Since birth, there had been no greater tensions between Cersei and Jaime than that created by his conditions to be wed. Not only had the Queen Regent been shocked when her father had disclosed the news that Jaime would no longer be in service to the King's Guard, but she had also nearly choked on her wine when she learned that he would be the Lord of Casterly Rock and desired to marry her handmaiden. Her wine had gone sour in her mouth, forcing her to choke it back before the goblet had been thrown across the room. They had been brought into the world together, and now he was forcing it into ruins around her. Her father was shopping her like a broodmare, her daughter was a prisoner in Dorne, Joffrey was to wed a manipulative harlot and now her brother was to take the subject of her desire; Julianna.
Her arms were thrown down at her sides, golden hair cascading down her back as she looked around her chambers wildly. She wouldn't let this happen, the girl would be hers. Emerald eyes settled on the slender handmaiden by the bed, her curves near nonexistence, and her hair drab ebony. "You," she pointed a finger as she attempted to recall the handmaiden's name, "Bernadette is it?"
"-Yes my queen?" the girl fell into a curtsy.
"Julianna, Where is she?"
Daybreak had yet to filter through the diminutive windows of White Sword Tower. The openings between breaks were merely large enough to let in the salted winds as it travelled over the top of Blackwater Bay and into the Red Keep. Goose-flesh arose over naked skin as it was touched by the breeze, only to be put at ease by the warmth of sloppy kisses as they travelled the expanse of freckled flesh. Julianna's form was ignited with desire, the mouth of her lover nipping at the supple flesh of her thighs. His name was a whisper of a song on her lips as her back arched from the firm bed in the cluttered room. Jaime had been packing up his belongings when Julianna had slipped in with the intent of surprising her lover, instead, it was she would relish under the pleasure of his tongue.
Lips fell agape, pleasure-filled moans threatening to tear up her throat. She desperately wanted to let Jaime hear the pleasure she was bringing to her. Instead, her hands left where she gripped on the bed linens, reaching for his pillow for her teeth to bite down on. There would come a time she would not have to worry about the knights on the side of the door.
"Jaime-" his name was a breathy whisper against the pillow.
Peering up, Jamie smirked mischievously.
"Jaime, I want you," Julianna was begging him, the pillow tossed aside so she could prop herself up on her elbows to gaze down upon her knight. She didn't have to ask twice...
Jaime was greeted by three tall silhouettes cascading against the stone floors of the chambers. Brows furrowed as he turned to shut the door tight behind him. How had he earned such an audience? Stepping out from the shadow of the doorway, it became clear that Jaime was not dressed in the white cloak that had weighed heavily on his shoulders for decades, instead, he wore armour of black, burgundy and gold. He was met with the pride-filled grin of his father, and a grimace of distaste from his sister who nursed a wine goblet by the towering windows that looked down over King's Landing. It was only as he moved deeper into the chambers that he noticed the look of worry on the features of the third face, his brother Tyrion. His stomach sunk, his heart racing in his chest as he realized just how dangerous that game he was playing had become. If his father somehow discovered he was asking to be wed to a common whore, both her and Tyrion would be exposed for their secrecy and betrayal.
"Father," he greeted, "I was under the impression it would be the two of us."
"Your brother is here to discuss the expenses of a second wedding as the Master of Coin," Tywin spoke pointedly, taking long strides to his chair at the head of the table. Cersei followed obediently like a stay dog stalked the butcher in Flea Bottom. "And your sister," Tywin let out an annoyed sigh, "has her concerns to bring forth." Tywin had not brought forth many questions when his son had stormed into his chambers with the demands of a bride. There was nothing more that he wanted than the assurance that the Lannister legacy would be carried on through Jaime - but he would entertain Cersei's concerns if only to discuss options that would leave them with stronger political allies going forward.
"Concerns?" Jaime raised a brow, falling in step to take a seat across from his father. He received no response beyond Cersei dragging her chair across the floor, seating herself far from Jaime and Tyrion, right next to their father. Did she really think Tywin would side with her? A part of Jaime began to worry, what did his sister know that provided her with such confidence?
Cersei took a long sip of her wine, draining it to the bottom before reaching out for the pitcher to replenish the tart liquor in her goblet. Satisfied with the fullness of her cup, Cersei gazes down the length of the table, his betrayal leaving a bitter taste in her mouth. How dare he lie to her face? One moment he was devoting himself to her and the King's Guard, the next he was running to his father announcing he was to be the Lord of Casterly Rock. It was enough to leave her lurching, Cersei wasn't going to let him take her handmaiden from her.
