A Lioness Still Has Claws | Female Tywin Lannister | ASOIAF/GOT

The Seeds Of Doubt

EDITED: 7th Jan 2022

268AC

Tya was not particularly thrilled when she learned she was pregnant again. Aerys had been growing more and more... abrasive as the years passed, towards her in particular. He had heard the snide whispers that it was his Lady Hand who ruled the kingdoms in truth, whilst the king drank and whored and commissioned plays and paintings, and of course took this out on Tya.

Nothing drastic, for he understood well enough that she was the best person for the job and performed her duties better than almost every Hand before her. Aerys didn't tend to interfere much in her day-to-day running of the kingdoms, thankfully.

But there was certainly a sizeable part of the king that resented Tya for not having indulged his obvious fancy for her after almost fifteen years of friendship, and was glad for an excuse to send snide or crude remarks her way during small council meetings, or making a point of overruling her publicly about inconsequential matters, or be even more obstinate and foolish when it came to ideas she suggested.

Given the current situation with Aerys, it was no time for her to be bed bound for any considerable amount of time. She could put up with minor slights and scorn from the king, but could not afford to miss any more of her duties than completely necessary, lest the other lords start to talk, and plot about how to twist the king's apparent growing animosity towards his Hand to their advantage.

So, like with her first pregnancy, Tya remained out of confinement until the very day she went into labour. This time it was quite literally just after she had finished holding court, sitting the Iron Throne herself as Aerys had apparently come down with a head cold which left him bed-bound all day. Having felt the first stirrings of labour since she woke up that morning - and having brushed it off - Tya had left the hall and rounded a corner into a blessedly quiet corridor when the now-familiar feeling of her waters breaking came over her.

She was rushed to the Tower of the Hand by those attending her; or rather, she walked briskly there herself, refusing to be carried by either of their guardsmen - Jason hadn't offered - as the pain was nowhere near that bad yet.

This birth was much easier than Jaime and Cersei's had been, perhaps because it was her second, or perhaps because it was just one baby, not two. Unlike the twins, her infant daughter was born with a fine fuzz of red hair - like Tya's own mother, Lady Jeyne - though her eyes were a brilliant green colour. Rohanne, Tya had named her before Jason even entered the room, after their grandmother who also shared the same hair colour.

Her husband had brought the children with him to meet Rohanne, and though Tya hadn't requested their presence, not particularly wanting them to see her so exhausted and not put together, when they both ran in she found she didn't mind at all.

Jaime seemed fascinated with his new baby sister, smiling at the child and extending his chubby three-year-old hand. Cersei had sulked initially, saying that she didn't want a sister, that she didn't want to share Mother and Father and Jaime with anyone, until Jason had coaxed her out of her mood by saying surely little Rohanne would grow to look up to her as she was the elder sister, and would follow her example. The girl had brightened then, warily stepping forward and even cracking a small smile when the baby had grabbed her finger.

"You're surprisngly good at manipulating children," She told her husband.

"It's not so different from dealing with the small council," He had shrugged.

Three days of Jason reporting back to her on the goings-on at court later, Tya was out of bed and back to work herself. Her first day back on the council was the same day the king returned to his duties as well.