The Stag and The Frog - (GendryxMeera GOT fanfic) Part 1: Alone

Bonus: Snowfall - Tyrek

I'll end these Christmas/Winter special chapters with a scene featuring my favorite golden Lannister boy, Tyrek Lannister. This scene is (just like the other Snowfall chapters) set before the start of The Stag and The Frog. In Tyrek's case, this means that he is the holder of Storm's End, which is under siege by the Stormlords. He has Essie with him at the castle, and he also hangs out with another character you might recognize from part 2 of The Stag and The Frog.

"Ty, Ty, Ty! Tyyyyyyyyy!"

Tyrek could hear Essie's calls growing louder and louder as he walked down the hallway toward the nursery. The sun had just risen over Storm's End and he knew the little girl wouldn't quiet down until he got there.

He opened the door and was greeted by a loud squeal. "TYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

"Hi, Es," Tyrek said with a smile, it was hard to be mad at the little girl. Even if he would have wanted to sleep longer. He never did these days though, since he had somehow, just a teenager himself, ended up the guardian of a toddler.

Officially, he was actually the husband of Lady Ermesande Hayford, or Essie as he called her, after they had been wed in a deal brokered by his uncle Tywin to ensure House Hayford's lands for House Lannister. But in reality, Tyrek had taken on the duties of parenting the little girl.

They were both orphans. Tyrek's father had died before he was born and his mother, who never got over losing her husband, took her own life ten years later. Both Essie's parents had died of a pox shortly after she was born. After his mother passed Tyrek didn't have anyone to care for him, only Lannister relatives who wanted to use him in their schemes, which made him feel lost and unimportant. He didn't want Essie to feel the same way. Of course, there were maids around to care for her. But maids came and went. Maids weren't tied to Essie in the way Tyrek was. They were tied together for life, whether they wanted to be or not. Tyrek knew he was the only constant in Essie's life, and therefore he wanted her to know that he would always be there for her. Not as a husband, but as someone who cared for her as a parent would. Even if he was barely more than a child himself.

"Ty come!" Essie said and stretched out her little arms towards him. Her messy bed hair stood around her head like a cloud.

"Come here, little wildling," he said and lifted the child from the crib. "I think there's something you might want to see outside."

He walked up to the window, with the little girl's head rested on his shoulder. As he moved the curtains out of the way Essie gasped. "White!" she exclaimed with amazement on her face. "Pretty!"

The whole world outside was covered by a thin mat of sparkling snow. It would probably melt as soon as the sun warmed up the lands. Snow rarely came to the Stormlands. But the weather had been colder lately, and people talked about it having something to do with a threat from the North.

"You want to go out and play in it?" he asked Essie.

"Can we?" she asked, still looking at the white sheet in bewilderment. It had never snowed before in her lifetime.

He nodded and put the little girl down on the floor. "Let's get dressed and get outside before the maids come and get you for breakfast!"

The maids usually took care of Essie during the day while Tyrek attended the duties as the holder of the castle. Not that there was really much for him to do. The castle was under siege for about two years and there was no end in sight. They were at a stalemate, with neither side wanting to give in. The Ironfleet provided the castle with food through the tunnels below so there was no pressing need to leave either, it was comfortable but boring. Tyrek had no other choice but to wait for something to happen since if he abandoned the castle he suspected his cousin Cersei would execute him on the spot. His role in her games was to hold this castle for their family until the war against the Dragon Queen was over. Then he would hopefully be rewarded for his loyalty.