"Julianna is but a girl," Cersei let her voice known, her eyes retracting back to her father. It was him she would have to convince, not Jaime. "She has been in my service since before the Battle of Blackwater and has become a key member of my household. She knows little beyond lighting candles and cleaning chamber pots. While she has proven herself a hard worker, is she a lady? No, I think not."
Tyrion cleared his throat from beside his brother. He pulled himself up into his seat, his hand fidgeting with the pouch of coins that hung from his hip. Many nights he lay awake devising a believable story of how Julianna came to be a handmaiden in service to the queen. He had hoped he would never need to use it, but he knew his father wouldn't hesitate to kill him if he was to learn that he was the sole reason behind his brother bedding a whore from Littlefinger's brothel. All he had needed was the right amount of fatality, and the Red Wedding had provided it to him. "Julianna Westerling," the lie slid off his lips with ease.
The Westerling house had a vassal house to the Lannisters for centuries, but as they had fallen on hard times and lost much of their wealth. Their father had lost interest in them not long after, even with their desperate attempts to prove their allegiance once more by aiding in the murder of Robb Stark alongside the Frey. With the many scrolls received from Walder Frey, it quickly became clear that Gawen Westerling had been murdered by Robb Stark before the crossbow could take his heart. His wife, Sybell, had taken her own life upon learning Jayne had been slain alongside the self-declared King of the North when it had been rumoured she was with child. Their eldest son Ser Raynald had drowned in the green fork, and the youngest children had been slaughtered in Riverrun. The house was left extinct, no one left to protest the claims made by Tyrion. It was the perfect fabrication, that was if his father did not dig into it too deeply.
"With her family killed at the Red Wedding, Julianna is the sole proprietor of the Crag. While the castle has been poorly maintained, and the family was left with little wealth it can still be considered a valuable piece of land on the trade route and for the future of our House. With time, it can be rebuilt and the Lannisters would hold Casterly Rock, Lannisport, the Crag and King's Landing. With Cersei's betrothal to Loras, and Marcella betrothed in Dorne, we would continue to have a stronghold on the Seven Kingdom's."
"Without any influence in the Riverlands, Iron Islands, Vale of Aaryn, the North or Storm's End," Cersei challenged, after choking back her wine. There had been no previous indication of the girl's status before, how had she not realized it sooner? Had she been mourning in private?
"Our enemies are to the North," Jaime reminded gently, even after the death of Robb Stark, the war between them continued to rage on. "Stannis Baratheon continues to fight for his claim-"
"Roose Bolton is the Warden of the North," Tywin pointed out, his voice demanding silence between his children.
"Are you suggesting I marry his bastard Ramsey," Jaime joked, his golden hand coming down to rest upon the tabletop. He continued to mock; "Maybe Lysa Tully, who continues to blame Tyrion for the death of her husband-"
"Walder Frey has many daughters, granddaughters even," Cersei's suggestion earned a look of disgust from her father. While the Frey had been essential in ridding Westero's of Robb Stark, he was not that desperate.
"There is the Tarly girl, Talla," Tywin spoke after a moment, she was one of the few noblewomen left in Westeros left to his consideration. She was the daughter of Lord Randyll Tarly, a man Jaime greatly respected. She could be the key to holding The Reach if Cersei continued to protest her betrothal to Loras Tyrell.
"A suitable match," Cersei praised, her hands coming together in a please clap at her chest. "It will assure their loyalty to the crown, over the Tyrell in Highgarden." She had made it very clear she did not trust Margaery, and while forcing her brother to marry the Tarley girl wouldn't give her peace of mind, at least he too would be suffering. "If we are so concerned for the girl and the Crag," Cersei returned her focus to Julianna, "we marry her off to another. She could become very valuable to us, and since Tyrion is already wed to Sansa," her gaze met the eyes of her father, "maybe it's time you remarry father-"
"You wont call Julianna Lady of Casterly Rock, but you would call her mother?" Jaime spat out in disgust. The thought of Julianna forced to marry his father left his stomach in knots. He wouldn't dare marry again, would he? He was sure his love for their mother continued to rage on inside him, even after her passing long ago. Any other man would have remarried long ago, if his father had any intention to do so, why would he have waited so long?
"The girl, Julianna," Tywin hummed, a hand coming up to run over the white beard that itched at his neck, "has she bled yet?"
