Chapter 5: An Imp, A Lion and A Bastard

Tyrion waited anxiously in the courtyard, he stood beside his uncle Kevan and aunt Genna, as he looked around he could see so many people waiting for their new Lord to arrive, for Tyrion though he was just so excited to see his brother again. He hoped that now his brother was Lord things would be different, perhaps he'd be appreciated instead of scorned or perhaps that was too much to hope for, he was loosing himself in those thoughts when he heard the sound of horses at the gates.

There he was finally, his brother looked just as he remembered except he looked happier somehow, confused Tyrion noticed the you boy Jaime was speaking to, no not speaking to joking with, both were laughing happily, a pang of jealousy went straight to his heart, Who was this boy who could make his brother laugh so?. He watched as they finally stopped and got off the horses, his uncle Gerion smiling and patting the boy on the back as they made their way over to him.

"Casterly Rock is your's my Lord." Kevan said in a booming voice.

"Uncle, it's good to be home." he heard Jaime reply before he saw his brother moved towards him.

"Brother, it's good to see you." Tyrion said a large smile on his face.

"Tyrion." Jaime smiled a beaming smile before bending down and throwing his arms around him, he whispered into his ear "I've missed you brother, I've missed you so much."

Tyrion felt his heart expand in his chest, he had always been closest with Jaime, he and uncle Gerion were the only ones who openly disapproved of how his father treated him and both always went out of they're way to let him know that small though he might be, he was as much of a lion as either of them.

"Aunt Genna." he heard his brother say as he moved to embrace his aunt, he had always been more closed off with his emotions and Tyrion wondered if the death of his father was the reason for his sudden change. As he noticed the young boy nervously watching he again wondered who he was and why he was here, he looked northern to Tyrion's eyes but what would his brother be doing with a northern boy.

"Friend's it's good to be home, I shall endeavor to be as good as Lord of Casterly Rock as my father and vow that we shall all prosper under my stewardship."

They walked inside and headed to the hall of heroes to pay their respects, Jaime, Kevan and Gerion leading the way as Aunt Genna had been asked by Jaime to find suitable accommodation in the family wing for his new page. Jon Snow he said the boys name was and to say Tyrion was intrigued would be an understatement, a new page was to be expected it to be a northern bastard was shocking as was rooming him in the family wing, but finding out whose bastard he was proved to be the biggest shock of all.

"Who's is the young boy?" his uncle Kevan asked.

"Jon."

"Jon?" his uncle questioned.

"Yes, Jon Snow my new page."

"You took a bastard as a page."

"I took a boy as my page, which side of the sheets he was born on is irrelevant."

"But he's a bastard."

"A Lord's bastard, he's Eddard Starks natural son."

Tyrion watched as his uncle looked at Jaime incredulously he had to admit he felt the same, although the reality of the boys birth was only part of the reason.

"Jaime, you can't have a bastard as your page no matter who his father is. You're the lord of Casterly Rock, the warden of the west, your not a kingsguard anymore, you can't just do as you like, you have responsibilities."

"I beg to differ with you uncle, it's because I'm lord I can in fact do as I like, what was it father would say, what does a lion care about the opinions of sheep."

"Jaime, that was different you are not your father."

"Thankfully so."

Kevan looked ready to burst, Tyrion watched as his other uncle rolled his eyes before stepping in to diffuse the tension.

"We can discuss this later, we're here to pay our respects, we should do so respectfully." Gerion grumpily said as he moved to Kevan's side.

The four of them walked in silence until they reached the large golden doors of the hall of heroes. he had been down here only twice since his father's body had been interred, each time his feelings had been difficult to quantify, he was sad he knew that, but a part of him an almost larger part if he was being truthful with himself, felt nothing at all.

"Why did you take so long to return, we had planned to do a large service when the remains arrived expecting that you would return with them." Kevan moved towards the sarcophagus with an almost reverential look In his eyes.

"The king invited me to Winterfell, I felt it would be unwise to refuse him."

"He would have understood."

