Aggressive Negotiations

Casterly Rock, Jaime Lannister (281 AC) (+1 Day)

My eyes studied the brilliant golden lion of the Lannister coat of arms hanging on the wall in front of me. It brought back memories of long tutoring sessions on the glory and history of House Lannister. From Lann the Clever to the various Kings of the Rock, I had learned much about how proud I should be about my ancestry.

When I was young I thought the idea was idiotic, why should one be proud of something their ancestors did? As I grew older my personal opinion didn't change, but I did learn my personal opinion meant little compared to the entirety of Westeros. For a noble family reputation is everything, especially for one with so many vassals.

If the rest of the Westerlands banded together they could defeat us rather easily. That might be a fringe scenario but I needed to think about things like this because I knew what might be coming. No matter what plans I decide to enact during Robert's Rebellion, I will need to have the lords of the west follow me. Tywin was able to keep his lords united during Robert's Rebellion, but that was to remain neutral.

I wonder how many would side with the Targaryens if I called the banners?

I felt a brush pull away from my face. "Does that look good to you, milord?"

I looked into the hand mirror in front of me and studied my face. The bright blue eyes of my past life stared back at me for a second before they faded to a deep turquoise, the only real difference I could find between myself and the original Jaime. Anyway, the light makeup I had instructed the girl to apply hid the dark circles under them splendidly, and it looked like I didn't stay up late last night.

The curse of being a night owl and also having to wake up early. I should have retired earlier but after leaving our impromptu poker party I decided to spend some personal time reading about the adventures of Ser Duncan the Tall. Fortunately, I was long used to operating and even fighting on little or no sleep, maybe there was something to this ancient bloodline business?

"It looks perfect Meya." I thanked the girl. "Send my thanks to Lady Swyft."

I turned to the door of the solar and watched as she walked out of the room. If I could fight Baelor after an all-nighter studying architecture, then I could certainly negotiate with Lord Farman on 3 hours of sleep.

I had a quick conversation with Vylarr and he went around educating the three other red-cloaked guards on what their purpose was here. He did so efficiently I again considered assigning him to be captain of the red cloaks. I dismissed the thought for now, he was rather young for the position at the moment.

"Milord." Said man got my attention. "He is here." I took a deep breath and bade Vylarr to bring him in. Quickly, I brought out the book of laws I have been working on and started writing mostly nonsense in the margins.

Lord Farman almost burst into the room, his aging body not hiding the strength in his step. In a moment the lord took in the richly decorated room with me sitting in what used to be Tywin's desk. My pulse raced but you wouldn't be able to tell by watching me, carefully I finished writing my last sentence before looking up.

"Greetings Lord Farman," I admit I was being fairly derivative here, but reminding the lords of Tywin would be politically advantageous. Still I would have to differentiate myself enough to not look like a child trying to wear his father's clothes. "Please sit." I gestured to the chair across the desk. "Before we begin would you like the servants to fetch you anything?"

"Don't play with me boy. Where is Lord Kevan?" His words were derisive and his tone was disrespectful. He must not have liked the deal I delivered to him last night. Still, he was out of line.

"You must understand, my lord uncle is a very busy man." Not the true reason he wasn't here but Lord Farman needed to be reminded of his place. "And as this proposal is my idea, he trusted my ability to see it through without him." He was already prone to believing my uncle allowed me free reign on projects, I had made sure of it when he visited Lannisport yesterday. A few people in key areas talking about hiring learned people in my name, it served a dual purpose.

"Trust that is misplaced I see." The older man pulled out the packet I had sent him, it wasn't the same as the one I had shown my family but It detailed his portion of the plan much better. "This is simply absurd, boy. To even consider treating with the ironborn is folly comparable to letting them pillage our lands while trying to appease their sensibilities."

A thinly veiled comparison to my grandfather. The man must be very confident in his position if he was willing to bring that up. Still, I wouldn't get anywhere if he saw me as a weak lord comparable to Tytos. I might be more amiable than Tywin, but I would not take insults to my position lightly.

"Who am I?" I asked, my tone was mild but my face was deadly serious.

"You are a boy who has not yet seen his sixteenth name day." The man was truly obstinate.

I rose from my chair and looked him in the eyes. Slowly I raised my arm and suddenly the four red-cloaks in the room leveled their spears at the aging lord of Fair Isle. "I will ask this one more time. Who am I? Who is the man who could have your tongue ripped out for such disrespect?"

The tension was palpable in the room. I stared into the man's gray eyes and he looked back. Searching for any weakness, any sign I was not completely serious. It would be a drastic move, push most of my plans back, and be seriously distasteful. But if I let my lords disrespect me in a similar manner, my reign would be no better than my grandfathers.

"Ser Jaime Lannister. Heir to the lordship of Casterly Rock" Lord Farman bit out.

