Before we get to the actual chapter I (bhanfhen) would like to address a comment made for the previous chapter by a guest (make of that what you will).
I'd like to first say that I appreciate any and all feedback on my writing. If you love it or hate it, I want to know. Give me your feedback so I can improve as a writer.
That being said, while this story is not perfect by any means, I still like to think that it is compelling enough to be believable given the obvious nature that this is a SI-OC fic. Tywin Lannister's eldest son is the Self-Insert and thus has knowledge of the modern world as well as how the story of ASOIAF will go. Jason has the knowledge to change the world and save everyone, but he is only one person who has just been reborn into another family, so immediately going about saving this world wouldn't be on the top of the list of his priorities. I would personally find it unreasonable to suddenly get a "save the world" mentality.
There are fics that do this, and I like to read them like many others, but this is not that fic.
This is Not a Fix-It.
Also, on the point of "why would he save Elia Martell and her children", "why didn't he run after and kill Varys", "why did he have a quasi existential crisis about the Martell bitch and her whelps", "why did he not get immediately killed by Gregor Clegane when they fought", "why did he get away with butchering loyal men", and so on.
First, why save Elia and the children?
Well, for all intents and purposes, Elia and her children were innocent during the war and we all know how their story ended in canon. I'd like to think that anyone who was put into the position of being reborn and raised as an Heir to House Lannister would have some compassion for his fellow man. Not even taking into account that they're important politically, Elia and her children were just that, a mother and her kids. Of course Jason would have tried to save them, as he's not some heartless monster who has no problem with wanton murder. He's an actual person who had an entire life previously before being inserted into this fic.
Second, why didn't he run after and kill Varys?
Well, in this fic Jason fails to arrive on time to save Elia and her children. If he failed to save them then that means he saw their bodies and I would think anyone would be a little overwhelmed by that. Elia was described to have been raped to death and Aegon had his head smashed into a wall. Rhaenys was killed with half a hundred stabs to the stomach. I'd imagine that the room looked so red that you couldn't tell the difference between the red bricks of the Red Keep and the blood. Then there's the fact that he probably saw Clegane and Lorch in the room standing over the bodies. Two murders were right in front of him so some scheming eunuch would be the last thing on his mind.
Would anyone have thought about anything else if they had that scene in front of them?
Third, why did he have a quasi existential crisis about the Martell bitch and her whelps?
This Martell bitch and her whelps are people in this context and if you remember, Elia Martell visited Casterly Rock with her brother and mother shortly after Joanna died. Jason would have met Elia personally and in canon Joanna and Elia's mother had been friends. Its also stated in canon that Elia's mother and Tywin spoke about betrothals. In this context Jason would have been the Heir to House Lannister and thus any betrothal would have been between Elia and Jason instead of Elia and Jaime in canon. Would you not be horrified if you saw the fresh corpse of a girl you were almost betrothed to? A corpse that had been brutally raped and most likely had the blood of her dead son on her during the act?
That, in my opinion, is a traumatic event that would cause an existential crisis. Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but that's just how I feel.
Fourth, why did he not get killed by Gregor Clegane whey they fought?
This might be one of the times where I bend things for the sake of plot. Clegane is a literal mountain of a man and very hard to kill. He also just raped Elia to death so he would probably not be in peak fighting form, so a sneak attack would work. There's also the fact that Jason is a Lannister and Tywin's son and heir. He would have been given the best instruction in swordplay that money could buy. Add that to the fact that Jason is a self-insert with the knowledge of modern exercise routines and I'd think its safe to say that he wouldn't be a weak man. He has years to prepare for an event he knows is going to happen. If this explanation doesn't do it for you, then so be it, but it is what it is in this fic.
Fifth, why did he get away with butchering loyal men?
Clegane and his men were not in a sense loyal men. They were Tywin's attack dogs and seen as such. They were the cruelest and most vile part of the Lannister army and its no secret in canon that Gregor Clegane was not loved by the smallfolk or the nobles. And, they had just killed Elia and her children, so they are hated by entirety of the Seven Kingdoms for that deed. If Jason were to kill them, would anyone really care? He is Tywin's son and future Lord of Casterly Rock, and maybe the story was spun as a on the spot dispensing of the King's Justice. Maybe the story was told that Jason found Clegane guilty and killed in within the same minute.
