Stannis sank down into his chair once he had finished embracing his daughter. He had placed his hand on the small of her back and told her to sit down in the chair next to his at the head of the table. His demand to be left in peace had been noted as he waited for Sarah to recount her tale of what had happened back to him.
"I know that you are probably angry with me," Sarah spoke in a soft voice and Stannis shook his head.
His anger had been replaced by sorrow at having her captured. The fear inside of him when he realised that she was to be sent to King's Landing could not have been measured. He had wanted to do nothing more than yell at the Lady Melisandre to make it stop. And then he had laughed. How could he place so much faith in one woman? He did not know, nor did he truly want to know.
"I stopped being angry when I realised that I could have lost you for good," Stannis informed her and Sarah bit down on her bottom lip, resting her hands on the table in front of her whilst Stannis took a few moments to study her features. He could see that there were some faint bruises on her pale skin and she looked thinner than normal. There was nothing that could not heal.
"I was worried, Sarah," he spoke slowly, his voice showing strain. "You had taken Shireen and ran away without any word."
"You know why I left," Sarah responded and Stannis nodded at her.
"Aye, I know," he responded. "And I know that what I did...it was not right. None of it is right, Sarah. A traitor occupies the throne and my brother rebelled against me. I do wish that there could have been a different way to put aside our differences, but Renly refused. What I did still haunts me and nothing will ever change that."
Nodding, Sarah felt a moment of relief wash through her once she heard that her father was sorry for what he had done. She did not wish to dwell on that part anymore.
"Shireen said that you went to Robb Stark...the usurper," Stannis said, obviously less than impressed with her choice of confidant.
"We were captured and sent to him. Robb Stark is a good man, father. Honestly, he does not want the iron throne."
"No, he just wants to talk the North from me," Stannis said and Sarah bit down on her tongue, refusing to tell her father that he currently occupied none of the Seven Kingdoms and so nothing could, technically, be taken from him. "And then you were captured by Lord Bolton's men."
"Locke," Sarah said. "I was travelling with Jaime and this woman knight."
"The Kingslayer?" Stannis checked and Sarah nodded at him again. "What was the Kingslayer doing with you?"
"He had been taken by Robb Stark but his mother released him in return for her daughters in King's Landing. He was the one who helped me escape once we were sent on the way to King's Landing...he gave me the coins to travel back to Dragonstone...without Jaime then I would be back in King's Landing and at the mercy of Joffrey and his mother."
Stannis listened on as Sarah recounted other pieces of her journey back to him. He couldn't help but arch his brow once he heard how the Kingslayer had lost his hand on the way. He wondered what good he would be to anyone else now that his defining feature had been lost. Then there had been Lord Bolton threatening to marry Sarah off to his son. Stannis had ground his teeth once he had heard that.
"And that is all that happened," Sarah concluded in a whisper and her father nodded back to her, knowing that it would only be a matter of time before Selyse had word of their daughter's return. She would demand for Sarah to spend every moment with her then.
"And did any of them hurt you?"
"Nothing that will not heal," Sarah promised her father and Stannis nodded back to her at hearing it. She could only imagine how glad he was. It took a few more moments before he reached over to her, his hand on her shoulder and he forced himself to smile at her.
"You're back now and away from the scum who hurt you," Stannis said and Sarah nodded back to him.
"Yes," she agreed limply. "I heard of the battle of Blackwater Bay...and how the wildfire destroyed you ships..."
"Aye," Stannis said, removing his hand from her shoulder. "It did just that. But I have the intent to win the throne regardless of anything. King's Landing would have been weak if the Lannisters didn't turn up. I swear to the Red God that I will see them all punished for their crimes...every single one of them..."
It was only then when Sarah thought of Jaime's head decorating a spike on the walls of King's Landing. And it was only then when the thought repulsed her beyond any thought she had ever had before.
...
"Cersei."
It had been once he had said her name when she turned around to look at him. Jaime knew that he looked like a beggar who had wandered into her chamber from the street. He could only imagine how he smelt after the past five days of not washing.
His sister looked at him as though she didn't recognise him. She looked at him as though he was not the man who had loved her for years on end. Keeping quiet, she almost doubled over as her face contorted into a look of disgust at his stump. Jaime moved his gaze down to his stump, wondering if it was truly that grotesque.
No one else had looked at it like his sister was staring at it.
Not even Sarah.
Jaime mentally chided himself as the pair of them remained silent. Why was it that he could not rid that girl from his mind? Ever since she had left her face had been haunting his vision, the way she laughed unable to stop ringing in his ears. And when he had kissed her that was when he realised what a terrible mistake he had made.
