Author's Note: Thank you so much for all the follows! I've officially crossed 1,000 followers with this fic, and I could not be more excited. Thanks to the show's storyline with Cersei and her crazy wildfire plot (and the feels with Jaime/Brienne that helped me get over my disgust with the show turning Jaime into Cersei's bitch the past two seasons), I got a flash of inspiration on how to change the ending of this story that I was immensely struggling with. Strap in and enjoy the ride because it will get crazier before we get our warm, happy, fuzzy feelings with the Kingslayer and his lady.
"What will come first for you?" Tyrion asked Jaime as they cantered down the dirt roads of Westeros at a brisk pace. "Feasting or fucking? I'll admit the comforts of a keep have been sorely missed while we battle the undead, but a beautiful woman is almost as tempting."
Jaime wasn't presently in a state of mind to entertain Tyrion's crude question, so he ignored the it with one of his own. "Do you expect to find either of those options awaiting you at Winterfell?"
Both brothers had opted to travel with only a small band of soldiers after departing Castle Black, all the more convenient to reach their destination of the Stark keep. Having avoided a head shortening from the Targaryen queen thanks to his brother's persuasiveness, Jaime was all the more eager to reach his princess with the news of what had occurred beyond the wall.
Tyrion must have sensed his thoughts because he echoed them with his next words. "Money can purchase many things, food and carnal companionship included. I think the more intriguing mystery is how our princess will react to the news that she has yet another sibling roaming the kingdoms, and, for once, the bastard was no fault of Robert Baratheon's."
With only a day's ride still remaining between them and Winterfell, Jaime still had not decided how to break the news to Amarah of what had really occurred at the Tower of Joy, the site of her mother's death, not to mention Bran Stark's role in discovering said tale. Much more had been discovered at Castle Black than merely the means to defeating an undead army. It seemed that the history of the great houses of Westeros had proved an even more intriguing mystery than the Night King and his thousands of icy corpses.
Jaime opened his mouth to respond that he had absolutely no idea of how to broach the complicated subjects to Amarah, but his response was left unsaid when they were met with the sound of thundering hoofbeats. A cloud of dust stirred up on the road before them as a rider bearing the colors of house Stark rode towards them at breakneck speed. When he seemed to recognize the party he approached, he immediately pulled back on the reins to come to almost an immediate stop.
"Ser Jaime Lannister?" the unfamiliar man aimed the query in Jaime's direction.
Still confused as to why a rider had been sent to greet them, Jaime nodded to affirm his identity.
"Lady Sansa sent me to fetch you. There is no time to be wasted." Following these cryptic statements, the man turned his horse back in the direction he had just come, not even bothering to see the unasked questions that his statement had left on both men's faces.
Though the stranger seemed to expect him to blindly follow his lead, Jaime was not bound to be so easily persuaded. "Perhaps you explain to me the gravity of the situation before we go riding blindly behind you on an entire day's journey."
The man pulled up on the reins once more to shoot him an impatient look. "I was instructed – "
"I don't give a fuck what your instructions were," Jaime shot back, the words hardened by both his concern and surprise at the sudden turn of events. "Why did Lady Sansa send you to bring us to Winterfell with such haste?"
The man pressed his lips together in a firm line, visibly struggling between obeying the orders issued to him by his lady and the anger of the Lannister Lord growling at him like a lion waiting to tear apart its bothersome prey.
"I would suggest you answer the question." This softly worded command came from Tyrion at Jaime's side. The subtle warning in his words was almost as unnerving as Jaime's anger.
Apparently the prospect of two dangerous Lannister brothers was more threatening than the Lady Stark. "It's the Lady Amarah, my lords," the man began slowly, as if afraid any ill-thought word would send both men on the attack.
A feeling of leaden fear clutched Jaime's heart like a vice at those words. "What of her?" He leaned forward on his horse in a menacing stance, as if the man's reply would send him into a murderous rage if it proved unfavorable.
