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Now, Jaime and his thoughts after he pushed Bran. And also, how a breakfast between Lannisters turns out when Margaery is present.


JAIME III

Jaime woke up. This place was cold. Cersei complained from the moment Robert decided to head north, not only because of the weather, but that was part of the problem. Cersei would have wanted that Jaime becomes Hand of the King. The truth was, Jaime was glad that Robert chose someone else. To become Hand of the King was the last thing he wanted in the world. Even Pycelle would make a better Hand than him. But really, the king should have chosen someone else than Ned Stark.

Jaime had never liked the man. The Lord of Winterfell judged him the moment he saw him. He should have thanked Jaime. He killed the man who murdered his father and his brother, and whose son kidnapped his sister. Instead, he despised Jaime for that, looked at him like the Kingslayer, called him an oathbreaker because he murdered a mad king he swore to serve, as if the honorable Ned Stark would have done anything different in his stead. He would have killed Aerys on the spot if he found him alive in the Great Hall. If Jaime had kept his oath, he would have protected the Mad King while Rossart prepared the destruction of the city and probably killed Ned Stark. And after that, once it would all have been done, he would have gone to see his father, cut his head and presented it to his king. If he had been a man of honor, the way the Starks saw it, this is what he would have done. Well, he looked forward to see Ned Stark in the capital.

Robert really was stupid. He should have chosen Tyrion or Kevan as his Hand, or Mace Tyrell. It would have been to his advantage to give positions to one of these two families. Even his brother Stannis would have been a better choice. Jaime still didn't know why the Master of Ships had left King's Landing for Dragonstone not long after Jon Arryn died. They didn't know what killed the Hand of the King, but Jaime was glad he died. If he had lived, things would have become quite complicated… just like they could be now.

Jaime rose and stirred up. He wouldn't have to guard the king before a few hours, which left him some time to spend with Cersei for breakfast. He wished they could sleep together, but of course that was impossible, not here in Winterfell, and especially not after the boy fell. If only he didn't see them. The kingsguard got dressed and left his room, eager to find his sister. On the way, he stopped a servant in red carrying a jar of wine.

"How is the Stark boy?" he asked.

"Still sleeping, ser, as far as I know," the servant answered.

"Thank you."

He let the man go. Jaime hoped the boy died. He had to die. If he woke up and told everyone what he saw him and Cersei do, they were doomed. Tyrion wouldn't abandon them, but they were inside Winterfell, in the very heart of the North, surrounded by people who despised them. If it came to battle, they may not win.

After turning a corner of the corridor, he saw his sister-in-law walking in his direction. She wore a gown that looked more suited for the climate of the Rock than for here, but it covered her more than what she usually had when Jaime met her in the capital. She stopped when she noticed him.

"Ser Jaime." A quick smile appeared on her lips but it didn't remain there for long.

"My lady." Her face was neutral, without expression, as she looked at him. "I'm going to the guest hall to break fast with her Grace and her children. Would you come?"

"Later. I'm going to see Lady Stark. She needs some support. Her son just fell from a tower after all."

"Yes, I suppose she does."

"She does. Her boy of ten may die."

She almost said it on an accusing tone, but Jaime supposed it was more exasperation because she thought it was an evidence. Tyrion surely knew, but he would never tell his wife. She made a few steps towards him and looked up. Jaime was much taller than her.

"I do hope you offered your sympathies to Lord and Lady Stark," she added.

"Of course, I did." He was no fool.

"Good, because your nephew didn't, and it's already been noticed."

She walked away, but Jaime called for her before she turned the corner. "What do you mean?"

"Your nephew, Joffrey, didn't offer his sympathies to Lord and Lady Stark when they might be about to lose their son."

"Well, Joffrey is who he is," Jaime replied. There was nothing else to say. His nephew was spoiled.

"That's all?" she asked.

"That's all what?" Jaime returned the question. He grew tired of this conversation.

"You see your nephew behaving like this and you don't try to correct him?"

