Jaime looked over to where his brother stood, his shadow cast in the candlelight. He heard the shrill voices of Gwen and Sansa pass by the door as they left to their own chambers. His brother looked to the door, hearing the voice of the maid and he arched a brow.

"You married a hostage," he commented. "The last time I checked she was simply just that. Wasn't she?"

"What are you doing here?" Jaime wondered from him. "I thought you had fled Westeros."

"I had," his brother agreed, looking over the only member of his family he had trusted fully. But that had been a lie. Jaime had lied to him. He had taken away the only woman who he had truly loved. The only woman who didn't look at him like he was an outcast. His brother had hurt him more than he thought possible. Tyrion would be damned if he didn't have his same revenge.

"But there is something about Westeros which is just completely enchanting, isn't there?" Tyrion checked, walking through the small study until he came to the jug of wine which sat on a table. He poured himself a glass, downing it quickly whilst Jaime remained stood where he was.

"Besides," Tyrion continued, "nothing shall happen. I have not returned alone. The rightful heir to the Iron Throne has come with me. She seems intent on reclaiming what she thinks is her birthright."

Jaime's brow furrowed together at what he was hearing. He shook his head, unable to believe what Tyrion was telling him. It wasn't possible.

"The Targaryen girl?" Jaime checked with him. "She is in Westeros?"

"Yes," Tyrion agreed. "With her dragons. I know a winning cause when I see one. She certainly is enchanting too. She will make an excellent Queen, unlike the Mad King and your son."

"Who sits on the Iron Throne is no concern of mine," Jaime assured his brother who had taken a seat on a plush chair, sinking into the cushions whilst Jaime slowly moved and sat down too, his leg aching after standing for a while. He dropped his crutches to the side whilst Tyrion studied him. His brother seemed to be glaring at him, his gaze full of something Jaime had never seen before in him.

"Our dear sister would surely have a say," Tyrion said. "I intend to visit her for myself."

"And kill her like you did father?" Jaime wondered, a snarl coming from him as he did so. He was bitter towards Tyrion for that. Tywin had been his father. He had been his own flesh and blood. It was only right that Jaime detested Tyrion for what he had done. But he blamed himself. He should never have said anything to his brother about Tysha. He should have kept his mouth shut.

"Yes," Tyrion said without a moment of hesitation. "She is mine to kill after everything that she has done. I have no intention to harm Tommen. I shall have him removed from the throne and looked after. He is a good boy, far too young to understand the game we play. Like Myrcella was. I will give you credit for those two, brother."

"I am not their father." Jaime replied.

"It is your cock that made them, isn't it?" Tyrion checked. "You're their father. Although I assume you'll want to renounce that now you've married your pretty maid. Quite a short ceremony, wasn't it?"

"What are you doing here?" Jaime wondered from Tyrion. "I set you free, Tyrion. I let you go."

"And you lied to me for years on end," Tyrion said. "All of you have lied to me. Did you not think me worthy of a chance at love, is that it? A dwarf doesn't deserve to be happy?"

"You know that is not how it was," Jaime defended. "I told father to leave you be. I told him not to ruin it."

"Didn't listen, did he?" Tyron replied. "I watched her being raped, Jaime. I watched my father hurt her and I lived a lie. You know how that feels, don't you? To watch the one thing you have sworn to protect being violated in ways that we cannot comprehend."

Jaime winced for a moment, gulping loudly as he did so. He turned his head to the side, thinking back to the night in the camp and the night he had first held Gwen tight by his side. Tyrion watched his brother, knowing that he was thinking of it. Tyrion held nothing against Gwendolyn. He had no qualms with the girl. She had seemed rather pleasant to him when he had been captured by Catelyn Stark.

"You know," Tyrion whispered. "Your loving wife was raped, wasn't she?"

"She's become barren because of it," Jaime whispered to Tyrion. The dwarf said nothing, remaining where he was before he moved and poured himself another goblet of wine, draining the contents in record time.

"No heirs to Casterly Rock then," he declared. "You'll have to have me as your heir. Although I did think you have renounced your right to the Rock."

"I was dismissed from the Kingsguard," Jaime explained. "I told King Tommen that I was unable to serve him in this current state."

