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“He armed me and armored me to complete our vow to your mother. Without him, you would be dead, my Lady”, his Wench confronted Lady Sansa and the assembled Northern lords.
Proud that his Wench spoke of her belief in him, a small smile flickered across his face. The Dragon Queen caught the brief expression and stood, fury writ across her pale face.
“You…you…bastard”, the Targaryen spat at him. Her head whipped toward Lady Sansa. “Did you see his smirk, my Lady? He planned this…”, she gestured at Brienne, “display!”
Brienne gasped and Sansa’s flinty eyes narrowed at Jaime.
The Lady of Winterfell stood and gave his Wench a pitying gaze. “Lady Brienne, did the Kingslayer seduce you to influence you to give this positive testimony?”
His Wench opened her mouth in red-faced shock, but no words came out. Jaime was pissed off now. The audacity of these children, Jaime thought.
Jaime stepped next to Brienne and wrapped his left arm around her waist. Jaime felt Brienne relax at his touch. “You didn't tell them, sweetling?” Jaime asked Brienne intimately. Brienne turned her beautiful eyes on him and could only shake her head.
Jaime winked at his Wench and turned toward the dais. “Brienne and I are married.”
For a split second, the hall was so quiet. Too quiet. And charged like clouds before a storm. Then, there was chaos and cacophony of mostly Northern voices - guttural and furious - screaming. At him. At the Starks. At the Dragon Queen. At each other. The Dragon Queen’s amethyst eyes regarded him with absolute disgust.
Lady Sansa’s voice rose above the din. “Order! Order!” As the hall quieted, Lady Sansa regarded his Wench. “My Lady, did he force you?”
His wife shook her head. “No, my Lady. We…we needed his armies. His sister refused to help…” At that Lady Sansa and the Dragon Queen, both gave the Bastard King scornful looks who himself looked like he was a million miles away.
Lady Sansa asked her brother, “What do you think, Jon?”
The Bastard King barely spared Jaime and Brienne a glance and said “Congratulations” absently.
Jaime heard the Little Wolf scoff from her perch behind her sister. Lady Sansa focused her icy eyes on her brother and asked, “Jon?!”
Jon to his sister, “Sansa! Lady Brienne brought the Kingslayer’s armies with this alliance. It was smart…smarter than me, apparently”, Jon replied and looked away.
Jaime cleared his throat. “It’s not just an alliance. It’s a love match…”
Lady Sansa rolled her eyes. Now Jaime was done. “Is there something else you wish to say, Lady Sansa?”
She sneered. “A love match? We know who you really love…”
“Loved!” Jaime bellowed, correcting Lady Sansa. “I love Brienne. Now and forever. It’s none of anyone’s business, but I’ve loved Brienne for a long time. And she loves me and agreed to become my wife. As for seduction…” Jaime smirked.
“You disgust me”, Lady Sansa interrupted.
Jaime pursed his lips and nodded. “You know what disgusts me. Watching a spoiled, insipid, little brat teasing and bullying her little sister just because she wasn't ladylike.” Jaime spat back with a tilt of his head.
Lady Sansa froze, while Lady Arya blinked owlishly with her mouth agape.
A gruff voice called out from the periphery of the crowded hall. “He’s right, Little Bird. Cunt that he is.”
Jaime turned to the voice that belonged to Sandor Clegane. “Thank you, Clegane.” The man grunted in reply.
Jaime turned back to Lady Sansa. “And now…it’s obvious you are devoted to your sister and the North. People can change, my Lady.”
“Through no small part of your family’s actions”, Lady Arya found her tongue.
Jaime sighed. “Yes, my family hurt yours. But we were at war. A useless, wasteful war…”
Lord Bran spoke eerily from the far end of the dais, “The things we do for love.”
It was Jaime’s turn to freeze. Brienne instinctively molded her body closer to Jaime. And that gave him the courage to confess, come what may. Jaime only hoped his Wench forgave him and the Starks once they took his head.
Jaime opened his mouth, but Lord Bran said suddenly and self-reflectively, “And yet, if I’d only obeyed Mother.” Then the young man shrugged as if his crippling were no matter.
His Wench exhaled a shuddering breath. Jaime blinked at the young man in confusion. Why is he not furious with me? I don’t understand.
