Chapter Text
Joanna Lannister walked the secret tunnels of the Red Keep alone on this night. When she was younger, which seemed like a lifetime ago in a different world, she would sometimes walk these halls with her friend, the Princess of Dorne, or sometimes she would walk it with her love. She knew all the paths to and from her old rooms to anywhere in the castle... Maybe not all of them, but enough to do what needed to be done tonight.
She had loved and been loved that was something she was sure of. She had felt the hot wildfire burn of desire and young love and the steady beat of matrimonial love, though it had been rocky. However, she had always known her husband and she had been raised to be an affable wife, loving, and patient. She loved her brothers, sisters, aunts, and extended family But most of all she had enjoyed the love and joy she had received and given as a mother.
Joanna loved her golden twins, Cersei and Jaime though she wished that they had chosen different paths than they had. Of course, her own mother would have said the same about her. Tywin had always said she was the permissive parent, but the truth of it was that he had not kept a good eye on them when they were under his care. The twins, without guidance, had allowed their basest desires to rule their natures. She wished she had spent more time with them. She had not been with them enough. She had been busy on the Rock with her youngest child, Tyrion.
Tyrion Lannister, the Giant of House Lannister, the Demon Monkey, the Imp, was her youngest child and she had spent his whole life being his champion in the world. She had told Tyrion the story a thousand times and he still would smile to hear it. Joanna had had a terrible time trying to get Tyrion out. His head was too big. She was weak and bleeding everyone thought she was dying.
It had not been an easy pregnancy. Early on, she had taken ill and had started bleeding. A fever had ensued. The Maester had thought she might die from this sudden illness. Tywin had come to her bed with the twins and the children had been crying. Tywin never cried but he seemed pale and deeply upset. "Don't leave, Joanna. I am sorry. I am sorry I was angry. Do not leave."
She remembered how touched she was at his emotions and surprised that he willing to express it. They had just returned from King's Landing and the King's 10th Anniversary of ruling the Seven Kingdoms. It had been a difficult trip, bringing up old hurts and old jealousies. She and Tywin had not said more than a hundred sentences in the months since they had returned. Joanna had kissed his hand. "My love, you have been my friend, my heart, my lord in all things."
Joanna had recovered but she had been put on bed rest in a dark room for the rest of her pregnancy. So, when the birth was extremely difficult, it had not surprised anyone. However, no one had expected so much blood. When the bleeding did not stop, Tywin, her husband was sent for so that he could say his goodbyes.
After they had finally pulled Tyrion from her, finally wrenching him from her body, Tywin had come to her, his green eyes filled with tears. “Please, Joanna. Do not leave me. I cannot think about what I will do. I will be lost. It is my fault...”
She had smiled and kissed his hand. They had told her her baby was misshapen, a dwarf, but he was a healthy baby and a boy, as well. “Shhh...Tywin, my love,” she had said, “Name the baby Tyrion as we talked about… Tyrion Lannister.”
Tywin sneered at the cradle and clutched her hand. “Have you see him? It might be kinder to set him on the side of the Rock. He will be disfigured. He is a cursed thing and he has taken you from me. Better he was never born.”
Joanna had felt an anger and a protectiveness come over her. She had seen some of Tywin's cruelty and if she was leaving this earth, she would need him to not be cruel to her defenseless child. She let her husband’s hand go, “Let me hold our son.”
She had taken the small, red-faced baby in her arms, her voice was trembling with rage, even as she looked at his arms, his legs, his oversized head that almost killed her. “No, Tywin,” she had said, “He will be the best of all our children. He is just different, but still special. Promise me you will care for him.”
Tywin had hesitated, "Do not go... Fight and stay with me. With the children. I need you. They need you. He will need you."
It was the sound of his voice, the grief, the anger, the coolness. Silently, she wished she had never gone to King's Landing. Joanna worried about what he would do to her newborn and then she had smiled gently, "My love, I will try.."
The Maester had said he had never seen anything like it, the recovery of Joanna Lannister. She did not die or get an infection, even with all the blood loss. It seemed as if anger and a desire to protect her small son had sparked Joanna to live when all hope was lost. She loved that boy as fiercely as a mother lion and he never left her side.
