I appreciate all of the comments and that all of you are continuing to read. There's going to be more of a diversion from the path of the book coming up (and I'm reaching where the novels have left off) and I hope you all enjoy the story!

Chapter 23

Jaime entered the Sept to pay his last respects to his father with Sansa on his arm. As they moved closer to his body, Jaime saw that his father was rotting visibly. His face had taken on a greenish hue, and his eyes were deeply sunken, having the appearance of two black pits. Fissures had opened on his cheeks, and a foul white fluid was seeping through the joints of his armor to pool beneath his body. A stench persisted that made Jaime want to gag.

He heard Sansa gasp and saw that she was close to gagging herself from the smell as they knelt beside his body. Jaime reached out and plucked a rose from one of the bouquets that surrounded Lord Tywin's marble slab, and handed it to her. "Hold it to your nose," he whispered and she nodded, her eyes beginning to water, as they took their seats.

Red-eyed and pale, Cersei climbed the steps to kneel above their father, drawing Tommen down beside her. The boy recoiled at the sight of Lord Tywin, his eyes wide, but Cersei grabbed his wrist before he could pull away. "Pray," she whispered and Tommen tried. But he was only eight and Lord Tywin was a horror to behold.

Tommen took one desperate breath of air and then began to sob. "Stop that!" Cersei whispered harshly. The boy turned his head and doubled over, retching. His crown fell off and rolled across the marble floor. Cersei pulled away from him in disgust, releasing his arm and Tommen ran for the doors, as fast as his eight-year-old legs could carry him.

Jaime went after the little king, catching him in the entry way. "I'm sorry," Tommen wept. "Mother says a king must show the way, but the smell made me sick."

"Best we go outside, Your Grace." Jaime led the boy out to where the air was as fresh and clear as King's Landing ever got. He took the king off to the side, well away from the mourners, and sat him down upon the marble steps. "I wasn't scared," the boy insisted. "The smell made me sick. Didn't it make you sick? How could you bear it, Uncle?"

"A man can bear most anything," Jaime told his son. I have smelled my own hand rotting, when Vargo Hoat made me wear it for a pendant. I have smelled a man roasting, as King Aerys cooked him in his own armor. "The world is full of horrors, Tommen. You can fight them, or laugh at them, or look without seeing. You just have to…go away inside."

Tommen considered that. "I…I used to go away inside sometimes," he confessed, "when Joffy would…"

"Joffrey." Cersei stood over them, the wind whipping her skirts around her legs. "Your brother's name was Joffrey. And he would never have shamed me as you have."

"I never meant to. I wasn't frightened, Mother. It was only that your lord father smelled so bad…"

"Do you think he smelled any sweeter to me? I have a nose, too." She caught his ear and pulled him to his feet. "Lord Tyrell has a nose. Did you see him retching in the holy sept?" Jaime saw Sansa follow his sister onto the steps and Tommen reached for her hand, which only angered Cersei further. "Did you see Lady Sansa bawling like a baby?"

Jaime got to his feet. "Cersei, enough."

"Tommen is king. He cannot act like a child."

"He is a child." Jaime glanced behind her and saw Mace Tyrell walking towards them. "Here comes Lord Tyrell. You don't wish to fight in front of him, do you?" That seemed to do the trick and Cersei pushed down her anger, accepting the Lord of Highgarden's condolences. Jaime thought it best to let the little king leave the Sept. "Tommen, will you escort my lady wife back to the Red Keep?"

Tommen nodded, wiping his eyes as Sansa ran her hand over his hair. She looked at Jaime questioningly. "I'll be along in a few minutes." Sansa looked at Cersei once more before taking Tommen's hand and leading the boy away, the Kingsguard, and Sansa's own guards following them closely. "What's this I hear that you plan to burn the tower of the hand to the ground?"

"Our Lord Father was murdered in that tower. I cannot bear to look at it. If the gods are good, the fire may smoke a few rats from the rubble."

Jaime rolled his eyes. "Tyrion, you mean."

"Him and Lord Varys and his goaler."

"If any of them were hiding in the tower, you would have found them. You've had men knocking through walls, and ripping up the floors. They've already uncovered half a hundred secret passages. He's not in there."

"I will burn it to the ground," she said coldly.

Jaime did not like what his sister had become, but he had to consider Sansa and what was best for her was for them to leave Kings Landing. "Sansa and I will leave for Casterly Rock as soon as possible and we'll take father's bones with us. To bury him with mother."

