Chapter Four - Jaime I

Late 270 AC.

The day was here. Father would be arriving at Casterly Rock after two months and a few more days on the Goldroad. Genna, ever determined to run the Lannister household alongside Kevan in Tywin's absence, made sure all of the children, whether they were hers or otherwise, were dressed up in their finest attire to impress her older brother. Then again, Tywin was notoriously difficult to impress anyway, as Gerion would always remind her. Genna knew he was right but never wanted to give him the satisfaction.

Regardless, the members of House Lannister were lined up to await Tywin's return, with his children and other closest relatives facing directly in front of the cave opening where the Warden of the West would be arriving. The more distant relatives were closer to the bottom of the Rock along with Lord Tywin's bannermen, although some guards would be near their lord's children for protection.

Jaime was mostly annoyed at how his aunt, who all but managed the household when the Warden of the West was off in the capital, woke him and his siblings up early to greet their father. Personally, Jaime was only glad to see their father so he could show him how much he had improved in sparring practice. He just hoped Cersei did not try to try and attempt to be Father's favorite by telling him of everything he did with Jason behind his father's back.

When will she learn, Jaime thought to himself, that Father just cares that I'm a boy who can inherit this giant rock? I wish I could just let her have it, but Father would never allow it.

Jaime stood between Cersei, to his right, and Tyrion, to his left, with Jason standing right behind them due to his lower status as a bastard. Tywin's brothers and sister also stood in the front except for Gerion, who stood in the back next to Jason so he would not be alone. Maester Sarwin, the family's top servant, also stood with Jason, partially because he had grown to care for the boy and also did not wish for him to be alone without his siblings next to him.

The ceremony began with some trumpeters playing their tunes as loud as possible to announce the return of their great lord. Some knights rode through the gates on horseback, followed by some soldiers on the ground, as they entered the cavernous top floor of Casterly Rock. Jaime noticed one of them was a man who was carrying a banner with three hounds on a background of gold, the symbol of House Clegane.

Jaime knew they were an upstart house founded by his grandfather when a kennelmaster lost his dogs and a leg saving him from a mountain lion, yet despite this, his father did not look down upon them as he did, well, anyone else. He recognized Lord Clegane, but he also saw another man next to him, his face twisted into one of eternal anger.

But wait, I don't remember Lord Clegane having a little brother or cousin that big, Jaime pondered. Unless…that's his son?! He's bloody huge! I thought he was only a year older than me, but he looks like a full-grown knight! I have to remember to tell Jason not to pick a fight with him.

He then felt some shifting next to him. Looking down to his left, he saw Tyrion look nervous and uncomfortable, shifting in place rather than standing still. Of course, Jaime knew that his father's presence would always fill Tyrion with dread, as even at his young age, Tyrion knew his father did not like him, though he was too young to fully understand why. It did bring Jaime comfort that his aunt and uncles all loved Tyrion, but alas, they did not rule Casterly Rock.

Knights and soldiers continued to pass through the gates, and Jaime was starting to get tired of standing in place. He hoped he could find some way to entertain himself, but he knew that his father would notice and scold him. Jaime hated how much he felt a need to please his father at any cost.

Cersei, on the other hand, did find a way to enjoy herself. As per usual, it came at the expense of one of her two brothers not named Jaime, with Jason Hill being her victim in this case.

"I'm so glad Father is coming home. Perhaps someday Jason's mother will come to reveal herself and take Jason away. Wouldn't that be something, my bastard half-brother?"

Jaime looked to his right and shot her an angered look, though his twin sister cared little. Behind him, Jaime could hear Jason breathe heavily through his upper nose in restrained anger, his sore spot being poked by his cruel older sister.

"That's enough, Cersei," said Aunt Genna in an angered tone. "You are all Tywin's children, and you must stand together for the sake of House Lannister. Look, your father is coming up soon."

