LIONS STAGS AND DRAGONS

Prologue

Jaime

Is this what everyone fought for? All the murders, wars, schemes and betrayals just to do this. It does kind of feel good, to be honest, thought Jaime Lannister as he sat on the Iron Throne with the blood of the Mad King on his sword and his body near his feet. He felt more calm and peaceful at that moment than he had been in a long time. It was all over now. He survived. His father was coming and he wouldn't let anything happen to him. He cringed at the thought of still needing his father to protect him but underneath the shining armor, he was a boy of seventeen trying to play the games of older men.

He wondered what would happen next. His father had arrived and would surely have a plan. He might get to leave the kingsgaurd. There was no reason for him to remain one anymore. He had joined it for Cersei and she was back in Casterly Rock. He had realized that he wasn't meant to serve anybody else. He was a free man now with no bounds. He wanted to get out of Kings Landing, travel the world, see the Golden Company and the Unsullied but nothing compared to how much he wanted to meet Cersei. Every day had been a misery serving under Aerys. Surely the next king wouldn't be that bad.

That made Jaime think. He thought about Viserys or Rhaegar's son Aegon as the king with his father as the hand and immediately remembered that they shared the same blood as the Mad King and he didn't want anymore Targaryens on the Iron Throne. His father would never choose a child as the King while Robert Baratheon and his men marched on the capital. No, he would choose the winning side. He then realized that this meant that Robert Baratheon would be proclaimed the new king and all those he considered a threat to his claim would be slaughtered or kept captives at best. He decided to perform one last act as a kingsgaurd and inform Princess Elia of the king's death so she could flee to Dorne with her children before the rebels arrived. So he got up and walked towards Aegon's nursery where he knew they would be.

Everywhere he looked, he saw blood. Dead servants, dead guards and when he entered the nursery he saw a dead baby and his mother. Aegon's skull had been smashed and Princess Elia lay dead on her bed probably raped before she was killed. That sight would torment his dreams for years to come. He walked out to witness Lannister men searching for Rhaenys. They couldn't find her with her mother. He had an idea where she would be and ran towards her father's chambers and saw his father's man, Lorch he believed his name was, trying to pull her out from under the bed. The princess, however, was putting up a great fight, kicking and screaming at him.

"Lorch!" he shouted and the man stopped and looked towards him. "Stop it" commanded Jaime.

"I am following your father's command, my lord," he replied.

"If you want to live, you'll leave the girl alone."

"I don't take orders from you, boy," he said with a smirk on his face and started pulling at Rhaenys again. Just as he was about to pull her out Jaime put a sword through his chest.

"Come on out princess, I'll keep you safe," said Jaime. He expected the girl to scream and push him away too but for reason, he couldn't understand she trusted him. Her mother and brother were dead. Her father was dead. She was all alone now.

She came out and looked at him with the most innocent eyes shouting help and Jaime could not bring himself to refuse her. She would be dead the minute his father arrived. He would not be able to save her from him. She reached up to him, fell in his arms and held onto him so as tightly as she could with her little arms. It was at that moment that Jaime made up his mind to bring her to safety.

Jon Arryn

"Dorne! He took that dragonspawn to Dorne. To those fucking snakes who still haven't bent their knee. This war isn't over till every Targaryen and those who support them are dead," Robert screamed. They were sitting in the small council chambers along with Lord Varys and Grand Maester Pycelle.

"Calm down Robert. We cannot afford another war right now. Our bannermen have just left for their homes after a long war. Now that they are home, they won't march for us again so soon. And perhaps, it won't come to a war," replied Jon Arryn.

"How will that happen?" he asked.

"Let me go to Dorne. I will negotiate peace talks with them and perhaps Prince Doran will accept our terms and bend the knee."

"They will never surrender that girl to us willingly."

"They won't but we don't need her. As long as they don't declare for her then she is not a threat."

"Do you really believe those snakes would remain loyal?" asked Robert scoffing at his mentor's plan.