Lord Bran answered Jaime’s unasked question. “Ser Jaime, you and Lady Lannister’s roles are vital in the wars to come. Then your life’s work will truly begin.” Lord Bran gave Jaime an enigmatic smile.
The Bastard King turned to Lord Bran, “Thank you, Brother.” Then turned to the assembly with exasperation clear on his face, “Are we done with this sideshow? Right now, the army of the dead is upon us and we are squabbling about…about…”
“Bullshite!” the Hound offered.
The Bastard King nodded at Clegane. “Exactly, bullshite. Ser Jaime came through with his armies; so let’s move on and plan our defense…”
The Dragon Queen stomped her foot like a petulant child. “NO! He broke his oath and killed my…his King. He has no honor. I demand justice.” Jaime would have chuckled at the Dragon Queen’s display if he weren’t so damned tired of it all. Kingslayer. Man without honor.
Jaime grit his teeth as he felt his Wench vibrate with indignation. “Sweetling, let me handle this”, he whispered and gestured for her to stand behind him. Of course, she shook her head, ready to go toe to toe with Daenerys. Jaime gave his Wench a pleading, pouty look. She relented and took a step back.
“I should have let Aerys burn this shit to the ground for all the trouble…” Jaime muttered to himself.
Jaime sighed and spoke aloud. “I don’t know what your sires and grandsires told you about King Aerys…”
A gravelly-voiced Northerner interrupted Jaime with a shout, “I’m five and forty, Kingslayer. I don’t need your history lesson!”
Jaime turned his face toward the voice. “Have you even ventured south of the Neck? Did you join Old Honorable Ned during Robert’s Rebellion?”
The Northerner spluttered, “Well, I was the 3rd son…”
“So, no”, Jaime cut the man off. “Please don’t take this the wrong way my Lord, but do shut the fuck up.” There was a collective gasp in the hall, followed by murmuring.
Jaime growled. “I am on trial, am I not?! Do I not get a chance to speak on my own behalf?!” he bellowed. “Then SHUT IT!”
The voices ceased immediately, except the Hound’s raspy chuckle.
Jaime faced the Dragon Queen with a blank expression. “Your Grace, your father, King Aerys was insane…” The Dragon Queen puffed up and gestured to her main Unsullied warrior to deal with Jaime. Jaime raised his hands - both flesh and golden.
“Please, your Grace, let me explain”, Jaime placated the Targaryen. She narrowed her eyes at Jaime but nodded for him to continue.
“The King was very sick. He needed help. An elixir or concoction to keep his delusions at bay”, Jaime paused with a slight hitch in his breathing. “And something to tamper down his violent tendencies…”
“You should have had Pycelle to develop some elixirs for Joffrey then”, Lady Sansa ground out.
Jaime looked at the Lady of Winterfell contritely. “Joffrey was and…my sister is cruel and paranoid, but consciously so. Not Aerys. Aerys was truly sick. No one did a thing about it and the realm suffered. No one more than the Queen”, Jaime turned back toward the Dragon Queen and continued, “your Mother.”
The Dragon Queen’s thick brows furrowed as she held her breath.
“The King became obsessed with fire, wildfire in particular. He increasingly used the cursed substance as his champion and inevitably, his executioner”, Jaime paused and nodded at the Starks. They knew that story well, he thought.
“Watching people burn…aroused the King. He would then seek out Queen Rhaella and…abuse her in unimaginable ways…while we Kingsguard could do nothing to protect her, only bear witness to her torment”, Jaime admitted with a gulp.
The Dragon Queen’s teary eyes bored into Jaime’s. “You admitted my father needed help. How did it come to be your blade that slit his throat and pierced his back? Why did you break your oath?” her voice thick with emotion.
“I…I should have acted sooner…” Jaime spoke sorrowfully.
“He was but a boy. A boy younger than most of us are now. A boy alone and put into an impossible situation!” his Wench clarified passionately. Jaime reached behind to grab Brienne’s hand with his flesh hand - whether to calm her or himself, he did not know.
Jaime took a couple of cleansing breaths. “At the end of the Rebellion, my father tricked the King into thinking the Lannister host arrived at the Capital at the last minute to save the day. But I knew better. Father never bet on the losing side…”
“No truer words spoken, Brother”, Tyrion agreed aloud.
