"I wonder why my nephew was known as the Black Prince. It's not as if he was the only child of Robert Baratheon to have black hair. That can't be it."
-Selected Quote from: Tyrion Lannister: The Wit and Wisdowm of the Imp
THE LITTLE LANNISTER
Tyrion Lannister enjoyed many things. Women, wine, books, and his nephew's company. His rooms were in the same part of the castle as Edward's and when his black-haired nephew had returned, Tyrion had planned to retire to his rooms in order to rest before the feast he had planned.
Only to walk past his rooms quite awkwardly because Edward had immediately decided to relieve some of the stress from the long trip from the Tor. Did Lord Jordayne have this problem when Edward visited? Usually he did not have a problem with hearing 'more' because he was the one enjoying the words, but being on the opposite side of a door, however briefly, listening to it made...well awkward.
He made a brief stop in the gardens Edward had commissioned since his betrothed had a similar one back in the Tor and his nephew was nothing if not gallant. Blue winter roses were growing in a greenhouse and why Myria Jordayne liked these flowers, Tyrion did not know, but it made her and Edward happy.
He decided to visit the maester and see if any ravens had come in. Maester William was from the North, Barrowton if Tyrion remembered correctly, and had been the maester of Summerhall for two years. He had doubts about the man's loyalty -he was doubtful of everyone's loyalty except for Edward's- but the man had proven to be a competent maester.
His squire, Podrick Payne, was in the training yard with Edric Storm being watched by Ser Andrew Estermont, the master of arms. The leader of the Lannister guardsmen, a man by the name of Jyck, was watching as well, rooting for Payne. The two were the same age and often trained together.
Podrick was a good and solid defensive fighter. He always watched his corners, made sure he never overextended himself, and always, always, fought behind his shield. Edric, on the other hand, preferred a spiked mace.
Edric was a whirlwind, his mace trying to find openings in Podrick's defenses, but Podrick was calm, patient, and refused to be baited by Edric's movements. The mace went left, right, up, and down, but it was always met by a solid wall of iron and wood, thought Podrick would slightly vibrate everytime the mace would impact. Podrick kept himself safe behind his shield, refusing to lash out except to parry with his training sword.
"Good! Keep it up, the both of you!" Ser Andrew said, encouraging the two. Edric continued to attack while Podrick continued to defend. But were using energy, though Tyrion's untrained eye thought Edric was tiring a bit faster than Podrick. However, Podrick lost when he decided to take up the offensive himself, opening up his flank. Edric's mace was like lightning and he landed several glancing blows on Podrick's body and Ser Andrew stopped the fight.
"A good bout," Tyrion praised. Podrick heated up and Edric took a bow. "Though I must ask the man who is actually taller than a sword. What do you think Ser Andrew?"
"Aye, a good bout. Podrick, you have to get better at countering. Can't stay behind that shield all day, but it was a good tactic. Edric, you have to stop being on the offensive so much," Ser Andrew observed, his years of training and battle coming out. Tyrion nodded with approval. He would always defer to better men when it came to this type of things. A lesson I hope I've taught Edward. "You might be Robert Baratheon's son, but even the king learned the lesson of having a good defense."
"My father killed Rhaegar on the Trident with his war hammer! Why would he need to learn to be on the defensive?" Edric protested and Ser Andrew's face darkened. He fought at the Trident with Robert. He fought at Great Wyk with Stannis. He was a seasoned killer, just like most of the men under Edward's banner. It was not hard to forget that, with the amount of battle scars some of the men here had.
"Your father always said that there is a better fighter out there. I fought with your father on the Trident. I saw him duel Rhaegar on the Trident. He did slay him, that's true, but there was a moment when he faltered on the offensive and was forced on the defensive by the Crown Prince," Ser Andrew recounted. The two boys listened with fascination. "The Crown Prince forced King Robert to the banks of the Ruby Ford, his sword a blur. The king knew how to defend himself and blocked it with his shield and when his shield was thrown into the water, he defended with his hammer."
"What...what-what else happened, my lord?" Podrick asked hesitantly. The boy had a stuttering problem since he had been old enough to talk, Tyrion had been told, and he wondered how he could fix it. Maybe there is no way to fix it.
