They stayed in Harrenhal long after the Northerners had left, awaiting the party from Casterly Rock to join them before going on to King's Landing.
Giana would rather not have waited for her sister at all; the very idea of Cersei still made her blood boil, after hearing from her father what she'd done concerning the Starks, yet she would have to spend weeks in the woman's company. She had always disliked her sister, but never as much as Cersei hated her. Now she suspected that hatred was mutual.
It was rather amusing, however, to see the cold greeting her father gave Cersei upon her arrival. Giana felt a stab of satisfaction when Tyrion gleefully told her that the two guards who followed their sister wherever she went were clearly chosen by their father, not by her, and would not obey if Cersei told them to leave.
Joffrey was as vile as ever, of course. Being ousted from the throne had not humbled him one bit, and he still ranted about how he would have taken the heads of Loreon Storm and every single one of the Starks, instead of making peace with them. He wasn't shy about his opinions, either.
"And how did you suppose your grandfather do that given everyone has just signed a peace treaty?" Loreon had asked him, amused, as they all ate together the evening of their arrival. Lord Tywin's orders, of course, or no one would have come. "This is why you're not allowed to be king,"
Jaime, Tyrion and Myrcella all laughed, whilst Tommen and Giana cracked a smile. And though Giana's father was clearly displeased with the fact that his grandson would only be prince consort to Shireen rather than the ruling monarch - he likely viewed it as a problem he planned to correct in the future - at the same time even he seemed slightly relieved that this cruel, stupid boy would not be the most powerful man in the Seven Kingdoms.
"Who asked you, bastard?" Joffrey snarled viciously. "Your head should be on a pike on the walls of this castle, yet here you sit at dinner with us,"
One look at Cersei showed she thought much the same thing.
"I'm Lord Regent of the realm," Her son had grinned, more Robert's son than any of Cersei's golden-haired brood. "And Lord of Storm's End, even though I am a bastard. And it's funny that you in particular name me so,"
That earned him a disapproving glare from Lord Tywin, and a murderous one from Cersei. It seemed to go right over Joffrey's head, though Tyrion snorted and Jaime choked on the wine he'd just taken a sip of.
"Speaking of bastards," Joffrey turned triumphantly to Jaime. "I heard you sired two of them on that grim-faced Stark bitch, uncle. What did you see in that one? Obviously she was a whore, but I'm sure you could have paid for a better-looking one,"
Dead silence, though Cersei didn't even bother hiding her smirk.
Then Jaime smiled, so cold that it cut like a knife.
"Rosennis Stark was a lady, nephew. Though I've had one whore who was better-looking, I tend to find such women lacking,"
Tyrion laughed so hard at that he nearly fell off his chair. Giana gave up trying to keep a straight face and joined him, leaning against her little brother for support. Loreon was grinning, Myrcella looked half-horrified, half-amused whilst Cersei's gleaming smile had fixed in place, her eyes promising bloody vengeance. Jaime held her stare.
Joffrey simply looked confused, and unhappy they were laughing, presumably at his expense.
"Bet she didn't look such a lady when Roose Bolton stabbed her in the heart," He snapped, reactive as ever.
It took everyone a moment to realise what he'd said, but when they did, silence fell across the table. Oh Cersei, you fool, why did you tell him?
"Joffrey!" Cersei hissed, grabbing his arm, face suddenly very white. Giana stopped laughing abruptly, as did Tyrion, who was looking at Jaime with concern. We never told him what she did. For good reason, admittedly, but now Giana was wondering if that was the right decision.
"What?" The boy scoffed. "Surely they know your plan was a success,"
"Your plan?" Jaime had eyes only for his twin. Cersei, for once, had no clever reply.
"Jaime, I - "
He got to his feet, and Giana had never seen her brother look so furious. Nor look so much like their father.
"You told Bolton to kill her," It wasn't a question, and her silence was proof enough.
Before anyone could do anything Jaime had crossed to the other side of the table with the grace of a predator, grabbing his sister out of her chair roughly by the arm. It happened so fast that the rest of them had no time to do anything but jump to their feet in alarm. Giana heard herself cry out, hands clapped to her mouth.