“...And the crown was losing. Had lost”, Jaime paused to gather his courage to finish his tale. Brienne’s hand grounded him.
“Aerys foolishly ordered the gates opened. My father sacked the city and ordered the murder of the Crown Prince’s family, so there'd be fewer claimants to that damned chair. A woman and her innocent babes…”
Jaime’s tale was interrupted by a loud sniffle in an otherwise silent hall. Fat tears poured down The Dragon Queen’s pale face.
Jaime gulped and continued, “As I said, I should have done more. Protected Princess Elia…but by then, it was too late. My father was sacking the city and Lord Ned was at the gates. A half million-plus souls in and near Kings Landing when Aerys gave the order. Burn…burn them all.”
Brienne squeezed Jaime’s hand tighter as he continued. “Aerys had ordered caches of wildfire to be placed throughout the city. Everywhere. No one and nothing was spared, including the Red Keep. So when it was clear to the King that all was lost, he ordered the wildfire to be ignited. To obliterate everything and everyone in the city.”
There was a collective gasp in the hall. “Buggering hells!” Clegane muttered.
Jaime’s breath became shallower. “It wasn't about mine or…or my father’s life… I’d failed. The Seven had failed. Then I remember my Knightly vows…” Jaime turned his head as if recalling a memory, “protect the innocent”, he whispered.
“I’d failed Queen Rhaella, Princess Elia, Rhaenys, and Aegon…Lord Brandon and Lord Rickard…countless others. But I would not fail the innocents of King’s Landing…so…” Jaime blew out a whoosh of air, “first, I killed the pyromancers, then I killed the King to make sure the order couldn’t go out to anyone else.”
“I know I’m an oathbreaker…but if I hadn't…”, Jaime looked at the Starks. “Lord Ned probably would have died that day. None of you would have been born…King Jon, I'm not sure, but Ned wouldn't have been around to rescue and raise you…and that goes for some of you assembled here whose sires joined Lord Ned on his march to the capital. Queen Daenerys, you would have no throne or crown or nothing to return to. I’m no statesman, so I can’t imagine all the possibilities. I’m just a…” Jaime implored, but was interrupted by his cousin and second in command, Ser Addam Marbrand.
“A Godsdamned hero, that’s what you are, cousin!” Ser Addam shouted. Jaime turned to his cousin, wild-eyed and wide-eyed, fighting back tears.
Sandor Clegane pushed himself off the wall he’d been leaning on and echoed the other Westerner, “Aye, Godsdamned hero. But you’re still a cunt.” Jaime nodded at the Hound with a watery chuckle.
Tyrion stepped down from the dais and immediately hugged his brother. “I’m so sorry, Jaime. You carried this burden alone and for so long. But no longer.”
Tyrion, sensing he had an audience, turned to face the assembly. “I request this tale to be told far and wide. My brother, the Lion of Casterly Rock is the Savior of King’s Landing. Goldenhand the Just.”
Jaime caught Varys’ eye as the latter sized Jaime up. Ah, I know that look. The Spider is giving me the scan. I don’t think so. Whatever he's planning for me, I am NOT interested, he thought. Jaime narrowed his eyes at the Spider and shook his head imperceptibly. The Spider nodded back at Jaime with a slight chuckle and shrug.
The Bastard King banged his fist on the head table and then looked at the Dragon Queen. “Are you satisfied now, your Grace?”
Queen Daenerys tried and could not pull herself together. She simply nodded.
The Bastard King stood straight, looking every bit the leader he was. There’s something familiar about Ned Stark’s bastard, Jaime considered and then shook the thought off. “Ser Jaime, please accept our apologies and welcome to Winterfell. I’ll show your men where they can camp”, he announced. He looked over at Queen Daenerys who still looked a bit overcome. “We meet at first light to discuss our defense.”
The hall emptied as the King in the North left with Ser Addam. Jaime felt the eyes of the Northerners on him, yet none approached him. But he felt little judgment. Jaime figured it would take time for them to reconcile the legend of Kingslayer with the reality of Jaime Lannister - which included the truth of his relationship with Cersei. Jaime sighed.
