Wife of the Wolf, Husband of the Sun
Chapter Forty-Seven
Jaime woke from a long sweet dream, where he was married to Elia Martell and they had seven children and he was Lord of Casterly Rock. His lady wife had been dressed in Lannister crimson and golden wire had bound her hair into a long black braid. A little boy with eyes of jade and dark curls falling around a light brown face had been sitting in her lap.
A boy that stood as tall as a lion with a sword belt strapped to his waist was teaching three smaller boys how to hold their own swords, both carved out of wood while a girl who had dark curls and dark eyes was sitting with a younger girl, playing with painted dolls and eating small sweet cakes. A warm feeling content had curled in his chest as his hand travelled down to gently rest on Elia's swollen stomach.
He had kissed her then and the hall and their children had drifted away like a fine mist and they were in their bedchambers, he had her pressed against the bed and was kissing her neck, nipping at the skin. Her dark eyes were full of lust and desire and Jaime had felt a surge of pride knowing that he was the cause of it, he had used his mouth and fingers to get her wet and then thrust deep into her, spilling his seed.
When he looked into her face however, it had been hard to distinguish any features. At times he thought they were Elia's dark black orbs but then before his eyes they had changed to the colour of green flames and then changed again to the bluest blue that Jaime had ever seen in his life. They didn't settle on any colour and as a hand shrouded in shadows reached out to him and a splitting pain broke through his head, he woke.
It was not so sweet an end to the dream as he would like but at the very least it had indeed woken him, he brushed his palms over his face for a moment and groaned before he reached for the wash basin as scrubbed at his face. The water was bitter cold but it served it's purpose in shocking him into awareness. Jaime stood from his bed and quickly dressed in a fine slick tunic, a handsome crimson doublet and a pair of black trousers and some boots.
He glanced at himself in the mirror and supposed that he looked well enough for what was coming, it was not a prospect that he was relishing but he had to do his duty to House Lannister as his father, Uncle Kevan and Aunt Genna had made abundantly clear. Cersei had done hers by wedding Rhaegar Targaryen, and still even the thought of his sister with someone else made him want to punch something, and even Tyrion in time would be expected to do his.
Jaime had just always hoped that the time to do his duty would be a long time off, but now it was here. With a sigh he glanced around the room again before he walked over to the door and opened it, allowing the sounds of the inn below to easily drift up to his ears.
The inn was crowded with holding of all the Lannister men that had been escorting him, his uncle and his aunt to their destination. There were more men outside of the inn and almost all the guests at the Inn at that moment were Lannisters or Westermen. Jaime caught sight of Addam Marbrand sitting at a table with a plate of fish. two duck eggs, a strip of bacon that had been charred black and a slice of fried bread as well a mug of dark ale.
As soon as Jaime sat down at the table Addam held up his hand and a tavern wench came over with plate filled with the same food and a another mug of ale, she placed it in front of him and just as soon as she had done that she ran off to another corner of the inn to deal with someone else who was calling for her attention, Jaime shrugged and began to cut into his strip of bacon with his knife.
"Looking forward to meeting your blushing bride?" Addam asked with the tone of voice that made Jaime want to tip his plate of food over his head and condemn him to pick food out of his red hair for the rest of the day, it was a favourite was tactic when they had both been boys at Casterly Rock. It had never been something that either Father or Mother had approved off.
."I am not meeting any bride, it's just meeting her." Not that he would actually have much choice if Father decided he was going to wed her. He popped the bacon into his mouth and chewed it for a moment before washing it down with a swallow of his ale.
Addam raised his eyebrow at that but he at the very least seemed to sense that he know that it wouldn't be best to say anything at the moment and turned his attention to his own food. Soon enough their plates and tankards were both clear and Ser Kevan walked over to them, dressed in a crimson doublet and a soft wool cloak with a golden clasp and a pair of doe skinned gloves over his hands.
His uncle glanced at him and Jaime knew that he was being summoned, Addam sent him off with a one handed wave and left the inn as Jaime followed Kevan over to the stairs and followed him to the room that Aunt Genna had taken. His Aunt was sitting in the bed and was still wearing a night gown and breaking her fast on a bowl of porridge, several slices of bread that had been slathered with blackberry jam along with a small plate of honey cakes.
She nibbled on a honey cake for a few moments before she placed it down on her plate and looked up to speak to them. "Are we like to be at Riverrun before night fall?" She asked as she sucked on her fingers to rid it of the honey.