"No, they might not. But if they swear an oath then that means that they don't plan to start a war in the upcoming years. And when they do we would have strengthened our position. People would have started recognizing you as their king. The houses who were loyal to the Targaryens would be with you now. They would never choose a girl against the man who defeated Rhaegar Targaryen in a battle and ended the Targaryen dynasty. Six kingdoms united under one ruler will surely defeat a single Dornish kingdom. However, if you attack now you risk losing everything."

Both Lord Varys and Grand Maester Pycelle agreed with the plan. Jon had initially thought against letting them serve Robert but they both swore an oath and so far they hadn't given him any reason to distrust them.

"Fine. Do what you want. You know more about ruling than I do."

"What do you plan on doing with Jaime Lannister, your grace? Would you accept him in your kingsgaurd? His father would sure like his heir back?" asked Varys.

"Jaime fucking Lannister will lose his fucking head if I ever see him. I declare him as an enemy of the crown. Anyone who brings me his head will get a knighthood and a 1000 gold dragons. Make it double if he is brought alive so that I can kill him myself."

"Your grace Ser Jaime is soon to be your brother by law. I don't feel it is necessary to go to such extreme measures," said Grand Maester Pycelle.

"Ser Jaime was indeed just doing his duty as a kingsgaurd, your grace," said Lord Varys.

"His duty died with the Mad King. He acted out of his own free will and chose the girl of the man who killed my Lyanna. That girl is the biggest threat to my throne with an entire kingdom at her back. If he wants to live he can take the wall like all the supporters of Mad King did but there is no way in seven hells that he goes on and lives his remaining days in his golden castle." And with that Robert marched out of the room possibly towards his whores or wine or both. Sometimes Jon wondered if they made a mistake choosing Robert as the king. He was a good man at heart but his anger often got the better of him.

"Lord Tywin would not like this," said Pycelle.

"Perhaps King Robert would change his mind once he calms down," said Varys.

"No, I don't think that would happen very soon. Robert loses his mind when it comes to the Targaryens. He robbed Stannis of Storms End even after he defended it valiantly during the rebellion just because he wasn't able to capture Viserys and his sister on Dragonstone. He can be very hard to persuade. I hope Lord Tywin doesn't take this as a slight. He would surely try and talk the King out of this. Let us see if he can succeed at what we can't."

He really hoped Robert wouldn't do anything to offend Lord Tywin because they needed his support and his gold.

Jaime

The heat was unbearable. Sand everywhere. The people were the worst. Everyone from the nobles to the servants looked at him with anger and disdain. Jaime Lannister hated Dorne. A blade to his throat he could not tell anyone why he ended up in Dorne. All he could remember were innocent purple eyes begging him to save her life. How could he have looked the other way? So naturally, he took her to the only place in the seven kingdoms where she could have been safe. The only problem is that now he was trapped.

When they reached Dorne, Rhaenys had clung to his side, throwing a screaming fit every time someone tried to take her away from him. He couldn't blame her. The girl had lost all her family, survived an assassination attempt and now she was in a new place among strangers and he was the only person she knew. The only person she trusted. So Prince Doran asked him to stay for a few weeks till Rhaenys got adjusted to her new home and he agreed. However, weeks turned into months and now the year was coming to an end and yet he was still here. At this point, he felt more like a hostage than a guest. Dorne still hadn't pledged loyalty to Robert Baratheon. Jaime was surprised to see that the common people in Dorne wanted war. They wanted revenge for their dead princess and her son. He had never seen such loyalty and love for their princess. If it weren't for the resistance from Prince Doran the Dornish would have rebelled a long time ago.

"Jaime Lannister, Prince Doran wants to see you," said a guard at the door staring right at his face and he nodded. No Ser, no politeness, no grace. Everyone here spoke to him like they wanted to kill him. Word had spread like fire that it was the Lannisters who had murdered their princess and her son. Everyone in Dorne wanted the Lannisters dead and yet he was right here in the middle of them. He was indeed the stupidest Lannister as his sister always liked to call him. How long had it been since he had seen her, held her in his arms, kissed her, made love to her? Now he may never get the chance again. She was getting married to Robert Baratheon. She became a Queen after all, just like she always wanted. Cersei always got what she wanted in the end.