As she healed, the baby did not leave her room. Instead, his cradle was beside her bed. Tyrion was the only child she actually nursed. A midwife had said that nursing would give the pitiful thing strength and it might help the Lady of Casterly Rock. Joanna found as she fed her son and looked into his mismatched eyes that it was like falling in love with this tiny human. He needed her and she needed him.
Joanna Lannister healed quickly enough to entertain the Princess of Dorne in a few moons. The Princess of Dorne had hoped to marry her son Oberyn to Joanna’s daughter Cersei and her daughter Elia, to her son Jaime. Tywin had contemplated the idea of Jaime and Elia but he said she seemed a sickly girl. The idea of Oberyn marrying Cersei was out of the question. Tywin had dreamed of marrying Cersei to Prince Rhaegar and he had told his daughter this plan so frequently, it had become Cersei’s greatest wish.
Despite the Princess’ unsuccessful attempt at betrothal, Joanna had got to show her dearest friend her newest child. When the Princess of Dorne had left, she had said that Joanna had found a new man to fall in love with and that was her son Tyrion.
It was said that though the Lady of the House Lannister had healed, he had not allowed Lord Tywin back in her room. Some said it was because another child would kill her for certain. Others said it was because Lady Joanna felt a terrible insult at what Lord Lannister had said about her child.
Almost a year after Tyrion Lannister was born, Lady Joanna’s bedmaid told the household staff that she had heard Lord Tywin apologized to her Lady, whispering words of sentiment. “I was worried you were dying. I could not lose you. I am sorry. Perhaps, I love you too much.”
No one could believe that Lord Tywin would ever apologize or say anything of the sort but it was noticed that Lady Joanna’s room was filled with lilies from the Reach and she had a new emerald ring on her finger. She never did go back to sleeping in the Lord’s chambers, but it was observed that he was sometimes found in her bedsheets when the curtains were opened.
Over the years of Tyrion’s childhood, Joanna and her son had spent most of it alone at Casterly Rock. Jaime was sent to the Crakehalls to be fostered. Cersei spent a great deal of her time in King’s Landing hoping to catch the eye of a Prince. So, Lady Joanna was often seen with a small blonde boy, hiding behind her skirts, as she talked with staff or holding her hand as they walked the gardens. Tyrion had been surrounded by his mother’s warmth and love. Because of that love, his aunts, uncles, and cousins loved him in spite of his deformity.
Joanna knew that Jaime loved his brother with all his heart. Jaime was a kind loyal boy who had a good heart. She felt he was a bit too close to his sister and had pushed him being fostered, even if she had been sad to see him go. Joanna believed he needed to be away from Cersei’s influence.
Cersei had been resentful of Tyrion and all the attention he had received from Joanna, Tywin, or Jaime. Once or twice, she had seen Cersei pinch Tyrion or twist his arm if he had received attention. Once when Tywin had been home from King’s Landing, Tyrion, at four, had recited all the Kings from Aegon I correctly as well as the dragons they rode. Tywin had been pleased and said Tyrion was so quick-witted, he might one day be the Hand of the King. Tyrion had come to her with a bloody nose and scratched knees. He had said he had tripped but Joanna was certain Cersei pushed him. Then there was that unfortunate accident with Cersei’s friend Melara, who had drowned in the well.
When Tywin brought Cersei to King’s Landing, Joanna found Casterly Rock peaceful. No maids came to her with pulled hair or marks and Tyrion had far fewer accidents. Tyrion had asked his mother where Cersei had gone. She had picked him up and said, “She hopes to catch a dragon. But your sister must remember that dragons burn.”
Tyrion had laughed but Joanna knew first hand how the chase of a Dragon could burn and leave scars. When she had been young, she had loved Aerys. Aerys had been handsome, strong, creative, and charming. He had unlimited energy and barely slept. He was smart, witty, and given to big ideas and dreams. She had never known anyone like him. The first time he kissed her, she was certain she stopped breathing. It was all desire and romance and her young heart had craved him and only him. But she had been burned and when the dust settled, she had found herself happy and married to Tywin.
