CHAPTER 3
Tyrion
282 AC
For two weeks Tyrion Lannister had been stuck in his bed. One minute he had been begging his uncle Gerion to let him train with the other boys, when in the next he had grabbed his head and let out an unearthly scream as his memories merged. His uncle had called the maester and carried him to his bed. The maester had found nothing wrong but ordered Tyrion to bed rest as a precaution. As he lay there Tyrion thought over the plan he and the others had discussed. He knew his brother Jaime had succeeded as his father had sent a raven home and told them of his eldest son making off with Elia and the children. Tyrion smirked as he imagined his father's face when he had learned of that and found his plans ruined.
Tyrion thought of Ned, and hoped for Jon's sake, that the man had saved his sister. Now it all came down to whether he had the cunning to successfully pull off the great deception when it came to his onetime best friend, Robert Baratheon. The one thing that brought Tyrion regret was the time he had chosen for himself to come back. He looked down at his seven-year-old body and realized it will be some time before he could actually do his favorite thing, drink. Though he begrudgingly admitted to himself it was probably best he didn't do it as much this time around.
Tyrion's thoughts were interrupted as a knock sounded on his door. "Enter." He called out and tried not to flinch at the childish squeak of his voice.
"Ah, how is the young lord feeling this afternoon?" The maester asked as he entered the chambers.
"Like I have told you the last ten times you have asked, I am fine maester Creylan." Tyrion said with a huff.
"Now, now, there is no need for the attitude. Once I complete checking on you, I will allow you to get up from the bed." The maester said starting his examinations, he checked Tyrion's vitals and went back to his notes. His face screwed up and he started quietly talking to himself. "This, can't be right, I must have miswritten yesterday's information." He flipped through his notes and his frown grew as he read what was written. Finally, he turned to Tyrion and said. "Lord Tyrion, please excuse me for a few moments." Maester Creylan grabbed his bag and exited the room still murmuring under his breath.
Tyrion thought about it and realized what may have been causing the maester's distress. He tried to wait on the maester to return, however his patience ran out. He jumped up out of the bed and ran to the mirror. He stared at his body and noticed that while still on the small side he no longer looked disproportionate. He heard a noise outside his chambers and rushed back to the bed as the door opened and the maester returned with his uncle Gerion in tow.
"I don't know how to explain it my lord, if I wasn't a learned man I would call it magic. As it is I am at a loss, somehow your nephew is no longer a dwarf." Maester Creylan said to his uncle excitedly. "Though I doubt he will ever be a tall man." He gestured to something in his book and held it for his uncle to read. "See here, this is the citadel's book on child growth. This is what a normal child of seven is averaged out at." He pointed to another spot in his book. "Here is where young lord Tyrion was at during his last name-day." He found another spot and pointed. "This is where he was at just now."
Tyrion could see that his uncle was both excited and anxious. "You better be sure maester, because if I give this information to my brother and you are wrong, it will not end well for you." Gerion said as he checked the maester's book once again.
The maester gave an indignant squawk and said. "My lord, I would not have brought this to you if I was not certain. I can not give a reason, but I can say with certainty that your nephew shows no signs of dwarfism any longer. The only irregularity is still see, is the differing eye colors."
Gerion pursed his lips and nodded his head. "Very well, I shall send my brother a raven and let him know the news." Gerion gave the maester a nod and went to Tyrion's bedside. "Well it looks like you will get your way now. In the morning report to the yard after your lesson with the maester and someone will be there to start teaching you the sword." He ruffled Tyrion's hair and gave him a smile before leaving.
The maester had Tyrion stand and put him in a range of exercises and asked some questions on how he felt. After he was finished he declared Tyrion fit to leave his bed and for his training in the morning. As he was gathering his things Tyrion asked him.
"How tall do you think I will be once I reach man-hood?"
The maester scratched his chin and took a few moments before answering. "As your situation is unprecedented I can not give you a precise answer. I highly doubt you reach the height of your father and brother, though I would not be surprised if you are somewhere between five feet five inches and five feet ten inches."
Tyrion tried to hide his euphoria but a smile of happiness made its way onto his face. He bid the maester a good day and followed him out of the room. He made his way down to the kitchens and thought about what he needed to do now. He knew he needed some way to gain the love of the people of the Westerlands so for when he took over they would follow him easily. Also allies in other territories were something he needed to address in the coming years. He almost tripped over himself as he thought of things his father would do once he realized Tyrion had become a valuable asset to House Lannister. He decided then and there that his father would need to be eliminated sooner rather than later.
Tyrion grabbed some food from the kitchens and made his way outside to enjoy the rest of his afternoon. He enjoyed the sunshine while walking around Casterly Rock he came upon the small sept that the rest of his family used. In his last life Tyrion had questions about the gods but after meeting them and receiving the Crone's gift he could no longer deny their existence. He made his way inside and went to the statue of the Crone, he gave a short bow in thanks. He said a few silent words and turned to leave, in the corner of his eye he saw a small glint of sunlight. He turned back to the statue and at its feet a sword and scabbard laid on the ground.
