121 AC
The castle of Silverhill.
"Has it been one year since the Lion Slayer entered my domain?" Lord Serret asked his maester.
Lord Serret was a smart, very smart man. His ancestors had all but survived incursion from the Reach time and time again. Lord Serret was also kind, as a lord could be to his smallfolk, without designating them any privileges. He made sure they were well fed and protected, well protected for a time until that blasted 'maneater' beast came in. Thank the Seven for the Lion Slayer.
"Yes, my lord. Would you like me to send someone to call him to your hall at once?" Maester Alard asked.
The maester was a learned student from the Citadel, and every lord had them. Lord Serret made it his personal mission to ask the Citadel for a special favor in bringing a really talented maester here. Maester Alard had amassed quite the amount of links he now donned. Lord Serret loved that he had one of the smarter maesters. It was a personal point of pride of him, a sort of ancestral passage passed down to the Lord Serret.
"No, I think it's better if I visit the Lion Slayer. My old legs are still working," Lord Serret remarked.
The door to the solar opened, and the Serret men at arms bowed and quickly followed in step behind their lord, his back secure.
As Lord Serret walked down through his halls, he saw his young boy, now heir, only ten and one, not yet a man, stood with livery of the Serret arms, which were in the peafowl colours blue and green. The banners and sigil adorned with that peafowl in a sea of golden lands.
"I have no rival" were his house words. And it was, for Lord Serret was truly one of the rarest lords around. His smallfolk were the most well fed and protected in the Westerlands, Seven hells, in all Westeros. He made sure to import good grain where he could, implement fairness and just laws where he could. And the peace enacted by the King's Peace only aided in this.
However, it all fell apart a year ago when that maneater came, and with it slights from houses around. He couldn't bear the anger in his heart when minor lords guffawed at him that he couldn't deal with a simple lion. And worst, he hated seeing how his smallfolk were traumatized and destroyed by that accursed animal. Lord Serret could only once again thank, profusely, the Lion Slayer.
His son perked up at his sight. "Father, are we seeing Alex?" He spoke in a hurried pace.
"Yes, my son," Lord Serret said with a smile.
Lord Serret remembered his shock when he first heard of the Lion Slayer bringing back the lion and its bones to his very doorsteps. The towering man standing in his hall that day, bringing the accursed beast's bones. Lord Serret couldn't very well believe the man, so he sent riders to the village to confirm if it was the beast, and when confirmation came, Lord Serret held back a cheer of relief. That beast eluded even the best trackers he hired. He offered the Lion Slayer coin and even offered to take him in as his sworn man, but the man didn't want coin. He only wanted a small patch of land.
The Lion Slayer knew that accepted land in his domain would tie him to him, but he would swear no fealty to a lord that didn't deserve it. The impropriety of it was astonishing.
The gall of the man, yet Lord Serret wasn't like others. He knew this man was something other, and yet something so real and tangible. Lord Serret would acquiesce to his demands. His men objected to the Lion Slayer's rude manners, however Lord Serret made it known that the Lion Slayer was under his protection and no harm should befall him. The Lion Slayer was surprised at the sheer generosity and asked if Lord Serret wanted anything in return.
Lord Serret only asked that if he called him for a war, he would answer. The Lion Slayer didn't like this. Lord Serret then asked that he would teach his heir some of his hunting ways, effectively tying him down to his heir through shared friendship and companionship. The Lion Slayer accepted.
Sliding back into the present, Lord Serret was right to trust his gut on this. His son was adept with the sword, as squires many ages older would be, and his fighting style was unorthodox. But no, the change he loved was the manner in which the smallfolk of the village loved his boy. Jaime 'Hardknocks' Serret, they called him. He would never seem to let adversity stop him. That filled Lord Serret with immense pride. The grand plan was going smoothly.
He would follow the Lion Slayer around as his squire, and the Lion Slayer would love his son and in turn protect him. That was the plan, the grand plan. Lord Serret chuckled to himself, a foolproof plan because it isn't like the machinations of Casterly Rock or King's Landing.
Speaking of such, a tourney was being held in Casterly Rock in honor of another Lannister brood being born. Even the queen was deigning to visit with her sons. Maybe, maybe he could bring the Lion Slayer. It wouldn't hurt to try.
It is time to visit the man of the hour. "Maybe I can ask Alex to give me another one of those Yi-Ti porcelain mugs again, once he is out of the damn smithy," Lord Serret thought.
He got on his horse, his son by his side and the maester by his side as well. Men at arms of the Serret household all around him escorted their lord out of the keep and into the village.