19. Another Unforeseen

How could I have forgotten something so crucial, the prophecy that cemented Aerys and Rhaella's marriage; the prince that was promised and possibly the cause for the tragedy at Summerhall. I would need to keep an eye on this 'Lily', from the books, her abilities were the real deal. I can't take the chance that her prophecies affect my plans negatively.

King Aegon looks from Jenny to the albino dwarf woman and gave a warm smile, "Greeting Lily, one of the children of the forest?" Lily didn't dare be rude to the King but she let the displeasure known.

"Your Grace, do not take the silly words of my friend to heart, I dare not call myself one of the Children. I am just a simple dwarf with a queer appearance. I have been cursed with terrible dreams, and because of that Jenny thinks that I am magical."

The King smiled at the response, "An albino, my uncle is… was an albino." The King corrected himself. Blood Raven had gone missing beyond the wall almost a year now, he was presumed dead, due to his age and that it was Winter, no one thought it was possible that he was alive, but I knew better.

At that time, I remembered another thing that I had completely missed. I was starting to think my memories of the books weren't as good as I had thought, even as a fan I couldn't remembered ever detail. I had always been more captivated by the world building and the lore and conspiracy theories surrounding them.

'Memory recall' worked by allowing me to review things that I have seen, as it increased, it allowed for greater detail, but only if I was actively trying to remember and only memories after I had gotten the skill. I quickly made a mental note of a plan that I would need to speak to the King about later to address the issue of the missing 'Dark Sister'.

Lily nodded her head, "The Blood Raven, I have heard many a tales of him, Your Grace I would like to speak with you at a later time, in private, please." Curiosity was on the King's face, "I will make some time later." From the way the King had spoken and the lack of reaction when he saw Lily, I assumed that he was already aware of her the nature of her dreams.

At that time another, young dark hair, dark brown eyed young teen walked up, he had come with the procession. He was wearing a green surcoat with the sigil of House Hightower. Gerold Hightower who I had learned was squiring for Prince Duncan. Gerold was a year older than myself and close to 5'10" around 150lbs as oppose to my 5'7", 125lbs.

Even with an increase of protein and overall calories, near 6 hours of intense training nearly each day, my physique was no where near his. I had heard from the King that when Prince Duncan saw Gerold in action with a sword in his hand, he took him as a squire immediately. However, I didn't feel threatened, it was only a matter of patients, I would overtake him in size eventually.

For now, body mass was one of my biggest disadvantages, I was already confident in being able to fight against unarmored opponents. Heavily Armored opponents were a different story. Armor left very little for someone such as myself with a hit and run style of combat, combined with a size advantage, I would be hard pressed even against an average knight twice my size in close quarters combat.

As the King invited his son and everyone else inside, I could see Gerold Hightower size me up from the other side of Prince Duncan. It was when we were outside the main hall of Maegor's Holdfast that Gerold Hightower approached me.

"You must be Tywin Lannister, the heir to Casterly Rock?"

"Yes, and you are Gerold Hightower, the squire of Prince Duncan?"

He laughed as he scratched his face, I could tell that he enjoyed the little recognition. It was kind of funny to think that this was the same person, who in less than 7 years would become the Lord Commander of the King's Guard in the book after Ser Duncan the Tall. I guess we all had to grow up at some point. 

"Its good to make your acquaintance, I heard from the King that you aspire to join the King's Guard. The prince must also see great promise in you if he took you as his squire. I'm sure that in time that you will be called upon to serve when there is a vacancy."

I said with a straight face, complementing him. Both he and Barristan Selmy were 2 of the most prominent members of the King's Guard I knew of, that would take part in the War of the 9 Penny Kings. I wanted to establish good relations with them, even if I had planned to use them as stepping stones.

As we walked along behind the King and Prince Duncan, Gerald made small talk about what he and Prince Duncan had been up to over the last year. They had travelled the length of the Riverland and The Reach, all while hunting bandits and assisting to squash minor conflicts amongst noble houses. They had spent the last month at Summerhall before returning to the Capital.

