Chapter 64

"Azami?"

["What is it, Jaime?"]

"Thanks for the Help, I honestly had no Idea how I could have taken that Tower without killing them all."

["You know, Jaime, if you had sent all your Knights as I had proposed, then they wouldn't have had the time to make such an orderly Withdrawal, there is no Point in attacking a Castle half-heartedly."]

"I guess you're right."

["Of course I'm right, don't you remember that your big Sister is always right?"]

"I suppose."

["Come now, Jaime, don't be like that, there's still another Castle that you can use to prove yourself, don't be depressed because your Sister is awesome."]

"It's great that you're still yourself."

[" I don't really get what you wanted to say with that, Jaime."]

"Well, you had always a bit too much, let's call it Confidence, I worried that your Head would get even bigger after what happened, so it's nice to see that you didn't change."

["Thanks, I guess, so what's your Assault Plan for Stadley Castle, Brother?"]

"I don't really have one, Azami."

["That's quite the bad Joke, Jaime, what are you up to?"]

"Well, I thought it would be best if I left most of the planning to Lord Santor seeing as he has by far the most Knowledge about the Defences of the Stadleys."

["Jaime, you do understand that, Father, won't be happy about this, yes?"]

"Why would he be unhappy with it, it's the Way that leads to the best Results, right?"

["That might be so but, Father, wants to see the best Results that you can provide as Leader and Commander, Lord Santor's Abilities aren't actually in Question, only his Loyalty is, do you see why he would be disappointed?"]

"Not really, this doesn't make much Sense to me, Azami."

["Jaime, neither Santor nor Stadley Castle matter to, Father, and turning former Rebels into loyal Vassals is just a Bonus, what he truly wants to see is how you would do, which you already know, or have you forgotten?"]

"Of course I didn't forget it, Azami, but what of it?"

["You failed, Jaime, do you understand, you failed to take Santor Castle in the time he was ready to give you and that while I got you some additional Reinforcements, this won't do."]

"But we took the Castle, Azami, how unhappy could he possibly be if I used Lord Santor a little?"

["Counter Question, what kind of Mentality is this supposed to be, Brother, you know that you're being tested and instead of striving to impress you say Stuff like that, the Amount of Dissatisfaction in our Father's Estimation of your Work should be zero, Jaime."]

"So I have to come up with something myself as well, is what you're saying, right?"

["If you aren't planning to disappoint, Father, yes, you should do the planning for the next Siege yourself, besides, you do realise that our Troops quite dislike even the loyal Vassals our House has been granted, right?"]

"Sigh, I guess you're right, Azami."

["Of course I'm right, don't you remember that your big Sister is always right?"]

"You're repeating yourself."

["I know, but there's nothing wrong about stating the Truth twice, little Brother, I will leave you to your Work, just ask if you need Help with something minor, Jaime."]

"Okay, please greet, Mother, and Cersei for me, Azami."

["Sure."]

It was fascinating just how dense Jaime could be from time to time, it felt like he was really going to just give his Work over to his newest Vassal without a second Thought. But you decided to keep it to yourself, for you knew that your Father would be deeply disappointed if he heard how little passion Jaime seems to have for the Art of waging War. Perhaps he is too young to truly understand why this Opportunity to learn is as precious as it is, or mayhaps he's just too focused on improving his own Abilities with the Sword to care for something even more straining and complicated.

Whatever his reasoning, you really hoped that he would soon get his Act together so that future Campaigns would go a bit more smoothly than this one. For while you could say with absolute certainty that your Father loved him as much as you did, he would most certainly not let House Lannister fall apart one Day because your Brother didn't train enough when he was ordered to. Your Father was essentially the Avatar of the Phrase, Weakness is a Sin, with how much he focused on strengthening House Lannister and the Rock.

You loved your Brother too much to just watch while he dooms his own future with the never-ending Training that your Father would most certainly put him through if he officially didn't meet the Standards he held for an Heir to the Rock. That being said, you were actually quite curious what your Brother could do if he decides to focus on the matter of taking Stadley Castle as much as he focuses on improving his Skills with the Sword, as always, Hope is cheap, so you genuinely hoped that he could finally prove himself worthy.

Well, you would see how he deals with the Stadleys in a few Days, so perhaps you should focus on something else as well while things are nice and safe. Yeah, you should probably create something useful like a few more of your Knights in the coming Days so that your Father has some as well to make sure that he has everything he requires if he needs some stronger Targets quietly dealt with. But then you're sure your Father could find a use for them even if no such Target presented itself, mayhaps you can even learn something interesting through how he decides to use your Knights once you give him a steady Supply of them.

No one but your Mother could truly grasp the Plans and Thoughts of the Lord of the Rock so such an Opportunity was genuinely enticing to you, for while his Cub could help you to some Extent, you still couldn't read him properly. Your Skill of Observation was apparently still lacking with how literal Years didn't provide you with what you sought, but you were sure that you would soon have plenty of Opportunities and dozens of Eyes to analyse his Way of thinking so that was fine for now, Patience isn't called a Virtue for nothing after all.