Whatever the case may be, it is agreed that Gregor Clegane was a monster of a man, and while he had his uses he was also not essential. The army would not care if he was removed as the smallfolk feared him and the majority of any army in the Seven Kingdoms is smallfolk levies. Also, war is war, shit happens, and there were a lot of other major things going on like kings dying and cities burning.
The last two points about going down to Dorne and killing Ned, Jon Snow, and Oberyn are quite frankly ridiculous. If anyone can't see how flawed those actions would be than I'm sorry to say that the vast majority of fanfiction will disappoint you. Ned is Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North. Oberyn is a Prince of Dorne and brother to The Prince of Dorne. Jon Snow may or may not be Rhaegar's bastard. Two of the three mentions are major players and to just waltz on in and kill them would be so out of character that its not even funny, nor would it make any sense in any sort of context.
Ned Stark and Tywin are fighting on the same side of the war! Ned might hate what the Lannisters did during the Sack of King's Landing, but no one would have thought to kill each other over it. That would have started another war right there and then. Oberyn is a prince of Dorne and brother to Doran. Killing him would have meant the Dornish would never have submitted, not that they really did but that's not the point. It would have been suicide for Jason to walk down into Dorne and kill Oberyn, plain and simple, and that's even after he killed Gregor Clegane and sorta avenged Elia and the kids.
Alright, I've made my point and I want to once again reiterate that this is fanfiction. I'm not GRRM and I don't claim to have his ability at writing stories. There will be holes in this story, its just going to happen. Maybe my characters aren't as believable as I thought they were. If it isn't working, then I'd like to hear about it, but I would also expect my readers to think about it before commenting.
Come on guys.
Anyway, now that I've gotten that off my chest, we can get to the actual chapter.
Ser Gerold Lannister tugged at the sash around his body.
The cloth was the red and gold of House Lannister. The Commander's Sash as the men were calling it. Gerold felt like it was a useless thing, for it would just weigh him down in a fight. His opponent could grab onto it and pull him any which way. This Commander's Sash was a liability that he didn't want to have on him.
"You are to be the commander of the Lannister forces in King's Landing. You must look the part." Grandfather Tywin had said.
What was wrong with just his armor? It was the same style as his father's and Jason Lannister never had to wear a sash. Well, his father had worn it before, but that was during victory parades and the like. But to wear it everyday? That seemed excessive.
His armor would tell anyone who already didn't know who he was. The Lion of Lannister was all over it and he had made sure that the red and gold plate was polished to a mirror shine. He had a damn lion helm for gods' sake. How many more symbols of House Lannister and his position did he need until people got the message?
Gerold knew that he was probably the only one in the family who was upset about having to wear it. Leo would have seen it as befitting of his position and Isabella would have said that they would dub him with a moniker that went with all the displays of power he had on him.
Gerold the Glorious.
That did have a nice ring to it.
His attention was pulled back to the here and now by the sound of a cry of pain coming through the other side of the door. Even through the solid wood it was still not enough to dampen the sound and Gerold sighed as they continued to wait.
Feet shuffling from behind him remined Gerold that he had two other men of the Lion Guard with him, both knights and his personal guards, which was something that irked him. He didn't need personal guards, he was a knight as well, the sword at his hip was not just for show like Joffrey's was.
But no, Uncle Tyrion, Ser Julian, and all the other officers that had come with them to King's Landing had insisted that he should not go anywhere without at least two guards at his back. Two knights at his back. Even his squire Morgon had said that he shouldn't go without guards.
Was King's Landing that dangerous?
That answer was becoming more and more unclear to Gerold as the days went by. King's Landing was packed with enough people that it was becoming hard to traverse down the roads. More and more people were coming as well as the war in the Riverlands waged on. Grandfather Tywin had his men burning homes and crops alike and that was pushing people to find safety.
Which meant King's Landing.
It shouldn't have been a problem for Gerold, for he was not the Commander of the City Watch. He was Commander of the Garrison yes, but that was only for the Red Keep. Lord Janos Slynt, and truly they were lowering the bar if Slynt had become a lord, was the Commander of the City Watch. It was his problem to deal with all the smallfolk crowding King's Landing.
Or that was the thought anyway.
In reality it turned out that Lord Janos Slynt was as corrupt as they came. The man had gotten his position through bribery and selling positions and the untimely death of the previous commander, one Manly Stokeworth. It meant that nearly half of the Gold Cloaks were also corrupt or just not fit for the duty and responsibility of protecting the city.
