him and ducked and swung his sword at the carcasses' side, almost splitting it in two before continuing his run.
The first ranger of the Night´s Watch clutched his arm close to his chest and gritted his teeth in pain.
All around them the battle had resumed, and more dead things made their way out of the woods. But Jon only cared about reaching his uncle.
He wouldn't let the older man die like he had the first time around. He owed it to the man to save him from such a fate.
Despite being in pain, his uncle Benjen was clearly not ready to give up on his life and made a dive for the dagger that he had dropped when he had tried to block the sword of the Other.
The Other let out another laugh-like sound and raised his sword again. Only for Benjen to roll out of the way and try to scramble from the figure made of ice before the creature could split him in half with his sword.
It was then when Benjen noticed that Jon was getting close to them. Terror flooded the man´s face, and he grew white so fast that Jon was a little surprised that he remined conscious. "JON, NO."
But Jon ignored him as continued forward, but his element of surprise was gone. The Other turned around and fixed his cold eyes on him.
Its stare made him stop, and he felt like he was being impaled by small sharp icicles, but he ignored the feeling and gripped the Valyrian sword of his ancestors so hard that he was sure that his knuckles turned white.
The White Walker grinned cruelly at him while walking slowly towards him with his arms open wide while holding the enormous great sword in one of his frozen hands like it weighted nothing at all.
It moved slowly, with predator like grace. Like it was a wolf, and he was the sheep that had unwittingly stumbled into its lair.
But Jon was no sheep.
Then with speed that was beyond any human, the Other attacked.
Jon knew that Darksister would hold against the Other´s sword, unlike the sword his uncle had carried until now, but he still remembered the astonishment on the White Walker he had killed at Hardhome, when Longclaw hadn´t shattered at the contact with the icy sword. He wanted to keep the element of surprise until he had an opening to use it. But until then he had to lead the icy figure away from his uncle.
Another torrent of arrows flew over their heads and Jon could see that the fire was starting to reignite in the sentinel trees around them, much to his relief.
But his relief was short lived as the Other swung its great sword at him, forcing him to duck under it to avoid its deadly edge. The creature was just as fast as the other one he had fought, and much faster than any man he had ever battled, and much to his surprise he found himself able to keep up with its movements and duck and avoid the swing of its blade even though he could feel his muscles scream at him from the exhaustion of having been fighting the dead for what he felt like for hours, and now the White Walker before him.
Jon managed to lead the Other a few steps away from his uncle, until the creature managed to strike true.
Pain filled him as the icy blade managed to nick him across his right eye and he could feel blood drip into it.
He forced himself from grabbing at his eye from the pain; he knew that there was no time. He had to try and kill the Walker before he was killed by him.
As he felt the blood drip down in face, the Other lifted the sword and struck.
The surprise on the Walker´s face, was just like the surprise that had been on the Other that Jon had killed at Hardhome in another life, when he had blocked the icy blade with another Valyrian steel sword, Longclaw.
And the surprised look was still on its face when Jon repeated the move, he had used to kill the Other at Hardhome, and it was still on its face when it shattered into thousand pieces like uncle Benjen´s sword had done.
As the shattered remains of the White Walker fell into the soft summer snow, Jon let out a breath of pain and relief while still grasping tight on to the hilt of Darksister.
However, his relief vanished as he watched as all the dead men around him that were left standing, crumbled to the ground, leaving them without any proof that the dead were come for them all.
"Jon." He heard his name called out to him, and he could see his uncle stumble to his feet, still grasping his right arm close to his chest.
He then felt someone come up to him, grasping at his shoulder with a large hand. Then Tormund´s face appeared before him and Jon could see both concern and awe in his eyes. "Jon are you alright?"
Jon only grinned weakly at his friend, but he felt that the pain and the blood gave it away that he wasn't alright as it made the grin transform into a grimace as the wound started throb more noticeably now that his focus wasn't on the Other.
"Jon, open your eye, I got to see it." The larger man grabbed his head and forced him to open his injured eye. As the man inspected his eye, Jon felt another presence come up to him.
