Jaime.
He had noticed it after the wedding and more specifically on the ship back to Lannisport, but had let it be thinking that once they reached home Jon would pull himself out of the funk he'd gotten into. When they hard arrived at the rock he was pleased to see that just being around Joy seemed to bring the boy back to his normal self. However as the days went on he realized that was not the truth, while he was happy on the outside, something was clearly bothering him and Jaime had begun to worry about him more and more.
As he got dressed and headed down for their spar he thought on whether or not he should bring it up, or should he give Jon more time and perhaps the boy would bring it up himself. Gerion and Tyrion had both noticed and even his aunt Genna had commented, which had made his heart swell to see her care for Jon as much as the rest of the family did.
He knew that was partly due to her sons enjoying having an older boy put them through their paces in the yard, Tion and Walder along with Martin and Willem had formed a tight little grouping and unlike Lancel who ignored them, Jon pointed things out to them and had taking to sparring with them occasionally much to their delight.
He stepped out of the lift and walked to the courtyard to find Jon standing there waiting for him sword in hand and smiled, even with whatever it was that was on his mind, Jon always turned up for his lessons. He looked around to see where Ghost was, the little wolf had lately decided sneaking up on him was a fun new game and more than once he'd scared the life out of him, he saw him thankfully sitting by the wall, although he too looked a little bit sadder than usual.
"Morning Jon, you're eager I see."
"Aye, I am my lord." Jon said his smile true but less full than usual.
"Good then shall we begin"
Jaime moved into position and waited for Jon to attack, the sword came quickly at him and he blocked it before moving to the left and attacking quickly. Jon's defense had gotten much better during their time together, his movement and placement of his feet were always incredible but the way he now used Jaime's strikes against him to limit the power advantage he had, was something he was very proud of.
They moved together blade's crossing, their movements speeding up, Jaime still had the edge on Jon in terms of speed, but the boy was faster than he had been at that age, and it was only a matter of time until Jaime's technique and power would be his only advantages against him. At first Jon had reminded Jaime of Rhaegar, his ability to absorb the lessons and incorporate them into his form was startling.
But the more they sparred the more he saw Arthur in him, as good as Jaime was Arthur was a once in a generation swordsman and he felt, no he knew, that Jon would be one too. However for now he was still a young boy fighting against the greatest swordsman in Westeros and as they danced Jaime's strikes were having their effect.
"Your tiring Jon." Jaime said with a smirk.
"So are you my lord." Jon replied.
"Ah, but I could go for a few more hours, don't think you could." Jaime said and was surprised to see the frown on Jon's face.
Usually they snarked at each other during their spars, Jaime wanted Jon to be prepared for people trying to take him off balance with comments and digs, so between them they would try to get a reaction out of one another. But here for some reason Jon wasn't playing along and it bothered him greatly, he decided to end the spar and speak to him, this needed to be resolved.
"Let's take a break Jon."
"My lord?" Jon said confusion in his voice.
"Come, lets get a drink and speak for a while." Jaime turned and walked to the jug of water they kept off to the side.
It took a few moments but eventually Jon joined him, placing his sword on the small wall he sat down and took a drink of the water. The two sat there in silence for what seemed to be an age before Jaime had finally had enough.
"Jon what's wrong?"
"Nothing." Jon said grumpily.
"Jon, this is me your speaking to, come on talk to me."
"I..I don't know what it is my lord." Jon sighed "Ever since the trip to Oldtown I just feel, I don't know, but it's as if what I do will never matter, people will always see me as a bastard."
"Your more than that Jon, much more." Jaime said reaching out to grab the boys shoulder "Look at me, your more than that, do you hear me" he grabbed the boy and hugged him tightly.
He could feel him sobbing against his chest and it made him want to tell him the truth, to just grab him and take him to his things, show him his birthright and his mother's letter, but he couldn't, not yet, he needed to be sure they were ready and as much as it hurt to see Jon like this, he knew it was for the best to wait.
After standing there for a while he finally felt the sobs stop, he let go of the boy and allowed him to turn and wipe his eyes, knowing the embarrassment he'd feel to have cried so openly. It took a few moments but eventually Jon turned to him and smiled, this one much fuller than earlier, he knew he had only fixed things temporarily but he had fixed them and they both left in much better spirits than they arrived.
Jon.
Jon woke up excited, today was a special day and he was looking forward to it more than any he had in a long while. As he quickly dressed he saw Ghost was already at the door almost eagerly waiting to get down to Joy's room, he smiled and they walked down to the little girls room,. They had a whole day set aside and everyone was in on the surprises they had in store for Joy's name day. When he entered the room he found that not only was Joy already up, but she was also already dressed and was having her hair combed both to his surprise and her annoyance.