Cersei tried to fight him, protesting furiously, spitting insults, but Jaime backhanded her across the face without hesitation, slamming her against the nearby wall.
"Enough!" Their father barked, but neither twin was listening to him, both fully engaged in a vicious argument punctuated by Cersei slapping and hitting at him with flailing hands. Joffrey stood with his mouth agape, for once shocked into silence. Tyrion watched in grim satisfaction, as did Loreon. Tommen and Myrcella looked horrified, by both the revelation and what they were witnessing now. No one except Lord Tywin seemed prepared to step in, but for once he was ignored.
"That Stark bitch deserved to die!" Cersei was shrieking. "She would never have accepted Joffrey as king, and would've killed him the second she had the chance,"
"Joffrey is a cruel, insane child who murdered her brother and reminds me so much of Aerys Targaryen that I can barely look at him without my skin crawling," Jaime said with venom. "Who could blame her?"
"How dare you say such awful things, about your own nephew!" She spat. Jaime actually snorted at the word nephew but Cersei wasn't done. "You bring up the Mad King, forgetting that your little Stark whore used to spread her legs for him every night,"
"Well it clearly wasn't every night, sister, or I wouldn't have got a bastard on her,"
She slapped him but he just laughed an awful laugh, clearly furious.
"None of that changes the fact you killed her," Even Cersei seemed to recognise the hatred in his tone, for the first time showing a hint of fear. That didn't stop her pressing forward with a spiteful smile, however.
"We're two halves of the same whole, brother. Now she'll never have you again,"
Jaime stared at her for a moment, long and hard. Then his hands moved to his sister's throat.
Cersei's eyes bulged and she clawed at her twin's hands and face, nails drawing blood, mouth making awful choking noises, but he did not let go, or even falter. Gods, she hadn't thought they'd actually try to kill each other.
"Jaime, stop!" Giana broke herself out of the daze, rushing forward and trying to pull her brother off, to no avail, he was too strong. "I know she deserves it, but don't make yourself a kinslayer, please don't,"
But by now their father had called for guards, who came in and were able to wrestle Jaime off of Cersei, though not to the floor - he was their lord's son after all - merely restraining him upright. He didn't fight them after being pulled off, though glared at the sister he had once loved in all the wrong ways with pure hatred.
Cersei collapsed to the floor clutching her throat and taking in huge gasping breaths. Guards helped her to her feet, though had to physically stop her from lunging at Jaime now he was restrained.
"Get her out of my sight," Jaime ignored his family, breathing heavily, turning to the rest of the guards. "Or I'll rip her fucking head off,"
The captain of the guards turned to Lord Tywin with a raised eyebrow. He nodded sharply.
"He attacks me and I'm the one to be led out by guards?" Cersei scoffed in haughty protest, but went out with her head held high, like she'd suffered some great injustice. Her lip was bleeding from where she'd been backhanded, and a livid bruise was already forming. Jaime had not held back at all, and Giana felt an uncharacteristic wave of vindictive satisfaction.
When Cersei had gone, Tyrion spoke up, tone dry.
"It's so nice to see House Lannister reunited again. I've really missed these family dinners,"
Jaime rode towards the front of the party, alongside Loreon, Tyrion, her father and surprisingly Joffrey; Lord Tywin had insisted the boy ride a horse instead of hiding in a carriage with his mother, to make a good impression upon arriving in King's Landing. The city knew him as the boy who hid behind his castle walls during the bread riots, firing at them with his crossbow when they dared approach the gates with their protests. Not an ideal reputation, in truth, and one that needed urgent correcting.
Cersei's wheelhouse - smaller than usual due to the poor roads - travelled a lot further back. Giana's twin siblings had not spoken to each other since the events of three nights ago, nor had they been within a hundred yards of each other. It was as though each of them were dead to the other, though they both had the same gleam of hatred in their eye whenever anyone brought up the other twin.
