A/N: Guys, I'm still alive. I promise. Please enjoy this long overdue chapter and don't kill me for being absent for what feels like a decade.
Beads of sweat rolled smoothly down sun-kissed skin, muscles screeched with exhaustion and pain, lungs expanded quickly and desperately for air. The battle surged on endlessly. Steel pounded deafeningly and grunts of determination soared through the air.
Tip #1: Find opponent's weakness.
Tip #2: Exploit that weakness.
Tip #3: Try not to show any openings.
Tip #4: Remain on the offensive.
Tip #5: DON'T LOSE TO JAIME LANNISTER.
Dimeria's hands were numb from Jaime's strong counters and her arms were beginning to feel like noodles, but she refused to give in. She was tiring out the great Kingsguard Commander, but she was fading just as quickly as he was; it wouldn't take long for her muscles to just give out, but Dimeria hated the idea of giving Jaime the satisfaction of beating her. Dimeria's mind tuned in to the one-on-one battle once more, trying to find some way to defeat her adversary.
Tip #6: Don't lose focus.
Tip #7: Ignore Jaime's taunts.
Tip #8: KICK HIS ASS.
"Getting tired, little warrior? Feel free to give in anytime." Jaime smirked arrogantly, though Dimeria could hear the pants of breath he managed to get in between words.
The fiery bastard girl only growled in response and charged forward, driving Jaime back several steps, but not enough to make him panic. The cheers were beginning to get to Dimeria- the shouts from the other warriors in the training area-and she suddenly began finding herself listening to the crowd rather than focusing on Jaime. Before she knew it, Jaime somehow mustered up a large burst of energy and charged at Dimeria like a bull. She began backpedaling and held her blade up defensively until Jaime knocked her sword out of her hands and she fell flat on her back.
Tip #9: Don't fall on ass, but if it happens, glare heavily at Jaime.
Tip #10: Do NOT take offered hand of assistance.
Dimeria smacked Jaime's hand out of the way and stood up from her embarrassing position on the ground. Their sparring session, which they had meant to use as a stress reliever, eventually turned into a ferocious battle, drawing many of the guards who were quite enthralled with the two skilled fighters. It took many minutes for the crowd to dispel after congratulating Jaime with pats on the back, while avoiding Dimeria with caution as she glared venomously at each and every one of them. Once the other guards had cleared out, Jaime regarded Dimeria warily.
"We were only training, Dimeria. Don't take it personally." He said.
"I'm not." Dimeria answered, lifting her chin and looking rather haughty.
Jaime furrowed his brows. "You could've fooled me…" He mumbled to himself, though loud enough for Dimeria to catch his words.
She rolled her eyes, but only yawned in response as she turned to leave the training area. Jaime followed her lead and the two guards began walking side-by-side back into the castle. They walked in silence for most of the way, until Dimeria broke the quiet and asked:
"Did that do absolutely nothing to relieve your stress, or is that just me?"
"No. I don't think my nerves are going to be calmed anytime soon." Jaime replied.
Dimeria closed her eyes and sighed. Tyrion's trial was now one day away and it was beginning to drive her insane. "Tyrion told me to think of names for my dragons and tell him before the trial." She said softly.
"And have you?"
She shook her head. "I can't think of any...well," she reconsidered, "not any good ones."
"What have you come up with?" Jaime asked curiously.
Dimeria wrinkled her nose, fearing that she was about to get made fun of. "They're just...stupid ones that I've found in books."
Jaime held back a chuckle. "Like?"
"Well, the ones I didn't hate were 'Argenosse' and 'Lakrimeer'."
Jaime pinched his lips together, ineffectively stifling his laughter at the ridiculous names.
Dimeria groaned at his side. "They're hideous aren't they?"
"You'll think of something, little warrior." Jaime encouraged, smiling at the fact that Dimeria was taking the entire thing so seriously; it was somewhat...endearing.
"Stop smiling, Lannister." She snapped at him.
