Posting this chapter early since the reviews have reached more than 1000

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Chapter 75

Jaime stood at the window beside Sansa, watching the dragons circling the sky and felt as if he were some horrible nightmare. He'd never felt so trapped. Why is she here attacking Casterly Rock so soon? He looked down and saw the Targaryen army approaching from the hills in the distance. The Unsullied and Dothraki. He shook his head, thinking how foolish this girl was, marching through Westeros with a foreign slave army. Though she may have the throne now, she'd never have the support of the people. All she had on her side was brute force. That would only hold the throne for so long. The girl had never lived in Westeros and she was quite mistaken if she believed that the people of the Realm had been awaiting the return of the Targaryens.

Jaime knew he could defend the castle against any army, but if she used the dragons to burn Casterly Rock to the ground…they would be lost. He looked at Sansa, holding Julianna in her arms, and felt a fear deep inside. We'll all die right here in a blaze of dragonfire, and the Rock will melt to the ground like Harrenhal. I should have listened to Sansa and left as soon as we heard that King's Landing fell. If not before.

He heard an urgent knock and Ser Addam entered the chamber, looking shaken. "What in the Seven Hells are they doing here already?" Jaime raged. "Did she not even wish to enjoy her ugly new chair? Did she only stay in King's Landing long enough to burn the boy she thought was the King before marching straight for the Rock?"

"It appears that way, Jaime. I never thought she'd be so single-minded about avenging a father she's never met. It had seemed her goal was reclaiming the Iron Throne for House Targaryen but now…perhaps revenge was foremost in her mind."

Jaime nodded. "Wake our men, get them ready for battle. If you can conceive of a way to smuggle Sansa and the children out of here-"

"I'm not leaving you, Jaime." He'd never heard such determination in his wife's voice, but he argued with her nonetheless. If I can get Sansa and Julianna to safety, I have to do it. I have to do all that I can to protect them. Even if it costs me everything else. Even if I never see them again. At least I know they are alive and safe.

"You're not staying here, Sansa. I can't protect you from dragonfire."

"I'm not leaving unless you come with me. I'm not going to leave you to die here. You are in far more danger than I am. Didn't you say the Night's Watch travels with her? That means my brother Jon is here. He won't allow her to burn the castle with me and Arya in it. We can offer terms, Jaime. We can promise to leave, to live in exile. That may be enough to satisfy her."

"Prepare the men for battle," Jaime repeated and Addam nodded, hurrying from the room. "Sansa, if you and the children can get to safety, you must do that."

"And what will you do, Jaime? You would stay here and die? You'd leave me alone?" She shook her head. "No. I'm not going to be separated from those I belong with again in this war. I'm not leaving you. I can't leave you, Jaime. Don't ask me to."

"Dammit, Sansa. This is about your life and our daughter's life. I don't have time for your romantic notions of being together until the end."

"And I don't have time for idiotic plans that will only get you killed. I'll leave, so long as you come with me."

Jaime fought the urge to have his guards seize Sansa and forcibly remove her and the children from Casterly Rock. The tears in her eyes and the fear in her voice were the only things that stopped him. Jaime knew she would never forgive him if he sent her away and he ended up dead. And he'd never forgive himself if something happened to her and he wasn't there to protect her. She's right. We have to stay together. He felt Sansa wrap her arms around his waist and he held her, kissing the top of her head and stroking her hair as she clung to him. Jaime looked out the window again in despair, not knowing how they would survive this.

…

A few hours later, Jaime and Sansa were walking Tommen down into the depths of the Rock. The Targaryen soldiers were still gathering and Jaime had decided they needed to secure Tommen's safety. Jaime did not wish for Tommen to meet the same fate as the boy that was burned in his place in King's Landing. He thought it best to hide Tommen as soon as possible. He could only imagine the Mad Queen's fury when she realized she had been tricked and executed the wrong boy. Jaime had little doubt that she would do the same – if not worse - to Tommen. He knew it would not matter that Tommen never asked to sit on the throne. The boy never wanted to be king. That was all Cersei's doing. I can't watch him burned alive. I can't let Sansa watch something so horrifying. She'd never get over it.

The little lion clutched Sansa's hand fearfully as they walked down the long winding path to the forge, while Jaime carried his cage of kittens. "Will the dragons burn us?" he asked, his little voice shaking.

