For this chapter, the interactions between Jaime & Catelyn while he was prisoner are going to be the same as the book - meaning they have not yet talked about Bran's fall or Jaime being Joffrey's father. He escaped before that happened. (And I'm taking some liberties with the location of the Twins, since it is WAY out of the way to Casterly Rock on the maps in the books)

As always, thank you for reading & reviewing!

...

Chapter 28

As Sansa sat in her carriage, stitching a blanket for the child growing inside of her, she couldn't help but feel distracted. She had already stitched a lion on the blanket, and now she was working on a direwolf. It was the sight of her sigil that had started her mind to wandering. It had been a week since they left Riverrun and Sansa knew that she would see her mother soon, if Jaime was able to successfully negotiate with Walder Frey.

Jaime had told her to expect that her mother already knew that they were married. But she can't possibly know that I've fallen in love with him. Or that I carry his child. Sansa was afraid of how her mother would receive her, since the Lannisters were enemies of the Starks and the Tullys. As she ran her fingers over the partially stitched direwolf, Sansa wondered if her mother would see her as a turncloak. She feared that her mother would consider her affection for Jaime – and the fact that she carried his child – to be a betrayal. I love Jaime. And I love our child. Surely mother will understand.

Sansa hoped that her mother would come to see how much Jaime cared for her and how much she cared for him. She hoped that she would see that Jaime had saved her when she had just about given up. She wanted her mother to know that Jaime was the reason she still had a daughter. Joffrey certainly would have been her death, if it weren't for Jaime.

Sansa's carriage slowed and she looked out the windows and saw the Frey's castle looming in the distance. Their bridge was a massive arch of smooth grey rock, wide enough for two wagons to pass abreast arching between the two squat, ugly, formidable castles, identical in every respect. The Twins. High walls, deep moats, and heavy oak-and-iron gates protected the approaches, and the bridge footings rose from within stout inner keeps.

Jaime had stopped his host nearly a mile away from the castle. One of Sansa's guards opened the doors of her carriage and took her hand to help her out. She walked towards Jaime and heard him tell his squire to raise their pavilion, plant his standards and send a peace banner to the Twins to announce their arrival. She enjoyed watching Jaime command his men, even over something so mundane. It made her feel safe to see that her husband was so powerful. She knew that no one would dare hurt her. Jaime smiled as she approached standing near him as they looked out towards the Twins. "I hope we'll leave for the Rock in the morning," he said, rubbing his hand over her back.

"So soon? Don't you have to speak to the Lord of the Crossing?"

"I plan to speak to him right now, and be back in time to join you for dinner."

Sansa was overcome by fear. "You're going inside the castle?"

"I don't expect I'll find him on the drawbridge," he said jokingly.

"Will you be safe?" she whispered. "After what he did to my brother…how can he be trusted? He could throw you in the dungeons or sell you to Stannis Baratheon or slit your throat. Make him come out here, in view of your army." Sansa knew she must sound ridiculous, but she knew what Walder Frey had done – luring her brother and his men to the Twins for a wedding and then attacking when their guards were down, in violation of the sacred guest right. The thought of Walder Frey harming Jaime terrified her.

Jaime smiled, kissing her hand. "I'm not used to having someone here worrying about me."

"I do worry," she whispered, meeting his eyes.

"I promise you, I will return to you just as I am now. You have no reason to be scared. I have an army of 20,000 with me, outnumbering any men he may have inside. He wouldn't dare harm me. I'll return to you shortly."

Sansa forced herself to be brave and not to make it more difficult for Jaime to do what needed to be done at the Twins, though she couldn't stop being fearful. She nodded and watched as Jaime mounted his horse once again, taking ten thousand men with him as he rode to the castle, and leaving the other half to protect her. Sansa wrapped her cloak tighter around her body. It was cold – much colder than it should be here in the south.

Winter is coming.

...

Jaime was ushered into the dining hall of the Lord of the Crossing's keep, to be received by Walder Frey. The hall was filled with those of Lord Walder's sons who were still alive and not fighting in the war, as well as his daughters and grandchildren. Lord Walder was ninety, a wizened pink weasel with a bald spotted head, and too gouty to stand unassisted. He was seated in the high seat of the Freys, and his newest wife, a pale, frail girl who looked no older than Sansa, stood beside him. She was the eighth Lady Frey, if Jaime recalled correctly.

"Ser Jaime, I had not expected to see you here. What do you want?" he asked rudely.

Jaime tried to be civil to the treacherous old man. "I'm on my way to the Rock. However, given my father's untimely death, it has fallen to me to represent the Crown on my journey. To end the siege in the Riverlands."

