Prologue
Disclaimer: I still do not own Game of Thrones or the Song of Ice and Fire Series.
Welcome, welcome. I really did try to stay away! I made it a week and a few days before the plot of the sequel consumed me. Never fear, sweet readers, I am here to give you the sequel that so many have asked for!
Enjoy!
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"She never did lose any memory did she, Jaime?" The mourning in Cersei's voice nearly pained Jaime as he stood with her staring at the Sisters preparing their eldest son for burial. Years ago, months even, Jaime would have only thought she mourned for her son, but he knew his twin was mourning for so much more. She's lost her son, but also her control over me. Only Melara hold my heart now.
Melara had only left days ago but to Jaime it had felt like generations since he had last seen her shining eyes, her sweet smile, and felt her presence next to his. He nearly rode after her but when he had stared at his father he knew that Tyrion would not live longer than a day with the accusation of Joffrey's murder hanging over the dwarf. Jaime had faith that Melara would make it to Casterly Rock and settle there just fine, and then he would follow after her when his brother, once again, walked as a free man. He felt Cersei's hand cover his own and was caught with indecision on how he should respond. Should I offer the comfort a brother would give? A lover? Should I shun her for her past crimes, or the future crimes she had been plotting to commit, against my wife? I should have left with Melara. I should have gone…I still can go.
Tyrion had requested a trial by combat but refused to name Jaime as his champion once he discovered that Ser Gregor Clegane had been chosen by Cersei. Instead Prince Oberyn Martell had faced the Mountain, and in losing had condemned Tyrion as well. Jaime had not bared witness to the fight, knowing that his hands would itch to be the one defending his brother, but heard that Gregor's victory had come at a price. The man's screams could be heard throughout the halls, even now, as the poison from Oberyn's spear slowly killed the beast of a man. He deserves every moment of agony he receives. Just as the bastard who had raped Melara got what he deserved. Jaime could not stop thinking of his wife, not that he tried. Cersei shifted her body closer to Jaime, but even that would not stop the thoughts of his wife from racing through his mind. But I'm no better than a raper. I used her and brought her nothing but pain and misery. Gods why didn't I follow her? He clenched his hands into fists and Cersei mistook the tension in her brother for his answer to her question.
"Did the two of you think yourselves clever? The Knight and the Maiden Fair playing the Game of Thrones." Her tone had become bitter and she tightened the hand she had yet to remove from atop Jaime's. "But you two cannot play together anymore. You've gone and sent her off to the safety of Casterly Rock to reign over Lannisport as Lady Lannister and where she'll have your babies just as Father wanted. Is that why you did it, Jaime? Because Father commanded it? Or did you want her in your bed and be given more children? Were our three not good enough for you?" He pulled his hand out from her grip and pushed away from the ledge her had been leaning on. He didn't know when his own bitterness had formed for his sister, perhaps it had always been there he just mistook the strong feelings he had for his sister to be love. A boy so young, with no way to know what love felt like, was easily swayed. But a man, changed by the love of a woman, had new convictions that ran deep.
"It was their mother that was not good enough for me." His anger had fueled his words, but that did not make them any less true. He saw just how deep his words had cut his sister plainly on Cersei's face, but Jaime had was used to seeing that look on people's faces when he had said something particularly insensitive. He should have felt some pity, should have felt anything, but Jaime had become numb the moment he let Melara leave him. And he would stay that way until she was back in his arms. Tonight I will free Tyrion. Tonight I will leave, as I should have done days ago. With that thought in mind, Jaime turned his back on his sister and his family. Her heard Cersei shouting at him to come back, and knew that she must be gaining attention from the Silent Sister attending to the fallen boy-king. He could imagine her throwing something at them before turning away to find someone to bring to her bed to make herself feel powerful, in control of things. There was a time when that would have been Jaime, but that time was before Melara.
Jaime had readied everything he would need for his journey to Casterly Rock before setting out for the dungeons where Tyrion was held. He dismissed the guards, not wanting the following conversation to be relayed to his father or Cersei or whoever was paying the guards to be their ears. Only once he was alone with his brother did he sit on the dirty floor with his back resting against the cool bars, his face hidden from Tyrion in the low light. He heard his brother rouse behind him and Jaime already hung his head in shame before he even began to speak. The Imp noticed his brother's dour mood but attributed it to the fact that Oberyn had not been victorious.
"Brother, how nice of you to join me on my last night."
"Yes. The good brother that I am." Tyrion came to stand just to the right of where Jaime's back rested, putting his hands through the bars and picking dirt from beneath his fingernails.