The response only widened Jaime's grin. Everything seemed as if Jaime were stuck in a dream; he could hardly believe Dimeria had forgiven him the night before. Part of him wanted to know why she had done it, but he wasn't going to question her; with his luck Dimeria would end up overthinking her decision and then take it back. No, he would take advantage of the luckiest moment of his life and never let Dimeria down again; he would live so that Dimeria would never have to regret her decision.
"Are there any houses with a mockingbird as their sigil?" Dimeria asked abruptly, pulling Jaime from his thoughts.
"No...At least none that I can think of. Why?"
"Just wondering." Dimeria answered offhandedly. She wished she knew why she kept seeing that damn mockingbird pin in her sleep and until she figured exactly what it meant, Dimeria had a feeling that the bird would haunt her every single night for the rest of her life.
…
Later that night, as Dimeria and Jaime walked through the surf of Blackwater Bay; Dimeria couldn't help but smile as Jaime paused every so often to throw rocks into the water. A cold wind blew her hair into her face, but she ignored the chilling goose bumps rising up on her arms and enjoyed herself. Dimeria knew that this was to be the last night that she and Jaime could live so peacefully; every day after the next would be tainted with pain and loss after Tyrion's trial.
"How did you do that?" Dimeria asked Jaime, pushing the dismal thoughts from her mind.
"Do what?"
"The rock bounced." She explained. "How did you do it?"
Jaime grinned. "They're skipping. Have you never skipped rocks before?" Dimeria sent him a pointed look at the ridiculous question. Jaime took it in stride. "I used to spend hours with Tyrion at Casterly Rock doing it. He could never get the hang of it, but he liked watching me do it."
A muscled arm reared back again and Jaime sent another stone bouncing-or rather, skipping-into the dark waves of the bay. "I could teach you." He offered.
Dimeria shook her head. "Some other time."
Glimmering white teeth shined at Dimeria as Jaime turned back to the water to send another rock skipping into the watery oblivion beyond, when thousands of years later it would resurface onto the sandy shore and wait for another passerby to find joy in skipping rocks. Dimeria pictured what she would be currently be doing if she hadn't forgiven Jaime the night before, and envisioned herself sitting alone in her chambers, brooding over Tyrion's trial while desperately wishing she had someone to console her; and of course that someone would be Jaime. Any feelings of doubt over forgiving Jaime flew from Dimeria's mind, and she gave thanks to whatever force was controlling her life for bringing her to Jaime; even though Dimeria really didn't have any firm belief in the gods, for they had never had any real presence in her upbringing at Castle Black, she felt as if she had to thank someone for her fortune.
What had Dimeria done to deserve such a companion like Jaime? Dimeria had always believed that she made her own fate, but that was before she had been exposed to the world around her. So much had happened since she left Castle Black and so many things had changed in her life; she had changed. Was it possible that someone or something was in control? If that wasn't the case, what else could explain how Dimeria had experienced such luck in her misguided and impulsive adventure? Looking back at her own actions, Dimeria had never consciously done anything to ensure that she had met Jaime; it just happened. And thank the Gods it had! (If in fact there were gods.) Perhaps Dimeria's meeting of Jaime had just been coincidence, but if that were true, were her feelings for Jaime also just a stroke of pure luck?
Dimeria glanced at Jaime once again. Her feelings...what were they? Was this love she felt for Jaime? How would she even know? Whatever it was, Dimeria believed that her emotions for Jaime were just too strong to be classified as a coincidence. All she could think to do was enjoy her time with him, for if she were to judge by the past occurrences in her life, Dimeria could never really know how much longer she would have Jaime by her side.
"I think I came up with names for my dragons." Dimeria grinned at Jaime, comfortable warmth spreading throughout her chest as she continued contemplating her life with him.
"It's about time." Jaimed teased. "What are they?"
Dimeria shook her head. "Can't tell you."
Jaime spun around to face her, confusion sending his rock splashing into the water with a small plunk! "Why not?"