"She disappeared from the keep a day ago."
The blood in Jaime's head roared through his ears in a litany of denials. No, it screamed at him in refusal to acknowledge the man's words. She cannot be gone. The gods wouldn't be so cruel as this.
Managing to curb the overwhelming urge to shake the innocent messenger by his collar until the answers that he craved came tumbling out, Jaime kept a facade of deceptive calm in order to ascertain what exactly had happened. "Tell me precisely how much you know about the lady's disappearance."
"Only what the lady Arya explained to us, my lord," the man was babbling a bit now, but Jaime was in no hurry to soothe his worries. He had enough of his own to concern himself with.
Tyrion's brows shot to his forehead at the mention of the Stark girl's name. "For a family that was thought to be extinct such a short time ago, they're certainly coming out of the woodwork now, aren't they?"
Jaime wasn't as concerned with Arya Stark's sudden reappearance as much as his brother. He only cared about what she knew of Amarah's disappearance. "Perhaps you tell us what the lady knew. I am beginning to lose my patience."
The man nodded his head fearfully to comply with the threatening order. "Lady Arya said that while traveling back to her family from Braavos, she heard a rumor that whoever could deliver the head of the stag princess on a platter would be well compensated for the effort. She tried to return to Winterfell in time to deliver her warning to the lady, but it was too late. Lady Amarah and the child she carried had already disappeared."
At those words, the blood that had been roaring through Jaime's head drained from his face. "The child she carried." The words repeated in his head like a mocking chorus intent to drive him to madness.
"My good man," Tyrion's voice managed to break though the myriad of words chanting in Jaime's ears. "Has anything been done to recover her?" He shot Jaime a worried glance at his sudden silence but otherwise kept his attention focused on the unwelcome messenger.
"Lady Amarah's brother, Gendry Waters, has been searching for any trace of her since the disappearance, and scouts have been sent to search out all the land surrounding Winterfell."
He fell silent then, leaving Tyrion to finish his thought. "But they've found nothing."
"No, my lord." The man dropped his eyes to the ground, the disappointment at their failure to recover the princess lacing his tone.
Jaime, who had fallen momentarily silent, looked his brother with a fire fueled by hatred burning in the green depths of his eyes. "We both know where she's gone."
Tyrion reached out a calming hand, attempting to belay his brother's anger for a bit longer while he attempted to conjure up a solution to their present predicament. "We can't be sure of anything until we return to Winterfell –"
"Return if you wish," Jaime shot the answer at him like a crack of thunder, "but I'll not waste any precious time on further speculation."
"At least let me ride with you," Tyrion pleaded softly, though he knew it was in vain.
Jaime had already began pulling away him before the request was finished. "I'll ride faster alone."
Without another word, he took off down the road at the double the speed they had been traveling before. Tyrion wanted to go with him but knew that in his brother's present condition, any help he attempted to offer would be in vain. Looking back to the man at his right, Tyrion informed him that the rest of the men would be accompanying him to the keep.
Tyrion had originally intended to ride into King's Landing by his queen's side; however, this recent turn of events would necessitate a significantly altered timeline. Though, he would need some reinforcements from Winterfell before attempting to storm the Red Keep. Tyrion knew as well as his brother how dangerous their sister could be under any circumstances, more so when she was on a murderous rampage.
Unfortunately for Amarah, she had somehow found herself directly in the crosshairs of Cersei's latest scheme, and right now Tyrion could only hope that he and Jaime would be in time to prevent it. If they failed, the Targaryen queen would no longer have a city to conquer but a pile of rubble instead.
Since there are a MULTITUDE of storylines that need to be wrapped up within the GOT universe, I can't go into every single one in detail in Amarah and Jaime's story, though several will be touched on to tie up some loose ends. Of course, since Amarah is the daughter of Lyanna Stark, the R+L=J theory will be revealed in detail considering the effect it will have on my main girl. Stay tuned for more and thanks for reading!