Only A Northern Song ~ Game of Thrones / Willas Tyrell ~

Chapter Eighty Two: Husband and Wife

It was tradition after a wedding in the godswood for the groom to carry the bride back to their celebrations, but given that Jaime was still getting used to only having one hand and Eddmina was larger and heavier than usual, the idea was scrapped. As was any notion of celebration, which Eddmina was grateful for. A celebration would have meant going in the hall, and she was more than happy to avoid that place, since even walking past it put her on edge. Instead, Lord Tywin nodded to his guards, and they surrounded both herself and her new husband to escort them back to the keep. It was then that she realised Lord Tywin expected trouble not just from her but from his son, who's jaw was tight and eyes dark, and despite having his arm looped through hers, looked as if he wanted to be anywhere else.

That look stayed when his father had them sit across from him at the table in the same meeting room that he had given her the conditions she needed to agree to survive. The room was just as cold, felt just as hostile, yet as Jaime helped her into a seat, she felt more suffocated than she had before. She didn't know if his presence at her side in the seat next to her was a help or a hindrance, because she still received a cold glare from his father, and it made her feel trapped between two Lannisters, surrounded by enemies, and it forced her to accept the fact she was not only a prisoner but now one of them. She steeled herself off, forced hereself to remember the dark courage that had driven her to murder countless times just to protect herself and her babe, and though her hands were bound and her murderous bravery was often bouts of madness, she managed to muster enough strength to stare Tywin Lannister directly in the eye, unflinching.

"I suppose you will be wondering what happens now," he addressed them both. Jaime grunted and shrugged indifferently, hinting at how betrayed he felt that his father had forced him into such a position. That made his father clench his own jaw. "I have given you the north, boy, you might think of showing a little more gratitude."

"Yes, thank you, I am so grateful," Jaime muttered bitterly. Eddmina glared up at the ceiling, wishing she was not caught between the father-son moment, having been trapped in so many before with her last husband. "If you wanted the north so badly you should have wed her yourself."

"Perhaps I considered it, until I decided it was you who needed a marriage more to put to bed the ugly rumours this war was founded on," Tywin told his son shortly, and at the prospect of saying vows with the man himself, Eddmina felt her skin itch, and knew she was lucky. "You're married to Eddmina Stark, and you'll be happy about it. You'll have children that bare the Lannister name and will rule the north and the west, and you'll show all those who dared lie about you and your sister that they were wrong. You're a Lannister, and my heir, it's about time you start acting like it. If I catch word of you wasting this opportunity or shirking your duties, I will dissolve this marriage, disown you, and wed the girl myself. What would you do then, without your family? I doubt a one-handed man would do well at the wall."

"The head blacksmith at Castle Black only has one arm," Eddmina told him bluntly, earning a small amused snort from Jaime and a glare from Tywin, neither man knowing how her heart ached at the thought of Jon. To distract herself, she edged closer to Jaime, forcing a smile. "We will not waste this opportunity, I swear it."

"Good, you're going to have your part to play as well," Tywin nodded at her. "I saved you the shame of a feast and bedding ceremony, Lord Walder was keen for both but I kept him at bay for that. Lannisters don't face such farces."

"Thank you," Eddmina breathed out, not having to act or pretend her gratitude.

"Tomorrow you will face the remaining northerners, tell them how content you are, how sorry for rebelling you are, make them believe it," he instructed her, and she immediately sensed the threat to his tone. "The Freys have been kind enough to let you stay here until after you are fit to travel-"