*Wow, thank you all so much for the lovely reviews. I really hadn't anticipated this getting any views, I hope you enjoy! If it helps to set the scene at all, I usually type these chapters whilst listening to the following compilation on youtube. It's also great to listen to whilst reading the books /Bij4APEvJ9Q

The pair hadn't spoken a word yet. They were still by the river, Cersei stood at the foot of a tree staring blankly into the night whilst Jaime tried to calm the dead Dothraki rider's horse. The beast had struck at him a handful of times now but he remained determined to placate the distressed animal. It'd be far quicker and safer on horseback than travelling on foot the rest of the way. Progress was being made, slowly but surely. Over by the tree, Cersei was doing her best to avoid landing her eyes on the decapitated head only a few feet away. But she couldn't help it. His eyes were still open, no light left in them anymore. Not even a reflection of the night's moon, yet they were wide as though still seeing. At first she felt sad, distraught even but now only anger filled her chest. This man, this savage had defiled her. The growing desire to look at his severed skull and revel in his downfall was rippling through her at great speed like a crashing wave.

"We can't linger here any longer." Jaime finally broke the silence, the horse in his grasp at last. The crazed stallion was still skittish but seemed to have calmed considerably. "There'll be more riders out there, it's only a matter of time before another one stumbles upon us." He was removing any items from the animal that could be distinguishable as being Dothraki. He turned to look at his sister, worried for her current state. "Cersei? What are you doing?" His voice elevated in pitch as his eyebrows pulled together in the middle, shocked at her actions. She didn't answer. Moving towards the headless body, she pulled a knife from the holster on his loosened trousers before standing graciously and approaching his wretched head. Silently but furiously she chopped his long braid from his scalp. It took a bit of hacking at but eventually she stood again, his long, wiry hair wrapped around her hand. Jaime was wordless the entire time, his eyes fixated on her strange actions. "A souvenir? Really?" Her brother was taken aback. "This man raped you-"

"Yes." She interjected. "And now he's dead, you killed him. Let them find him this way, shame will be upon him and his braid-less head. A fallen Dothraki warrior with nothing to show for his last fight." Her words were soft but cold. Dripping with a deep anger that he feared would take hold of her completely. She pocketed the hair, like a prized possession before salvaging the Dothraki's hooded cloak from his limp body and headed towards her twin. He studied her gait, her movement seemed affected by the horrendous events of the night.

"Ashford isn't far from here, we'll stop there for the night and get some rest. It'll take us at least a day to reach Highgarden if we have a smooth journey." He spoke gently as he helped her up on to the saddle-less horse. She'd cloaked herself in the hood, offering herself some form of protection from staring and curious eyes, her head of blonde hair concealed. "And I pray we have no more encounters with Dothraki men." He muttered to himself. Securing her first, he mounted the stallion once she was up on it's back. She hadn't been on a horse since she was a young girl at Casterly Rock. She'd always found something strangely liberating about galloping through fields, the wind whipping through her hair like she hadn't a care in the world. How different things were now. Positioned behind, his arms rested around her holding the reins firmly in front of them both. They'd ditched the saddle next to the slain body, their journey resuming again as the darkness engulfed them riding into the night.

They took it slowly and silently. It was far too dark to take off at speed through the woods, truthfully they were both just glad to be off their feet. Jaime had kept all manner of complaints to himself for the time being but the wound he'd sustained from Euron Greyjoy was still burning painfully beneath his dark heavy clothing. He would utter no word of this in front of his sister. Not tonight, not after what she'd just endured because of him. He'd failed her. He was brought back to the moment by her warm palm wrapping around his wrist reassuringly. As though she'd heard his thoughts and was telling him he was at no fault. She'd been resting on him for the majority of the ride, his frame supporting her from behind. His arms guarding her from all else. She could have nodded off if not for the horrifying flashbacks. Every time she closed her eyes she could see his face. No matter how hard she attempted to blink it away, it kept reappearing. They'd been riding for at least an hour when Jaime's voice sounded in her ear.

"There's light ahead, I think we're here." Pulling the horse to a stop he signalled for her to take the reins and slid himself off the horse to the left.

