Author's Note: So so so sorry for the super long delay with this chapter. I just went back to work a few weeks ago and teaching takes up A LOT of my time, especially at the beginning of the school year. I won't be able to update as much as I did during the summer when I wasn't working, but I do promise to keep updating this story as often as I can. I'll be honest though that the updates will probably be down to about one or two a week for now as I am still spending a lot of time working on school stuff. I'm really sorry that it won't be as fast as before, but just know I haven't abandoned you all or my story. It will just be a little bit more of a wait now for the new chapters. That long-winded explanation for my tardiness aside, enjoy the new update! :)

Despite Amarah's optimistic prediction, it seemed that Oberyn Martell had been a fool after all. Jaime frowned at the thought of the Viper's stupidity as he quietly descended a deserted stairway that led to the dungeons beneath the Red Keep. If it hadn't been for Martell's foolishness, Tyrion could have been sitting in a brothel guzzling wine and whoring the hours away as he celebrated his newfound freedom. Instead, he was rotting away in a prison cell awaiting his execution.

Jaime gritted his teeth in annoyance as he pondered how easily this unpleasantness could have been avoided. If Martell had just finished Clegane when he had the chance! But the vile snake had inexplicably chosen to torture the hulking mass of a man with his poison tipped sword until Clegane managed to gather enough strength to smash his iron fist into the Viper's smug face. Stupid fool! Jaime inwardly groused as he remembered the unwelcome sight. Martell had been the better fighter. He should have won. It could have been so simple for Tyrion to leave the keep a free man, but things were never simple in this damned place. Jaime should have known better by now.

So instead of raising a goblet of wine to his brother in mutual celebration of his release, Jaime now crept through the darkness of the keep to meet him in secret. Although Jaime did have plans to release Tyrion from his hellish prison, escape was not the purpose of this particular visit. This night Jaime meant to fulfill a promise.

He hadn't laid eyes on Amarah since their secret meeting in his chambers several nights ago, but she still weighed heavily on his mind. Every day she stayed in this city increased the chance of Tywin or Cersei discovering Jaime's lie. Jaime knew he had to send her away, but his protective instincts where she was concerned inwardly rebelled against the thought. The sensible portion of his mind reasoned that sending Amarah on her way with the wench was best for the girl, but that small irrational part of him had delayed giving the order for her to leave. Because he knew if she left this city, she left him as well, and the unwelcome thought prodded painfully at him like a sharp-tipped lance. Somehow Amarah had managed to touch his damaged, broken soul. Despite Jaime's best intention to keep her at bay, she had maneuvered her way past his defenses and into his black heart.

Jaime abruptly shook his golden head in disgust at the sentimental notion. He was acting more the fool than Oberyn Martell where Amarah was concerned. Jaime made up his mind then and there to send her away as soon as this promise was fulfilled. His debt to her would be paid after this night, and they would be done with each other. He stubbornly ignored a painful prick of regret at the thought, and continued resolutely through the darkness.

In order to better avoid detection, Varys would bring Amarah directly to the dungeons to meet with Tyrion rather than Jaime escorting her. A woman in the company of Varys was common enough as he had many people in his service throughout the palace, but Jaime Lannister in the company of any woman other than his beloved sister would be certain to draw unwanted attention. In view of this sound logic, Jaime had readily agreed to the plan.

Once he had finally reached the dungeons, Jaime was surprised to note that the guard on duty was slumped unconscious next to the large door that blocked the prisoners from the view of those outside the cells. Leaning down, Jaime felt his fleshy neck for a pulse, a task which was made more difficult by the amount of skin covering the large brute's neck, but he eventually found a faint pulse beating under his searching fingers. Jaime had no doubt that Varys had orchestrated the guard's timely rest, but not being a man to question his good fortune, Jaime promptly retrieved the key from the sleeping man's closed fist and proceeded to open the shut door.

Once inside, Jaime lit a torch to scatter bits of light through the shadowy prison. After his eyes had adjusted to the dim surroundings, he began his search for Tyrion. While he searched, Jaime noticed that a good number of the cells remained mostly empty. With a disgruntled frown, he noted that his family must have taken care these past weeks to place their all efforts of execution and imprisonment solely on his brother.

As Jaime continued to scan the cells for any sign of life, he caught the welcome sound of his brother's mocking voice. "Guard! Have you come with that whore I requested? I might be a man destined for death but I'm still a rich one till I draw my last breath so why not leave this world in the most pleasant way possible?"

"I've been called many things, brother" Jaime's voice cut through the dark stillness. "But whore is a title even the bravest of men have not ventured yet."

"Jaime?" Tyrion's voice had lost all trace of mockery now.

Jaime then maneuvered his way through the darkness until he found the source of the question. "That is a name I am more familiar with."

