"I would laugh at your own misfortune if it didn't feel like mine was greater than yours."
Sarah spoke to Jaime as she sat next to him at the feast later on in the evening. He had gone to escort her to the meal and had told her of the news that he was to stay in Winterfell. He'd taken his seat at the bench next to her, leaning back in his seat and draining the wine in his goblet.
"Whatever are you speaking of?" Jaime scoffed as he looked down to the main floor.
Robb Stark was sat with Jon Snow and Theon Greyjoy, the three of them whispering. Arya and Sansa sat amongst their friends and Catelyn and Ned mingled with the rest of the guests. Sarah didn't mind that they had left her alone. She had much preferred for it to be that way. Of course she wasn't lucky enough to get rid of Jaime.
He was hanging around her to make sure she didn't escape or try to. He still considered her his responsibility now that the King was coming North.
"Look at him," Jaime whispered to her. "The handsome Robb Stark, yours forever. What more could you want but a brooding, young man? I believe he will turn out exactly like his father, and look how happy Catelyn is."
"He mumbles everything," Sarah said, knowing that she shouldn't be complaining. She supposed she couldn't help it. There was a part of her that couldn't help but become annoyed with the thought of marrying the man at the table.
"He's only said hello to you so far," Jaime reminded her. "I don't think you can judge him based on that, Sarah. Besides, you weren't exactly gracious to him."
"It looks as though we are destined for a lifetime lacking graciousness," drawled Sarah. "I'd toast to that, but I do not think that would go down well."
Jaime scoffed once and almost choked on his wine. A laugh escaped him and he turned his gaze to the side to look at the young woman next to him. A small smile was on her face and Jaime eyed her with content for a moment.
"Your sarcastic attitude it beginning to shine through. I'd try to curb it if I were you."
"Why?" wondered Sarah. "There is no one here besides you and me. I doubt you're going to run off and try to ruin my reputation. Besides, being the daughter of Stannis Baratheon shows that your reputation has already been determined."
Jaime picked at a piece of bacon on his plate before he looked up to the sound of footsteps approaching them. Sarah also looked up, doing her best not to let out a moan as she saw her betrothed stood in front of her.
"Lady Sarah," Robb drawled; his voice gruff and grating through her ears. "I find it growing to be rather warm in here. Would you care for a walk?"
"She'd be delighted," Jaime answered for her. "Do make sure she doesn't catch her death out there, Stark. Stannis wouldn't be at all happy."
"I'll try my best, Lannister," Robb said, his own trace of a snarl in his voice.
Sarah stood up and allowed Robb to escort her through the hall. She said nothing to him and he said nothing to her. Both of them kept quiet as she felt the chill of the cold air. Why had he suggested coming outside for fresh air? Sarah folded her arms around her waist, running her fingers down her sides in an attempt to warm her body.
"So," Robb began in a feeble attempt to make conversation. "I remember my mother once told me that I would have to marry one day."
"Oh?" Sarah wondered, doing her best to keep her concentration on Robb.
He leant against the wall in the courtyard, his hands on his hips. His breaths came out in short clouds in the air as he chuckled in disbelief. How had he managed to get stuck with a woman like this? She clearly wasn't interested in him. She didn't even pretend to take an interest either. He suspected that was the thing that annoyed him the most.
"Yes," Robb continued. "She said that it would be my duty to keep my wife safe. She said that I had vows to honour."
"Well, that tends to be what happens," replied Sarah. "I know that you don't want this marriage, Lord Robb."
"Call me Robb," he mumbled.
"And I don't want it either," Sarah said, ignoring him. "This has been arranged by the King. I doubt either one of us could change his mind. Believe me, my father tried to."
Robb said nothing. He hadn't expected this from her. He'd asked about her from his father. The rumours were that she was meek and quiet. Apparently she wouldn't say anything unless she had been asked a question. But here she was, telling Robb the honest truth.
"My mother and my father married as an arrangement," Sarah drawled, beginning to pace up and down in her attempt to get warm. "Their marriage has never been full of love. My mother taught me not to expect that from any man. She told me that love only existed in children's books. I cannot help but think that she was right."
"I will do my best to love you," he promised her and she shook her head.
"You cannot force it to come."
