The Wolf and The Lion || Jaime Lannister

Twenty Five

Rayna

We are seated at the dining table with Roose Bolton as we are served our meal. Meat and vegetables, he first proper meal I've had since my escape Kings Landing and the first one Jaime's had in over a year.
"You are a Stark bannerman and Lady Brienne is acting on my mother's orders to return Ser Jaime to Kings Landing", I begin
"Yes but you see last time I saw your mother she was Robb Starks prisoner and the only reason she wasn't hanged for treason was because she's his mother", he informs me.
Robb has sunk that low to imprison our mother. Our only parent. When I see him again he is certainly going to cop it.
"Fucking hell", Jaime mutters trying to cut his meat and struggling immensely. I'd cut it up for him but he finds me helping him in private embarrassing enough. Eventually I stop caring about his pride and stab my fork into his meat and hold it still while he cuts it. He gives me a thankful look but I realise that his meat is far tougher than my own, I suspect that was done on purpose so he would struggle. Brienne watches on wearing a god awful pink gown and I note the colour of mine, Lannister red which I haven't worn since my fathers execution. Roose is a clever man, he's doing this to make each of us uncomfortable.
"I should return you to Robb Stark", Roose says to him, his face is neutral but I can tell he's finding pleasure in Jaime's struggle.
"You should, but instead you're sitting here watching me fail at dinner", he says taking a bite of his meat "Why's that?"
The corner of my lip turns up, Jaime's finally starting to go back to himself.
"I don't know what to do with you", Roose says "I have two fugitives sitting here, one is my Kings sister and therefore I can't harm her but you are more complicated"
"Wars are expensive and you know what my Father will pay for me", Jaime says and I lower my head knowing that won't please Roose.
"I know what he would pay in gold but if I don't give you to Robb I will be the one paying in blood. I had hoped you learned your lesson about overplaying your-" He's about to say hand but instead finishes with "Position".
Jaime goes as silent as the grave "So Lady Stark you I will happily give you to your brother but Kingslayer if I don't give you to Robb as well he will have my head"
"If you hand Jaime over Tywin will have your head", I reply gripping the knife in my hand tightly, Jaime notices and quickly covers my hand with his own and I release the knife.
"The wolf and the lion", he comments looking between us "Kingslayer, your family wants her dead but her family wants you dead" he seems almost amused by this "If I split you up, send her North and you South and Robb and Cersei find out I let the other go I'm going to have a real problem"
"So where ever you send us we go together?" I ask, no matter where that is I am staying with Jaime.
"I'll let you two choose, you both go south or you both go North"
We look at each other in dread and without hesitation he takes my hand "We'll go to Winterfell and speak with Robb Stark"
"Jaime", I protest.
"Brave man, all his men want you dead", Roose says to him "You escape captivity only to return"
"It's not like I have a choice", Jaime remarks.
"Yes you do", I argue.
He gives me a conflicted look, he knows if we go south I won't survive "No, I don't"
"Then its a deal, I'll have the maester see to you and once you're well you can travel", Roose decides
"Brienne of Tarth will be coming with us", Jaime adds and I look up at him in surprise.
"She is a traitor in their eyes", Roose warns.
"Jaime, for Briennes safety she should go south, or return to Tarth", I tell him.
"Is she safer with us, or those men?", Jaime replies.
"He has a point", Roose remarks and I know he is only agreeing to this to stir trouble.
"Rayna, your mother will protect her at the very least", Jaime says.
"Fine, then she will come with us", I declare reluctantly "She will have my mother's protection"
"Thank you Lady Rayna", Brienne responds stiffly.
"Just in case you think of pulling any tricks you will be escorted by several of my men", Roose adds.
"Wouldn't expect any less", Jaime says.

As soon as dinners over and we are walking upstairs I grab his good arm and pull him aside.
"Are you mad, Robb will kill you", I exclaim.
"If we go south you die, Cersei will be far crueler to you than just cutting off your head"
"Jaime I don't care what Cersei does to me, I am not going to watch Robb execute you", I say grabbing his shirt "We can figure out another way"
"It will be alright", he tries to assure me.
"I just found you Jaime, I am not losing you", I gulp.
"You won't, I will make a deal with your brother", he says taking me in his arms.
"Unless you can promise him that you can convince Cersei to make the North it's own Kingdom I doubt it". That seems to be all Robb cares about from what I've heard. Not his sisters, not his mother. Just his kingdom. Everything I've heard is so unlike he brother I knew and loved. In the time since I've left Winterfell Jon's become a man of the Nights Watch, Robb a King and Theon a traitor. No one is who we were when we were inside the walls of Winterfell.
"Rayna, sweetheart, most of your family is gone", he says gently as he strokes my hair "Ned, Arya and your other brothers are gone. You and Sansa are all he has"
He can't say his name. He can't say Brans name but I can see the shame in his eyes. My heart cannot forgive him but my love for him outweighs the betrayal.
"If he hurts you the old gods and the new won't be able to save him", I promise. I will fight for him.
He wraps me tight in his arms and kisses me deeply. "There's the woman I love", he whispers as he kisses me.
Brienne walks straight past us through the hall without stopping to speak to us.
"Are you still sure I shouldn't be concerned?" he asks, he's not a fool he knows something isn't right.
"You and Brienne are close", I state stiffly.
"She'a protected me better than most"
"She is a noble woman", I add.
"You're jealous", he realises "You are jealous of Brienne if Tarth"
"Maybe I am", I stammer "Feelings can change with time
I feel stupid for even saying it as soon as it leaves my mouth. He clearly loves me. Everything Cersei said to me before I left had gotten to my head.
His eyes squint as he asks "Have yours?"
"Yes" his mouth falls open as he pulls away from me but I quickly grab his hand and lace his fingers with mine"But not in a bad way, Jaime I've missed you more and more every day we've been apart and I am only falling more in love with you. It is true that for a long time I couldn't even say your name but now I can't deny that I love you even though I shouldn't. Like you said nothing else matters, only us"
Desire burns in his eyes but both of our heads snap towards the sound of Bolton men coming down the hall.
"Where's your room?" Jaime asks. I take his hand and lead him upstairs to my room. Before we even reach the door his lips are on mine and we're stumble into my bedroom. He kicks the door shut and tilts my chin upwards kissing me as deeply as he can while my hands find my way under his shirt and grasp the warm skin on his back.
He feels like home.
"I'm going to marry you", he vows.
"Truly?"
"Yes"
Our lips collide once again, hungry and desperate for each other.
I begin unlacing his breeches "Twice already, it's only midday", he smirks.
"Getting too old for it", I taunt as I lay him down into the bed and position myself over him "I'll take that back", I comment feeling his readiness.
"It's only been a year", he reminds me as he moves his hand over my breast "I'm just as capable as I was then"
Warmth radiates from me as I remember just how capable of a lover he was, he is.
"Show me"