As Jaime raised the torch to study Tyrion's face, he had to school his features into an impassive mask not to react to the sight of the small man's face. Tyrion had never been called handsome, in fact the word "hideous" was most often employed to describe his appearance, but now his ugly face bore a deep, craggy scar that stretched from the lower corner of his mouth to the top part of his skull. Jaime had heard tales of Tyrion's bravery in the battle against Stannis Baratheon, but had never been able to grasp the reality of it. Now with the mark of Tyrion's bravery staring him in the face, Jaime allowed a small smile of respect to grace his features.

"You did well to save this city, brother."

If the compliment had come from any other, Tyrion would have instantly doubted the sincerity behind it, but he knew his brother. "You are one of few who share that sentiment."

Jaime lifted his brows in a superior expression at Tyrion's words. "Then fuck the rest."

"To get out of this place, I would fuck a horse" Tyrion sighed as he leaned away from the light of Jaime's torch to prop his misshapen body against the rough, stone wall. "What, might I ask, has prompted this visit in the latest hours of the night, my dear brother? Some delayed sense of familial duty."

Jaime gave a small grimace at Tyrion's reminder of his absence until this point. If Jaime hadn't been so preoccupied with the welfare of another, he could have more readily seen to taking care of Tyrion. He opened his mouth to defend his actions, but his words were immediately cut off before they even began.

"I fear that I to blame for Ser Jaime's neglect."

Both men then turned to look at the speaker who stood in the doorway that Jaime had passed through moments before, her face hidden behind the shadows in the hood of her cloak. Amarah moved towards them slowly, ensuring that they were truly alone before she removed the protective covering. Jaime noted that her appearance still bore the mark of the brothel he had hidden her in. Her delectable mouth looked blatantly sinful with that red paint decorating her soft lips, and her woolen cloak parted slightly to reveal another of those tempting silken creations that wrapped around her figure like a beckoning temptation to helpless men. Jaime remembered his reaction to her appearance in his chamber the last time they had met and doubted the whores were suffering for business if they looked half as appealing in those wisps of clothing as Amarah did.

"Circumstances must be more difficult for you in these times than I had imagined" Tyrion voice broke into Jaime's lustful thoughs. Jaime noted from the return of the mocking humor in his brother's tone, that Tyrion was less affected by the princess's appearance than he.

Amarah's gray gaze flittered quickly over Jaime before she turned her full attention to Tyrion with a sympathetic smile on those red lips. "From the look of things, I would venture to say I've been more fortunate in my circumstances than you" she answered before approaching the iron bars that separated her from Tryion.

Jaime noticed that Tyrion attempted to scoot a bit further from the light once she came nearer to him. "Don't look too closely, my little friend, or you'll see just how much of a monster I've become."

Amarah ignored the self-pitying comment by stooping down to her knees and reaching through the bars to caress his scarred face. Jaime noticed that Tyrion looked as if he wanted to move away, but reluctantly allowed her the gentle touch. "I don't see a monster" Amarah said in the same soothing voice that a mother would use with her petulant child. "All I see is a man with a scar."

Jaime almost imagined he could see an unshed tear glistening in Tyrion's eye as she trailed her delicate fingers across his ravaged face, but the illusion was quickly gone in the flickering light. "Well most still see the monster, my dear. Though I appreciate your attempt to soothe my pride."

Amarah's gaze narrowed a bit at Tyrion's flippant words. "That was not a very kind thing to say."

Tyrion shrugged unconcernedly at her reprimand. "I'm not a very kind man."

"No" Amarah admitted with a reluctant laugh. "I suppose not, but I like you all the same."

"How fortunate I am for that" Tyrion said in that same teasing voice, but Jaime could detect a hint of sincerity as well.

"There's no need to pity yourself so much, you know" Amarah informed Tyrion then, returning to her motherly tone. "Jaime will somehow manage to get you out of this wretched place before Cersei orders her soldiers to cut off your head."

Tyrion briefly moved his gaze back to Jaime after Amarah's reassuring words, and something in that gaze made Jaime a feel a niggling sense of apprehension. It was the same look Tyrion would give Jaime when they were children after he had discovered some bit of mischief that Jaime had gotten into and held the knowledge over his head for days with the threat of revealing it to their unforgiving father. That look has always made Jaime uneasy.

Tyrion studied Jaime for a few moments longer before turning his attention back to the girl before him. "Ned Stark wasn't able to cheat death. What makes you think I can?"

"My uncle had no one to help him" Amarah responded in a sensible tone. "You do."

"Your faith in my brother's ability astounds me" Tyrion said then with that superior smile he often wore when he felt as if he had suddenly gained the upper hand in a conversation. "Did you not once tell me he had shit for honor and you wanted nothing to do with him? Yet here you both are."

Jaime wondered if Amarah might respond to Tyrion's mockery with a rare show of temper, but she managed to surprise him by returning Tyrion's superior smile with one of her own. "I think it fair to say I've managed to appreciate your brother's finer qualities since we've last parted."

