Being called to his father's chamber in the middle of the night was enough to scare Jaime out of his wits. He was normally not a man who was easily intimidated, but he knew that Cersei had delivered her promise. She had told him what she intended to do and Jaime knew that he had to act quickly to free Sarah from the chamber which concealed her.
"For the middle of the night someone important best have died," Jaime grumbled, knowing that he looked a state in his half laced shirt which refused to be tucked into his breeches. His leather coat covered his body to keep him warm in the slight chill.
He sat down in the chair to his father's right, Tyrion directly opposite him with Cersei next to him. Tyrion looked as much of a mess as Jaime did, but Cersei looked as though she had not even bothered to sleep as she was dressed pristinely.
"The Wolf King has marched on Casterly Rock," Tywin growled and the siblings all looked at him with wide eyes.
Tyrion reached for the goblet of wine in front of him; "The King in the North certainly has balls."
Tywin glowered and Jaime kept silent, thinking of the havoc which Robb could wreck on his home. But that was not Jaime's main concern at this moment in time. The Lannister forces would soon be scattered if these forces continued to rage against them.
"I am to send three quarters of our forces to Casterly Rock and destroy him once and for all," Tywin continued.
"But Joffrey is to wed-"
"Joffrey's wedding to the Tyrell girl does not concern me at this moment in time," Tywin growled lowly. "He can marry the girl without me for all I care. Our pride is at risk if the boy manages to destroy the Rock."
"And you would leave King's Landing undefended?" Tyrion checked. "That is very brave of you. You do know that we have Stannis Baratheon's daughter? If he catches wind of us being undefended what makes you think he won't attack."
"The little whore will lose her head tomorrow at Joffrey's wedding if my son so commands it," Cersei snarled, her eyes flashing over to Jaime. Her twin kept silent, refusing to snap back at her. She would do nothing to Sarah and Jaime would see to that.
"The girl will keep her head," Tywin replied, his voice full of authority. "Stannis's army is weak. He would fail to attack King's Landing even with the capital's lack of men. Do you think he would surrender if you lopped the girls head off tomorrow? Are you so naive?"
Cersei remained mute, Tyrion and Jaime exchanging a brief glance at each other. Tyrion could see the change in his brother's demure. He had seen it a while ago. Jaime had escaped Cersei's clutches and managed to find himself drawn into another's sweeter embrace. He was not the man he had been when he Cersei had him.
"Besides, we have another reason as to why Stannis will surrender."
"And what reason is this?" Tyrion asked, refilling his glass with more wine. He would need to be properly inebriated to get through the conversation with his family in the middle of the night when he should be sleeping by his sweet wife's side.
"His other daughter has been captured. She should arrive at King's Landing in the morning. I sent a small group of men to attack House Florent. Selyse Florent managed to escape, but her daughter was playing in the forest."
Jaime inwardly groaned, knowing full well that Sarah would not react well to this news. She would be devastated that her sister had failed to avoid danger. Now Jaime would have two females to sneak out of King's Landing and one had a disfigured face. No one intended to make his job easier.
"The girls are to be kept alive until Stannis surrenders," Tywin stood up and the three siblings remained seated as he looked between them, wondering what he had done to deserve three children who bore no resemblance to him. "I expect you to keep King's Landing stable whilst I am gone. Do you understand me?"
Giving a grumble, the three of them had no other option but to agree as Tywin left them with the intent of stopping Robb Stark once and for all.
...
Sarah was sat on the edge of her bed, a small amount of light streaming in through her window. She looked up to the window, wondering if it would be possible for her to try and screw the bars loose. She doubted it. Snapping from her thoughts, the door suddenly opened and two guards in white cloaks entered her room. Sarah stood up before noting the small figure being pushed in front of them.
The girl had a cloak covering her body and her hood covered her face, but Sarah would recognise her from anywhere. Moving with haste, Sarah dropped to her knees in front of the sobbing figure as the door slammed shut and locked again.
"Shireen," Sarah whispered her sister's name, pushing her hood down to look at her sister's red face. She had a small bruise on her cheek and tears streamed down her cheeks as she wrapped her arms around Sarah's neck, holding her sister tightly.