"Where are you going?" Her voice was dry and heavy with fatigue. It'd been nearly three days with no food, minimal sleep and only mouthfuls of water.

"Wait here, I'll take a look to make sure it's safe." He squeezed her hand, watching as she nodded in understanding. "Keep your hood up and if anyone or anything moves your way, you kick this animal for as far as it can take you. Do you understand?"

"I'm not leaving you-"

"Yes, you will. You don't wait for me or come looking for me. You go straight to Highgarden, to Bronn and you plead with him for your life if you have to. Tyrion should be there by now." The look they shared in the darkened woodland was enough to tell him she grasped the gravity of what he was saying. "When I come back I'll whistle twice to let you know it's me-" Before he could properly conclude his sentence, she'd leaned down and cupped his face sweetly. Her lips planted upon his, kissing him softly before pulling away only a fraction to rest her forehead on his.

"Make sure you come back to me." Her words were whispered gently into his face before he answered with another kiss. Their eyes closed, embracing the tender moment. Watching him walk away from her was agonising, like an organ of hers was being pulled from her body. It took mere minutes for him to disappear completely, leaving her to wait with baited breath. She was glad the horse was with her, any sign of danger or fright and the beast would be sure to inadvertently warn her. Any noise around her garnered her interest. A twig snapping, a bird cawing, even the gentle breeze had her on edge as it softly rustled the tree tops above her. It was a magnificent beast she was sat atop. Strong, dark and muscular. His coat was the shiniest she'd ever seen before. He was restless beneath her, perhaps unsettled from losing his rider, who could say. Striking his front leg repeatedly she could feel he was agitated. She slipped her fingers down to his wither, letting her hand run from his gathered shoulders and up along his thick neck. Soothing him quietly. His mane was wild, long and tangled to match that of his previous master. She inched back, pulling the braid from her pocket. Truth be told, she didn't know why she'd taken it. The shame he'd caused her to feel, perhaps she wanted the same shame for him after death. A Dothraki rider with no braid was an embarrassment. A furrow deepened in her brow, if only she'd been able to fight him off but a man of his size was always going to be able to overpower her. Despite how angry that made her, it was the truth. And Jaime. If he'd been but a little faster...Her thoughts trailed off. Forcing herself to quiet the accusations in her brain. He nearly died for her, he did all he could. She was looking for someone or something to pour her anger into and her sweet brother was not the one.

The town was quiet and sleepy. There weren't many folk about given most would have been resting now but a small gathering near a cragged stone building grabbed his interest. He was walking along the road, his gloves on already in an attempt to hide his golden paw. It was an Inn, not a very big one but it was exactly what they needed to accommodate their needs. The group collected outside looked to be leaving for the night, all moving off to their individual homes to retire for the evening. He'd have looked suspicious if he'd stopped and waited for them to leave and thus he continued on towards them, his thoughts on Cersei with every step he took. The men were laughing between themselves, the stink of ale hanging around them as their breaths hit the air. None of them paid him any mind as he walked straight past and entered through the stone arched doorway. The large wooden door creaked as he pushed it open. He was still damp and positively filthy, nothing like a Lannister should look. Thankfully for him on this awful evening.

"No more ale." The older man barked as soon as he saw him enter, he was wiping a table not really caring how clean it was. Clearly just a task of habit. Over in the corner by a grubby looking stove there was an older woman stirring in her pots. A married couple, Jaime assumed.

"No ale for me, thank you." He spoke cautiously. "I'm looking for a room, just for the night-"

"No rooms, we're full." Coughing loudly, he shoved the cleaning rag into his pocket and waddled back towards the fire. The place was empty. Jaime wasn't going back to Cersei without promise of a room, some food and a warm fire. He moved closer to the tired old man, his hand on the hilt of his sword hidden beneath his top layer, but watching his aged body heave as he stoked the fire instilled a feeling of pity in him.

"I can pay you." He paused, discreetly removing his hand from his sword. "Handsomely."

"How handsomely?" He finally turned to look at him, he was a short thing. His neck craning to stare up at Jaime. There was no twinkle of recognition in his eyes, thankfully. To him, he was just another lone traveller passing through. Jaime smiled, pulling out a small bag of gold. The Innkeeper swallowed hard before glancing back up to Jaime's face.

