Chapter 2

Jaime

The wedding of Princess Elia to Prince Rhaegar was to be one of the most elaborate events he had ever seen.

He had been to weddings before in Casterly Rock when some of his cousins had been wed to other cousins or different men and women from all over Westeros and he had always hated them as he found them to be unbearably tedious. The septon would drone on and on about the vows one was making before the gods, cursing all those who would dare try and pull the two apart and then citing that the wrath of the gods was a terrible thing to fall under.

Jaime recalled not being able to pay attention to any of them because he was so bored and only wanted the festivities that came after to begin.

But the wedding for the princess of Dorne to the dragon prince that would be happening soon irritated him for a wholly different reason.

Over the past few weeks that the princess had been in the capital and the nobles began arriving for the wedding, Jaime and Elia had had a few conversations.

Something that had proved to be rather surprising to the young lion of Lannister was the fact that Aerys had assigned him to guard the new princess personally and so as Ser Arthur Dayne was Prince Rhaegar's sworn shield, Jaime was Elia's.

He wasn't quite sure what he thought of that.

Elia brought up too many long buried memories of the past. She reminded him of a time before all the pain in his life had been realized and he had been ignorant of the world with such dreams. He was only six and ten now and she was slightly older than him but she seemed to have an innocence that hadn't been soured by bitterness the way he had been.

Her grace, and beauty and kindness was like a breath of fresh air and at the same time like the most painful lancing wound as Jaime knew there wouldn't be a woman like that for him.

He was allowed to watch a woman like that every day but never allowed to touch or hold a woman like that.

And it grated on him in ways that no one else was able to imagine.

As much as he was disgusted with what she had done, there were times in those few weeks where he did miss his sister. He didn't miss her manipulations but he did miss the way she always had a plan. He missed how bold she was about certain things. She was his older sister and they had had such fun together when they were children.

He also missed his little brother Tyrion.

His younger brother had a way of making him laugh the way no one else would. He was crude and somewhat vulgar, but Jaime liked his honesty.

Tyrion had a way of being brutally honest with Jaime that he wasn't anywhere else. He also had a sarcastic streak that Jaime knew he hadn't gotten from Tywin. As much as his father and Cersei belittled and mocked him, Jaime had not cared about Tyrion's stature or that their mother had died giving birth to him.

He had always been his little brother and growing up, Jaime had made it his mission in life to try and protect Tyrion as he had had no one else to do so.

Cersei hated him, both for the fact that it was due to his birth that Joanna had died and because he was not as beautiful as she and Jaime. She and her brother had been known as Tywin's golden twins but she had grown resentful as it was obvious that Jaime was Tywin's favorite.

During those few weeks that he had been in the capital as a member of the Kingsguard, Jaime had begun to realize that her convincing him to become a sworn brother had as much to do with her own power over him as it had with convincing Tywin that she was better than her brother because she would be a queen who would give him more power and Jaime would simply serve her.

And when that conclusion entered Jaime's mind, he hated her all the more.

All the love he had had for her turned to ashes in his mouth and there were times when he would follow the king and his sworn brother about the keep that he wishes she were here so he might take her neck in his hands and crush the breath from her.

Taking a vow to protect his sister was something he had sworn when he became a knight, but Jaime didn't see her as his sister anymore.

She was a monster and a vicious harpy that had taken his happiness from him and though her plans hadn't quite worked in her favor, he had gotten the raw end of the deal.

His rather grim countenance and somewhat stone faced expressions had not gone unnoticed by others as this realization had registered with him and so one day when Elia had wanted to go down to the shore line overlooking the city to be alone, she decided to pick up on it.

"You're awfully quiet Jaime," she said as she sat there on one of the rocks overlooking the ocean and he stood beside her, hand on the hilt of his sword.

He glanced down at her and wanted to grimace. In public and when they were around other members of the royal family and she needed to speak to him or ask him to do something for her, she always called him Ser. But when they were alone…it was just Jaime.

And he didn't know how to feel about that.

They had known each other as children but at the same time, he wasn't sure if they had had as much of a familiar relationship for them to be on a first name basis.