He had told her that too. He had told her that he didn't know what had come over him. Sarah had politely responded with a similar reply. But he knew differently. The girl had never been kissed before and she had been awkward, sitting as stiff as a board as Jaime's lips moved over hers. Only when he had bit down on her bottom lip did he gain a response from her.
But he loved Cersei and Sarah was a Baratheon. She had said as much before delivering the sting which hurt Jaime the most. The hateful things which she had said about Cersei to him. How she controlled everything he did, from pushing a boy from a window to having him join the Kingsguard for her sake. He pretended as though she lied to him, but deep down he knew that she was telling the truth. He knew that everything she had said was accurate.
"Jaime." Cersei replied, finally snapping him from his thoughts. "You're back."
Gulping, Jaime remained stood at the top of the steps. "So it would seem."
"I...I've been worried...me and father...we tried to get your release earlier...we did the best that we could..." Cersei stammered, his sudden appearance taking her off guard. She took a few seconds to collect her thoughts before motioning down to his stump with her chin. "And who did this to you?"
"Oh, this," Jaime said, trying to be nonchalant as his sister looked to the stump. "A man named Locke did this to me. He is one of Lord Bolton's men, but do not worry, I shall have my revenge soon enough."
"Well," Cersei said, unable to take her eyes from it, "it certainly might make your new job difficult."
"Lord Commander of the Kingsguard," Jaime drawled. "I had heard that through the grapevine, but I am sure that I will be up to the job."
"You have no sword hand," Cersei deadpanned and Jaime ground his teeth together, never before recalling a time when his sister had angered him by one little comment.
But then he remembered what Sarah had said to him. You'll just have to learn with your left. And that was what he would do. Never did she doubt his ability. Never did she look at his stump as though it was something which he should be disgusted by. But Sarah was not Cersei.
"I can train with my left," Jaime responded. "Don't fear for me."
"Well," Cersei spoke the word again, "I heard you were travelling with the Baratheon bitch. Where has she gone?"
"Ah," Jaime drawled.
He would be found out sooner or later. He had wandered off with Sarah during the dead of the night, telling her what needed to be done before she had darted into the darkness and Jaime returned to the camp. But he had been too late. A man had already noted that he had helped her to escape. Jaime had silenced him with a single threat, but he did not know how long that threat would hold out for. Nor did he truly care. He had done the right thing.
"She escaped," Jaime said. "We were a day's ride from King's Landing and she sloped off into the dark of the night. I assume she returned to Dragonstone. It is the only logical explanation behind it, I believe."
Cersei felt her blood boil. She had leverage with taking the girl as a hostage. She could have made peace with Stannis Baratheon. That man may be a warrior but he was not heartless; not like some others. He loved his daughters just like Cersei loved her children. They both had that in common.
"And did you see her escape?" Cersei demanded to know from her twin. "The stupid little whore."
Jaime kept his eyes wide as he heard his sister. He kept his emotions guarded; a thing he had never done before with Cersei. He always wore his heart on his sleeve when it came to her, but now he would not.
"She was scared about coming back here," Jaime replied. "She did what she had to do to survive."
"She would have survived here," Cersei replied. "I would have married her off to Lancel...kept her in the family where I could keep Stannis at bay and my eye on everything he did. But you let her go."
"I did nothing," Jaime lied, wondering why she was accusing him of doing anything. "I do not see why you are so angry. Stannis is weak...I heard of the siege he attempted..."
"That does not mean that he is not amassing an army," Cersei snapped back and Jaime watched her move away from him back down to into her chamber, folding her arms over her waist as she looked out onto her balcony and the view over the bay. "We can trust no one, Jaime."
"You can trust me."
The words he had said to Sarah haunted him. How could anyone get anywhere without trusting anyone? He knew that Sarah would not be back on Dragonstone if she had no trusted him.
"She is an innocent girl in your schemes," Jaime replied to his sister and she looked at him as he turned on his heel, intending to leave and change into something much more comfortable.
"Where are you going?"
"I need to have a bath and change," Jaime said, not turning back to look at his sister, pain forming inside of his chest as he did so. "I shall speak to you later. I have other family to see too."
It was that part which hurt Cersei the most, but Jaime remained stoic as he left her chamber.
"Perhaps you were right this time, Princess," Jaime whispered to himself as he wandered down the corridors, recalling how she had warned him of Cersei. "Perhaps you were always right."
...
A/N: Thank you to zenstarrflower, cc and CupcakesAndAlice for reviewing the previous chapter! And thanks to the people who have followed the story! please do review!