Chapter 23

A tiny part of Joanna wished she could disappear into the depths of the Rock like her daughter does, to get away from the woes of the world, but duty wiped that away. Her days of girlhood fancies were long behind her.

Once again in the lord's solar, Joanna found herself reading through the last of the correspondence her house had exchanged with the rest of the Westerlands during her brief absence.

It was neither small amounts nor trivial matters.

"Seems the situation has only grown more dire, it would appear." Joanna finally spoke, breaking the silence.

Kevan nodded in agreement. "We moved to bolster the guard when my brother's raven arrived. If there's one good thing to winter, it's that we are left with many restless farmhands bereft of fields to till."

"And yet, our little banditry problem persists." Joanna pointed out. "No. They've grown beyond mere bandits. Proper brigands more like at this point."

Perhaps her tone was a tad sharp with the way her goodbrother's face went flat.

"Peace, Kevan, I do not mean to lay blame." She said in apology. The man was only carrying out hers and Tywin's wills. "I am merely frustrated."

"It is understandable." He nodded, accepting her words. "It is a frustrating problem."

Bandits were a fact of life, though most were less hardened outlaws, and more merely opportunistic men who preyed upon travellers in more remote areas. Their target of choice being whatever poor, vulnerable traveller unlucky enough to cross their path.

Yet, the ones causing her current headache were no mere thugs and rabble.

They've formed into a band, and an audacious one as well.

To attack and seize a tax wagon bound for Casterly Rock was bold indeed.

And foolish, to dare slight the overlord of the West.

"Have there been further reports of attacks?" She asked.

"None that we know." Kevan denied.

"So just House Lefford then." Joanna hummed while leaning back against the chair.

"Well, House Lefford is one of our wealthiest principal bannerman." Kevan pointed out.

"I am well aware." Joanna said in turn. "Nonetheless, it is the manner of attack that bothers me."

A convenient rockslide while travelling through a narrow pass which swept the party from the road and, before what few survivors could gather their bearings, were promptly fallen upon.

"It is difficult to believe." He said. "I can't imagine the time and effort they must have expended setting up such an ambush."

What her goodbrother said made the most sense.

Yet…

"And our patrols have found nothing?"

Her goodbrother shook his head. "Tygett is on the hunt currently with a number of men, alongside others from both houses Lefford and Sarsfield, but not a trace has been found, of the attackers nor the gold."

Irritating.

"I doubt that men of this character can hold their tongues well, especially with such newfound wealth. Keep an ear close to places where their kinds are like to gather. Brothels, alehouses, gambling dens, and the like." Joanna commanded.

"I'll have the orders sent out."

"For now, inform our various vassals to be more mindful with their due taxes." Joanna said. "While I do not anticipate another attack, not with winter settling in, it would be prudent to be more careful."

"What shall we do with house Lefford?" Kevan inquired.

Joanna took a moment to consider the question. "It was not our failure that saw to the caravan's loss, but I'll write to Tywin of the matter. Perhaps a short deferment in payment will do, but this is my husband's decision. Presently, let us ensure it does not happen again and find the perpetrators."

"Shall we put a price on their heads?" Kevan asked. "Standard fare, mayhaps – A bag of silver?"

"Hm. A bag of gold. Perchance this issue can be solved by such."

Joanna had a strong feeling her hopes would be dashed, but she would consider the gold well spent if it worked.

Jaime found himself in his place of familiarity. Shouts of men and clashing of swords rang in the air, alongside the dull thudding of arrows against targets and cracking of quintains. The training yard of Casterly Rock was rarely a quiet place.

It was a place of comfort to him, just as his sister's little secluded chamber was to her.

Even now, days later, he still found himself reeling from the knowledge Cersei had shared with him that day.

The future.

It was something Jaime had put little thought into. He would, one day, inherit Casterly Rock and reign as its lord, as his father did, and his father before him in a line stretching back to the Age of Heroes. He would marry, sire children, and they follow him in time.

Simple.

He would also be a knight of renown, befitting his lordly lineage.

One of the finest in the realm.

His sister was always so confident about the idea, even when Jaime sometimes found his own confidence wavering at times.

But not Cersei's. Never hers.

The sky was blue, the sun rises from the east, and Jaime Lannister will become one of the finest swords in the realm.

He was always touched by the sheer belief she had in him, which only made him more determined to be the person Cersei thought he could be.

In the end though, it turned out that it was not blind confidence that allowed Cersei to put such tremendous trust in him.