"I won't let anyone hurt you, Tommen. I promise." Jaime knocked on the door to Gendry's quarters, waiting for the boy to admit them. Gendry was visibly surprised to see Jaime and Sansa standing at his door with Tommen. "M'lord…Lady Lannister…what brings you down here?"

"We need your help," Sansa began, her blue eyes begging Gendry to help them.

Tommen was dressed simply, as if he were a peasant, just in case a member of the Targaryen army should see him. Sansa took the kittens from Jaime and carried them into the room, setting them in front of the small fire Gendry had burning. Tommen followed her, sitting on the floor beside his little pets while Jaime spoke quietly to Gendry.

"He needs to be hidden. You may understand the reason. There's a new queen on the Iron Throne, and she wishes to kill him. No one can know that he's here. Or who he is. If he's found, I fear he'll be burned alive. Will you…will you keep him safe?" It was against Jaime's nature to turn to others for help, but he knew that Tommen had to be hidden if he had any hope of surviving this siege.

"Of course, Lord Lannister. No one will know that he's here. I'll protect him, as Lady Arya protected me."

"Don't tell anyone who…who fathered you. The new queen is a Targaryen and while the Targaryens hate Lannisters…they hate Robert Baratheon even more. You'd be in just as much danger as Tommen." Gendry seemed afraid now, but nodded his agreement.

Jaime listened to Sansa comfort the child. "Tommen, you know Arya's friend Gendry, don't you?" The boy nodded, smiling shyly at Gendry. "You're going to stay here with Gendry for a while…until we leave on our adventure."

She saw Tommen's face fall as he realized that they weren't going to stay with him. "You said you'd always take care of me."

"We are taking care of you. You're safest here. When we're able to leave, we'll come get you. We'll all be together."

"Do you promise?"

"I promise." Tommen hugged her tightly, and she closed her eyes. Jaime could see that Sansa was fighting tears and that she was not as confident that she would see Tommen again as she pretended to be. He knew that she was putting on a brave face for Tommen's sake. "This is just as when you traveled here with Margaery. If anyone asks your name, tell them your name is Tom and you traveled here with Gendry from Flea Bottom. All right?"

He nodded, against her shoulder. "I love you, Sansa."

"I love you, too, Tommen. I love you as if you were my own little boy. I do. Don't ever forget that."

Sansa rose to her feet as Jaime knelt down beside her, hugging the boy tightly. "I need you to be the brave lion that I know you are. All right? Whatever happens, you are brave and you are not afraid of anything." He nodded and Jaime patted the top of the boy's head. Jaime looked at Gendry. "Take care of him. And of yourself."

As soon as the door closed and they began walking away from Tommen, Sansa started to cry. Jaime stopped walking and pulled her into his arms. "Shh…Don't cry. I won't let anyone hurt you. Not anyone. Don't give up hope. We can still find a way to leave here and be together. All four of us." He wasn't certain that he believe his own words, but he needed Sansa to hold herself together. He needed her to be strong.

"I hate this, Jaime. I just…I just want to be left alone, with you and our family. I can't be a hostage again. I can't have another family taken away from me. I can't."

Nor can I, he thought, holding her tightly.

…

Sansa stood at one of the massive windows in the Great Hall, watching the rows and rows of soldiers line up around Casterly Rock and panic began to set in. For the past few hours, soldiers had continued to stream in from the hills surrounding Lannisport. Now, they were all lined up and probably waiting for the order to attack. Sansa could see that they had no hope of escaping, as they were completely surrounded. She remembered how terrified she had been during the Battle of Blackwater. That fear was nothing in comparison to what she felt now.

You can only be brave if you are afraid. Sansa remembered her father telling Bran that many years ago. I can be brave. I can fight.

Lady Catelyn, Edmure, Lady Roslin and Arya were all gathered at the other windows lining the Great Hall, watching the scene unfold as Jaime and Ser Addam gathered around a map with the captains of Jaime's army, determining the best course of action. She felt somewhat reassured by how calm and in control Jaime was, but she wondered how much of it was real, and how much of it was the mask he wore as Lord of Casterly Rock.

She looked across the hall at Arya and saw the wonder on her face at the sight of the dragons flying through the air, though two of them had flown away from the Rock, no doubt seeking out their queen. "There are thousands of them," Sansa whispered to herself, watching the lines of soldiers that went on for miles, moving closer and closer to the Rock. She looked at her mother and uncle Edmure and saw that their expressions were grim.