"No, a good brother would have brought a woman for me." Jaime let out a scoff at his brother's jovial nature but the Imp continued. "I would have liked one more woman before they take my head. I even told that guard if he brought one for me he could watch. For a moment I was worried he would agree." Jaime interrupted his brother before Tyrion could continue, his voice nearly drowned out by the echoing screams of who he assumed was Gregor Clegane.
"They aren't taking your head." Jaime slid two keys between the bars, just beside Tyrion's foot. "These will get you out of here, but you'll have to get yourself out of the Keep. One for the cell, one for the big door." Tyrion covered the keys with his foot and pulled them farther away from the light, cautious of someone entering.
"You were always the only one who saw me for more than my size." Tyrion's voice had become serious, his whisper matching Jaime's. The Imp pulled his hand back into his cell only to place it on the shoulder of his older brother. "If I am caught I won't tell a soul it was you who helped me escape."
"It won't matter. Once I leave you here tonight, I'm getting on my horse and not looking back." Jaime lifted his head but did not look at his brother yet. "I'll ride to Casterly Rock, to Melara, and then we will go somewhere…anywhere. The Free Cities might be the safest." He felt Tyrion's hand squeeze his shoulder, but wasn't sure if it was from thanks, acknowledgement or encouragement. Jaime didn't see the smile on the Imp's face, nor did he see the shake of his head that accompanied it.
"No, you won't. Oh, you'll ride to Lannisport, but you won't take your fair Lady to the Free Cities. You are a fool for that woman, but even she will not keep you from the duty you feel to you family." Tyrion wanted to prove his point by saying that instead of Jaime leaving with Melara, he remained behind with his family. Jaime spoke before he could continue.
"You were a fool for a woman, once." The smile drained from Tyrion's face and it seemed that Jaime's words had silenced even Gregor's screams. Jaime wanted to tell Tyrion the truth behind his first marriage before he left that night. Jaime feared that once he left his brother, he would not see him for quite some time, their lives taking them down different paths. If he had learned one thing from his wife, it was that unspoken secrets only made him feel guiltier each passing day but once they were spoken there was still hope to build a relationship back. He hoped that with time his brother would forgive him and their brotherly bond could grow together once more, just as he hoped he could mend his marriage, once again, with Melara. He stood and faced Tyrion then, and looked him straight in the eyes as he told Tyrion the truth about Tysha. It hurt, oh how it hurt, to see every emotion pass through the dwarf's eyes, but Tyrion's silence after Jaime had finished is what cut the most. Jaime turned to walk away, giving his brother words of farewell. Tyrion did not speak until Jaime's hands were on the large door that would lead him back into the halls of the Red Keep. Jaime halted as Tyrion's voice reached his ears.
"You have been lying to me all of these years, every day you have lived with this and you chose not to tell me. I would expect it from Cersei or Father, but not from you, Jaime. One day, I will have my retribution on you all." Jaime thought that he was done speaking and pushed the heavy door open but paused, once again, when Tyrion continued. "Protect your little wife, brother, for it is always the ones we hold dear that will be used against us." Jaime left him then, knowing that his words, spoken as a threat, were the truth. He walked with purpose to his horse and mounted, his feet were barely secured in the stirrups before he urged his horse into a gallop. He tore through the streets of King's Landing, his desperation to see that Melara was alive and safe eating away at his mind.
Over the time that it took for Jaime to reach Casterly Rock he had come to the realization of how stupid he had been to send Melara off, even with Brienne at her side to protect her. His mind showed him thousands of different things that could have happened to her, each more horrible than the last. His body had become so tense with worry that he nearly cried when he finally dismounted near the familiar stables of the fortress he called home. The sun had set hours ago and it took a moment for the stable hands to realize that Lord Jaime had arrived. He did not wait for them to grovel and he pushed passed anyone else that tried to stop him, his goal being the room where his Lady should be. Would be. She is here, she is safe. He chanted the words like a mantra in his head until he burst through the door to find the Lady's chambers empty.
His mother's rooms had not been touched in years and Jaime knew then that his wife had never made it to Casterly Rock. He turned in the doorway as a page spoke his name. He didn't recognize the man but his father had appointed many new faces since he had last been to the fortress. Jaime questioned the page but he did not know where Melara could be, and confirmed that she had never set foot through the halls. Jaime didn't hear anything else the man may have said to him, too lost in his own thoughts. I will find my wife, no matter the cost, and make things right. If only Jaime knew then the price he would have to pay to be with Melara, he would have been able to prepare himself to pay the debts that he now owed.
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There you have it. What happened to Jaime after Melara left him. I would have made this chapter one but it was "the past" so I wanted it to be the prologue so that we can jump back in to the present for the rest of the story. Who will be the first reviewer? Who will be a reviewer at all? Leave me a welcome home…I mean…welcome back review!