Who would've thought, as Tyrion had said. Though both he and Giana had always felt loved by Jaime throughout their childhood and beyond, they knew he would never care for them quite as much as he cared for Cersei. Though they hadn't been on the best terms in recent years, it was very odd to see him actively despise her.
Giana had the best company on that journey, she thought, riding with Tommen and Myrcella further back in the column than Cersei. Neither of the children could stand to even speak to their mother after finding out what she had done. Tommen cared for Ser Renan as much as he cared for his brother (cousin) Loreon, and Myrcella saw Morganna Snow as the sister she'd never had. Or did have, as the unspoken truth went; they really were half-siblings.
Either way, Cersei had killed their friends' mother and they would not pretend that meant nothing.
From Harrenhal the Lannister-Baratheon party travelled south down the edge of the God's Eye, then headed east along one of the many rivers that flowed into the great lake, towards the King's Road.
The land here had been hit hard by the war. Whilst some areas in the Riverlands had been left all but untouched, here the earth was scorched and every other building was a burnt-out shell. Crops were destroyed, livestock slaughtered and the corpses of men, women and children in various states of decay littered the ground.
It was unpleasant and disturbing to see, and if Giana had been in the wheelhouse with Cersei she would have shut the curtains, but there was no avoiding such sites on horseback. Perhaps that was for the best. Perhaps if more people fully understood the horror of war, it would happen less often.
They had just passed the site where the pale castle of Whitewalls had once stood - before Lord Bloodraven had had it torn down near eighty years before - when the whole column stopped. Giana hadn't been too concerned, thinking that perhaps a wagon had got stuck, blocking the way, until the harried-looking guard came galloping down from the front saying that Lord Tywin needed her, Tommen and Myrcella of them to attend him.
It was clear the moment they approached that something awful had happened.
Cersei was there already, on her knees, wailing bloody murder. What was that next to her..? Gods!
Giana kicked her horse into a canter, reining it in nearer to the group, looking down at the bloodied body of Joffrey stretched out on the ground.
"His horse spooked and bolted," Jaime was stood there, impassive, neither smiling nor grieving like his sister. He raised his voice slightly to be heard over Cersei's cries. "Right over the edge of the bluff there. They've only just managed to pull him out,"
He gestured to the river to their left, which was at the bottom of a sheer drop of about ten feet. If a man fell from there he might survive, though the chances of that decreased considerably if his horse fell with him, and decreased even more if he had hit the jagged outcrop which Joffrey - judging from the state of his body, and the blood on the rock - clearly had.
"Oh," That was all Giana could say. A glance behind her showed that neither Tommen nor Myrcella were weeping. They were shocked, clearly, and certainly disturbed, but neither looked particularly sad at their brother's death. Loreon and Tyrion were both there too, faces carefully controlled. Lord Tywin's expression was very hard to read.
"He did it!" Cersei suddenly exclaimed, jabbing a finger at Tyrion. "He hated Joff, he's threatened him before, and me! The little monster killed my son!"
Tyrion simply shook his head, looking mildly disgusted.
"Think about what you are saying, Cersei," He said. "I pride myself on my ability to argue, but I doubt I'm capable of talking a horse into running off a cliff,"
"Don't mock me," She spat at him, cradling Joffrey's limp head in her lap. "You could easily have men lying in wait to release a - a snake, or make a loud noise,"
"A very wise thing to do when I myself was riding within six feet of the boy,"
"Enough," Lord Tywin spoke and they all fell silent. "Boy," Tommen jumped as his grandfather addressed him. "You will take your brother's place and marry Shireen Baratheon," His face paled, his eyes widened but Tommen swallowed then nodded, once.
"Yes, my lord,"
Giana could have imagined it, but she thought she saw a faint smile flit across Loreon's face for half a second before he returned to his a suitably solemn expression. She knew her son held no love for Joffrey - who did? And Tommen would surely make a much better... king? Consort? Husband?
Looking down at Joffrey's broken corpse, she felt considerably less sorry for the young queen, at any rate.
Few thirteen year old boys could say they were married. Ever fewer could say they were married to a queen.
