A little something to get everyone through the lack of a new episode this week…

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Chapter 79

Late the next morning, Sansa and Jaime were escorted to the Great Hall by ten Unsullied, who walked silently beside them, staring straight ahead. They seemed so unnatural and unfeeling, and it made Sansa even more uneasy than any other soldiers would. When they reached the Great Hall, Sansa realized that the Dragon Queen was using it as a makeshift throne room, while her party was at Casterly Rock.

Sansa forced herself to remain calm as they waited for the Queen. She held Jaime's hand and held Julianna in her free arm. The babe clutched her tightly and looked around the room, no doubt just as frightened as Sansa was. I wonder if she's thinking about what happened to her the last time we were in this room. Sansa had never been as terrified as when her baby was being held with a blade to her throat. Julianna smiled a bit when she saw Lady Catelyn, and relaxed in Sansa's arms.

Sansa leaned against Jaime, and silently prayed that she had succeeded in convincing the Queen to spare his life. It seemed that the young queen had listened as Sansa poured out her heart to the girl who was only a few years older than she. And Ser Barriston had promised to speak to her as well. Jaime had told her that Tyrion said he would try to help them as well, but she didn't believe it, after his betrayal.

She and Jaime had stayed up together all night. She had fought the urge to sleep, because she had not wanted the morning to come any sooner. She had not wanted to sacrifice one moment that they could spend together to sleep. There were so many things she wanted to tell Jaime but she was afraid that if she started to say them – if she started to say goodbye or act as if he were about to die – it would make it come true. Instead she had spent the night kissing him and cuddling in his arms, hoping they had not made love for the last time.

Sansa knew that she would not be able to say goodbye to him if the worst were to happen. She loved him so much and knew that she would never love anyone else. Even if I never see him again, he will always be part of me. She couldn't even begin to consider what would become of her or Julianna if Jaime was killed. Jaime is the one who has made me safe. I won't lose him and go back to being helpless and at the mercy of a cruel monarch.

The Queen was not yet in the Great Hall, though Lady Catelyn, Arya, Edmure and Roslin were. They seemed just as anxious and uncertain about their futures as Sansa and Jaime were. Ser Addam was also in the Throne Room, though he was no longer Jaime's second-in-command. He and all of the other red cloaks now served Tyrion. She knew that Jaime had told Ser Addam to surrender to the Queen and to serve Tyrion, though his childhood friend was not happy about it. She knew that he would have fought against the dragon queen if Jaime had wished it.

Arya stood next to Jon, her hand resting on Ghost's head. The sight of the direwolf made her miss Lady all the more. That was the moment when I should have known that Joffrey and Cersei were evil. I should not have trusted them after that. Sansa wondered if Jon was friends with the Queen. He was not here as her prisoner, that much she could tell. She had not spoken to him for more than a few moments, but she hoped that he had done as she asked, and spoken to the Queen about pardoning Jaime.

"Are you all right?" her mother asked, looking warily at the many soldiers surrounding them.

Sansa nodded. "I'll be fine once the Queen lets us leave for the Free Cities. Once I know that Jaime is safe." She saw her mother look away from her and Sansa knew that she didn't believe the Queen would pardon Jaime. "Mother? Do you know…does she plan to free all of you?"

"Jon told your sister that he does not believe she will harm either of you...or me. It does help that the Lannisters are holding us hostage. Jon said that we would likely stay here at Casterly Rock for a time. There's nowhere else safe for us until the war has ended and all have accepted the girl as Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. Of course…we'll have to bend the knee to the Targaryen." Sansa looked at her mother with worry. She knew that her mother still hated the Targaryens for killing Brandon Stark.

"Put aside your feelings, my lady, and do what is necessary to avoid the girl's wrath," Jaime said quietly. "If not for your own sake…swallow your anger and ensure that your daughters are protected." Her mother said nothing, but she seemed to be in agreement with Jaime's sentiment.

Sansa moved closer to Jaime when Littlefinger and Tyrion entered the Great Hall, standing before the windows as they awaited the Queen. Sansa felt her heart skip a beat as she looked at Tyrion, who would not look at her or at Jaime. A few moments later the Queen made her entrance. Sansa then looked to the Queen and searched her gaze, hoping for some clue about her decision, but her face remained expressionless. Ser Barristan and Ser Jorah Mormont stood on either side of her as she simply looked over those who had been gathered together at her command, before her eyes focused on Jaime.

"Kneel before me, Kingslayer, and hear my decision." Before Jaime could comply or refuse, Littlefinger nodded and one of the Unsullied shoved him to his knees before the Queen and her advisors.

