Celestial Hymn 16 (Patreon)

Celestial Hymn
Chapter 16

-VB-

Normally, he would not come to visit his daughter or grandchildren over something trivial as a birthday feast, but this would be the first feast that Lord Marris would be attending.

After having heard how the commoner-turned-lord had expertly dealt with the bandits in his land and his rivals around him, he wanted to meet the man. What piqued his interest, even more, was that beyond being the betrothed to his only granddaughter and a skilled individual in his own right, the man also put down his own little mob and had yet to punish them severely.

“Lord Lannister.”

Tywin paused in his musings and turned around. Standing in the same corridor as him was none other than the other “old” lord among the Lord Paramounts: Jon Arryn. The current Hand of the King smiled genially, but underneath that mask hid an opportunistic hawk ready to swoop down at the slightest of mistakes. Wrapped in the alliance of three kingdoms, the right call - or the wrong call - could spell disaster for this Hand’s victim.

Even he might become a prey to this beast if he didn’t tread carefully, but careful as he might try, if his children caused problems, then he would have to intervene regardless.

“Lord Hand,” he responded with a nod.

“It is unlike you to join us for a mere birthday feast-” ‘What are you after?’ “-but I hope the accommodations are up to your standard?”

“It is,” Tywin replied with a hum. “I did not expect much, however. It is only the birthdays of Princess Myrcella and Princess Tommen.”

His rival only raised an eyebrow at his comment and said nothing.

“They are family,” he continued. “As long as due respect is paid, even begrudgingly, I am willing to ignore the little byplays that the Red Keep’s courts often play out to be.” He smirked. “Little people playing little games, aren’t I right?”

Arryn nodded uncertainly, unsure as to what Tywin was referring to.

He glanced away and across the little courtyard this part of the Red Keep seemed to be centered around. “It’s funny how someone else refuses to play by those games.”

“... You must be referring to the princess’s betrothed.”

“Yes.”

The boy had gotten himself a fancy title. They called him the “Bloody Lord” because he personally put down some bandits with brutal efficiency, and discovered where they had originated from.

‘I am sure that the title had more to do with the heads he put up along all roads leading in and out of his lordship.’

“The boy is too impulsive and quick with his actions,” Arryn huffed. “He could have solved the issue in a much more palatable way, but he chose to revel in violence and death instead.”

‘You talk as if I do not know how you have urged your ward’s vassals to put pressure on him,’ Tywin thought. “In my opinion, he solved it nearly flawlessly.”

“Nearly?”

“Nearly. Had I been in his position, I would have thoroughly investigated and put down any of my neighbors who sought to ruin my land and people.”

Lord Arryn grunted. “That is very like you.”

Tywin felt it odd that the two of them expressed honesty with each other in roundabout ways when there was no one else about to see or hear them.

“And it is very like you to use underhanded methods to test someone.”

He chuckled.

“It was not a good method,” Tywin grunted at the other lord’s mirth.

“It showed everyone his true character.”

“His true character was already shown when he handled his little rebellion.”

“That is hardly a full show of his character.”

“How is it not?” Tywin asked with a raised eyebrow. “When faced with extreme circumstances outside his control that threatened his life, his right as a lord, and the very land itself, he acted swiftly in eliminating the instigator of the mob and punished the participants, though not as much as he should have.”

“Ah yes, your infamous ‘Rains of Castamere.’”

Tywin frowned at the levity Lord Arryn spoke with. For him, the Rains of Castamere was a crucial moment in his life and will be part of his eternal legacy. It cemented House Lannister’s power and hierarchy in the Westerlands.

It was everything to him.

… Perhaps not everything.

“What have you prepared for the prince and the princess?” he asked instead.

“A pony to each of them,” Arryn replied. “One that is to become a warhorse for the prince, and a more slender if sturdy one for the princess.”

“Hmm.” They were adequate gifts.

“And yourself?”

“A rose gold circlet for the princess and a shortsword for the soon to be training prince.”

-VB-

Tywin stared with wide eyes at Lord Marris as he stood at the front of the grand hall with the gift he intended for the prince before said prince.

“For you, Prince Tommen Baratheon, I gift you my finest cloak. Created with my hands and with dyes that exist only within its fine fabrics, I hope that this gift will please you,” he said as he laid the cloak upon the awaiting hands of the prince.

Though the young prince could not understand the value of that simple cloak, Tywin did.

No, almost everyone, including Robert, if the man’s nearly bulging eyes showed anything of his intelligence.

Because how blue could a blue be?

“And for Princess Myrcella,” he continued.

He reached into a trunk held by his servant, and pulled out a necklace.

If it was just a normal jewelry, then the ladies of the court wouldn’t be whispering like they did beside and behind him.

No, because the necklace Lord Marris pulled out was both a statement and a show of power.

Because the centerpiece of the necklace was a cascading fall of tear-drop shaped diamonds.

“The most beautiful jewelry in all of Westeros for the most beautiful princess.”

‘And just like that,’ Tywin thought begrudgingly. ‘He showed up everyone.’

Now, others lords couldn’t treat him lightly, because money like that could and would be used to bludgeon Marris’s enemies.

Well done, Marris.

-VB-

Skills: Clothing
22.23: Profession: Leatherworking (Azeroth)
- (350 base + 100 Expert) points

Enchanting, Inscription, Alchemy, Blacksmithing, Engineering, Leatherworking, Tailoring, and Jewelcrafting. Your first purchase is half off and starts you off at an apprentice level. For an additional 50 CP you start off at a Journeyman level with all blueprints of that level and lower. For another 50 CP you will jump up to Expert with all blueprints of that level and lower. For a final purchase of 50 CP you will be an Artisan(the highest level in the game before this system was removed)with all blueprints for your profession (s)that exist within the game.