The Wolf and The Lion || Jaime Lannister

Thirty Nine

Jaime

Myrcella is dead. Those fucking snakes poisoned her. She died in my arms.
I didn't know how to feel about losing Joffrey but I certainly know how I feel about Myrcella.
My only daughter is dead. She said that she was glad that I'm her father then she died in my arms while I couldn't do anything to save her. I could have had a child. I could have been a proper father to her. She was taken from me.
Just like everyone else I love.
Now I sit in Cersei's room, with the only person who shares my grief.
"I am going to kill them", she vows.
"They killed our daughter", I say coldly "Show them no mercy"
She looks up and creeps towards me.
"Jaime", she says softly as she sits on my lap.
"Cersei no"
"Why?"
"I'm not in the mood?" is all I can say. I don't have the heart to tell the last family I have that I don't love her, well at least not how she wants. I haven't slept with her since Winterfell. I've been loyal to Rayna.
"Please Jaime", she pleads as grabs me and pulls my lips to hers, hungrily consuming them before I push her off me completely and she hits the ground.
"No", I snap "I love Rayna"
She looks up at me from where she lays on the ground truly wickedly.
"Your little whore is married"
"You're lying", is my first reaction. Rayna wouldn't. She would never marry someone she didn't love. She wouldn't.
"Why would I lie, ask Littlefinger, he is the one who informed me"
Littlefinger.
My hand clenches around the handle of my sword. I know just who I will be visiting after this.
"Is he here?"
"Yes"
If he married her I will kill him where he stands "He married her?"
She smirks and fear fills me as I know that the reality is far worse.
"He married her to Ramsay Snow, Roose Bolton's bastard son but he is the heir to Winterfell"
She married a fucking Bolton. Now that definitely has to be Littlefingers doing.
Without another word I storm out of her room and go find him.