The wedding of Tommen Baratheon to his 'cousin' Shireen was also their coronation. Both the bride and groom wore magnificent clothes in Baratheon colours, and there was very carefully no hint of red in any of the ceremony. Giana supposed that with Tommen's golden curls and Shireen's dark hair, together they made the Baratheon colours too.
Everyone seemed pleased, whether openly or in secret, that it was Prince Tommen who was marrying the young queen rather than his elder brother. Lord Tywin had used the excuse of Joffrey's death to push for the title of king to be awarded to his younger grandson, and Loreon had oh-so-graciously granted the request.
So Tommen and Shireen were married, then crowned King and Queen Regent.
Cersei was not happy with the whole affair, but that was to be expected. She still accused Tyrion of murdering Joffrey, often suggesting that various others had a hand in it; Loreon was her second favourite candidate, though Giana, Jaime and even Lord Tywin had all made an appearance in her wild claims. Her paranoia was growing more and more ridiculous by the day, and Giana was rather grateful for their father's guards following her day and night or she'd fear for what her sister was planning.
But there were more problems than Cersei in court.
Giana had heard of Stannis red witch, even though she had never met the woman. In Loreon's absence, Melisandre had extended her influence, which had fallen considerably after Queen Selyse's death and even before that been strictly contained by Stannis and Loreon himself. There was a number of people at court, not too many but enough to be concerned about, who had converted to the faith of the Red God.
Loreon put a sharp stop to that, sending Melisandre away from King's Landing on pain of death and banning the practice of her religion in court. Whilst harsh, it would be dangerous to earn the enmity of the Faith of the Seven for allowing such practices in the Red Keep, and the common people would become suspicious and alienated from the royals if they heard of Melisandre's influence.
That was a problem that was relatively easy to deal with, but the odd power dynamic between the Tyrells, Lannisters and Baratheons would not be solved so easily. Giana was not made for politics, and didn't have much of a part to play in the decisions surrounding the early reign of Tommen and Shireen, but even she could see that things were not running like clockwork. Whenever she saw her son he liked to explain things to her, as it seemed to help him sort things out in his own head.
Loreon was Lord Regent, Lord of Storm's End and cousin to the queen, her only living relative on her father's side. He essentially had the power of a king, and the backing of the Stormlands and much of the Reach. He was also the half-brother (officially) of the king, yet had been born and still remained a bastard, so had to watch himself and be very careful not to make enemies or overstep.
Mace Tyrell was Hand of the King, a placatory gesture so that he wouldn't storm off back to Highgarden when his bid to marry his son to Queen Shireen was turned down. To keep him relatively happy, Loreon would also marry his daughter Margaery, at some point, though Giana was sure her son was making him wait on purpose. Lord Mace might have the power of Highgarden behind him, and their supplies, but a good proportion of his bannermen had turned to Loreon rather than follow the Tyrells after Renly's death. The Florents were key among these, and very keen to affirm that the queen was half-Florent in an attempt to raise themselves above their long-resented liege lords.
And Tywin Lannister was Tywin Lannister. His grandson was king in name but not in practice, his son Tyrion was Master of Laws on the small council and Jaime was Lord Commander of the Kingsguard (despite having been absent for his entire tenure until this point). Loreon had also offered Lord Tywin an honorary position on the council whilst he was in King's Landing, which he took, acting as though he was still Hand and walking all over Lord Mace, who could only bluster in protest given that more often than not Loreon tended to agree with his grandfather.
Giana tended to ignore all of this, however. She had spent her life in the shadow of powerful men fighting for control, this was nothing new. Instead, she decided to spend her time with those who were not so powerful now but would be in years to come; her nephew Tommen and his little wife.
Considering the newly married king and queen were aged thirteen and eleven, they got along much better than many couples who had been married for decades.
Tommen had always been a sweet and kind boy, friendly and gentle. He was fairly good with a sword (though nothing extraordinary) and could do well in his maester's lessons if he tried hard enough, but his true love was animals. As a wedding present, Giana had gotten him a cat with a litter of five kittens and his smile had lit up the room.