"Is he alright? Can he see?" Benjen´s voice washed over him, and he felt touched by his concern even though he felt a little irritated that the older man had wanted to send him home.
"Harhar." Tormund let out a pleased laugh. "Oh aye, the luckiest damned fool I have ever known."
Benjen rushed forward and grabbed him in a one-armed hug with his good hand. "You damned foolish boy." The man whispered without any real bite behind his words. "You should have run with the others and gone to safety."
"We have to go." Jeor Mormont injected forcibly as he made his way over to them with a stunned look on his weathered face as blood tinkled down the side of his head. "The fires are spreading, and we need to make it to Castle Black as fast as we can before any more of those monsters show up."
"We need to burn the dead," Jon spoke up in a low voice, but he knew that the older men had heard him. "we cannot afford them coming back and attacking us again."
The lord commander nodded at him as he took Benjen Stark by the shoulder of his uninjured arm, but he sent Jon a look of surprise and awe that made his stomach feel like a stone had settled in it.
As the lord commander called out to his men to burn the dead Jon felt Tormund grab him by the arm and lead him away and as they passed Freefolk and Black brothers alike as they all worked together to burn those who had fallen, he noticed that they all wore similar looks as Jeor Mormont.
"Harhar, there is no escaping it now little crow, now the women will be trying to steal you from your bed by the hundreds."
The large man let out a jolly laugh at his own joke as they stepped over a dead body of a black brother, while Jon had to stifle a groan.
"Well, I am glad that my misery amuses you Tormund."
"Oh, don't you worry, it does. Now let's get you to a healer, we got to get you all pretty for the women."
As they walked away from the fires, Jon could feel the pain in his face grow more and more intense, and he wasn't sure which was the cause. The fact that the battle madness was leaving his body or the fact that they were going away from the heat of the flames.
KEVAN
He watched as his older brother stalked the solar of the lord of Casterly Rock, like an angry lion that had its pawn nicked by a thorn.
Kevan had never seen his brother stalk aimlessly across a room before, as the man had always claimed it a waste of time and energy.
The Warden of the West was grasping a letter in his hand that he had clearly just received, and most likely it was the source of his newfound anger.
Tywin hadn´t even been this angry when the mad King had taken Jaime into the King´s guard and made him ineligible to inherit Casterly Rock, or when Aerys had refused to marry prince Rhaegar to Cersei.
Kevan glanced at his sister, who was sitting between him and her useless husband, Emmon Frey. The weasel looking man was looking terrified at seeing the lord of the Rock so angry, and Kevan had to admit that it brought him some sort of perverse pleasure to see the man so afraid.
He had never been able to make sense of their father´s thinking when he had promised poor Genna to that damned weasel.
A Lannister of Casterly Rock, married to a second son of a minor house in the Riverlands, the disgrace was unbearable.
"Are there any news from the capital, brother?" Genna asked, and Keven could hear the concern in her voice.
She would be concerned that Jaime, Cersei, and Joffrey were imprisoned, and that Tyrion was in the wind along with Tommen and Myrcella.
After the death of Joanna, Genna was like a mother to Tywin´s children, but Kevan was sure that she had a special place in her heart for Tyrion.
Perhaps it was because he wasn't loved by his father and so often ridiculed by many for his size.
Kevan would never admit it out loud, but he knew that it was one of Tywin´s few failings that he didn't love nor respect Tyrion.
The young man was very capable when he set his mind to it, and unlike Jaime who was by no means slow or dim, the younger son of Tywin showed the wit and intelligence that the current lord of the Rock was famous and revered for.
"Yes." Tywin growled out and stopped his pacing and took a seat at the desk and handed her the letter to read.
The last time Tywin had handed them a letter to read, was a few days ago when the grand maester had written him to say that Robert had accused Jaime and Cersei of incest and he had arrested them, along with crown prince Joffrey.
But there was still no news of Tyrion, Tommen and Myrcella, thankfully. Kevan knew that if they were caught, the fate of Rhaenys and Aegon Targaryen would await the children sooner rather than later.