"It is a pity the Imp turned on Lord Tywin. He was a fine man – a good mind for war strategy. He did much for the reputation of House Lannister. Though his death made you Lord of Casterly Rock. Does your young wife travel with you, Ser Jaime? The Stark girl? I'd like to get a look at her."

I bet you would. "Lady Lannister is at my camp. She would have accompanied me into your keep, but she's rather exhausted from all of our traveling, and thinks only of reaching Casterly Rock." Sansa had been terrified at the thought of Jaime entering Lord Walder's keep. He had no intention of bringing her with him and frightening her even more.

"That's a pity," Lord Walder mused, "Your lady wife would have been quite welcome. See my wife? She's a sweet little flower, and her honey is only for me. I wager she gives me a son by this time next year." Jaime forced himself not to show his disgust for the man nor his pity for the girl.

"I'll not waste your time, my lord. Now that I have delivered Riverrun to your son Emmon, there is the matter of the prisoners taken at the Red Wedding."

"My grandson Edwyn sent word that you were demanding all of them."

"Not me. The Crown. I'm certain you would not deny the King anything he required."

Lord Walder sat back in his chair. "I take it you want your wife's mother, Lady Catelyn?"

"The Crown requires all prisoners taken at the Red Wedding," Jaime repeated, refusing to make these negotiations personal.

"I'm willing to give you Lady Catelyn in exchange for Edmure Tully."

"No," Jaime said. "I made an agreement with Lord Tully to end the standoff at Riverrun. To give your son his castle. In exchange, Lord Tully will be my hostage at Casterly Rock." Jaime surveyed the room and saw a pretty young girl, who seemed teary at the mention of Edmure Tully; and she had her hand resting on her swollen belly. Jaime stepped toward the girl he suspected was Edmure Tully's wife. "Lady Roslin?" he asked.

She glanced at her father before nodding.

"Lord Tully has requested that you join him at Casterly Rock, my lady."

He saw her eyes light up before her father's voice boomed out. "That is out of the question."

"I'm prepared to offer excellent terms, my lord. Her child will be well-provided for." He looked at the young girl, as he addressed her, and could see why Edmure was so taken with her. She seemed far too gentle to be Walder Frey's daughter. "My lady, if you have a son, I'll see to it that he is given some lands when he comes of age. If your child is a girl, I'll provide her with a generous dowry once she reaches marriage age." He turned back to the Lord of the Crossing. "Your daughter will not be treated as a hostage. She may even share my lady wife's carriage for the trip to Casterly Rock. My sister will not offer better terms, I assure you. The queen has no use for your daughter or her child."

"Go then, girl. Get your things together." Roslin looked at Jaime with gratitude before leaving the room to get her belongings. Jaime expected Lord Frey was grateful to get a daughter out of the house at no expense.

"Lady Catelyn and the other prisoners?" Jaime asked with a bored tone. "You would do well to keep in mind, my lord, that Riverrun was given to Lord Emmon, your second son, by the Crown. Your daughter, Lady Roslin and her child will be well provided for. You will have the debt of the Crown for the death of Robb Stark. And you've already avenged yourself on the Starks. What more could you want?"

"How about Winterfell? I'd fancy having a piece of the North for my own, or for one of my sons. It would only be proper, since so many of its lords are now residents of my dungeons."

"Winterfell is not mine to give."

"You are Lord of Winterfell, due to your marriage to the Stark girl, are you not?"

Jaime's expression turned to ice. "I'll not allow you to take my wife's inheritance - her childhood home. She is Lady of Winterfell...thanks to your actions. Our second child will inherit Winterfell from her. And you'd do well to give the Crown what it asks. I have 20,000 of my men here, and am perfectly capable of taking your prisoners, whether you like it or not. Your arrangement was with my father, not with me. And not with King Tommen."

"You'd go back on your father's word?"

"I hope you don't force me to do so. I'm simply reminding you that you had no agreement with me, and no agreement with the King. We intend to uphold Lord Tywin's agreement. And all the Crown requires are your prisoners. Or shall you dig your heels in and become an enemy of House Lannister?"

Walder Frey narrowed his eyes, clearly angered by Jaime's words. "Singer," Jaime said, turning to the harpist he had appropriated from Ryman Frey. "A song if you please. While Lord Walder considers the Crown's request."

"The same one, my lord?" he asked, looking at Jaime.

"Yes. You know the one."

Jaime pulled his sword and leaned against the wall as "the Rains of Castamere" began to play, and Walder Frey looked around the room, considering how many men Jaime had and how few he did. Jaime examined his sword in boredom and glanced at Lord Frey. He knew from his expression that he had him. Walder Frey was many things. Stupid was not one of them.