Rayna

From my window I watch Stannis's army approach. Ramsay will be down there.
I once said I would risk everything to come home. Now I am about to risk everything to escape it.
The door opens and part of me prays that it's Theon but it's Ramsay who enters.
"Ah my sweet wife", he says joining me by the window "Look at them, they are weak"
"I thought that you would be on the field with your men", I ask carefully keeping my voice neutral.
"I came to see my wife first", he says taking my hand and I wonder what he plans to do to me, what thrill he will take before the battle "I've come to see if you are pregnant yet"
Today may be the day I die. I will die trying to escape or I will cut my own throat before Ramsay can lay another hand on me.
I have nothing left to lose.
"No", I answer "If I did become pregnant I cut it from my own womb"
He doesn't know how to respond to that, for the past few weeks or months I've been submissive to him. No more.
I stand to face him "I want you to know that we may be bound for life but life can be cut so short", I threaten "Remember that I am a Stark, I am the true born heir to the North and my claim will always overrule that of a bastard"
His grabs me by the throat but I only laugh madly. He hits me hard across the face but I take the hit and continue to laugh like a mad woman. He's unnerved.
"I am more wolf than woman", I warn him "I will tear your throat out"
If I escape today I will go North to Jon. I will return with an army.
War horns sound from outside and he turns red as he struggles between beating me and going to his men.
He slams the door behind him as he leaves. I will die before he lays another hand on me, I said what I've been burning to tell him since the moment I arrived here.
He will die for what he has done.
After much thinking I've decided that if I'm going to sneak past everyone dressing as a man is the best way to go. I wear the only pair of pants I have, a blouse and a warm coat. I'll need it to get to the wall. I find Jaime's letter and Littlefingers fake one and tuck them inside my my coat. Then I hold the Lannister ring in my hand and slide it back onto my finger where it belongs.
For days I have considered tracking down Roose and slitting his throat before I escape but if I do Ramsay will be in charge with no one to stop him. I had been torn between killing Roose and praying Ramsay will come to respect me or keeping Roose in power and stopping Ramsay from having power. Roose is at least sensible, Ramsay however is truly sadistic. I fear what he will do to the North if he comes into power but I know that it is only a matter of time before he murders his father. Without Roose he will lose his hold on the North and then I can take everything from him.
Even if I planned on killing Roose I could only guess where he is. I know Ramsay is down with his army. Sometimes I wonder which one I want to see dead more then Ramsay will visit me and I long to wrap my hands around his throat and choke the life from him as he does to me but when he comes I am unarmed and utterly helpless against him. It's almost a mercy when he beats me to the point of unconsciousness.
If I am caught trying to escape I won't die. But by the Gods with what he will do to me I may as well plunge a blade deep into my stomach.
If I am caught I will cut my own throat. I will not live just to be subjected to hell for the rest of my days and to carry that monsters child. My time of month came again last night, a month since he took me into the wall. Perhaps the gods have heard my prayers considering I'm not pregnant. If I became impregnated with his spawn I would find some way to rid of it myself, that is if he hadn't already beaten me bad enough to miscarry.
In my hand I carry the tool I've kept hidden in the mattress to pick the door. I stole it when he brought me outside to show me the flayed woman. Now it's time to use it.
I raise my hood and use the tool to pick the lock. When it opens I say a silent prayer and go but first I need to get something. I break into Ramsay's room and find my dagger on his table. I will need this.
From the wall I watch Stannis's army. If Stannis wins I won't need to escape. My father supported his claim and he has enough honour to free me. In exchange I would support his claim to the throne however if he loses I will need to escape before Ramsay returns or die trying.
No one looks twice at me as I stand there watching with my face covered by my limp hair and dark hood. I've been hidden away for so long no one would recognise me anyways. They wouldn't recognise the girl with hollow cheeks, swollen eyes and a busted lip. They wouldn't recognise me as the young girl who once danced through these halls and would wait for her father to return from a hunt at this very spot on the wall.
I can't recognise her either.
This was my home and they took it from me. Everywhere I look I see memories.
Sparring with Robb and Jon in the courtyard.
Listening to my mothers lessons as we walked along this wall and she'd yell at Bran to stop climbing while she carried young Rickon in her arms.
We would wave at Father as he rode in on horseback and wonder what story he would tell us that night of his adventures.
How I would listen to Sansa and Arya bicker over the smallest things.
Teaching Sansa to dance to the old songs by candlelight and then teaching Arya how to fight with a sword after everyone had gone to bed.
Sitting outside the great hall with Jon when he wasn't allowed to sit with us during the feasts and we would talk and laugh and play. When Robb would join us and my Father would tell mother to leave us be as we would spar and in general misbehave.
Now Mother, Father and Robb are gone. Stolen from me. Sansa and Arya are alive, it's been years since Theon saw Bran and Rickon but there is hope no matter how small. Jon is at the wall. Jon is my brother, probably the last I have and I miss him. So many nights I've just wanted to sit outside the hall of Winterfell and drink with him while talking about life. What we have endured in the years we have been apart. The same with Robb, at least I was given a little more time with him and my mother. I would give anything to have them all back. To go back to before we left Winterfell.
Now it's time to leave again. To go to Jon. From there I will send a raven to Jaime. To the man I love. He is still in my grasp, he isn't gone like everyone else. I won't lose another person I love.
I watch as the Bolton's defeat Stannis's army and before I can process the defeat cold fingers grab my arm.
"You can't be out here", he says and I look up at Theon, finally seeing part of the man I knew. The man that shielded me from Bran's broken body when he fell "He will be back we need to leave"
He trembles in fear but he is the bravest I've ever seen him. The only time a man can be brave is when he is afraid.
Perhaps Jon isn't the last brother I have left.
He takes my hand and we run blindly across walls we grew up on. Then he pushes me behind him as he comes to an abrupt stop.
"Well, well you shouldn't be here", her voice chimes.
"Move or I will fucking kill you", I warn stepping in front of Theon, facing Myranda's drawn bow with no fear.
"It seems I'm the one positioned to kill you", she says not wavering.
"Go ahead", I say not caring if she releases that string. It would be more merciful than what Ramsay will do to me.
"You don't fear death do you?" She asks in genuine curiosity.
"No, not anymore", I answer "You can't kill me anyways, Ramsay still needs me"
"He does, but he only needs pieces of you", she smiles and I step closer until the arrow is nearly piercing my skin.
"Do it"
"You are a bold one aren't you?" She says
"I am", I answer as I grab her bow and push it aside, my other hand grabbing my dagger from under my coat and in a single motion slitting the whores throat.
A sweet smile is brought to my face as she clutches her gushing throat and chokes on her own blood before falling to the ground.
The sound of horses has Theon grabbing me again and pulling me away from her body.
"He's back", he trembles as we look over the wall.
I've jumped over a cliff to escape before, except my only other option was death. If I don't jump death would be the kind compared to what Ramsay will do to me.
We step up onto the wall and look at each other. I look at Theon Greyjoy, not Reek, Theon. My brother. My friend. My saviour.
Even if we die we are free.
Without looking back we jump to freedom.

