When Tyrion woke the next morning he felt every bone in his body aching. The chair he'd snoozed on offered very little comfort, even to someone of his size. Stretching out slowly, he was faced with the ashes of his burnt out fire, the sun creeping in through the veils of white curtain framing the entrance to the balcony. His eyes took a moment to adjust to the light, sleep clinging to him desperately. Jaime was still in what looked to be a deep slumber, the space next to him where Cersei had lay was empty, the blankets still strewn where she'd nested beside him overnight. Tyrion had stirred a few times during his slumber as Cersei tossed and turned throughout the evening. Their food remained untouched on the cabinets, cold and darkened with the hours passed. Both had been too tired and concerned to eat but he feared if Jaime woke to find Cersei in a bad way, he wouldn't be overly pleased. Cracking his knees and elbows, he shrugged away the sleep and slid down from the chair. The moment he began making his way across the floor, he saw her silhouette on the balcony, the rising sun a glorious back drop for her ethereal beauty. She looked peaceful. He watched her for only a few short seconds before joining her, the morning's air waking him instantly. It was fresh and biting, his cheeks and nose instantly at it's mercy. But in the sun, there was a beacon of warmth cascading down over them. Over the grounds and the trees and the flowers below. It was magnificent.

"Jaime looks well, the fever seems to have passed." He almost beamed. "He's through the worst of it."

"I found myself watching him all night, just waiting for him to slip away without me knowing. Go some place where I couldn't follow him." She smoothed her palms over the grey stone finish of the overlook. "As soon as the sun starting to rise I felt like I could breathe again."

"You didn't eat." His stomach rumbled right as he spoke. "Neither did I and apparently I'm ravenous." He stole a glance at her but she was still and quiet, something she seemed to be quite a lot as of late. "I'll find us some breakfast, no doubt Jaime will be hungry when he wakes." He rubbed his hands together, not at all surprised by her lack of answer before he turned and left. She felt so safe here, so secluded and protected she never wanted to leave but this was a feeling she'd never have a again. Once they left here they were walking prey once more, fighting and battling for survival. That word kept replaying in her mind. Was it really living if they were just surviving? She wanted her babe to grow up, fall in love with the world around her. Laugh, play and find passions in her life. She wanted Jaime to be a father this time, to hold their daughter, dote on her and protect this tiny human with all his might, the way he protected her. The taste soured in her mouth. It was a dream, cruelly dangling itself before her yet every time she reached for it, the images would fade and turn to ash. The more she latched on to hope, the less connected she felt. But a lion never stops fighting, until her last breath she'd claw for that future. The rustling of bed sheets shook her gently her from such dark and twisted thoughts, turning to look through the archway she saw Jaime stirring.

His eyes opened to a foreign environment, not recognising the draped bed canopies above, nor the sound of the room he lay in. He pushed his arm out to the side, feeling for her body but the space was cold and empty, not completely void of her presence as he could still smell her sweet, natural scent lingering in the sheets. Pushing himself to sit upright, he growled at the soreness of his side. It was dressed neatly with clean, silk bandaging. Glancing around the room, he finally landed his eyes straight ahead. A sight he was certain wasn't real, his lids blinking to try and blur it from his vision. But it was no lie. She was walking towards him, the pure sunlight illuminating her from behind as she floated in.

"Cersei?" He sounded unsure but the moment she was through the doorway and closer to his view, her features became clear. She was here, this was no dream. He felt overcome with solace instantly, as did she. The pure and utter relief clear in her expression as she arrived at his side in an instant, perching herself on the edge of the bed. Her hands cupped at his face whilst his mirrored hers on her pale, wind-bitten cheeks. Their breaths were heavy and fast with repose.

"I thought I'd lost you." She whispered so lightly he would not have heard it had he not been mere inches from her face. Her thumbs soothed repetitively over his course, bearded jawline. Her fingers entangled in his hair around his ears. His own thumbs smoothed over the soft skin of her cheekbones, her lids fluttering closed at the warm and loving touch. Their lips finally found one another's, a gentle, sweet embrace before pulling away simultaneously. He let himself take in her beauty, from her face down to her abdomen, their baby protectively cradled inside of her. One of his palms strayed, finding it's way down to the swell of her stomach, as soon as he lay it flat over her robe she closed her eyes, exhaling serenely. She wished they could stay this way forever. Just the three of them.


Making his way back up the stone steps, Tyrion couldn't help but think these types of keeps and castles were simply not built with dwarves in mind. Balancing three plates in his hands whilst navigating each step was proving to be more difficult than he'd anticipated. It would have been wise to have grabbed a tray, he thought to himself frustratedly. As the plate on top started to lose it's balance on the final step of the corridor, he was startled when a hand swooped in to catch it.