"He's a fat, stupid man, what he understands doesn't concern me, but appearances are necessary."

He watched as Jaime placed his hand on the stone, rubbing it tenderly but it was the look in his eyes that caught Tyrion's attention, he didn't look sad, far from it he almost looked happy, no that wasn't it, what was that look?

"Uncles if I may have a moment with my brother alone."

Both his uncles nodded and left at Jaime's request, he stood there watching as they left before Jaime came over to him and knelt down grabbing him in another tight embrace, Tyrion could feel the tears begin to pool in his eyes, this was all he ever wanted, a family that loved him. They stayed like that for a few minutes until Jaime finally let him go.

"Come little brother we have much to discuss."

" Do we?"

"Of course we do, your new role for one."

"My new?"

"Your new role, as the castellan of Casterly Rock."

"What….but uncle Kevan."

"Will have his own important duties, but who better than to serve as my castellan than the cleverest brother a man could ever hope to have."

Jaime sighed as they left his solar, his solar, it felt strange considering it was practically where his father had lived for most of his life. Tywin would spend hours in here, doing god knows what, was it here he planned the Rains of Castermere, here he wrote the orders to kill Elia and her children, the thought made him want to vomit, looking around the room it began to feel claustrophobic, the lion sculptures, the tableau's, the gold all of it threatened to overwhelm him, he had to get out, he had to clear his mind and he knew exactly how to do it.

He walked down the hallway to where Jon's room's where, he had specifically asked for Jon to be given the best available rooms in the family wing and was pleased to see they had indeed done so, as he entered he saw him standing there a dumbfounded look on his face as he took it all in, after a few minute's he coughed to alert Jon he was there.

"Eh, My Lord, I… I….This is a mistake right?"

"No, no mistake Jon, these are your rooms for as long as your staying here."

"But they can't be, this has to be a mistake."

Jaime laughed at the boy's confusion, he didn't mean to but it was just funny to him, a king thinking an above average room was more than he deserved, the laugh petered out quickly though when he thought of the reason why, that damn trout.

"Jon, trust me these rooms aren't even that special, besides you're my page now, I need you to be close to my own rooms and these were the only ones available." Jaime grimaced as he said the words, but it was the best he could do for now, it wasn't like he could tell him the truth, yet.

"Now, how about we have a little spar before dinner?"

Jon's face lit up and they headed down to the training area, no doubt they'd soon attract a crowd, people eager to see the boy Jaime had decided to take under his wing, to see how worthy he was. Uncle Gerion would probably turn up, ready to take the piss as always, but he was an honest man and Jaime knew if it was just Jon's parentage and not his talent that blinded him then Gerion would question him .

"Move Jon, quicker than that, to the side, now back again, again that's it, that's the way." Jaime had beamed at him as he followed his directions.

"The lad's got some talent I'll give you that." Gerion had said as he watched Jon spar with one of the older boys, just as he did he saw Jon give a stunning riposte that forced the older boy to falter, within second's he had yielded.

"A lot of talent."

Jon had sparred for almost two hours, almost one of it entirely with Jaime, he was surprised how many people were watching but then realized off course they'd be eager to see their Lord, but he noticed some had their attention on him. So he pushed through his tiredness and tried to listen to Jaime's running instructions. When he had been asked to spar against some of the recruits he had been nervous, but Jaime just nodded and touched his shoulder.

Show them Jon, show them who you'll be Jaime had said and he did, he beat most of them with only the ones too strong or too old managing to put him down, he had bumps and bruises from where some of the hits had landed, but seeing the pride on Jaime's face made the pain hurt a little less.

Jon felt happier than he had in a long time, the journey, the places he had seen had been amazing, but it was nothing compared to the Rock itself. The castle was carved out of the mountain, it soared into the air further than Jon could see, to get to the main castle they had to take a lift which was an experience in itself. As if that wasn't enough to excite the boy's imagination, the sounds that echoed through the cliffs below were incredible, thunderous noise that in Jon's fevered imagination sounded like lion's roaring, hear me roar indeed he thought as he readied himself for bed.