"A lie so that you could marry the maid," Tyrion declared, Jaime saying nothing to his brother's discovery of the truth. Jaime waited for a few moments before glancing across to Tyrion, examining him and wondering what he truly wanted.

"Pretty thing, isn't she?" Tyrion said, draining more of his alcohol. "How would you feel if you lost her?"

"Tyrion," Jaime warned his brother. "Don't you dare. She has done nothing to harm you."

"But you have," Tyrion said, pointing at his brother. "Never before did I think I could hate your smug face as much as I do now. If I never saw you again then I would not care. I detest everything that you have done."

"I never meant to hurt you," Jaime promised. "I never wanted to lie to you. I told you the truth. I couldn't live with the lie anymore."

"How noble of you," Tyrion hissed at his brother. "And you think that makes up for everything, do you?"

"I know that I can never make up what I have done," Jaime promised his brother. "You can yell at me and swear never to see me again. I would understand, Tyrion. I would fully understand. But do not hurt Gwen. Do not hurt her."

"Why should I let you live happily?" Tyrion wondered. "Why should I give you any of that?"

Jaime said nothing, looking to his lap for a moment and shaking his head sadly. He agreed with his brother. Jaime didn't deserve any of that. He didn't deserve to be happy with Gwen. He had committed many awful acts. But he had come to regret them. He was trying to make up for everything that he had done, starting by keeping the one thing he cared for safe.

"You shouldn't," Jaime admitted. "I don't deserve happiness. I know why you think that. But Gwen has done nothing, Tyrion. She has done nothing to wrong you."

"Yet it is you who I want to hurt," Tyrion said. "And I see there as being only one way to do that. She's your only weakness. I saw the way you wrapped the red cloak around her, shielding her and taking her into your home. Father would be turning in his grave. Do you think he would have let you be happy if he was alive? He would have forced Gwen to suffer the same fate as Tysha."

"I know that," Jaime snapped quickly. "I know what he would have done."

"So why should you be happy?" Tyrion demanded, dropping the goblet to the floor, allowing it to roll underneath the seat he sat on. "Why do you deserve to live here with no worries?"

"Tyrion," Jaime whispered his brother's name. "Don't do anything brash. Don't do anything which you may regret."

"I won't regret it," Tyrion promised Jaime simply. "I won't regret watching you and Cersei fall from the high horse you both pride yourself on sitting on."

"Then hurt me," Jaime urged. "Gwen does not deserve to be harmed because of my wrongs."

"The world works in unfair ways," Tyrion shrugged at his brother. "I also see my little wife is here. Black hair does not suit her. The other girl looked like the young Stark girl, too. She finally has her collection back. Have you not told her that there are no happy endings?"

Jaime forced himself to stand up, the pain in his leg shooting through his body as he glared at his brother, his hand balled into a fist by his side. His green gaze levelled with Tyrion's, the smaller man choosing to remain sat where he was.

"What do you want, Tyrion?" Jaime wondered. "I saved you from death. I did that for you."

"You also let me live a lie," Tyrion replied. "Tell me, do the Stark girls know that it was you who pushed Bran from the window? Do they know that their dear maid has married a man who attempted to kill a child?"

"The Stark boys are dead," Jaime replied simply. "Greyjoy got to them. I'm not going back there, Tyrion."

"I am," his brother replied. "Tysha was innocent. She always had been innocent. I cannot tell you how good it felt to plunge the dagger into father. It felt better than I had thought."

"What do you want me to do?" Jaime snapped, unable to bear listening to how his brother was the one who killed his father. "Do you want me to fall onto my knees and beg for you not to hurt Gwen? Do you want me to fall at your feet and plead?"

"I don't doubt that you would do that," Tyrion said to his brother, noticing the pain which came over his features. Tyrion said nothing for a moment as Jaime did just that. He fell to his knees in front of his brother, his head bowed. The youngest Lannister said nothing, watching as Jaime closed his eyes, his lips parted and Tyrion wondered what to do.

"I treated you well, brother," Jaime said. "I did everything that I could by you. It was not me who had Tysha killed. It was not me who had her violated. I told father not to hurt her. I told him to leave the girl alone. Not once did I intentionally mean to harm you."