"Nearly." He chuckled. "Might I suggest a tray next time?" The maester smiled, helpfully holding on to the plate whilst Tyrion gathered himself.

"I thought now would be the perfect time to start practising my juggling abilities, you never know when that could come in handy." He smiled slightly embarrassed before allowing him to place the plate back on top of the other two. The food was squashed but it was nothing special to begin with.

"How is your brother doing?" The genuine care he expelled was endearing. After so many months of loss and pain, it was nice to see a caring face looking down at him.

"He's alive, all thanks to you. I feel he's going to be alright, like you said, he made it through the night." He exhaled shakily, only just realising how worried he'd been. It was suppressed under what felt the weight of a dragon sitting on his two small shoulders.

"I am ever so glad to hear that, I ought to give you some more milk of the poppy if he needs it." He patted his brown robe pockets in search of the vial. "I leave for the citadel this evening, so please tell your sister if she changes her mind and wishes to be examined for peace of mind about the babe then I'll only have a small window this afternoon." He finally found the vial.

"I'm sorry, I don't quite follow." He blinked with utter confusion. "Cersei said the baby was alright, you didn't examine her?" He turned his head slightly but kept his eyes glued to the maester's face. He looked just as bewildered as Tyrion.

"Apologies, my lord, but your sister refused to let me touch her." He looked at the vial in his hands not quite knowing where to put it as Tyrion's arms were already full. "It's not my place to force an examination of such a delicate nature-"

"No, no." He interjected swiftly. "Of course not, I'll make sure to let her know. Thank you." His mind was reeling. Why would she lie about this?

"She wasn't very trusting, hardly surprising since we'd only met moments beforehand." He smiled. "But from what she described, I could only interpret that everything seemed well. She just needs plenty of rest and three full meals a day." They shared what the maester thought was a mutual chuckle but as soon as he walked away, Tyrion's face resumed to a surly and pondering expression.


"Has Tyrion said anything?" Jaime quizzed thoughtfully, trying not to let all their worries back into this little bubble of theirs. He was sat upright, his back resting against head of the bed. She'd settled herself in the spot she'd nested all night. Tucked into his un-injured side, her head resting on his upper chest and shoulder region as her left hand smoothed over his front in a pacifying manner. His left arm was wrapped around her, keeping her pulled close and secure. He could feel her bump pressing into his side, her left leg entangled with his, only further strengthening his protective grip on her. His chin was resting on her her head, each word he spoke vibrating through her skull but she didn't mind.

"Nothing." She murmured lightly, enveloped in his loving warmth. "He said he wanted to speak to us both, I asked him last night and he wouldn't talk about it, not without you."

"And you didn't argue with that?" Asking with a slight smile on his face, he knew how the pair were and assumed tension might have peaked in his hours of absence.

"I didn't care, I just knew we were safe here. I don't want to know what he has to say." She inhaled deeply. "We should stay here." Shifting her gaze back to look up at him, the ecstasy in her eyes turned to dread and fear within seconds and it killed him.

"And stay confined to one room for the rest of our lives?" Their gaze locked for a brief moment before her focus found it's way to his lips, he could feel her fretting. "It'll be fine, we'll hear what Tyrion has to say and go from there." As much as she wanted to pour out all of her worries, she found it in herself to refrain. He looked tired and somewhat pained still, he didn't need her stresses dumped on him right now. Leaning down, he initiated a kiss to which she gladly reciprocated. It was slow, sensual and hungry. Her eyes closed immediately, his following suit as she ceased her hand from rubbing at his chest and moved it up to his face once more, her fingers grazing the corners of their interlocked mouths gently. His cold, golden hand surprised her as he moved to rest it across himself on her waist, the kiss deepening but maintaining it's steady pace.

"They only had sausages, no fish, can you believe that?" Tyrion burst through the door, three plates piled into his hands messily as he spoke. His siblings recoiled from one another out of pure instinct the moment he lay eyes on them, catching them in what appeared to be a pure and sacred moment. He cared not for what they were doing, that had never bothered him in the slightest. Their swollen lips and breathless bodies washing over him as though it was nothing. "Jaime, you're awake." He exclaimed emotionally. The last time they'd spoken they'd said their goodbyes, fearing the worst. Yet here they were, both surviving to tell the tale.

The three of them dined on their respective meals, Tyrion dragging a chair to Jaime's bedside to eat whilst Cersei moved off to the chair near the retired fire. She was silent as her brothers enjoyed one another's company, she hadn't built herself up to it thanking him yet and nor was she sure she could but she owed her life to Tyrion. She hated that he was oblivious or indifferent to her hatred sometimes. But Jaime loved him, and she loved Jaime so she'd tolerate him at best. But trust him? She did not.

"Are you going to tell us why we're here then?" Jaime finally questioned, his plate almost licked clean. Tyrion shifted, even more so when he felt Cersei's green eyes land on him too.

