"Maybe I need some rehab, or maybe just some sleep. I've got a sick obsession. I'm seeing it in my dreams."-You Love Is My Drug, Ke$ha
II. Jaime
Cersei stormed back and forth across the floor, letter in her hand, dressed only in her nightgown. Jaime lounged in his seat near the window, watching her with a single blond eyebrow raised. "Will you at least tell me what the trouble is?" he said, watching his sister and lover storm back and forth.
"You know that father's request is that you marry before he passes on, correct?" Cersei snapped and Jaime nodded, forcing down a smirk at her agitation.
"Of course," he replied. "What of it?"
"Robert offered to find you a wife and like a fool I agreed to let him search for a suitable match," Cersei growled, her cheeks flushed with fury. "I guessed he would chose some girl from a small family of a lower rank than ours and I could claim she was unsatisfactory which would push the whole matter inside. Instead he went straight to Eddard Stark and arranged a marriage between you and the Stark girl."
"I don't see the problem," Jaime replied, openly smirking now. "Sansa Stark is eleven, maybe twelve. It will be a few years before her father will let her marry so you'll have plenty of reason to declare the match invalid. Besides I doubt Eddard Stark is any more thrilled by the prospect of his daughter marrying me either."
"You're missing the point," Cersei all but shrieked. "This will be an alliance between the Starks and the Lannisters. It will help Robert keep our power crippled! It's a conspiracy against us!"
"Eddard Stark is Robert's dear friend," Jaimed drawled in response, not at all worried about the news. "That is why Robert requested a marriage between the Starks and Lannisters. His drink addled mind thinks he is honoring Stark. Besides the girl will be easily manipulated by someone such as you. Clam yourself sweet sister. This isn't the disaster you think it is."
"Fine," Cersei said, calming herself slowly. "Then gather your things. You, Joffery, Myrcella, Tommen, and I will be traveling with a group of knights to Winterfell to finish the arrangements."
"I shall be ready within the hour," Jaime promised, kissing his sister on the mouth before leaving the room. So Robert Baratheon intended to wed him to a Stark. It was an unintentionally clever move by Robert which meant, in all likelihood, that Jon Arryn had something to do with it. Jaime wondered if his sister could arrange an accident for Lord Arryn. He would have to ask her on the trip to Winterfell.
