The first repercussions of Margaery learning the truth.
JAIME VI
He fell on his back, breathing heavily, the exertion caused by the effort he just made taking its toll over him. Sweat covered his body, sticking the bed's sheets to his body. He turned on his side, inhaling and exhaling air at an accelerated pace. His breathing came to a steadier rate as he rolled over to the other side, coming to face with the back of the beautiful woman that laid in bed with him. Seven Hells, he missed her. They used the last few days to make out for the lost time, and still they couldn't get enough. They both needed this.
Cersei sat on the sheets, her lustful golden hair falling on her back. Jaime sat as well and brought his hands around her belly, kissing the side of her neck, savoring the scent of her hair and skin. Nothing smelled better.
He sensed the rigidity in Cersei's body. She wasn't falling back into his arms and remained still, sitting there without moving. Jaime wished she would relax. He was disappointed in his hopes as the woman he loved spoke.
"We have to do something. We need to prepare."
He brought his right hand to her shoulder, massaging it. "Everything will be fine. We have more men than Stannis, and the city walls are strong. He doesn't stand a chance against us."
She didn't show any sign of calming. "It is not Stannis who is worrying me. The real enemy is inside."
Jaime sighed. "Cersei, if you're worried about Tyrion…"
"Of course, I'm worried," she snapped, freeing herself from his embrace. "He holds all the power here. He put his men in key positions and removed those loyal to Joffrey." That meant he removed the men loyal to Cersei. "He controls everything in the Red Keep. The whole small council is on his side. He could order my son's death any time and no one would lift a finger to stop him."
"Tyrion would never do that," Jaime tried to tell her.
"He could. He hates Joffrey. He could have him killed discreetly and have Tommen on the throne. He's much easier to control than Joffrey. Joffrey and I are all that stand between him and the throne."
Jaime scoffed. His sister was paranoid sometimes. "Tyrion would never do such a thing."
"You don't know what he is capable of. He slapped Joffrey across the face. He struck his king."
"Well, that happened a few times before."
"Joffrey is king! If someone can slap him, what image does it give of him? How can people fear him when someone can hit him and get away with this?"
"It was only a smack on the cheek."
"And what could it be next? He's always walking around the Red Keep as if he owned the place."
"He's the Hand of the King."
"Because you let him be."
Jaime sighed once more. He was fed up with this. "I know you and Tyrion have your issues. I know you despise each other, but he would never harm one of your children. He loves Tommen and Myrcella."
"He doesn't love Joffrey."
"Joffrey doesn't make it easy for people to love him," Jaime pointed out, which earned him a poisonous glare from his sister.
Despite this, he wouldn't back away. Joffrey was indeed very difficult. Cersei said he even was difficult as he came out of her belly. Cersei, despite all the motherly love she had for her firstborn, was afraid of him from time to time. There were even moments he frightened Jaime, though he was more often than not disgusted by the boy. Apparently, he shot people asking for bread with his crossbow. Some of them might have been among those Jaime saved when he stabbed Aerys in the back.
"Look, Cersei, it is true, Tyrion doesn't love Joffrey, but he's not going to kill him. Your son is still his nephew. Can you really imagine Tyrion killing Joffrey, or anyone of our family?"
"You have a very short memory, Jaime. Have you already forgotten what happened to Mother?"
Jaime rolled his eyes and raised his hands. "I'm not going to talk about this again. This is madness. Tyrion is as likely to murder your son as the White Walkers to come back."
"Then that means you're an idiot," she spat.
"Fine, I'll go then. Unless you appreciate the company of idiots. Wait, you do. You like it when Joffrey is close to you."
A good smack landed on his cheek, and Jaime laughed. "Well, that's a side of you I like more."
He jumped on his sister. After some initial reluctance, she gave into her passion just like he did. That was until the door of Cersei's apartment slammed open with a thundering noise, strong enough to wake up the entire castle had it been asleep.
Jaime got out of Cersei as quickly as he had entered her. His clothes were scattered all around the floor. His cloak was in the adjacent room, where the door had opened. He tried to put sheets around his waist, but Cersei was gripping them to keep her covered as well. Then Tyrion walked in… with about ten men behind him. Jaime recognized Vylarr and at least five other men, all red cloaks. They were all their men, and they all looked at him and Cersei with an expression of complete surprise. All safe for Tyrion.