"I want Tyrion to be the first to know." Dimeria answered with a shrug.
Jaime sent a glare towards Dimeria, but couldn't find it within himself to truly be angry with her; he knew that she and Tyrion had a close friendship that he dared not intrude upon.
"I'm sure he'll approve of them."
"Doesn't matter if he does, I'm tired of thinking up names and I'm not doing it anymore." Dimeria said with a stubborn finality and a glare that could have chilled her own dragons to the bone.
The two warriors continued walking along the shore, making amiable conversation throughout the night until they decided it was time to retire back into the Castle. Dimeria took notice as she walked back into the castle that Jaime turned to go in the direction of the dungeons; he apparently planned to make one last visit to his little brother before his trial. Dimeria considered following suit, but decided not to invade the space of the two brothers; they deserved some fraternal bonding that night.
Dimeria believed that she was going to get a good night sleep that evening, and while she had no problems falling asleep; the same could not be said for staying asleep. Once again the gold mockingbird appeared in her dreams, following and haunting her subconscious, much like the fear of Tyrion's trial had followed her throughout the day.
…
Cersei was ready. If all plans went accordingly, her hideous monster of a brother would be condemned to death the next day. A reptilian smile crept onto her aging face. Gods, Cersei had waited for this moment since that horrid imp had first been born, taking her mother's life and keeping it for himself. What did right did that brat have to steal away her mother? He didn't. He didn't have any right, and Cersei was determined to make him pay for that atrocious act of murder he committed as an infant.
The Queen Regent regretted that it had taken so long to finally make him pay, but she remembered the saying: "Better late than never." Cersei couldn't remember the last time she had been this thrilled. She had taken every precaution necessary for this trial, but she realized that she probably didn't even need to; Tyrion had put himself into this position by murdering Joffrey. But no matter, Cersei was confident she would be down one brother by the end of the next day, and all of her plotting and scheming would come to fruition.
Her fingers tapped anxiously upon the carven wood table that held her goblet of wine. How many nights Cersei had spent at this table on her balcony plotting and scheming, she did not know, but now that she looked back on it, things were beginning to come into perspective. Cersei had almost lost everything. Everything. She began putting them in a list in her head.
#1: Her mother-Tyrion's fault.
#2: Myrcella-Tyrion's fault.
#3: Joffrey-Tyrion's fault.
Cersei rolled her eyes. Gods, everything was his fault! Two of her three children were gone because of him! Even Tommen was beginning to move away from Cersei, though she supposed she couldn't blame that on Tyrion; that weight rested upon the shoulders of Margaery Tyrell, the wicked little bitch. Cersei was so alone in her life, which was how she had always wanted it in the first place; it made living hurt a little less when one didn't have so many people to worry about, but the people that she did want in her life, the ones that she couldn't help but care about, they were the ones that were leaving her. Her mother, her children, her brother-
The tapping upon the table ceased all of a sudden and Cersei began strangling the neck of her goblet of wine. Jaime-her partner in life; the one that was meant to be by her side since they day they were born-he had left her too. But not even Cersei could find a way to blame Tyrion for that; Dimeria-the horrid bastard girl-was the only one could assume responsibility for stealing Jaime away from her. For many nights Cersei had pondered how the ignorant girl captured Jaime's interest, but her thoughts soon strayed into a darker area: how to get rid of the girl.
That was the most frustrating part, though; no one else seemed to be concerned with Dimeria's presence like Cersei was. Not even her father, the powerful Tywin Lannister, spared the bastard girl a second thought; she wasn't extremely important in his cold and cruel eyes, but neither was she useless. Cersei didn't necessarily need Tywin's agreement that Dimeria was a nuisance, but not having anyone on her side made her task that much harder. For weeks, months even, Cersei had desperately scratched and clawed to figure out a way to kill, or just expel Dimeria from King's Landing. At one point, she had almost left without Cersei having to meddle whatsoever. From what she understood, that was all Jaime's doing, but her ever-determined twin managed to convince Dimeria to stay, or at least, Cersei thought it was Jaime that had convinced her.