As if on cue, the four children soon witnessed the guest of honor himself. It was Tywin Lannister - Lord of Casterly Rock, Warden of the West, Shield of Lannisport, and Hand of the King to King Aerys II Targaryen. Most importantly, at least in this case, he was the father to Cersei Lannister, Jaime Lannister (his eldest trueborn son & heir), Tyrion Lannister, and Jason Hill, his bastard son.

Tywin looked as much a lion as he usually did, his tall stature topped off with his golden hair and intimidating stern look. Some of his hair, spanning from his head down his sides to his chin, appeared to be turning gray, with Jaime overhearing some of his cousins joke that King Aerys was so difficult to deal with that Tywin was growing old twice as quickly as a normal man.

Of course, no one would dare say this to Lord Tywin's face if they wished to keep whatever they held dear, for Jaime knew his father excelled at completely destroying his foes in any way possible.

Lord Tywin's stallion, as per usual, was adorned in deep crimson armor, highlighted by pure gold, to match the steel plating of his rider. The Warden of the West had his armor fitted with a greatcloak clasped by two small lionesses, and the symbol of House Lannister, the golden lion, was decorated all over his armor and helm.

Tywin Lannister did not need to dress so extravagantly to strike fear into every person in Westeros, but he did so anyways to show the people that House Lannister, the wealthiest house in all the Seven Kingdoms, would always dominate Westeros, from Dorne to the Wall. Or at least, they would do so as long as Tywin was the lord paramount of the Westerlands.

The proud lord eventually rode up to where his closest family members were waiting for him. But rather than leap from his horse and embrace his children and siblings, as any loving lord did with their family after years away from their home, Tywin looked at them as though he had just seen them less than an hour earlier at breakfast. Jaime was not particularly surprised or even disappointed, particularly with how his aunt and uncles told him and his siblings about Tywin's cold demeanor in his youth.

Most of those in attendance curtseyed or bowed to Tywin, with only his family being exempt from doing so. His eldest brother Kevan did so along with his wife, Dorna Swyft, yet Tygett, Genna, and Gerion did not follow suit (although Genna's weak-willed husband, Emmon Frey, bent his back significantly to bow before his goodbrother out of fear of his wrath). Jaime saw his father was looking at Maester Sarwin, who was done bowing, and his stomach filled with dread, for Sarwin was certainly going to tell his father what Jaime had been hoping to keep a secret.

"Maester Sarwin, I would like a word with you," Tywin calmly stated before turning his attention to his heir. "Jaime, I want you to come with us. Tygett, take Jason and the other squires & pages down to the training quarters. Feed them and then train them. Genna, Gerion, take Cersei and Tyrion back to their quarters."

Tywin gave a quick look at Jaime before dismounting his steed, where a squire removed his armor. Jaime recognized him as Roland Crakehall, a large boy four years Jaime's senior who was the heir to Lord Sumner Crakehall of the castle whose name was the same as the family. Once that was done, Tywin had a servant take his horse back to the private stable set up only for Tywin's own personal steed before he finally headed inside the Rock.

As Jaime watched him leave, he was broken out of his trance by Maester Sarwin putting a hand on his shoulders.

"My young lord, let us go. We must tell your father about your…difficulties with reading. You cannot hide the truth forever."

Jaime sighed. Why do adults always have to be right, he thought to himself. Makes it miserable for us children when we can't just be stupid and right rather than stupid and wrong.

As Jaime walked ahead of Maester Sarwin and a pair of Lannister guards, he turned his head around to see his siblings walking behind him. Jason just cast him a sympathetic glance before joining Uncle Tygett and the other highborn boys as they prepared to descend into the deeper levels of Casterly Rock and train in its yards. Meanwhile, Uncle Gerion held Tyrion's hand as he led him back to his quarters. Jaime thought to himself that Tyrion would likely entertain himself by reading some more of the books in Casterly Rock's vast library.

When Jaime turned to see Cersei, he saw his sister, walking next to Aunt Genna, with a scowl across her face. Evidently, his twin had desired to gain their father's attention and approval, no doubt being displeased at being ignored by her one living parent.