Without anyone consulting each other, Tyrion had gotten him a pair of large but docile dogs, whom Tommen insisted on keeping in the castle rather than the kennels, whilst Jaime had bought him a fine dark bay palfrey of his own.
Shireen had earned her husband's loyalty forever when she cooed over the animals, playing with the kittens with pieces of string and sneaking the dogs small titbits of food. It was clear the girl had been a lonely child, and often got rather overwhelmed with the attention that was paid to her now, flatterers and lickspittles vying for her attention, men like Tywin Lannister telling her what to do. Tommen was good in that way, acting as calm company that didn't ask anything of her, simply a friendly face.
He too had always been lonely as a child aside from Myrcella, until Loreon had come to court, later followed by Renan Snow, so the pair were conveniently well matched considering Shireen had been intended for his dearly departed and largely unmourned elder brother.
Both children were instructed to sit in on every council meeting, at Loreon's request initially but Lord Tywin had agreed it was necessary. Their seating changed with every meeting; one day Shireen sat at one end next to Giana's father and listened to his advice, whilst Tommen sat beside Loreon, and the other day they swapped places. In theory it was to help them gain a rounded understanding of politics, but Giana suspected it was so that one of the poor children wasn't stuck next to Lord Tywin every day.
Loreon liked to tell Giana how well both of them were doing. Shireen was a lot like her father, rather reserved until she had a strong opinion, then she would stick to it with a stubbornness that refused to bend until someone presented evidence to convince her otherwise. She was clever too, picking up on things with a sharpness that had been unexpected in the young girl, and had also learnt from her father to not show her emotions that easily.
Tommen was different, of course, his emotions written clearly on his face for all to see. But where Shireen was not so comfortable with the diplomacy side of ruling, of winning people over and making compromises, he excelled. He was open and friendly, but that may work to his advantage, Loreon explained. Tommen was simply likeable, and came across as very trustworthy and earnest. He might find the tougher decisions impossible to make, but that was where his queen could step in.
Giana remarked on some of this to Shireen when they were sat together one day.
"Loreon says you have remarkable control over your face and emotions for one so young,"
The girl smiled.
"Lady Rosennis - Seven bless her memory - told me that I could never appear weak or emotional, or all the men would dismiss me and not respect what I have to say," She said. "I think she's right, from what I've seen," Perhaps she hadn't learnt everything from her father after all.
"Unfortunately for us girls that's sound advice," Giana smiled sadly. "My father doesn't respect men who wear their heart on their sleeve, let alone women. You're a smart girl to listen to that, and even smarter to pull it off. I was never good at hiding what I'm feeling. Although you should be able to relax in private. Tommen would hardly judge you for it,"
"No, he wouldn't," Shireen's expression warmed considerably. "He's - he's very kind,"
"You're a lucky girl to have such a husband," Giana said. "He is kind - and handsome too. I'm sure he'll grow up to be even more so," Shireen blushed then, glancing away, and she had to laugh. "You're allowed to think so, you're married sweetling! And you're eleven besides - innocent enough to get away with admiring any man,"
"He is handsome," The young queen admitted, allowing herself a small smile. "He looks a lot like his father," Her smile dropped at that, eyes widening in alarm. "Sorry, my lady, I meant nothing by that. He's handsome like my uncle, King Robert was," No he's not.
"No need to fret," Giana placed a hand on her arm with a rather regretful smile. "I'm hardly going to have your head for saying what's obvious, am I? You're the queen," She gave a small laugh. "Best not say things like that in front of my sister, though,"
"I won't," Shireen grimaced at that, clearly holding no love for Cersei. Tommen had had to step in on several occasions to tell his mother to leave his wife alone. "I worry, though. I know I'm not - not pretty. Will Tommen be happy with me as a wife, when we grow up?"
