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.

Tyrek sat down on the floor next to a dresser and picked out some clothes for Essie to wear. The little girl currently ran around the room like a frisky cat. "Come here, you silly girl," he said. "You need clothes to go outside."

Essie seemed to have no intention of obliging so when she ran past he threw himself to catch her, growling like a lion and making the little girl giggle uncontrollably. He gently picked her up and put her in his lap to get dressed. "Sit still, Es," he mumbled while he focused on getting the little girl to stop squirming long enough for him to be able to get an item of clothing on. It was a tedious and delicate process. Essie at times turned into goo and tried to melt out of his lap and at other times got rigid and stiff as a board.

A knitted sweater went on top of the nightgown, warm fuzzy socks on her feet, a wool coat on top of the sweater, mittens to protect her hands from the cold, and a hat that tied under her chin to warm her head and hide her messy hair.

As he tried to wrangle her little hands into the mittens a maid peaked inside. "Lord Tyrek," she said with a sigh. "I've told you that you don't have to dress the girl. You're a lord, not her nanny. I'll dress her later."

"We're just going outside for a bit, Matrice" he replied. "Essie wants to play in the snow."

"Ladies shouldn't play in the snow."

"She's a child, and so am I. And we want to play in the snow."

Matrice just shook her head and left. She seemed to be constantly bewildered by the young lord who ruled the castle and his insistence to actually care for the child he had been wed to.

When Essie was dressed Tyrek took her by the hand and led her down the stairs towards the courtyard. He grabbed a coat for himself on the way.

As the door opened and the bright white courtyard was revealed Essie just stood there in amazement. Tyrek had to prompt her to actually walk outside. "Let's go, Es," he said.

The little girl walked two steps outside but stopped, seemingly unsure of whether the snow was safe to walk on.

"Look, Essie," Tyrek said as he put his feet into the powdery whiteness. "It's all right."

Essie still looked hesitant put took one step into the snow. After staying there pondering for a bit she took another step. She put her little hand into the snow and look in wonderment at the powder on her mitten, then she stretched out her tongue and licked it.

"Does it taste good, Es?" Tyrek asked with a smile. Hopefully, snow wasn't bad for you to eat. He really didn't know, but from what he had heard it wasn't much different from water.

The little girl nodded enthusiastically.

Tyrek put his own hand, he had forgotten to bring mittens, into the snow as well and felt the powdery cold substance slip between his fingers. He put it up to his mouth as well and stuck his tongue out to lick. He figured if Essie had tasted it, he could just as well do it too. It was like ice against his tongue, a cold explosion that soon was tempered down by his body heat.

"How does the snow taste, Lord Tyrek?" a voice asked behind him.

Tyrek turned around and was greeted by the charming smile of Bastian Storm. A boy, about Tyrek's age, who had served as a squire under Renly Baratheon. When Renly died Bastian had been left behind at the castle with no knight to serve. These days he mostly practiced his sword skills in the tunnels and took on guard duties on top of the walls, awaiting one day being able to become a knight himself once the siege broke.

"Cold," Tyrek replied and returned the smile. An odd fluttering feeling had started right below his ribcage when Bastian smiled at him, and he couldn't help but observe how snowflakes glistened in the other boy's hair and made his brown eyes sparkle with them. But he didn't know why any of these things happened.

"I'm just showing Essie the snow," Tyrek added, not wanting Bastian to think he was a child who wanted to play in the snow himself. Why he didn't want this was unclear.

"Are you sure you don't want to play in the snow yourself, Lord Tyrek?" Bastian asked with a playful glint in his eyes. Apparently, he had seen right through Tyrek's excuses.

"I'm a lord, I don't play," Tyrek replied.

"Too bad," Bastian said. "Because I want to play!"

He bent down and caught a handful of snow which he quickly mashed into a snowball that he lobbed at Tyrek. Tyrek ducked and leaned down to form a snowball himself. His throw hit its target right in the chest.

Bastian fell down in an overdramatic manner. "I've been hit!" he yelled.

"Get him, Es," Tyrek yelled. Essie obliged quickly and ran over to throw herself on top of Bastian's leg.

"Ah, the enemy got me," Bastian spouted and tried to roll in the snow with Essie on him. The little girl giggled in delight. Tyrek reached them as well and used both his hands to shuffled a handful of snow over Bastian's face.

"I give up," Bastian mumbled through the snow.

