Fourth Month of 280 A.L. Casterly Rock
Lord Tywin Lannister
For eighteen years he had served as hand of the king, it had been he and not Aerys who had ensured that peace and plenty were brought to the Seven kingdoms after the war of the Ninepenny kings and the Tragedy of Summerhall threatened to tear the realm in two. But over the years Aerys had grown more and more erratic and when he had actually threatened to burn Tywin some three moons ago for something or the other, he had decided enough was enough and he had resigned the handship and had headed back to the Rock. Before leaving though he had made plans with Prince Rhaegar for the eventual coup that was to come into place, and part of that had been finalising the marriage between his son Jaime and Lady Lyanna Stark. The marriage had taken place at Casterly Rock two moons ago and had been attended by Lord Rickard his sons Brandon, Eddard and their brides as well as their children. Tywin believed Lady Lyanna a smart girl even if she was a tad too wild and impulsive for his tastes, she definitely would be good for Jaime, the boy had been knighted before his marriage by Summer Crakehall, and as such it was supposedly a knighthood well earned. Tywin would see how well his son had come along during the coming conflict.
That was why he had decided to include Jaime in the war council he was holding today at the Rock. With war on the horizon, Tywin had ordered the training of men and boys for the army and had alerted those lords on the borders with the Riverlands to begin preparing for an incursion. The men present in his solar apart from him and Jaime included his brothers Kevan who looked serious, Tygett who seemed angry with something or the other and Gerion who was jesting. Then there was Lord Summer Crakehall a good and honest man and Lord Damon Marbrand a cousin and a staunch ally. Tywin wasted no time once they were all settled to get to the heart of the matter. "War is coming to Westeros my lords. There is no point beating around the bush or trying to deny it. King Aerys has become as mad as any of his famous ancestors and even as mad as some of his infamous ones. Prince Rhaegar has decreed that the time has come to remove his father from the throne and to install him on it. As such when the raven comes we shall march and we shall see where the lords of the realm have their loyalty, to the mad man or the silver prince."
Summer Crakehall was the first to speak. "That is all well and good my lord, and it will be good to know that a sane monarch sits the throne. But what is in it for us? We will give ours men over to fight and die in a war, we might as well know what it is in it for us."
Tywin was not a man who smiled, but he would have smiled at that. "Well my lord of Crakehall I am glad you asked that question. For you see, though we shall be fighting to put Rhaegar on the throne, what that silver haired fool does not realise is that once he sits the throne and has removed his father, he would have set a dangerous precedent. This war is a way to further the strength of the alliance with the Tyrells and the Starks and make Rhaegar a puppet to our policies. As he would have used our military strength to sit himself on the throne, and remove his father who has the legal right to sit the throne from power, he will always be looking over his shoulder to see who the next person will be to try and remove him from power. Therefore if he wants to remain in power once he gets the throne, he will be more than willing to listen to what we have to say, and he will follow our policies. This shall give us even more power at court and in the kingdoms as a whole. We shall control trade and the commerce of the Seven Kingdoms."
There is some very excited murmuring at that and then Lord Damon speaks. "So should Rhaegar win we shall be at our most influential since the days of King Aegon the Unlikely. But what happens to us if we lose?"
Gerion speaks then. "Cousin, what makes you think we shall lose? We have the might of the west, the north and the Reach in this alliance. Which allies does Aerys have that could reasonably pose a threat to us? No I say we shall win and we shall win fairly comfortably."
Lord Damon speaks up then. "Well we know that the Vale and the Riverlands are in an alliance with one another, and it stands to suggest that seeing as Prince Rhaegar does not intend to call a great council that they will stand behind Aerys due to their notions of honour. Furthermore, the Stormlands will not easily forget who it was that invaded and pillaged their lands, they shall stand with Aerys even if it were not for Lord Robert's kinship to the King. That is in itself a formidable alliance, thankfully the Dornish shall stand with us due to Princess Elia and Prince Rhaenys. But we must make plans should things begin a little earlier than we had thought."
His cousin spoke sense, and yet Tywin was confident when he said. "I have made sure that no word of our movement has reached the Riverlands and as such should the riverlands declare for Aerys when war breaks out, they won't have enough time to call their banners before we set upon them. That is why I want trained and prepared to launch an attack from the Golden Tooth and our eastern border at a moment's notice. When the raven comes from Prince Rhaegar we march and we attack. Lord Rickard has said that he shall be dealing with the Vale in the manner of the ancient northern kings. That just leaves the notion of the Ironborn. Kevan what news from that angle?"
Kevan is silent a moment and then he says. "Little and less my lord. Balon Greyjoy sits in Pyke and does nothing but plot and brood. Whether he attacks during the war is for anyone to say. If he does attack the west though we shall be ready."
Tywin nods and then looks at the men gathered here in his solar and says simply. "Prepare for war my lords, and prepare well for when this all done we shall reap the rewards."