The Lion and the Warrior

A True Golden Knight

Jon and Daenerys sat in a gazebo, sipping wine, and sharing fruit and cheese. The sun was slowly setting and there were lanterns and torches to complete the atmosphere.

"What's troubling you, my queen?"

"Over the years, we've come to know Ser Jaime so differently than we once had. It's hard to imagine what life would have been like had we not asked them to join us at the Red Keep as Lord Commander and Master of War. I can't imagine life here at the Red Keep without Jaime and Brienne, or their children for that matter."

"And yet, something is weighing on your mind." Jon said. His wife remained silent. He continued, "Dany, Rhaella is in love with James. Was that not what we wanted? What this was really all about?"

"It is. And now the time has come for our daughter to become the woman she was meant to be, and marry. Reality is suddenly hitting me."

"You're having doubts?"

"I don't know what I'm having. I know Ser Jaime. I know why he killed my father. I know the world is a better place because him. I know our Lord Commander."

"We talked about this before the boy was born. We hoped they'd have a boy because we knew without a doubt that with Jaime and Brienne as his parents, there was no better choice. We knew he would be raised to be honorable, loyal, just, and yet be a fighter more than fierce than either of them could dream. We ensured that was true by having them raise him with us - Dany we raised him with them, and taught that boy just as they did. We shaped him into what we needed him to be. And we were blessed by the gods that he and Rhaella fell in love. We can't tear them apart."

"I just hope that Jaime truly is the man we believe we him to be and that James is as well. I just think there is more I need to know."

"There is," said a child's voice, in a confident tone.

"Eliana? Isn't it a bit late for you to be hanging around the garden?" Jon asked.

"Sometimes, I can be in just the right place, at just the right time," the girl smiled.

"Is that right?" Dany inquired.

"That's right, Your Grace. I know you still wonder sometimes about my dad. He is a good man. And he taught my brother and I to be just like him. Loyal, honorable, kind, loving, fierce, brave, strong, and smart."

"I don't doubt that for one moment, El." Dany replied with a smile.

"My father doesn't like to talk about the past. Certain things still hurt his heart. The things he remembers in his dreams at night...things he wanted to fix but they wouldn't let him."

"What are you saying, Eliana?"

"I can show you what my daddy dreams at night. He's dreaming now."

"But how can you..."

Eliana took Dany's and Jon's hands in her own and closed her eyes tightly and they were inside the Red Keep. Things looked incredibly different. There was a torch on each side of the large, heavy-looking door which was adorned with a large, golden three-headed dragon. On either side of the door were Targaryen banners. "This is not happening." Dany whispered.

"There he is. Isn't he handsome?"

"James?" Dany asked.

"My daddy," Eliana laughed in a whisper.

Young Jaime Lannister stood outside the queen's bed chamber with his back to the door. He wore his Lannister Gold armor and stood straight and tall, staring into the space before him. His golden hair was just past his shoulders, wavy and beautiful like the mane of a real lion. His green eyes sparkled in the torch light. He looked stoic, yet so sad. 'He looks as though he is trying to be anywhere but here', Dany thought to herself.

"That's because he is." Eliana answered the silent thought and Dany looked at her in disbelief.

Dany heard voices from behind the door.

A woman screamed, "Stop! You don't need to do this! I will give you what you want, just stop!"

A man answered, "Shut the fuck up bitch!"

There was the sound of a forceful slap coming from behind the door, and things being knocked over; things being thrown and broken and then a loud thud like someone being thrown against a wall or maybe the floor. "I am the king! I will take what is mine. I will take it with fire, I will take it with blood!" His speech was slurred, but his voice was thunderous and hateful.

Dany's heart stopped. Those were familiar words she had uttered herself many times before. Now she knew where they come from. No more. Never. She was different now. Different because of Jon and Rhaella.

"Aerys!" the woman pleaded. "Your children are in the next room. Please! They can hear us," she cried.

"They should hear! Do you want them to see it as well? Viserys! Viserys you little..."

"I am begging you, please! Is that what you want, Aerys? For me to beg you?" Dany heard the woman cry.

"That's my mother...and father. I remember this. I remember hearing this so often." Dany said with tears in her eyes.

"And that's my daddy. He has tears too, Your Grace."

Dany looked at Jaime's face; his eyes brimming with tears, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword, suddenly he turned to the door and opened it, drawing his sword as the king turned and saw him. The queen, with her torn gown, bruised and swollen face, saw him and cried is name, reaching out to him, "Ser Jaime!!!" The guard next to him grabbed his shoulder, pulled him back and abruptly shut the door.

"Have you gone mad? Like him?" The guard asked.

"He is killing her! I swore a vow promising to protect the queen and their children, not just a mad king!"

"Aye! You did boy. But not from him. If you're lucky, he will be so drunk, he will forget about tonight."

A little white haired girl about three years old, ran out of her room crying. A boy a bit taller chased after her, "No, Dany! No!" he called out to her.

The little girl grabbed Jaime's leg and clung to it. He looked down at her, and then to the guard. Without a thought, he instinctively picked her up and held her. She laid her head on his shoulder and immediately calmed down; he took the little boy's hand. "If King Aerys Targaryen remembers this night, so be it. He can kill me. Either way, I will never stand at this door again." He walked away with the children and did not look back.

Eliana let go of the king's and queen's hands, and they were standing in the garden gazebo again.

Eliana looked at Daenerys, whose eyes were red, wet, and puffy, "My daddy is many things. He is a fierce killer but only when he needs to be. Most of all he is honorable and full of love. James is all that he is, because that is all James knows how to be."

"Thank you Eliana." She kissed the girl on top of the head and sent her off to the castle.

Dany looked at her husband, "The golden knight is Jaime Lannister!