"No Assa, ouch." Joy said and he giggled. "Yon, stop ouch pwease." she said when she noticed him.
"I'll take it from here Alessia, it seems the little princess does not want her hair combed today."
"I, ehmm Lord Gerion wants her prepared Jon." Alessia said looking to him.
"It's fine Alessia, why don't you go break your fast, I'll finish it."
"If your sure, bye Joy, Jon."
"Bye Bye Assa."
He walked over to the bed and sat down grabbing the comb which Joy looked at like it was a mortal enemy.
"No Yon, Ouch." she said shaking her head.
"It'll be fine princess and when we're finished we can go on an adventure all right you, me, and ghost." he smiled at her.
"Ost come Yon?"
"Aye he will promise."
"Pwomise."
She looked at him for a moment before looking to the comb and then to Ghost, finally she seemed to give in and he began to comb her hair, he was as gentle as he could be, but her hair was tangled and he could feel the comb begin to catch, so he did the only thing he could to keep her mind off the evil comb, he nodded to Ghost and the wolf jumped up onto the bed, Joy immediately grabbed him and the two began to play together.
He finally finished combing her hair and placed the comb back on the table, it was time to take her in to break their fast and Gerion would be waiting to start the day off with the first surprise.
"Ready Joy?"
"Yeady."
He took the girls hand and they made their way from the room, as they walked he swung her hand much to her delight, Ghost toddled in front of them lost in his own world, occasionally looking back at them as if to say come on hurry up. When they reached the dining room they found Gerion sitting there waiting for them.
"PAPA." the little girl shouted as she ran to him.
"Morning princess, happy name day," Gerion said giving her a big hug.
Jon sat down beside them at the table and Joy immediately moved into his lap, he laughed it was going to be one of those mornings, the meal came and he helped her to eat hers, which she actually did this morning. Although she didn't really allow him to eat his own as she grabbed the bacon and sausages and fed them to an eager wolf.
"Ost more." as she fed him some bacon "Ost more." and there goes a sausage.
Jon was forced to get a second plate which he left on Gerion's side of the table just out of her reach, although the hungry little wolf had no such trouble and when his food supply from Joy was gone, he quickly moved over to where Jon's plate was and looked up at him eagerly.
"Traitor." Jon said laughing as he threw the wolf some bacon, Ghost just swallowed it and gave him a look that showed cared not a jot.
When they finished the meal they headed down to the lift, Gerion carrying Joy while he and Ghost walked in front of them keeping the girl amused. It was time to give Joy the first surprise of her name day, it had taken him a long time to convince both Gerion and Genna that this would be safe and only because of his connection with Winter had they eventually agreed. Stepping out into the castle's yard they walked to the stable where Winter had already been prepared, Jon immediately jumped up and waited for Gerion to hand him the little girl.
"Wanna ride on the horsey Joy?" Gerion asked.
"Horsey Papa." Joy said excitedly.
Although Jon thought that was just her natural love of horses and not because she knew what her father had asked, something which was confirmed a little later when Gerion began to place her on the horse in front of Jon. Her face was something Jon would never forget, she was more than happy, she was overjoyed and it made his heart swell to see it, something he could see Gerion was feeling too.
"Papa. Horsey." she exclaimed as Jon allowed Winter to slowly walk.
They rode down the length of the yard and turned around before heading down to the joust practice area, Gerion walking alongside them just in case anything went wrong, but Jon held her firmly and Winter was calm and in control. When they reached the practice field, Jon saw Genna with her children and Kevan's two boys were sitting down to their left and smiling at them.
"Wave to Aunt Genna, Joy." he said as the little girl did exactly that.
Jon looked to Gerion and he was given a nod, so he pushed Winter into a trot, which had the desired effect, Joy's laughter was heard around the field and even though he couldn't really see her face, he could picture it in his mind and that was more than enough. Eventually they stopped and he made his way over to where Gerion was standing.
"Go to Papa, Joy."
"No Yon horsey."
"More horsey later all right."
Joy accepted this thankfully and after Gerion had taken her from the saddle, he led Winter back to allow her to cool down, the horse had done amazingly well and he was very proud of his mare.
"Good girl." he said as he patted her while she drank from the trough.
The rest of the day was a bit of a blur, Gerion had arranged a fool to come and entertain them but Joy didn't like the man and he was quickly sent away, she and the rest of the children playing games instead while Jon helped when needed. Finally it was time for Joy to get her presents and Jon watched as Gerion went to pick her up.
