Hello my beloved readers, a new chapter is here for you!
He spent the rest of the evening in his room, looking at the landscape through the window as it became increasingly darker while the night settled. He thought of everything he had done for that woman, every people he had murdered, every lie he told... Cersei was a manipulative bitch. She always manipulated me but I was too blind to see the truth. I was too stupid to realise. We were together since our childhood, I thought that meant something... The more he thought about his relation with his sister, the more he understood how mean she was and she had always been. She told me once that she only loved her children, but we were arguing I didn't take that revelation too seriously... Yes, the only reason why Cersei had been with Jaime was his strenght and his support. But she no longer has power on me, he thought. She just didn't want to bear Robert's children, so, she simply used her twin. He walked through the room to his bed and lay on it thoughtful. After a few more minutes of thinking, he knew what to do. He decided to take revenge and pay his debt to Cersei, tomorrow, I will go and meet my Lord father and then, I will pay my debt to her.
When he woke up, he directly went to Tywin's room, hoping that he was breaking his fast so he could eat something proper with his father. He knocked at the thick door and went into the room, Tywin was sitting in front of a desk, studying a book, until he met his son's gaze and stood up.
"My son," he greeted "it is good to see you, we heard that you arrived yesterday, but you didn't direcly come to us." He looked at Jaime more specifically and asked angrily "What happened to your hand ?"
"I lost it." His son answered simply. "This is a long story, I'll explain everything later. I came to you because I heard that you became Hand of the King again and I wanted to ask you a favor..." he began before sitting on the chair before his father's desk and eating a few fruit. It had been a long time that he had not felt that cosy. Yes, before he went to King's Landing, Roose Bolton had told him about Tywin's new position.
"What do you want, Jaime ?" his father asked suspiciously, his brows furrowed.
"I want to be released from my vows to the King's Guard, to be your rightful heir and make you proud." Jaime said, choosing his words carefully to impress his father. He knew that his twin sister would be horrified to know that, his twin and 'lover' -whatever that word meant to her-, was showing that he did not care for her anymore, nor her son, their son. If Jaime did not know his father that well, he could have sworn that he was smiling. Tywin nodded in agreement and spoke.
"Ah, you finally made a good decision, I'm very proud that you are acting like a real Lannister and not like a fool. I repeat what I already told you, but never forget that it's the family name that lives on. Not your personal glory, not your honor, but family." He said seriously as Jaime nodded his head.
"Father; do you know what happened to the woman who was with me when I arrived, Ava Kheiner? Do you know where she is ?"
"Ah, the Kheiner girl. I decided to imprison her in a cell in the dungeons for know, until the small council decides of her fate. She can be useful to us." Tywin said.
Jaime nodded again and walked out, to the dungeons. He had to go check on Ava before talking about the Stark girls to his father.
Ava was sitting on the floor and leaned against the cold and moist wall of the cell, her eyes shut and her mind full of questions. She was thinking about Lady Catelyn and Lord Robb, she thought about the release of the two Stark girls and the journey back to the camp. She thought about the greatness of King's Landing and she tried to imagine other places: Dorne, Highgarden, The Reach, Casterly Rock... She also remembered how Jaime left her the day before and she knew that he had joined Cersei. She sighed in frustration and massaged her aching temples. She was nearly relaxed when she heard heavy footsteps in the dungeon. She opened her eyes when she heard the familiar voice speaking.
"Are we nervous, my Lady?" Jaime asked her with a smirk.
"Have I reasons to be ?"
"Perhaps." he said teasingly before he unlocked the cell. "Don't look at me with those eyes, dear. I just came to check and talk, sorry if you expected me to free you or do other... things?"
"Yes, I'm disappointed, I expected you to be less rude, but it seems that it's only a daydream..." she said in a mocking way.
"You wound me!" He replied in the same tone when she chuckled lightly. "How are you in here ? Are you treated well ?" he asked, kneeling in front of her on the cold ground.
"Mhh, I can't complain for now. They gave me food, clothes and they promised me that I will be able to take one bath a day." she said simply "But I'd like to know what's happening to the Stark girls and when we will be able to go. Oh! Ser, I almost forgot, if I must stay here for a long time, please bring me some books to read... It's rather dark down here I don't know how I will manage to read, but I will become crazy if I keep thinking."
"Crazy ?" he echoed with a chuckle "But don't worry I don't think that you will stay in here that long... But I have something to tell you as well... Ava, I'm sorry but I don't think that my father will allow you to go. I will try to convince him to free you, but now that he is the Hand, he can commend you to stay..." he said slowly.
She nodded, leaned her head against the wall, closed her eyes and massaged her temples again. "I envisaged that possibility. But you will do it in that case, won't you ? Will you bring the Stark girls back to their mother ?"
"Yes." he answered as she nodded again. She began to think of the horrors she might live if Tywin Lannister decided to marry her off, torture or even kill her, but she will wait to see what will happen without complaining, as always...
"Well, let's forget that. What about you ? Did you see your family ?" she asked with a weak smile.
"Yes, I paid them a visit." he answered again, dropping his gaze on the floor. "Only my sister and father for now."