He picked up the sword and unsheathed it part of the way and gazed upon the swirling pattern of Valyrian Steel, and admired its beauty before taking in the rest of the sword. He noticed the pommel had a lion and it looked very similar to his family's ancestral sword Brightroar that was lost before the Conqueror came to Westeros. He also noticed that while it was in the style of a normal longsword, the blade was actually almost a half a foot shorter than something his brother would use. Tyrion sheathed the blade and looked around making sure no-one saw it, he knew he had to hide it before his father found out about it. Once he was assured he had not been found, he carefully made his way back to his chambers.
Tyrion hid the sword in a hidden compartment he had found in his last life. He then called for the servant to fill a bath for him. He relaxed for a time in the bath before finally making his way to bed and resting for the exertions he knew tomorrow would bring.
The following morning found Tyrion eating breakfast with his uncle Gerion and aunt Genna. His aunt was shocked when he walked into the room and noticed his stumped legs and arms were now normal, and his head was no longer disproportionate to his body. She opened and closed her mouth like a fish as Gerion had explained what the maester told him the previous day. Once her shock had passed, Gerion had explained that he himself would be teaching Tyrion the sword.
Once Tyrion had finished his breakfast he made his way to the maester's wing of the keep to attend his lessons. He barely remembered to answer some of the questions wrong so the maester would not question him about how he knew them. He also shared some of his unique insights so that the maester would praise him, but he was careful to not make them too intelligent for a seven name-day old boy. He finished his lessons with the pleased maester and made his way to the training yard where his uncle was waiting.
'Good you are here. I will be going easy on you since this is your first time, also you will need to get attuned to your body now that it has grown so much in a short time." His uncle told him as he stood in front of him. "First you will give me ten laps at a swift jog, around the yard." When he noticed Tyrion hadn't moved he shouted. "Now!"
Tyrion took off to do his laps he quickly realized that his conditioning wasn't up to it as he finished his fifth lap huffing and puffing. When he had finished the tenth he could barely stand as he hobbled his way over to his uncle.
Gerion stood with a frown. "Well your conditioning is complete shit, grab some water from the bucket. When you return we will work on your strength and reflexes."
Tyrion made his way to the water bucket and drank a mouthful before pouring a ladle's worth on his neck and head. Having some of his breath back he went back to his uncle to start on his next form of torture.
"Now that you have your breath back I want you to do twenty press ups." At Tyrion's confused look Gerion dropped to his stomach and pushed his body up with his arms. "After your twenty press ups I want you to do twenty sit ups." He demonstrated one of them for Tyrion before continuing. "Now you probably won't be able to do them all perfectly or without stopping but you will give me your best effort or I will refuse to train you further."
Tyrion gave his uncle a nod of assurance and started on his press ups, he made it to five before his arms started to tremble, he was at ten when they started shaking. He didn't quite make it to fifteen when they gave out and he collapsed. His uncle knelt beside him and started shout encouragement at him. Tyrion lifted himself back up and tried to finish the last five, after several more attempts he finally did it. He then started on his sit ups once again he struggled his way through them. He stood up as his uncle told one of the other men in the yard to bring him something.
The man came back carrying a bucket full of balls made of rubber. His uncle then said. "Now you stand there and I'm going to throw these balls at you. I want you to try and dodge them."
Tyrion had no clue as to how this pertained to sword play but held those opinions to himself as he wanted his uncle to continue training him. He told his uncle he was ready and waited for the first ball. He saw his uncle give someone a nod and felt a sting in his back. He turned to look and the man who had went for the balls was there with his own bucket. He turned back to his uncle and cried out. "You never mentioned him."
His uncle chuckled and said. "In fighting you must be prepared for anything, also you need to know what is around you." He then threw a ball hard at Tyrion who barely jumped out of the way.
Twenty minutes later a bruised and sore Tyrion picked himself up from the ground. His uncle finally figured Tyrion had suffered enough abuse. "Well I think that is enough for one day. Why don't you go take a hot bath and meet me at the dining hall for dinner?"
Tyrion frowned and said. "We're done? You haven't even shown me how to hold a sword."
Gerion chuckled. "That comes later. First, we have to build up your body so that you can wield a blade. If you can progress enough we can start sword training in a few months." He looked Tyrion over. "Once you can do ten laps without losing your breath, twenty press ups, and twenty sit ups without stopping, and dodge ten consecutive balls, you will do twenty laps, forty press ups and sit ups and have twenty balls to dodge. Once you can do that then I will put a training sword in your hand." He said as he walked away.
Tyrion was despondent as he made his way to his chambers. He didn't realize how much work went into training and he hadn't even lifted a sword. He decided then and there that while he would train to fight, he was still going to use his mind as his most dangerous weapon. He called the servants for a bath as he sought a good book to read as he soaked.
Later that evening as Tyrion slept, the Crone looked up from her scrying pool and smiled as her champion had past his first test. She used the little power that she could and made the changes, she had done to Tyrion's body, permanent.