And then once again, Cersei thought she was liberated of Dimeria's sickening presence when she had gone missing and was presumed dead. The Queen didn't remember feeling much triumph at that time, for the death of her first son was first and foremost occupying her mind, but she did remember the feeling of outrage and bitter hatred when the Kingsguard had found her still breathing body.
After feeling like she would have to live with Dimeria for the rest of her life, Cersei finally found her opportunity. It came as a surprise, but Cersei welcomed it with open arms and a malicious grin. Oh yes, tomorrow would be such a grand day for Cersei. Tyrion would be condemned to death and the beginning of Dimeria's end would be set in motion.
And that stupid Targaryen bitch would never see it coming.
…
It was an inappropriately bright day for Tyrion's trial, as if the gods were celebrating the condemnation of the Lannister dwarf. Dimeria volunteered to be Tyrion's escort all the way from his prison cell to the throne room, for she wanted to offer as much moral support as possible. Tyrion tried to put on a brave face as Dimeria and two other guards released him from the cell, though Dimeria could see the defeat beginning to settle in like a thick blanket of snow at Castle Black.
The halls of the Red Keep seemed stale and void of any warmth despite the fact that the sun was pouring in through the windows, along with torches lining the red brick walls. There were no words of comfort in Dimeria's mind, only fear and doubt; but she had the overwhelming urge to comfort Tyrion in this dolorous time, even if it was only for a little while.
"I thought of the names, Tyrion…" Dimeria said vaguely so that the other guards wouldn't catch on.
"And?" The dwarf asked.
"Agrelio and Ceruleas."
"Agrelio….and Ceruleas…" Tyrion repeated, tasting the names on his tongue. "I like them." He said after a moment with a smile on his face, though Dimeria could tell that it was strained.
Dimeria returned the gleeful facade, though she doubted Tyrion actually saw it since his eyes were constantly drawn forward. Guilt enveloped Dimeria, for despite all of her best efforts, she knew she wouldn't be able to raise Tyrion from his despondent solitude.
"I appreciate you escorting me, Dimeria." Tyrion said softly.
"I wanted to since I didn't visit you last night."
"Jaime says you've been asking about a House with the sigil of a mockingbird?" Tyrion stated as a question.
An instant pounding in her head ensued at the mention of her strange nightmare invasion. "Do you know of any?" Dimeria asked with a hope-filled voice.
Considering his words for a few moments, Tyrion pursed his lips and involuntarily shuddered as he realized he and the guards were getting closer to the throne room. "Well," Tyrion began, reverting his mind back to Dimeria's question. "There aren't any Houses with a mockingbird sigil, but there's a man who adopted it as his own."
Dimeria screwed her face in confusion. "Is that even allowed?" She asked, her eyes beginning to flit back and forth nervously as they crept nearer to the throne room.
"Technically...no, but he uses it more as a symbol instead of a representation of his house."
"Well who is it?"
"Petyr Baelish."
Instead of answering the hundreds of questions that were already in Dimeria's mind, Tyrion's answer only raised a thousand more inquiries. Petyr Baelish...he was always the one player that Dimeria seemed to forget about. He appeared inconsequential most of the time, but Dimeria was now beginning to see that perhaps she was wrong to assume so.
Dimeria, Tyrion, and the other guards finally approached the entrance to the throne room. All thoughts of other matters were quickly driven away from Tyrion and Dimeria's minds as panic and fear took over. Jaime was there at the doors, stoic and regal in his Kingsguard uniform as he took over the job of escorting his little brother into the trial.
With one last shared look of fleeting reassurance among Tyrion, Dimeria and Jaime; they walked into the throne room.
CERSEI KNOWS ABOUT DIMERIA.
That is all. (Please remember to leave reviews, I love all of you!)
Until next time...
