Chapter 4: The Warding of Jon Stark

Years came and went, and Jon’s seventh Name day arrived.

The only one old enough to understand what was going on was Robb. And for these children, what Jon was doing was going to have an elongated sleepover.

However, Catelyn and Eddard knew the truth. In many ways, Jon going would make the household easier, for while she had tried to love him as her own, Catelyn Stark was unable to be the mother she should have been to Jon.

Jon no longer represented infidelity, but rather the one secret that Eddard had been unable to entrust to Cat. No matter the effort, Cat could not overcome this deficiency within her. She knew how wrong it was, but she thanked the Seven that Jon would have to depart soon.

Ned was not heartbroken, for he knew that Jon would be safe. That did not stop him from hugging Jon a few extra times.

The child did not understand what was going on entirely, but he was grateful for his father’s affections.

Jory Cassel accompanied the young Jon Stark on the journey when Lannister retainers, led by Jaime and Genna Lannister.

The child was taken in tow, and so began the warding of Jon Stark.

The years had not been unkind to Lord Tywin Lannister. While the compromise for the future of Aegon Targaryen had not gone how he would have liked, plans moved apace for his fostering of the future Lord Jon Stark.

The Tyrells were on the rise. He observed how Renly was becoming more interested in their affairs. While they were not rich in coin, they had grain and produce in abundance. When winter came, their House would see an influx in revenue.

Walder Frey was also seeing a lot of income from his tolls. While their family was one that could make money from people needing the crossing, Tywin noticed that he was raising the prices here and there, practically extorting those that travelled on that road.

The Crown was certainly suffering. Robert was not a drunk anymore, but he did not believe in ‘counting coppers’, but that made their financial circumstances difficult to gauge. Tywin had all but run through the initial loan from the foreign merchants, and he had been helpful in his own way by supplementing the Crown’s income, but ultimately, he would need Jon to become a viable player on the board sooner rather than later.

In a way, Tywin would need the North more involved with the running of the Seven Kingdoms. While they were rich in land, and to a degree livestock, the North was coin poor. The exchange of goods and crops was much more than simple commerce. Tywin understood that financial transactions and the build up of assets was nothing short of war, but this battlefield was one won or lost on a ledger rather than a battlefield.

Was it a surprise that Highgarden had the largest armies to rally behind them? A Northern army was pound for pound the strongest, but what did that variable matter if they were in such a deficit. Come good or ill from the arrangement of warding Jon Stark, Tywin had inextricably linked the Starks with the Lannisters as well as Robert Baratheon.

Renly was ambitious and very well might make a move for the throne, but not while Robert was alive. Stannis would likely become a problem for Joffrey should Robert die. Thankfully, in his sobriety, Robert was a miserable man that made his existence everyone else’s problem.

That was good. He was in robust health, exercised, and continued whoring. While both Tommen and Joffrey were blond-haired lions, Myrcella was a brand new baby girl with dark brown hair like her father.

Tywin had to consider every possibility when it came to the consolidation of power as well as ensuring the legacy of House Lannister.

He knew that Cersei miscarried a son with brown hair between Joffrey and Tommen. When he offered her condolences, she wanted nothing to do with Tywin. Unfortunately, two living blond sons and one dead dark–haired son could lead to questions.

A dark haired daughter ensured that the public could not say that Cersei was unfaithful. Tywin suspected, of course, that she had taken a lover of some kind. After all, Robert fornicated with almost anyone.

Once more, he went back to thoughts of Jon. She was seven years his junior, sure, but he could see if the boy took to the idea of wanting power. If he did, marrying him to Myrcella would be the best strategic option.

The group he had sent out had returned. When he looked out the window, he saw a thin, unassuming boy who looked around.

Smirking, Tywin understood that there was promise here. How much? Well, that he could not know, but he was more than willing to find out.

The procession returned in force. Jaime was the first to see Lord Tywin while Lady Genna took Jon to his room to show him where he would be staying.

For this, the older woman looked at Jon, and she was capable of witnessing the appeal the child had for Tywin. All of the Stark traits were in him. On their trip, she noted Jon was shy, yet polite. He was well-mannered, honest to a fault, and always trying to please everyone including the servants.

While he had been legitimized very quickly after his birth, she recognized a young man that was aware that, to most, he was and would always be Lord Eddard’s illegitimate son. Such foundational knowledge in the young man’s life would make him work all the harder for Tywin’s purposes.

In Jon Stark, Tywin had the perfect, moldable human being. Genna could see all of that within Jon, and since the boy also stood to inherit nothing as Robb (Lord Eddard and Lady Catelyn’s trueborn son) was the heir to Winterfell, he would be even more motivated. Those were compounding factors that Genna saw that made him superior to Tyrion and Jaime.