Game of Thrones: New Era
Chapter 2 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.
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Now onto the story.
Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.
Jaime
Jaime Lannister sighed as he stood on the battlements of Dragonstone; it had been a long struggle to claim the castle. Looking down again at his golden hand he considered the battle.
'Everything was time-consuming...The natural defences were just the start of it. For having so few defenders, they still fought fiercely.' He noted to himself. 'They were too consumed by their damned cult, they thought they were going to overcome us through pure faith alone.'
Shaking his head he considered the cost of this campaign. Two of their boats had been damaged, but could be repaired before long; they had also lost a number of troops, not counting the Kettleblacks who had all perished before even reaching Dragonstone.
He smiled grimly as he thought about that. 'Of course, they had a little inside help in their demise.'
It was true, he had ensured that the Kettleblacks had been eliminated, they were after all too dangerous to be left alone, even though it meant having to make a replacement on the Kingsguard, but he had handled that too. While that had turned out well enough, the battle itself was still difficult and led to a lot of wasteful deaths.
He shook his head. 'All of them were so caught up in their R'hllor faith they thought he would destroy us for them. Now they are dead...all of them, even Selyse Baratheon. So now we have only one true Baratheon left in Westeros and that is Shireen. The only other ones left are bastards, even the allegedly legitimized King-claimant, Gendry.'
Quite unlike how he had been only a year and a half ago, he found that victory now brought him no jubilation, he was merely melancholy and brooding.
Shaking his head he continued to muse.
'We have finally conquered Dragonstone, no enemies remain, all of them have perished, except for one...The Red Woman, she wasn't here, where could she have gone?' He wondered; slightly worried. 'If she is still out there; she could cause more trouble, although I don't believe any of her followers or those that believe in her faith remain in Westeros.'
Shaking his head he turned away from looking out from the battlements, noting, as he did so, that the young man, Podrick Payne, was approaching him. It had been thanks to Podrick that Jaime had dealt with the Kettleblacks once and for all.
Podrick had once been a squire for Tyrion Lannister, Jaime's brother, who was now imprisoned on charges of regicide, charges Jaime did not believe. Unwilling to leave the young man without any direction, Jaime took him on as his own squire, and also had him rig the Kettleblacks ship to sink.
He noticed Podrick seemed to be in a hurry.
"Podrick?"
Pod stopped before him. "S-Ser, I, a raven, a raven arrived."
He held out the letter and Jaime took it, he opened it and read, noting it was from his father.
'What is father writing for, I guess there is more news from the capital he feels I need to know.' He wondered. 'Unless, did something happen to Tyrion, if so, I swear...'
He had made sure after all that Tyrion would be protected, would receive a fair trial, no matter what.
Such a thing would be impossible if left to his father or sister, due to their unfair aversion towards Tyrion.
He glared as he recalled that. 'Of course; they only see that, and his being a dwarf, and ignore his abilities, which are far superior to most men's…Certainly more than Cersei's.'
Shaking his head to clear it he instead focused on the letter.
"Jaime." He read. "Matters have grown dangerous here. As we feared, the momentum of the pretender Gendry and his army is greater than we first thought, he had already claimed the advantage and taken the Westerlands, he now marches for the capital. Even here we have trouble since, some days ago, Queen Margaery has disappeared without trace, we have conducted and investigation and uncovered some troubling discoveries, however we are not yet fully convinced. In addition to this, the Queen's disappearance has caused friction with the Tyrell's, as expected. In addition, contrary to your wishes, following the death of Ser Arys, Cersei has instead appointed Gregor Clegane to the Kingsguard. You are requested to return here to attend to your duties and defend our King at once."
Jaime read the letter through several times to make sure he read it right, he was shocked by the contents, more than that, he was in utter disbelief at some of what he read. He shook his head; this was going to take some thinking. This effectively changed everything.
Some time later, he was lost in thought, things were certainly problematic.
'A popular and beloved Queen doesn't just vanish...Someone is behind this and I have a good idea I know who.' He thought bitterly. 'Honestly, Cersei doesn't think, she believes she can do what she wants, she doesn't think of the consequences of her actions, what this will cost us.'
He was meeting with Ser Loras and Ser Balon, the two other members of the Kingsguard present.
"So, we must return to the capital then?" Ser Loras asked.
Jaime shook his head. "Ser Balon and I will be returning Ser Loras, but I must ask you to remain here. We have just occupied Dragonstone and until someone can be officially appointed to the role, I need you to act as castellan here with your men."
Ser Loras started. "Lord Commander, I...I, very well."
He collected himself and Jaime nodded, relieved at that.
'Good, it is better you remain here Ser Loras. I know how you'll respond, I'm afraid I cannot risk you being reckless, so I'll have to hide Queen Margaery's fate from you...'
He hated lying to one of his men, but he couldn't see any other option. He had to ensure Ser Loras remained ignorant of the truth and remained here at Dragonstone until the matter regarding Queen Margaery's disappearance was resolved.
To his relief, matters seem to be resolved rather quickly and soon, Ser Loras and his men garrisoned Dragonstone. So, together, he and Ser Balon, along with their men, made their way to their boats and began their journey home. As they did so, Jaime glowered as he considered one other thing he had learned.
'Cersei, you utter fool, Gregor Clegane as Kingsguard, that is the worst possible mistake you could make.'
Determined to ensure she learned of his displeasure, he stood at the prow of his ship, all too ready to make it back to King's Landing.
End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.