Wolf's Mark

Chapter 34

Jaime and Oberyn discover a secret and they have very different reactions to it. I hope you guys like it. 🥰

Jaime was still shocked hours later. While he had been born after dragons were dead he had always been told that only Targaryens were able to ride them. Then Jon Snow had ridden a dragon, everyone had been flabbergasted when the Stark bastard flew over Winterfell. Ned Stark had gone completely white and almost fainted. Once Jon and Daenerys had landed all the lords had several questions. Ned had taken Jon into his solar and no one had seen them for hours. Something was happening and Jaime needed to know what it was, he would not go into battle with distracted soldiers, especially not when his life might depend on them. He approached Ned's solar and opened the door, entering the room and ignoring the glare Ned shot his way. He closed the door and moved closer to the two men, Jon was sitting down, shock written all over his face.
"What the hells is happening?" Neither man said anything. "Look I am not just curious for the hell of it. In a few days, we will be fighting a dead army and I would like to live through it and go back to my wife and children."
"Apparently I am not who I thought I was." Ned shot Jon a look, which the younger man ignored. "I am not Ned Stark's son."
"What?" Jaime looked between Ned and Jon.
"I am the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen." This time it was Jaime who had to sit down, looking at Jon like he was a spirit. "My mother died when I was born and asked my fathe... my uncle to take care of me. He lied to everyone and told everyone I was his bastard to protect me. It turns out I a bastard, but not a Stark bastard."
"You are not a bastard." Jon and Jaime looked at Ned, frowning. "I spoke to your friend Samwell Tarly, he found some documents in the Citadel. Rhaegar set aside his wedding to Elia Martell and wed Lyanna in secret. You are the true-born son of Lyanna and Rhaegar."
"So you are the true heir to the iron throne?" Jaime could have been knocked over with a feather. He would have never imagined this, not even in his wildest dreams. "Does Daenerys know?"
"No," Ned shook his head. "I have not told anyone."
"I would advise you not to tell her either," Jaime said with a shrug.
"Why not?" Jon gave Jaime a questioning look. "She is my aunt, I am the only family she has."
"Jon, she came to Westeros to retake the iron throne. She believes she is the true heir." Jaime shook his head. "What do you think will happen once she finds out there is another Targaryen alive? One that has more of a claim than she does?"
"She might be happy." Jaime tried not to scoff. "She might enjoy knowing she is not alone."
"She will try to kill you, Jon. She will not allow you to live knowing that you have a stronger claim than she does." Jaime could tell by the look in Jon's eyes that he did not want to believe Daenerys would be capable of it. "Even if she decides not to kill you, we have all seen the way she looks at you. She is in love with you, she wants you and as you know Targaryens are known for wedding each other. She might attempt to wed you instead since you are both the only Targaryens left. Are you prepared to wed her?"
Jon's eyes widened and a look of disgust covered his face. The North was not known for allowing direct family members to wed each other. Jon had been raised thinking that it was wrong, that it was something frowned upon by the gods.
"Of course not, she is my aunt." Jon glanced at Ned, before looking back at Jaime. "Do you truly believe she would attempt to wed me?"
"Yes, and she will not take no for an answer." Jaime stood up and approached Jon, he wanted to make sure the younger man understood. "Jon, we need her dragons to win this war. I want to return to my family, I want to see my wife and children once more. We cannot have Daenerys distracted, we cannot afford to make her angry and have her take her army and dragons away."
Jaime hated saying this to the poor boy, especially after everything he had just found out. But Jaime could not risk humanity and his family, he needed Jon to understand what was at stake. Jaime did not mind dying if it meant his family would be safe, and that his children would be able to have full and happy lives.
"Do not worry, I will not say anything, at least for now." Jon stood up. "I need to be alone."
Jaime and Ned watched as the younger man left the solar. Once the door was closed Ned let out a sigh before sitting down and running his hands over his face. The man looked exhausted and like he had aged ten years.
"Why did you lie?" Jaime needed to know.
"When I found my sister she was dying, she had just given birth and was bleeding out. I was so angry at her, for what she had done, running away from her responsibilities and plunging the kingdom into war. But I could not say anything because she was dying and the last words I said to her could not be in anger." Ned looked directly at Jaime. "She was dying and the only thing she asked me for was to protect her babe, to keep him safe. Then he was placed in my arms. I knew Robert would not take it well."
"So you lied to protect him from Robert, so the king would not kill him." Ned nodded and let out a sigh. "But why lie to your wife?"
"I did not want to place that burden on her. We were newlyweds and I was not sure she would not tell someone. As the years passed the lie just got bigger and took root, I could not tell Catelyn, she would not have believed me anyway."
"Does Lyanna and Lyarra know?" Ned shook his head. "Do any of your children know?"