"Rhaegar overextended himself. King Robert drove him back into the river with the fury of a thousand suns and then struck Rhaegar straight in the chest, rattling his beautiful black armor and making the rubies fall from his chest," Ser Andrew said with a dark smile. "King Robert was an excellent warrior, though he left the commanding part to Lord Arryn or Lord Stark for that battle. All he wanted to was to get vengeance for Lord Rickard Stark and his kidnapped Lady day you might have a lady love that needs rescuing, Edric. Need to learn how to defend yourself a bit better if you hope to have a chance."
Edric's pride was wounded a bit, Tyrion could tell, but it was a good lesson. His mind drifted to Edward, who had been trained by Ser Andrew Estermont as well. His nephew was a solid swordsman, both able to defend and attack, but he wasn't the Laughing Storm reborn like his father. Edric was more like Robert in that regard.
No, Edward reminded Tyrion of Stannis Baratheon when it came to fighting. Stannis was a competent fighter, having been trained by the same knight who had forged Robert, but he was no match for Robert or Jaime when it came to battle. But he knew to how to command. Edward had shown that same iron will Stannis had and Tyrion suspected it was an influence from his humorless, drab, and absolute bore of an uncle.
Stannis is a military commander though. He held Storm's End for an entire year, feasting on boot leather and rats while Lord Mace Tyrell sat on his arse and feasted at the banquet table. He destroyed the Iron Fleet and took Great Wyk during the Greyjoy Rebellion. At least Edward knew how to jape and smile. If Tyrion had to deal with the younger version of Stannis, he would rather go to the Wall.
As Ser Andrew continued to critique and teach the two boys, Tyrion decided it was time to focus on his original goal of heading to the maester. He bid his goodbyes and saw Jyck transferring some coppers to a Baratheon archer. Should have bet on Edric. I would have.
Maester William slouched over, had a stooped shoulder, and always smelled of sour milk. Why maesters always smelled of something sour or foul, he didn't have an idea. The maester was busy reading a book, which one Tyrion could not tell, when Tyrion entered. The maester immediately got up, but Tyrion beckoned for him to sit.
"You don't have to stand for me, I quite like talking to someone at my height," Tyrion japed and William smiled, several teeth missing. "Has there been any news?"
"Two ravens came within the last few hours, my lord. One is from King's Landing and the other is from Casterly Rock," Maester William informed him, handing him two scrolls. Sure enough, one of them had the waxed seal of the crowned stag and lion of House Baratheon of King's Landing while the other was the roaring lion of House Lannister. No doubt from my father. "I also received the books you requested from Oldtown. Watchers on the Wall, a completed version of Septon Barth's Unnatural History, and half of the scrolls that make up The Fires of the Freehold. I had to call in every single favor I had in order to get my hands on these books. Use them well, my lord."
"Thank you Maester William and I will. No doubt when the whores of Summerhall's villages hear my stunning recount of the history of Valyria, they will offer themselves to me freely," Tyrion said and the maester frowned. "Who are the letters for?"
"The raven from Casterly Rock is for Edward and the raven from King's Landing is for you."
Now that surprised him. His father, though he had no love for Tyrion, would write to him with instructions on how to educate Edward. Lord Tywin schemed to have Edward named his heir, even when the Black Prince had been named Prince of Summerhall and sent to the stormlands after the final incident between him and Joffrey. He knew his father wanted the black haired youth to be the Lord of Casterly Rock one day, even if he did have Baratheon blood flowing through his veins.
"Hand me the letter from King's Landing," and the maester did as he was told. Breaking the seal, he read the letter. It was from King Robert himself, though the words had been written by Grand Maester Pycelle most likely.
"What does it say, my lord?" Maester William asked.
"Lord Arryn is dead. The king is heading to Winterfell in order to ask Lord Eddard Stark to be Hand of the King and he's bringing the entire royal court with the exception of Petyr Baelish and his brother Renly," Tyrion read. "He also sends his good wishes to Edward and Edric and that Edric's three and ten nameday present will arrive within the next fortnight."