One thing Tyrion never stopped talking of was dragons. He loved dragons. He learned all he could about dragons. Joanna even hired a scribe from her own allowance to go to Oldtown and King’s Landing and buy books on dragons that they did not have at Casterly Rock. His room was full of pictures of dragons and books.
When he was seven, Joanna had taken him to King’s Landing to see Prince Rhaegar’s wedding to Princess Elia Martell. When they entered the Red Keep, she had taken Tyrion to the throne room to see all the dragon skulls. King Aerys had seemed lost in a world of his own, his hair matted, his fingernails long. He muttered about wildfire and did not recognize her at all. Joanna had looked at Rhaella and her bruises and sad eyes and thought to herself that dragon-fire could kill and Cersei was better off without Rhaegar.
During the wedding feast, Joanna was showing Tyrion off in his golden jacket as much as she showed off her daughter in her brocaded dress of golden lions. She showed Tyrion off as if he was as lovely as Cersei or as handsome and strong as Jaime. King Aerys II had spoken up, the first coherent thing he had said all night, full of rancor, “Joanna, perhaps your son will tumble for us like a proper dwarf and entertain.”
Tyrion, an eager boy of six, almost attempted to do a trick or cartwheel, but Joanna took his hand and left the feast. That night, Tywin had come to her room and told her that she should leave. “The King is unwell. He is lost in his voices. He is no longer Aerys. You are not safe here, not with him. You love the boy too much. Aerys has always been jealous of us, of you. You give the boy too much.”
She had kissed him, “Tywin, I will leave in the morning. Tyrion is a good boy and he needs a champion.”
He had kissed her and said, “The King is unwell. I could not bear to see anything happen to you… or the boy.”
Joanna did not know if Tywin loved any of their children, as her father had loved her. She hoped he did. Sometimes, she would seem him look softly at their daughter or have the shadow of a smile when Jaime fought. Like their other two children, Tywin often wore a stern face around Tyrion but there seemed to be an amused smile beneath it, pleased by the care she took of their smallest son, pleased by his son’s intelligence. When she left in the morning, after they had made love most of the night, Joanna had whispered to Tywin to come home to Casterly Rock soon.
When they returned to Casterly Rock, Lady Joanna found Tywin’s brother Gerion in the yard. ”Ser, I have need of your skill and I ask you a favor as the Lady of the House. My youngest son, Tyrion, loves you well, and the stories and care you show him. I know you have been teaching him to tumble and cartwheel. Gerion, you must teach my son more than cartwheels. He must know how to fight and lead troops. I need you to practice with him in the yard as you did with Jaime.”
It was said that Lord Gerion was going to protest but that the beauty of Lady Joanna made him hold his tongue. However, a stable boy named Pate said it was the withering look that she gave him that made him hold his words. Regardless, Lord Tyrion was given a small shield and a short sword and practiced in the yard for an hour. He also spent time with Lord Kevan talking about the castle and the lands, teaching him how to rule and how to lead.
Once Tyrion had come to her, crying, saying he hated fighting and he could not do it. She had slapped him. It was the only time she had ever hit him and he was more stunned than hurt. Joanna had looked at him, “You will be a man in this bloody world we live in, not just a man, but a Lannister. Your brother, Jaime, has a kind heart and will need your wits and will to help him as Lord of Casterly Rock. Your tears will do no good on this. A man needs a sword in this big world of ours. I will not have anyone think you less. You will continue with your practice in the yard.”
Joanna thought all was fine until the Tourney of Harrenhal. Tyrion had just turned nine. Jaime had come home for a few days before he met his Father and Cersei at Harrenhal. Jaime had playfully teased his mother to come and watch him. “Come, Mother, and when I win, I will make you the Queen of Love and Beauty.”
She had laughed with him and called him a fool. She could remember hugging him, telling him to be safe and remember who he was. A fortnight later, Tywin came home with Cersei. Jaime had been appointed to the Kingsguard, Enraged that Aerys would steal his heir, Tywin had resigned and taken Cersei back home to the Rock. Tywin was full of black moods and barely contained rage. Cersei's moods were unpredictable and excessively violent. Tyrion spent more time with her, hiding from Cersei.
