A Song of Ash and Smoke | a continuation of A Song of Ice and Fire

𝐉𝐚𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐫𝐚

The warm summer sun touched Jahaera Lannister's beautiful face as she lay in the sweetgrass of the gardens beside her prince. Butterflies flitted through the flowers, kissing each one. She turned her face to him, breathless and excited. He wanted to tell the King! They were to be married and not a soul could stop it. Jojen watched the joy in her face, the curve of her lips, unable to tear his gaze from her sweet smile. Jae was a radiant beauty. It was known throughout the court. The Jewel of Lannister they called her, and it was true. If anyone had any second thoughts about her mysterious appearance as a babe in Tyrion Lannister's arms, those thoughts were erased. Everyone adored her. They simply could not help it.

Unlike her adoptive father, she did not have the golden locks of a Lannister lion. Instead, she had the raven hair of a Stark wolf and the violet eyes of a Targaryen Dragon. She resembled the late Queen Danaerys very much so, in her face. But she was neither cold, like the Dragon Queen, nor serious as her bastard father. She saw everything beautiful in the world.

Tyrion would say, "She reminds me so much of Myrcella."

Jae was a sensitive girl, but inquisitive. She'd spent her whole life reading all the books in Grandmaester Sam's library. So she'd brushed through the pages of the Book of Families and found it. The story of a girl who died in her father's arms, poisoned by a kiss. She never told Lord Tyrion that she read that.

She'd read plenty else, too. A girl of sixteen, her nose always in a book and her arm securely looped around that of her prince. They'd been raised together, played together, grew together. They knew each other better than anyone. It was a rare sight to see Jojen far from Jae's side. He was always protective of her. It was the day before yest that he'd made his intentions to her clear about marrying her. She was to be his queen, to have his children and make little heirs. He also made it clear that he must take this to Tyrion first before anything else could be said.

Yet here she lay in the summer breeze with him, and she'd not seen him speak to Tyrion at all. Would he tell her when he did? Had he already?

She sat up, suddenly overwhelmed with a surge of fierce determination. "We're going to tell the King," she said. Jae was nothing, if not a lady of action.

She was suddenly up on her feet, brushing grass from her skirts. Jojen stood up beside her, brushing his briches off as well.

"What do you mean we're going to tell the King?" Jojen asked. Jae was giddy, practically running up the cobbled walkway. "Jae, wait!"

Jaehaera could not help herself. What was telling Lord Tyrion going to change? Jojen ran to catch up and hooked a hand around her arm. "Jae, what are you talking about?"

"We are near man and woman now," Jae said. "What will Lord Tyrion say to change our hearts? He already knows it to be true."

Jaehaera loved Tyrion with all her heart, but she cared not for his voice in this matter. He raised her for this, to be a perfect lady. To do her duty and to love fiercely. He watched them grow from babes together. It was meant to be. Jojen knew it was pointless to argue with her. Septa Lula often said the Jewel of Lannister was a diamond, astonishing to look at but harder than rock.

It so happened that the Hand was making his way to see the King himself, anyhow and Jae practically overran her adoptive father in her girlish excitement. Tyrion could already see from the way she was glancing at her chocolate-haired prince behind her what this was about. When she turned back to face Lord Tyrion, her face was flush and rosy such as that of a child in love.

"My apologies, my lord father," she giggled sweetly, rushing forward to peck him on the cheek. Tyrion held a hand to his cheek briefly, his facial expression cautious. Still, her giddiness pulled at the corners of his mouth, and he smiled at her in spite of himself.