Tyrion said nothing, his feelings completely mixed towards the snivelling wreck in front of him. Hear me roar. They were the Lannister words. Jaime looked nothing like the lion which he should have been. He looked like a pathetic man, begging for his life to be spared, not the man who Tyrion had classed as his brother.

"She means a lot to you," Tyrion observed. "This girl means a lot to the man who only had eyes for his sister."

"She means more to me than Cersei did," Jaime promised Tyrion. "I didn't realise it until it was almost too late. Cersei never really loved me...the other men..."

"Would you still have been with her if you didn't find out about the other men she took to bed?" Tyrion wondered. "Is Gwen second best?"

"No," Jaime admitted to his brother. "I fear she never was second best. I was just too blind to see anything differently."

"You always were slow. It was your one bad quality. Your vanity always got in your way."

"I've changed Tyrion," Jaime promised his brother. "I'm not who I once was. I want nothing. I don't want to play the game. I want to be with Gwen and that is it. The throne holds no interest for me."

Tyrion stared at his brother for another moment before they heard a knock on the door.

"Jaime?" Gwen questioned. "Are you in there? I thought I heard talking."

The brothers exchanged a quick glance between each other, Tyrion nodding as Jaime took to stand up again. He hobbled over to the door, forgetting his crutches as he opened the door, seeing Gwen stood there. She still wore the cream silk dress he had given her, her arms bare without his red cloak. She smiled up at him as he continued to look weary.

"Many congratulations," Tyrion called up. Jaime closed his eyes and inhaled sharply as his brother spoke. He rested his hand on Gwen's waist as she peered around her husband to look at his brother. "I do believe we are related now. I can only imagine your joy at being a Lannister. And Lady of Casterly Rock. Your fortunes certainly have improved."

Gwen moved past Jaime, his hand still on her back as he closed the door and kept her close by his side.

"Lord Tyrion," Gwen drawled out. "How nice to see you again."

"Is it?" Tyrion wondered from her. "If only you knew the reason for my arrival."

"Then I do hope you will enlighten me," Gwen said and Jaime shook his head, his eyes glaring at his brother, pleading for him to leave and not come back. Jaime knew there was nothing more to their relationship. Jaime had ruined it.

"My brother has told you of my wife, hasn't he?" Tyrion wondered. Gwen nodded once, remembering that Jaime had mentioned it once before. "Did he tell you how she was raped in front of me by my father's men? How she was supposed to have been a whore? That she didn't love me?"

"I didn't know that," Gwen said and Jaime snaked his arm around her waist, fearing that she would pull away from him in disgust with the story which was entering her ears. He wouldn't blame her one little bit. He wouldn't hate her for feeling ashamed of him.

"She was no whore, was she, dear Jaime? She was a girl who did love me. Yet, Jaime here went along with the lie. He denied me the chance of happiness."

"I couldn't stop father," Jaime snapped back.

"You could have tried," Tyrion declared. "And now you stand here...your blushing bride with you...both of you happy with what I could have had."

Gwen moved for Jaime's hand, holding it tightly by her hip as he sighed loudly, shaking his head back and forth.

"I spent time in the Free Cities, time spent finding the rightful heir. And all I thought of was revenge," Tyrion admitted. "Revenge on you for what you did to me. Revenge on Cersei. She's my last port of call. She deserves special treatment."

"Lord Tyrion," Gwen spoke boldly, "Jaime has changed. I am sure he would not have lied to you, but he wanted to protect you from the truth. Surely the truth sometimes hurts more than a lie?" Gwen wondered and Tyrion eyed her with suspicion. The dagger he had used to kill his father hid beneath his cloaks, waiting to be revealed and used. He could do it in a moment. Jaime was crippled and his bride was not strong.

"Jaime is not who he was...and he is your brother...he is the man who has helped you. You don't want to hurt him."

"You say these things for your own gain," Tyrion told her. "You just want to keep him safe for you."

"I do," Gwen admitted. "He is my husband and I love him. I know what he has done. I know he has committed atrocities...but I love him...after everything that has happened. All we want is to be spend our days together. We want nothing more."

"Not even my beloved wife?" Tyrion wondered.