Another scream came from behind the door and Gerold turned to put his back to it and looked upon his squire.
Morgan Banefort was a lad of thirteen and was of average height. He had the leather armor that squires wore, and his messy black hair was short enough that there was no point in styling it. Gerold too kept his hair short as he never liked how greasy it got when he went several days without a bath.
The kid was holding Gerold's lion helm and had a frown on his face as, yet another scream came from behind the door that separated them from the room. Seriously? That man hadn't cracked yet?
"Do you think he felt any guilt when he did the deed?"
Gerold looked at his squire and pondered his question.
Did the man that they were now torturing for answers feel anything when he drew his blade and ended that life? Mayhaps he would have at one point in his life, but it seemed that his time in the Gold Cloaks had turned him into a man who had no morals, and no qualms with doing another man's dirty work, for the right price that was. It was disgusting, and Gerold would lose no sleep over what he had ordered the Lion Guard to do to him.
"Tell me, if I were to order you to go into a brothel and rip the babe of some common whore from her breast and kill the babe in front of her, would you do it?"
"No, I would not."
"But you are the squire and I the knight."
"The gods would not allow me to commit such a crime. It goes against what a knight stands for."
"What about you Ser Ronel? Or you Ser Alyn? If I were to order either of you to kill a bastard babe, would you, do it?" Gerold asked and turned to the two knights that were acting as his personal guards.
"No, my lord. I draw the line at killing babes." Ser Alyn said.
"We are men of Casterly Rock. We are Ser Jason Lannister's men, and he would not have us do such a task." Ser Ronel said.
Another scream reached them through the door, and they all turned to it. This one was particularly loud and Gerold was fairly sure he heard a snap of bone accompany it. There was wailing and crying coming now and soon enough the door opened and a head popped out.
"He's ready to talk my lord." Ser Tyler said. He was a man on the thinner side, but he was still skilled with a sword and knew how to fight in formation well.
"About time." Gerold said and walked through the door as Ser Tyler pulled it open.
The scene he was met with was one of disgust. The room was in a need of a good washing, for there was layers of filth on the walls and all over the floor, and that was not counting the newly added blood and spittle. The place was dimly lit, with but a few candles lighting the way, but Gerold could still see in it well enough to make out the man's face.
Allar Deem was bound to a wooden chair in the center of the room. His arms and legs were tied down with thick rope. The chair was also bolted to the floor so that no amount of swinging and pushing would tip it. The man was shirtless and by the looks of it now had two broken hands, the bones of all his knuckles being smashed in by the mallet in Ser Tyler's hand.
The man's face was contorted in pain, and he was crying. His body was shaking, and his fingers were twitching from his broken hands. Not that Gerold felt any sympathy for the man. He was a real piece of shit and what he had just done didn't help him at all. No, this man's fate was already sealed, it was just a matter of how he would go to meet the Stranger.
Quick and mostly painless or drawn out over days and in agonizing pain.
"Tell Lord Gerold what you told me." Ser Tyler said. "Tell him who gave you the order."
"I-… It was… the… queen." The man's voice was laced with pain, and he could barely keep his head up.
"The queen." Gerold said as he grimaced. "The queen ordered you to kill the babe and her mother?"
"…y-yes…"
"The mother did not yet have twenty years to her name, and her babe was still at the breast. You're telling me that Queen Cersei ordered the death of a whore and her bastard?"
Words seemed to fail Allar Deem, for the man simply made a shaky nod of his head. Gerold found a frown coming to his face at that. A part of him didn't want to believe that Aunt Cersei would do such a thing, but he had proof right in front of him. This man was of the City Watch and if he were to believe what was said of the man by the smallfolk, he was corrupt and ill begotten. A scoundrel that had risen high with the likes of Janos Slynt as Commander of the City Watch.
"Did you even know the bastard's name before you drew your blade on her?" Gerold asked.
"N-nay…"
"Barra. Her name was Barra. Black haired and blue eyed. She was a fucking child!" Gerold punctuated his words by taking the mallet from Ser Tyler's hand and pushing the tip into one of broken hands of Allar Deem.