Good enough. "You are correct and while I might not be your lord yet I represent House Lannister in this matter." Another gesture had the guards relaxing their spears. "Now sit and let us begin negotiations."

I sat and watched as the older man walked to his seat and finally sat down. "Leave us." Vylarr nodded and the red cloaks left the room, pulling the door and sound dampener closed behind them. Now that I had played that card they wouldn't be useful anymore. Too much intimidation would be counterproductive.

"Interesting." Lord Farman wearily watched the guards leave the room before turning back to me with a raised brow. "I still wonder if you would have actually done it."

"I dislike being tested, Lord Farman, but rest assured I will do what needs to be done in the service of my family."

"I suppose you will." It was silent for a moment before the lord spoke again with resolve. "And so will I. Quellon Greyjoy attacked my fleet, and sacked my castle with me and my family inside the keep. You will find no support from me in any plan that involves giving those pirates what they want."

"What about a plan that gives you what you want? I hear your son is taking particular interest in matters of the sea, he took particular interest in Lannisport yesterday."

The man narrowed his eyes realizing that I had him followed. "You mean the position of Admiral of the West for my son Sebaston? It's a meaningless gesture, if the two of you disagreed you could remove his position at any time and the position isn't even hereditary."

I couldn't have such an important position fall to nepotism of the highest order. "I remind you this is a negotiation." I could allow for other concessions.

"It wouldn't matter, the Greyjoys are glorified pirates and I would sooner dash my ships to pieces than allow them to sail for the Iron Islands with grain aboard." I wasn't sure if the man was really so against the idea, or if he was trying to get as much out of the deal as possible. Maybe a betrothal to his daughter or son?

That however, wouldn't be necessary. I didn't expect to use it this quickly but I still had a secret weapon. I would have to word it carefully, but if the man is shrewd, he should realize why I had to keep this out of writing.

"I understand your hatred, Lord Farman." He was about to interrupt, probably about what I couldn't understand but I didn't allow him to speak. "I understand that when you decided to build a large fleet of warships to defend your coastline the Greyjoys took offense and destroyed it. I even acknowledge that my grandfather's misrule made them think they could get away with it."

"They did get away with it!" The man pounded his fist against the arm of his chair. "Quellon Greyjoy attacked one of your bannerman and Tytos chose to apologize to the ironborn for the offense I caused in trying to protect my home. Tywin razed two of the strongest houses in the west to the ground because they disobeyed him, yet threatened to do the same to me when I questioned why he wasn't avenging the attack on our soil by outsiders!" He finally seemed to calm down. "And now another Lannister comes to me asking for my help treating with the same man who set fire to my castle. Is that what you understand, Ser Jaime Lannister?"

"What am I asking you to do, Lord Farman?" I had to get him looking at this from a different perspective.

"I'm tired of your questions. You know what you are asking me to do."

I did know, but he didn't. Not yet. "I am asking for you to help me build a Western fleet to rival the other great fleets in Westeros. I am asking for your son to help me lead that fleet. And I am asking for you to convince the other lords that it would be in their best interest to increase our standing with the ironborn while Quellon is at the head of house Greyjoy."

That last part seemed to trip him up. "While Quellon is at the head?" He questioned.

"Do you pay attention to the politics of the ironborn, Lord Farman?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Of course not." He almost seemed offended that I thought he might.

"Quellon Greyjoy might have attacked you many years ago, but within his time as Lord of the Iron Islands he has strived to bind his kingdom more closely to the mainland. He has reduced reaving considerably, outlawed thralldom, and allowed Maesters onto the Iron Islands." The only reason I was able to send him a raven. "But all of this has left him and his kingdom in a precarious position. As his policies hurt the pockets of his reaver lords and the people suffer from a lack of skilled labor because they no longer take what isn't theirs, the pressure for his ideas to bear fruit increases."

"You think I care about what happens to some reaver lord's pockets?" He scoffed. "I say let him weaken his people and kingdom until they can no longer threaten my own."

"His lack of success isn't just weakening the Greyjoy's position, it's weakening the position of all those who want to work more closely to the mainland. And it's also strengthening the traditional ironborn who wish to return to the old ways. I've heard reports that even Quellon's son is sympathetic to the ways of his ancestors." Of course I really hadn't, but I did know he was a crazy bastard.

"What! That is just another reason we shouldn't be strengthening the position of the enemy. Quellon is an old bastard and I suspect he'll be gone before long."

"So do I." I'm fairly certain he died sometime during the rebellion, though I don't really remember the Iron Islands participating much. Even if the rebellion didn't happen as in canon I still expect he would die fairly soon, he is of rather poor health after all. "Keep in mind I am not planning on selling them weapons, just food and other trade goods."

"Which gives them more men to stuff inside those longships of theirs." He argued.