"I'm not his father." It was the truth. Joffrey was his seed, but nothing more. Cersei's children were hers and only her children. If Jaime was a father to any of them, they would get killed and they both knew it.

"Did you use the same excuse ten years ago?" Jaime didn't wonder for long what she was referring to. Last night, he has seen her again, not long before he pushed the boy again in his dreams. He regretted he had to push him, and that the lad was only ten, but there was nothing else he could do. He should never have spied on them.

"That's entirely different."

She smiled, but not in a kind way. "It's not. You see your father commit atrocities and you do nothing. You just stand aside and you watch. You see your own nephew, a boy you have known from his very birth, shame his family and give no attention to the suffering of others, and yet you do nothing. Every time you are with Tyrion and your sister, you always take no part. You let them quarrel and say nothing. That's what you always seem to do. Nothing." Before Jaime could reply, she said more. "Tyrion and I have no time to show Joffrey how to behave properly and Cersei and Robert seem unable or unwilling to do so. I don't know which one it is, but it seems to me they failed to educate their eldest son. You're his uncle, you see him daily, and you are a much better model for him than his father who drinks all the time. I suggest you try to teach him a few things. He's the closest thing to a son you'll ever have."

On that she left, leaving Jaime to ponder her words. He stayed there a moment to think, then walked to join his sister and her children. He found them where he expected them to be, sitting around a copious breakfast in the hall they had for themselves. Only Tommen and Myrcella were present. Joffrey was nowhere to be seen. Jaime was still thinking about the words of his sister-in-law. Margaery Tyrell was indeed a phenomenon. He understood better now why Tyrion was madly in love with her. This young woman had brains and wits, and she knew how to use them. She could compete with Tyrion in that domain. Robert feared Jaime's brother and his wife, and he was quite right to fear them. Cersei also feared them, and unfortunately Jaime shared her fear now. Their visit in King's Landing had proved that the Lord and the Lady of Casterly Rock were more powerful than the king himself. Jaime had heard that people shouted Queen Margaery in the streets, and that some wept for days after she left. No one had ever wept for Cersei or Jaime or their father. There was also the fact that Ser Loras Tyrell won the tournament. He should have lowered his lance. And of course, there was Kevan who sat on the small council now. The fact that Tyrion could force the king to replace his brother by one of his own men spoke a lot about his influence. Jaime knew that Robert would regret the day when he felt like dancing on the grave of Tywin Lannister. This was only the beginning. If Robert dared anything against the Lannisters, he was lost.

However, Jaime was somewhat worried when it came to the new Lady of Casterly Rock. He was happy for Tyrion to be in love, and with a woman he could love this time, not with a wheelwright's daughter, but Jaime wished she had been different, more like the first wife Tyrion married long ago. Instead, they had a sister-in-law who could prove to be more dangerous than Cersei. Jaime even started to be afraid she could use Tyrion. There was something Cersei told him during their visit. Jaime had never talked about it with Tyrion. He couldn't have done this. Surely Cersei was mistaking. She had a tendency for exaggeration and melodrama. Tyrion would never hurt someone in the family.

"Hello, everyone," he said as he entered the hall where they ate together.

He kissed Cersei on the cheek, though he wished he could kiss her on the lips. "Hello, brother," she said.

He ruffled Tommen's hair and sat by his right. Tommen was a very sweet boy, not at all prone to arrogance like Joffrey. Jaime liked him much more than Cersei's eldest son.

"Is Bran going to die?" asked the princess. She asked it all the time since the boy fell.

"Well, he made quite a fall. I'm not sure. I wouldn't keep my hopes too high if I were you."

Myrcella looked sad at the words. Jaime understood, but if she knew how Brandon Stark could destroy their lives if he ever was to wake up, she wouldn't worry so much about him. She should be worried that he could wake up. Jaime wished he could kill the boy. Anyway, at this point, it would be a mercy for him. Even if he woke up, he would be a cripple for the rest of his life. It would be better if he died. Unfortunately, his mother remained at his bedside all time. There was no way for Jaime to kill him without getting noticed. All they could do was hope for the boy to die in his sleep, and all would be for the better for everyone.