"Want some presents princess."
"Pwesents papa." Joy said clapping her hands.
Tyrion gave her a beautiful book full of pictures of animals that were brightly drawn, while Genna gave her a large stuffed lion that dwarfed the one she already had. Jaime had gone with a rather impressive painting which depicted a smiling Joy which seemed to fascinate her, especially after her father told her who it was. Kevan gave her a number of really cute outfits which Jon knew she could use, she went through clothes quite quickly given both her growing and her ability to put said outfits through an incredible amount of punishment.
Each of the children gave her small toys, some very beautifully hand carved and she excitedly grabbed each one and held it tightly, before throwing it down to the floor when presented with the next one. Gerion's present was a set of inks and papers and Jon looked to him to see him smirk, he knew exactly the kind of chaos she'd get up to with them, and he didn't seem the least bit sorry for it.
When it came time for Jon's present he quickly left the room and with help from Alyrs carried it inside. It had taken a moon for the carpenter to make it but the job he'd done was incredible. The horse was an almost perfect likeness of Winter, it's coloring and mane made it look like his own horse's foal. It's base was curved so that if you sat on it you made it move, he had gotten the stable master to make a saddle and reins for Joy to hold onto and as he moved it towards her he could hear her voice.
"Horsey Yon.
"Your horsey Joy."
"Mine." she said excitedly.
He helped her up onto the horse and handed her the reins, he fixed her legs into the stirrups and strapped her in tight, then stepped away, she looked at him in confusion clearly expecting him to sit behind her like he'd done on Winter.
"You ride Joy." he said and smiled as she did so.
"HORSEY." she shouted happily as it moved backwards and forwards.
A couple of moons later.
Tyrion.
When they had arrived at Castermere they had encountered some problems, firstly the caverns of the mines themselves were long and narrow and full of uneven surfaces, the simple truth was the system they would use would not work, Tyrion felt disheartened, even though they had been making progress with the trading deals, the mines at Castermere would have been the greatest boon his family had known for a generation.
Jon though took it in his stride, he and Ghost walked around the entrance to the mine, they entered and walked in as far as they were able to before leaving and walking to the lake itself, Tyrion watched on wondering what was going on in the boys head. Jon stood at the lake for what to Tyrion seemed like an age before finally returning to him, the expression on his face one of determination.
"Can we stay here a few days my lord?" Jon asked.
"I don't really see the point Jon, as good as your idea was its not going to work."
"I know, I can see that, please just bear with me my lord."
"Very well, I'll have the tents set up, two days Jon, that's all." Tyrion said.
They spent the next two nights camped in the outskirts of Castermere castle, Tyrion had wanted to stay in the castle itself but in the end decided against it. He actually enjoyed the camp site, it was simple and Ghost seemed to enjoy being out in the open, the wolf running off into the nearby woods and returning every so often with a rabbit or some small bird which he'd drop at Jon's feet as if to say, clean this for me.
In the evening they'd talk and Tyrion would notice Jon looking wistfully at the mine entrance, almost as if he was lost in some memory or other, sometimes they'd need to call the boy's name a little loudly so he'd turn and pay them attention, while at others it was Ghost who grabbed the boy's notice and forced him to turn from where he'd been looking.
He had put it down to disappointment over things not working out and had tried to reassure the boy that no one thought less of him because of it, the wind wheels still had potential and the boon they'd receive from them was still bound to be a lot. But Jon would just smile as if he knew something Tyrion did not and at times he found it disconcerting.
"We'll it's time Jon, I said two days, I don't think we should waste any more here." Tyrion said early on the third morning.
"Aye, very well my lord."
When they had returned to Casterly Rock Jon had spoken to Jaime and asked if it was possible to take some time from his lessons, he still sparred in the morning and evening with Jaime and spent his time with Joy. But Tyrion noticed when he wasn't with Winter he was either with Harlow the blacksmith or Mallan who was one of their carpenters, finally after a sennight or so since they came back Jon came to see him.
"What can I do for you Jon?" Tyrion asked looking curiously at the large pieces of parchment the boy carried.
"My lord, I think I've figured out a solution."
"Jon it's fine, we've moved on, Castermere was a good dream, but the wind wheels are incredible, we'll do well with them my boy, no need to worry about the mine." he said as reassuringly as he could.
"No my lord it's not worry, I see what was wrong now, this will work." Jon said and handed Tyrion the parchments.
He looked at them unable for a moment to make head nor tail of them, there were a series of long round objects hollow in the middle. and they were connected to bellows which were operated by the wind wheels, the drawings were incredible and Tyrion wondered when the boy had leaned how to draw so well.