"Not enough to truly matter in such a short time." I countered.

"And what happens in a long time, when my son has to fight against the resupplied Ironborn raiders attacking his shore?"

"I am not necessarily planning for long term trade relations with the ironborn, Lord Farman." I said quietly. I wanted to be careful how I phrased this, if the man was incapable of seeing the bigger picture then I would have to find another way of going through with my plan.

I think the saying is an incompetent ally is worse than a competent enemy.

"Then you mean to-" He cut himself off and turned his hard eyes upon my unyielding stare. For a few seconds his gaze was confused before the answer seemed to dawn on him.

Of course I never thought to win his allegiance by forcing him to ally with his enemies. True, I underestimated the amount of resentment he held towards both the ironborn for raiding his home and the Lannisters for refusing him the justice he felt he deserved. Fortunately, I was offering a solution to both of his grievances, which should put me in an even better position than I thought.

"I too dislike being tested, my lord." I could tell by the look in his eye that he knew what I had done. Fortunately he knew that open talks of breaking the King's peace would be unwelcome, even if we were in private. "But I do see where you are coming from. Increasing the reputation of the West with the people of the iron islands, while increasing our military power would benefit my house." There was a few seconds of silence while the lord contemplated his position. "I assume House Farman would be allowed to reap the rewards if anything drastic were to happen."

I could tell he wanted more assurance that his house would grow in power during what was to come. Unfortunately I wouldn't give it to him. "Keep in mind I am negotiating this pact with Quellon in… good faith. Anything beyond that would be up to the Gods." It would hurt my negotiating position right now but I had to leave my future options open.

If Balon suddenly had a change of heart and dedicated himself to peace and prosperity or something else equally drastic happened, it would get complicated. But I felt it was a fair bet that the idiotic Greyjoys would try and break the King's peace sometime in the near future. And if I wanted to be in the prime position to capitalize on their blunder then who could blame me? Though I would have to be careful about the amount of power I allowed the Farman's to accrue. I didn't want another house Reye in the Westerlands.

Lord Farman looked at the papers I had sent him in a new light. "I have conditions."

Sitting back in my chair and relaxing slightly I reminded him. "Like I said earlier, this is a negotiation."

~~~

The meeting took hours.

I sat in my solar and considered how I had done in my first true negotiation with a lord.

House Farman would support my plan in public and work to influence the other coastal lords to do the same. They would also supply eight galleys to the newly formed Western Fleet along with a few other smaller ships mainly used for transport and resupply. It was a significant investment of ships as most coastal lords only had two or three ships under their command and it represented most of the fleet he had managed to rebuild after most of it was sunk off their coast by the ironborn. Of course some would still patrol near the isle and five of them came conditionally in that they only stayed while his son was Admiral.

One that matter I was unwilling to make the position hereditary and able to back my conviction up with historical precedent. This position would be similar to the Master of Ships in the small council. Unfortunately Lord Farman was unwilling to agree to the proposal with only the ships as collateral so the position of Admiral would be held by whoever was appointed by the Lord of the Rock at the time for life.

This would make Sebaston's position more secure but it brought with it other problems. I was worried about a senile old man managing our navy so it was agreed that if the Maesters of both Casterly Rock and whatever lord should hold the position at the time agree that the Admiral is unfit for office, then a new one could be appointed.

Most matters were decided in a similar fashion. The navy would have its main base in Lannisport, and as so the younger Lord Farman would be required to stay in Casterly Rock for the next few years. But sooner or later Sebaston would be required to succeed his father, so a secondary base would be built on Fair Isle. It helped that the Isle was perfectly positioned for such a thing.

Other things were decided, but most importantly I reminded him that if any Western House were to break the King's peace I would be forced to retaliate. I couldn't afford them attacking the ironborn unprovoked. It was why I needed the fleet based here, for now I would need to carefully monitor and control what actions it took.

I rubbed my tired eyes at the thought of more work and sighed as I considered what I needed to do for the rest of the day. I could only hope that the King and his retinue wouldn't arrive today.

The door opened and I looked up to see Vylarr poking his head through. "Milord, a servant asks if you are too busy to receive news."

For a horrible moment I thought I had jinxed myself, but after thinking about it for a second Vylarr would not be asking if I was too busy if the King was truly here. So I nodded and he allowed the messenger through.

"Maester Creylen sent me to inform you that a raven has arrived for you, milord." He approached the desk and gave me the note. That was odd, any official matters should be communicated to Kevan first by said Maester. Even if it was about the Ravens I had sent to the Greyjoys, it wouldn't be trusted to a simple messenger.

I thanked the boy and while my guard escorted him out I opened and read the message. After going over it twice I set the note down and smiled. It seemed like a not so old friend had accepted my offer and arrived in Lannisport.