The she-wolf and the lion

Chapter 178 - tourney for the king's name day

A few months later.

The Lannister-Stark family and their household are all in King's Landing for the celebration of king Rhaegar's name day. Daemon and Gerion are both preparing to enter the tourney while Jaime thinks of sitting this one out, leave the jousting and tourneys for his sons instead and sit back with the other spectators.
"Lord Lannister, will we see you in the tourney as well? I saw my grandsons names were entered into the list", lord Benjen Stark, Jaime's father in-law, asks.
"If I'm to be completely honest with you, my lord, I'm unsure if I will enter this tourney or if I should just leave it to my boys", Jaime says.
"There's still time to decide, my boy, the tournament starts tomorrow and when I saw the lists not even five minutes ago they were barely half full, and you are still young enough and skilled enough to take on all these young bucks that have entered their names in the lists", Benjen says as if to one of his own sons and the two men smile at each other like Jaime was still the irresponsible wild 19 year old lion cub who came to Winterfell as a prisoner of war of lord Benjen himself and his brother Eddard, and left there engaged to its heiress.
"I will have to discuss it with my lady wife, your daughter, and see what she thinks", Jaime says.
"Let's go find my children and grandchildren and you can ask her", Benjen says. "Oh, there they all are, and my brother Eddard and his wife and pups."
"Lord Lannister, you look well, I trust my niece or brother hasn't scared you to death quite yet", Eddard says.
"Quite the opposite, m'lord", Jaime says. "My dear father in law and I were just discussing the tourney."
"I see, are you enlisting, I didn't see your name on the lists, I saw the names of your sons alongside the names of my own sons and nephews", Eddard says.
"I am indeed, someone needs to show all these young bucks how things are done", Jaime says, wrapping an arm around Lyra's waist.
"Good man", Eddard says with a chuckle and a smile.
"Go, enlist, my love, I'll be here waiting for you when you come back", Lyra says, lightly kissing Jaime's neck.
"Is it true he killed king Rhaegar's uncle Daerion in a duel?" Tywin, standing with his cousin-wife lady Joanna on his arm among the rest of the Stark-Lannister family, asks.
"It wasn't a duel, we were five and twenty against ten and five, his grace's uncle came threatening my life and the lives of Jaime and our sons, threatened to abduct me and kill Jaime and our sons in front of me, starting with Daemon, our eldest and Jaime's heir, if Jaime didn't give me up to him, our guard captain came to us in the night, telling us soldiers had been spotted on the way to the Lion's Mouth at Casterly Rock, flying the Targaryen banner, us, first thinking it was the king, rushed to get ready to greet him, our captain, Bronn, told us mid dressing that he had noticed that the rider at the head was not the king, but rather the king's uncle, we then realized that battle might be ahead of us and armored ourselves and our horses", Lyra says. "We were three killing the king's uncle, it was myself, Jaime and Bronn."
"How did king Rhaegar react to that? Did it have any repercussions for you or Jaime, lady Lyra?" Joanna asks.
"He was surprisingly enough rather pleased to be rid of his uncle, I later learned from my sister, the queen, that Daeron the older, the king's uncle, had tried assaulting her as well, while she was pregnant with little princess Rhaenyra who is now three years old, and that Rhaegar had exiled him to Myr, apparently he was given three choices, execution, exile to Pentos or Myr, or the wall", Lyra says. "He was told that if he ever sat foot in Westeros again, it would mean his death...and it did...because he was dumb enough to threaten the daughter of lord Benjen Stark, the black wolf, and the son of lord Tywin Lannister, the great lion of the rock."
"Foolish", Tywin says. "How did he think that Jaime and you would react to him coming to your home and openly threatening your lives and the lives of your children? And I'm aware he threatened the queen as well, the idiot did it in front of the king's hand, Jaime's little brother Tyrion, Tyrion himself sent us a raven telling us about it."
"He sent us a raven as well and told us about it as well, I guess he figured I ought to know since the queen is my sister, so we would be prepared if he came trying anything at the Rock", Lyra says. "The coward came in the night when he thought we weren't prepared, he didn't just threaten one of lord Benjen's daughters but two, he just forgot that the queen's older sister, the heiress of Winterfell and the lady of Casterly Rock is as dangerous as the men around her, as dangerous as her father and uncle lord Benjen and lord Eddard, as dangerous as her husband and father in-law lord Jaime and lord Tywin."
"Jaime mentioned your son's disappointment when he didn't get to stand with you against the king's uncle, even though he and his younger brother are both old enough", Joanna says.
"Oh yes, Daemon was not happy with his father then, when Jaime said he and Gerion had to stay behind inside the castle, Daemon came bolting out to the courtyard where Jaime was getting the troupes in line and trying to get Jaime's attention, when he did, Jaime gently but firmly told him that he would be needed inside the castle to guard his siblings and all the small children", Lyra says. "Daemon reminded his father that he's the heir, to which Jaime said that for that very reason he needed to stay in the castle, to guard his siblings and all our grandchildren."
"He's an adult, so is Gerion, so their places would have been at their father's and your side when battle ensues", Tywin says.
"Jaime decided that it would be safer to have them behind castle walls, guarding the castle while we were holding off the attackers with trained soldiers at our back", Lyra says.

The next day, the tourney starts, Lyra sits in the royal box with Jariella, her son, the little prince, Daemon's wife and children, Gerion's wife and children and Bronn's wife and children.

Among them, the royal couple and the royal children sits with Tyrion, lady Sansa and their children, Tommen and lady Arya and their twins. Before sitting down, Lyra hugs her cousins and sister in turn and smiles at their husbands.

The king stands up and announces the start of the tourney. The first round is between the king's brother Aerion and Jaime's cousin Lucion. Jaime's cousin comes out as the winner.

The second round is between Daemon and the king's square Jacaerys Waters, bastard son of the king's great aunt Rhaena and a son of one of the old kings groomsmen.

Daemon comes out as the winner and Jariella and Daemon's wife do a victory dance in the stands, something that doesn't exactly fit women of their high standing. Gerion's wife joins in like no one is watching them.

The third round is between Gerion and Jaime's cousin Martyn Lannister. The battle is swift and Gerion comes out as the winner. The next battle is between Jaime and Lyra's cousin Robb.
"Now it's time for father", Jariella says, seeing Jaime's beautiful white armored stallion come out with an armored Jaime on his back. "Who is his opponent, I don't recognize the armor, a Stark man is all I can tell from here, could it be one of our uncles or one of your cousins, mother?"
"It looks like my cousin Robb, he's met your father in a joust before", Lyra says.
"I remember that, father unhorsed him spectacularly in a tourney before", Jariella says.
"He did indeed, it was the tourney for the queen's  name day two years ago, my cousin was but 15 years old at the time", Lyra says. "Unhorsed by a man over twice his age."

Jaime, now in his early forties but still in the same great shape as when he was young and as usual wearing Lyra's favor, flings Robb, the young wolf, out of the saddle and off his horse with a swift thrust with his lance.

Robb lands in the sand almost three feet away from Jaime, still sitting straight backed in the saddle.
"I yield!" Robb says, stumbling away.

Jaime, the winner of melee, rides by the royal box with a crown of winter roses, as blue as his eyes, on his spearhead and locks eyes with Lyra.
"Lady Lyra", Jaime says, winking playfully at his wife, carefully dropping the victor's laurel in her lap.