Joanna had called Cersei to her rooms. He heard a sweet sad story but there was something to the twist of her daughter’s lips that made Joanna know there was much more to the story. She wondered what plan Cersei had had that had been spoiled. Joanna thought perhaps she did not want to know. Even worse, Joanna found herself wondering if her daughter was unwell in the head. Perhaps, what she had taken for spoiled immaturity was something like madness?
Joanna went to Tywin’s study. She could see the anger in his eyes and knew it was mostly fear for their son in the hands of Aerys II. It was said that since Tywin had resigned Aerys had taken to the execution of criminals by burning them with wildfire. Joanna knew her oldest son was in a great deal of danger.
Her blonde hair ran over her shoulders, “My love, Tywin, would you like me to go to King’s Landing and petition the King to release Jaime from his vows? Perhaps, I can soften his heart.”
"You cannot, If he hurt you, I would lo... I could not bear it. Also, Jaime has taken his vows by now. I will not have him dishonored. He is gone. We have lost our heir. Who will rule Casterly Rock?”
Joanna spoke, patiently, trying to hide the rage, “Tywin, I can give you no more children and Jaime is in the Kingsguard. However, we have a son, a son fit to rule Casterly Rock. Name Tyrion your heir.”
Tywin spoke, raising his voice, “How can a half-man rule the Rock? How will anyone respect him? He is a dwarf. They call him The Imp of Casterly Rock. I cannot even get a minor house to wed their daughter to him. He is not fit to rule.”
It was then Joanna heard the door shut and the steps running away from the room. She knew immediately what had happened. Tyrion had followed her quietly and sneaked into the room to listen. He had fled when he heard what his father had said. Joanna saw a flash of regret replaced quickly by Tywin’s stern face.
Joanna had found him. He was in his room reading She had sat beside him and asked him “Are you too grown to sit in my lap?”
She smiled as she could see him struggle with what to do. He wanted to refuse her but the idea of the comfort of his mother's laps and arms was too great to refuse. Tyrion climbed in his mother's arms, wiping his cheeks, in case any tears fell. He did not want her to think he was a baby.
Joanna had spoken, “Let me tell you a story. It is from the Age of Legends and it is about the Casterlys and Lann the Clever.”
Tyrion had spoken, “Mother, I know all those stories.”
She smiled and wrapped her arms around him, rocking gently. “You might not know all of them. I have only ever heard this one once. Once when I was a girl, probably younger than you are now, I had a nurse called Meg. Some say she had been around since the time Aegon the Unworthy was King. She was very old, but she was the best storyteller. When I was good, she would tell me stories. I was a naughty child so I rarely got stories.”
Tyrion laughed because he could not imagine his mother any other way, but perfect. Joanna had continued, “Anyway, once she told me the story of Lann the Clever. We know he had golden hair and we know he was clever. Some say that is where the Lannisters get their wits, their charm, and their golden hair. Some stories say that Lann made each one of Lord Casterly‘s daughters fall in love with him and each one had a golden-haired child in nine months' time. The ladies all fought to see who would marry Lann. But Lann loved the eldest and so he married her.”
“A question that many have asked is how did Lann get into the impenetrable Casterly Rock? How was it done? What Meg told me that day rings true.. What she told me was that Lann was a dwarf like you. How else could he slip through the cracks at Casterly Rock? He slipped in because he was small enough to.”
Tyrion looked at his mother trying to see if she was teasing him.
“Are you teasing?” he asked
“No, according to her, Lann the Clever was handsome, smart, golden-haired, charming, and little, just like you. Do not listen when people try to doubt you or think you are less because of your size. You are no half man. You will be as great as Lann the Clever and someday everyone will know.”
No one in the Rock knew what transpired between the Lord and Lady. However, a week later, Tywin made a formal announcement to all the Great Houses as well as throughout the westerlands, that his youngest son, Tyrion Lannister, would be his heir. Lord Tywin had the men come and swear fealty to House Lannister and his son.