She could see that he was worried about something. Everytime his eyes were fixed on the floor or somewhere else that hers and his jaw clenched, she was aware that something was wrong. Now, his face wasn't showing anything but anger. Perhaps was it a problem about his father, or maybe his sister ? She smirked at the idea. The more she thought about it, the more she realised that she was jealous of Cersei in a way, but she was not in love, though. She repeted it in her head every time, I am not in love with Jaime Lanniter, as to convince herself. Before her betrothal a few years ago, and before the massacre of her siblings, she did not admit it in front of everyone, but like all the other girls, she had hoped that her husband will be a brave, intelligent and handsome knight in a shining armor... And Jaime Lannister embodied that ideal figure too well. She focused on their talk again and tried to imagine the problem he had before asking him.
"What happened?" she asked softly before their gaze connected. He gave her a questioning look before she explained the meaning of her question. "I can see that you have a problem, and you showed it only when I talked about your family. So, I presume that you had a problem with them... Am I right, is there any problem ?"
He stood up before taking a deep breathe and speaking. "When we arrived, I ran to... Cersei's chambers." he confessed almost ashamed as she bit her lower lip. He had never been ashamed of his love toward his sister, he had even spoke of this with his little brother, but the sight of that beautiful and charming woman made this avowal harder and made Jaime feel unconfortable. He could not explain this, that was as if he had betrayed Ava. No, he thought, you are not together how can you have betrayed her ? Besides, Cersei and I have been together way before I met Ava. He paused for a few seconds before he started to talk again and explain his... situation "And when I entered in her room... Well it seems that I'm not that important for her." he said before he chuckled. "She was with another man. Another knight." he said calmly.
Ava could not believe it, she was so confused right now, she should be sorry for him and try to soothe him, but she was... contented by what he had just said. She struggled with herself to not let a smirk appear on her face, and she struggled to keep those feelings of happiness and jealousy away from her soul. She never felt something as bad as what she was feeling right now, she was disgusted by herself in a way but she could not help. It had been several seconds that none of them had spoken and she knew that she should have said something. She stood up, cleared her throat and spoke.
"I-I am sorry..." lying was difficult for her, but this was necessary to comfort him, and she kept trying to convince herself that this was the truth, that she was really sorry for him. She moved her right hand to cup his cheek and gently stroke it with her thumb. It still felt weird and unconfortable, to touch a man, since the day -or rather the night- when she almost was raped. But he smiled at her and put his hand on hers and removed it from his face before softly kissing her knuckles. She felt a shiver running through her spine and smiled too. "How do you feel ?" she asked after a moment, "I mean, what do you think about this?"
He looked at her and considered the question. "I don't really know. At first I felt angry and annoyed, but now, it seems like I don't feel anything and I don't find it difficult at all to not be with her anymore." He answered, "I know that I should feel betrayed, hurt and angry at the same time, but... I don't feel anything..."
She smiled, it was the widest smile she had had for years but she could not help but feel happy. Firstly, Jaime was not upset that meant that he did not felt hurt, secondly, they were not together anymore, thirdly if Jaime didn't feel hurt or angry, that meant that he did not love her! No! She told herself, no! I don't feel anything for him, he doesn't feel anything for me neither. And if we felt something for each other, what could have happen ? Jaime is in the King's Guard, he is not allowed to marry. No, I must comfort him now, nothing else, because nothing can happen and after all, he is the fierce Lion of the House Lannister, one of the best knights in the seven Kingdoms, even without his right hand...
"That is good. That means that you will not suffer." she said simply as Jaime nodded, but she did not dare to tell him she thought that he certainly did not love her. "And what about your hand? Do you feel better?" She asked changing the subject.
"Yes, thank you very much by the way, even maester Pycelle said that you and maester Qyburn made a wonderful work." he said as Ava smiled lightly, he moved forward her as she took a step back, trapped between Jaime and the cold wall. "He was so surprised that a wench can be such talented and bright..." he continued with a smirk, he knew that what he said will upset her, but he loved teasing her.
She furrowed her brows angrily before speaking "I told you to no-" but she was cut by Jaime's lips covering hers and his body pressed tightly to hers. It was a forceful kiss at first but then it became gentle, Jaime tried to make her follow the rhythm as he moved his lips on hers. She was totally shocked by what he had done, but in a good way, it was not the first time he had kissed her, but this kiss seemed to be 'honest'. She closed her eyes and stopped her little struggling and shyly cupped both of his cheeks with her little hands. Her action gave him confidence and he deepened the kiss into something more passionate but Jaime felt her tensing against him and understood that he needed to slow if he did not want to scare her. She was lost in his actions, but she felt nice, she liked the way he was kissing her and felt herself smile. He felt it too, and moved his lips along her jaw to her neck. He kissed her neck softly before beginning to suck on it as she gasped in shock. He returned to her lips and slowly tried to slip his tongue in her mouth. But that action scared her, she felt her cheeks flush before she flinched and returned her hands to his chest before pushing him back. There they stood, totally breathless and staring at each other with shock and need.
What had they done ?
