Thank you for the reviews, 182818i3728282and Zyruss Villarreal
Zyruss Villarreal, the raven was sent to Winterfell because they figured the Starks would be the ones most likely to want to stop things. Rhaegar and Lyanna aren't meeting there but rather outside of Lannisport. As the timeline is different here and she is not on her way to a wedding as she was in canon they needed some place neutral to meet. I guess I should have specified that.
Unfortunately, the letter did not reach the Starks in time. Even more, unfortunately, it reached them almost in time. It was the morning after Lyanna had left when her father, Rickard received the raven. The letter had no royal seal. He hoped it was a cruel prank. It was not. The servants informed him the girl was missing. A search ensued. Her elder brothers Brandon and Eddard immediately set out to find and bring Lyanna back home.
Nobody was quite sure what happened, but one thing for certain was that Rhaegar and his Lord Commander, Gerold Hightower had died at the hands of the two Stark brothers and their friends. Arthur survived, though barely, and the tale he told was that Lyanna, though willing, had begun to have second thoughts. For he had heard her ask Rhaegar earlier that night how she could be sure that he would not one day cast her aside and delegitimize her children one day. Rhaegar had been so sure she would change her mind though, and he had already annulled his marriage to Cersei. So perhaps, in some ways, it was a sort of kidnapping. Lyanna was brought back to Winterfell, where it was said she cried for a fortnight straight, though whether that was because of her lover's death or her still upcoming marriage to Robert Baratheon, a union which she was said to have protested vigorously, no one could be sure.
When Cersei heard the news of Rhaegar's passing, she hadn't mourned as much as Jaime had thought she would. "He betrayed me. He betrayed us. Our house. Our legacy. We are Targaryens. We belong as such. With other Targaryens. We've wed brother and sister to each other for hundreds of years. He sought to break that tradition. Well, we are not Starks, or Baratheons, or Lannisters, or any other major house that seeks outside. We are Targaryens!"
"But, they killed Rhaegar, Father will start a war now!" Protested Jaime.
"Perhaps. But we will be able to marry at least."
The two smiled, Rhaegar forgotten for the moment as they shared a passionate kiss.
War, it seemed would now be inevitable. Until Aerys collapsed later that night, after going into one of his now more frequent rages. When he awoke, Jaime was by his side, as were several maesters, all of whom would attest to the king being incoherent and mumbling nonsense. A fortnight later a council was held. Rhaegar, it turned out, had indeed been planning to overthrow his father for some time. They deemed that Aerys was unfit to rule any longer. Jaime was crowned King in a simple ceremony the next day.
His first act as king was to break his betrothal to Princess Elia and announce his intentions to marry Cersei. Unfortunately, however, House Martell, was already sailing to King's Landing for the wedding. Jaime hoped when they arrived that once he explained the situation to them he could somehow smooth things over. There was already rumors of a rebellion being in the works by Robert Baratheon, and this would surely not help things any.