"You could have waited for the night," was all their brother said. Jaime had to admit Tyrion was right, but he had been away from Cersei for so long that he didn't care much for caution since he came back. He visited her early in the evening, and they were still at that time of day.
His little brother turned to his men. "Vylarr, wait outside with your men. Don't let anyone in."
The red cloaks obeyed, not before they threw a few glances towards Jaime and Cersei.
"Are you mad?!" Cersei yelled to their brother as soon as they heard the door close. "Entering into my rooms in the middle of the night. They saw us! What is going to happen…"
Cersei didn't have time to say more, for within an instant Tyrion was on her, seizing her arm, then…
SMACK!
Jaime didn't see the slap coming. Cersei cried as the palm roughly met her cheek. Tyrion dragged her on the floor, then did something Jaime never expected he would do. His boots met Cersei's belly once, then twice.
"You hateful bitch! I'm going to kill you! I protected you and that's how you thank me?!"
At the third kick, Jaime intervened. He seized Tyrion's arms from behind and dragged him away from their sister, yelping on the floor. Jaime had all the difficulties in the world to control his brother. Tyrion was struggling like a demon.
"Tyrion, calm down! What are you doing?"
Tyrion then did something Jaime expected even less. He stopped struggling. As Jaime loosened his grip, his little brother turned around. This time, Jaime was the one to earn a slap.
Gods, that was painful. He now understood why Joffrey hated Tyrion. If Tyrion slapped him as strong as this only even once, the boy ought to hate him for years. When Jaime stared back at his brother, he met green eyes that were filled with hatred and rage. Not the cold rage he often witnessed in his father and that Tyrion mimicked. That was the rage of a fury, more similar to the rage Cersei displayed when she was very very upset about something. Only it seemed worse with Tyrion.
His brother pointed an accusing finger to him, only a few inches from Jaime's face. "I told you to stay away from her."
Jaime heard grunts that brought his attention back to his sister. She slowly straightened back. He could see the bruises on her body, the result of Tyrion' assault. How could his little brother have done this? He looked back to Tyrion, only to meet the same angry expression, and Jaime didn't dare to do anything. Tyrion turned to look at Cersei. Somehow, Tyrion was more threatening than he ever remembered their father being.
"You are lucky that Jaime is here," Tyrion told her. "Or else I would have killed you. And if you were not my sister and we didn't share the same parents, your head would already be decorating a spike on the Red Keep's battlements. That would make a fitting justice for Ned Stark."
"You're going to pay for this," Cersei said, hatred filling her voice, but it wasn't as convincing as it was with Tyrion.
"Oh no, you're the one who's going to pay, Cersei. You owe me a lot." He made a pause. "I know what you did. I warned you."
Tyrion took the dagger at his side. Jaime still struggled to proceed all the events that happened during the last minute, but he feared for a moment Tyrion would stab Cersei with the knife. Instead, he just roughly put it on the nearby table, so hard that the sound of steel meeting wood echoed through all the apartment.
"Do you know what this is?" He looked at Jaime. "I'm asking a question to both of you," he added before their lack of response.
"I don't know what you're playing at, Tyrion, but I will not stand this," Cersei, now standing. She went from a sitting to a standing position quickly, and Jaime noticed the wince, despite her efforts to hide it. "I am the queen…"
"Any woman who must say I am the queen is not true queen. And according to facts, you are no queen. You forfeited that title the day you had Robert killed."
"They saw us! Vylarr and the others. They saw us together!"
"She's right," Jaime said. "We have to do something. If they tell the other red cloaks, the whole city might know by tomorrow."
"Come on, Jaime, everyone already knows about you. Stannis made sure of it," Tyrion mocked. "Vylarr and his men just saw something they knew, and they will tell everyone what everyone knows."
"We have to stop them."
"How? You're going to throw them from a tower like they were ten-years-old boys?" The things I do for love. The memory of the Stark boy falling came back to haunt him. "And maybe if this fails to end them someone will try to finish the job while they're asleep."
"We didn't do this." It wasn't the first time Jaime said this. He might have done many horrible things in his life, but he didn't send someone to kill that boy.
"You and Cersei? Maybe not. I think Margaery may have been wrong about you. Only, you see, she just came back and while she was in the Stormlands she met someone. You'll never guess. Catelyn Stark."
"How is that important?" Cersei asked. "Stannis is close to the city, and now Vylarr and his men…"
"Don't worry about Vylarr and his men, dear sister. Tomorrow, they will be gone and you will never see them again," Tyrion acidly replied. That seemed to calm down Cersei a little. "Now, Lady Stark showed something to Margaery when they met. The weapon that the assassin used. A very costly dagger, far too costly for a common footpad. Look at it. I think you'll find it familiar."