"Oh sweetling," Giana exclaimed, saddened that the thought had even crossed the girl's mind. "Tommen's a kind boy, he'll be happy with you whatever you look like. Besides, you have the most beautiful blue eyes I've ever seen on a girl, flowing black hair, and you'll have a lovely tall figure when you're older. Baratheon features are meant to be grown into, dear, they don't suit children. Loreon wasn't handsome until he was past fourteen,"
"Myrcella said something like that," She fretted. The former princess and now-queen had become good friends in the past weeks. "But what about my big ears? And my greyscale scars?" This was clearly one of Shireen's deepest insecurities. "My hair covers the ears, and I know the scars can be hidden - Mother was talking about getting me a mask fitted, before she died - but I can't exactly wear it all the time,"
"You don't need a mask," Giana said firmly, wondering what Selyse Baratheon had been thinking. "You're the queen. If anyone comments on your scars - or your ears, or insults you in any way - you're allowed to make them pay for it. The scars prove you survived a horrible ordeal, besides. That shows strength just as much as any scars a knight earns on the battlefield. They give you character,"
"I suppose," Shireen still looked doubtful. Giana made a mental note to remind Tommen to tell his wife she looked lovely as often as possible. Yes, Shireen would likely never be beautiful but she was hardly ugly - she really would grow into her strong features, perhaps to be pretty - not that it mattered. She was queen, she could look how she wanted.
Giana wasn't the only one looking out for young Shireen, which was good. Tommen had his entire family there for him - dysfunctional or not, the Lannisters (mostly) looked after their own - but Shireen only had Loreon as a blood relative, not including the few ambitious Florents that had sprung up round court. Unlike her rather bemused reaction to these relatives she barely knew, Shireen seemed delighted to see Ser Davos Seaworth upon his return from the Vale, embracing him like, well, a father.
"I'm married now, Ser," She said, stepping back from perhaps the only man Stannis Baratheon had considered a friend.
"I heard! I hope young Tommen is treating you right," The man replied with a fond look in his eye.
"He is very kind," Shireen smiled. "Have you been practising your reading and writing?"
"I have, your Grace," The knight smiled. "Those letters you drew out were very helpful. And Lord Arryn's maester was very generous, he gave me a few more lessons,"
"That's good," Shireen beamed. "Soon you'll be able to write to your wife," And idea suddenly came to her. "Do you want to invite her and all your sons here to stay a while?" Anticipating his protest, she continued. "Before you say I'm being too generous, you're Master of Ships, it's definitely allowed - they can even live here if they feel like it. And I'm the queen besides, people have to do what I say,"
"Thank you, your Grace," Davos said, clearly grateful for the chance to see his family again. "You'll be a good queen,"
To many, Jaime appeared just the same as he had been before the death of Rosennis Stark. Giana, on the other hand, knew him better. His replies were more cutting than usual, more caustic and said with less genuine humour. His smiles were even sharper, his eyes colder, and he seemed to have started caring less about, well, everything around him.
He did seem rather concerned about the goings on in the North, however. He had heard from Renan Snow that Morganna - his daughter, bastard or otherwise - had vanished in the Riverlands, and to expect a ransom demand soon, though none had ever come.
One day, however, his mood seemed suddenly lighter.
"I got a message," He confided in Giana as they walked in the godswood. "A man who wore no colours passed it to me in the yard," He held out the slightly crumpled piece of parchment for her to look at. "He muttered that Ren sent him,"
Found M - she's safe and hidden, in good company. Plan is underway. You'll know when (if) it's successful. Some (good) surprises to come. Will talk properly when I see you next.
"Plan?" Giana frowned. "What's he planning?"
"Justice," Her brother smiled grimly, looking almost like a Stark. His smile melted away quickly, however, as they reached the great oak heart tree. "Vengeance too, I suppose. Not that either will bring her back,"
"It might make things easier to bear, though, if her murderer isn't walking round enjoying his position as Lord Paramount of the North,"
"True," Jaime stopped before the tree. "I - " He broke off, turning away from her for a moment with a dry laugh. "I sound like a fool for saying so, but I didn't realise how much I'd miss her. Sharp-tongued, stony-faced Stark that she is. We've been apart more often than we've been together, but knowing she's not up there in Winterfell as we speak..." His features twisted in anger. "All because of her own husband, and our bitch of a sister,"
"Cersei told me that she never asked for Lady Rosennis' death,"
Giana had spoken to her sister on the subject. Cersei seemed to think that Jaime was being the unreasonable one and would realise that soon enough, more evidence of her descent into madness. It was clear she hadn't forgiven her twin for strangling her, and likely never would; she had muttered some nonsense about a prophecy, and the Frog being right. Valonqar, she had called him, swearing to Giana to never be alone in his presence again.