If only I cared so much about wanting Father to be proud of me, Jaime humorously thought to himself. He then was broken out of his thoughts when he realized he was falling behind the guards meant to escort him. Jaime ran up to them, not wanting to aggravate his father's already-minuscule patience.

Jaime arrived at his father's quarters, where Lord Tywin and Maester Sarwin were already sitting down and awaiting his presence. He uncomfortably moved forward, pulled out a chair, and sat down as he awaited the truth to finally spill from the lips of House Lannister's wisest servant.

"Jaime," his father addressed him, "do you know why I have brought you here with Maester Sarwin?"

"Yes, father."

Tywin's expression did not change in the face of his son's honesty. "And would you explain to us the exact reason?"

"It's...it's...it's the letters in the books. I have trouble reading them. They all seem backward to me when I'm in Sarwin's lessons with Jason and Tyrion."

Tywin merely nodded slightly. "And you did not tell anyone of this problem. Why?"

Jaime noticed his father did not seem angry at him for not being forthcoming over his inability to properly read the letters in his books. He sounded remarkably calm on the issue at hand, which made it a tad easier for Jaime to respond to his question.

"I did not...I didn't want anyone to think less of me. To make fun of me or feel pity for me if I could not read."

Tywin nodded. "Maester Sarwin informed me by raven of his concerns regarding your difficulties with your reading. Now," he turned to Sarwin, "is this condition permanent? Can it be fixed?"

Jaime also turned toward Sarwin, curious as to how the elderly scholar would answer his lord's question. Sarwin swallowed, evidently uneasy about having to answer such a question focused on the son of Tywin Lannister.

"Well, um, the condition can be, well, mitigated through aiding the subject in question, or young Jaime in this matter, how to adapt his eyes to interpreting the letters. Eventually, his eyesight may learn to eventually read properly, or at least to the standards of an individual without this condition. However, I have exchanged ravens with some of my colleagues at the Citadel, and, from what limited information we have on this condition, I am inclined to inform you, as your loyal servant, that young Jaime's eyesight may not ever recover from this."

Silence came over the room as Jaime and Tywin pondered the implications of this in their heads. To Jaime, the relief of not having to spend hours reading monotonous books on all sorts of useless topics was overshadowed by the shame of having others know he could not read. If he became lord, no amount of skill with a sword would overcome the inability to read a piece of parchment without the aid of a maester. What would Jason and Tyrion think of him if they knew they'd have to read books and letters to him? What would Cersei think of him? Would she still want to be with him if he could not even read?

Tywin turned toward his son. "Jaime, listen to me. We are going to work to try and mitigate this issue with your eyesight so that you may better serve our family when the time comes. We are going to spend four hours every day in the library from now on, two hours before sword and horse in the morning and two hours after supper every night. For the time when I am away in King's Landing, you will be instructed by Maester Sarwin during this time until your eyesight improves to a standard when such exercises are no longer required. Do you understand?"

Jaime felt frustration build up inside of him as he heard this news. Father was going to torture him by locking him away for four hours a day just for the faint hope he would be able to read? How did Father know this would even be able to fix his eyesight? Reading books won't help him defend his family and house, yet he was doomed to focus more on that than his skills with a blade.

"Jaime, do you understand?"

His father's voice snapped Jaime out of his internal anger at the new situation. No matter how he felt about the matter, Jaime had no choice but to do as his father told him to do.

"Yes, Father. I understand."

"You will start tonight after supper, and tomorrow you will begin your reading sessions with me," Tywin stated. "For now, you may go down to the training yard with Jason and the other young lords. Tell only Jason about what has been said here, and only do so when no one else is with the two of you. I do not wish for anyone beyond the members of our household to be aware of this...temporary problem. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Father."

"Good. You are dismissed."

Jaime stood up, bowed toward his father, and walked out of the room, the loud crash of the closing door behind him as he walked at a hurried pace.