...

Jaime was amazed at how quickly Lady Roslin managed to gather her belongings and prepare to leave her childhood home forever. He supposed if his father was Walder Frey, he'd be rather eager to leave as well. Jaime sent her off to his camp with an escort – under orders that she be given accommodations for the night and remain guarded until they left in the morning.

Jaime remained outside the Twins with his soldiers, waiting for Walder Frey to produce the prisoners from the Red Wedding. It wasn't long before two wagons of prisoners were wheeled out of the courtyard joining the twin towers. It was easy to spot Catelyn Stark among them. She was the only woman among the prisoners, and her dark red hair helped him to pick her out in the distance. Once he saw that Lord Walder had complied, Jaime turned his horse back to his camp as his soldiers took charge of the prisoners. Lady Catelyn was to continue on to Casterly Rock and the remainder were to be transported to Riverrun.

Jaime turned his horse over to his squire and waited for Lady Stark to be brought to him, as he had requested. As he watched from the distance, he couldn't help noticing the ways in which she and Sansa physically resembled each other. They were of similar height and had similar mannerisms, though Sansa had more delicate features and Sansa's skin was more snow-white.

Lady Catelyn finally noticed Jaime and stopped walking. "No! I will not go with you, Kingslayer. You can go ahead and kill me right here. I'll not be marched through the capitol and beheaded before the screaming masses as my husband was."

"Bring her here," Jaime ordered his men, who all but dragged her to him. "I don't plan to harm you, Lady Stark. You'll be traveling with us to Casterly Rock."

She glared at him. "I'm not going anywhere with you."

"Would you prefer to enjoy the hospitality of the Lord of the Crossing?" he asked with irritation. He took her silence as a no and gestured for her to walk beside him. He suspected she would have refused were she not shackled with ten guards escorting her.

"It seems our fortunes have reversed, my lady. Last we met, it was I who was in chains." She gave him a venomous look and Jaime forced himself to be kind, reminding himself that she was Sansa's mother. He noticed that she was deliberately lagging in her pace beside him. "Do you wish to see your brother and your daughter or not?"

She could not conceal her surprise. "Edmure's still alive? He's here?"

"Yes. As is Sansa." He could see the emotion in her eyes at the mention of her daughter's name.

"Are we all to spend the rest of our lives as your hostages, Kingslayer?"

"There are far worse alternatives for you and your brother. You could stay here. Or travel to King's Landing as a guest of my sister."

"Don't you mean your lover?" she snarled.

"Your daughter is the only woman sharing my bed."

Jaime immediately regretted his words as she visibly flinched. "So it's true then – she was forced to marry you." Jaime knew that Sansa's family would assume she was an unwilling participant in their marriage. That Sansa hated him as they did and that he forced her to share her body with him. He supposed that was best for Sansa. It would only strain her relationship with her mother if Lady Catelyn knew that Sansa had found happiness with him; that she loved him.

"Regardless of how it came about, Sansa is my lady wife. I suppose I should call you mother," he said with a smirk, unable to resist.

Catelyn Stark looked as if she wished to claw his eyes out, though the shackles on her wrists and the many guards surrounding them stopped her. "How could you? How could you marry her and…bed her? She's just a child."

"She's sixteen years old. I'll own, she's quite a bit younger than I but…I believe you were already a mother at her age."

"There's no honor in this war. No honor from you Lannisters. You killed my husband. You had my son Robb killed. And my daughter was forced into marriage with you. And into your bed," she said, her voice breaking at the thought.

Jaime had an impulse to tell her that Sansa rather enjoyed being in his bed, but he forbore for his wife's sake and because he heard the waver in Lady Catelyn's voice. She was clearly emotional over all that she had lost in the War of the Five Kings. "Sansa is Lady of Casterly Rock. She's not a hostage. I've not harmed her. Despite what you think of me, I've done everything in my power to see to her comfort. To make her happy," he said gently.

"Happy? Do you think she was happy to hear that her brother was slaughtered like an animal? "

"I assure you, Sansa was devastated to hear about her brother's death. It fell to me to tell her that her brother was dead. It fell to me to hold her as she cried herself to sleep." Jaime saw her eyes narrow at his mention of holding Sansa in his arms and comforting her in her grief.

"You're a monster. Your father has Robb killed and then you take the opportunity to comfort her? As if you yourself weren't the cause of her grief?" she murmured, breaking down in tears. "Is this how you've shown my daughter kindness? By manipulating her emotions?"

"I had nothing to do with your son's death. And Sansa is my wife. It is my duty to comfort her. She and I are bound together forever. You best get used to the idea." He turned and continued walking as Lady Catelyn wiped her tears and reluctantly followed him.

