An Honest Woman | Female Jaime Lannister | GOT/ASOIAF

Silence

IMPORTANT: for those that read the last two chapters before 16/12/2020, there have been a few changes I have gone back and made. Annoying I know, so apologies for that, but having put some thought into it, I believe they enhance the story. As both chapters are rather long, I'll summarise the biggest change here; instead of Myrcella being betrothed to Trystane, Jaime is betrothed to Oberyn. I also fixed a few errors (mentions of the Blackwater, which never happened here). 

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Jaime stood at the foot of the Iron Throne along with her father, as Orryn addressed the assembled court from his lofty seat. 

"The death of my brother, King Joffrey was a great tragedy," Her son even managed to make that sound convincing. "My uncle, Lord Cersen, saw fit to imprison my Uncle Tyrion at the time of his Grace's death, under suspicion of regicide. I come before you today to declare that fortunately, Lord Cersen was mistaken in his grief at his nephew's death. Lord Tyrion did not murder my brother. Not only that, but the real culprit has been found,"

Gasps and muttering filled the hall. Some were expressing doubt at the king's claims, concerned his wicked dwarf uncle had deceived him somehow. Others were swearing all along that they never believed Tyrion had done such an awful thing; many of these were the same ones Jaime had lately heard proclaiming to anyone who would listen that they'd always known the Imp was evil, and wished they'd shared their misgivings about him earlier.

Orryn raised his voice to be heard over them, and quickly the murmur died down.

"The Lady Sansa Lannister," He nodded to the girl, who stood with a neutral expression as all eyes fell on her. "In a display of true loyalty to her husband and the Iron Throne, informed us that as my beloved brother lay gasping his last breaths on the floor, several men snatched her away in an attempted kidnap, using the chaos of the king's assassination as a cover, an attempt that our own guards thankfully foiled. Who was the man leading this group, my lady?"

"Ser Dontos Hollard, your Grace" Sansa said, voice the perfect balance between believably nervous and convincing. "I believed him to be a harmless fool. Ser Dontos was always kind to me, before then. He even gave me a beautiful hairnet as a gift, to wear to the wedding,"

"This hairnet, my lady?" Orryn lifted his hand, revealing the purple jewels clasped in his clenched fist.

"Yes, your Grace," The girl nodded. 

"No doubt you believed it a harmless, well-meant gift, my lady, as most of us would, particularly someone of your gentle nature," The king said. Gentle. Jaime wasn't so sure about that anymore. Not after us Lannisters got to her. Not after Joffrey took her father's head. Orryn addressed the court. "We found this hairnet in a suspicious location, and Grand Maester Pycelle wisely saw fit to study it," He gestured down to the table where the Small Council sat. "Grand Maester, would you inform the court of your findings?" 

The ancient old fool doddered to his feet, clearing his throat.

"Poison, your Grace," Another perfect dramatic delivery. Another round of gasps from the court. Sansa's hand flew to her mouth, eyes widening in convincing horror. If this hadn't been for Tyrion, Jaime would have laughed aloud at the performance everyone was putting on. Indeed, Helia looked close to rolling her eyes. "These gems contain a rare and deadly poison called the Strangler, known to cause a manner of death exactly like our dear departed king's,"

Once again, Orryn raised a hand for silence, which was fast in coming, but not as fast as if Lord Tywin had demanded it.

"Upon learning this information, I sent men to search for the missing Ser Dontos. He was found in a whorehouse by the docks - having failed to escape the city by ship - and extensively questioned," That's right, best not say I did it. The moment they heard the Kingslayer was involved, the moment they start questioning the validity of the confession. "Bring him out,"