I need to pick up a sword and fight someone before I go crazy, Jaime thought to himself as he quickly descended several flights of stairs. Hopefully, the other squires and pages have not yet finished their breakfasts. I don't need to fight someone both angered as well as famished.

As Jaime approached the training yard within the depths of Casterly Rock, he was relieved to have his nose enticed by the scent of breakfast. At least now, he could still share some food with Jason along with their good friend Addam Marbrand before they began their practice for the day.

Two Lannister guards, sensing Jaime's presence, quickly escorted Jaime once the young lord had made it down the stairs. They quickly got him a plate from some serving girls and brought him to where Jason and Addam, along with many other squires and pages, had just started eating. The two of them knew of Jaime and Jason's close friendship, so Jaime quickly thanked them before sitting down to eat between his half-brother and their best friend, making sure to add foods such as rolls and meats to his plate.

"So how did it go with Father," Jason asked. His tone was a mixture of genuine curiosity mixed with a decent amount of dryness at his father's lack of attention toward the majority of his children. "Did he ask you about anything?"

"No, not particularly," Jaime quickly said as he tried to finish a roll and some sausages. "He just wanted to talk to me about something. I can tell you about it tonight."

"He probably just wanted to hear about how good Jaime is with a blade," Addam Marbrand said, his smile filled with a sense of admiration for Jaime's skill with a blade. The son and heir to Lord Damon Marbrand, Addam was a tall boy with not much more than skin and bones on his long arms and legs, serving as a page to Kevan Lannister. His house shared blood with House Lannister, as Lord Tywin's mother, Jeyne Marbrand, was the older sister of Addam's grandfather, Lord Darran Marbrand, who would rule from their ancestral seat of Ashemark.

Addam was the only child of Damon Marbrand and his wife, Sanda Estren, so he was rather sheltered by his parents until Tywin Lannister convinced them to have him fostered at Casterly Rock. According to Lord Tywin, having the only son of House Marbrand's main line raised under the infamous man behind the slaughter of the Reynes and Tarbecks would strike fear into the hearts of any cousin or other distant relative seeking to take over Addam's birthright. Lord Damon and Lady Sanda reluctantly agreed, but so far, with Tywin placing Addam with his eldest brother and closest friend, Kevan, the agreement had done much for Addam's reputation and his connections to the Rock. Some at Casterly Rock stated openly that Tywin would give Addam a powerful wife once he was of age to solidify the bonds between House Lannister and the family from which Tywin's mother originated.

None of that political and noble prattle mattered to Jaime, however. Addam was a good friend of his not because of his family name or his relation to their father, but because he was easy to talk to and an excellent sparring partner. He even became friends with Jason quickly in spite of Jaime's half-brother's status as a bastard, which only made Jaime like Addam even more as a friend.

"If I wanted someone to keep praising me, I'd pay Maester Sarwin a gold dragon every day to do so," Jaime said after finishing a bread roll. "But if you're already doing it, you might as well continue."

"Don't you ever get bored of being the golden child of Casterly Rock," Jason Hill said, partially as a joke, whilst finishing his plate.

Jaime smirked. "Not really-"

"There you are, bastard! I thought I saw you earlier!"

Oh seven hells, Jaime thought to himself. He recognized that loud, undeservedly arrogant voice as none other than his cousin, Tarold Lannister. He was the second son of Morion Lannister, the younger brother of Tywin's late wife. Jaime thought of Tarold as a spoiled brat who would pick on anyone he could to feel better, only sparing Jaime for fear of invoking Lord Tywin's wrath. He had an older brother, Reginald, who was just as unpleasant as him, and a younger brother, Orson, who was rendered simple as the result of a foolish wet nurse dropping him on his head when he was a babe.