After we've exhausted each other we lay in each other's arms. Gods I've missed sex, I'm missed Jaime, I've missed how he feels inside me. I will marry this man.
"What's your plan Jaime", I ask, we ended to figure out exactly how we survive this.
"We go to Riverrun, hopefully make peace with your family and with their blessing I will be traded for Sansa"
"What of us?" I ask, I don't give a damn about peace, I don't want to leave him again.
"I will take my place as heir of house Lannister, leave the Kingsguard guard, and go to Castley rock, when it's safe for you to come south I'll ride to Winterfell, marry you and bring you home"
His lips find mine again and I can see the rest of my life with him. I can see it so clearly.
"You know Ray, I'll barely be able to dress myself in the morning, or write or", he begins to warn me but that means nothing to me.
"And I'll be right by your side", I promise and kiss him lovingly. "You may have lost your hand and I know it feels like you were that hand but I can assure you that you are the same man that I've always loved, you have the same heart and the only thing that has changed is that you are becoming a better man every day"
His eyes are wide with awe "Why couldn't you have been born thirty years ago? It would have saved me a lot of years of being with the wrong person", he says running his thumb over my lips.
"I forget how old you are, that you grew up with my parents", I laugh. I'd always forget that he was twice my age until Sansa would point it out.
"And I forget how young you are, you've always seemed so much older, so much wiser, what are you now nineteen, twenty?
"Nineteen", I answer, I'm still not sure he realises how much time has passed.
"Time for you to be married", he comments with a cheeky grin.
"Definitely"
"Rayna Lannister", he says testing it out.
"I like that", I smile.
"So it seems that Westeros knows us as the wolf and the lion"
"Better than the whore and the Kingslayer", I laugh remembering what Cersei called us once.
"Indeed it is"
I love him and nothing else matters to me. When I see Robb I will have to defend Jaime, I will have to see his disgust in me being able to forgive Jaime for what he's done. I don't care. Robb let his pride get in the way of saving us from Kings Landing, if he could have just bent the fucking knee Sansa and I would be safe in Winterfell. She wouldn't still be there with Joffrey.
He left us there. Jaime would have died to bring me home and Robb just left us.
I know who I will be defending.

Jaime

We are on our way North to Riverrun. We're preparing to leave while the maester is changing the bandaging on my arm. Rayna sits beside me keeping a eye on him. She doesn't like the maester at all and I suppose she's trying to make she he doesn't do anything. She said that after I fainted in the bath he would have taken my arm if she wasn't there.
We're chatting when he asks "How many men have you killed?"
"Well", I say honestly having no idea.
"50, 100, countless"
"Countless has a nice ring to it", I answer, I look at Rayna expecting her to look at me with some shock or disgust but there is none. I wonder how many lives she's taken since escaping Kings Landing. She did mention she had to take care of anyone who recognised her.
"And how many lives have you saved?" he asks.
"Half a million, the population of Kings Landing"
Rayna gives me a proud smile and for once I know what it feels like for someone to be proud of me.
She knows all the bad parts of me, she's heard all the stories but she still insists I'm a good man. For the first time I actually believe she might be right.
"Does it hurt?" she asks touching my arm lightly.
"A bit but not much, it'll stop with time"
More like I hope it will and she nods taking my word for it.
"I'm still tempted to turn my horse around and kill Locke before we go", she says bitterly.
"I don't care about revenge", I say remembering what I told her that night.
"No, but I do"
I can almost feel it in her. The burning hatred and the need for revenge. To be fair I would happily kill Locke, I am lying a bit when I say I don't want revenge but I have more on my mind at the moment.
"Just not today, we have bigger problems waiting for us", I say kissing her forehead.
"My brother", she sighs.
"Yes"
"Unfortunately for you us Northerners are stubborn, but I happen to be even more stubborn than Robb"
"Oh don't worry I know that", I chuckle, wanting to enjoy these last few hours of freedom with her.
"I won't let them hurt you Jaime", she promises clinging to me tightly.
"I know", I say even though I know that she won't be able to protect me. I just hope Robb has enough decency to not kill me in front of his sister.
"Ready?" The maester asks.
I nod and mount my horse. Rayna climbs on the back and wraps her arms around my waist.
"Time to see my family"