As he looked the pictures over he began to see it, air instead of being forced in by the bellows was actually sucked out, this caused the object to fill with water which flowed up and then emptied into a large trough like tray and flowed down the tray into what he assumed to be a lake.
"Can this even be made?" he asked pointing at the hollow object.
"Aye, Harlow's already made some, I wanted to show you the drawings and ask if you'd like to see it working?"
"Aye Jon, I would, I really would." Tyrion said excitedly.
They made their way to the small well where Mallen was waiting for them, Tyrion looked on as Jon showed the man on the pictures how to connect the bellows to the round object, and then he placed it in the water, once he did that they hooked the wind wheel up to it. They waited for a few moments and Tyrion was stunned to see the water begin to flow out, Jon nodded to Mallen and the man did something to the bellows which made it blow quicker and the water flowed even faster, when he did something else it slowed yet again.
"Jon, this is, I don't know what this is, this is incredible, this will work, I'm sure of it."
"I think it will my lord." Jon said and Tyrion smiled at the boy.
A moon later .
It had taken them almost a full moon to make the objects, which they'd called pipes, the bellows and the connections they needed to attach to the wind wheels, moving it to Castermere and setting it up took another sennight. Now as they stood there all that work was either going to be paid off, or be all for nought and Tyrion could feel his heart race at the uncertainty of it.
He looked down to where Jaime and Jon were standing along with Gerion, he could see the same trepidation in his brother and uncles faces, but Jon seemed calm and collected, almost as if he knew this would work and they were all nervous for nothing. He had to admit he admired the boy his youthful surety, he could remember when he saw the world like that, anything being possible and whatever you dreamed could happen, but he was older and wiser now and knew that wasn't always the way of things.
He quickly looked around to see where the white wolf was, the damn thing had a habit of sneaking up on you and it was bad enough that he'd scare the wits out of you, but for some unknown reason he always wanted to play with him. He assumed it was play anyway since he was still here to tell the tale, he sighed in relief when he couldn't see Ghost, the wolf obviously off in the woods somewhere.
"We're ready my lord." Mallan said.
"All right, fix the last fitting together and then we'll begin." he replied before making his way to the rest of his family.
"It's damn impressive Tyrion, you've done an incredible job." Jaime said as he arrived beside them.
"It was Jon's idea." he smiled at the boy.
"Aye, but you built it my lord." Jon humbly replied.
"Not to be a doomsayer, but we don't know if it'll work." Gerion said shaking his head.
"It'll work." Jon said determinedly and both he and Jaime looked at him together.
He watched as the wind wheels spun quickly, they truly were impressive things and he had already sent some out to some of their leal lords, he had found that not only did they work as pumps for water or as small windmills, but there was no telling what you could power up using them. Lord Crakehall used his to power the bellows for the forge, Lord Banefort had simply used his to bring his grain stores into the castle itself, allowing for them to be milled there rather than in nearby windmills or water mills.
Tyrion knew though they were still only scratching the surface of what they could do with these things. and that eventually they'd come up with a use that would make them laugh at how they'd wasted them until then. He heard the noise of the wheels and the whoosh of air from the bellows. Time seemed to stretch on for a few moments before they finally heard the sound of running water, they looked to the tubes and saw the water flow into the lake.
"It works. it damn well works, good job Jon." Jaime said excitedly patting the boy on the back.
They stood there watching for almost an hour as the water flowed before it finally stopped, it took them a few minutes to realize that the bellows inside needed to be realigned, so they decided to head off for something to eat. When they came back the water was flowing again, on and on it went, occasionally the flow would stop and then after while begin yet again.
"Mallan, unhook the fitting." Tyrion shouted.
"Aye, my lord." Mallan said and did as he was told.
"Men that'll be it for tonight, there's food and drink ready for you so go get some rest, you did great work today." Jaime said loudly.
After the men had left they made their way inside the mine to see how far they'd gotten to, Tyrion was stunned to see that they'd removed almost half the water inside, it couldn't have been that simple could it he wondered as they walked through the mine.
"I can't believe this." he said shaking his head.
"Your not the only one." Gerion laughed.
They looked around the mine Jon and Gerion walking off in one direction while he and Jaime stood where they were, he could already see veins of glimmering gold, as they moved on they came to something he had hoped not to see, there were skeletons and broken bones scattered on ledges that the water had uncovered, he shuddered the Reynes deserved better than this.
"We'll need to give them a proper burial, maybe hold a service of some sort." Jaime said and Tyrion shook his head in agreement.