"Yes. He belongs with our lady mother, beneath the Rock," she said quietly.

"Father wished for Tommen to accompany us. He wished for Tommen to come to the Rock, and learn to be a Lannister."

Cersei's eyes flashed. "Absolutely not. He is my son."

"He would be safer in Casterly Rock than here."

"I will not allow her to raise him. He's already far too fond of your little wife. It's bad enough she's taken you. I'll not allow her to take my son as well. So long as Tommen sits on the Iron Throne, the realm sees him as the true king. Hide him under the Rock and he becomes just another claimant to the throne, no different than Stannis."

"He doesn't belong here, Cersei."

"He is king. He belongs here." I should have known she would never let him go. She wants his power – his throne. Now that he's king, Cersei will never let Tommen out of her grasp now. "I'll be forced to agree to a betrothal between Tommen and the Tyrell girl but…it will be years before any marriage between them could be consummated. I can rip out all the Roses before that and have the marriage voided."

"For once, will you put your children ahead of your quest for power?"

"I believe you should begin to prepare for your journey," she hissed. "I'll burn the tower tomorrow night, and you'll leave the next morning."

I never imagined that I would one day wish to be away from you, Jaime thought as he walked away from his sister. He knew this was the right thing. Both for Sansa and for him as well.

...

Sansa sat in her bedchamber, looking out the window. She felt for sweet little Tommen. Cersei was so cruel to him – so determined to make into the cold monster Joffrey was. As they traveled back to the Red Keep, Tommen had curled up next to her and cried. Sansa had held him and comforted him. It had broken her heart when the little king looked at her in fear and made her promise not to tell his mother that he had cried.

She heard the door to the bedchamber open and turned to see Jaime walk in. He seemed so tired – though better than when she had all but dragged him from the Sept where he'd been standing vigil for days without any sleep.

"Is Tommen all right?" he asked quietly, sliding behind her in the window seat and holding her so her back rested against his chest.

"He cried almost the whole way here. And he was terrified that Cersei would find out."

Jaime sighed. "She's refusing to let him come with us to Casterly Rock."

Sansa wasn't surprised, though she was saddened by it. He was such a sweet little boy. She would have been happy to have him live with them; despite who his mother was, and despite the fact that he was the product of her husband's incest with his sister. "How can we just leave him with her?" Sansa asked sadly.

"She's his mother."

"And you're his –"

"If I were to claim him, my head would end up on a spike on the castle gates. You know that."

She nodded. "I know. I just hate the thought of abandoning him here, to all of these horrible people who don't care about his happiness."

"As do I," Jaime said. "But I'm not going to make you stay here one moment longer than necessary. Cersei's going to burn the tower of the hand tomorrow night and we'll leave the next morning."

We can't leave here soon enough, Sansa thought as she snuggled against Jaime and felt him nuzzle against her neck. She couldn't help feeling guilty for feeling so safe and happy in the arms of Jaime Lannister, while her mother was being held prisoner. Sansa hoped that her mother would understand; that she wouldn't be disappointed in her for loving her husband.

"I believe you'll enjoy Casterly Rock," Jaime said, interrupting her thoughts. "And I will very much enjoy beginning our life together." Sansa smiled to herself, thinking about the child growing inside of her as Jaime held her in his arms.

...

Lord Tywin Lannister had entered the city on a stallion, his crimson armor polished and gleaming, bright with gems and goldwork. He would leave it in a tall wagon draped with crimson banners, with six silent sisters riding attendance on his bones.

Jaime had decided that if he was going to travel with Sansa during times of war, he would take as many soldiers as possible to ensure her safety. Even if he had to do battle with his sister. Luckily, she had agreed. Jaime expected Cersei's agreement over the number of soldiers that he was taking, was because they were escorting Lord Tywin's bones back to Casterly Rock. She had said that a large army of soldiers would be necessary for a man of their father's importance. Cersei didn't seem to realize or care that Jaime was Lord of Casterly Rock – and that by rights, each and every Lannister soldier served him. Jaime had also insisted on taking Ser Addam Marbrand and Ser Ilyn Payne with him.

He watched warily as the queen regent approached him. He had misliked the gleam in her eye the night before when she had burned the Tower of the Hand to the ground. He had tried yet again to talk her out of it, but she was adamant.

"Let all of King's Landing see the flames. It will be a lesson to our enemies," she had insisted. He'd refrained from reminding her that King Aerys had said something similar.