At least he didn't think so.

But that didn't seem to be the case with Elia. When he would follow her through the gardens or throughout the keep and they were alone she would call him Jaime and seemed to be perfectly at ease doing it.

He had been standing at the door of the room where Princess Elia had gone to have her last dress fitting before the wedding and was a little surprised when it was over for her to tell him that she wanted to go down to the shore.

Something he had learned about her in the last few weeks that she had been a part of the keep, was that though she was sweet, compassionate and a very gentle person, she was one of the only Martell siblings that craved alone time.

After a day of meeting the nobles she would one day rule over, all Elia liked to do was go for walks in the gardens, or down to the shoreline so she might put her feet in the water.

When he had questioned her on why she liked to do such things, Elia had confided in him that there were times when she missed Dorne and Sunspear a great deal and when she and her brothers were children, she and Oberyn had liked to go swimming in the water because it was so hot.

She wouldn't be able to do that as much as she was going to be a queen here, so she wanted to take as much advantage as she could now before she became a queen.

After observing Rhaella a good deal, she had seemed rather concerned about the queen and had seemed to solidify it in her own heart that she wished to be a different ruler.

He admired her a good deal for that.

But of course it was something he would never say.

The knight stared out at the slow moving current of Blackwater bay as the sun was beginning to go down and contemplated the princess's words for a moment.

"I simply have nothing to say your grace," he said calmly.

She frowned at him. "Nothing at all? When we were children, you always had something to say. If I recall my brother told me when we were returning home that you were someone who never knew when to be silent."

Despite himself, Jaime smirked.

His father had often told him that his smart mouth was going to get him into a lot of trouble one day but truthfully, Jaime had had no desire to be as cold and as bitter as Tywin Lannister. His father was a man who was driven by his name only and deep down inside, the blonde wished to be a man who was guided by more than just his name.

He would never admit it, but he was someone who was ruled by his heart, which was why it had been so easy for Cersei to manipulate him.

It was all the more damning too because he was someone who had been told especially by his brother that he felt things deeply, more deeply than anyone Tyrion had ever known.

And so Jaime tried to cover it up with sarcasm and as much attitude as he could manage. It was just easier that way.

Especially lately he had been layering it on quite thick.
It was only when he was alone with his thoughts that the grimness and the bitterness returned and he felt the searing rage in his veins so deep that he felt it might tear through him.

"I always did have a big mouth," he said.

Elia smiled at him. "You did and whenever you and I and my brother and your brother played together you were always the easiest to hear. You never knew when to keep your mouth closed and as long as I've known you, you were impetuous to the tenth degree and always had a smile on your face. But now you don't, or if you do, it's sarcastic. Why?"

For a moment, Jaime was stunned. He didn't think that she had picked up that much about him but it seems he was wrong.

As much as she seemed to know about him however, he also knew that she was someone who was very observant.

She had an innate quality to be able to look into a person's eyes and know what they were feeling.

And that made her a little unnerving to be around.

Despite the grim manner that he usually displayed around her, Jaime always felt a little uncomfortable when he was in her presence. She had a compassionate nature that almost made him feel vulnerable even when they weren't talking. And feeling vulnerable was something that he did not like at all.

Aside from the vulnerability, she had blossomed into the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and in the last few weeks, he had been ordered to watch her at all times so it made not noticing her enchanting eyes or her exquisite face all the more difficult.

More than once he wondered if the gods did in fact exist because they were cursing him with constant knowledge of what he couldn't have.

Jaime didn't answer her, because he really couldn't. There was absolutely no way in the seven hells that he was going to tell her that she was one of the many reasons for his torment and that he had, through his own stupidity voluntarily agreed to serve a man who would burn people alive for his own amusement.

The irony of what he was doing now and how they had been brought together again was grating on him constantly and she was one of the hardest people to see in this position.

"At this moment, there is no reason to smile your grace," he said. "I can't smile all the time. The sun would become envious then."

It was weak and he knew it but when he saw her smile at him, he relaxed. "There is it. There is the sarcasm and arrogance I know so well."