"We can get the Septon to hold a large service, it'll show people we're different than father and that the mines are open once again." Tyrion said.
"Aye, we'll do that, do you think those wheels could be used to help with the mining itself?" Jaime asked.
"I think so, we'd need to create some tools that fit but they'd be stronger then men and probably safer too until we figure out just how stable this mine is." Tyrion replied.
"We'll need to restore the castle also, but it looks like we'll be well covered gold wise, how rich do you think this mine is?" Jaime asked as he looked around.
"Very." they both heard their uncles voice say as he and Jon walked up on them.
Tyrion looked in astonishment at the large rock Gerion was holding in his hand, the gold was shining though it and he had rarely seen such a large deposit so freely available, Jon was carrying a similar sized rock except his looked different, he handed it to Tyrion and as he did so Tyrion could see it was silver ore, he had no idea the mine had both, this was an even bigger boon as now the more rocks they uncovered there would be less that would be useless. it would seem.
"Where did you find these?" he asked.
"There's a passage a the back there that Ghost uncovered, you need to see it, we're going to need to put some guards on the entrance here right away." Gerion said and began walking back the way he came.
He grimaced as the white wolf came over and grabbed his leg, pulling his britches as if to make him follow, he looked to Jon to see the boy smiling at him, Jaime joining him and he realized there was no help to be had from that quarter. So he gave in and followed after the wolf joining Jaime and Jon and walking down the tunnel to the right, when he reached the passage Gerion had spoken about he could see exactly what he meant. They had obviously been working here before his father had flooded the mines and they had hit a very rich vein, it was incredible, he watched as Gerion held a torch and the gold glimmered in the light.
A sennight later.
In the end it had taken them almost four days to fully clear the mine of water, the last bit extremely time consuming as the pipes couldn't function correctly with so little water, so they had to remove the final bits of water by using small cups and buckets. They also had begun to collect the bodies of those who'd died in the flooding, Tyrion was shocked not only by the number of them, which must have been in the hundreds, but in the horrible realization that some were clearly children.
It was one thing growing up and hearing about what his father had done, it was quite another to see the evidence of it so clearly, as hard as it hit him it hit Jaime even worse and Tyrion was certain that the next person to play that damn song would feel his brothers wrath. In the end they'd removed almost all of them he was sure and true to his word they'd held a service where the remains were blessed by the septon and given a proper burial.
Some of their lords had come from far and wide to see the mines reopened and he knew that more than one had hoped to get the honor of both being placed in charge of the operation and the seat of Castermere itself, but Jaime had surprised them all and named his uncle Gerion the new lord of Castermere much to the man's annoyance.
" I don't want it, why would I, give it to someone else."
" It need must be you uncle, your not only the best man for the job, but you deserve this, you can rebuild the castle and make it a worthy seat."
" Jaime I don't want a damn Lordship, I'm happy where I am, why would you give me this?" Gerion asked angrily.
" It's not just for you uncle, it's for Joy also."
" What."
" When she grows up uncle, she may not have our name but she's a Lannister and I'll not have anyone look down on her because she's called Hill, so this is for her as much as you, she'll be the lady of Castermere, her name won't matter because she'll be richer than any of the damn fools." Jaime said determinedly.
Tyrion had smiled as he thought back on the conversation, his uncle had come round and Jaime had called Kevan in to see him before they announced it, he sat there waiting for Kevan to come in, Jaime and Jon talking excitedly about something or other, what he wasn't quite sure of, as he hadn't being paying attention.
"But if you use a shield would it not limit your movement." Jon asked.
"Aye it would but the protection it offered would be better.
"Better than a short sword?"
"Aye for protection yes, a short sword might help your offense but it'd leave you open."
Tyrion reached over and took a sip of his wine, of course it was about fighting he thought as he laughed, neither of the two paying him too much attention engrossed in their conversation as always when it came to swordplay. Finally their uncle arrived, Lancel following behind as usual, the boy had been better lately Tyrion was glad to say whatever little competition he had going on with Jon in his head clearly forgotten.
"Uncle, it's good to see you." Jaime said as Kevan took a seat.
"You too nephew, this is an amazing thing you've accomplished."
"It wasn't me uncle, it was Jon's idea and Tyrion saw it through."
"Then let me congratulate you both." Kevan said with a nod.
"Uncle I wanted to talk about Castermere, I know you were hoping to get it,"
"So it's not to be me then?" Kevan said disappointingly.
"No uncle, it's to be Gerion, he'll be the lord of Castermere."
"Good, he deserves it." Kevan said with a forced smile.