The former Gold Cloak screamed as the mallet dug deeper and deeper, pushing broken bone and cartilage out of the way. Blood oozed from the wound and Gerold didn't let up for some moments. He twisted it this way and that just to make the man suffer, but he eventually let up.
He handed the mallet back to Ser Tyler and wiped his hands of the filth. Allar Deem was going to be missed by exactly no one, and Gerold took no pity on the man. May the Stranger judge him harshly for his crimes.
"Morgon, take a look at the man. This is what happens to people who blindly follow orders." Gerold said.
His squire had come into the room with him and took a long look at the broken body of Allar Deem. This would be a good example for the boy to learn that it was not about following orders blindly, but to carry them out while they were still doing the right thing. Killing a bastard and her whore mother was just wrong. What crime did they commit?
"What are we to do with him my lord?" Ser Tyler asked.
Gerold took one last look at the man before he made his mind up. To be fair, his mind had been made up the moment he had learnt of what the man had done but seeing the corpses and hearing the confession were just the final nails in his coffin.
"Take his head and mount it over the Mud Gate. The people of King's Landing will see it and know that at least some justice was administered." Gerold said.
"Aye, I shall see it done."
Gerold paid no attention to the sputtering of Allar Deem as he exited the room. Morgon was right behind him, and the door slammed shut with the sound of Ser Tyler's sword being unsheathed to go along with it. There was the question of why his aunt wanted a bastard and her mother dead, but he knew that answers were not going to be forthcoming. Anyways, now that this was done and dealt with, he could get on with the rest of his day.
They made their way out of the back room of the brothel and back into the main floor of the establishment. Chataya's brothel was the name of the place, and Gerold made sure to drop a few gold dragons into the owner of the establishment's hand. The Summer Islander woman of the same name gave him a nod and with that Gerold, Morgan, Ser Ronel, and Ser Alyn were out the front door and back onto the streets of King's Landing.
He had made it all of twenty steps before he was halted by yet another problem.
But this time it was in the form of a messenger.
"Lord Commander Gerold." The messenger said as he ran up to him in the middle of the street.
"Just Ser Gerold is fine. My Lord if you must." Gerold said as he waved the man to continue.
"But… you're commander of the garrison… and a lord so…"
"Just deliver the message you've been sent with."
"Right, here it is." The messenger said as he held the rolled piece of parchment out.
Gerold took it from his hand and realized just how young the boy was. Couldn't be a day over ten years and yet he was running around King's Landing delivering messages.
The roll of parchment had the seal of the Hand of the King, and Gerold wondered why his uncle was sending a messenger to him instead of just waiting for Gerold to get back to the Red Keep. He broke the seal and read the meager contents of the letter. It was but a single sentence.
Make for the small council chambers with all haste and bring some men of the Lion Guard with you.
Gerold didn't know what to think of that. But he must be serious if Uncle Tyrion sent a messenger to him. He pocketed the parchment and waved a hand for his little party to start moving again. They had a small council meeting to get to apparently.
LINEBREAKASDF
Tyrion had just dealt with the problem known as Janos Slynt when he was pulled into yet another problem.
Cersei was in another one of her fits of anger again, and Tyrion pitied the poor messenger who had the misfortune of giving her the piece of parchment she was now waving around.
"Lies! Barefaced lies! I do not need the eunuch to tell me what must be done with this filth and the man who sent them!"
Tyrion took the letter from Cersei's hand and compared it to the two others that were resting on the table in the small council chamber. All three of them bore the same message, though the hand that wrote it was obviously different, for one was much sloppier than the others, but nevertheless the same.
"Oh, course they are." Tyrion said.
"We received them from Castle Stokeworth and from Lord Gyles." The Grand Maester said. He was hunched over the letters and squinting at them so hard that Tyrion wondered if the man's eyes were simply closed.
"If even they got letters, you can be sure that Stannis has sent them to every keep in the Seven Kingdoms from the Wall to Dorne." Littlefinger said.
The man sounded so sure of himself, and Tyrion suppressed a frown as Littlefinger fingered his beard.
"I want them all burned, everyone of them." Cersei said. "No word of this is to reach Joff's ear, or my father's."
"I imagine that Stannis Baratheon took the liberty of sending a raven or three to Harrenhal if he we got one as well." Tyrion said. "I'm sure Jason is reading his own copy at Casterly Rock, and on the point of burning them. Why? There is no use in burning the letters in the Red Keep if the rest of the realm has their own copy as well."
