Game of Thrones: Of Lions and Roses

Chapter 10 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

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Boris Yeltsin: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it :)
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Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, glad you liked Arya and Gendry's little conversation; she was basically telling him to man up, to put it bluntly; convincing him that he now has much more important things to do, there's no time to sit around moping :) Of course, she feels this comes at a cost, as will be seen much later.

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

Jaime

Jaime sighed as he left the White Sword Tower; he had just met with his fellow Kingsguard again, this time fully aware of their faults. He had warned them that he found them lacking and expected better from them in future. In response to protests he had made things quite clear, he found fault with many of them and unless they corrected these faults, they would find themselves being removed from the Kingsguard.

'The only way out of the Kingsguard is death after all; despite the issue with Ser Barristan.' Jaime thought to himself. 'Yet it seems Ser Osmund thinks that will be the case; simple dismissal. He does not understand; but the others do.'

He recalled the looks of fear in Ser Meryn and Ser Boros' eyes and knew they would fall in line. Ser Balon, the one knight present he found no fault with, remained stoic, but Jaime knew he took the words to heart and would guard himself against the dangers of any weakness. Ser Loras seemed put out at first but then seemed to accept Jaime's words; ending the dangerous of their being trouble from him at least.

Jaime was moderately satisfied with his work. 'We still have to ensure mistakes are corrected, but otherwise, there should be improvement now.'

He knew there had to be; otherwise he would have to take drastic steps.

He was on his way back to the throne room; he wanted to ensure that the new members of the Kingsguard were up to the task, and found the perfect means to test them. He was going to volunteer to lead the contingent of guards who would be taking the Westerlings home to the Crag.

'Or rather, what is left of them.' He thought sadly.

After all; the eldest son was dead, the eldest daughter was; if the reports could be believed, in the North, married to Robb Stark. Lady Sybell Spicer, Lord Westerling's wife, had been executed on Joffrey's orders as punishment for their failure. That meant the only ones present in King's Landing, to be escorted home, were Lord Gawen himself and his youngest daughter Elenya.

All those thoughts however were pushed clean from his mind when he spotted someone. Someone who turned and tried to leave the moment they saw him.

"Lancel." He called out; causing the man to flinch.

He turned to face Jaime, his face ashen. "Y-yes…"

Jaime shook his head; noting Lancel's fear. "We need to talk, you can't keep avoiding me. Why would you have any reason too?"

Lancel said nothing to that; merely looked away, awkwardly; this added to Jaime's worries, especially regarding the rumours he had heard.

Casting around desperately for a topic of conversation, Lancel then asked. "You've, seen the rest of the Kingsguard?"

"Yes; quite the disappointment some of them." Jaime remarked in reply. "For varying reasons; but hopefully that will be resolved soon."

Lancel seemed shocked by this blunt proclamation. "Ser Jaime; the Kingsguard are…"

Jaime shook his head. "Now playing host to three knights; two who were skilled and dedicated from the start, one who was skilled, now endeavouring to be just as dedicated. An up-jumped arrogant sellsword, a knight who has one weakness, his arrogance and two old knights who are well beyond being of help."

Silence followed after that.

Jaime was the one to break the silence, shaking his head.

"I was going to ask you something else; regarding certain rumours I've heard about you…And Cersei." He noted Lancel's reaction and sighed. "But truthfully, I don't have to ask, it's all over your face…"

Lancel trembled as he tried to reply. "Ser Jaime I…"

But Jaime just shook his head; gently touched Lancel's shoulder and said. "Let her go, completely, before she swallows you up. You haven't the stomach for the cost of getting too involved with my sister."

With that he walked on, heading for the throne room, leaving a confused and frightened Lancel behind.

Before long Jaime found himself on horseback; riding out of Kings Landing with the Westerlings, along with the contingent of Lannister guards; including those he had hand-picked to come with him, Ser Balon; Ser Loras and Ser Osmund. There were no crowds, not even people attempting to deride the disgraced Westerlings, although Jaime suspected the presence of the Kingsguard had something to do with that.

The journey passed in silence as they travelled along the Crownlands, the Riverlands were closed to them, their borders too heavily guarded; so they had to take a roundabout route to the Westerlands, passing through the Reach. The silence was unnerving; in the end, Jaime decided to break it. He pulled his horse back slightly, deciding to get some answers to other questions that bothered him, due to the lack of answers.

He pulled up alongside Gawen Westerling; the man froze as he came near. Jaime smiled lightly.

"Peace, my Lord, I only came to talk." He explained gently.

Gawen nodded, but was no less tense. This left Jaime to cast about for a subject to discuss, as Gawen was not forthcoming.

Finally, the only thing he could think of was. "So, is it true…about your wife?"

Probably not the most tactful questioned, but Jaime hardly thought of himself as being tactful at all.

"What…has been said about her, Ser?" Gawen asked in reply, not looking as dismayed as Jaime thought he would.

"She was conspiring along with my father, against Robb Stark, trying to bring about his murder." Jaime explained.

Gawen's eyes hardened at that. "I am afraid it is so, Ser Jaime."

Jaime nodded; realizing now that his wife's betrayal was the reason he was not as dismayed as he probably should be. They rode on in silence again, Jaime returning to the head of the column. They soon passed the borders of the Crownlands and were now passing through the Reach where they decided to stop for the night. They got to work setting up camp, putting guards on the Westerlings.

Jaime took charge of that however; seeing the look in the eyes of some of the men when they looked at Eleyna.

'She's a mere girl, people like that should be killed, or made eunuchs.' He thought angrily before dismissing the guards.

When they tried to protest he cut them off. "I am in charge and I've chosen Ser Loras and Ser Balon to guard them; that is final. Now, the rest of you, to your posts and those that are not on watch, get some rest."

They followed his orders at once; his anger making it clear that defiance would be a costly option.

As he stood on watch, Jaime was lost in thoughts. His thoughts were wandering, as they often did, only this time, not to his sister. Indeed, to his surprise he found his thoughts wandering instead to the tall warrior woman, the one he had referred to as 'wench'; first in a derogatory fashion, but by now, it seemed almost an endearment.

'Brienne, what is she doing now I wonder.' Jaime thought to himself. 'I know she left, heading back North, to try and see if there was anything she could do regarding the Starks, after hearing of the Red Wedding…Did she make it back to them, is she with them now?'

He sighed and began to pace; doing his utmost to keep an eye out, to stay focused on his duty.

But the thoughts wouldn't leave him alone. 'She changed so much for me; do I…What is this I'm feeling, whenever I think of her? I wonder, with so much changed, does she even think about me?'

He was pulled out of his thoughts by Ser Osmund calling his name.

"Is everything alright Ser Jaime?" He asked.

Jaime shook his head. "It is nothing, come, we must return to our duties."

Ser Osmund nodded and they resumed keeping watch.

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.