Privately Giana had thought that was best for everyone, and wished Cersei had come to that conclusion two decades ago.
"As if," Jaime scoffed bitterly. "The nerve she has, to say that. She would despise any woman I looked twice at who wasn't her, let alone one I had two children with. She realised Morganna was mine months before the girl herself worked it out, she knew full well what she was doing,"
"Perhaps she's lying," Giana said. "Perhaps not. Neither of you will forgive the other regardless. But for what it's worth, she claims that she only wanted Robb Stark dead due to the threat he posed her son. As for Lady Rosennis, she just wanted her out the way for the same reasons, knowing it would be too risky to kill someone whose power could be removed easily enough. She was meant to simply be disgraced and discredited by the revelation that she was unfaithful to her husband with the Kingslayer, then locked up at the Dreadfort by Bolton. She doesn't know why he went rogue and killed his wife,"
"Because that's so much better," He chuckled darkly. "Maybe it's the truth, or maybe not. But either she ordered the murder, or it happened as a result of her actions. Ross is still dead, and I'd rather it was Cersei - it's that simple. Even after I stopped fucking her, I never hated her, still loved her as a sister, even though I thought I saw how vile she truly was. I had no idea," He paused. "I see her in full now, and I think I could stand by and watch her die without feeling a flicker of guilt,"
Giana had very little to say to that, and Jaime laughed humourlessly.
"Sorry, little sister," He said. "Don't let me push my misery on you,"
"I can't exactly blame you for it," She said, smiling sadly. "But you'll drive yourself mad thinking like this, on hatred and what could've been. Why don't you try and remember her how she was, not for how she died? Tell me a story, a nice story,"
Jaime snorted, clearly disdainful of the idea.
"Just do it," Giana said flatly.
He eyed her skeptically, but did seem to be thinking. After a while he began to speak.
"In the early days, when we were still Aerys' hostages but the rebellion had broken out, things were a lot more relaxed," He started. "I managed to convince Ser Arthur and a few other knights to come out with me hunting in the Kingswood, and brought her along. I don't know if Aerys ever found out, but two Kingsguard seemed enough to stop a young girl escaping. Of course, if she'd wanted to she could have outridden us all and tried to make her way back to her family, though at the time it hardly seemed worth the danger of travelling alone, or Aerys' displeasure which it would bring upon the Starks.
"I still remember the look on her face when we rode out of the city. Having only ever lived in Winterfell, being trapped there for months, not even allowed to leave the castle, must've been suffocating. She kicked her horse into a gallop the moment we were through the gates, jumping fallen logs and dodging through trees, and even I struggled to keep up with her. She reached our destination ages before I did, and was waiting with this grin on her face, knowing full well that half our companions were going spare thinking they'd lost Aerys' hostage. 'Keep up, Lannister' she had the nerve to say.
"When the others caught up, one of the older knights gave her a lecture and she suffered through it wearing this stony, disdainful expression that showed she truly didn't give a shit, but smiled at me when I said something sarcastic to the knight," He smiled himself then, shaking his head. "I remember wondering then how I'd ever thought her dull,"
Giana was the only one of her siblings who spent time with their father without him summoning her first. Jaime had always been Lord Tywin's most valued child, as the heir, but Giana was his favourite. Though she hadn't inherited Lady Joanna's sharp intellect and cunning, she had her kindness and generosity, her skill with people, and was perhaps the only child who had achieved the future her father wanted for her. Her bastard son had long since been a stain on that, but now Loreon was Lord Regent of the realm that seemed to have been forgiven.
She was also perhaps the only person who could get him to leave his work long enough to eat a lunchtime meal with her. Not every day, though perhaps once a week.
