~~~Aerys Targaryen, Ninth Moon, 277 AC~~~
~~~Great Hall, Casterly Rock~~~
I had lived a not-so-peaceful life, full of daily bumps and problems that each day caused me more old age, stress, and discomfort. And yet, my life had been full, I was not the best man, that much was clear to me, the insanity that was so ingrained in my family and that sometimes stood out was a clear indicator of that.
But despite that, I had tried as much as possible to be a good man, or at least a good husband, my Rhaella, my dear Rhaella, had suffered a lot, even more than me, I was aware that a woman's battlefield was in childbirth, and what a bloody place that was.
Although I had not been with her in those moments, I could still remember the screams and wails that bringing a child into this cruel world entailed, and that made me admire her even more.
But even to her came my admiration, and not so much to what had come out of her, and no, don't get me wrong, I loved my children, but I had to think like a king, like the man who supported our family, the man who had the great and cursed task of carrying on our dynasty.
And I knew very well that, the way Rhaegar was walking, it would lead to an untimely death or worse, he was well-liked among the little people, the people of King's Landing loved him, and how could they not? Rhaegar, though he was very good at getting into the hearts of the people, had a gift: to win the little people's appreciation.
But eh, from the little people to the lords, it was a very different matter, if the issue with the little people was a pond in a barrel, then the lords were a river that swept away everything in front of it.
The Game of Thrones was a very complicated and painstaking thing, and playing it meant you died if you didn't win, there was no other way out, and Rhaegar didn't have a nick for it, even after he'd been learning from Rhaella, who had more of a mind for it than I did.
And it was because of that Game of Thrones, that I was here at this... Celebration, I, despite what people might say, was happy with Tywin, Joanna's death had done him a mortal wound, and the cruel reminder of that event, was his deformed son, whom, for some reason, I had not seen since I came to the Rock, but knowing Tywin as well as I thought I did, then it was because he didn't want to show it.
Dealing with someone whose pride was as great as the fortress he lived in, the idea of letting it be known that he had a deformed son, which was the cause of his wife's death, was surely something he didn't want to show.
And I didn't hold it against him for that, had it been my case, I would have thrown the thing into Blackwater Bay, and that spoke very well of the man, as much as he showed himself to be heartless, even if it was a mask to survive in this world, as well as the case of my... Physical state.
And that mask was down for a few moments, in the time when Lady Janna, a woman of colossal and almost divine beauty, walked towards him wearing garments more allusive to war than to a wedding, that smiles on his face I had not seen many years ago when we were young and our only concern was which tavern to enter or which brothel to avoid.
But now, it seemed he was back to being the same young man we once were, and that made me remember that I had also been just like him, specifically when I saw Rhaella's state after ingesting one of the Xandarian potions, and the provocateur of that, was sitting next to me talking to Rhaella.
Azrael Jaesyrian, the king of Xandar and the man who had been creating tremors in Westeros even long before he made himself seen in person, that young man who had gone from being a nobody to becoming perhaps the most powerful man in the world.
Someone who had made waves in the politics of the Seven Kingdoms without even being interested in it, it was that level of power that someone could have that, even just by moving an arm, someone would die, how grandiose.
"Who is that boy?" I didn't think about how much I had been occupied in my thoughts, that I hadn't noticed what was going on around me, and it was there that I realized what was going on. While I hadn't spent much time with Tywin's misshapen bloodline, his... Beauty was well-known in the realm. So much so that she had even been given a nickname.
He wasn't even five onomastics old and already had a nickname to his name, something not just any Lannister could fake. And now, what Tywin had tried so hard to do over the last moon had been lost, and all because of a damned girl who hadn't been able to do her job right. She would be lucky if she still had her job at the end of the day.
At Azrael's question, and amid calculating glances and murmurs from ladies and gossipy ladies, Tywin looked at Azrael with a steady gaze, and I could tell he had anger bubbling beneath his Stoic countenance.
"That... That's my son," Tywin replied firmly. Looking at Tyrion, who didn't know the trouble he had gotten himself into, his child's mind failed to process the mess he had entered. "I want to meet him." Azrael's words sounded firm and sincere, and unlike what I first thought, there was no revulsion or disgust on his face, instead, there was a look full of curiosity and something else I failed to discern.
And Tywin accepted without a problem, or at least it would seem that way to the others, but I could sense his nonconformity with agreeing to it, and under the attentive gaze of everyone, the wet nurse approached the head table and offered little Tyrion into Azrael's arms.
Azrael received Tyrion carefully, and under everyone's watchful eyes, he pulled out a glass vial, and my head started spinning at the thought of what he might be about to do, and what would completely change in how Tywin would deal with Azrael. Because something like that there would be no way to pay, a debt of such caliber would be a huge thing, but Tywin would manage, after all.
A Lannister always pays his debts.
"Lord Tywin, I hope your marriage to Lady Janna is a pleasant one, full of happiness and prestige, and allow me to offer you a wedding gift", 'he's going to do it', I thought, ready not to miss what was about to happen, and Azrael did not disappoint, with those last words spoken by him, Azrael applied the potion on Tyrion. And the change was instantly evident.
The potion, whatever it was made of, of human sacrifice, or maiden's blood, or with blessings from the gods, one had to accept that it was the most precious thing there could be in this world, and little Tyrion felt it, for he closed his eyes sweetly, and a smile was evident on his chubby face.
The potion corrected him, no. It worked a miracle, his abnormally large head, took on a normal size. Not only that, but his body began to grow, reaching the height a four onomastic boy would normally be, his body became balanced, his stunted and curved legs straightened, muscles showed where there were none before, and his chubby, swollen hands, showed firm.
His abnormally thin and almost white hair took on a more golden color and grew to his shoulders in beautiful waves. Tyrion, the Imp, the monster, and the dwarf of Casterly Rock, was no more. Now, in his place, there was a boy of four onomastics, handsome and healthy, with Lannister features.
"Happy day, Lord Tywin." Azrael ended the show with a few words after covering the boy's naked body with his cloak, and I couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"Hahahahaha!" my laughter caught many off guard, but now that didn't matter to me, "Tywin, you damn lucky man, not only did you get a beautiful woman, but now you have a new son, hahaha, lucky you!"
But my words fell on deaf ears because Tywin approached with trembling steps to where Tyrion was, his gaze was only on the child, for him, everything around him had vanished, approaching Azrael with a sparkling gaze.
"My son... Joanna," Even two meters away from Azrael and Tywin, I could hear Tywin say those words and a modest smile appeared on my face.
Tywin took Tyrion from the table warily at first, but once he took him in his arms, pressed him to his chest, and in his eyes I could see he was happy and willing to contribute to the event, I stepped in.
"For the Seven, for Azrael, and Tywin, for his blessed marriage and a full life!".
"To Tywin!"
"To Azrael!"
"To the blessed imp!"
A sequence of blessings and joys were said one after another, and the clinking of goblets and glasses against the tables ensued, with applause filling the great hall.