Oh, gods. This is just like with Father. This is what the Kingsguard did to Father when they killed him.Sansa turned and pressed Julianna into her mother's arms. "What are you doing?" she whispered urgently as Sansa turned away from her and knelt beside Jaime.

"Don't do this, Sansa," he whispered.

"Why do you kneel before me, Lady Sansa?" the Queen asked, looking at her intently.

"Because, your grace, when you decide my lord husband's fate, you decide mine as well."

The Queen's gaze returned to Jaime. "Your lady wife spoke very movingly of her love for you. A love a man like you doesn't deserve."

"I agree," he said quietly. "I don't deserve her…but I love her more than anything." Sansa took his hand and willed herself not to cry.

"What Lady Sansa said about my father, King Aerys, and what occurred before you murdered him – that was all true?"

Jaime met the eyes of the queen. "Every word." Sansa could see that the Queen believed him, even if she did not wish to. She looked down at her hands and was silent for a long moment before raising her head to address them again.

"It was suggested to me that exiling you to the North would appease the citizens of Lannisport, and the Westerlands, and make them more accepting of Lord Tyrion as Lord of Casterly Rock. But I cannot ignore such a great act of treason. You swore to protect my father, and then ran him through with your sword. If I were to pardon you, I would show my people that I am weak. There are those who think I have a gentle heart, because I am a woman. They are wrong. You will return with us to the capitol, Kingslayer, and face the same fate as your bastard we found sitting on my throne. When the people see you burn, they will-"

"No! Please don't do take him from me! Please! Let us leave the Realm. We won't ever come back, I promise you."

She heard Arya cry out as well. "You can't kill him! I won't let-" Her outburst was abruptly cut off by Jon's hand over her mouth.

Sansa stared down at the ground and felt as if she were reliving her father's execution all over again as Jaime wrapped his arm around her, trying to give her some comfort. While he still could. Why will no one do anything to stop this? She looked at Ser Barristan and Jon and Tyrion – who were visibly uncomfortable with what was happening. They all know this is wrong. She barely heard the Queen's next words, though she heard Jaime's reaction.

"I will spare the lives of your lady wife, and your child. Lord Baelish is to serve as my Hand, and he needs a wife. He has agreed to wed the Lady Sansa."

"Don't do this to her. Don't punish her for my sins. Sansa has done nothing to you that warrants a forced marriage to a man she hates. A man who betrayed her family and led to her father's wrongful execution." Sansa could hear the controlled rage in his voice.

"How dare you try to command me? This is not a punishment, Kingslayer. She will be the wife of the most powerful man in the Realm. Anyone would consider this a good march for her, as it is to be her second marriage."

Sansa started shaking her head and glanced over at Littlefinger who was watching her closely.

"Lord Baelish has also generously agreed that Lady Sansa may keep the child with her. Though I cannot allow the babe to know that the Kingslayer was her father. I'll not have her raised to believe that her father was a martyr or a hero. From this moment forward, she will be known as Julianna Hill – not Lannister. Lady Sansa, you will never to speak to her of her father. Or she'll be sent to foster far from the capitol and far from you."

How can she do this to us after all I told her?"Please, your grace, don't do this to me. To us. Please."

"You will learn to love again. You and I have both been married to men we did not love, and we both learned to love our husbands. You will do so again."

"I could never love that monster," she spat, forgetting all propriety. Sansa didn't care about being a lady, as she thought about what her courtesy had gotten her in the past. What her courtesy had gotten her now. She'd been polite and obedient to Joffrey and Cersei and been repeatedly beaten and humiliated for her troubles. She'd knelt before the queen and begged for mercy, and now her husband was to be executed while she was forced to marry Littlefinger. I'll not go along quietly this time. Not ever again.

Sansa heard her mother's angry voice behind her, hissing at Jon. "You call yourself her brother, and you allow this to happen?"

"Silence," the Queen ordered. "I've not finished, Lady Stark. And you'd do best to thank Lord Commander Snow for your life and the lives of your daughters. I agreed, in recognition of the great bravery he has shown in protecting the Realm from the White Walkers, to spare all of your lives."

"Jaime fought the White Walkers, too. He and his men. He nearly died doing so. But you don't care about that."

The Queen ignored Sansa's words. "You may have heard that Lord Tyrion will remain here as Lord of Casterly Rock, and you and your younger daughter will remain here as his guests, for the time being. Once the rebellion in the North has been quelled and a new Lord installed at Winterfell-"

"Only a Stark can hold Winterfell," Sansa said, through her tears.

The Queen gave her a hard look. "I'll forgive your outburst this time since you are obviously distressed. I was told that you had greater courtesy."