"I don't even know where to begin." He smiled sadly, although his siblings had been shaken violently from their world and forced to flee, he too was facing a rather uncertain future and it was making him most uneasy. Jaime's brow twitched, his good hand moving to rest over his silk bandages. "It's all rather complicated." He paused, giving the twins chance to share a look with one another, causing him to shift uncomfortably. "Must you two always do that?"

"What?" Jaime asked, confusion plastered on his face.

"Share your secret little thoughts through a simple gaze, it's very distracting." He thought on it a little longer. "Not to mention it's bad mann-"

"Tyrion." Jaime warned abruptly, refocusing his train of thought. What was more unnerving than his brother's stern tongue was Cersei's silence. He was trying his best to avoid having to spill the news but he couldn't delay it any longer, time was running out.

"Alright, alright." He surrendered with a sigh, a distressed look on his tired facial features. "Here goes nothing." He slipped down from the chair, walking towards the flagon of wine near the doorway. He was going to need a drink for this. They continued to wait as he poured himself a glass, raising it to each of them to ask if they cared to join but both shook their heads. Tyrion took one, long, uninterrupted mouthful. A whole glass in fact. He was tempted to fill another but Cersei's irritated sigh, partnered with an eye-roll told him that it wouldn't be in good taste right now. "Daenerys Targaryen isn't the true heir to the Iron Throne." He breathed the words out so fast he could hardly believe he'd uttered them. His eyes had remained anywhere but on theirs until finally the silence forced him to look up at them, Jaime first to gauge his reaction and then Cersei. Both looked as dumbfounded as each other.

"What are you saying?" His sister finally spoke, leaning forward in the chair as if to hear better. Her face was still but a million thoughts lay behind it.

"Rhaegar Targaryen had a son."

"That's not possible." Jaime quipped, his brows still knitted together with incertitude. "Someone would have known-"

"They did." Interrupting him gently, Tyrion filled his glass for a second time. "Ned Stark knew, he was the only one who knew."

"Lyanna Stark." Cersei more or less grimaced her name, still holding so much hate from so long ago. "Rhaegar raped her and she birthed his bastard before she died?"

"No, far from it." He gulped another mouthful. "They were wed in secret, they were in love but she died birthing the child." He looked between them anxiously, his next sentence would be the main event. "Ned Stark took him in." Cersei immediately put two and two together.

"The bastard of Winterfell, you're telling me the rightful ruler of the Seven Kingdoms is Jon Snow?"

"I'd say yes but that's a false statement. He's never been a bastard, he was a Stark all along and a Targaryen too."

"How do you know all of this?" Jaime exhaled sharply before speaking.

"Bran told me." He finished his glass yet again, filling it straight away.

"The crippled boy?" Cersei scoffed, this news wasn't the news she wanted to hear. In all honesty, she didn't know what she wanted to hear but this certainly wasn't it. "Why would anyone believe him?"

"This is the same boy you had pushed from a tower window because he saw you fucking your own brother, it seems you feared people would believe him then." He snapped. "Why not now?"

"Alright, that's enough." Jaime held his hands up, signalling for them to stop. His head was pounding without the added sniping from his siblings. "I was the one who pushed him, Cersei had nothing to do with that." He defended her as soon as they'd silenced before turning from Tyrion back to his sister. "Bran isn't the same as he was, he's something more now. He travelled beyond the wall and somehow sees things and knows things that nobody else does."

"He's the Three Eyed Raven." Tyrion spoke more calmly this time, not wishing to raise voices. "All the stories of the past, he sees them, he can visit them." He nodded affirmatively. "He's credible."

"Why are you telling us this?" Cersei cut straight to the chase with a snarl, sick of dancing around the topic with small, pointless details.

"Believe me, I didn't want to." He smiled grievously, finally setting the wine down. "Nothing hurts me more than to betray Daenerys like this but I fear she's so hellbent on breaking the wheel, I don't think she'll stop. She burned King's Landing after promising me she'd pull back her men and cease all fighting if the bells rang. She wanted to make an example of those people, to show the rest of the Kingdoms what fate they would meet if they dare defy her but that is not the Queen I met in Mereen. And it's not the Queen I want to see ruling." He looked geninely heartbroken by his own words. Especially speaking them to an enemy of Daenerys, he felt so wrong in his won flesh right now.

"You want Snow to rule." Jaime didn't ask, he merely stated it as fact. And that it was.

"He's a good man, an honourable man. He leads and people follow without question." He locked eyes with Jaime. "You saw him at Winterfell, how they rallied behind him, the people love him. Daenerys hasn't had that reception here so far. She'll-"

"Burn them all." His brother spoke gravely. "She'll burn them all, just like her father wanted to."