The people he had met were friendly, if not a little suspicious, Kevan and Genna were polite but barely paid him attention, Gerion was funny and didn't seem to take things seriously, he hadn't really spent much time with Tyrion and was looking forward to do so, Jaime's stories of his little brother had intrigued him, but as usual it was Jaime he was happiest to spend time with. Their spar had been fun, he'd tried some of the things Jaime had thought him and one or two had come off really well especially against the other boys he'd sparred against.

Tyrion sat at the table beside Jaime, the two laughing and joking and reliving old times, the night had been moving along really well, when he decided to ask the thing he'd been thinking about most of the day, just why was Ned Stark's bastard squiring or paging or whatever the it was he was doing for Jaime..

"So brother, why the hell did you pick a northern bastard to be your page?" Tyrion asked noticing immediately the way his brother grimaced at the word bastard.

"Jon's a very talented lad."

"Still a bastard though." Tyrion couldn't help himself he wanted to push Jaime to see if he might open up.

"What he is doesn't matter, it's who he is that counts."

"Ah, you mean because he's a Stark bastard"

"No, I mean because he has potential to be a great man, potential that some would rather let wither under the yoke of being a bastard."

Tyrion was about to say something else but when he saw the look on Jaime's face he decided not to, he'd provoked him by calling the lad a bastard for some reason and while he wanted to know what the reason really was, he didn't want to do it at the cost of annoying his brother, he'd only just got him back after all.

"You really think that highly of the lad?"

"Aye, I do brother."

"Then I shall endeavor to be his friend." Tyrion said as Jaime smiled at him, he'd figure it out eventually and it would be nice to have an actual friend, so it was a win for him, besides it made his brother happy, which in Tyrion's mind was worth anything.

Tyrion walked into the hall to break his fast, he grabbed a plate of burned black bacon and a mug of hot mulled wine and made his way over to the table where his Uncle Gerion was currently regaling Jon in some grand tale or another, judging by the look on the boy's face he was lapping it up, but then he and Jaime had been the same every time Gerion told a story.

"Ah, finally decided to grace us with your presence have you." he heard his uncle's voice as he sat down..

"Why Uncle, you know better than anyone I'm not a morning person."

"Allow me to introduce young master Snow, to you."

"Jon, Jon Snow my lord." Jon said holding his hand out.

"Tyrion, it's just Tyrion." he smiled at the boy trying to make him comfortable, it worked as the boy gave him a small smile back.

"And how are you finding the rock, Jon?."

"It's different, I've never seen a castle built into the mountain before and the sounds, they're amazing." the boy enthusiastically said.

"Then perhaps after we break our fast I could show you around."

"Thank you my lord."

"Tyrion, Jon, just Tyrion."

"Ok Tyrion." Jon said with a smile.

After they broke their fast Gerion left to visit Joy and Tyrion and Jon began their tour around the rock, he showed him the stables that his father had been so proud of, the armory which perked Jon's interest, the Maester's rooms which Jon remarked were larger than Luwin's at Winterfell, they walked along the corridors to the golden galley where it's gilded walls and golden ornaments had the boy's mouth open in awe,

Once they'd toured most of the upper parts Tyrion took Jon down to the vaults showing him where once they kept actual Lions and getting a smile from the boy before he finally took him to the stone garden, the rock's godswood.

"I didn't think you'd have a weirwood here." Jon said the delight evident in his face even though the tree was tiny compared to the one in Winterfell.

"My father… always refused to allow it to be torn down, although we follow the seven."

"I'm sorry for your loss, Tyrion."

"No matter."

Their tour over Tyrion and Jon headed back to the training area, Tyrion decided to stay and watch the boy spar with Gerion and was surprised to see just how good he was, small and young obviously but the talent was there no doubt, he wondered briefly if this was the reason Jaime had taken him under his wing but quickly dismissed it. There was something else about the boy, something beneath the surface, something he would find out, but he was glad to spend time with Jon either way, the truth was he found he liked the boy.