"Aye, alright. There might be one room left, I'll fetch you a key." He held his hands out eagerly but Jaime retracted.

"The key first, and some food too." He smiled. "Then you get the gold, are we agreed?"

"Alright, alright." He muttered grumpily, turning to grab said key from a small tin on the table. "I'll have Lyra here bring up your food." He motioned in her direction as Jaime tried his best to smile at her, although he was starving, the chunky slop she seemed to be stirring looked disgusting. Something Cersei was sure to complain about. The old man approached again with the key, keen to get his gold as they completed the exchange. "Room's a bit of a mess, that's why I said there was none. You'll keep the noise to a minimum too, I like to get my rest and I kip in the room next door." He offered a stark warning partnered with a stern gaze. "It's up the stairs, last door on the left."

"I'll be as quiet as a mouse." Jaime smiled. "Two bowls of the uh..." He trailed off not quite knowing what the food was, staring at the aged woman.

"Badger stew." She smiled a toothless smile.

"Looks...delicious." Lying through a charming smile he nodded in appreciation as she grabbed a second bowl and began serving up the chunky liquid. It was brown and runny with great solid chunks slopping into the metal bowls. To his relief, he saw her place a small roll of bread with each meal. If Cersei complained too much about the excrement goop, he'd just give her both bits of bread.

"Two bowls? I don't know if you've given me enough gold for two bowls, or even two beds for that matter." The old man piped up, working hard for his extra gold it would seem. "That's gonna cost you extra." Ordinarily Jaime would have argued that it was more than enough but he didn't want to risk losing the room or the food, if it was even edible that is.

"This is all you're getting." He dropped a few more gold coins on to the table. "We'll need a fire going and just the one bed will be fine." He smiled, the left side of his mouth raising higher than the right. "I'll bring my horse and travelling companion around the back, my horse will need water and hay."

"Understood." His old, liver-spotted hands scrambled at the coins and added them to the first bag of gold he was given. This was his lucky night.

Back in the woods, the air had stilled eerily. All noise of night birds and wind ceased at once. It was as if somebody had covered her ears. Looking around herself anxiously she could only see the silhouettes of trees and bushes, anything beyond that was pure darkness to her gaze. A black abyss. The stallion shifted, letting a small whinny escape as he grew unsettled. The deafening cry caught them both by surprise. Up above the woods, skimming the heads of trees, the last remaining Dragon screeched as it it sent a hurricane of wind through the trees with it's wings. She managed to steady the stallion as he danced on the spot, one hand holding on to a chunk of his long mane and the reins whilst the other reached up to secure her hood in place. She'd seen the carnage these beasts could cause but seeing it this close was entirely different. She saw it's underbelly through every gap in the surface of the trees above. The entire woodland roared with it, every branch, every leaf. Even the pebbles under foot quaked momentarily. She gripped on as tightly as she could, riding out the ripple of wind following it's path until finally everything calmed again.

"Steady." She cooed gently, her palm rubbing at the horse's neck. Her focus had remained on the sky until the leaves finally stopped falling. He was a prancing thing, nothing like the horses she'd seen Lanniser and Baratheon men ride into battle on. Part of her wondered if he still harnessed a wild and untamed side. Like he was never really owned by anyone but merely borrowed from the land across the Narrow Sea. A whistle through the trees captured her attention as her neck snapped in it's general direction. Another whistle sounded. Jaime had said he'd do it twice but what if this wasn't him? She strained her eyes, trying to force them to see through the shadowed surroundings. Her mind pictured hundreds of Dothraki staring back at her, or maybe an army of Unsullied lay hidden and watching her every move.

"Cersei?" The familiarity of his voice sent a secure feeling over her, like a warm blanket. It was Jaime.


Calling the room a bit of a mess was a massive understatement. It was unpalatable. They'd secured their newfound horse around the back to avoid it being seen and made their way up the stairs, shutting themselves inside. There was no window covering, just an open square hungrily pulling in the cool night breeze. The bed was so small it looked as though it was designed for a child, the blankets worn and tattered with many stains marking it. In the centre of the main wall there was at least a fire place. Jaime edged around his sister and began lighting the room torches from the fire flames.