"Sarah," Shireen mumbled back and Sarah picked her sister up, holding her tightly against her. Shireen wrapped her legs around Sarah's waist like she used to do when she was a little girl. Sitting down on the side of the bed, Sarah cradled the girl in her lap, urging her to stop her cries.
"Sweetling," Sarah whispered, pushing Shireen's hair behind her ears as she cradled her face tentatively. "How did you get here? I thought that you were with mother."
"I was," Shireen sniffed. "I was out playing...and men in red cloaks found me...I didn't wander far from the castle, Sarah. I promise. They burned it down...mother...I don't know what happened...but they brought me here..."
"Seven Hells," Sarah whispered. "And did they hurt you?"
Shireen sniffed loudly, the sound enough to break Sarah's heart. "They hit me and called me ugly. They said that father was going to die...told me that I would be next...they...they were not very nice, Sarah."
Sarah did her best to blink back the tears which were slowly forming in her eyes, shaking her head and wiping her eyes with the back of her hands before she lost control of her emotions. She could not afford to do that; not with Shireen.
"You are safe now," Sarah promised her, pressing Shireen's face back into the crook of her neck and whispering soothingly into her ear. "You're safe."
...
Jaime and Varys acted with haste, both of them knowing that they would never get a better chance to help the Baratheon girls. King's Landing was in turmoil, guards mainly at the great feast where the travesty had occurred. But the travesty was one which bought Jaime time to free Sarah and Shireen. It was time which he needed desperately. News had travelled fast of Stannis Baratheon marching South and he was getting closer to King's Landing than Jaime could ever have imagined.
No word had been sent about Brienne, but now was not the time to worry of her.
Now was the time to worry of other things.
"You need to take the tunnels underground," Varys informed Jaime as the two men rushed with haste towards the chamber Sarah was locked away in. "I have two horses saddled and waiting outside of the gates of the castle. The girls need to ride hard and fast away from here."
"Understood," Jaime mumbled, drawing his sword as he saw two guards stood by Sarah's door.
He looked at them in disbelief, doing his best to act the part of a surprised man; "Have you not heard? Every man is needed at the feast!"
"Why?" one guard asked.
"The King is dead."
The words rang true and Jaime couldn't help but think of how relieved millions of people would be. Joffrey's death could only bring many people happiness. Jaime felt nothing of it. He detested the boy king. He would not spend time crying over him, but he would spend time helping the only girl he now cared about.
"Go!" Jaime snapped and Varys remained silent, his hands in his sleeves and his brows cocked as the men flustered and left.
Varys withdrew the spare key he held to Sarah's door and quickly unlocked the chain, pulling it away from the wood as he spoke; "Very convincing, my Lord Commander."
"I do try," Jaime mumbled back, still holding his sword in his hands as the door peeled open to reveal Sarah pacing the room, a little girl in a dull brown dress sat on the bed.
Varys pulled a garment from his sleeves, knowing full well that Sarah had no clothes ever since the Kingsguard had taken it upon themselves to ruin her gown. He tossed it to her and she caught the dress she had worn the previous day before blinking profusely.
"Put that dress on," Jaime commanded her and Sarah began to pull it over her body. "You're leaving King's Landing now."
"How?" Sarah asked, sensing that there was little time for conversation.
She quickly draped Shireen's cloak over the little girl's shoulders and took hold of the strings, fastening it around her chest. She stood tall and took her sister's hand as Varys extended his arm to the door, motioning for them to be hasty.
"Joffrey has been poisoned. The castle is occupied and now is the time for you to go," Jaime spoke, moving ahead of Sarah through the courtyard and Varys trailed behind them, keeping a lookout for anyone who threatened to ruin their plan.
"Murder?" Sarah checked.
"Yes," Jaime said, entering a corridor and rushing down it.
Sarah looked down to Shireen to make sure that her sister was keeping up with her. She gave her hand an encouraging squeeze before they came to a wooden door. Jaime held it open, a staircase leading downwards into a dark tunnel. Varys looked between them and shook his head, knowing that he could go no further.