"My mother and father had that marriage," Robb said, his eyes looking at her and she glanced back at him, waiting for him to continue. "Mother said that she grew to love my father. You've seen the two of them together. They're happy enough."
Sarah couldn't deny that.
"I think it depends on the people involved in the marriage," Robb admitted to her, "and how willing they are to cooperate on the marriage."
"Perhaps," Sarah muttered back. "I am just warning you now that it might not be like that."
"It sounds as though you refuse to give it a chance," Robb admitted to her and her mouth gaped open. Words failed her as he dared to move closer to her. "Does your love belong to another? Is that why you are opposed to this?"
"No," Sarah replied. "I have never loved before."
"The Kingslayer seems close to you," Robb suddenly blurted out. He'd been thinking it the entire night, and then he recalled how Lannister had defended the girl earlier. "You two have been whispering in corners all evening. Everyone has seen him lean in to talk to you."
Sarah couldn't help the loud laugh that escaped her then. She placed a hand over her mouth to quieten down the noise before she snorted in an unladylike fashion.
"I suggest you stop before you say something completely ridiculous," Sarah told Robb, doing her best to keep her laughs down. Her gaze found his again and she shook her head. "Ser Jaime and I have never seen eye to eye. We never have done, and we never will do. My comments amuse him because he likes to do nothing more than mock me."
Robb kept silent, doing his best to weigh up the girl in front of him. He couldn't be too sure whether she was telling the truth or not.
"Now," Sarah drawled, "If that is love then I could do without it. The Kingslayer and I have done nothing but argue during the journey here, and if he were to hear these accusations from you then I can assure you that he will tell you the same thing as I am telling you."
Robb felt his cheeks turn red due to the cold and Sarah arched a brow at him. How old was he? What did he know of any of this? Then again, what did Sarah really know of anything? She was only a year older than he was.
"I will be leaving now. I fear that the night is drawing to a close and I have grown tired," Sarah curtseyed and Robb bowed at the waist.
"I never meant to cause offence," he told her.
"Just do not speak of it again," she warned him. "Goodnight, Lord Robb."
"Lady Sarah." Robb said and he watched her move back indoors before he pulled at his hair and wondered how foolish he had been.
...
Jaime hated Winterfell. He hated the cold. He hated the Starks. He hated the way everyone looked at him. He was in half a mind to run away and never come back. The days ticked by and he longed for his sister to come to him.
He often found Sarah sat in the library in the tower, keeping herself locked away with books. Her betrothed had done his best to lure her out, but she hardly seemed interested in his swordplay. No, Sarah Baratheon didn't care for him in the slightest.
"There has been a sighting," Jaime spoke the next time he went into the library.
Sarah looked up from the plush seat she was sat on. She had curled into the chair and had a book rested on her lap. Her hand held her neck as she read the letters on the page beneath her. Jaime couldn't understand why she'd want to spend all of her time reading. It had never been something that had fascinated him.
"Of what?" Sarah wondered. "A three eyed raven? A deer? Or perhaps a direwolf? Although my betrothed seems to have the latter one already. The creature certainly has taken a disliking to me."
"Perhaps it has something to do with your miserable spirit?" suggested Jaime, his head cocked to the side as he stood proudly in his armour. "The cold certainly has seemed to sour you."
"Understandably," Sarah replied, closing her book and standing up. "It becomes difficult when your betrothed cannot stand to be with you. We both have different interests. I doubt he's ever picked a book up before. This place was dusty before I came."
"That's because there are far more interesting things than books," Jaime's nose wrinkled. "Now come along, the King should be here soon enough."
"I'm coming," Sarah said; uncurling herself from the chair and moving to take hold of his arm.
Jaime was feeling like a giddy child. He stood next to Sarah at the end of the line of Starks. The girl's arm brushed against his and she watched as the royal party approached.
Jaime remained in his own world until he saw his sister. He did his best to remain calm and collected. How long had it been since he'd seen her? He had thought that this day would never come. He watched as introductions were held and then he caught his sister's eye as she demanded for him to help carry her possessions to her room.
"Do you have any idea how long I have waited for this?" Jaime asked once they were alone in her room and the maids had left. His arms wrapped around her waist and he buried his face against her neck.