"It's not very lavish but it'll do." He spoke, his back still facing her whilst he replaced the torch on the wall. It looked even worse with added light, he thought to himself as he turned back around. Old lady toothless had done as instructed and put their food on the rickety table by the window. The lumps of meat looked more dangerous than ever now that the warm steam had long-gone. Glancing back at her, he noted she hadn't moved a muscle. She just stood as still as a statue, staring at the bed. There was a pull in the right side of her upper lip, signalling her disgust whilst she pulled the Dothraki cloak from her head and shoulders. It fell to the floor in a heap.

"The High Sparrow had me imprisoned in better conditions." She purred venomously.

"Well, lucky for us, we're not imprisoned and this is only for one night." He bit back, starting to remove his sheathed sword. He lay it on the table next to their stone-cold meals before moving on to his upper body clothing. They were still damp and he needed to assess his sword wound. "You should eat and get some rest, we'll be leaving at first light." His words were muffled as he strained and winced, finally free of his top he lay it flat in front of the fire and pulled the only chair closer to the warm flames before seating himself on it. The fabric from her dress was still wrapped tightly around the trunk of his body. Thankfully the wound wasn't a piercing one, but the blade had sliced his side good and proper. The gash was deep and open but looked to be healing somewhat once he'd removed the make-shift bandage. "Cersei, you need to eat something-"

"I'm not hungry anymore." She looked from the unappetising bowls of crap back to him. The flames were dancing in his eyes. "What is it?"

"Badger stew, allegedly." He grimaced as well, but she needed to eat. "At least have the bread." Watching her closely, she was studying the rolls from where she was. Still no further into the room. Until, at last, she took a step forwards. If anything just to be beside the fire, she was chilled to the bone. Satisfied with the progress, he stood up, offering her the chair as he turned to grab the food bowls. His skin was glowing warmly in the light of the fire, as golden as a lion she thought.

"What about you?" She questioned worriedly as he handed her both bits of bread.

"Me?" He smiled. "I love badger stew." He perched himself on the end of the tiny bed with one of the bowls, still able to bask in the fire warmth. Truthfully, he was actually a little afraid to put the first spoonful into his mouth. Even more so when Cersei physically dry-heaved as she watched him spoon it in. The texture was the worst part about it, followed by the taste. It was gritty and had a real strong odour to it, each bite was traumatic but he needed to fill his belly. Over on the chair she ate at the bread delicately, like a little birdling. Her green eyes watching him with a hint of concern in her expression.

"What if Tyrion can't help us?" She questioned cautiously, her gaze now on the flickering fire in front of her. "What will we do then?"

"We'll still have Pentos-"

"You saw that dragon, Jaime. If she flies that thing over the Narrow Sea, even just by chance, we'll be burnt alive." Her earlier encounter with the beast had unnerved her slightly. The thought of being trapped on a boat in the middle of the waters with no escape made her feel panicked.

"I have faith in our brother, as should you." He stood from the bed and moved to crouch before her. "We'll be safe in Highgarden, we won't have to eat badger stew and share our food with rats." He looked to the corner of the room for the latter of his sentence, the vermin were pacing the walls in search of crumbs left behind. "Look at me." He urged softly, their eyes meeting. "You, me, the baby. We will never know this suffering again." He vowed. "I won't let it happen."

"You can't stop it." She shook her head, facing the fire again. Her voice was so gentle yet her words were like a dagger in his heart. "There was two of us tonight and we still couldn't stop it." Her jaw tensed. "We made it so easy for him. He just took what he wanted and we let him."

"Cersei, I was knocked unconscious-" He started in defence, shocked that she was really blaming him for this.

"I know you mean well, sweet brother but please do not make promises you cannot keep." Her eyes never came back to his, they just continued to stare at the flames blankly. "If we are all that truly matters in this world, what happened tonight cannot happen again. If I could have it my way, brother, we'd take back the Lannister name, take back what is rightfully ours and they would hear us roar." Her hands were clawing at the arms of the chair as he watched her in complete distress. "But we can't." Her passionate growls grew soft and defeated. "We're alone, wounded and feasting with vermin."