Queen Daenerys approached Jaime tentatively arm and arm with her Essosi friend. Jaime stood tall as Brienne moved to his left side. A united front.
“Ser…I don’t know what to say…I just hope that I can count on you…to help keep me focused on breaking the wheel and keep me from ever becoming my father”, the Queen hiccuped as tears threatened to flow again.
The Queen’s friend wrapped a slim arm around her shoulders and led her away, “Come, your Grace. Let’s get to your chamber so you can rest.” The couple watched the two women go.
“Ser”, Lady Sansa spoke as she and her sister approached, “I wish I’d known of your sacrifice, I’d…”
Ever the politician, Jaime thought. “My Lady”, Jaime gently interrupted the redhead, “there’s nothing to be done. Some situations are just unimaginable and the responses to those situations are equally so. It was my burden to bear…until…until it wasn’t.” He glanced at his Wench and smiled.
“Well, you are always welcome at Winterfell, Ser Jaime”, Lady Sansa replied and turned to the Hound. “Come on, Sand…Ser Clegane.”
“Not a Ser, Little Bird.” Clegane approached the group and roughly pat Jaime on his shoulder as he rasped, “A bloody hero.” He and Lady Sansa left the hall.
“You know, those two are fucking, right?” Lady Arya admitted to the couple without preamble.
Brienne gasped. “Lady Arya!” Jaime guffawed in disbelief.
Lady Arya shook her head. “Sansa is better at this diplomacy shite…I mean to say, my sister is happy. After everything she’s been through, she’s happy. We have you two to thank…and Jon…and Mother ”, Lady Arya sighed sadly. “So thank you, Ser Jaime and Lady Brienne.”
Jaime tilted his head at the younger Stark sister. “What about you, Lady Arya? Are you happy?”
She smiled a fearsome smile. “Despite the losses in my family, I’ve traveled and fought…I’ve lived on my own terms as I’ve always wanted. And now, I’ve got Gen…” Lady Arya trailed off and blushed.
Gods, Myrcella would be Arya’s age now. Married to the Dornishman and maybe with a babe, Jaime thought with a pang in his heart.
His Wench smiled tenderly at the smaller woman. “Your smith?” Brienne guessed.
Lady Arya nodded almost shyly. Then her expression grew fierce. “Ser Jaime, you know Cersei cannot live?” she asked.
Jaime could only nod. He knew.
“She’s on my list and I’ll give her the gift as gently as possible… in respect to you. However, if she makes it hard, I can’t promise anything. You do understand that as well?”
Lists. Gifts. What is going on? Jaime was confused, but one thing was clear. Cersei would not survive the war after the war with the dead. So Jaime simply nodded again. What else was there to say?
Lady Arya bowed slightly and turned to leave. She called out over her shoulder, “You lovebirds should try to get some rest. First light comes faster than you think.”
Once Lady Arya left, Jaime turned to his Wench. “Thank you, Brienne.”
“For what, Jaime?” Brienne asked with a furrowed brow.
Jaime just gazed at his magnificent wife. Wife, he thought, loving the sound of that word and it belonging to his Wench.
Instead of answering, Jaime pulled Brienne in his arms and changed tack.
“You know, Wife, I left out a very important detail in my testimony”, he drawled.
Brienne, familiar with her husband’s cheekiness, raised an eyebrow. “And what detail is that?” she asked and bit her bottom lip.
“I neglected to mention the hero of my personal story”, Jaime licked his lips and pulled his Wench even closer. “ A tall, statuesque blonde with the most beautiful eyes in the world. A sapphire-eyed Wench. A warrior maiden…well, former maiden, who’s the truest knight this shit world will ever see.”
“Jaime, a woman can’t be a knight”, his always honest Wench corrected him.
“And why not? You saved me in every way a person could be saved. And I'm far from innocent…” Jaime countered and kissed the brow of his beloved.
“It’s tradition, Jaime”, his Wench interrupted.
“Well, fuck tradition!” Jaime shouted and the words echoed in the now-empty hall. Yes, fuck tradition indeed. Tomorrow. Tomorrow, I’ll do just that. As for tonight.
“Come, Wife”, Jaime purred. “First light comes quickly and I have need of my hero tonight.”
Brienne giggled and hand in hand, led her husband from the hall toward her chamber.