Tyrek laid down beside him on the ground. Essie immediately threw herself on his chest. "I might have wanted to play in the snow too," he said sheepishly and glanced toward Bastian.

"Why didn't you say so then?"

"I didn't... want you to think..."

"Think what?"

"I don't know... that I'm childish."

"There's nothing wrong with being childish. And why do you care what I think of you, Lord Tyrek?"

Tyrek didn't have an answer to that. Luckily Essie chose that moment to shove a fistful of snow into Tyrek's face. He shook his blond curls while snorting furiously to try to get the snow out of his eyes and nose. "Please don't do that, Es," he complained.

"Ty did to Bas."

"I guess I did..."

He stood up himself and then helped Essie get up. Somehow she had managed to get snow everywhere so he brushed her off a bit. "Instead of throwing snow at each other," he said. "Maybe we should throw it at those Stormlanders out there."

Bastian looked at him in surprise. "Do we dare to do that?" he asked.

"It's not like they can take the castle anyway. A few snowballs won't change that."

Tyrek picked Essie up from the ground and put her on his shoulder. The little girl immediately put her hands in his hair and brushed some snow into his eyes. Tyrek had to blink to not get blinded. "Are you holding on, Es?" he asked. "Don't let go."

"Not let go!" Essie hollered and pulled his hair as she secured her grip. Tyrek grimaced but didn't protest.

With Essie safely secured he walked up the stairs to the walls, from where they could see the Stormlanders camps below. Right on the other side of the moat, a young man stood guard. His job seemed to be to report if anything happened inside the castle.

Tyrek recognized the tall young man with messy hair. He didn't know his first name but he often saw him out there. He looked friendly and kind. Tyrek felt like they could have been friends if things had been different.

"Aim for him," Tyrek told Bastian and pointed towards the young man.

Bastian picked up a handful of snow from above the wall and rolled it carefully into a ball. He needed to make sure the projectile was perfectly formed to reach its target.

Tyrek and Essie crouched down behind the wall as Bastian aimed carefully. Then he lunged the ball at its target and threw himself down behind the wall as well. They all giggled together at their antics.

"Ouch!" was soon heard from outside the walls. It seemed like the ball had reached its intended victim.

"What in the gods? Who the fuck is throwing snowballs?" the young man cursed.

Tyrek peaked over the wall slightly, trying not to be seen. He failed.

"Tyrek Lannister?" the young man spouted. "I can see your dumb blond hair up there! I know it was you!"

Tyrek got a bit scared, maybe the young man would call the other Stormlanders and this would become a whole thing. Maybe this hadn't been a good idea after all.

He stood up to apologize and was welcomed by a snowball right in his face. "What the fuck!" he exclaimed.

The young man outside was bent double laughing. "The snow matches your hair," he said and pointed at Tyrek's blond curls.

Tyrek pondered retaliating but he got a bit worried Essie would get hit if they continued their war. "What is your name?" he instead shouted after the young man.

The man turned around and fired off a warm smile. "I'm Devan Seaworth," he said. "Nice to meet you, Lord Lannister."

***

Tyrek, Essie, and Bastian played around a while longer in the courtyard before heading inside. It was soon time for the morning council meeting that Tyrek had to attend. The morning sunlight had started to melt away the snow into a slush anyway.

Essie ran ahead of the boys up the stairs to the floor where all the bedrooms were.

"You find me, Ty!" Essie yelled.

"I'll catch up and find you soon, Es," he replied, still out of breath from their games.

Just as he got up to the floor where the bedrooms were he heard a click from his bedroom door. The lock! Essie had locked the door behind her.

Tyrek ran up to the door and threw himself on the handle. It was, as he had suspected, locked. Bastian was right behind him by the door. "Did she lock it?" he asked.

Tyrek nodded. "Essie!" he shouted. "Can you unlock the door? You can't get out otherwise."

"No," was heard from the other side. "I hide."

"You hid well, Es. I can't find you. So can you open the door now?"

No answer. Essie must have moved away from the door. "Essie!" Tyrek yelled. "Can you get to the door? You need to let me in."

Suddenly he felt someone twist the handle from the other side. "I can't," Essie said on the other side of the door, Tyrek could hear the panic in her voice. "Can't open!"

Light sobs and wails seeped through the door. "Essie," Tyrek said in a calmer tone, not wanting to scare her. "Just turn the key. It's under the handle."

