Of Lions, Wolves, and Dragons (Jon Snow)

32. The Trial: Part 2

Jaime hushed Joellyn saying, "I have not done anything drastic, sister.  I've just made a deal with our father."

Joellyn shook her head in disbelief as she said, "Making a deal with our father sounds fairly drastic."

Jaime softly shook his head, "Not as drastic as Tyrion dying...  After Tyrion is found guilty, which he will be, Father will allow him to plead for mercy.  Tyrion will go to the Wall and serve at Castle Black if he does.  I've talked to Tyrion about this already, so he knows that he needs to do this."

Joellyn's heart dropped.  If Tyrion goes to Castle Black, she'll never be able to see him again, but he'll be alive. "I guess that is better than him being dead," she stated, "but that doesn't explain the deal that you made with Father."

Jaime sighed deeply before saying, "I agreed to leave the King's Guard in exchange for Father granting Tyrion this mercy."

Joellyn felt sympaty for Jaime.  He took pride in being part of the King's Guard, but he was willing to give that up so that they could know that Tyrion was alive in the world, "Jaime, you didn't have to do that."

Jaime shook his head, "I did.  Neither of us want to see our brother die.  He knows to play by the rules for the second half of the trial so that his life can be spared."

Their conversation was cut off at this point as the judges reentered, soon followed by Tyrion.  Joellyn cast a glance at her father and felt nothing but anger toward him.  He was finally getting what he had always wanted.  Jaime was going to marry and father children while Tyrion was going to be cast out of his life for good.  Unlike last time, this time her father met her eyes.  Rather than look away, as she was wanting to, she crossed her arms and continued to stare at him definatly, trying to let all her anger channel into her eyes.  But this did not bother him.  Her father simply continued his job as judge by stating, "The crown may call its next witness."

Joellyn finally turned away from her father to see the next witness and was stunned to see Shae walk in.  From what Joellyn had understood about the situation, she thought that Tyrion had worked with Varys to get Shae out of the city and to safety.  Clearly things had not gone according to plan.  Joellyn turned her attention to Tyrion and saw that her shock was nothing compared to what Tyrion was feeling.  He looked angry, sad, and hurt all at the same time.

The pain in Tyrion's features was so evident that Jaime leaned over and asked her, "Who is this woman?"

Joellyn realized that Jaime wouldn't have known who Shae was.  He had been a captive of the Starks or trying to get back to King's Landing the entire time that Shae had been around.  She felt conflicted on how honest she should be, but decided the truth would come out in the trial anyway, so she softly replied, "She is Tyrion's..." and struggled to think of the right word before deciding on "... companion.  She was posing as Sansa's handmaiden in order to keep the both of them safe."

Jaime leaned back in his seat and groaned in frustration, "This does not bode well for our 'play by the rules' plan."

Joellyn nodded her head in agreement as the trial commenced with her father asking for Shae to state her name and swearing that her testimony would be true.  Joellyn almost forgot the rest of the world around her as she watched her brother's pain.  He was so upset to see her here when he though that she had been taken away to safety, and he was upset that she was now being used against him.

Her father asked, "Do you know this man?"

To which Shae nodded and responded, "He is Tyrion Lannister."

Her father seemed satisfied with this and continued, "And how do you know him?"

Shae didn't pause a moment before replying, "I was handmaiden to his wife, the Lady Sansa."