"I have larger plans for you uncle, I need you elsewhere in a much more important role."
Tyrion watched as his uncle sat up a little straighter, the anger and disappointment on his face replaced with a more curious look.
"I shall serve wherever you see fit nephew." Kevan said.
"I know that uncle, I'm extremely grateful for it believe me, which is why I'm naming you Lord of the newly created seat of Lannisport and admiral of the Lannister fleet.
"My lord you honor me." Kevan said the shock and gratitude genuine on his face, Tyrion thought.
"No uncle I don't, you've always been loyal and it's time that loyalty was rewarded, we shall divert funds so you can build a seat worthy of you and I intend to build a fleet stronger than fathers."
"Now will you join me in a glass to celebrate our good fortune." Jaime said as he handed him a glass that Jon filled.
"Aye, I will nephew, I thank you, truly, you have no idea how much this means to me."
Tyrion joined them in and one glass led to more, Kevan was not one for drinking really but he celebrated like a man who'd been given a lifelong dream and Tyrion felt that he deserved it more than most. He looked to his brother who smiled at him, Jaime rewarded people for what they did, what they achieved, and Tyrion knew his brother would ensure he got his due when the time was right and so he happily celebrated with his family.
Jon.
The dreams had being coming more regularly since they returned from Castermere, some were strange and of places he could never imagine, large buildings that reached as high as the eye could see, roads that made the Kings Road look like a trail in the woods, he saw shapes cut into stone that seemed impossible, animals that he could not name depicted to such detail that he could see their eyes glisten as he looked at them. Sometimes he'd wake up in a cold sweat and for the life of him couldn't remember the dreams at all, others he'd remember vividly.
He had been worried about speaking of them to anyone fearing what they would think of him, so instead he'd curl up beside Ghost and eventually fall into a dreamless sleep. Sometimes it'd would be sennights between the dreams and at others they would occur every night. The one's which bothered him most were of a woman alone in a tower covered in blood, she'd look him in the eye and Jon would feel his heart break at the look of pain in her eyes.
He'd wake from those with tears falling down his face and Ghost would lick them clean and curl tightly to him. Other dreams where happier, of a man and a woman's laughter, or a beautiful song played on a harp. He'd occasionally dream he was walking the rock, smaller and lower to the ground while around him people seemed as big as giants.
Eventually he decided to grab some parchment and quills and the things he remembered he'd draw or write down. An image of a blue flower covered in ice, or a sword shining with a light so bright it hurt to look upon it, a field of ice with the largest Weirwood he'd ever seen. A cave filled with stone so black it looked like night itself and a door made of stone that beckoned him forward.
As he woke this morning he quickly grabbed the parchment and began to draw what he'd dreamt the night before, he'd been by a dock as a ship sailed in, larger and more imposing than any he'd ever seen before. It glided through the water and all of a sudden he was on board it, walking up and down, seeing ropes and sails and masts and men, he drew it all and placed it on the pile of other drawing he had on his table.
"Well Ghost, seems like this wasn't a bad one, eh my friend." he said as the wolf just cocked his head to the side.
He quickly got dressed and made his way to break his fast, passing Joy's room he sighed, ever since her name day when she turned three the little girls lessons had gotten busier. With her father away Jon had thought he'd get to spend more time with her but Genna had taken the little girl under her wing and while he was happy for her, he also missed her especially in the mornings as she now broke her fast with Genna and her children most morns.
"Morning Jon." Alessia said to him as he entered the dining room.
"Morning Alessia, how are you feeling today?"
"I'm much better Jon, thanks for asking and for you help with the Maester."
"Don't mention it, I'm glad to help." he smiled at the girl and made his way to the table unhappy to see he was alone.
Jaime had stayed in Lannisport with Kevan and Jon had hoped to go with him but instead he'd been asked to help Tyrion which he had enjoyed. but it meant he had missed their morning spars for a couple of days and Tyrion was rarely up when he broke his fast. He smiled at Alessia when she brought him his meal, the girl had been ill and he'd gone to Creylen to get some help for her knowing that servants weren't a priority for the Maester.
After finishing his meal and making sure the hungry wolf beside him had eaten his fill, he thought about going to see Tyrion but he knew it'd be another couple of hours before he awoke especially with him having worked thorough most of the night, so instead he went back to his room and sat back down on the bed.
His lessons wouldn't begin for another few hours and he was at a loss what to do. So he picked up the parchment he'd drawn that morning and looked at it carefully, the ship was incredibly impressive but it didn't seem right, taking another piece of parchment he began to draw it out again. He completely lost track of time, drawing picture and picture of the ship, discarding one after another for reasons he couldn't be completely sure of, the pieces of used parchment mounting up on the floor.