Jaime

"Lord Baelish is busy", one of his men says as I approach his room.
"I don't care", I grunt as I push him aside and enter. Littlefinger stands from his chair as I enter, although he tries to remain calm I can see the fear in his eyes.
"Ser Jaime", he says greeting me "I was wondering when I'd see you"
"Well I'm here", I say as I wrap my hand around his throat and shove him against the wall.
His men rush forward but he raises a finger stopping them.
"I suspect this is about Rayna"
"You married her to a fucking Bolton", I spit.
"She doesn't love you Kingslayer, she made the choice to go to Winterfell, at any cost"
"She isn't a fool, and neither am I so tell me why when she received my letter saying that my father accepted the deal and was offering a full pardon she declined"
The look in his eyes tells me everything.
"She wanted the North more than anything you could give her"
My grip on his throat tightens "Unless she never got my letter. I know Rayna better than anyone and when she has her head set on an idea like Winterfell she doesn't give up easily but even she knew what going down that path could cost her, her freedom or her life", I growl as my hand tightens around his little neck even more "She wouldn't have gone down that path unless she thought it was the only one, she loves me and she might be filled with wrath after what they did to her family but in the end her heart always wins out, always, and I knew something wasn't quite right as soon as I read her letter, or was that even her letter?"
"You're right Kingslayer", he gasps as he starts running out of air "I did what I had to do, to help her let go of little things like emotions and set her sights on the bigger picture"
"What did you do?" I growl becoming more animal than man.
He simply hands me the letter I wrote that was meant to go to Rayna "Imagine how distraught she was when the love of her young life told her that if she stepped foot in the south she would lose her head, that he's tired of waiting for her to decide between him and Winterfell, that his eldest sons death has brought him closer with his former lover and that it's goodbye"
I slam him back into the wall and and release my grip on his throat as I debate what to do with him.
"Anything else?" I ask as he composes himself looking pissed as hell.
"She isn't as loyal as you think Kingslayer. When I told her that you had returned to Cersei's bed I was the one she turned to, it wasn't hard to seduce her"
With a quick and hard flick of my wrist he stumbles backwards, hitting his head on the wall as I backhand him across the face with my golden hand.
"I don't believe you"
He clutches the side of his face which is sure to be very bruised, if not broken, in the morning
"You don't have to, everything I've told you has been the truth, now she is in bed with Ramsay Bolton"
The thought of Rayna in bed with another man, a man that she doesn't want to be with infuriates me in a way I haven't felt since Cersei married Robert.
"Do you want to die?"
"That's what those men are there for", he reminds me and I turn to see half a dozen men standing in the doorway ready to draw their swords.
"And if you somehow managed to kill them with one hand, there are many other men that would ensure you meet a truly tragic end", he threatens.
"One day I promise you will get what is coming to you, if not by my hand I'm sure Rayna has figured out what you've done by now" I smirk "she is a killer we both know it, just imagine what she will do when she finds out you betrayed her"
He looks unnerved at the thought of Rayna knowing what he did. If I've figured it out then surely by now she has. He knows to fear her fury.
"If you've manipulated her that badly she hasn't been able to figure out you forged my letter I'm sure a raven to Winterfell would make her more than happy to slit your throat"
He actually looks concerned as he says "If I were you I wouldn't send a raven, her new husband wouldn't appreciate it"
My blood runs cold at the fear in his eyes as he speaks of the bastard. Fear not for himself or upsetting the bastard, but for Rayna's safety.
"What did you marry her to?" I tremble.
"The heir of Winterfell, to take her rightful place as the Lady of Winterfell and soon enough Stannis will crush the Bolton's army", he has the nerve to come closer to me as he says "Then she will be my wife"
I go to draw my sword, to gut him but the synchronised sound of half a dozen swords being drawn behind me makes me pause.
Then the voice I want to hear least drawls "Jaime, leave him be"
I turn to see Cersei standing behind the guards from the Vale with her own group of Lannister guards "Escort Ser Jaime to his chambers"