The King Rocks - (ASoIaF, King Loren the (not) Last!SI)
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There is something quite ironic in being reborn in Westeros as the heir to an important throne. Even more when I am supposed to be the 'last' King of the Rock - I am Loren Lannister and I was (re)born in 30BC and I have a rather unusual life at Casterly Rock. My father, Tommen III, was the King. He was... not Tywin. But he wasn't Tytos either.
In fact, at this point, the Lannister had yet to go down the deep end. Well, not all of us. Tommen II, granddad, 'disappeared' when he took a huge chunk of our ships, lots of our gold, and also Brightroar in an expedition to Valyria to plunder all the good and juicy stuff left behind by the Doom. As history goes, the guy is probably dead and he pretty much gave us trouble in the form of financial issues. Dad was not a pushover and he had studied long enough to know how to slowly work the economy back to a healthy shade of 'gold'.
I was born in an 'age of peace'. While Harren the Black was a spooky thing in the north, the still-formidable Lannister Fleet and the neutral relations with the Reach gave us the means to enjoy an era of stable growth and economic prosperity and... I was on a timer. A timer where a lot of people and the current status quo was about to get burned to a crisp through dragon-fire. I was supposed to be Loren the Last, the last King of the Rock and the First Warden of the West. That wasn't good. Not when the sudden decentralization, coupled with Targaryen Drama, was going to cause us a lot of issues.
The Westerlands were doing great. Not only were the mines of Gold as impressive as they could be at this time, and there was also a presence of other metals being dug around the mountains. Also, the fields were providing more than enough to keep us safe for several years. It was a perfect situation, but I knew things were going to change as soon as Ambitions and Madmen started to play Gods with magic, tyrannical bullshit and other dumb and cringe shit. With that in mind, I decided to play it 'aggressive' with diplomacy right from the age of 7.
At this point, I have been taught how to write, read and even do math through the Maester of Casterly Rock, so I had started to exercise for the finalization of this education when I brought up a 'silly' idea to the Maester.
"Can I write a letter to another noble heir?"
The question had been met with a degree of interest and confusion by the old teacher, but he told me that it was up to my parents and their whims in the matter. So, smartly so, I first convinced mom. One thing that I have learned since I was very very young is that: if you can convince mom, then she will convince dad and the wish will be made real. In most occasions. After all, the initial hurdle is nothing to scoff at. Cersei Lannister (formerly Cersei Brax and totally not a man-eater) was a proud and confident lady, but also one that tended to be quite airheaded at times.
So, I just asked her if I could write a letter to a 'noble heir of a non-dangerous house to test my writing skills'. It was some basic modern exercise for many kids in my previous life, but I bet I surprised a few with this request. After some more chatting, the woman found no issue in it and, as I brought it up to my father, he also found no reason to forbid me from writing to anyone that wasn't any of the major houses that we may be fighting in any big war in the eventual future (it was ironic this house may be the one that wrecks our pride, but still!).
After I was done getting all the needed permissions, I spent hours penning the finest letter a kid of 7 can produce. Not the finest in terms of terminology and very tame in regards of questions. The last thing I needed was for my letter to be mistaken as some clumsy spy's work.
When I was done with the ultimate draft, I had it put in an envelope and then sent via one of the royal messengers to the one individual I wanted to befriend ASAP!
Aegon Targaryen himself!
It was a silly plan, yes, one that could fail, but the risks were not that huge and the rewards were only the best possible within the timeline. I was still in a position to get myself cozy with the former conqueror, maybe get him to not conquer me and my lands, and perhaps something of a more stable government can be created.
The options were endless, but it all started by me being a bit childish on the matter. After all, childhood friendships are bound to create lasting bonds.
If only for long enough to get myself ready to kill dragons if the worst was to come towards Casterly Rock.
A Few Months Later, Dragonstone...
"Is this... real?" Visenya asked with a hint of disbelief.
She had just finished going through some basic exercises to get ready for her upcoming martial training when she found Aegon reading in his room. The girl had been told that someone had sent him a letter and, while that didn't sound so bad, the fact Aegon actually received a letter from a stranger felt absurd. And thus she went to check and- yes, he was reading one.
"Vis!" Aegon beamed and then his smile lessened a little. "And yes. I made a new friend."
"You have not," The girl reasonably rebuked. As if someone could make friends by letters alone. Friendship was personal, it was 'face to face', not through paper and ink. "So, who is the nuisance?"
" is not a nuisance," The boy whined, tightening his hold over the letter. "And he is the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of the Rock."
Visenya's lessons on places was quite limited and it wasn't a topic she liked either but...
"Is that in... Westeros?"
"Yup! He says that his family has a lot of gold mines."
Visenya nodded, expecting her little brother to say more about it but... he was back to silently read the paper.
"And?"
"And he asked me if dragons were really big," He hummed in delight, revealing that the lower half of the letter was a drawing. A rather silly 'dragon spitting fire' drawing at that. "He thinks that they are like that."
Such a silly sight that. Usually Visenya would hold her thoughts on such a topic, but a snort left her lips.
"Yeah, it is kind of dumb," Aegon agreed to her feeling. "But... it's not like so many know what dragons look like so... do you think I should write him back?"
Part of her wanted to say 'you should just ignore him for good', but Visenya then thought on the fact their father had to have looked into the letter first and, if he was willing to let Aegon have it then... maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to pursue this path.
"Does father know?" She asked, albeit she already knew the answer.
"Yes, but he says that he could be a good ally when I rule, you know? He is... Father says he may support us financially if trouble is to come and I truly treat him as an ally."
It was still unusual. Valyrians should only keep with Valyrians, yet Visenya knew that her father was not a defier of traditions. Perhaps there was more than they were aware about this... Loren.
"What about his house?" Visenya asked with a renewed hint of curiosity.
"Lannister."
She will keep that name in mind for further research on the matter.
AN
Let's go back to That Funny 'Song' which involves several 'Throne-related Games'. This is a tame setup chapter that will allow next one to see Loren to get his reign started. After all, sickness is troublesome and medical aid is fairly shitty. Luckily for him, he bathes regularly and he is wary of potential sickness-inducing causes. Still... who will he get with?