Rather, it was because of confidence granted by visions of the future, both near and far, where he had achieved that very goal.

Though she cautioned him most sternly that the future was ever in motion. That what could happen was not fated, merely a possibility.

Cersei both chastised and warned him to not slack, especially since that potential Jaime wore the white cloak of the Kingsguard and was thusly honed by some of the greatest knights in the realm.

Even now, thinking over it, he did not know what could possess him to give up his birthright of Casterly Rock, but it was not a decision the Jaime Lannister of now had any intention to repeat.

Still, that little revelation paled in comparison to everything else.

The world now seemed so much larger, and so much more terrifying.

There was a nearly hundred-year-old ancient Targaryen bastard entwined within a weirwood living north of the Wall and among the Children of the Forest.

Oh, and that very same tree wizard had attempted to assassinate Cersei in her dreams, and it was only due to the spirit that guarded her soul awakening to fend off the attack that Cersei was able to wake to another sunrise.

If that wasn't enough, that man was supposed to be an ally of the humanity who was working against the Others.

Jaime thought he knew his destiny. He would be a knight, and eventually rule Casterly Rock and the Westerlands. Perhaps they'll be war and battle, but he would rise to the challenge like those before him who ruled the Rock.

Simple.

Then his sister revealed herself to him as the Avatar, and her destiny was grander than even his.

Yet, that fact still changed little for him. He would still be a knight, but he would follow along with his sister, guarding her as one of the Avatar's companions with Lanna. They would go where her powers and abilities were needed.

It was to be like a story. A true adventure for the ages.

They would go around, saving villages and bringing down evil. In time, they would emerge victorious and retire home at the end of a long life.

Now that last part was debatable since his sister had also revealed that the second Long Night was approaching and with it, another war for the dawn.

In his generation, the Others will come, unceasing winter and death in their wake.

It was a terrifying thought.

Thousands of years had passed since the last battle with only stories being the last reminder of the event, but according to Cersei, the war for all of living kind was due to begin anew in less than half a century. In the time since the last battle, the realm of men had relegated their ancient foes to tales, while their foe did not sit idle, instead gathering their strength.

Cersei's words chilled him to the bone as she described what she saw. Weapons of ice that would shatter steel when traded. The dead rising from their graves to take up arms against the living, and an eternal winter that would eventually swallow the world itself, snuffing out the breath out of all living things.

And yet…

Yet…

Underneath all the terror which gripped his heart, Jaime Lannister could not deny that tiny seed of excitement deep within him.

It was utterly apparent to him that with the coming of the second Long Night, a second Age of Heroes was rising to meet it.

The appearance of bending abilities in the world only reaffirmed his belief. With the calamity that was to ensue, heroes must rise to stand against it.

And his sister.

The Avatar. The only person capable of mastering all of the four elements. Cersei had mentioned an Avatar in full mastery of their abilities could raise oceans, shatter mountains, and split the continent in twain.

Destiny was calling for all those willing to hear, and he would answer in full.

By steel and deeds, Jaime would carve his name into history alongside Cersei's. This was the dawn of an age where men were born ordinary, but could die as heroes.

Ten thousand years from now, the singers and storytellers would remember their names.

That, Jaime vowed.

A twisting tendril of water cut through the air, whipping unerringly towards my head.

I responded with a gesture and flex of my will, summoning a slab of earth just large enough to cover my body, which burst forth from the ground, scattering dust and rocks with its entrance.

My foe's water whip disintegrated against the unyielding stone, the only trace of its existence being sprays and droplets of water scattering to my sides which left me dry, yet I paid it no more mind as I took but a moment to lower myself into a more grounded stance before thrusting my fists forward.

The slab of stone released a crack of sound as it was shorn from its base, sent hurtling towards my foe.

As expected, Lanna merely stepped out of the way. Well, I wouldn't have thrown it if I didn't know she would dodge such an obvious and flashy attack.

Which was why the initial throw was merely a screen. My were already flowing in a smooth motion around me as pulled forth the remnants of the water from her whip earlier.

Whatever initial response Lanna had for me was immediately abandoned as the girl suddenly found herself under assault by a shower of icy projectiles.

Blunted of course.

The water swirling around Lanna surged forth, twisting and weaving into a wall of water which interposed itself between her and my projectiles. Moments before impact, the sheen of her wall changed as it hardened into ice at her command.

The dull thudding impacts from my attack told me I wasn't going to be punching through, so I made to switch tacks, yet Lanna didn't seem to give me the opportunity.