Jaime felt sad for Brandon Stark. The boy was only ten and named after his uncle. Jaime remembered the day when the heir to Winterfell strangled himself as he tried to save his father from wildfire. When he killed the Mad King, it felt like justice for the Starks, but Jaime only earned their scorn in return. Still, the young Bran was only a boy. Tyrion had introduced him to Jaime when he arrived. He had been all excited to meet Jaime and wanted to be a knight later. Jaime had even promised to show him a trick or two with a sword the next day, but things turned out differently. The things I do for love.

Jaime took a piece of bacon and chewed on it. "Is it true we go back to King's Landing today?" asked Tommen.

"Yes, we are," said Cersei.

"Is Sansa coming with us?" This time, it was Myrcella.

"Yes, she is. Her sister, Arya, is coming too."

"Is it true that…?"

"Yes, it's true. Your brother and Sansa are betrothed. They will marry, but not before some time. Sansa must bleed first." You could tell by Cersei's tone that she wasn't enthusiastic at the prospect to have Sansa Stark as a daughter-in-law.

"Will I have a new gown for the wedding?"

"Of course, you'll have one."

"What about Bran? Is he coming with us too?" wondered Tommen.

"No. He would have without this incident, but I'm afraid that now it will be impossible, even if the boy lives."

Tommen didn't look happy about that. Jaime saw him practice with Bran the morning before he fell. Maybe he hoped to have a brother to play with. Joffrey hadn't been very good at that. He was arrogant even with his brother and his sister.

"Bread, and two of those little fish. And a mug of dark beer to wash it down. And bacon, burned black."

Jaime didn't have to turn around to know who just entered. He could recognize his brother's voice anywhere. The servants were quick to obey him. The first thing Tyrion did when he reached their table on the dais was to lift Tommen by taking him under the arms and place him left to the place he occupied before. Tyrion took that seat between his nephew and his brother. The previous Lord of Casterly Rock would never have made the prince and the princess laugh and smile like Tyrion did.

"Little brother," Jaime said as a welcome.

"Beloved siblings."

He sent a huge grin to Cersei. Here it began. Cersei was never happy when Tyrion was around, and Jaime knew that Tyrion reciprocated those feelings. Still, here, with the prince and the princess present, they hid the best they could, Tyrion by making jokes, Cersei by smiling quickly.

"Where is Margaery?" she asked.

"Paying a visit to Lady Stark," he answered. "She should be here soon."

"Is Bran going to die?" Myrcella asked just like she did to Jaime a few moments ago.

"Apparently not." The answer brought a smile that illuminated the face of the princess instantly. For Jaime, however, the answer was like a punch in the stomach.

"What do you mean?" Cersei asked. She didn't seem to like what she just heard either.

"The maester says the boy may live."

Jaime exchanged a silent look with his sister. They knew what it meant. If Brandon Stark lived and told everyone what he saw, they were all in danger.

"It's no mercy, letting a child linger in such pain," Cersei said carefully after a long silence.

"Only the gods know for certain. All the rest of us can do is pray," Tyrion declared, as if nothing was amiss. He surely knew. Jaime's brother was too clever to ignore how the boy really fell.

"Strange to say, for someone who never prayed in his life," said a voice from behind. She was there. Lady Margaery Lannister of House Tyrell, Lady of Casterly Rock and Lady of the Westerlands, wife to Jaime's brother, walking towards them, wearing the same clothes than when Jaime saw her this morning, but this time displaying a smile that could warm anybody in the North. This was the Margaery he saw when they first met in King's Landing, before he realized the rose could be dangerous. She went around the table to sit next to Myrcella on the other side, casting a gleaming glance to Tyrion who just looked like the happiest man in the world. He was really bewitched by the Rose of Highgarden. Jaime didn't blame him. Pretty and intelligent. What could Tyrion ask more? Jaime knew the answer: a woman who loved him. And he had it too.