Sansa felt Jaime's hands on her shoulders and tried to force herself to stay calm, but she couldn't. Not with that horrible sight in front of her. "What are we going to do?" she whispered.

"For now, we'll wait them out. Thanks to you, we can stay locked away for years without starving. I don't expect they have the supplies for such a long stalemate."

"Do you think the…the queen came herself, or merely sent her men?"

"I don't know, Sansa." She leaned against Jaime, praying that she could stay safely in his arms forever.

Sansa heard her mother's voice, hard, yet fearful at the same time. "I certainly hope you plan to do something about this. Or would you see us all burn?"

"I assure you, Lady Stark, I have no desire to see anyone here burned. If you have any suggestions, I'd be most interested to hear them. I myself am not familiar in slaying dragons."

"Maybe the dragonglass would work," Arya suggested, not even bothering to take her eyes away from the incredible sight before her.

"Will you launch an attack?" Edmure asked. "Force her slave army to fight?"

Jaime shook his head. "Not yet. They can't get inside the Rock. I don't see the point in men dying needlessly."

Sansa gasped and Jaime followed her line of vision. One of the dragons was nearing the large gates closing off the road to Casterly Rock. Without warning, it began blowing fire at the gate, melting it into the ground in seconds. Jaime waited for the Unsullied to march through – not that they could gain access to the Lion's Mouth - but they remained where they were.

"She not attacking us, Sansa. Don't be scared. She's just showing us what the dragons can do. She wants to scare you."

"I'm already scared."

She saw him gesture to Ser Addam who nodded. "We may have found a way out of here. Come with me," he whispered, walking her back toward the rear of the castle. "Ser Addam had two men take out a small boat through the back of the Rock. The castle hasn't been used as a port for centuries – the gates have been closed for as long as I can remember but we've managed to get the gates working again and it is still possible to leave the Rock that way."

"Why are you sending out a boat with your men in it?"

"I want to see how well guarded the rear of the castle is. As you see, we can't escape through the front entrance of the castle – she has it surrounded. But, the Mad Queen doesn't appear to have a navy and any scouts that could watch that side of the Rock facing the Sunset Sea would have to be far away. I doubt they could see anything in the dark. If we can get this boat out safely, without drawing their notice, then I think we will be able to escape that way and get to our ship in the harbor."

"We? So you'll leave with me?"

He smiled, wrapping his arm around her. "Yes, sweet girl. I'll leave with you and Julianna and Tommen." She closed her eyes and prayed to the Seven that this worked. She prayed for the chance to grow old with Jaime.

"Do you see the boat there?" Jaime said quietly.

Sansa could barely see anything, though Jaime assured her that the decoy boat had just exited the rear of Casterly Rock. Just as she was able to make out the slight movement – mainly from the moonlight reflecting off the metal of the soldiers' helmets, Sansa saw one of the dragons circling. Sansa was filled with dread as it began breathing its fire, which lit up the sky. The dragon flew closer to the rowboat and Sansa stifled a scream as the dragon blew fire at the boat, burning it away to nothing in seconds.

She looked at Jaime and saw that he was feeling similarly defeated. "We're trapped here."

…

After two days of sitting and waiting, they watched in disbelief as the peace banner went up and a single rider approached the Lion's Mouth. Jaime knew his archers were prepared to shoot at the first sign of a trick or attack from this lone rider. One of his men rode out to meet the man in black sent by the Targaryen girl and accepted a parchment before both returned to their respective sides of the siege.

Sansa turned and looked at him in question. "A message…we'll learn what she wants soon enough."

"Perhaps she wants peace? To let us go?"

He didn't answer her, but Jaime doubted it was the case. She would not have ridden all the way to Casterly Rock with her army so very soon after taking the Red Keep, just to pardon her father's murderer. Jaime waited impatiently for the message to be brought up to him, pacing back and forth. His soldier must have run the entire way, as it was only a few moments before the parchment was placed in Jaime's hand. He opened it and laughed bitterly.

"What is it?" Sansa asked, leaning over to read the message.

"Daenerys Targaryen, the rightful Queen of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm, asks that the Ser Jaime Lannister, the Kingslayer, parlay with her representative – Tyrion Lannister."

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Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. This is the first fanfiction I have ever shared online, and I never would have thought I would be posting Chapter 75, with more than 1000 reviews and almost 400 follows, so thank you all. And, there's still more to the story.

Next Chapter: Jaime meets with Tyrion