| 𝐶𝐸𝑁𝑇𝑈𝑅𝐼𝐸𝑆 | Game of Thrones

- 𝙿𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚞𝚎

PROLOGUE

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CASSIUS LANNISTER WAS NOT ONE FOR LUXURY. Despite being born in a rich family - full of wealth and luxuries - he did not enjoy it, nor did he feel it was needed to have so much money, not when there were starving innocents on the streets who could easily be fed by the tons of gold his family possessed. He was not one for grand feasts or parties, balls and festivals. He preferred the calming outside, the sloshing sound of the water gently streaming down a creek as birds chirped around him in the air.

He had dreamed of a simple life. One where he would be living on the edge of a village. Living in a small cottage he would have built himself, surrounded by different trees with several fruits hanging from them. He'd probably have a wife and two or three children, who'd sometimes help him while he was working on the field, tending to his crops. He'd learn his son how to use a sword, and he'd sit with his daughter as she'd be taught how to read and write.

The idea of such a life would never stop haunting him, even as he grew into a young man. The perfect future he would never fit into.

The first time he had ever told his father about his wishes to retreat to a quiet life when he was of age, the middle aged man looked with blank eyes at his second son. "Cassius." The old man had said, "You are of Lannister blood, you are a lion. I will not let you dishonour your bloodline by living a peasants life. You are heir to Casterly Rock, now act like it."

That's when he knew that deep inside, he would grow up to be a sad, lonely man. One whose halls were filled with men others would consider friends, though all they did was put a knife in your back when most convenient. Maybe a knight on his left side while his advisor would sit next to him, pointing at men who would form good alliances. He would grow up to marry a wife he did not love, children he could barely care for. He would grow up to be a broody old man - like his father, always busy with bettering the Lannister name.

A life he did not want, yet a life that seemed destined to him.

He had never known his mother, his father taking him away from her as soon as he was born. His mother knew it was better for him to go with the Lannister, where he would grow up to be a man of great power and wealth.

He was a bastard, a simple product of his father's desires. Yet with one son in the King's Guard, and the other too crippled to normally walk, it was a golden chance for Tywin Lannister to raise himself a true heir, someone who would be worthy of becoming the lord of Casterly Rock. So he was legitimised, he received the honour of becoming part of the Lannister family.

       His sister Cersei was never fond of him, she respected him and his witty attitude, yet never had actual love for him. She could never see him as a true brother, only as proof that his father was not loyal to his wife, even after her death.

       Jaime loved him, treated him like a real brother, but was too far up Cersei's ass to show any of it in public. In public Jaime treats him like any knight would treat a bastard, with disdain. Cassius didn't mind it, after all, he really was just a bastard, a last name wouldn't change the impure blood coursing through his veins.

       Tyrion however never cared. He always saw himself in Cassius in some way. Treated like he was a mistake, like he would be better of dead. It made him treat his younger half brother extra carefully, helping him out wherever he could with life lessons.

       Cassius didn't mind being a bastard, it was a chance for him to work harder to show just how much he was worthy of the last name he was given. Besides, he had a room to sleep in, fitting armour, and a nice sword to practice with.

       As years passed, Cassius began to understand the vision his father had for House Lannister. An eternally standing House, the most powerful in the Seven Kingdoms.

       Cassius worked the hardest he could, making his father and his family proud. He was eager to prove himself, to become the son Tywin never had. Lesson after lesson and assignment after assignment he would follow. Until there was nothing more for Cassius to learn.

       As more and more years passed, Cassius became the image of his father and so much more. He had his intelligence and his insight, his charisma and his power. Yet he had his own wit and humour, his own kindness and love. Cassius Lannister was a man many wished to be, and he prided himself on knowing this.

       He would work until the last breath fell from his lips to keep his House and his family thriving and standing. He would do whatever he could to make them the most powerful and the richest the way his father taught him.

Cassius Lannister was a man who was more driven than anyone else. He was determined to make the dreams of his father true. His House will stand until the world itself collapses.

       And Cassius? He will be known and admired for centuries.

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