"There was a time when I used to pray," Tyrion replied.

"When? Before you were born?" she asked playfully.

"How is Bran?" Again, Myrcella asked about the Stark boy. Jaime regretted that she cared so much for him, and was starting to get annoyed by this.

"Still sleeping, but I talked with Maester Luwin and he's quite optimistic. He thinks Bran will live. However, he will never be able to walk again," her aunt explained to the princess.

"That can't be."

"I'm afraid so. Still, he'll be alive." His sister-in-law sighed. "He should never have climbed."

"No, he shouldn't have," Cersei said. "That's what happens, when parents let their children do as they want."

"In this case, you should watch your son carefully, Cersei." Cersei looked at Margaery with a questioning expression. Tyrion's wife turned to Myrcella. "Do you always do what you want, Myrcella?"

"Not always. I have lessons, and I must attend them, even if sometimes I don't want to," confessed the princess.

"Do you always attend them?"

"Almost always," she replied shyly.

Margaery laughed shortly. "Congratulations. You're much better at this than your big brother."

Jaime looked, not without amusement, to Cersei's furious stare she directed towards her sister-in-law. The rose and the lioness didn't get along at all. If Margaery felt disdain towards him, her impression about Cersei was far worse.

"It seems the North did well on your charms, my ladies," said Tyrion. The three ladies in question smiled, though the length, nature and honesty of their smiles varied from one to the other. "Too bad the charms of the North seem entirely lost on you."

"I still can't believe you're going. It's ridiculous even for you. As ridiculous as it would be to visit a tower just because it's hundreds of feet tall." Jaime supposed Cersei meant the Hightower with this, which was in the Reach, the territory of Margaery's father.

"Where's your sense of wonder? The greatest structure ever built, the intrepid men of the Night's Watch, the wintry abode of the White Walkers."

Tyrion made a terrifying face to Tommen as he said it, earning laughs from his nephew and niece while his wife kept smiling.

"I hope you're not going to stay there for long. People who go to the Wall have a habit to never come back," Margaery said.

"Don't worry. I won't stay there for years. Only the time necessary to stand on top of the Wall and piss off the edge of the world."

This earned new laughs from Tommne and Myrcella while Margaery had a sorry smile and peeled a pear.

"The children don't need to hear your filth." Judging by the glances Tyrion exchanged with the children in question, it didn't bother them. "Come."

Cersei left on this, Tommen and Myrcella on her trails, though they both obviously didn't want to leave. Margaery told Myrcella that they would see each other again later. When Cersei was gone, Margaery left her seat and went to sit at Tyrion's left. They exchanged a long kiss, as if Jaime didn't exist.

"I hope you're not thinking of taking the black," she told him after they were done.

Tyrion scoffed. "A man who's married with you and chooses to take the black either lost his mind or his cock."

"I wouldn't speak so quickly if I were you. There are ways to pleasure someone without a cock, like you say."

"In any case, you don't have to worry. I lost none of these."

"You reassure me," said Jaime. "I don't know what me and Cersei would do if you joined the Night's Watch."

"I'm sure Cersei would be very happy about it. That would certainly be the best day in her life."

"Cersei, maybe, but not me," Jaime countered.

"And me neither," added Margaery. For once, she and Jaime agreed.

"I will only stay there long enough to visit it. You should come too," Tyrion said.

"I'm afraid I'm not interested as much as you are to see a huge wall of ice, and perhaps you should consider that half the people at the Wall were rapists and murderers once."

"There isn't much difference between that and Flea Bottom."

"In Flea Bottom, I could make friends. I'm afraid the men of the Night's Watch won't like me just because I give them bread."

Tyrion looked sad. "The trip will be much grimmer without you."

"Grim enough for you to forget about it?"

"No. I'll never have a better chance to see the Wall. We may never come in the North again."

"Well, in this case I'll remain in Winterfell while you piss off the edge of the world. Just don't forget that our men are watching you, so don't even think about visiting Mole Town's brothel."