"Follow the tunnel," he told the three of them. "There should be horses tied to a post at the end of it. It spans quite a while but do not take any of the turnings. Guards may patrol it, but I doubt they will be there with this controversy."
"Thank you," Sarah said sincerely as Jaime pressed his hand to the small of her back, urging her to move down the stairs. She did so with haste, rushing down them with Shireen close on her trail. They finally came to a darkened tunnel, the only light coming from the torches which hung on the wall.
Shireen moved closer to Sarah then, Jaime leading the way and often looking behind them to make sure there was no one following.
"Everything is going to be fine," Sarah promised her little sister. "Ser Jaime is out friend. We can trust him and we will go and find mother and father. We will be safe."
"Friend," Jaime muttered so that Shireen could not hear. "I thought we were closer than that."
"Not the time," Sarah mumbled back to him as they finally saw a light at the end of the tunnel. Jaime rushed towards it with haste, Sarah stumbling to keep up. Shireen looked around as Jaime pushed the iron gate open and stepped into the daylight again.
"Sarah," Shireen tugged on her sister's sleeve. "I can hear someone."
"No-"
"-Oi!"
Sarah looked behind Shireen, the sight of a guard moving towards them enough for Sarah to feel fear rise inside of her. Jaime failed to hear the guard's calls as he stood outside the iron gate, working at freeing the horses from their posts. He was less than ten seconds away from Sarah, but that was enough for damage to be inflicted.
"Go," Sarah urged Shireen, pushing her forwards and through the iron gate as the guard's footsteps caught up with them. How long had he been following them? Where had he come from?
Shireen stepped into the sunlight and Sarah followed, only for the man to grab hold of her hair and pull her backwards. She screamed loudly and Jaime's brows furrowed. He looked behind him, the sight of Shireen peering back through the gate enough to make fear rise inside of him. He pushed the girl out of the way before he saw the sight which greeted him.
It was a sight which stopped him in his tracks, Shireen's screams echoing through him but barely registering. Jaime's hand moved with haste then, his sword waving through the air until it cut the guard's head cleanly from his shoulders. The guard fell to the floor, pulling his sword with him as Sarah gasped loudly, doing her best not to scream as the blade left her stomach.
She collapsed to the floor, Jaime kneeling beside her to cradle her body to his. He looked down to her wound, the blood pooling from her stomach enough to make Jaime's own stomach churn.
"You stupid girl," he whispered down to her as he pulled her into his arms, knowing that he had to do something to save her. He had to help her somehow. "Why did you not run?"
"I tried," Sarah whispered. "His sword...I tried to prise it from him...but I...I don't know what happened..."
"Sarah," Shireen spoke her sister's name lowly as Jaime felt the girl by his side, trying to look at Sarah as Jaime cradled her in his arms. "Sarah."
"Shireen," Sarah whispered back, her hand dropping down and Shireen reached up to squeeze it as Jaime placed Sarah atop of a horse. She winced and doubled over, the pain in her stomach noticeable. Jaime dropped his cloak from its hold and moved it into a ball and gave it to Sarah.
"Hold this on your stomach," he demanded her.
She did as he said and Shireen remained silent, her own tears forming in her eyes as Jaime bent down to her height.
"Have you ever rode a horse before?" he asked and the girl nodded with a sniff.
Jaime took hold of her waist and helped her onto the creature, pressing the reigns into her hand before looking her in the eye.
"I need you to hold on tightly and ride alongside me with your sister. Do you understand?"
"Yes," Shireen muttered back. "Is the going to be alright?"
Jaime didn't respond to her, knowing that he could not. He climbed onto Sarah's horse, settling behind her to wrap his arms around her waist. She moved to rest against him, closing her eyes tightly as her cheek hit his shoulder.
"You can't come," Sarah whispered to him. "If they find you gone...they will call you a traitor..."
"They already do," Jaime said, the horses trotting along the abandoned paved street which was situated right outside the gates of King's Landing and led to the Kingsroad. "And I am not leaving you alone...not again..."
...
A/N: Thank you to mellielannister, aleksjoly, cc and Miss. Lori MacManus for reviewing the previous chapter. So, the next chapter we are reunited with Stannis and Melisandre. Do let me know what you think. This is nowhere near the end!