"No, no one but me and Howland Reed, but I trust him. I knew he would never say anything."
Jaime nodded, sitting down next to Ned. He was now regretting that he knew the truth. What if Ned asked him to keep it from Lyanna? Jaime had lied to his wife in the past before they fell in love. He could not lie to her now, especially about something important.
*********************************************************************************************************************************************************
Oberyn was furious, he was just a few days away from a deadly war and all he could feel was rage. He should have listened to his mother and not spied on people, his mother had said you never heard anything nice when spying on others. He had seen Jaime go into Ned's solar and had followed him. He had seen how worried Ned had been and wanted to find out what was bothering the man. He had opened the door quietly and had been about to announce himself when he heard Jon Snow tell Jaime that he was Lyanna and Rhaegar's son. Oberyn had been shocked, not sure what he was supposed to do. Then he heard Ned say that Rhaegar had set aside his marriage with Elia to wed Lyanna.
Oberyn had been pacing his chambers since listening to the conversation and he wanted blood. He wanted vengeance for his sister's heartache. That bastard had left Elia and her children to die, all for another woman. His sister and her children had been killed in a brutal way, and all because Rhaegar had decided his sister was not the woman he wanted to be with any longer.
"Oberyn?" He stopped pacing and looked to the open door to find Jaime standing there. He had forgotten to close the door. "What is wrong?"
"What is wrong?" Oberyn let out a laugh, but there was nothing amusing about it. "It turns out that Rhaegar had a son no one knew about."
Jaime's eyes widened, and then he moved fast entering Oberyn's chambers and closing the door.
"Do not say that so loud." Jaime then gave him a questioning look. "How do you know?"
"I heard you, Jon, and Ned speaking." Oberyn moved closer to Jaime. "That bastard set aside my sister and abandoned his children to get a woman who was betrothed to another man. My sister, niece, and nephew are dead because of him. They were brutally murdered because of him and Lyanna Stark."
"Not so loud." Jaime placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know this is difficult, I know is not something you wanted to hear, but you cannot tell anyone."
"So I should keep this to myself?" Oberyn's laugh was sarcastic when Jaime nodded his head. "Why?"
"Because if Daenerys Targaryen finds out she might leave. She might take away her armies and dragons. She might decide to kill Jon and then we would have another war on our hands."
"I cannot leave things this way." Oberyn shook his head. "Everyone blames Rhaegar, but they should also know about what a whore Lyanna Stark was."
"No!" Jaime's fingers dug into Oberyn's shoulder. "You cannot say anything. After all of this is over, then I do not care what you do, but for now, you have to keep it a secret."
"I do not know if I can." Oberyn's rage was so great he wanted to kill Jon, even if he knew Jon was not to blame. Jon was the living proof of what his father and mother had done.
"You have to." Jaime glared at him. "Are you really willing to risk all of our lives, your wife's and children's lives just to get some revenge for your sister? I know this might sound harsh, but your sister is dead, and your niece and nephews are dead. But Lyarra, Coren, Trystane, Elia, and Aliandra are alive. They are here, now. They need you now, you cannot risk their lives."
"I..." Oberyn did not have a chance to finish, Jaime's hand tightened on his shoulder.
"Let me make myself clear." Jaime's eyes were hard as he stared at him. "I will not allow you to risk my wife and children's lives. I am sorry that you found out about this, but you will not place all our lives in danger. You will not risk everyone here for revenge."
"I will suggest you take your hand off of me." Oberyn glared at the man, waiting for him to move away. They both stared each other down until Jaime removed his hand and took a couple of steps back. "While technically, we are good brothers you will never put your hands on me again, or I will kill you."
"If you place my wife and children in danger I will kill you. You can be as upset as you want, but you should know better than to place all of us in danger. Just think about what you are doing before you make a decision that will affect all of us." Jaime turned on his heel and opened the door, startling when he saw the maester there, his fist was up like he had been about to knock. He said something to Jaime before handing him something. Jaime turned to him. "This just arrived for you, is a letter from Lyarra."
Jaime handed him the letter before leaving his chambers, closing the door after him. Oberyn had to take several deep breaths before opening the letter. He felt happiness fill his chest when he read Lyarra's news. She was with child, they were going to have another babe. Oberyn also felt the need to cry. Jaime had been right, if he said anything there would be discord among the army they had assembled. Daenerys might take her army and dragons away, or decide to burn them all. He could not risk Lyarra and their children's lives, he had promised her he would do his best to return to them. He would not do anything that would stop him from keeping his promise and seeing his family again. 

                                                                 Jaime Lannister (40 years old.)