Hugh Hammer (ASOIF/SI)

 "But, but he is old, and horrid looking!" shrieked Lylian, stamping her

 feet for emphasis, her face flushed red and her hair beginning to

 unravel from its well-groomed style.

 "Are you finished yet?" she asked her daughter, who had just arrived

 in Kings Landing after a journey of four, and from all accounts

 arduous, moons from Casterly Rock to the Red Keep.

 Mayhaps she should have kept the girl in Casterly Rock for a few

 more years, she was only three and ten after all, but she had her

 own reasons for bringing Lylian to the Red Keep as swiftly as

 possible.

 She wanted the girl betrothed as soon as possible, and wed if Lord

 Strong was amenable, for she did not trust her brother by law Ser

 Tyland Lannister, for she was unconvinced of his sincerity regarding

 the match. And the sooner Lord Strong was wed into House

 Lannister the more secure she would feel about any potential

 whispers about Tyshara's exploits.

 This so called 'long betrothal' that Ser Tyland had proposed was a

 ploy, she was sure, and one guaranteed to see the marriage never

 actualised. Even though Ser Tyland had no family of his own and

 was unable to father children after the indignities inflicted upon him

 by Prince Daemon's torturers, she still did not trust the man. She had

 never liked him, nor trusted him, always feeling that he coveted

 Casterly Rock, and not without some justification, he had always

 been the cleverer one, the more ruthless one, her husband Jason

 had always been more interested in hunting and fucking, with a side

 interest in feasting.

 One of the reasons why Ser Tyland had left Casterly Rock in the first

 place was her discovery of a plot by him to poison Jason shortly after

 she had wed the Lord of Casterly Rock. Unfortunately, the evidence,

such as she had was not sufficient to have Ser Tyland killed, but he

 was smart enough to realise that his days at Casterly Rock would be

 numbered, hence why he had Jason petition for a place on the Small

 Council for him. Jason was of course blithely unaware of the plotting

 that had been going on, and she deeply regretted not being able to

 have Tyland killed.

 She had to settle for killing his wives during childbirth instead, along

 with their children, a sure-fire way to kill a woman without drawing

 any undue attention. And as far as she was aware Ser Tyland was

 none the wiser of her plots against his line, for she could not risk any

 danger to come to her children by Jason. The carrying off by the Iron

 Born of her former husband's bastard daughters had been provident

 happenstance, but they would have died anyway, she had been busy

 arranging for their disposal when those raping scum had done her

 job for her, taken as salt wives was as good as dead as far as she

 was concerned.

 Despite the ties of blood and name she had with Ser Tyland, she

 would not trust him an inch, hence why she wanted to gain control

 over the marriage to Lord Strong. No doubt Ser Tyalnd thought it to

 his advantage primarily, though it did bring some advantage to

 House Lannister also.

 So Lylian had been dispatched with all haste to Kings Landing to

 meet with her intended and for the betrothal to be formalised, and if

 possible even the wedding taken care of. The hysterics of her

 daughter notwithstanding, "Lord Strong is a powerful and wealthy

 Lord, who has expressed his desire to form an alliance with House

 Lannister, you will do your duty girl, never forget that!"

 "I will NOT!" Lylian cried, tears beginning to streak down her face,

 her face frantic with fear and anger.

 "You will, or you will find yourself dispatched to the Silent Sisters,

 make your choice girl" she replied coldly, rather disappointed in the

 girls' actions. Not that she could not sympathise with Lylian, but such

was the nature of a highborn girl's life, for the benefits came with

 drawbacks.

 "Why, why me? Why not Tyshara!" Lylina howled in response, again

 stamping her foot for emphasis.

 "Because your sister Tyshara is being considered for other matches,

 something which need not concern you young Lady! Now behave, or

 I will have you locked in your room on bread and water until you

 come to your senses!"

 "But mama… plesase….."

 "Don't you 'mama' me miss, you will do as you are told, now, off to

 bed, you will be meeting your husband to be tomorrow so you must

 make a good impression!"

 With that she dismissed her daughter and returned to sit by her fire,

 warming herself as the cold seemed to be radiating from the very

 stones of the Red Keep. Winter still held everything in its icy grip, but

 at least the Ironborn seemed to have quietened down, there had

 been no more reports of attacks on the Westerlands in the past few

 moons.

 She pondered the events of the last few moons and wondered, not

 for the first time, if allying her House to Lord Strong was such a good

 idea, and if it would not be a better idea to be rid of the Master of

 Whispers altogether. Yes Lord Strong was a master at playing the

 game, but maybe that was the problem, maybe he was too good…..

 And with what she knew of the Master of Whispers she could destroy

 him easily enough; the Lord Regent would impale Lord Strong

 without a second's hesitation if he was made aware of certain facts

 pertaining to the Day of Fire and Blood. Which did beg the question

 why Ser Tyland was engaging in this charade of marrying a

 Lannister daughter to Lord Strong in the first place?

She was nearly tempted to go to the Prince Regent in the morning,

 so juicy and tempting was the information that she knew now, but

 that would not help her with her main problem. In a roundabout way

 yes, but not directly.

 Her daughter Tyshara was a problem that she needed to solve and

 solve rapidly. Cerelle was betrothed to Lord Addam Velaryon and

 now Lylian was to be betrothed to Lord Larys Strong, but what of

 Tyshara? The gossiping would start soon enough unless she

 secured a very, very good marriage for the girl, she could of course

 deflect it with rumours of a marriage into a banner House of the

 Westerlands. But that would cause problems of its own, Tyshara was

 the eldest daughter, and her hand was a great prize, and who to

 bestow that prize upon was the question? And there was the not

 insignificant fact that she knew most of the potential candidates, and

 she felt none of them deserved Tyshara's hand.

 Despite the wedding of Prince Hugh, she had not totally given up on

 a marriage into House Targaryen for Tyshara, and if push came to

 shove she might have to resort to the same methods that had

 disposed of Ser Tyland's wives to remove that Baratheon chit from

 Tyshara's path.

 Then, with the bait of the true telling of the events of the Day of Fire

 and Blood she would be able to capture a handsome Prince, bastard

 and all that he might be, for her Tyshara.