"Arrogance your grace," the knight replied, feeling a little relieved that the conversation was back to a topic that he could handle. "If you claim to know me at all, than you would know that I only tell the truth. It is one of my many rare qualities."

Elia laughed then and the sound was like music to his ears. "I suppose there is some realism to that. You always told the truth, no matter if it was only truth to you or how much it would annoy others. You and my brother both have that irritating quality."

Jaime raised an eyebrow.

The only difference was that Prince Oberyn was still living his life as he chose and here he was, only six and ten and bitter and angry about what life had given him and knowing he had no one to blame but himself and his sister for what they had both done.

"How is Prince Oberyn?" he asked, glad for the opening to change the subject.

She looked at him for a long moment, obviously knowing what he was doing but she acquiesced all the same. "He is well. Have you not spoken with him since he has been here?"

He shook his head.

Prince Oberyn Martell possessed all the virile quality of a large carnivorous cat that Jaime remembered.

Even when they had been children, Oberyn had been as brash as Jaime had been and the both of them valued family above all else.

But while Jaime hadn't been able to imagine any other woman in his life but Cersei, Oberyn lay in the beds of anyone he could find, women, men it didn't matter and rumor had it that he had a few bastards back in Dorne which had been conceived on his many travels.

A man with that sort of confidence and the skill with the blade to back it up was someone who was dangerous and not to be underestimated.

In truth, Jaime was a little glad he hadn't spoken with him, because in many ways he both admired Oberyn and was made uneasy by him.

It was just better if he were to keep his distance. The man had a knack for rubbing people the wrong way and sometimes the aftermath of such occurrences wasn't pretty.

Knowing that, it was better to just stay away.

But that was the attitude Jaime was taking with everyone lately.

The only reason he had spoken with Elia at all was because he was assigned to her personally.

Other than that, he had spoken with Ser Arthur as there were times when Prince Rhaegar and Princess Elia would walk together which would require them to walk side by side.

The odd time the prince would speak with him but those times were few and far between.

And Jaime did his utmost to stay out of the way of Aerys. He was a man drunk on power and Jaime had had a feeling that the only reason the king had agreed to appoint him to the Kingsguard was because it would deprive his father of his heir and humiliate Tywin at the same time as well as show the Lannisters who was in control.

Aerys had been insanely jealous of his father since Ser Ilyn Payne had made the remark that it was really Tywin ruling the Seven Kingdoms and not Aerys.

His tongue had been removed for his loose words but at the same time Aerys had wanted to ensure that the rest of the realm knew that it was he who was really ruling and that it was Tywin that served him and not the other way around.

Now Jaime could add that to his list of never ending regrets about putting on this thrice damned cloak.

When he had first been raised up as a member he had never felt more proud as he had always had dreams and ideals of being a knight. But when he realized the sheer motive and intent behind what Aerys and his sister had done…he had never felt so cheated and used.

But what was he to do?

His duty, just as he had always done.

Elia turned her attention out towards the bay watching the waves roll in and sighed quietly, causing Jaime to look sideways at her. "Are you well your grace?"

She nodded. "There are times when I am near the water that I really do miss my home. Sunspear was always so bright and colorful and I do miss the shoreline where I once swam in the water all day. Perhaps I just simply miss being a child."

"Are you unhappy here your grace?" he asked, a little surprised by the fact that her answer meant something to him.

"No," she replied. "At least I don't think so. It is a great honor to be chosen to be the next queen and it is not something I will ever overlook. I just didn't think it would be this difficult being away from my home."

Neither did I princess…neither did I.

He had no idea where the words came from, but he spoke them anyway. "What was it like growing up in Sunspear? You came to visit us at Casterly Rock, but unfortunately the journey south to Dorne was never made."

Elia smiled. "I know. I got to see your home but you never got to see mine. I think you might have liked it. When winter does come to Westeros, we see very little of it. I can count the number of times on one hand that I have seen snow in my life and when it did come, it was always a city wide spectacle. People would gather in the streets to watch it come down upon their hands. It was cool to the touch and though it would be gone in a few days people would talk about it for longer."