Jaime looked at it, and for the first time he noticed indeed that this was no dagger meant to kill. Well, it could kill, but it was obviously crafted to be a piece of collection and for ornamentation more than anything else. The handle was made of silver. And there was a green gem. It only took him a few seconds to remember where he saw it for the first time.
"Cersei, that's the dagger Tyrion and Margaery gave to Joffrey last year."
Cersei looked at it from afar. "If you say so. What of it?"
"Well, your son's blade ended in the hand of an assassin who tried to put an end to Brandon Stark's life," Tyrion stated. He first looked at Cersei, who seemed unsettled by this. Then Tyrion stared at Jaime, who realized what this meant.
"Tyrion, I swear to you, we have nothing to do…"
"I know, Jaime. Cersei is not stupid enough to risk this, and you wouldn't let someone do your dirty work for you. Your son, however, it's another matter."
It was strange for Jaime to hear someone call Joffrey his son. He needed a moment to fully understand who Tyrion was talking about when he said his son. In his eyes, Joffrey had only been his seed, not his son. Cersei never wanted him to get involved in her children's education. Apart from being present for their births, Jaime was never a father to them.
"What do you mean, my son?" Cersei asked.
"Joffrey is stupid enough to execute the Warden of the North, stupid enough to start a riot, and stupid enough to shoot on people asking for beard with a crossbow. Do you really think he wouldn't be stupid enough to send an assassin after Brandon Stark with his own blade?"
The air in the room was frozen for a long moment. And then Jaime remembered something that happened while they were in Winterfell. We kill our horses when they break a leg, and our dogs when they go blind, but we are too weak to give the same mercy to crippled children. The king had said it while he was drunk. Cersei was there, and her children too. Joffrey was there. He knew immediately what had happened.
"Joffrey has no love for Robb Stark, but the younger boy was nothing to him. And considering the Ironmen have probably killed him by now, it is a pity the assassin didn't finish the work. It would have been painless to the boy to die in his sleep. You can be sure the Greyjoys made him suffer," Cersei mocked.
"I heard a conversation between Joffrey and Clegane while we were at Winterfell. He was jesting about sending a dog to kill a wolf," Tyrion said.
"And you believe that makes Joffrey the man who sent the assassin?" Cersei mocked again.
"No, but I just questioned Clegane. He confirmed that Joffrey asked him to find a man who wasn't afraid to dirty his hands. Clegane did so and gave the man a generous pouch of silver. He doesn't know what Joffrey asked of the man, but I think it is quite obvious."
So, Joffrey had been the one. It confirmed what Jaime had already deduced. The assassin who tried to end the days of the Stark boy after Jaime failed was sent by Joffrey, who was hoping to impress Robert.
For a moment, Cersei said nothing. Then, her face hardened again. "I don't care. You deal with Vylarr and his men. The rest doesn't matter to me."
Tyrion made a few steps towards her, very slowly, in a way that was nothing short of threatening. "I'm done with helping you, Cersei. I protected you and your son despite everything you did. Now this is over. I warned you to not touch her. I told you I would turn your life into a living hell if you tried anything on her. Well, I never make empty threats. Your life turns to hell tonight."
He walked away, and as he closed the door, telling his men they were done here, Jaime looked at Cersei. She seemed terrified.
"What did he mean? Your life is turning to hell tonight?" Jaime asked.
She slowly looked at him. "That means he's going to kill me."
"Kill you? Come on, Cersei…"
"You saw what he just did." She removed the sheets covering her body, showing the bruises he left. "You really still think he's not capable of that?" Jaime remained speechless. "He's going to kill me, then he's going to kill Joffrey and all our children, until there's no one left, and he can seize the Iron Throne for himself and that bitch from Highgarden."
"Cersei…" Jaime tried on a soothing tone, only to be cut short.
"Kill him." The two words came out of her beautiful lips like two sharp blades. "Kill Tyrion."
He looked at his sister as if they never met before. She wasn't joking. He gathered his clothes, dressed up and left quickly, running through the corridors until he reached the person he wanted to talk to.
"Tyrion." The red cloaks turned, their hand on the hilt of their swords.
"It's alright, men. Leave us alone. Stand guard by the ends of the corridor. I need a private discussion with my brother, anyway," his brother said.