"I heard you met Ser Renan at Harrenhal," She said, pouring them both a glass of water - never wine - from the pitcher on the table. There were never any servants attending their private meetings. "What did you think of him?"
Her father was silent a long moment, but she knew to wait for him to think before replying.
"I found it hard to believe that he was Jaime's son,"
Giana smiled; not laughed, her father was always suspicious of laughter.
"I see what you mean. He has Jaime's eyes, Jaime's sword hand and a hint of his recklessness, but that's about it. He's certainly your grandson, though, don't you think?"
"Perhaps," Lord Tywin said. "He certainly has more of an aptitude for politics, or perhaps a willingness to try. Given that he's a bastard who has never had a formal lesson on matters like that in his life, that's rather frustrating considering the hours I spent trying to drill such things into Jaime's head as a boy,"
"A shame Ser Renan didn't have such opportunities," She said. "I'd imagine he'd have taken to it much better,"
"A shame he's not trueborn, you mean," Her father phrased it like he was correcting her, but she thought otherwise.
"He could be," Giana dared to say. "The king loves him like a brother," She realised how that might sound after she said it - Tommen was indeed Ren's brother, something her father vehemently denied - so hastily moved on. "And the queen has nothing but respect for his late mother,"
Lord Tywin was silent for a long while, clearly considering that.
"No," He said eventually. "The Stormlands might accept being ruled by Robert's baseborn son, but I will not allow a bastard Lord of Casterly Rock. Renan Snow could be useful, but he will never lead our house,"
There were plenty of things she could say to that - Loreon was twice as capable as most trueborn heirs, Renan was too, her father was cutting off his nose to spite his face in turning down the perfect heir for the sake of his own foolish pride and misguided sense of what would shame their house - but she knew Lord Tywin would listen to no one, and perhaps her argument would only convince him even further.
"Did you hear that the girl, Morganna, disappeared after Lord Bolton sent her north?" Instead she changed the subject, almost.
"I did," He said. "Rather strange, that Ser Renan was seen to be leaving the castle in a mad fury, tearing off to rescue his sister, only to return the very next day seemingly pacified. I've received reports saying that the dozen Bolton guards who were sent to escort the girl to Winterfell were found hanging by the side of the road a day's ride from Harrenhal when the main contingent went north, their throats slit, but no sign of her to be found,"
"You're not suggesting that Ren killed a dozen men singlehandedly and managed to hide his sister away, all in the space of a day or two," Giana said incredulously.
"Of course not," Her father said sharply. "I am simply remarking that it is strange. Snow is not without friends, and who else would have reason to arrange an ambush on those men in particular but spare the girl? If it had been outlaws, they would hardly have bothered hanging the men and slitting their throats, and they'd have been robbed blind at that,"
For once it was Giana who was silent, thinking.
"If that man ever comes south again," She said eventually. "He would be wasted as a household knight,"
Lord Tywin inclined his head.
"A bastard could never be Lord of Casterly Rock," He said. "But one only needs to look at your son to see that he could rise high regardless,"
Not so much action in this chapter, aside from Joffrey's death, but it was certainly necessary. I hope Cersei's paranoia and descent into madness is becoming more obvious, seeing as Joffrey's death in canon was the event that made her spiral considerably.
Yes, Ren did warg the horse from a distance (I like to think he warged a bird to fly south and went from that to the horse) and gallop off a cliff into the river. What does everyone think of Tommen and Shireen? The more I thought on it, the more well matched they seemed, especially with Tommen being older and slightly less pathetic in this story from Loreon and Ren's efforts.
Jaime's grief for someone he cares for is hard to write, as the only family who die in canon are Joffrey (who he cares nothing for) and his father (whose death he is sad for but he struggles to grieve). It won't be a surprise to anyone that the scene where he tries to strangle Cersei was a joy to write.
It's also nice writing from the perspective of a character who is genuinely a nice person haha - Giana's always a breath of fresh air even though her chapters are not the most action-packed.
As always, thanks for reading, and many thanks to everyone who comments!