"We always did tend to get a good deal more snow in the Westerlands than other parts of the Reach or the capital did," Jaime noted. "My sister, my brother and I would always

play in it when we were small."

The snow was one of the few memories he had of them playing all together and there was very little strife between them then.

"We never did have enough to play games with it as I am sure the rest of the country would have," Elia said. "But we did enjoy it nonetheless."

"I don't think you would have enjoyed the snow if it stayed for too long princess," Jaime said with a smirk. "The only reason, Tyrion and Cersei and I liked it as much as we did is because of the novelty of it all. After a few hours of playing in it, we were all tired and wanted to go inside because our hands were cold."

"You didn't wrap up in warm clothes?" Elia asked.

Jaime chuckled. "We were too excited and I was amazed that Tyrion and I didn't catch our death. As it was my sister was bedridden for the next three days coughing and sneezing. Neither she nor our father was very happy about that."

Elia laughed and the musical sound of it once more caught Jaime off guard. She had the ability to make him want to smile when she laughed and he didn't know why.

"Cersei always was the demanding sort," she said still chuckling. "She would always lead a game when the two of us would play together and I recall when we were children the strangest thing happened as a result of her leadership."

Jaime frowned. "What was that?"

Elia settled herself back down on the rock and wrapped her hands around her knees. She didn't say anything for a moment but given the fact that the sun was going down, the moon was beginning to rise and the wind from the water was beginning to pick.

Noting the goosebumps rising on her skin, Jaime quickly removed the white cloak upon his back and placed it about her shoulders.

At the soft heavy material coming down about her, Elia looked up in surprise before offering the young knight a beatific smile. He nodded at her, doing his best to pretend that her smile didn't affect him in some inconceivable way.

There would be time to discover that later.

"Well," Elia began after the long silence had concluded. "Cersei had heard there was a witch in the forest near Casterly Rock and so on the last time I visited you, when we were ten I believe she talked me into going with her to see if this was in fact true."

She had his attention now. "And was there?"

Elia nodded. "There was. I don't know where Cersei got the bravery to decide she wanted to go into that forest when we were only eleven years old but there was a fire in her eyes that would not be put out. So we went. I still recall the hut, it was the oldest most broken down piece of living space that I had ever seen. It was nestled at the base of an enormous old gnarled tree with branches and it must have been at least two centuries old.

"At that point I wanted to turn back, but not Cersei. She marched right up to the door of the hut and pushed her way in with me hesitantly following but not willing to be left behind in what was an incredibly eerie forest."

Despite himself, Jaime released a small smile. That does sound like Cersei.

"It was very small and cramped and hot inside of the hut and the first thing that Cersei and I saw was a woman sitting by a small fire in a patchwork chair fast asleep.

"I whispered to Cersei that we should probably leave but she insisted that she wasn't going anywhere the witch had told the future of her life. In the midst of our arguing the witch awoke and demanded that we leave. But Cersei wasn't having any of it and said that since the witch was on her father's land and threatened that she would have her eyes put out if she refused to grant her the request of telling her future."

That does sound like Cersei too.

"Finally the witch agreed, but she mocked Cersei as well, telling her that she wouldn't like what she had to say."

"What happened next?" Jaime asked. His sister had never told him this story and now he was beginning to wonder why.

"The witch let Cersei ask her three questions. The first was that Cersei wanted to know if she would marry the crown prince as she had told me so many times that her father had promised her she would. The witch told her that she wouldn't marry the prince, but that she would marry the king.

"Cersei then asked whether or not she would be a queen someday. The witch confirmed it but also told her that in time she would be cast down by another queen who would be younger and more beautiful than her and this queen would take all she would hold most dear. And finally Cersei asked if she and the king would have children to which the woman answered that the king would have twenty children but Cersei would only have three. Cersei didn't seem to think that that made a good deal of sense and to be honest I didn't either. All I wanted was to get out of there."

Elia chuckled then, her voice having taken on a tone that was far away and nostalgic.

"What happened after?" Jaime asked curiously, having forgotten all about himself and the bitterness and rage that were his constant companions.

