Epilogue

Jaime weathers meeting Brienne's father, although he swears to her it's the most frightening moment in his colourful life. Brienne rolls her eyes then reluctantly agrees with him.

They, along with Bronna and Sam, return from their holidays rested and ready to return to work. They also return in time to attend the re-opening of the exhibit dedicated to the First Lannister King, Jaime I, better known as Goldenhand the Just, and his Queen, Brienne the Beauty.

Pia, glowing with excitement, meets them at the museum door and hugs each of them in turn.

"I'm so glad you're all right and are safe now," she says to them. "Who knew the person behind these thefts was so deranged?" She gives Brienne a searching look and her resulting smile is almost sly. "Thank you all for coming tonight; I don't think you're going to be disappointed." She leans closer and lowers her voice. "We're going to reveal a very special exhibit that I think will send the scholars studying the first Lannister King and his Queen reeling."

Brienne groans once Pia bustles away to greet the next set of high-profile guests entering the exhibit hall. "I don't think I can stand anything else that will send people reeling."

"Well," Bronna says cheerfully, "so long as it isn't criminal, I'm prepared to sit back and enjoy it."

*/*/*/*/*

The re-opening of the exhibit is even busier than the first opening, and Jaime and Brienne wonder, along with all the other guests, what's hidden beneath the gold-blue-red shroud that dominates the centre of the exhibit hall.

They leave Bronna and Sam to their own devices and stroll through the exhibit, Jaime's hand never far from Brienne's, or pressing warm and firm against her back to guide her through the crowd. His attentive presence beside her makes her feel a little awkward, because she hasn't forgotten the cruel words posted on the various social media sites, but it mostly makes her incredibly happy. They've been through so much the last few months, including meeting her father, and they're still together. If they can survive all of that, then they can survive a few sneering looks and cruel jokes at her expense.

They pause at the sword hilt and exchange smiles filled with memories and shared secrets.

"Tyrion isn't here, is he, to steal the thing again?" Brienne says, only half-teasing.

Jaime grins. "Tywin has assured me Tyrion is out of town, just like Tyrion said."

"If you can trust his word."

Jaime mock-sighs. "Sadly, I can't. Still, if the sword hilt goes missing again, we already have a prime suspect."

Brienne laughs as they move on to the other exhibits. They finally stop in front of the two fragile pieces of parchment that had been found in the crypts, clutched in the respective hands of the King and his beloved Queen. The paintings that had hung above the parchments have been replaced with television screens that are currently blank.

Jaime and Brienne lean over the cases, shoulders brushing as they read once again the locations and dates that are on those fragile pieces of paper: the Quiet Isle, the Great Sept of Baelor, the weirwood tree of Highgarden, the bedchamber at Casterly Rock, the sept in the Red Keep, between Moat Cailin and the Twins, the Quiet Isle.

"Do you think anyone will ever learn what these mean?" Brienne asks.

Jaime shrugs, his smile gentle. "I'm not certain it matters if anyone does or not. What matters is that they knew what it meant, and they considered it precious enough for them to be buried with this list in each of their hands."

She blinks at him and says, "They knew what went on between them."

"Just like we do," he murmurs. He leans in to kiss her but is interrupted.

"Ladies and gentlemen! If I can have your attention, please!"

They turn to look at the speaker, Jos, who's looking almost as happy as Pia. He's standing front of the shrouded exhibit in the centre of the room.

The room falls silent as everyone focuses on him, and his smile turns nervous.

"We have two very special guests tonight, who will unveil the newest addition to our exhibit. Ladies and gentleman: King Duncan III, and Queen Rohanne!"

The crowd erupts with excited exclamations and Brienne now sees the Kingsguard—the true Kingsguard and not the sycophants catering to Rhaegar Targaryen—scattered throughout the room. She identifies them now mainly because of their discreet earpieces and the way they whisper into their wrists.

She nudges Jaime and nods her head towards one of the Kingsguard who is doing just that, and says, "Now, there's something we should consider adding to your gold hand."

Jaime raises an eyebrow. "What makes you think I don't already have it?" Her eyes widen and he laughs. "I'm joking, Brienne. You're right: that would be a handy addition."

It takes her a moment, then she groans and opens her mouth, but he stops her response with a quick kiss then turns as the King and Queen arrive at the dais.

King Duncan III is tall and broad with a thick head of hair, and a face that's almost-but-not-quite handsome. Queen Rohanne is in direct contrast to the King: undeniably beautiful and short of stature with strawberry-blonde hair worn long and often in elaborate hairstyles.

