Tywin X & Stannis XI (AC 289)

Tygett slung his cloak over a chair before greeting Tywin. "The weather's terrible," he observed.

Tywin glanced up at him. "Yes," he said shortly and then looked back at the despatches.

"Jaime wanted to join the army. I told him your instructions hadn't changed."

"Good."

"Leyla will probably give birth soon," Tygett added. "I imagine he'll send another request at that time."

"I'll refuse."

"Also King Robert turned into a dragon and flew back to King's Landing."

Tywin signed the letter in front of him and wiped the tip of his quill. "I very much doubt that."

"Just checking you were paying attention."

"You arrived from the south. Even if King Robert did something that unlikely, I'd have heard about it before you did." He capped the ink well. "Prince Stannis is sailing north to meet us here, embark the army and sail for Pyke."

"A decapitation attack?" his brother opened a flagon of wine and held up two goblets.

Tywin shook his head.

Putting down one goblet, Tygett filled the other form himself. "It's a solid plan but it counts on his being able to defeat the Ironborn and land the army. If the Iron Fleet catches the Royal Fleet while it's busy disembarking us... well, matters would get ugly."

It rests more on whether or not the Ironborn learn of the plan and launch a raid on us here at Banefort, Tywin observed. Catch Stannis here, destroy his fleet while we're loading the army and burn out the port... they'll want to repeat what they did at Lannisport. But if you don't see that there's no use telling you the real plan.

"Lord Tarly is in charge of the defenses," he said instead. "You're to take charge of getting our men ready to board the ships."

"Is Tyrion still with the fleet."

"Despite managing to lose the Lion of Lannister, he appears to have made a positive impression with Prince Stannis." Tywin rose and went to the window of the room, looking out at the sea. The wind was kicking up fearsome waves. "Since the Baratheons have seen fit to award him a new galley, captured from the Ironborn, I see no reason he shouldn't continue to be of use there."

"And since we've discussed your sons now, Cersei is settling back in at Casterly Rock. Genna had her take off the armour almost immediately."

"The North appears to prize her. That bodes well for the alliance with the Starks."

"Are a few miles of half-frozen forest and some poor farms worth all of this?"

"The future of our family may rest on it," Tywin explained. Explaining this might have merit. Now Cersei had found her feet, the way could open for one of his brothers to go north. Gerion was in the King's favour and the Royal Guard were to be rewarded for their service. A landhold in the north wasn't impossible now that there were family ties and the right landholding...

Turning he opened one of his saddlebags and found the map he was looking for. "Tygett, how long has gold been mined in the Westerlands?"

"Thousands of years. I doubt anyone knows exactly."

"And in all that time, despite the occasional worry, we've never exhausted the gold beneath the mountains. Casterly Rock, Castamere, Golden Tooth... the Westerlands are riddled with mines. And sooner or later, all mines reach the end of what can be dug out of them."

"Are you suggesting."

"There is no way of knowing. And that gold - not to mention iron, copper and coal - are the foundations of our family's security." He spread the map out. "Now, look here. The highest mountains in the north are here, in the western section of Lord Benjen's holdings. And they stretch southwards from there perhaps two-thirds of the way to Winterfell, possibly the same range as those overlooking the Stony Shore."

"You think there could be similar mining prospects there?"

Tywin nodded sharply. "One of the settlers we sent north with Cersei returned on my orders, not out of fright at the cold of winter. He brought with him stones picked up from the mountains. Our miners have compared them with those taken from near Golden Tooth. As far as can be told, the types of stone are the same."

"So if the stones are the same then mining there could yield the same rewards." Tygett nodded. "So now that the Starks are accustomed to one Lion among the Wolves you want to send miners north to see what can be found in Cersei's lands."

"Something like that." Tygett had never thought on a large scale, much to Tywin's disappointment. And of course if Eddard Stark hadn't married someone as fecund as the Tully woman, Cersei's son would be a more than worthy heir. Still, there was time to see how that played out. A son and daughter, with one more on the way, was no certainty in dynastic terms. One didn't need to look further than his own children but...

Well. Eddard Stark was a more than able prince. The North was stable and for what might be the first time since the Andal Invasion it was forming solid ties to the rest of Westeros. Lord Selmy in the west, his daughter in the north and one of the eastern lords in King's Landing and apparently doing very well on the Small Council. None of this was to House Lannister's detriment, as long as they weren't shut out of this new power structure.