Sansa wanted to respond with the venom she felt but Jaime squeezed her hand. "Think of Julianna," he whispered quietly.

Sansa remained quiet and the Queen continued. "Lord and Lady Tully will also remain here for the time-being. Lord Baelish will no longer be Lord of Harrenhal. He deserves better than a ruin as repayment for his service to me. He shall instead be Lord of Riverrun, once it is reclaimed from those who hold it now."

"Riverrun belongs to the Tullys. You cannot kill or imprison the lords and ladies of every great house in the Realm. The smallfolk will rebel against it. Why should our keep be given to the likes of him?" her mother snarled, looking at Littlefinger.

"Cat…We were always the closest of friends. I don't understand this hostility from you or your daughter. I believe your father would approve of this. Lord Hoster did always love me as a son. And I consider Riverrun to be my childhood home. It is…filled with happy memories."

"You'll never be accepted by the smallfolk or my bannermen. And you kid yourself if you truly believe my father loved you as a son. After what you did to Lysa, you're lucky to have your head," Edmure added, looking between Littlefinger and the queen in disbelief, though neither seemed to care what Edmure had to say.

"The people of the Riverlands will accept me as their liege lord. Especially when they see who I have chosen as my lady wife." Sansa shivered as his eyes moved over her. "She is the very picture of what the Lady of Riverrun should look like. With any luck, our children will inherit her Tully looks and the smallfolk will accept my son as their lord."

Sansa could take it no more. "Your grace, if this is what you would do, please take me too. Kill me too. Please," she screamed as the Queen walked from the Great Hall, never looking back at Sansa as her knights followed her. She felt Jaime pull his arm from her grasp as he lunged toward Littlefinger, punching him square in the face with the golden hand and sending him sprawling across the stone floor.

"Take him away," Littlefinger ordered, rising to his feet and wiping the blood from his mouth.

Sansa ran to Jaime, pushing between the Unsullied and wrapping her arms around him, as the translator repeated Littlefinger's order. "Stay away from him! Leave us alone!" She refused to let go of him, though the soldiers began to pull them apart.

Jaime leaned forward and kissed her, wrenching his arm away from the Unsullied to hold her against him as he kissed her thoroughly. "I love you more than anything, Sansa. You have made me a better man, even if only for a short while. I wouldn't trade a second with you, sweet girl. Not for anything. Don't ever forget that."

"I love you, too, Jaime," she managed through her tears, tightening her grip on him as the Unsullied tried to separate them. "I'll only ever love you."

Jaime began speaking low in her ear. "Be brave, Sansa. You are so much stronger than you think. You must be brave and go on without me. For Julianna."

Sansa began kicking at the soldiers who tried to pull them apart, sobbing as she held onto Jaime. "Leave us alone," she sobbed, as Littlefinger furiously yelled for the soldiers to take Jaime away.

She heard Arya yelling as well. "Leave my sister alone!"

"Sansa, you have to let him go," Jon said behind her, his hands resting on her arms. "You're making this harder on yourself. On both of you."

"No! Let go of me!" Sansa screamed and fought as Jon managed to pull her away from Jaime. "No! Let go of me! How can you help her? How can you do this?"

She began sobbing as Jaime was taken to the dungeons. Once he was gone from view she turned and wrenched herself out of Jon's grasp and lunged viciously at Tyrion, though Ser Addam reached her before she could inflict any injury.

"Stop. Jaime wouldn't want you to do this." She continued struggling until she felt him press a dagger against the small of her back. She looked at him in question, as he carefully slid it into her pocked. "Should anyone try to harm you," he whispered in her ear. "You must prepare to fight. This is not over, I promise you."

Sansa nodded, and stopped struggling, allowing Ser Addam to lead her away from Tyrion and back to her mother. "Sansa," her mother began softly, but Sansa shook her head and reached for Julianna, holding her tightly in her arms.

She didn't want to hear any words of comfort. Nothing can comfort me now. She didn't understand why the Queen was being so cold and unfeeling. She not only planned to execute her husband, but she also wanted to make certain that his daughter never knew anything about him. Sansa looked down at Julianna and kissed her forehead. The babe looked up at her with those glittering green eyes and Sansa saw nothing but Jaime.

She repeated Ser Addam's words over and over in her head. This is not over.

…

Jaime sat on the floor of the smallest, darkest, dankest cell at the bottom of the Rock. He wondered if Tyrion had directed them to the worst possible accommodations for a prisoner. It made the pen Robb Stark kept him in seem luxurious. The Northern lords were in much finer cells than Jaime was. This dungeon was partially open to the elements, which was fine in summer, but it was winter and Jaime was freezing as the cold air and snow blew through the cavern. He didn't care for himself, though. He could only think about Sansa and worry about what would happen to her after he was dead.