It had only taken the lord of Casterly Rock a few moments to compose himself from his rage when they had first gotten word of what had happened to poor Jaime, Cersei, and Joffrey, before he commanded his maester to write to all his bannermen, so that they could soon begin their march to war.
But this time they would be going against Robert Baratheon.
Kevan would have been nervous if not for the fact he had seen the man recently, and the second son of Tytos Lannister was sure that the Demon of the Trident was leagues past his prime.
The man didn't look anything at all like he had twenty years ago, when he defeated the last dragon on the Trident, now he resembled an angry boar in more than just his personality.
Kevan glanced at his sister as she read the letter Tywin had just handed her, and he could see her growing paler by the moment.
"Are you sure that this is true, Tywin?" Genna asked with an uncharacteristic tremble in her voice.
"Yes, Pycelle hasn't failed me before."
Kevan looked between his siblings as he asked what had happened.
Tywin gave a snarl of anger as he spoke. "The fool Robert has decided to harm Jaime, by breaking his sword hand so badly that they had to remove one finger. Pycelle doubts that he will ever hold a sword with it again."
It took Kevan a moment to process his brother´s words and their meaning. "Has Robert lost his mind?"
Tywin snorted angerly. "He must think himself untouchable in the Red Keep, as he holds my children and grandson hostage, but he is wrong."
The lord of the Rock opened a drawer of his desk and pulled out a map that he laid out on his desk.
The map depicted the whole of Westeros with as much detail as possible.
"I have suspected Robert of doing something so stupid ever since he spurred Ned Stark and the Northern lords, but even I couldn't imagine the depth of Robert´s hubris."
Kevan could see from the corner of his eye that Emmon was looking hungerly over all the castles that were painted on the map, and it took everything that he had to stop himself from rolling his eyes at the man.
Emmon Frey didn't care that Jaime and Cersei were now being unfairly accused of incest by a man that had grown tired of his wife and wanted most likely to find himself a younger woman.
No, the only thing that Emmon cared about was finally getting a castle of his own.
"Will we be attacking the Riverlands?" Emmon´s hungerly asked as he gazed at the likeness of Riverrun.
"No."
Tywin´s deadpan voice made everyone stare at him in surprise.
"Why not? Hoster Tully will surly answer Robert´s call." Emmon tried to reason, but he was met with the stony look from Kevan´s brother that made the weasel like man shrink in on himself.
"Because" The lord of the Rock growled out. "Hoster Tully is more bound to Eddard Stark than Robert Baratheon, and if we attack the Riverlands, the North is honor bound to come to their aid, instead we shall fortify the borders we share with the Riverlands to make sure that no Riverlord can come into the West to seek glory."
"But won't Ned Stark come south anyway to answer Robert´s call?" Emmon stared in fear at the lord of the Rock.
"That remains to be seen. If Ned Stark has any pride left to him, he will ignore Robert and stay in the North as long as possible."
"It is not like you brother, to bank so much on the man´s pride when you know of his love for Robert." Genna pointed out.
"Normally I wouldn't, but I think that Ned Stark´s hands will be bound by the will of his lords, who have all been gravely offended by Robert when he refused them any honors or aid. We also have no other choice than to gamble on the pride of the Northerners as the North been growing stronger by the month in the last five years with two large fleets under their command, and the fact that the Reach is now bound to Robert by marriage or will be very soon."
"What do you mean?" Kevan found himself asking in surprise.
Genna turned to him, and he could see the distaste on her face as she waved the letter in her hand around. "Apparently Mace Tyrell finally found himself a Baratheon to marry his little flower to, though it wasn't the one he wanted."
The final words in the sentence were said with no small degree of apprehension in her eyes and it didn't take Kevan long to figure out which Baratheon he had married his daughter to as there was only one possibility.
"He is marrying her to Renly Baratheon. But why settle for him when he can finally make her a Queen?" It was no secret that Mace Tyrell had been angling to make his daughter Queen, so he wasn't that surprised to hear that the lord of Highgarden was aiming for a marriage, but why settle for Renly when Cersei was finally out of the way?
