Not as long a chapter as I'd hoped, but wanted to get this out to you guys asap, seeing as I left it at a cliffhanger. Thank you for reviewing, delusaedisillusa

With his gold hand pressed tightly against her throat and his other hand squeezing her neck, Jaime continued to choke Cersei. She was fighting back now, trying to claw at his face, his eyes, anything to get him to let go. He narrowly avoided all of her attacks. It wasn't until he felt her body become lifeless that he snapped out of his blind rage.

"Cersei?" "Cersei?!" No response.

He quickly but gently set her down on the couch which she had been standing in front of and checked for a pulse. Thankfully there was one there. He felt her chest to make double sure she was still alive. He could see and feel that she was breathing and was just unconscious. He breathed a huge sigh of relief. He couldn't believe he'd lost his temper like that. That he'd almost killed the women he loved.

Then his thoughts quickly turned from panic for Cersei's welfare to panic for his own. He knew now he had to leave kings landing, had to get out of here immediately. For when Cersei awoke he did not know what she would do. He had tried to kill her. True it was in a fit of rage and he had stopped the moment she lost consciousness, but would that really matter to her? At worst she would have him executed, and at best put in the castle dungeons.

How long did he have he wondered? Before she awoke and called for help? He'd figured not long. But he couldn't resist giving her one final, quick kiss. He knew it would be the last one for a very long time, possibly forever. 'She will probably never let me near her again after what I did.' he thought sadly.

He looked at Cersei and all over the room. Tried to remember every detail of her face. Tried to remember every detail of the room that might sadly be the last place he'd ever see her in. This room looked so very familiar to him. Then it occurred to him, this was the room he and Cersei had snuck off to many times before. It had a long and narrow secret passageway with stairs leading up to her chambers. Unlike her chambers, it was a place no servants ever came knocking and a place Robert hadn't even known had a secret passageway. Cersei had discovered it herself by accident one evening a few years into her marriage. Cersei would go from her chambers to this room and Jaime would take the normal route, with no one ever being any the wiser. Although they hadn't used it since he had come back from his imprisonment all those years ago, this room would always be dear to him. Rage boiled up inside him once again. How dare she take Euron to their special room.

He decided to take the secret passageway to her room, for she would expect him to take one of the more quicker secret passageways elsewhere, not one leading into her chambers. More so it was that a large part of him felt the need to see Cersei's chambers one last time. To memorize every detail of the room they had made love in so many times before.

After around twenty minutes he arrived in Cersei's chambers. He looked all around, trying to memorize everything. He might never see this room again. Then he spotted it, Cersei's jewelry box. With the mental state he was in he likely would have fled kings landing without even thinking to take any coin. But it now dawned on him that he would need the coin to survive. As he knew he couldn't risk going back to his chambers to gather more coin, he quickly headed to Cersei's jewelry box and grabbed some jewels. They were all, expensive, but nonsentimental ones, mostly given by Robert for show at various parties or events. As he was grabbing them, he spotted something on the bottom, tucked away. The seashell he had given her many years ago as children at Casterly Rock, along with jewelry he had given her in secret. He almost smiled before remembering the horrible situation he was in and quickly looked for something to carry the jewels in. The only thing he spotted was, unfortunately, Cersei's favorite purse. Well, far as he knew she had no sentimental attachment to it. He grabbed it and shoved the jewels in.

'Shit I've taken too long, everyone will be on high alert by now looking for me.' thought Jaime, realizing he hadn't been rushing nearly as much as he should have been. It was strange though, for everything seemed normal. Perhaps Cersei was still unconscious? That must be the case, otherwise, there would be guards swarming every which room in the castle in search of him.

He knew that he had to leave now, for surely she would not stay unconscious much longer. If he would have known anything about choking injuries, he would have known that it wasn't normal to be unconscious for more than a moment or two after. But he didn't know, and hence he began his journey out of the castle, thinking she would awaken any moment now.