Tyrion's brows rose in questioning surprise at her statement. "What could have happened to so vastly improved your less than complimentary opinion of my dear brother since we last parted?"

Amarah didn't immediately answer Tyrion's question as she took a moment to look Jaime over with a mischievous expression in those pretty, gray eyes. Looking back to Tyrion, she regarded him with a small smile on her red lips. "I'll confess that I've discovered there is more to your dear brother than I first thought." She moved her gaze back to Jaime then, and he felt it burn his skin like a hot branding iron as her eyes dropped conspicuously from his face to another region of his anatomy.

"How gracious of my brother to expose the finer qualities of his person to you" Tyrion replied diverting Jaime's attention from the girl kneeling in front of him.

Jaime shot Tyrion an annoyed look at his pointed comment before turning his hard gaze back on Amarah. He didn't need his brother of all people knowing what had happened between them. Tyrion was too clever by half, and Jaime didn't need him knowing what qualitieshe had exposed to Amarah. His effort to stare her into silence was a wasted one, however, as her attention had already moved away from him and back to Tyrion.

"Enough about me and Jaime" she said in a dismissive tone as if her suggestive look at Jaime moments before had never occurred. "I just wanted to see for myself that Cersei hadn't managed to have your throat slit yet. She's never seemed the patient type after all."

"Fortunately enough, she has chosen to exercise a rare show of patience in my case" Tyrion replied. "Perhaps she thought it would prolong my suffering. What she fails to realize is that I love no place better than filthy, smelly dungeons. What better accommodations could I have asked for?"

Amarah shook her head slightly at his persistence in being more clever then the rest of them before reaching through the bars once more to squeeze his small, bony hand. "As I can see you are well enough, I shall take my leave now."

She moved to pull her hand away once again before Tyrion reached out to pull it back to him and raise it to his lips. Pressing a soft kiss to her hand, he released it once again. "If I weren't such a hideous monster perhaps I could made a woman like you love me, little friend."

Amarah seemed to consider the meaning behind his words for a moment before giving him a kind smile in return. "A woman doesn't have to spread her legs for you to love you, Tyrion."

Jaime saw Tyrion's bitter gaze soften just a bit at her words before the sly humor returned to them once more. "No, but it would make things much more entertaining."

"You're an impossible man, Tyrion Lannister" Amarah said with an indulgent smile before reaching up to grasp Jaime's proffered hand as he helped her rise.

"Perhaps I am an impossible man, but my brother no doubt feels the same. Do you not, Jaime? What better thing is there in the world than a beautiful woman spread open for you like a celebration feast?"

Jaime decided not to give Tyrion the satisfaction of acknowledging his less-than-subtle line of questioning. "Say goodbye to the princess, Tyrion. Who knows when you'll see her again?"

At Jaime's gentle reminder, Tyrion's eyes lost some of their teasing light as the reality began to sink in that he was losing his little friend. He turned his different colored eyes to her with a sad expression before obeying Jaime's command. "Farewell, Amarah. I shall always value the friendship we've shared."

Amarah nodded her head in acknowledgement of Tyrion's words and gave him a watery smile in return. "As will I. Goodbye, Tyrion."

With these words she abruptly turned and left the smelly prison, leaving Jaime alone with his brother. Once Amarah was gone Tyrion turned his focus fully on Jaime. All trace of humor and mockery was gone now as he stared at Jaime with deadly intent. "Take care of her, brother."

Jaime returned the intent look with one of his own. "I will" he answered in a steady voice. "And that is one vow I intend to keep."

After these words, Jaime assured Tyrion he would see him again before turning to follow Amarah through the open doorway. He saw that she stood waiting for him, but ignored her for the moment as he turned back to shut the wooden door and replace the key in the still unconscious guard's hand. Once that was done, he pivoted back to regard her with a serious expression. He moved his gaze beyond her for a moment to regard the eunuch who had escorted her here.

"Lord Varys, in the morning have Lady Amarah escorted to my solar" he ordered the man before looking back at her once more.

Amarah regarded him with a resigned expression, and Jaime thought he detected a hint of sadness there as well. Or perhaps he just wished it to be there. "Are you sending me away, my lord?" she asked him in a quiet voice.

"Yes" he replied with more calm than he felt. He had promised Tyrion he would keep her safe, and he couldn't fulfill that promise if he kept her here. This had to be done. "It's time you left this city, Princess."

I hope this chapter was worth the wait to read it. I've stated at many points throughout this story how important that relationship between Tyrion and Amarah is so it was fun for me to show their interactions through the eyes of someone so close to the both of them. Both of them like to hide between sarcasm and humor so writing a scene between them was a fun challenge. I hope you all enjoyed reading it. Please let me know what you think! I've so missed getting to read your wonderful comments while I was away on a short break from writing. All reviews are appreciated. As always, thank you for reading! I appreciate all of the support for my story more than I can ever say.