"I would never think about that. I'll go celibate for the time the trip will last."

"Good." She drank some water, then stood up. "If you'll excuse me, I need to see someone. Don't forget to come and see me before you leave."

She kissed Tyrion again and left. Tyrion watched her go. Jaime's brother was really in love.

"You'll miss her," he said.

"I will," Tyrion confirmed.

His brother returned his attention to the bacon before him and the black beer that was brought. Jaime noticed it was only brought once his wife had left.

"Does she know?" Jaime asked.

"Depends what you mean she knows."

"You know very well what I'm talking about."

"Just like everyone else, she believes the boy fell. I suppose it's better if it stays that way."

Jaime was relieved by this. His sister-in-law didn't know and didn't have any doubt on how the boy fell.

"Tyrion, even if the boy lives, he'll be a cripple, a grotesque. Give me a good clean death any day."

"Speaking for the grotesques, I'd have to disagree. Death is so final, whereas life… Ah, life is full of possibilities. I don't regret I was left to live at my birth, considering how it turned out. I hope the boy does wake. I'd be very interested to hear what he has to say."

"My dear brother," began Jaime, looking down, "there are times you make me wonder whose side you're on."

"My dear brother, you wound me. You know how much I love my family."

Somewhat, this didn't reassure Jaime. "If he does wake up, and tells everyone…"

"People make many dreams when they are in a coma, and the boy is only ten. He will be confused when he wakes up. Why should people believe his dreams?"

"And what if they believe them all the same?"

"Well, we'll have to face the consequences."

Tyrion had spoken while looking at his food all the time, but now he looked at Jaime with an accusing stare.

"I had no choice," Jaime said.

"You had the choice to hunt with us," Tyrion opposed.

Jaime knew that very well, but damn it, it had been weeks since the last time he could be alone with Cersei. Couldn't they have some privacy together? The boy should never have climbed to that tower. It was his fault.

"What are you going to do?" asked Jaime.

"Nothing. It's like I said. All we can do is pray."

"And what if they learn the truth?"

"As I said, there's nothing we can do. Anything we could try would make things worse. But I wished you had been more careful. We are not at Casterly Rock or King's Landing. We are in the North. You should have thought about this."

"You do it with your wife all the time."

"My wife is not my sister."

"I couldn't know that the boy…"

"I came here with objectives, Jaime. I'm trying to make our relationships with the rest of the Realm better, and THIS might ruin everything that I've tried and that I'm going to try. Think about the children before you act next time. The boy is only ten, and so is Tommen."

Tyrion emptied his beer and walked away, leaving Jaime alone. If only he could kill the boy. However, if he killed him, wouldn't that look strange? Tyrion was right. Everything they might try next could only make things worse than they already were. They would leave Winterfell very soon anyway. Hopefully the boy wouldn't wake up before they had left the North, and once they were south of Moat Cailin, Ned Stark wouldn't have the power of the North behind him. There was still Robert, but he knew it would be dangerous to anger Tyrion. Furthermore, Tyrion was staying behind. His brother had always been better when it came to talking his way out of trouble, whatever the trouble was, so he could surely convince the Starks, as unlikely as it may seem, that their son simply fell while climbing and that all this was an accident. Hopefully he could convince his wife too that there was nothing more to it. She loved Tyrion after all, and Tyrion would never let her believe anything wrong about his brother and his sister. Or so Jaime hoped. The young woman was shrewd. What if she found out?

Jaime sighed and left the hall too. There was no one inside apart from him. Even the servants were gone. For the second time today, he wished Tyrion had married a nice girl who wasn't cunning and intelligent like Margaery Tyrell. Cersei should have tried to find Tyrion another wife who wouldn't be a threat to them, but she hadn't even succeeded to prevent him from marrying Margaery. Even the king could do nothing about it. At the same time, Jaime knew there was a part of him that was happy that Cersei failed in her schemes. Tyrion looked so happy with Margaery and she loved him. Jaime didn't really understand how the Rose of Highgarden could fall in love with his brother, but she did. Tyrion had managed to get one of the most beautiful and desired women in the Seven Kingdoms to love him. A starving child who he saved from rape was something, but the Rose of Highgarden! After their time in King's Landing and on the road to Winterfell together, Jaime couldn't doubt the mutual feelings between his little brother and his wife. It puzzled him. Was there something he overlooked in this marriage?