I had but a single moment to understand Lanna had stepped out behind her cover, twirled more like, and her arm snapping towards me.

And behind her, beholden to her will, a bullet of water feet across shot towards me at speed.

Ah, heck.

That cover had blocked my sight and had given Lanna the seconds needed to really wind up an attack.

Tui and La. Push and pull.

Dropping into a waterbending stance, I reached out with my chi to seize the oncoming water. It resisted but for a moment, but fell under nonetheless. With a graceful spin, I redirected the attack and sent it hurtling back at Lanna.

Lanna was not idle in the seconds I had spent responding. I looked forward to seeing half a dozen balls of water streaking in the air towards me.

A couple of plans came to mind. Push and pull. I could easily dodge what needed to be dodged and send back a couple to press the attack. Then Lanna would probably repeat said move, and we would just be volleying water at each other for a while.

Which was an exercise Lanna and I had already spent many hours doing as practice.

I was thinking too much as a waterbender. I had options that were not available to anyone else.

Let's flip the board.

I took a deep breath to stoke the fire within myself, before unleashing it in a single widespread burst of fire. The sharp hissing of steam filled the air as Lanna's assault literally evaporated.

Following up, I punched forward and released a stream of fire.

Lanna, bless her soul, did the predictable thing humans do when dealing with fire. She panicked and raised as much water as she conceivably could to put between herself and said fire.

It was a primal human thing, I was pretty sure. Throwing a rock at someone is one thing, or even a large slab of it like I did earlier, Lanna was well accustomed to my earthbending in our sparring, more than able to keep her cool and deal with my attacks.

But fire was simply another matter. It just provoked a reaction like nothing else.

Not that I blamed her in the least. If someone threw a ball of fire at me, I had absolutely no doubt that I would probably flail about clumsily in a panic and a lot less gracefully than Lanna would.

The temperature soared as steam rapidly filled the gap between us as my gout of flame crashed into her torrent of water, quickly obscuring our vision. I was thankful I had the foresight to earthbend some new ventilation shafts to the outside world.

I dug my bare feet into the ground, leaning hard on my seismic sense to provide me a visual. The image within my mind was dulled and indistinct, and barely extended more than a dozen feet with me, owing to the generous amounts of water seeping into the earth during this bout.

We were definitely going to have to tone it down a bit otherwise the cistern would go dry. Between the two of us waterbending, we could likely recover some of the used water, but far from all of it.

It took a moment for me to find her and only another before for my palm to thrust forward, fingers first. The familiar and comforting weight of my gold band slipped off my wrist and flew forward towards it target, punching a thin hole through the slowly dissipating steam.

Impact.

I felt a small smile grow on my face. With a determined effort, I snapped my palm closed, wrapping the band around her ankle.

The sheer number of hours I had invested into practising that little move had finally allowed me to utilize it in sparring with at least some degree of reliability.

As the last of the steam faded, I swept my hand across the field. Lanna yelped as her right leg suddenly closed with her left, sending the poor girl sprawling to the ground.

I let out a breath. "Good fight." I say while walking towards Lanna. And it was. Lanna had been driven since I revealed what the future had in store for Westeros, and had taken to sparring with a newfound eagerness.

So had Jaime, actually.

Seem's all my friends are training nuts.

Guess I'm in good company.

"It's not over yet," Lanna responded with a growl as she rolled away from me and climbed back up into a fighting posture.

I blinked. Nearly a dozen bouts between us had ended exactly like this. With my metal wrapped around one of her appendages, making it extremely difficult for her to bend.

I smirked at her words. Defiant Lanna is fun too. "Oh, and what are you going to do?" I say tauntingly.

Though my words were light, my eyes were locked onto Lanna. If she made to reach down to pry the clasping band from her leg, I would simply just trip her over again.

She tried that tactic before and just as it failed then, it would fail again now.

"This." And she threw a ball of water at me. A simple move that didn't require her to utilize her lower body in any way.

I idly batted it away, causing it to burst apart when it splashed against the ground.

But that wasn't what grabbed my interest. In the seconds it gave Lanna, she wrapped water around my band and promptly froze it.

Instantly, the metal which shone against my senses vanished into the wind.

Oh.

That's new.

There might have been the faintest trace of the metal remaining, but it was so light that I wasn't sure if it was merely a phantom sensation or actually there. Either way, I didn't have any more time to think about it, as Lanna didn't hesitate to begin an onslaught of attacks.

Well now.

My small smile bloomed into a full-fledged one as I fell back to gain distance.

This is fine too.

We can always find more water elsewhere.