And then what he read shocked him the most. He had to reread it again, just to be sure. He wants me to do what? King Robert Baratheon had never been the most level-headed man there, often drinking and whoring (two activities that Tyrion enjoyed very much) but he always, always left the ruling and major decisions to Jon Arryn. Well he's dead now.
"He's sending me to the Wall in order to get a better accounting of the Night's Watch. Why he is, I don't understand," Tyrion said. Is this my sister's machinations? "He's sending my uncle Kevan to replace me as Edward's mentor."
This is my father's work, I'm sure of it. He knew that his uncle was a good man, much more dangerous than most people liked to realize. His son, Lancel, was the squire of the king and he had been one of the most trusted captains of Tyrion's father Tywin. He had been at court for years, having replaced Tyrion as Tywin's representative at court after Tyrion went to Summerhall.
"That is...troubling news, my lord. Ser Kevan is a true man -one of my fellow maesters that I trained with at the Citadel wrote to me before I left for Summerhall that he is loyal and dutiful- but if the king is sending you to the Wall, it means that the Night's Watch is in disrepair and much worse state than previously thought," the maester said with some panic. He's from the North. Of course he has an opinion about the Night's Watch. "I've written to the maester of Eastwatch, Harmune before. The Night's Watch has fewer than a thousand men, most of them criminals. The last time Harmune wrote to me was three years ago...the wildlings have been gaining strength."
That would be a problem. Despite there being a massive wall seven hundred feet high and three hundred miles long separating the Seven Kingdoms from the wildlings, wildling raids have been picking up in the last couple of years. Normally the lords of the North would deal with it, but there had been some requests that King Robert had heard when Tyrion was last at court, though nothing ever came out of it. I still wonder why he has decided to send me though. Once more, his father flashed into his mind.
"Well, I will be joining the royal party in Winterfell, it seems. I wonder how the northern whores are compared to the southern ones. I haven't been to the North before."
"They're much hardier," Maester William commented before shutting his mouth. Tyrion grinned and took the letter from Casterly Rock to give it to Edward and inform his nephew that Kevan Lannister would be replacing him. I would write to him to bring his sons, Martyn and Willem. They would do best if they stuck with their father and Edward needed more companions his age, Tyrion thought.
Edward was lonely here, despite his bastard brother. He needed people of his age, instead of the hardy knights he surrounded himself with. He needs more people to laugh and jape with besides a misshapen dwarf, a bastard brother, and stormlander knights.
He groaned. He would have to see his sister again. Along with Joffrey. At least Myrcella and Tommen were pleasant and his brother Jaime would be there as well. And the whores.
He would have to test Maester William's comment about the northern whores being hardier. It was a theory he would enjoy experimenting with.
AN: I have to say, 400 views, 12 favorites, and 25 follows and 5 reviews are awesome, especially for a first chapter. I thank all of you for your support!
spectre4hire: Thank you for your review! I enjoy Our Blades are Sharp and really love your version of Domeric Bolton. My Edward will certainly have some of the traits Edward the Black Prince had.
JaceMaddox: Thank you and I completely agree with you on the Starkwankfest a lot of the fics have. I chose Myria Jordayne for exactly the reason you spelled out and she will be playing (hopefully) a significant part of the wars to come. I might do a rewrite, but it will only be if in order to fix chapters or put a better version of the story once this one is done. I'm trying to update as much as possible before school starts, but even then, with chapters only being about 2000 words, you might see an update at least once a week.
celticcank: Thank you!
Vulcran: Thank you!
Feanor-Dutch: I've read The Young Stag by kornerbrandon, which I enjoyed, and the one that really picks up on the 'tropes' you've laid out (somewhat) is A Song of Manes and Antlers by Aldon Blackreyne. There are going to be consequences for Edward in this fic. He's going to be a solid battle commander, there's no doubt about that considering he was fostered by Stannis, but he's going to be a foil for Robb Stark. Robb Stark was a brilliant tactician but ultimately lost the war because of his poor political decisions. Edward...he's not going to be perfect at politics, or not even great, but he's going to better at it than Robb Stark. I will try to avoid the classic pitfalls and I've hoped I've already hinted at some of the consequences for Edward's actions earlier in his life.
Once more, thank you for all your support in this fic and please continue to review! I will continue to respond to each review!