Tywin scowled and grabbed a cup of wine that was on the end of his table. "Apparently Robert is more interested in Ned Stark´s older daughter than the rose of Highgarden."
Kevan eyebrows rose to his receding hairline at his brother´s words. "Isn´t she too young to have children? I thought she was around eleven or twelve?"
"She is now thirteen I hear." Genna interjected with a deep frown. "Much too young to marry and have children in my opinion."
"It will not matter." Tywin took a sip of his wine. "We shall dethrone Robert and place Joffrey on the Iron throne, and then we can marry the Stark girl to Joffrey and thus bring the North back to the fold, along with the Riverlands."
Kevan rubbed his golden bearded jaw in thought. Yes, marrying Joffrey to the Stark girl was a good idea, as the Starks and the North was rising quickly as a new powerhouse in Westeros in the last five years.
He and most of the lords of the realm would never have believed it five years ago that Ned Stark would have been able to turn his barren wasteland into something profitable, but now here they were.
The North was quickly closing the gap between them and the Reach in matters of wealth, and now the North had two fleets, one on East coast of the North and the other on the West coast.
So, having the future King marry into the Stark family and by extension the Tully family and the Arryn family, was a splendid idea from his brother, and it would go a long way to bind houses Stark, Tully and Arryn more to them than Robert.
"But what about the Vale?" Kevan asked his brother. "Do you think that they will follow Ned Stark?"
"I think that they might, but I will not be counting on it, while Jon Arryn must be as frustrated by Robert´s stupidity as the rest of us, he is still the man´s hand but after we dethrone Robert, we can just offer him to marry his daughter to Tommen and bringing him back into the King´s peace that way."
"Then Tommen would be the future lord of the Eyrie and the Vale." Kevan said while trying not to let his disappointment show. He would rather have one of his own sons marry the Arryn girl and become the future ruler of the Vale than little Tommen, but he would obey his elder brother, like he had always done.
Tywin said nothing, only nodded firmly as he stared at the map before him. "We need to secure more alliances to overthrow Robert and put Joffrey on the throne."
"My father-." Genna´s stupid husband began with a slimy grin on his face, clearly trying to win Tywin´s favor.
"Yes, your father will be important to our plans." Tywin said with his emotionless mask on his face. "You will have to write to him, and make sure that he lets no one across the bridge, from either the North or the South."
Emmon stared at Tywin with surprise in his dull, watery eyes. "But I thought you said that Ned Stark wouldn't ride south to help Robert."
"I said that he may not, not that he will not. And if he does ride south with the Northern army at his back, your father will be needed to stop him from crossing the river on his way to Riverrun, where he would most likely head to." The lord of the Rock explained though gritted teeth.
There was fear in Emmon Frey´s eyes. It was said that Ned Stark and the Northern lords were building up an army for the last five years to fight the threat of the Wildlings that lived North of the Wall and Ned Stark himself was a capable military commander, even if he wasn't Tywin´s equal, nor even Bronze Yohn Royce´s, but the man was competent non the less.
And now he was the only one of the lords of Westeros that was truly prepared for war.
Tywin sent their good brother out to write to his father, and when the door closed on Emmon´s heels, Tywin growled out in a low voice, "Fool."
Silence filled the solar for a moment before Genna broke it with a question aimed directly to their brother. "Ned Stark may not want to marry his daughter to Joffrey, maybe he will use the rumors about Jaime and Cersei to justify his decision."
Tywin gritted his teeth at Genna. "Those are just foul rumors spread by Robert and his cohorts to discredit house Lannister and give him an excuse to find himself a younger wife."
Genna looked their older brother over with her sharp green eyes. There was a look in them that made Kevan think that she knew something that they didn't. "Rumors or not, it may not matter at this stage. There will be those who will want to believe them no matter what, because it fits in whatever they want to believe."