He headed to another one of the many secret passageways that he and Cersei had always used to use to sneak around in back before they found the one leading to their special room. 'Hers and Euron's special room now' Jaime thought bitterly. He took the route that exited out into the pantry connected to the kitchens. Nobody was there, as dinner had already been served and the cooks were all relaxing in the servants quarters until morning. From there it was just a short walk down the hall into the castle gardens. To his surprise, he was able to make the long trip out of the castle without being detected and it still didn't seem as if anyone was looking for him. He quickly made his way from the castle gardens to the castle stables.

He expected, and a part of him even hoped, to be apprehended on his way to the castle stables, but it did not happen. As he arrived at the castle stables he wondered why no one was looking for him. He'd confronted Cersei just after having finished his dinner. He'd overheard the rumors about Viserion as the loud servant girls had left his chambers after bringing his meal. The servants always prepared and brought dinner to him in his chambers roughly two hours before sunset. As the sun was starting to set now, he realized at least an hour or more must have passed since he'd first confronted Cersei. In truth he wasn't entirely sure of the time, it felt like a lifetime had passed since what he'd done and it also felt as if he'd just held her in his arms a moment ago. It all felt very surreal to him. By now though, Cersei surely had to have woken and informed people as to what he'd done. It didn't make sense to him why no one seemed to be looking for him or on alert at all. He wondered if he should go back and check on her. 'If she were dead, I'd feel it. Plus I saw her breathing and felt her pulse, she is fine.' He reassured himself.

He took a few short moments to gather his thoughts and catch his breath. He'd been running on pure adrenaline for the past hour and he hadn't thought of what or where he should flee to. He knew Cersei, she would send her soldiers out to look for him on the road. He considered staying right here in Kings landing. She would never expect him to stay here in kings landing, for any length of time. However, he could be recognized by any of the locals and brought in anyway, so that he reasoned was too risky as well. After some thought, he recalled there was a shady inn next door to the brothel three hours southwest. The same brothel Bronn had made that meeting with Tyrion happen nearly a week ago. Cersei would be looking for him north, not southwest, so he reasoned that this inn would be a safe bet to hide out in for the next few weeks before he headed north.

Jaime quickly saddled up a horse. Then he secured Cersei's purse in the saddlebag and began to ride. He made his way out of the castle grounds and began to ride west on King's Road. He rode for about ten minutes before he decided it would be safer to get off the main road. Taking side roads and some rough terrain, the journey to the town took him nearly nine hours instead of the normal three. It was nearly morning and the sun had just started to come up when he arrived at the inn completely exhausted. He got off his horse and secured her in the inn's stables before venturing in.

Using a fake name, he rented a room.

"It's two gold coins a night, sir. Will your wife be joining you?"

'Wife, why would he think that?' wondered Jaime. Then he remembered the purse he was carrying all the jewels in.

The innkeeper was starting to look at him suspiciously now, he'd best come up with something quick.

"Yes, she's just shopping at the nearby stores. You know women, can't keep their hands away from pretty clothes. Knowing her she'll be there all day." He lied

"Without her purse, eh?"

'Well, shit. Best think quick again. ' thought Jaime.

"Yes, I told her I wouldn't have her spending quite so much this time. So I took this and let her have a tenth of what was in it."

"Good thinking, gotta keep your women controlled. You know, there's a brothel next door. You could have some fun while the misses is out."

"Perhaps later, I'd like to retire to my room now, please Sir." Jaime replied, secretly disgusted by the innkeeper's attitude.

"Of course. Room four. It's the first room on the left. " He replied, handing Jaime a key. Jaime handed him the two gold coins for the room. It was nearly all the coin he had left. He'd have to take some of the jewels to a pawnbroker later for more. They were all worth far too much for a night here and paying with them might arouse suspicion.

Jaime headed to the room and entered. It was small, but at least clean. He was so exhausted he doubted he'd have cared if it had been dirty, Ignoring his hunger pains, he laid down on the bed and fell asleep immediately.

Well, I established that Cersei is still alive at least. The next chapter is already 70% done and so shouldn't take too long. Your comments help motivate me. Please review if you're enjoying this story