All the while Gerald spoke, I gave him the bare minimum attention as I was more interested in Lily and what she had wanted to say. I was hoping that when the 'being' who sent me here said that my soul had been shielded from other Divinities, that included prophecies. If not then I would have to find a way to deal with her permanently.

As we arrived at the holdfast the King had already made arrangements for his son and his wife to be taken to their apartment, Lily was also given an apartment within the holdfast as Lady Jenny didn't want her friend to be too far away. The King had decided to meet with Duncan, Jenny and Lily after they settled in.

As the King left them, I walked behind him but he had other plans. "That will be all for today, Tywin, you should take the rest of the day off. Perhaps you can accompany Gerold to his apartment, you both should be staying not far from each other." King Aegon suggested.

I was a little annoyed as I was hoping to be present when the King spoke with Lily to find out exactly what it was, that she had seen. Had my actions altered her prophecies and if so, how? However now I would just have to wait and try to figure a way to get the info from the King.

As we left the holdfast, it was midday so, I decided that now was a good of time as any other. "Hey Gerold, how tired are you?"

"Not very, why?"

"Since we have some time, after you settle in, would you like to join me in the training yard, I would like to get a few pointers from you if you don't mind."

Gerold Hightower gave me a huge grin, "How about we head their now?"

...............…..

King Aegon V Targaryen POV

"So, Lily, my son tells me that you have been blessed with the ability to see the future and that there are things that you have seen that concerns my family and the future of the realm?" I asked the albino dwarf who now was sitting in my study, together with Dunk, Duncan and Jenny.

 "It is more of a curse Your Grace, the terrible thing I see, I rarely ever have a night where I can sleep without fearing the things in my dreams. Sometime, I see them clearly and other times you have to add meaning. As of late I feel as if something is missing from my dreams, as if a shadow is cast on parts of my dream and I can't see all of it.

Your Grace, there is a particular dream that I have been having over and over again for more than a year now. A great evil stirs in the cold lands, the dead, numbers too many to count, marching, destroy and devouring, they bring nothing but terror and death.

I see a young prince, his banner, a gold 3 headed dragon on a red field, on top a dragon's back. He wears a golden armour and his hair is silver and gold, his face, I cannot see his face. But his is not the only dragon, there are others, 5 in all, each off them fierce, but I cannot see the faces of the riders. The prince leads and army, against the dead, men and dragons alike, men from all over the Seven Kingdoms.

This was the dream that I have seen the most, but there is another that troubles me. Another that terrifies me. There is a beast, a terrifying thing, I cannot see its features, but I know it thirsts for blood.

Its shadow hangs over this city, what it wants is dragon's blood. I see a young dragon fleeing in terror but the beast, it catches him and devours him, it also devours those around it. It is only the bloody claw marks I am able to see in its wake."

This was a lot to take in all at once. "How certain are you about your dreams, do they always come though?" I asked the now visibly shaking dwarf, whatever it is she saw, it truly did frighten her.

"I cannot say Your Grace, I have never had dreams that were so clear, yet I couldn't see parts, as if they were being kept from me. I also do not know when this dream takes place, if it is ten or a hundred years from now, there are too many things that I don't know."

Jenny quickly added, "Your Grace, her dreams once save my life, it was once when I was young, there had been a terrible storm and she woke me in the middle of the night and warned me that we needed to get to higher ground. Had I not listened to her, I would have been drowned when the river had burst its banks." 

 "Father, I too will stand witness to the legitimacy of her dreams, just a couple of months ago, she saw a group of mummers being attacked by bandits, outside of Oldtown. She had described them as men queerly dressed with painted faces being attacked by wolves. I didn't pay it much mind until a week later we came upon the group being robbed."

Both Duncan and Jenny came to her aid. "It is not that I doubt her words, it is what her words mean? I have never heard of a Targaryen banner bearing a golden three headed dragon on a field of red. Also, what you descried sounds familiar, the story of The Long Night."