Anyway, Jaime didn't want to ruin his brother's marriage. Tyrion was right. He shouldn't have spent time with Cersei that day. He endangered all of them, but he also put in danger Tyrion's marriage. If his wife learned about the relationship between Jaime and Cersei, Tyrion would fight for them and this could destroy his union with Margaery. On that, Jaime found himself really stupid. That could be one of the worst consequences of his time with Cersei in the tower. He would ruin his brother's happiness again. Jaime couldn't let that happen, not after what he saw ten years ago. Tyrion would defend him because he loved him. He would defend him because of a lie.

Jaime walked out in the courtyard. They would have to leave soon. He saw Joffrey leave the Great Hall in a very bad mood. Jaime thought his cheeks were a little redder than usual. As he approached the smithy, he noticed something, or more exactly someone. He looked different from all his brothers and sisters, which made it easy to differentiate him from the others. He was also the one who looked the most like his father. Jaime saw Tyrion speak a few times with him, and with the youngest sister too. He was the Stark, or the Snow more precisely, that Tyrion would follow to the Wall. Jaime knew there had to be a precise reason why Tyrion was going to the Wall. His brother never did anything without some interest behind it. He saw something in the lad. Jaime wondered what it was. He decided to see what it may be.

"A sword for the Wall?" Jaime asked loudly, attracting the attention of the bastard.

"I already have one," Snow replied.

"Good man. Have you swung it yet?"

"Of course I have."

"At someone, I mean." The expression on the bastard's face said everything. "It's a strange thing, the first time you cut a man. You realize we're nothing but sacks of meat and blood and some bone to keep it all standing."

Jaime still remembered the first time he killed a man, when he fought against the Kingswood Brotherhood. You never truly knew what it was to kill until you did it for the first time. It seemed so easy, after the first time, to do it again, and again, and again. The lad would experience that soon enough, and then he would know that being a member of the Night's Watch, just like being a knight, only meant killing in the end. You swore pretty vows at the beginning, but in the end, you were only a killer and the vows meant little. Like a knight once told Jaime, their job was to slaughter organic meatbags.

Jaime returned his attention to the bastard. It was time to see what kind of Stark he was. "Let me thank you ahead of time for guarding us all from the perils beyond the Wall, wildlings and White Walkers and whatnot. We're grateful to have good, strong men like you protecting us."

He shook the bastard's hand. When he tried to pull it off, Jaime only clasped it more tightly, to see how the boy would react. Jaime then tapped his shoulder and moved away. He hadn't shown much reaction. He didn't seem to understand what Jaime did, or why he did it. One day, when he realized how the world really was, he would understand why Jaime mocked him.

"We've guarded the kingdoms for eight thousand years," the lad said at his back.

Gods, he really took himself seriously. "Is it we already? Have you taken your vows then?"

"Soon enough."

"Give my regards to the Night's Watch. I'm sure it will be thrilling to serve in such an elite force. And if not? It's only for life."

Jaime walked away with one last grin. It had been entertaining if not instructive. The boy was as dull as his father. Whoever his mother was, there wasn't much of her in her son. Jaime wondered what sort of woman could have made the honorable Eddard Stark forget about his dear wife and his thrice damned honor. As far as Jaime could tell, the bastard was a younger version of his father. He didn't know what Tyrion saw in him. Perhaps his brother only wanted to go the Wall to see it once in his life finally. Well, that was a chance Jaime would miss without much regret. He went back to his chambers to prepare their departure.


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Next chapter : Sansa (I'm very excited about publishing this chapter, I can't wait for you to read it.)