Soon after, war broke out. Aerys had burned the Warden of the North, Rickard Stark and his heir were murdered as well. It was said he had killed the heir to the Vale as well. Aerys was demanding the heads of the new Lord Stark as well as the head of Lord Robert Baratheon. Aerys was known as the Mad King and his tyranny would only be ended by bloodshed. It was said he kept Jaime and Princess Elia Martell and her children, little more than hostages for the good behavior of House Lannister and House Martell. Joanna had spent many nights sleepless wondering when Aerys would feed Jaime to his wildfire.
Lord Baratheon reached out to him and asked him for his troops but Tywin did not go. King Aerys II demanded Lord Tywin and his men help Prince Rhaegar put down the rebels but Tywin did not budge. Finally, Tywin called some of his most loyal men and went east. What he planned to do there and who he planned to fight for he did not tell Joanna. For the first time, Joanna felt unsettled, as if there was a divide between them and a reason he had not told her.
Tywin had reached out to her with a message that Lord Baratheon and the rebels had won. Prince Rhaegar had been defeated on the Trident. He told her to come with men and Cersei. It seemed Lord Baratheon would be crowned King Robert I and Cersei would be his Queen.
As they traveled in a wheelhouse, she saw the devastation that had been wrecked by the war. The further east they went, the more burned houses, dead bodies, and ruin they saw, As they went, they heard more and more about what happened. She learned that Tywin’s men had killed Princess Rhaenys and Prince Aeon and that Princess Elia had been raped and killed protecting them. She learned that Prince Rhaegar had run away with some wanton girl who happened to have been Lord Baratheon’s betrothed and the daughter of the dead Lord Stark. At House Stokeworth, Joanna had learned the worse thing she had heard of this Rebellion. She learned that Jaime had killed the King, stabbing him in the back as he was running from him. Jaime had violated his vows and his honor by killing the man he had sworn to protect. For a moment, she wondered if Tywin had persuaded him to do it.
When they reached the Red Keep, Jaime had met her in the yard. Tywin had been busy in negotiation for his daughter’s nuptials. Joanna had hugged her son tightly in her arms. She had looked at him. ”Jaime, we had heard upsetting news as we traveled here. We heard that you killed the King, stabbing him in the back as he fled. Tell me this is a scurrilous rumor.”
Jaime had looked at her with sadness in his eyes, “I cannot, Mother. It is the truth.”
Joanna had felt anger, sadness, and regret but she had spoken the words, cold and cutting. “Then, what are you doing here dressed in white? You must get to the Wall and take the black. You should take the black for your crimes.”
Joanna could see Cersei’s anger and Tyrion’s sorrow as she spoke the words. But the pain that flashed on Jaime’s face made her wonder what had happened in that throne room when Aerys was killed. Joanna did not speak or comfort any of her three children. Instead, she took Tyrion by the hand and led him to their rooms.
Tywin was angered when he heard how she spoke to Jaime about taking the black. He came to her rooms and yelled about why she would choose a mad tyrant of a king over her son. She did not tell him that Jaime had made a vow. She did not tell him the other reasons, the other crime he may have committed by killing Aerys. She could never really know and now that House Targaryen was overthrown, it did not matter much.
Instead, Joanna yelled back at her husband that he ordered the slaying of infants and a small frail woman who had been her best friend’s daughter. She yelled that he was a heartless cruel monster with no honor. Tywin had tried to speak to her softly, to tell her that Princess Elia was supposed to be returned to Dorne but some of the men had gotten too excited.
Joanna had looked at her husband and said, “Tywin, I know you hand chose the men you sent, chosen for loyalty and skill, for bloodthirstiness. Do you pick the same men who slaughtered babies at Castamere? You can lie to everyone else but I know you knew exactly what would happen. If not, their heads would be on the ramparts for their treachery.”
It was said Lady Joanna left King’s Landing that day, returning for her daughter’s marriage and the birth of each of her grandchildren and one other time. Until the War of the Five Kings, she stayed on the Rock with her son, Tyrion. Lord Tywin returned to the Rock after his daughter’s wedding. He had been disappointed because he had been certain he would be appointed the Hand by his new good son but he was overlooked for Jon Arryn. When Tywin returned, Lady Joanna told him he was not welcome to her chambers anymore. Tywin did not argue and never again went to her chamber door.