Her dreams were too vague, but the thing that had stood out to me the most were 'dragons'. We would one day have dragons again, 5 if her dream were accurate. The Conqueror had taken Westeros with 3 dragons, imagine what 5 dragons could do.

House Targaryen would be able reassert its dominance, no longer would we need to play the politics and worry of marriage pacts. It was because my sons and daughter had broken their marriage pacts that I now had to seek to foster as many of the heirs of the great houses that I could.

Houses Tyrell, Tully and Greyjoy's loyalty had wavered over the years. Houses Stark, Arryn and Lannister were the most loyal, but Dorne was the outlier, their loyalty was fickle, many Dornish Lords still yearned to be independent again.

Then there was this Maelys Blackfyre, should another Blackfyre rebellion take place, I fear that if it is fought in Westeros, it may cause a fracturing of the Great Houses should any one of them side with the Blackfyre faction. Westeros is currently being held together by a series of balancing acts and should one fail, it could cause everything to fall down.

The only way I can ensure the unity of the realm and the continuation of the Targaryen dynasty for generations to come is through dragons. Even my own children had proven me wrong, had they followed my wishes I wouldn't need to be struggling and making concession after concession to maintain peace.

"I think that you have given me a lot to thinks about, I wish to speak to you again on a next day. Now, Lady Jenny and Lily, we will be having a feast to welcome you all later tonight and I hope to see you both there. Right now, I will like to discuss the matter of a troublesome group of bandits with the Lord Commander and my son."

...............…..

Tywin's POV

 ____________________________

Name; Tywin Lannister

Age; 11

Blessings; Divine Guidance

Titles; Heir to Casterly Rock, Tytos Lannister's Son, The Young Lord of Casterly Rock, The Basilisk

Bloodline; (Inactive)

Status;

Attributes;

Vitality- 10/15, Strength- 11/15, Stamina- 11/15, Agility- 15/15, Mind- 15/15, Will- 11/15, Charisma- 12/15, Luck- 11/15

(Free Attribute Points 0)

Skills-

Proficient-

*Sword Proficiency (proficient-10/30)

*Dagger Proficiency (proficient-7/30)

*Archery (proficient-15/30)

*Shield Proficiency (proficient-2/30)

*Reading (proficient-15/30)

*Arithmetic (proficient-12/30)

*Observation (proficient -15/30)

*Sexual Performance (proficient-5/30)

*Controlled Breathing (proficient -22/30)

*Striking (proficient -5/30)

*Spatial Awareness (proficient -20/30)

*Intimidate (proficient -12/30),

*Climbing (proficient -5/30)

*Fine Motor Control (proficient 18/30)

*Deception (proficient 6/10)

*Memory Recall (proficient 15/30)

*Inspire (proficient -12/30)

*Stealth (proficient-5/30) 

*High Valyrian Language (proficient- 10/30)

Moderate-

*Riding Proficiency (moderate-7/20)

*Handwriting (moderate-3/20)

*Alchemy (moderate-16/20)

(Free Skill Points- 10)

Quests;

*Slay 100 opponents in battle. (64/100) (rewards- 5 free AP on completion)

*Gain knowledge by reading 100 books. (56/100) (rewards- 1 Free AP)

*Increase 5 skills to the expert level. (0/5) (rewards- 5 free SP)

*Defeat the Young Bull- (Defeat Gerold Hightower in combat.) (reward- ???= based on the manner of victory.)

*Notice-

____________________________

A quest had been issued after inviting Gerold Hightower to the training yard. I had intended to use him to increase my reputation, while facing someone of a similar age, who was at peak capability. Now the system was seeking to reward me for my action, but for the first time a reward wasn't outright stated, this made me excited at what the reward would be. 

Author Note- Leave a review if you've read this far and still haven't left one yet. Again thanks for the Power Stones and comments.