"Jon."
"JON."
He turned surprised to see Tyrion standing there in his room looking at him worriedly while Ghost for a change sat in the corner not paying the man any attention whatsoever, almost as if he too had been lost in his own world.
"My lord?"
"Are you all right Jon? I've been calling you for a few minutes while you were just sitting there drawing"
"I'm sorry my lord, got carried away, I had an idea and I just couldn't let it go."
"An idea eh, well your last idea made us rich."
"Weren't you already rich my lord." Jon japed getting a smile from Tyrion.
"Fine richer then." Tyrion said sticking his tongue out at him making him laugh. "So lets see this idea then?"
Jon handed him the piece of paper and waited for the laughter to start, if Tyrion knew he'd spent most of the morning drawing silly pictures of ships he'd never live it down. But the laughter never came, instead Tyrion sat down hard on his bed and looked at the picture over and over again.
"How did you come up with this?" Tyrion asked.
"I don't know my lord, I had a dream and I just drew what I saw."
"Jon have you any idea what this could do if it works?"
"No my lord, wait what do you mean if it works?"
"Jon if this ship is viable, you've just created something incredible, sailing these ships would make incredible profits, not to mention how much of an edge they'd give in battle, I need to show this to Creylen, come with me."
The two walked to Creylen's rooms, Ghost finally realizing it was Tyrion that they were walking with and once again deciding that Tyrion's britches were a tasty snack.
"Get off me you stupid wolf." Tyrion said trying to shrug Ghost away.
"Ghost leave him be." Jon said and the wolf stopped but looked at him like he was the biggest spoilsport ever.
"Why does your wolf continually need to eat my clothes Jon?"
"He's just playing aren't you boy." Jon answered while he rubbed the wolf behind the ears.
The three of them arrived at the Maesters and knocked before entering to find the man busily scribbling down notes.
"My lord, Jon" Creylen said as he quickly took to his feet.
"Maester, I need you to have a look at something." Tyrion said handing him the drawing.
The maester took the drawing and began to go over it in great detail, shaking his head and smiling occasionally before he turned back to them.
"I've never, My lord, I've never see anything like this before, it's incredible, if I may ask where did you get it?"
"Young Jon here drew it Maester." Tyrion said and Creylen looked at Jon stunned.
"My lord, this would change the way fleets work, for trade, for warfare, ships like this would completely change it all."
"So you think that it can be built and would be worth doing so?"
"Of course my lord, we should be doing it as soon as possible, it'll take a lot of work but it can be done, I have no doubt it'd work my lord."
Tyrion looked at him and shook his head before smiling.
"Come Jon, it seems we need to make a trip to Lannisport, I want people working on this immediately."
"My lord, if it's possible, could I, would it be allowed for me to share this?" Jon asked.
"With who Jon, I wouldn't want to strengthen our rivals."
"With Lord Manderly my lord, they've been good to me since I've come here and I owe them and what's that saying of yours again." Jon said with a smirk.
Olenna.
The last moon was incredibly trying she thought as she sat in her garden eating from her cheese plate, the little flowers sitting around her were chattering annoyingly and not for the first time she wondered if she should just dismiss them all. Sitting to her left her granddaughter was wearing the white wolf brooch she had received for her eight name day, it was a beautiful thing Olenna would admit but it was the boy who'd gifted it to her that was causing her most of her concern.
When news had reached them of the boy's achievement in reopening Castermere, Olenna had for the first time she could remember been completely lost for words. How a boy of her granddaughters age had managed such a thing was beyond not just her but Highgarden's Maester and she knew those other grey rats at the Citadel had tried and failed before, much to the old lion's chagrin.
" How is this possible Maester Lomys?" Mace asked.
" I don't know my lord, I've never heard of such a thing, wind wheels small enough to be built and constructed on the move, it's never been done before." the Maester said shaking his head.
" Do you understand what this means Mace?" she said already knowing the answer.
" No mother I don't." her son shook his head and she shuddered.
" It means this boy has just made the Lannisters richer than ever, Mace, what will they do with that money?"
" I don't know Mother, maybe they'll try and buy influence with the king." Mace said looking at her both in hope that he'd reached the correct answer and fear that if he had and what that would mean to their plots.
" No I don't think it'll be that." she shook her head, they already had influence and gave it away for some reason.
" Then what mother?"
" I don't know Mace." Olenna said angrily as her son quivered slightly at her tone.