He knew the key could be a bit tricky though, you had to get it in the exact right position to be able to open it.

The key moved slightly in the lock but Essie seemed to be unable to figure it out. "Me stuck," she said in a defeated tone.

"I'll figure something out," he said. "Just wait there."

"There are some tools in the guard room," Bastian said. "I can probably get the lock off the door with them."

Tyrek nodded and put a hand on Bastian's shoulder. "Thank you," he said, surprised by the tingles radiating from the touch.

While Bastian got the tools Tyrek tried to keep Essie calm. He told her stories about dragons. Essie loved dragons.

Bastian soon returned with a box full of tools. In a fast manner, he started unscrewing the plate holding the lock in place. One by one the screws came out and eventually, the whole lock fell off.

Tyrek turned the knob again and this time the door came open. One moment later, Essie threw herself in his arms. "Tyyyyyy!" she squealed and burrowed her face in his shoulder. "Door dumb."

He stroked the girl's hair while he held her little shivering body. "It's fine now, Essie," he said. "The dumb door is fixed. But maybe you should try to avoid locking doors behind you in the future..."

"Should I put the lock back?" Bastian asked.

Tyrek shook his head. "Just leave it off," he said. "Then she can't lock herself in there again. And thank you for helping out."

"Anytime," Bastian said with a curious smile that Tyrek couldn't quite interpret. "Anytime you need me, Lord Tyrek."

"There you are!" a voice exclaimed behind them. Tyrek looked up to see Matrice.

"You should be at the council meeting Lord Tyrek, and the girl should be dressed and have breakfast. Why are you still playing around?"

"We're not-"

Before Tyrek could protest Matrice had snatched Essie out of his arms. "Ty!" the little girl cried out and stretched her arms towards him.

"Let Matrice change you into some dry clothes and give you something warm to eat," he said and got up from the floor to give Essie a kiss on the forehead. Matrice looked at him like he had three heads. "I'll come and check on you later."

"More dragons?" Essie asked excitedly.

"More dragons," he said with a sigh, wondering how he was supposed to keep coming up with new dragon stories.

As Matrice walked away with Essie in her arms Tyrek sat down on the floor next to Bastian again. His clothes were still wet, he really should change before going to the council meeting. But right now he felt like breathing for a moment, he felt like sitting down, he felt like being close to Bastian.

The hallway around them was empty and quiet. No maids or other prying eyes close by.

Almost unnoticeable Tyrek moved a little bit closer to Bastian, then a little bit more. Bastian turned his head and looked at him, without saying a word. Their faces were only inches apart now.

Slowly, so slowly, they both breached that distance. Tyrek felt Bastian's hand on his cheek, it stroked away a few wet strands of hair and then lingered on his cheek. A moment later their lips united. Cold shivering lips moving in unison, somehow warming each other.

A kiss. Tyrek Lannister's first kiss.

The touch warmed Tyrek's whole being, like a fire starting in his lips and spreading like wildfire throughout his body. The intensity of the emotion scared him.

A sudden sound spooked him, a door perhaps. Someone might come. Tyrek withdrew his lips from Bastian's. He felt confused and scared. Both of his own feelings and what other people would think if they saw them. This was inappropriate.

"I need to..." he started in a trembling voice while he scurried up from the floor. "I need to get down to the hall for the council meeting."

He hurried away from the intense emotions. Inappropriate relations could get him in trouble. There really was no telling what his cousin Cersei would do if such rumors reached her. Lannisters weren't kind to family members who could be construed to have betrayed their house. Perhaps he would lose Essie if she found out. Marriages could be annulled on such grounds. While Tyrek hadn't been happy when he was first told about the marriage he couldn't imagine life without Essie now, and he knew the little girl would be heartbroken if he was taken from her.

So when he reached the staircase he took a deep breath. He bottled all the emotions up inside. For Essie's sake.

One day Tyrek would be the last Lannister standing. The last hope of a house that fell victim to their own games and schemes. He would no longer need to fear the wrath of his family. He would no longer need to bottle up his emotions. But he would also no longer be able to stand on his own two feet, as he would be the last victim of House Lannister's schemes. Luckily he would have people around him to support him and care for him, and together they would usher in a new dawn for his house, based not on an urge for power and wealth but on love and understanding.

So that's it for these chapters! I hope someone has enjoyed reading them because I enjoyed writing them. I will now go back to finishing The Lion and The Falcon.

Happy Holidays everyone!