"Are you utterly stupid? Did you not read this filth? He says that The boy Joffrey, like he's some common welp and not the king! He accuses me of incest, adultery, and treason!"
But you are guilty of its dear sister. Tyrion didn't say his thoughts aloud, but he knew them to be true. He spent plenty of time with Jaime to know his brother's deepest and darkest secrets. Hells, Jason probably knew as well, though Tyrion couldn't say that without a shadow of a doubt.
He watched as his sister acted out the perfect mummery, as the accusations that Stannis Baratheon were making were completely true. Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen looked too much like Lannisters to be anything but. Baratheons all had black hair and blue eyes, so for Robert's children to look so much like Lannisters would raise some questions. Though, how Cersei thought that no one would ask those questions was beyond him.
"Stannis needed a pretext for war. Calling into question Joffrey's parentage was the route that he went with." Tyrion said.
"I will not suffer being called a whore!" Cersei yelled.
The door to the small council chambers opened and they all turned to look towards it as Gerold walked in. Tyrion's nephew was wearing his red and gold armor and the sash as well with his lion helm in hand and the sword at his hip. He had a frown on his face and looked at them all in confusion as the door slammed shut.
"What is the screaming for? I do hope that nothing bad has happened." Gerold said.
"A most terrible lie has been perpetrated my lord." Grand Maester Pycelle said as he held out one of the letters with a false shake in his arm.
"Terrible lie is it now." Gerold said as he placed the lion helm onto the table with a thunk and took the parchment from the Grand Maester's hand.
Tyrion watched as Gerold went over the letter and studied his nephew's face as he absorbed the meaning. There was a hint of surprise that was quickly smothered by a frown and a flick of the eyes towards Cersei. Gerold worked his jaw for a moment before he nodded and threw the parchment back onto the table.
"How interesting… a lie I would assume." Gerold said and looked at Cersei.
"Of course it is! That damned traitor is lying!" Cersei yelled.
"Well, it seems that we must do something about this."
"Yes , but first we need to stop this filth from spreading further. I want to issue a royal command that any man speaking of incest or calling Joff a bastard should lose his tongue for it."
"A most prudent measure." Grand Maester Pycelle said.
"We would be taking a lot of tongues then aunt. I heard at least ten people speaking of it on my way to the Red Keep." Gerold said.
"A folly it is then. For if we remove a man's tongue for speaking of it, we show that we are afraid of what he has to say." Tyrion said.
"Then what are we to do?" Cersei demanded.
"Let them talk. Stannis has no proof to back up his claim and the people will see that. They will not believe the lie for that is what it is, a lie."
"So, we are to do nothing."
"Not nothing, Your Grace. We shall fight fire with fire." Littlefinger said.
"What fire?" Cersei asked.
"Oh, just a tale of the same nature as to the one that Stannis has played on use. It is no secret that his marriage to Selyse Florent is not a loving one. Who's to say that Shireen Baratheon is a Baratheon at all?"
"Surely you do not mean to-"
Grand Maester Pycelle was interrupted as the door to the small council chamber was opened yet again. A knight of the Lion Guard stepped into the room and addressed Gerold, completely ignoring the rest of them. They all of course watched and listened on with interest to what was so important that it warranted an interruption.
"My lord, the king has requested your presence in the throne room." The knight said.
Tyrion leaned back in his seat at that and studied the others in the room. Pycelle stroked his white beard and looked on inquisitively. Littlefinger was interested as well, though for what purpose Tyrion could not say. Cersei looked angry that the knight had barged into the meeting, even if it was on her spoiled brat of a son's command.
"What does Joffrey want?" Gerold asked.
"The messenger would not say, my lord."
Gerold sighed at that and rubbed the bridge of his nose with two fingers. Tyrion didn't envy his nephew, as dealing with Joffrey was always a chore. Their king was probably bored and decided to entertain himself with the first thing he thought of, which happened to be his cousin Gerold.
"Pardon me, my lords, Your Grace, the King has commanded my presence." Gerold said and gave them all a nod before he scooped his lion helm up in one hand and made for the door.
The door was not all the way closed and Tyrion could faintly hear Gerold asking about what idiotic thing that Joffrey had done this time that required his attention. Tyrion snorted at that and turned his attention back to the matter at hand.
They were going to be fighting fire with fire after all.