"I'm telling you all of this because if Jon takes the throne, there's a chance you could survive this mess." His hopeful sentence was met with a harrowing look from Jaime and humourless smirk from Cersei before she exhaled with the shake of her head.

"He'll have our heads just as quickly as she'll burn us alive. What fantasy are you living in, little brother?" Her words were dripping with anger and grief all rolled into one.

"He's merciful, if you denounce all titles and bend then knee I feel he'll let you live out the rest of your lives in exile." He breathed. "Somewhere safe where you can grow old and raise your children." His latter sentence softened her considerably and he could see this. "I have no other reason to have brought you here, I just wanted to give you the best possible chance at surviving." His eyes met Jaime's. "You're the only family I have left." The room was heavy with emotion, Cersei felt trapped if anything. Her chest rising and falling quickly with what felt like utter panic. Tyrion stepped towards her to speak again but Jaime very discreetly signalled for him to back off, he received the hint loud and clear. He didn't possess the ability to reason with his sister, but Jaime did. "I leave for King's Landing at first light tomorrow. The Queen will be expecting my return, this was only ever a passing visit for me. If I take too long she might begin to wonder." Cersei didn't acknowledge his words before moving from the room, her head spinning with all manner of thoughts and feelings. Leaving them in silence she took herself back to the refuge of the balcony. It was mid afternoon now, the sun high in the sky but no less chill in the breeze. Back inside, barely out of earshot, Tyrion looked to Jaime with a distressed expression on his face.

"Jon rides for Highgarden as we speak-"

"Are you out of your mind?!" Jaime sat forward so quickly he felt the pull in his sewn wound beneath the bandages, his teeth clenching at the pain.

"Speak with her, get her to stay calm. He doesn't know you're here but I intend to speak with him in the morning. He rides with only Ser Davos, the rest of his party are travelling straight on to King's Landing." Speaking quickly and quietly he felt a strange relief lifted from him now that he'd told them the truth. "He knows what he must do but his loyalty is causing him to doubt what is right. I trust him entirely."

"And what's to stop him from killing us all here in this room? Or taking us prisoner and riding us back to your dragon queen? You said it yourself, his loyalty still lies with Daenerys. I'm hardly fit to fight one man, let alone two!" His words were hissed, a deep anger rising from his chest.

"He's in love with her but he knows he must take the throne. For the sake of everyone in Westeros, their lives are in his hands." Their eyes were locked momentarily, he'd never seen Jaime so riled before.

"If you're wrong about any of this-" His sentence was cut short by Tyrion's voice.

"Let us hope that I'm not but for the sake of it, spend today wisely." He glanced to the balcony, his heart was too good sometimes. "Don't argue and bicker with one another." Tyrion urged, his eyes pleading with his brother's before lightening his tone, perhaps a little too much for his liking. "Eat food, drink wine, bathe, sleep." He shrugged. "Fuck each other senseless for all I care." Jaime squirmed but Tyrion couldn't fathom why. He knew of their relationship. The twins knew that he knew, yet acknowledging that he knew made them both uncomfortable. "Do whatever your hearts desire, like it's your last day in this world." He smiled seeing Jaime mulling the words over in his head, he looked to be accepting them, however macabre they were.

"There's a chance it could be." He swallowed hard, looking ahead at his sister's small frame on the balcony. "I'll speak with her, alone." Tyrion nodded, relieved to be excused.

Jaime started out of bed as soon as his younger brother exited the room, the looming conversation weighing heavy on his mind. He hadn't realised how weakened he was until he stood unsteadily on two shaky legs. His upper clothing had been removed and his boots too, presumably by Cersei but his trousers remained. Filthy and stained with mud and grass from the last couple of days. Taking it slowly, he reached the balcony and stood beside her. He breathed in deeply, his lungs pulling in the fresh air so much that he felt his side aching.

"I want us to be safe." She murmured delicately, her voice nearly stolen by the soft wind. "I want our daughter to be safe."

"Look at me." His tone was firm but soothing, failing to grab her full attention as she continued to stare ahead blankly into the world. "Cersei, look at me." He demanded for a second time, his hand gently pulling her face to look his way. Her eyes were glassy, a sadness coating them. "If we leave, we'll be killed on the road. If we stay, we're sitting ducks until the wrong person hears of our whereabouts." His thumb stroked her cheek, her focus switching between his eyes and his lips as he spoke. "This is our only hope. Our only chance, our daughter's only chance." Moving his palm to her abdomen, she blinked hard forcing the tears to fall freely as her own hand settled atop his. Their foreheads pressed together whilst her other hand touched at his face endearingly. "Just us." He soothed. "We belong together, we were born together, we'll die together when the time comes." He pulled away, kissing her forehead before pulling her into an embrace so tight he thought he might stop breathing there and then.