Oddly enough, Tarold never sought little Tyrion to be a victim of his cruelty, but he instead focused on Jason Hill, his bastard cousin. His father, Morion Lannister, and his mother, Doalia Hawthorne, both spoke of how Jason's mere existence was a mockery of the woman whom Tywin claimed to love above all else, her death devastating him to the point of never remarrying. And the fact that Jason grew up in Casterly Rock alongside his Lannister family was seen by them as all but shitting on her grave, even if Lady Joanna herself never wanted such cruelty to occur to her stepson.

Tarold, encouraged by his father and older brother, would jape at Jason in their training sessions, mocking him about his absent mother and claiming he could do whatever he wanted to Jason since he was a trueborn Lannister rather than a bastard. Uncle Tygett would often step in to force Tarold back, but Jason had been taunted by his vicious bully of a cousin whenever his cousin found an excuse to go to Casterly Rock, as Tarold would always make sure Jason was alone before trying to demean him. Jason was helpless, as Tarold could simply tell his parents and they could have the bastard punished for striking or insulting a true highborn.

But Jaime would not let his half-brother be insulted so easily by some worthless second son of a cousin. So as Tarold approached, Jaime turned to face him with a smile even as Jason had a look of some light anger and frustration.

"Ah, there you are, bastard. Still filling up Casterly Rock with your lowborn stench, I see."

"I'd say that compared to the stench of you, a sad second son of a second son, his aroma is quite appealing," Jaime replied with a natural sense of calm and ease in his words. Jason's expression turned into a quickly growing smile as it was now Tarold's turn to feel a bout of frustration as he turned toward Jaime.

"How could you, son of the great Tywin Lannister, be so close to his bastard? Why don't you stick with your actual family, your mother's family?"

"Well first, keep Lady Joanna's name out of your mouth," Jaime threatened, his smile hiding the rage building in his words. "Second, my father brought Jason home to be fostered here. Or would you rather bring your complaints about his own son to him instead?"

Jaime saw his cousin's face go as white as Maester Sarwin's sheets as the thought of provoking the proud Lion of Casterly Rock struck the fear of gods into him. Jason could not hold back some chuckling at his antagonizer's sudden discomposure.

"That's what I thought, cousin. Now go away. Maybe if you do well in sparring practice today, your father will stop flirting with young girls and your mother will cease her constant drinking."

Jason was chuckling now as even Addam had a wide smile on his face. Jaime saw Tarold was now in Jaime's position, unable to retaliate against someone whose standing was higher than him. He turned his head toward Jason and glared at him, as if he were to blame for all of Tarold's woes in life from his obnoxious older brother to his neglectful parents.

"I'll see you in sparring practice, bastard! Jaime won't save you then!"

After he ceased his chuckling, Jason turned to face his cousin and smiled. "When we're sparring with no limits, I won't need any help to knock you down."

Jaime smiled and turned to look at his enraged and embarrassed cousin's face for any sort of response. Tarold Lannister, saying nothing, turned around and stomped off. The three boys then swiveled themselves back around to finish their food.

"Thank you, Jaime," the heir's half-brother said to him. Jaime just calmly smirked.

"No worries. Just go beat him in sparring practice, will you?"

Jason looked at Tarold, who was at another table sulking whilst eating his food.

"With pleasure."

The boys would be able to enjoy their food for a few more minutes before all of the pages & squires would hear a chalice being slammed down onto the wood. Ceasing their chatter, they all turned their heads to see it was Tygett Lannister behind the loud noise, and they all knew it meant their breakfasts would be over soon.

"Listen up! Finish your meals and pick up your wooden swords, boys! Training will begin within a few minutes! You'd best not make us wait!"

...

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Hey there! I am SO sorry this took so long, but I had a lot of life stuff to deal with, not to mention I debated the best way to end this chapter. But I hope you enjoy it! My goal is to use this story partially to provide a glimpse into the lives of Tywin's kids at Casterly Rock since the show gives us minor hints & details.

The next chapter will be Jason's second, and we will pick up right where this chapter ends. I hope to get it out ASAP, but that will depend on life stuff. Until then, feel free to read the previous chapters and hope to be back soon!