She groaned at the contact and allowed his lips to press against her bare skin. "As long as I, I assume," she told him in a whisper. "How has this cold place treated you?"
"Terribly until now," Jaime said, his fingers finding the laces to her dress.
She pulled back from him, shaking her head before she took a seat on the dressing table's stool.
"Not now," she warned him.
He ground his teeth together but agreed and took a seat on the bed, folding one leg over the other. He waited for her to speak as he kept quiet.
"I trust you know why my husband is here."
"Jon Arryn is dead. Lord Stark is to become the new Hand." Jaime shrugged. "What of it?"
"I tried to make you the Hand-"
"-Knowing full well that I don't want it," Jaime interrupted her. "Honestly, Cersei, I am happy enough without the addition of politics."
"It matters not," Cersei said. "We could be in trouble."
"Why?"
"Jon Arryn knew of us," Cersei said. "How do you think he died?"
"Not by your hand, I trust," Jaime said and Cersei shook her head in reply.
"Someone murdered him. I do not know who. But who else do you think knows?"
"Who cares?" wondered Jaime. "He was an old man. We can say that he was lying. We can say that he was delusional. Of course, he had to be."
"I trust you know that Stannis has fled to Dragonstone," Cersei informed her brother, standing up and nervously beginning to pace around her room. Jaime remained seated, watching his sister with interest. "Jon Arryn told him of us. He knows."
"So?"
"So," Cersei replied, her tone harsh, "his daughter is here, isn't she? The little chit."
It took Jaime a few seconds to comprehend what his sister was trying to convey to him. Once it sunk in, a large laugh escaped him and he shook his head back and forth.
"The girl has no idea," Jaime said.
"How do you know?"
"Because she would have said something by now. Believe me; I know this girl, and she does not know of us. Besides, Stannis wouldn't tell her and put her in danger."
"Who knows what Stannis would do for the Iron Throne?" Cersei checked. "Everyone is an enemy, Jaime. The girl is a Baratheon."
"A Baratheon who we are leaving in Winterfell. She is no concern to us."
Jaime stood up and moved over to his sister, his hand on the back of her neck. She continued to worry about what she knew. She knew that action had to be taken.
"And once we leave, then what?" Cersei asked. "She is to come back to King's Landing where I can keep an eye on her. Stannis would never attempt to do anything whilst we have his daughter with us."
Jaime shook his head, his hand resting on his temple as he did so. "And have you told your husband of this? An arrangement has been made."
"Of course," Cersei said. "I have told him how the girl should be returned to King's Landing to marry someone else. Besides, she is barren, isn't she? He'd never give Robb Stark a barren wife."
"Is she?" wondered Jaime. "I doubt Stannis would have let her leave Dragonstone if that was to be the case."
Cersei smirked and ran her hand over her brother's cheek. "One has ways of making this possible, Jaime. She is not barren at this moment, according to her handmaiden who she left behind. However, a little bit of moon tea in her drink every morning can make things happen. By the time we leave Winterfell she will be of no use to any man, just like her mother."
Jaime removed her hand from his cheek and he stepped back for a moment, unable to believe what he was hearing from his sister.
"Why cause the girl more suffering?" he wondered from her. "She does not know anything. Leave her here to rot."
Cersei's brow furrowed as she listened to the voice inside her head, telling her that Jaime was going against her. No, he couldn't be.
"Have you developed a soft spot for the girl?" Cersei wondered. "Has your time with the ugly Baratheon mellowed you?"
"Of course not," Jaime replied, looking to the floor in disgust. "I just do not think it is wise for you to act like this, Cersei. Why make her suffer?"
"Because she could be an enemy," Cersei said. "She is not us, Jaime. We cannot trust her. We do not know what she could come to know...no...I need to keep her under my watch."
"You are the Queen," Jaime said, his tone one of annoyance and he began to move from the room. "You are at liberty to do as you please."
Slamming the door behind him, her felt his teeth grit together. Why did he care what happened to the girl? She was no concern to him. No, Jaime needed to stop this. Cersei. Cersei was the one he wanted.
So why was it he couldn't stomach going back into her room?
...
A/N: Quite a few hits on the story but not many people reviewing! I do hope you'll let me know what you think of it so far, and thank you to anyone who is reading! Have a nice weekend and please review!