When he saw the Targaryen girl's face and the way Tyrion refused to meet his eyes, Jaime knew that the girl would show him no mercy. He had expected all three of them to be sentenced to death – he, Sansa and Julianna. Now, he worried that Sansa would prefer death to a forced marriage to Baelish. When the girl had made her grand pronouncements – playing with their lives as if they were nothing more than her dolls – Jaime had wanted nothing more than to plunge his sword into her back. To kill her, as he had killed her father.

Addam will help Sansa. I know that he'll help her. If there's any way to get Sansa and Julianna out of here, he will find it. He silently wished that Sansa would not lose hope. It had torn at his heart to hear her scream and cry as he was dragged from her grasp and down to the dungeons. I promised to protect her always, and now she'll be alone in the world.

Jaime was grateful that no one had located Tommen. The smiths were far beneath anyone's notice. Tyrion would simply inherit them along with the rest of the Rock. If Tommen were found, Jaime knew he'd likely die by dragonfire alongside Jaime. Though Sansa likely would be unable to get to the child, Lady Alys and her husband would keep him safe and hidden, as would the remainder of the staff, until Ser Addam could get him somewhere safe. I promised Tommen that we would all leave here together. I suppose that's yet another promise I'll have broken.

"There's nothing more pathetic than a once fierce lion, locked in a cage," a mocking voice said from the darkness.

Jaime looked up and saw Peter Baylish light a torch and stand in front of his cell. It did cheer him a bit to see the bruises forming on his smug face.

"I do hope to leave for the capitol soon. For your execution. I very much look forward to my wedding…and sharing my bed with Sansa. I would have preferred her to come to me as a maiden, but I suppose it's to my benefit that she's already been taught to please a man. It will save me a great deal of trouble." Jaime felt nothing but hate for this man who planned to rape his wife under the guise of a forced marriage. "We will have to wait a year to have a child – I can't have anyone believe my child is really yours. I'll be certain the maester brews Sansa a supply of moon tea. I don't intend to neglect my husbandly duties."

"You really want a woman who hates you?"

"It doesn't much matter what Sansa feels. She'll comply. After all…I'll have her daughter under my control. Your daughter. Not that the child will know anything of you. I do hope she grows up to be just as beautiful as her mother. It's something to look forward to."

Jaime rose to his feet and walked toward the bars. "I should think the events of the past few years should have shown you how quickly fortunes can change. You won't stay on top for long. And the higher you climb, the harder the fall will be. I daresay your fall will be hard enough to kill you."

"Now that I've achieved all I've ever wanted…no one will take it away from me. Certainly not a dead man. Which is what you are." Baelish smiled creepily. "You know, Sansa very nearly had the Queen convinced to allow you to leave with her and the babe for the Free Cities. Sansa has learned to play the game rather well. Sansa will be...quite valuable as my lady wife."

Jaime wished he had the power to kill the loathsome man before him. "Daenerys was even considering Tyrion's suggestion of exiling you to the North – to rebuild the ruin Winterfell has become. I warned her back in Slaver's Bay that a Lannister could not be trusted, but she took a fancy to your brother. Just like she did to Stannis Baratheon's little brat. Luckily, I was able to stop her from making such a foolish mistake as to allow you to live. Sansa belongs with me…in King's Landing. She will help me rise even higher."

"You'd best remember, Baelish, that a Lannister pays his debts. And I owe you a powerful one. I may not be able to pay it myself, but make no mistake – you will suffer for this," Jaime snarled through the bars, though Littlefinger only laughed as he left the dungeon.

"I believe I should like to visit with my betrothed now. It's since over a year since I've spoken with her...privately."

"Leave her alone, Baelish!" Jaime shouted, brutally kicking and punching and wrenching at the bars. Though he knew he was wasting his effort - he'd never succeed in breaking them - he would rather injure himself trying, than do nothing to protect Sansa.

…

Hang in there everyone. This was a tough chapter for Jaime and Sansa, but there's more still to come. (You can't really think I would leave Jaime and Sansa in this misery…but I can't make it too easy, either.) As always, thank you for all of the reviews and for continuing to read. It may move slowly at times, but that's mainly to allow for some character development between the action of the story. I appreciate everyone who has been reading and enjoying this story from the beginning, as well as those of you who have just discovered the story, and begun the daunting task of starting a nearly 80 chapter story.

Next Chapter: Littlefinger learns that Sansa is not nearly as compliant as he had hoped