Queen Rohanne gives King Duncan an encouraging smile before he turns to the crowd and begins to speak.

"Thank you all for attending this re-opening of the exhibit of the first King and Queen of the Lannister and Tarth dynasty. We are grateful for your continued interest in our family and our ancestors." He beams out at everyone, his homely face shining. "The Queen and I are here today because what we are about to unveil is...well, it's shocking, and puts everything we thought we knew about King Jaime I Lannister, Goldenhand the Just, and his Queen, Brienne I of Tarth, known through the ages as the Beauty, into doubt."

Brienne's stomach sinks. If they've discovered something that would cast doubt on their devotion to each other, she thinks her heart will literally break.

Jaime must read her mind because he reaches out and takes her hand, giving it a comforting squeeze.

King Duncan continues. "The good people here at the museum undertook facial and body reconstructions of my ancestors through the use of MRI scans of the skeletons, the latest techniques, and 3-D printing. By doing so, these dedicated scientists and researchers have rediscovered truths about the First Lannister King and his Queen that have been lost for centuries. They have given us the true faces of my ancestors and in so doing, have reminded me, at least, of the humanity of my ancestors, a humanity that has been too long lost to legend and myth. For that reason alone, the people here at this museum will forever have my thanks. Now, without further ado, Queen Rohanne and I present to you, here and now…King Jaime I Lannister, and his Queen, Brienne I of Tarth!"

The shroud is released and falls, revealing two mannequins: one, a tall, handsome blonde man with a right hand of gold, and beside him, an even taller woman, broad of shoulder and face, and no one, not even the most kind, would ever describe her as beautiful. Both faces are as familiar to Brienne as her own.

Brienne's jaw slowly drops as everyone stares at the two mannequins in stunned silence before pandemonium breaks out.

Jaime is laughing as he throws his arms around her and says, "Maybe magic exists after all!"

*/*/*/*/*

Brienne hands Jaime a bowl of ice cream and settles beside him on the couch just as the interview they're watching returns from commercial.

"Every university in Westeros was given the opportunity to complete their own scans of the skeletons, correct?"

King Duncan nods. "Yes."

"I understand that all the reconstructions to date have had similar results."

"Yes."

"What does this mean for the history of the first Lannister King and his Queen? Are the legends of their great love affair simply...lies?"

King Duncan laughs. "Are you saying they're lies because Queen Brienne I is not the beauty history claimed her to be? I hope my ancestors would not be so easily swayed! Besides, as you know, King Jaime I and Queen Brienne I had at least a dozen children, according to what can be proven and traced through the marriage records of the high born Houses and DNA analysis. Their love affair is as legendary as the songs would have us believe, mayhaps even more so, given this new evidence."

"What happens now?"

"They will be reinterred within the next few weeks in a single coffin here in the family crypts in the Red Keep." His smile is slow and rather sweet. "I think they would like that. I'm also pleased to announce we will be opening up the vaults of our family records to researchers for the first time in decades. I've been told by the Doctors Peckledon that they've already discovered never-before-seen letters between the First Lannister King and his Queen. There are not many as it appears they were seldom apart for more than a day."

"Letters?"

Now King Duncan's smile becomes slightly wicked. "I'm assured these letters are...hmm...enlightening, to say the least."

"Enlightening in what way?"

"Let us just say those dozen children were not a surprise."

"But if the reconstruction can be trusted, then the Queen was no Beauty!"

"Not physically, no."

"What do you think this all means?"

"It means love has powerful magic all its own…and beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder."

*/*/*/*/*

"A dozen children?" Brienne yelps as the credits roll. "That poor woman!"

Jaime gives her a wicked grin as he takes her now-empty bowl and puts it beside his on the coffee table. He slides his hands beneath her t-shirt and says, "A truly dedicated pair, and two thousand years in the past."

She glares at him. "What are you doing?"

"Making some magic of our own," he purrs and kisses her.

######

A/N: I realized I didn't have enough to say for a separate Author's Note, so I'll just do it at the end.

This is it: the end of this particular universe. One crazy plot bunny, fifteen months, thirteen episodes…gods only know what I'm going to do now that this is finished! Thanks again to the crowd over at JaimeBrienneOnline for the plot bunny (although I still hate all of you for showing me the cute little thing).

As for me…like I said, I don't know what the muses will bring me next. I have original fic to finish and self-publish, and I may try to file off the serial numbers on these stories and add them to my catalogue. ;D Who knows? In the meantime, I'm going to re-read the books and see if the muses send me something new.

Thanks for coming along for the (longer than anticipated) ride with me! I hope you enjoyed it!