Chapter 280: Tywin Lannister's Plan
Casterly Rock, Westerlands
POV of Tywin Lannister
"For now, we'll form an alliance with Myr, Tyrosh, and Ibben," Tywin said.
"Traders, slavers, and whalers." Genna said with distaste, "Might as well add a few whores and eunuchs as well."
He thought about her words and nodded, "Good idea."
"What?" she asked, looking confused and shocked.
"Not the whores. The Eunuchs. We'll buy an army of Unsullied and use them against the Bolton boy. Without that much manpower, breaking Regalis Port, Lundenhold, and then Dreadfort before the rest of the North could rally against the foreign invaders would be impossible."
Genna looked at him like he had grown a second head, and even Kevan looked a little uncomfortable.
"Tywin." Genna said slowly, "Do you not remember how expensive an Unsullied Army is? Or do such small details tend to go above the brilliant mind of yours?"
He glared at her, but this time Kevan spoke, "Brother… she's not wrong, you know. Leading this alliance and a war against the Bolton boy is already going to be very expensive. Buying an Unsullied army on top of that… it's…"
"There is no gold in the mines of Casterly Rock anymore," Genna said. "We're running on borrowed time, in case you've forgotten. The golden statue, the grand tourney, and the new fleet ships from Summer Islands have already depleted our reserves by 10 percent. Leading this war might cost us a lot and gain us nothing. On top of that, we might even lose our fleet and all our soldiers if we're not careful. Are you really so bent on vengeance that you would risk so much for a sword?"
"It's not about the sword. It's about the 'house'." He said, "If someone can make a fool out of my son and take our sword from him without any consequence, then people will think that we're no longer a house to be respected. I'll let the vultures eat me alive before I ever let our house fall to that again."
Both his siblings went silent after that. Looking in the distance and remembering the state of their house under their father's leadership.
It was Tywin who brought them out of the brink of ruin on his own and raised it to the state in which it is today.
After a long silence, Genna simply shook her head. "Your mind is already set on this, so arguing with you would be pointless. Just… be careful, Tywin."
Then she got up from her chair and left.
Kevan waited until she had left before he spoke, "I suppose I should prepare the letters for this alliance."
"No." He replied, "I'll prepare the letters. You prepare the ships, the men, and the gold."
"Wha…" Kevan stopped as realization dawned in his eyes, and his eyes hardened with resolve.
"There is no one else I trust with this task more than you." He said, "I want you to leave by the end of the month. Take the Swan Ships as well as the few new war galleys in Lannisport. Then go to Myr and Tyrosh. Make a military alliance with the Magisters there. Have them hire as many sell-sails and sell-swords as they can. Then go to Slaver's Bay and buy the Unsullied. I'll correspond with the Ibbenese. They'll be ready by the time you return with the Unsullied and the Fleet from Myr and Tyrosh. Once that is done, head for Regalis Port. If the Bolton boy's fleet is there…" he paused, knowing that they'll probably not match the boy's fleet even with all these ships.
"I'll do what I can to succeed," Kevan said, and he nodded.
"Go now. And start the preparations." He said, "I'll deal with any backlash from Robert."
"Yes, my lord," Kevan said as he got up from his chair and bowed to him before leaving the room.
Once Kevan had left, he picked up the quill and started writing a letter.
But soon Kevan returned. This time, he held a stack of papers in his hand. Tywin knew those papers too well.
Worldwide News. What Lord Bolton called a 'newspaper'. A weekly, written publication that he distributed throughout the realm, containing news from many parts of the world.
Another thing Twin coveted and would do anything to possess.
If he had the power, he would have created his own newspaper, but he had neither the tools to print them quickly, nor the network to gather news from all the realms, nor the means to distribute them quickly to all the castles and keeps.
Or rather, no one but Bolton boy had.
Besides the money it brought, Tywin wanted to possess it so he could control the conversations of the entire realm.
Just recently, thanks to this newspaper, Bolton boy had slammed Lord Stark and the King to the ground for breaking off the betrothal between him and Stark girl.
And not only had he suffered any harm as a result, but everyone had come to believe that Lord Bolton had been wronged.
"You should see this. Genna said the newspaper had just arrived and left it for me to bring to you. The front page is about Lord Bolton and Jamie's duel." His brother said as he handed him the newspaper.
With a sinking feeling, Tywin took the newspaper from Kevan and began to read. The headline on the front page was "The Duel of the Century," and it described how Lord Bolton had easily defeated Jamie in a duel in which they had both wagered their Valyrian swords.
The article, in addition to Lord Bolton's superior swordsmanship, also mentioned that Jamie Lannister's Valyrian sword, the Lion's Claw, had actually been sold to the Lannisters by Lord Bolton.
There was even a mention that the sword hadn't deemed the Lannisters a worthy owner, and that's why it had returned to Lord Bolton.
"Leave me alone," Tywin said. His voice was clearly angry, and his hands, gripping the newspaper, were white because of the force of his grip.
"Yes, my lord. But you should also take a look at the second page." Kevan said and then quickly left the room.
Tywin quickly turned to the second page. At the top of the page was an article titled "The Mysterious Incident."
The article described how more than 200 red-cloaked horsemen had left Winterfell and then mysteriously disappeared.
Not content with that, the writer also proposed several possible reasons for this mysterious event.
Chief among these was that these soldiers had abandoned their duties because their lords had paid them little.
Another possible explanation was that their house had not trained them well, and they might have lost their way.
Tywin couldn't bear to read any more and began to tear the paper into pieces in anger. When the paper reached a size that could no longer be torn apart, he started throwing everything he could find, first on his desk and then in his solar.
"Fuck... Shit… That damn bastard... Fuck…"
Unknown to him, there was a small runic array drawn on the wall behind him, just behind the portrait of his father.
The array stopped glowing as soon as Tywin started cursing.
On the other side of the continent, Lyra removed her ear from the listening device and quickly started writing a summary of everything she had heard.
Once she was done, he picked up the communication mirror and called her Lord.
A few moments later, his tired and annoyed face appeared in the mirror, and she smiled.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.281: Arya's First Week in Dreadfort
Ch.282: You Are Not Horse-Faced
Ch.283: Bolton War Council - I