"The witch went on to say that of the three children Cersei would have, that gold would be their crowns and gold would be their burial shrouds.

"I remember feeling a chill on my skin when she said the words and Cersei opened her mouth to demand more answers but the moment the words leapt to her tongue we both gasped…for the which had melted away into shadow and completely disappeared."

Jaime frowned, now realizing why his sister hadn't told him this story. But her own words she must have attempted to prevent this vision or future from happening and so had tried her hardest to marry the prince.

He didn't believe in prophecies or visions of the future himself but he did have to admit that such a prediction about his sister's life did sound ominous.

"With all due respect your grace," he said. "That all sounds like nonsense, the ravings of a mad woman."

Elia smiled. "I wanted to think so to and so when we went back to the Rock and Cersei swore me to secrecy I agreed because I was eager to put it behind me. The following day we left and I never saw Cersei again."

Her words died away to silence and as the moon rose over the Blackwater Bay, shining like a spotlight on both of them, there didn't seem to be anything further to say.

The past…it certainly did have a way of haunting people in more ways than one. How much of his sister's whole life had been ruled by this prophecy?

Would Cersei really be such a fool as to believe such nonsense? Jaime wondered to himself. He somehow knew deep in his heart that Elia was not lying. He did not think her capable of such a thing.

He didn't believe in gods or prophecies or visions from the future and the way his sister had always talked he didn't think she believed in them either.

If the gods are real I would probably curse them to the seven hells for their cruel jokes and the way they like to play with us humans.

Jaime glanced at the moon and how it rose into the sky, hearing the waves crashing against the shoreline of the bay and glanced down at the princess sitting on the rock in front of him who suddenly looked so small wrapped in his cloak.

She looked as if she were almost wrapped in a shroud herself.

He shivered slightly at the comparisons and then cleared his throat. "We had best be getting back to the keep now your grace. Tomorrow is a big day."

Elia jerked slightly as if he had pulled her from her own thoughts and got to her feet. "That is a good idea. Thank you Ser Jaime."

They walked back to the keep in silence, Jaime following behind her, lost in the caverns of his own mind.

He didn't know what to make of what Elia had told him.

He supposed it didn't matter at any rate. Cersei had gone to see the witch years ago and she was not marrying the prince, so there was no chance for her to be a queen one day. That alone should teach her not to believe in petty fantasies and foolish notions.

Elia was silent as well but he was sure it was for a wholly different reason.

She was to marry the prince tomorrow and the weight of such a huge life change was surely enough to be heavy on anyone's mind.

He watched her as she walked ahead of him and noted her slender frame beneath his cloak. It almost looked as if she were protected beneath it.

In that moment he realized deep down that he liked to see her protected and he didn't know why but it did please him that he was the one who would be able to do it.

At least this would be something that he would be able to do now that he had the unfortunate task of serving a mad man.

She would me marrying another man but at the very least he was glad that there was a friendly face there as well.

In time, she would become more than simply a friendly face however.

In time, she would become someone that he would sacrifice for…kill for…even die for.

And that time wasn't far away.

Ω

So I am aware that it was not Elia who went with Cersei to see the witch, it was Melara Heatherspoon. But for the purposes of this story, I decided that it would be Elia who would go with her and that they would be much younger when it happened. Cersei's always been the rather demanding sort so I don't think that this is something that would have been different when she was younger. She's always wanted power, she's always wanted control and so I don`t think that this would have been different. I am also aware of the fact that Elia was a few years older than Jaime when he joined the Kingsguard when he was around the age of fifteen or sixteen. Again however for this story I have made her slightly younger and she is around the age of seventeen perhaps slightly younger. I always felt that Elia was someone who suffered horribly for her husband`s foolish mistakes and if anyone deserved to be rescued it should have been here. So that is what this story is going to be about. I think around chapter 6 or 7 is when the rebellion will kick in and that is when things will be getting interesting. The next three or four chapters will be straight character building as well as working on the relationship between Jaime and Elia. Their trust towards each other is going to be key for what will happen. Don`t forget to review and happy reading everyone!