And if the next Prince of the North was less useful? Then his half-Lannister cousins would be in place and waiting.

Stannis XI

There was a crunch audible from the quarterdeck of the Fury as the Silence caught a larger galley on the flank. The oars of the small galley were already stroking the water to draw it back out of its prey before the sinking ship dragged its killer down, or before the Ironborn could board.

"The little man's getting the hang of this," Davos said. "But the Ironborn are moving again."

Stannis grunted and turned his spyglass away from the deck of the Silence, where the small form of Tyrion Lannister was issuing orders, to the wider fleet. "Have Paxter Redwyne move his squadron to intercept."

"He's requesting reinforcements from the reserves."

Stannis shook his head. "I want those crews rested."

With the Iron Fleet decoyed to Banefort, Stannis had brought his own ships in a long loop around the Iron Isles and then caught a west wind in to reach Seagard and the Northern Army. Unfortunately an Ironborn longship must have caught a glimpse of them or some other source had alerted the Greyjoys and the wind had shifted to the south, speeding their pursuit.

Half the transports were at piers, being loaded with the supplies, horses and men they'd need for the invasion. The other half, already loaded, were still trapped against the shore by the south wind, barely able to claw their way out from the port by desperate tacking back and forth. That left the battle to the galleys and to the Ironborn longships that were light enough to be rowed alongside them.

"That won't make him happy."

"I don't care." Stannis eyed the enemy again. They had more ships to bring to bear, but by forming a line across the bay, he'd forced them to fight on a narrower front than either fleet could have. Unlike the galleys he was holding back - almost a quarter of the fleet - the Ironborn were jostling for position and getting in each other's way as they pushed to participate in the fight. "Discipline is our advantage. Let those fools over there wear themselves down. When the time comes, we'll have fresh ships and crews ready to finish the battle."

Davos shrugged. "It's rough on the ships here in the forward line though."

"That's why I'm here." He gripped the rail and half-stepped, half-hopped along to look out over the other side of the Fury. He didn't know how long it would take to get used to having half a leg on that side. He was beginning to suspect he'd never be entirely adjusted to it.

There was a dull thump in the distance and smoke rose from the foredeck of an Ironborn galley. So did screams and when Stannis looked at the ship through his eye-glass he could see tendrils of blood trickling off the decking.

"Those dragon-pots the King's Men are using are murderous. Where did your brother get the idea?"

"I've never asked," Stannis replied, watching as sailors from the Easterland galley boarded the Ironborn vessel, easily cutting down the survivors on the forecastle. The midship was better protected, but that wasn't vital. Once the forecastle was secured there was enough room to lay fires. A moment to ensure they were spreading and the sailors retreated back to their own ship, pushing the Ironborn ship away as the rebels were forced to fight the fires and not the loyalists - and they were under archer fire.

"The wind's shifting," Davos warned after more than an hour of this. So far as Stannis could tell, losses were almost equal. Fury had only been boarded once and the longship responsible had been alone and desperate. The few of them to get aboard were crushed easily - a second royal galley rammed into the lightly hulled ship and ripped its flank open before more could scale the higher sides of Stannis' flagship.

He turned, trying to feel the wind on his cheeks. "But from where."

Davos licked one of the shortened fingers of his left hand and held it up. "From the east!"

Stannis grabbed the rail. "Then we have them! Signal the reserves to form on us! Everything else on the frontlines move to the sides. With wind behind us we won't need many oarmen." He looked port and starboard. "There's room, what with our losses."

Flags were hooked to a line and hoisted up the aft mast - the mizzen, Davos called it. Looking back towards the shore Stannis could see the transports - all of them packed with soldiers and more than able to defend themselves as long as they weren't rammed - unfurling their sails. The reserve of galleys were doing the same and forming into a wedge that was moving towards him.

The Ironborn must have seen them because some of them were trying to turn their ships and to raise their own sails. Not all of them seemed to have got the message though, and after the last few months, Stannis was willing to bet lives that those who had didn't have enough sails to outpace his fleet.

Then again, betting lives was his job as commander. He just hoped Robert didn't do something stupid - the last thing he needed was his brother falling in the sea and drowning.