That was the thing, she had no idea and as most things regarding both the Lannisters and Jon Snow had lately, it bothered her no end that she could not see the game they were playing. Her mind went back to the young man in question, she knew off course that he and her grandchildren had been friendly and that he was as any young man would be, enamored of her granddaughter, even if at his age he wouldn't understand why.
It had bothered her to see that her precious rose felt something similar for the boy, though given the distance between them and the fact of their ages she hadn't felt the need to keep them apart just yet. When the boy had come to the wedding she had been surprised, but the boy was courteous and respectful and the gift he'd given young Lynesse was thoughtful, even Olenna had been impressed.
After the wedding she had noticed her granddaughter was a little more subdued than usual but after a while she had come back to being more like herself and Olenna had put it down to travel, and the fact that back at Highgarden they had no big events planned for a while, she had quickly rectified it and held a number of balls and noticed that her Granddaughters mood soon improved. When her name day arrived Olenna had thrown the largest feast she could to ensure her granddaughter's happiness, they had given her incredible gifts, jewellery, books, dresses, fabric and yet once again it was a bastard boy's gift which was the most cherished.
"My lady, a gift from a friend." the man said carrying a small box to her granddaughter.
"I thank you Ser, may I ask the friends name" Margaery asked.
"Of course my lady, the lad said his name was Just Jon." the man said and Margaery's smiled beamed at him."
"Good Ser, please enjoy the feast." Margaery turned and opened the box.
"Look Grandmamma." the girl said as she walked towards her holding the brooch in her hand.
Olenna had to give the boy credit the brooch was exquisite, simple yet elegant, the eyes were two small garnets and the wolfs body was made from ivory, the pin was made of gold, simple yet striking was the best way to describe it and her granddaughter adored it. When she'd found out who the gift came from she'd almost taken it away from Margaery, it was one thing to be friendly with a bastard, quite another to accept gifts from one.
However in the end she'd said nothing and when she heard of the events in Castermere she felt vindicated in her choice, the boy was someone who could in time be a good friend to her house and if he felt something for her grandchildren and Margaery in particular all the better, far easier to manipulate a friend than an enemy.
"Grandmother are you well?" Margaery asked concernedly.
"What's that sweeltling?"
"Are you well grandmother, you seem a little distracted."
"Oh it's nothing dear, what are you and your friends talking about?"
"We were just speaking of a tourney grandmother, wondering when father may hold one."
"I'm sure if you ask him sweetling he'll hold one soon." Olenna answered and noticed the look in her granddaughter's eyes, Mace would be holding a tourney very soon she knew now and she smiled.
Her thoughts once again turned to Jon Snow and the Lannisters, she was getting nowhere, she'd set some of her spies up to gather what details they could on either and not one had brought her back anything of note. The Lannister's were moving into trading more and now with the additional income from Castermere, would no doubt seek to invest it, which gave her some openings she thought.
But it was Jon Snow himself that really interested her, she needed to know more about the boy, her efforts to find out who his mother had been were so far unsuccessful, with Ashara Dayne seeming the most likely given both the boys looks and his father's reluctance to name the woman, honorable Ned Stark would never speak badly about the dead she thought to herself.
She had spoken to her grandsons about the boy and they all had said the same thing, he was someone they liked and in some cases it seemed admired, as both Garlan and Loras spoke fondly of the spars and the duel itself. Even Willas who was much more sensible than either of her other grandsons had nothing but good things to say of the boy's temperament, she needed to do something or this would drive her mad.
"Margaery."
"Yes grandmother."
"Loras got on well with young Jon Snow did he not?" she asked already knowing the answer.
"He did grandmother, Jon's easy to get on with." Margaery said smiling.
"Do you think he'd be open to squiring for Jaime Lannister?"
"I think he would grandmother, but Jon is already squiring for Lord Jaime."
"He is but surely an important man such as Lord Jaime would be able to have two squires and with Jon and Loras getting along so well, I'm sure they too would enjoy each others company."
She looked on as her granddaughter looked confused before she nodded at her, good it was settled then Margaery would speak to Loras and she'd work on Mace, Loras no doubt would be quite eager to be trained by a man such as Jaime Lannister, boys and their swords she snorted.
She would speak to the boy before he left, there would be no need to tell him to get close to Jon Snow, that it seemed was already done, instead she'd insist he send letters back, let them know how things were going, what was happening at the rock and how he and Jon were getting along. She'd learn more from Loras's letters and visits than she ever would from spies. She reached over and grabbed a particularly nice piece of soft cheese and placed it in her mouth, the taste of it divine and the headache she had been nursing for a while started to fade away.