Not for the first time Kevan thought it a crying shame that Genna hadn´t been born a man. She would have been a great addition to Tywin´s war council when it came time for them to march to war.
Tywin said nothing, but only stared at the map on his desk with anger in his green and golden eyes.
"So, what alliances where you hoping to make brother?" Kevan changed the subject and tried not to let his eagerness show, he was hopeful for good marriages for his children now that they would be heading to war.
War was a good way to make great marriage alliances for your house, if you had a good lord making them, like his brother.
Kevan hoped to find heiresses for his sons Lancel, Willem and Martyn and perhaps a lord of a large castle for his daughter Janei. After his tireless service to house Lannister and to Tywin, perhaps now he would get those matches for his children.
"After we defeat Robert, the ones who allied with him will have answer for not helping to set free their rightful King Joffrey, and Mace and his son Loras will either die or go to the Wall to live out their miserable lives, leaving Highgarden without a Tyrell heir." Tywin sat down and laced his fingers together.
"The next in line to inherit Highgarden is one of the Redwyne twins as their mother is lord Tyrell´s sister." The lord of the Rock continued and Kevan felt himself get excited by the conversation, perhaps now there was a change for Janei to get a good husband.
Marrying her into the Redwyne family would be a boon, that family was almost as rich as the Tyrell´s and now both twins stood to inherit castles and lordships of their own.
"Do you think that lord Redwyne would agree to an alliance with us?" Genna asked in a skeptical tone and Kevan felt himself grow a little annoyed by it.
"When I promise one of his sons Highgarden, agreeable marriages for his children and the office of master of ships, I am sure that he will jump at the chance." Tywin said in a cool and collected manner.
"And what about Viserys Targaryen?" Genna asked and grabbed a cup from the table and poured Arbor gold into it. "I hear that he has his eyes on the Iron Throne."
"The Beggar King is of no concern to us." Tywin leaned back and stared at their younger sister. "He has no armies, no money and most importantly no connections in Westeros."
"Yes, you are right, Viserys Targaryen doesn't have armies, nor money or any real connections in the Seven Kingdoms. But those are all things that he can achieve with enough luck and determination, however what he has is the best claim on the throne, which is something that you cannot buy."
It was clear that Genna´s words annoyed Tywin more than he let on. "We shall worry about Viserys Targaryen later, now we have more pressing matter to attend to, and a more real threat than the Mad King´s son."
"And most likely you are right, but if he decides to marry his sister to prince Doran´s son and heir, Trystane, he will gain a Kingdom to his side that will never willingly support anyone with Lannister blood on the throne."
Kevan felt a tinkle of worry in his heart at his sister´s words, the Dornish would happily support Rhaegar´s brother if it meant that they would go against house Lannister.
"You are right, and I think that if the boy has any wits about him, he will do that, however he is still Aerys´s son so him having wits is not very likely and if he does, he is far more Robert´s problem than mine for the foreseeable future."
"Now if we can move on to more pressing matters, we have alliances to discuss before we march on to war with that fool Robert."
"Tywin, there is still the fact that we are only one kingdom fighting a war against Robert and maybe five of kingdoms and the Riverlands, even with you at the forefront, how is it possible for us to win?" Genna fixed her green eyes at their older brother, and once again Kevan found himself irritated by her insistent questioning of their lord brother.
Tywin clenched his teeth together like he often did when he was feeling annoyed. "For now, we are but one kingdom, but when we make favorable marriage alliances, we will have many allies that will help us overthrow the fat fool."
"What about the Golden company?" Genna asked in a firm voice as she stared at their brother in an unwavering gaze. "Have you thought to hire them?"
Tywin leaned back into his chair, and there was a glint of satisfaction in his golden green eyes. "As a matter of fact, I have. I have sent an envoy to Essos to hire them at whatever cost so they may sail to the Stormlands and start raiding there."
Kevan had no doubt that the Golden company would be anything less than enthusiastic to work for Tywin Lannister, as he had been instrumental in overthrowing house Targaryen almost sixteen years ago and could afford to pay them handsomely.
