-x-x-x- Chapter 2 -x-x-x-

"So Ned says you're the one who killed the Mad Dragon, eh?" said Robert by way of introduction.

"Aye, your grace. I prefer a King who doesn't think it a good idea to turn his capital into a Wildfire pyre in the hopes that it will cause him to be reborn as a dragon." I answered, walking up to join the others by the dais.

Robert shook his head in disgust "Mad, the lot of them. But I'm not King yet, Kingslayer."

I shook my head slightly in negation and gave a slightly chuckle "Not King? You are Lord Paramount of the Stormlands and the Vale, Riverlands, and North all rose their banners at your call to tear the dragons from their throne. And my father", I nodded to Tywin, "took Kings Landing for you, that is five of the Seven kingdoms already supporting your claim. The Tyrell fop has been sieging your brothers for the better part of a year with no success and you broke the Dornish armies at the Trident, both will bend the knee as soon as they see your emissary with an army at his back."

I glanced down at the three wrapped corpses and sighed "Although those will make the Dornish difficult."

Robert glared down and said "Bah! The only good dragon spawn are dead dragon spawn." and spit on the corpses.

'yeah, a politician he is not. would make a great general commanding the armies though. pity he is to be king'

Choosing not to comment, I merely shrugged.

Robert gave the bodies one more glare before shaking himself and saying "Kingslayer, do you know where my beloved Lyanna is?"

I gave a slight nod and glanced at Ned before turning back to Robert "Last I heard Rhaegar ordered her held in the Tower of Joy in Dorne. If that has changed since you slew Rhaegar at the Trident isn't known to me."

Robert gripped the massive warhammer leaning against his right leg hard and said "Right, I'm off them. Ned, lets go save your sister."

Jon gave a put upon sigh, "Robert, you can't go.", when the six foot eight giant of pure muscle whirled back around, the pure fury that had seen him tear down a dynasty plain on his face, and snarled out "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" in a voice loud enough that it seemed the room should be shaking, I winced.

Jon Arryn just sighed slightly and held up a hand in pacification "Robert, you just seized the throne and Kings Landing is still burning. You can NOT leave right now, at the barest minimum you must wait until the city is fully secured. Let Ned rescue his sister and, given that Storm's End is on the way, raise the siege while he's at it."

Robert looked like he wanted nothing more than to crush Arryn with his hammer in that moment, but instead whirled around and said to Ned "Bring her back, and rescue my brothers while you are at it I suppose." before storming out of the throne room. A dozen of the men standing at the edges of the room, all in Baratheon colors, silently formed up around him and followed as he departed.

Ned gave us all a bare nod before he too left, taking the Northmen present with him as well.

Once the two had gone Jon pushed a hand through his thinning hair and said "Ser Jaime, you said something about Wildfire?"

I gave a nod "Aye, Aerys had the Alchemists making it constantly and its stored all over the city in jars and casks."

Both he and my father winced before the future Hand of the King said "Right, you're in charge of finding it all and securing it Ser Jaime. Take as many men as you need but I want it all accounted for before the week is out."

I gave a salute "As you command, Lord Hand."

He shook his head, "I'm not the Hand."

"Then get Robert to formerly name you Hand next time you see him, this city needs someone in charge to get things stabilized and the only real choices are the King, yourself, or my father. Seeing as the King seems disinclined to handle the details at the moment and my father commands the force that just sacked the city, that leaves only one realistic choice." I countered, keeping watch on Twin's reaction out of the corner of my eye. Unfortunately his poker face showed nothing.

"Perhaps, but Robert is the King and so I will remain only Lord Paramount of the Vale and Warden of the East until such time as he should choose to bestow another honor on me.", he rebuked before giving a nod to the both of us and leaving, the Valemen following.

With only Tywin and I left in the throne room I glanced down at the three corpses again before saying "They were a mistake, father."

"Their deaths were necessary for Robert to sit a secure throne, and I needed to offer him something to prove that we weren't loyal to the dragons. Anything but dragon blood would have kept us suspect in his eyes, I served as Aery's Hand for twenty years. How was I to predict that you would take his head?" the older man replied.

"Perhaps, but it's going to cost us. You just earned the implacable hatred of Dorne and I doubt that Ned Stark was any too pleased. You also signed our House's death warrant should the Targaryens ever retake the throne." I said quietly but firmly.

Tywin made a slight throwing away gesture "Dorne may be difficult to conquer but they aren't any threat to us outside their lands, and Ned Stark won't act against us without Robert's support."

"Oh, and what reason does Robert have to support us against the wishes of his soon to be goodbrother? Robert already considers Ned to be his brother, and with Lyanna as his Queen the North's influence will be heavy in the Baratheon's court. Jon Arryn won't gainsay his two former wards, and where Arryn and Stark goes so too goes the Riverlands. Once the Tyrell's bend the knee, they too would be eager to oppose us should the opportunity arise. We can count none of the great houses as our true allies, now isn't the time to take risks." I countered.

Tywin smiled then "It seems the Kingsguard was at least good for something, you finally started learning how to understand the game."

I gave a shrug, choosing not to comment, and Tywin continued to speak "You still need practice though. We don't know if the Stark girl is in any fit state to be Queen, and Ned Stark is going to return to his frozen wasteland in short order. Once he does, I doubt he will be all that inclined to play southern games. No, we will only have need to fear his actions if we should rise in rebellion to the Iron Throne or strike at his family."

He made a throwing away gesture "Arryn? The man tries to play but he has always been second rate. With him as Hand and Robert as King, I have little doubt that I will be able to secure Lannister influence at court, and with that influence it should be easy to encourage distrust of the Tyrells. Mace has been feasting in full view of Storms End's parapets as he starves our new King's two brothers, it's hard to imagine anything more likely to cause implacable hatred to form in a man."

I gave a nod of acknowledgement, if not one of agreement, before saying "As you say father, but I have a city to scour for wildfire and you should probably get our army to halt the looting and burning before they accidentally light that pyre with us still inside."

He gave his own nod "We'll talk later about freeing you from the Kingsguard."

I gave a bitter chuckle at that "I killed the last King, somehow I doubt I will have any issue getting out from under that vow.", I said before gathering up some of the Lannister men and heading out to gather more. I had a guild of pyro's to round up and a city to clear of magical napalm, this was going to be a long night.

-x-x-x-