"I long to keep the girls safe," Gwen admitted to him. "I fear I am all that they have left, and I will do anything that I can to protect them and keep them safe. Just like I will keep Jaime safe."

"You think you can protect him from me?"

"You would have to go through me to get to him," Gwen said simply. "I won't let you hurt him, Lord Tyrion. Deep down you don't want to hurt him. We both know that. Please leave him alone. He will help you to have anything that you want."

Tyrion observed Gwen for a moment, knowing full well that she was serious. This girl clearly didn't joke about things like this. She said nothing back to him, waiting for a response. Tyrion finally chuckled, looking to Jaime and he shook his head in disbelief.

"Would you let her risk her life for you?" Tyrion wondered.

"Of course not," Jaime said.

"You really don't deserve her. How did someone like you end up with a wife like her?"

"I thank the Gods every day," Jaime admitted simply. Tyrion rolled his eyes and looked at Gwen. He thought that she would have crumbled like Jaime did. He thought that she would have fallen to the floor and begged for them to be kept safe. But she didn't move. She remained stood where she was, her gaze level like his. He supposed she had changed from the meek and mild maid from Winterfell.

"I require a room for the night," Tyrion demanded. "I leave the next day as soon as the sun rises."

"As you wish," Gwen declared to him. He nodded quickly at her, glaring at Jaime for a moment as the Lord of Casterly Rock wondered if he had been saved.

"I shall speak to the rightful heir to the Iron Throne and ask her to spare Casterly Rock and leave it be."

"Thank you," Gwen said to him. He saw the gratefulness in her gaze. Jaime said nothing, his eyes wide at his brother. Tyrion pushed past the pair of them to the door.

"You really do not deserve her," Tyrion said. "I spare her because she reminds me of Tysha. That is all."

Jaime said nothing as Tyrion left, slamming the door shut behind him, anger clearly radiating from him. He wanted to do nothing more than make his brother pay for what he had done to him. But he had been unable to do it. He had been unable to make Jaime suffer for his loss. He supposed he always did have a weak spot for his brother.

But not for his sister. Cersei had never shown him kindness and he would make sure that she paid for that.

Jaime sighed as Gwen fell into his arms, her own snaking around his waist, her head resting on his shoulder. He pushed his good hand into her hair, his lips resting on the top of her head as he did so. He held her tightly as she sighed.

"Thank the Gods for that," she said to Jaime.

"I honestly thought that he wanted me dead. I thought he wanted me killed."

"He probably does," Gwen admitted, pulling back for a moment and looking at Jaime. "But blood runs thicker than water."

Jaime dipped his head, pressing his lips tightly against Gwens as she continued to hold onto him for a few moments. He rested his hand against her cheek as she moved her hands to his shoulders, holding onto the jacket which he wore.

"We should probably retire for the evening," Jaime said and he felt her freeze in his hold, fear taking hold of her body for a moment. She didn't want to consummate the marriage just yet. Jaime knew that she wasn't ready for that. And when she was ready then he would be gentle with her. He wouldn't hurt her.

"To sleep," Jaime assured her, picking one of her hands up and kissing her knuckles. "I'm willing to wait for you, Gwen."

"Thank you," she whispered to him, lacing her fingers into his.

"You're my wife," Jaime reminded her. "You have nothing to thank me for."

She smiled warmly at him then, leading him from the library and through the corridors of Casterly Rock. The pair of them remained content in their own company, heading towards their room. Gwen still had to admit she was shocked whenever she walked into it. She had always known that the Lannisters had been the richest family in Westeros. She was reminded of that whenever she entered a room.

Jaime took time to unlace her from her dress, watching the night sky which sat beyond his balcony before he saw it. He stopped lacing her from the cream gown. She held it against her chest, stepping forwards and following Jaime onto the balcony. The pair of them looked at the sight before them, their eyes wide as they did so.

"Is that...a..." Gwen trailed off, unable to believe what she was seeing in the dark sky. Jaime nodded in agreement with her, watching as the creature breathed fire, lighting up everything in its path.

"A dragon."

...

A/N: Only a few more chapters, guys! I've had so much fun writing this, it's been incredible. Thank you to starrysky7, kilera, Kay1104, x XRoweenaJAugustineX x, Sheinreen, meri for reviewing the previous chapter