The green light of the wildfire had bathed the face of the court as they watched the burning, so they looked like rotting corpses. Cersei had stood with one hand on her breast, her lips parted, her green eyes shining. Jaime had realized that she was crying, but whether it was from grief or ecstasy, he could not have said. The sight filled him with disquiet, reminding him of Aerys Targaryen and the way a fire would arouse him. Towards the end of his life, the Mad King had taken to brutally raping his queen after a burning.

Sansa had huddled against Jaime in fear, digging her nails into his arm at the sight of the green flames. No doubt she was afraid of the wildfire because of what she saw during the Battle of Blackwater, and Jaime had taken her back to their chamber, as Cersei stood, her arm linked through Osmund Kettleblack's, watching the flames well into the morning.

"Since you will not lift a finger to help me here in Kings Landing, Brother, I must command you to stop at Riverrun on your way home," Cersei ordered, interrupting his thoughts.

"Why would you have me go to Riverrun?"

"Brynden Tully still holds the castle. The Freys and our forces been in a standoff with him since the Red Wedding. End this idiocy and claim Riverrun in Tommen's name. Father made Emmon Frey Lord of Riverrun. He and Aunt Genna have waited long enough to claim their keep. You must intervene on their behalf."

"I can't do that, Cersei."

"Why not?"

"I promised Sansa that I would not to take up arms against her family again. I won't break my promise to her."

He saw her eyes flash. "You would disobey a direct order from your king?"

"Do you fancy yourself a king now, sister?"

He watched Cersei look over at Sansa with contempt. "Don't be so foolish as to allow a promise extracted in the heat of passion to cost us on the battlefield. I want the standoff to end, and Riverrun to fall to the crown. You will do this before traveling to Casterly Rock. Unless you'd like to leave all of these soldiers here and travel alone with your little wife. I'm sure it's quite safe on the roads."

"I am Lord of the Rock. These are my soldiers, sister, not yours. You do not command them."

"I hold the iron throne. I command anyone I choose."

As Jaime looked at his sister, he was astonished to see what this small taste of power had done to her. Robert had not been dead for long, and she was near Aerys Targaryan with her level of madness. He was glad to leave and to get Sansa away from her. She will only get more and more erratic and paranoid. Left with no other choice as he was unwilling to risk his wife's safety, Jaime reluctantly agreed to see what he could do about the situation in the Riverlands.

...

Sansa watched as her carriage was loaded and her guards took their places, and saw little Tommen running towards her as Margaery Tyrell followed behind. He almost knocked her to the ground with the force of his hug. "I don't want you to leave."

Sansa knelt down beside Tommen, wiping away the tears from his eyes. "I promise that you and I will see each other again. You will come to Casterly Rock once Jaime and I are settled. Until then, Margaery will look after you as I have."

She felt an overwhelming need to protect the little king from Cersei. She had never felt so protective of anyone. Perhaps it's because I'm to be a mother soon?

Sansa rose and moved to embrace Margaery and began to whisper in her ear. "You will protect him. If anything happens to him, I will hold you responsible. If you ever cannot protect him, if you ever leave here – you will bring him to me and Jaime." Sansa pulled back and smiled sweetly, not sure what had come over her. "Are we in agreement?"

Margaery nodded. "I understand perfectly. And I will do ask you've asked."

Sansa knelt down and hugged Tommen. "Goodbye, sweet boy," she whispered, before rising to climb into her carriage. Jaime was beside her and took her hand, helping her into the carriage. She didn't realize there were tears in her eyes until he reached in and wiped them away. "He'll be all right," he whispered to her before kissing her softly and closing the door. She watched as Jaime mounted his horse, as did her guards.

Sansa leaned back in her seat, resting her hand over her stomach. She was beginning to feel a slight roundness as the child inside of her began to grow. Soon we'll be in Casterly Rock and I will tell Jaime that we're going to have a child. Sansa looked out the windows of her carriage and smiled to herself as she looked at Cersei. I'm finally free of her. Then she looked down at Tommen, clinging to Margaery's hand as he fought tears. She hoped that one day Tommen would be free of his mother as well. Perhaps he could join them at Casterly Rock, and become a part of their family.

As her carriage began to roll forward and away from the capitol, Sansa felt calmer - as if she was finally free.

Don't worry - we'll see Tommen again a ways down the road.

Next Chapter: Jaime notices something different about his little wife as they travel to Riverrun.