The red cloaks, some who he knew very well, took position far away from them, casting suspicious glances at him as they moved away, until Jaime was alone in the middle of the long corridor with Tyrion. He had his sword at his belt. If he wanted to do what Cersei asked him to, he would have no problem.
"It's over, Jaime. I'm done with Cersei and Joffrey. I protected them because they were my family, but now I'm done with them."
"What's the meaning of all this?" Jaime asked his brother. Everything had gone so quickly. How could his brother beat his sister and reveal that Joffrey sent an assassin after Bran Stark within less than half-an-hour? This didn't look like Tyrion. "Why did you tell Cersei you would turn her life into a living hell?"
"Because I warned her a long time ago that if she tried anything on my wife, I would do it. If you ever dare to touch Margaery, if you ever dare to hurt her in any way, or if you ever threaten her again, I will turn your life into a living hell. I was very clear and yet, our dear sister decided to try to kill her all the same."
"What?"
"Mandon Moore. He followed Margaery in the Stormlands. He didn't come back. He killed Loras Tyrell, and then he tried to kill Margaery."
"Moore? Why would Moore try to kill your wife?"
"There are only two people in King's Landing who can give an order to a kingsguard. Joffrey has no grudge against Margaery. Cersei, on the other hand…"
"Are you sure that Cersei tried to kill her?" Jaime asked, having a hard time believing it.
"I'm not sure. I know it. She's the one who suggested Ser Mandon Moore should follow her. And don't come and tell me it would be the first time Moore would do something for Cersei."
No, it wasn't. Jaime was well aware that three kingsguards, Meryn Trant, Boros Blount and Mandon Moore, were all licking Cersei's boots. Moore was the most discreet of the three, but he followed Cersei's orders much more than he followed Robert's. But could Cersei order the death of Margaery's wife? Well, she just asked him to kill his brother.
"You know that she tried to kill me, Jaime. She tried to have me poisoned not long after Father died. We arrested the people who were guilty, and they confessed everything. And later she tried to turn the lords of the Westerlands against me. Leo Lefford was in league with her, that's why I removed him and placed his daughter Alysanne at the head of the Golden Tooth. And he's only one of the few lords she contacted. She even plotted with the Florents in the Reach so that they would rebel against Margaery's father."
Strangely enough, that didn't surprise Jaime. "She just asked me to kill you," he confessed.
Tyrion showed no surprise. "So, should I turn around and close my eyes?"
"Are you really asking if I'd kill my brother?"
"I take it as a no."
"Depends. Cersei told me you would kill her and her children."
"You're really asking if I'd kill my sister and your children?"
Of course not. Jaime wasn't really asking it, or so he thought. He was no longer sure of anything.
"Margaery knows. I told her everything."
Jaime nodded.
"Or, actually, she discovered the truth, or at least was sure this was the truth, and I confirmed her suspicions."
"How is she?" Jaime asked.
A shadow crept upon Tyrion's face. "How do you think? Her brother just died because of this war, a war that Cersei and Joffrey started. I protected them, and I lied to her. She knows it now. How do you think she feels?"
Again, Jaime nodded. "I'm sorry."
Tyrion nodded as well to acknowledge Jaime's apologies. "I've made my choice, Jaime. I'm done protecting and helping people who hate me and don't deserve my help. They would see me dead at the first opportunity. You know I already lost a wife. I cannot lose another."
No, indeed, he couldn't. Tyrion didn't need to remind Jaime of that tragedy anymore than Jaime needed to remind Tyrion of it. "What are you going to do?"
"I'm done with Cersei and Joffrey. I'm done with protecting them and a chair. I will not stand in Stannis' way. Margaery is my wife. She is my family." He stared straight into his brother's eyes. "You know what I'm going to do Jaime. I suggest you don't try to stop me."
Yes, Jaime knew what Tyrion would do. Tyrion told him a long time ago. He never liked to be here for Cersei and Joffrey. "The things we do for love."
"Yes."
Jaime exhaled. "Good luck, little brother."
They shook hands, and they remained entwined for a very long time. Before they parted ways, Tyrion looked at him. "I made my choice, Jaime. It's time for you to make yours."
And with that, they went separate ways. Jaime headed for the Tower of the Hand. There was someone he needed to talk with.
This was the second part of the revelations. We'll discover what Tyrion intends to do soon enough.
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Next chapter (tomorrow): Margaery