Jaime almost choked, reaching for his own goblet in a desperate attempt to drink back any emotion that threatened to slip onto his features.
"Why yes," Cersei cut in, "she has recently had her nineteenth name-day."
Jaime looked to Tyrion, looking over the gold goblet as she raised a brow at him. Was this true? He should have been the one to know, but her age had never been called into question.
"Then she is very much a woman," Tywin concluded, "she could be valuable to us. I will not just cast her aside, nor will I dishonour your mother by taking her into my bed."
Sweat dripped down the back of Jaime's neck. Marrying Julianna had been his only condition in leaving the King's Guard, and here he sat feeling he had no control over his own future as the Lord of Casterly Rock.
"She could be used as a bargaining chip with the Tarlys, Julianna for Talla," Tywin thought out loud, he had even considered Tommon, but he was still a boy. His time for a bride would come.
"Loras Tyrell would be a marvellous fit," Cersei spoke coyly as if her father had forgotten the betrothal he had fought so firmly to arrange.
Tywin's fist came down hard on the table firmly, rattling each goblet and the wine vassal that rested at its centre. He would not be wasting his time on such foolishness. Did she think this was a game? This was his legacy they were calling into question here, and if his son marrying the Westerling girl was the only way, so be it.
Jamie stood up from the end of the table, ignoring his brother and sister, looking directly to his father. "Julianna is the girl I have asked to rule by my side, if that is not something you can allow my white cloak is waiting for me in my quarters."
Tywin raised his hand up quietly, gesturing to the seat at the end of the table. There would be no need for anything brash. Taking his quill, he let it drag over the parchment, naming both Jaime Lannister and Julianna Westerling as betrothed. The seal of the hand officiated the letter that would be sent to the sept and announced to The Seven Kingdoms. "You will wed after the joining of Joffrey and Margaery Tyrell-"
"So soon?" Cersei cut in desperately, "Joffrey's wedding is one of the most expensive affairs in Westeros," Margaery had expensive taste, "the crown surely can't afford to fund another wedding so quickly."
Opening his books, Tyrion let his eyes scan over his records. The crown was very much in debt, but the Tyrell's had agreed to handle many of the expenses for the royal wedding. Thick fingers tapped against the parchment, sorting out the figures in his mind, "we will have enough funding for a small wedding shortly after that of Joffrey and Margaery."
Standing up from his seat, Tywin took hold of the vassal and topped off the glass of both Jaime and Tyrion before raising his up his own in a toast. "The house that puts family first will always defeat the house that puts the whims and wishes of its sons and daughters first." Tywin looked from each of his children with pride. Tyrion had we d the Stark girl, securing power in The North when she birthed his sons. Cersei would marry Loras, he was sure her protests would subside, and their children would one day reign over the reach - and would put the incestuous rumours to rest. Then there was Jaime. For years he had been consumed by the King's Guard. First in service to the Targaryen, Robert Baratheon and finally Joffrey. His heir had been lost in the vows of the guard until his hand was lost. A blessing in disguise. Tywin was sure it hadn't been an easy decision for his son, so making the compromise for Jaime to marry the Westerling girl didn't take further consideration - especially when Cersei's arguments did nothing but displease him.
Tywin let his eyes fall on Jaime, his glass remaining high in the air between them, "A good man does everything in his power to better his family's position, regardless of his own selfish desires-"
Jaime almost laughed, if only his father knew the true motivations behind his actions. Lips split into a grin, his own goblet raising to honour his father. Eyes shut, savouring the wine as it met his lips only for the abrupt smash of the wine vassal to disrupt the celebration of the Lannister men.
Cersei was a spoiled child throwing a tantrum when she failed to get her way, the wine splattered up her skirt after its impact on the ground. Tywin met her grimace with a firm frown. "Handmaidens are replaceable," he muttered out, stepping forward to kick the shattered pottery across the floor, "the Westerling girl will be joining our house, your sister by marriage. From this day, she will no longer be in your service-"
"-Joffrey's wedding-"
"She will be in attendance, not to serve you but as a guest," Jaime's betrothed, "please do assure that the girl has a proper gown for the feast and prepare her for her duties as the Lady of Casterly Rock-"
Cersei's hands balled into fists at her sides, her full lips pressing into a firm line. If looks could kill, she would be the last lion left alive. Abandoning the mess at her feet, and the glare of her father, Cersei took to the castle, her guards falling into step behind her as she exited the chamber. If her father wanted her to mentor the girl, she was going to take full advantage. She just hoped the poor girl could keep up.