Finally, they reached the great hall and the guard left him at the door. He walked in surprised to find a serious meeting going on. There were a lot of people present. Prince Doran was at the head of the table on one side with his brother by his side while the other side was headed by a relatively older man.

"Ser Jaime. I'm glad you could join us. This is Lord Jon Arryn, the hand of the king," said Doran pointing towards the older man sitting opposite him. Jaime wasn't surprised that Jon Arryn came to Dorne, at some point there had to be a negotiation. This feud could not last forever. Maybe he can go back to King's Landing with Lord Arryn. He could finally see his sister again.

"Dorne is pledging loyalty to the Iron Throne. We just finalized the deal. I thought I should inform you," said Doran. He could see the look of anger on Oberyn's face but to his credit, he never said a word against his brother in front of everyone.

"Well congratulations are in order I guess. My job here is done. With your permission, I'll leave for Kings Landing. Maybe I could make it in time for my sister's wedding," said Jaime and began to leave.

"You cannot," said Jon Arryn.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"King Robert wanted to declare you an enemy of the crown. After much discussion with your father, he settled for you being banished from all of the seven kingdoms except Dorne. His sense of poetic justice."

The news left Jaime shattered and devastated. The last place he wanted to remain in was Dorne. He remained still there. He didn't notice Jon Arryn and the people that came with his get up and leave. Finally, only the Martel family remained in the room with him.

"What will you do now Ser Jaime?" asked Prince Doran and Jaime had no answer. For the first time in his life, Jaime had no idea what he would do next. When he was a child he was told he would become the next Lord of Casterly Rock after his father, then he wanted to be a knight and finally a kingsgaurd for Cersei. He joined the Kingsgaurd to be with her and now she was about to become the Queen in Kings Landing while he was stuck here far away in Dorne. He remembered the look of disappointment on his father's face when he read the letter for his appointment to Kingsguard. He had wanted to make up for that, to be the son his father had always wanted. Now it seemed he could never get the chance.

"The way I see it you have two options. First, is that you leave for Essos, maybe become a sellsword and fight someone else's war or you can stay here in Dorne. You saved Rhaenys' life and for that, we will always be grateful. You will always be welcome here for as long as you want. Be one of us. Fight for a purpose. Fight to put the rightful queen on the Iron Throne. We may have bent the knee but we are not broken. We will raise our arms one day when the time is right and get Rhaenys her place on the Iron Throne and also get revenge for Elia and her son," said Doran.

"Stay here and do what? I am one person. How can I help you?"

"You are Jaime Lannister. The first son of Tywin Lannister. Nobody can change that. After your father is dead you will take his place. You will lead the Westerlands when Rhaenys sits on the throne."

"You thought that far ahead! Good job but you forgot one minor detail. Viserys Targaryen is still alive. He has a much bigger claim than Rhaenys. He is the last man with the Targaryen name," argued Jaime.

"Rhaegar's son would have had a bigger claim than Viserys. We here in Dorne do not differentiate on the basis of gender. Rhaenys has the same right as her brother. She is the rightful queen." argued Doran.

"What would you have me do?"
"I want you to remain in Dorne and help Rhaenys grow to be a queen. I want you to swear allegiance to her and keep her safe. I want you to marry Ashara Dayne. I want you to produce heirs. And when the time comes I want you to go against your father and fight for her."

Before Jaime could say anything Doran told him to take the night to think about his answer and so Jaime turned back and move towards his chamber.

Jaime thought that Doran had gone crazy for thinking he would join him on his stupid plan. There was no way that Dorne could win against the rest of the kingdoms combined. Also, his sister was the queen, how could he ever go against her. He was surely going to say no.

His mind was almost made up when some man ran up to him and handed him a letter with his father's seal. The man told him that his father had sent him with Lord Arryn's party only to deliver a secret letter to Jaime. Jaime gave him a nod and the man left.

That night Jaime read the letter several times. He thought about his father's plan, he thought about his duty as a son. He thought about his heart's desire. The next morning he went to Prince Doran and accepted his offer.