Part 14 - Coming home

(Tywin POV)

281 AC

Anger ... that's the emotion I'm feeling right now. Outrage and annoyance, but mostly anger. I didn't let it show on my face though. Never give anyone insight into your innermost thoughts, that way you leave all your enemies guessing.

As we travel from King's Landing back to Casterly Rock I can't help but think about how it got to this point. How could the King get this paranoid and disrespect me like this ...?

Of course, I knew of his mental health and I knew that sooner or later Aerys would try and deal with me by punishing me in some way. Taking away my son, my heir from me and trying to weaken my house was a smart and devious move ... or it would have been under normal circumstances.

But what made me so angry was that it wasn't even the King himself who came up with the idea to steal my heir from me ... no it was my heir himself. I'm sure that Cersei was the one who suggested it to him though as Jaime would've never gotten this idea on his own. My own son willingly becoming a Kingsguard just to stay close to Cersei and get away from his duties made me furious.

Before the anger can get the better of me, I calm down. Since the death of my father I knew that if I wanted to create a powerful legacy for House Lannister, I would have to do it myself. The sole reason why I had a portrait of my father in my solar was to remind me never to be like him ... weak, a laughing stock ...

I'm familiar with setbacks and I knew how to stay ahead of my enemies to not experience them. But this time ... the betrayal came from my own family.

Thankfully, this situation is salvageable. Had I only had Jaime and Tyrion, I would be in a very bad spot. But right now, I have another son who can become my heir. The heir of Casterly Rock. Escanor.

If I'm being honest, Jaime becoming a Kingsguard and therefore making Escanor my heir might be a stroke of luck. Since Jaime was young he had problems with all things concerning duty and learning. He preferred to use the sword and showed his massive talent in art. I was proud of him for having this much talent as it would further increase House Lannister's prestige and glory but it was not enough to be talented in the sword.

The heir to Casterly Rock and Lord Paramount of the Westerlands had to be equally smart and cunning as he was a skilled fighter. He had to inspire fear in the hearts of his enemies and even his allies. Escanor had the potential. He was smart and interested in learning new things.

Only his pride and love for his siblings were stopping him from truly embracing his potential and becoming something great. The way he shielded Tyrion often made me angry. Whenever I would ask him to stop he'd tell me the same thing, that it's not the child's fault when the parents have sinned.

He told me that Joanna was already weak because of his birth and if I blamed Tyrion for her death, I should equally blame him ... and myself ... It was the time when I lost my cool and hit him very hard. The gall of him blaming me for her death left me enraged for weeks and I didn't speak to him for the entirety of the time.

He didn't care though and kept his usual routine of reading and playing with his siblings. His pride will be his undoing one day.

Today when I think about his words I must say ... that they may have some truth to them ... Joanna was weak and we should have waited longer. But I just can't get over my anger at Tyrion for killing her.

Over the years, Escanor showed a remarkable intellect and will. His idea to create 'profiles' of all the important and less important players in Westeros and also some in Essos was ... genius. The way he sorted them was also clever. When he showed those cards to me and explained the thought behind them I was left speechless.

His conclusions and considerations were on point. Somehow he was able to create profiles of people whom he had never met and guess their motives and their most likely actions they might take.

He used the history of their houses, their positions in the kingdom, reports of their characters and other sources to try and guess their 'danger level', as he called it. This danger was towards House Lannister and our power. Escanor essentially created templates to guess the next move of people and therefore find those that would most likely betray others and who we could use to further our goals.

The pride I had at that time washed away all the anger I had and made me see Escanor in a new light. Our argument about his sword training also helped me understand my son better.

His pride in his capabilities weren't baseless. He was indeed strong beyond anything a 9-name-day-old child should be and the way he carried himself was also very mature and carefree. I started to use this information for the benefit of House Lannister and now I can have him become my heir.

And yet, I can't let this insult go unpunished. No one takes a jab at our house without retaliation.

.

We are getting close to Casterly Rock. I can see my brother Kevan waiting together with Escanor and ... Tyrion. The mere presence of him makes me angry again. But I try not to think about it now. It's time to deal with a lot of things and prepare for the future.

A lot of people and smallfolk greet us as our entourage enters Casterly Rock and they cheer. Kevan though and surprisingly Escanor as well aren't cheering or happy for that matter. They already know what happened. I send a raven in advance to tell Kevan what happened and to prepare for our arrival.

But the fact that he told Escanor ... that's hard to believe. No, he must have guessed it himself. It seems I have to take a look at those profiles again to see what changed during the years.

If he truly guessed the reason for our return then I have still underestimated his intelligence. Yes ... he will be the perfect heir ... with one or two changes. I have time now. I'll take over his education and show him the ropes now and use my time wisely.

Somehow he'll have to be taught despite his pride and his love for his younger brother Tyrion. I might have an idea of how to test him in the future should he again stand against me. No matter who it is, you don't cross me. I will create a standing legacy that will survive for a thousand years.