Jaime reached the tent where Edmure Tully was being held, having ordered that another, adjoining tent be erected for Lady Catelyn. Jaime held open the flaps of the tent and Lady Catelyn walked in. He ordered his guards to remove her shackles as he approached where it connected to Edmure's tent. "Don't get any ideas about escaping, my lady. You'll find that you and your brother are heavily guarded. If necessary, I will not hesitate to treat you as gently as I was treated when you held me prisoner. Sansa would not like me to keep you shackled, but I will if required. Are we understood?"

She nodded, rubbing her wrists. "I understand. I've seen what you're capable of. Most of my family has seen it. Not that many are left." She looked at him curiously. "Will you allow me to see my daughter?"

Jaime wanted to say no. He wanted to keep Sansa far away from her mother's hatred for him, but he knew Sansa would wish to see her mother. He nodded. "I know she wishes to see you. Are you…were you mistreated at all during your captivity?"

The anger was instantly back in her eyes. "Mistreated? They killed my son. I suppose, other than that, the Freys were most hospitable."

"I am sorry for your loss. Your son and I were on opposite sides of the war but…he should not have died as he did. He was brave and he was very young for the burdens placed on his shoulders."

"I know very well that you would have killed him yourself on the battlefield, Kingslayer. You nearly did."

"On the battlefield, yes. We're fighting a war. It's to be expected that those on the opposite side would fight to kill. There's a certain honor in that."

She advanced on him. "Honor? Was it honorable when you took my daughter for your wife? When you wed a young girl being held hostage? Separated from her family?"

"Perhaps not," Jaime said quietly. He had only married Sansa to protect her. He had never counted on falling in love with her. He knew his father wanted her claim to Winterfell, but Jaime didn't care about that. Jaime had no interest in Winterfell. "I know you won't believe it, but this marriage improved her situation. Greatly. When I put that red cloak around her shoulders, I was doing what would most protect her."

"Who did she need protecting from? From your bastard son or from the sister you commit incest with?"

Jaime only smiled in response, having no intention of discussing his relationship with Cersei. "Lord Tully, why don't you join us," he called out, holding Lady Catelyn's gaze. Edmure hesitantly entered the tent and Jaime watched as the brother and sister embraced and she began to cry in her brother's arms. Jaime realized that she had not seen him since her son was killed. Edmure must have been carted off to the Riverlands almost immediately after the Red Wedding. Edmure looked over her shoulder at Jaime.

"I thought you were bringing my lady wife here."

"I have. She's been given her own tent for the night. And she will accompany us to the Rock. She will share Sansa's carriage while we travel. Would you like to see her?"

Jaime could see that Lord Tully wanted to see his wife, but was uncertain about it. "Perhaps tomorrow."

Jaime nodded. "Very well. I'll have some dinner brought over. You should both try to get some sleep tonight. We'll leave at first light. I'm most anxious to get to the Rock."

...

Jaime returned to his tent and Sansa threw herself into his arms, hugging him tightly. Jaime wrapped his arms around her, holding her against him. "I'm glad you're back. I was afraid he would do something to you; that he would hurt you."

He lowered his head and kissed her. "Don't upset yourself, my sweet. I told you I would be fine. Nothing is going to keep me from you and our little cub."

She smiled, resting her head against his chest again. "Is my mother here?" she whispered.

"Yes. Walder Frey has turned her over to me. She'll travel with us to the rock." Jaime couldn't help worrying about Lady Catelyn being in his camp and staying at Casterly Rock. He knew that Sansa would want to see her and he had a sinking feeling that Lady Catelyn would not receive Sansa as she hoped. Jaime feared that her mother would not be kind to her.

He had tried to prepare Sansa, but now that he'd spoken to her mother, he feared her reaction would be worse than he'd thought. She hated him. And she would never accept his relationship with her daughter. She kept bringing up her disgust at his marriage to Sansa. Jaime worried what she would say to Sansa. He was afraid that Sansa would come to regret their relationship in the face of her mother's hatred and disapproval. He was afraid that Sansa would stop loving him. He kissed his little wife again, running his hand over her belly.

He had only brought Catelyn Stark to his camp because he knew it was what Sansa would want. Now, he was terrified that she would turn against him. She had come to mean so much to him and he wanted the chance to be a good father to their child. Jaime feared that Lady Catelyn would destroy that chance. How could he possibly expect Sansa to choose him over the mother she had prayed to be reunited with?

Jaime took a deep breath and held her close. I can't lose her. Not now. I want my life with Sansa. I want this child and I want my sweet little wife.

...

Thanks for reading!

Next chapter: Sansa and Catelyn are reunited.