Summon

Tywin Lannister wore an expression of deep frown and displeasure. A parchment lay clenched in his hand.

With a shake of his head, he stood and walked to the corner of his solar where one of Lucas's inventions had been installed. A wash basin, he called it.

Once it was in place, the concept and execution had seemed simple enough to Tywin. At the very top of Casterly Rock, a large water container was kept filled through a wheel operated mechanism run by two dozen men.

From that container ran a network of pipes, branching out like a web throughout the entire castle. The castle walls themselves had been carefully engraved to fit these pipes, which were then sealed in with concrete so as not to ruin the fortress's majestic appearance.

Simple ideas. Straightforward work. Yet all of it had been Lucas's brainchild.

Tywin let out a quiet sigh as he pulled the small lever of what Lucas called a tap. At once, a steady stream of water flowed into the basin, and Tywin leaned down to splash the cool water over his face.

To be able to wash his face here, in his solar, without any servants or hassle, he had not expected to ever see such convenience in his lifetime.

In a similar fashion, the entire drainage system of Casterly Rock had been improved. Wastewater was now easily carried away without issue. The old sewage passages, which could have been exploited for infiltration as a vulnerability during a siege, had been sealed off completely.

Instead, new metal pipes carried the waste safely away, at Lucas's insistence, discharged far from Casterly Rock or Lannisport into a narrow stream.

'Truly a genius,' Tywin thought as he took his seat back on the chair.

A knock on the door snapped Tywin's attention away from his thoughts.

"Come in," he said, and the door was pushed open and another middle-aged man entered the room. Kevan Lannister.

"You called for me, brother?" Kevan asked as he took his seat across from Tywin at the table.

Tywin did not reply immediately. Instead, he passed over the parchment he had been holding.

Kevan accepted it with a slight frown. As he read through it, the lines on his face deepened. When he finished, he shook his head and placed the parchment back on the table.

"That place is a shit hole," Kevan muttered. "If anyone learns there's someone who can solve their problem, of course they would call on him."

"And he is not just anyone," Kevan added. "He is the king, after all."

"Yes," Tywin said. "But it was not Robert who first had the idea to summon Lucas to King's Landing to fix their sewage stench."

"Pycelle sent me another message. It was Cersei and somewhat Peter Baelish who quite beautifully described all that Lucas had accomplished here in Lannisport and at Casterly Rock. And then she persuaded Robert to send a summon."

"After living in King's Landing for nearly fifteen years, it seems she finally cannot bear the smell any longer."

Kevan let out a low chuckle at that.

"So, what are you going to do?" Kevan asked, almost with an amused tilt to his head.

Tywin shot him a sharp glare not as the Lord of Casterly Rock, but simply as an older brother. One of those rare flashes of familial exasperation that still broke through his stern exterior, especially after Joanna's death.

"Kevan," Tywin said in a measured voice. "You, of all people, know that Lucas is not someone I can simply command."

"He respects me, yes but I cannot order him to King's Landing to fix that cesspit of a problem."

"That is true," Kevan sighed. "Sometimes, I also wonder if am his father or he is mine father."

"Lucas does as he pleases. But perhaps he will be willing to go. You know to take a look at the King's Landing and the Red Keep and the secret passages below them."

"Also," Kevan added. "He is a businessman, after all. The profits of such a venture might entice him. If he agrees, he will charge a hefty price that I am certain of."

"Oh?" Tywin responded with a thin edge of mockery. "And who exactly do you think is going to pay him?"

"If he does decide to go," Tywin added dryly, "I would be wise to send his payment along with him upfront. After all, it is House Lannister only who is going to bear that hefty price."

"It will save their effort to ask for another debt," he said.

Kevan shook his head, a humourless smile on his lips.

"What does the crown even do with so much gold? Especially in the past two or three years. They have been burning through money like anything."

"Four million gold coins in debt," Kevan muttered. "It is an insane figure."

"They think House Lannister grows it on plants and trees," Tywin said.

"And they will never repay it," Tywin continued. "Not under Robert's watch."

'And not under Joffrey's either,' he thought inwardly. 'But at least then, a Lannister will sit the throne.'

"I am not exactly worried about him agreeing or not agreeing to this," Tywin said. "I have a feeling that he will go."

"What I am exactly worried about is of what happens when he reaches there," Tywin added. "Lucas' behaviour is going to rub a lot of people in the wrong way. He is not someone who will take the vile insults and politics of King's Landing lightly."

"True," Kevan muttered. "I will never forget when he severed the arms of a knight because he had tried to touch Lucas' maid. Tillie."

"You should write to Jamie if Lucas decides to go," Kevan suggested. "He can keep an eye out on him. And these two even enjoy a good relationship."

"Hmm," Tywin muttered. "I will do this."

"But where is Lucas?" Tywin questioned. "I have not seen him since morning. The feast will start shortly."

"Oh!" Kevan informed. "He has gone to his metal town. He should be returning."

"And brother," Kevan added with a glint. "I think today is the day, he would be opening the barrels of the wine he had been preparing for past 3 years."

"Yes," Tywin too muttered now anticipating the wine that his nephew had been brewing.

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