"So long as the weather continues to hold, if there is heavy rainfall then we may have to slow our pace. We may even have to stop for the night if any of the rivers break their banks." Heavy rain was not uncommon in the Riverlands and if any of the rivers overflowed then it could slow them down for days and days, the sky was clear at the moment but that could change at any moment.
His uncle wasn't wrong however, they were not far from Riverrun now and if they had a smaller party with them then they could have been there in a matter of hours but their father had insisted on sending a large party, knights with squires and pages and dozens of retainers and followers. All to show the wealth of House Lannister, the sheer power that they possessed. A large party did make it less likely that they would be set on by brigands or outlaws but it did slow them down.
But while it had been a slow ride from Casterly Rock now the journey was finally coming to an end, he hadn't been back in Casterly Rock for two days when Father had come to him, finding him in the courtyard while he had been hacking at a piece of wood that he truly had been trying very hard not to pretend that it was Ned Stark, with a letter in his hands.
Jaime had never gotten to read it himself but he had seen the dark blue wax and the halves of a fish and he knew then and there who the letter was from. His father had wasted little time in explaining the letter's contents to him, Lord Hoster Tully of Riverrun had written to them and noted how his eldest daughter had been wed to Brandon Stark, heir of Winterfell but that he had a young daughter, beautiful and pleasing and subservient as a good wife should be and that it would be an honor if he would reconsider his opinion on Lysa.
It had been an informal discussion for years now, he imagined the only thing that had been holding his father back would be giving Hoster Tully more power, the man was Lord Paramount of the Riverlands and marrying Catelyn to Lord Rickard's heir gave him power in the north and his father was no fool, marrying Lysa to Jaime would give him influence in the West.
But now his father seemed quite insistent on the match going ahead, he hadn't left the Rock as he had important business to attend to but he had sent Uncle Kevan and Aunt Genna with him, to represent him in negotiations with Lord Tully. Of course, no one could make him marry the girl, no one could force him to say the words but he imagine that if he didn't his father would make his life a living hell.
Aunt Genna hummed from where she sat before she pushed off her covers and bellowed for one of her handmaidens, a woman with red hair and dressed in green ran in and immediately began to pull clothes out of her trunk and laid them out on the bed. "I do not doubt my gallant, brave and oh so handsome Lord Husband will be waiting for me there, eager to take me back to his castle."
Jaime frowned slightly and he knew with out looking that his frown was mirrored on his uncle's face, his Aunt's husband was not held in high regard by anyone of the Rock, he was a Frey after all and that said more than enough. All of the Lannisters had heard the story of the day that Genna was promised to Walder Frey's second son, how Lord Tywin, barely a boy of ten, stood up and spoke out against the march in front of all the lords of the Westerlands and spoke out against the match.
Apparently Walder Frey, who had not been a young man even back then, nearly had a heart attack when a lion cub had stood up for his sister. Nothing his father said at the time had mattered of course, he was just a ten year old but and it was for the Lord of Casterly Rock to decide who would wed his daughter but from all the stories Jaime had heard, there were whispers in the hall that night that while Lord Tytos may never have grown his claws, Lord Tywin had proved that he was a lion worthy of the Rock.
Lagy Genna would not be returning with them back to Casterly Rock once they were done at Riverrun, instead she would be making her way to reside within the Twins until the end of Winter. Jaime wasn't afraid to admit that he would miss her, after Mother had died Aunt Genna had been the closest thing that he and Cersei and Tyrion had ever had to a mother in their entire life. When she was gone it would just make Casterly Rock seem even emptier since Cersei left.
"Who knows? With a bit of luck maybe he got lost, or his horse threw him from his saddle." Jaime muttered and Genna let out a bark of laughter as her maid began to dress her and help her with her hair, a hair net studded with rubies was soon placed over her nest of golden curls and a thick gown made of red velvet soon covered her dress, Jaime and his uncle turned away and stared at the wall as she was dressed.
"Emmon is a fool, I have never had any illusions about that but even he is not likely to have gotten himself killed by his own horse. And you should not say such things Jaime, a fool he may be but he is my husband and you're uncle by law." Genna said once she was fully dressed and turned to him, cupping his face in her hands. "We must stand with one another."
Jaime nodded and then Genna turned her attentions on to her brother and Jaime knew that he had been dismissed, as he walked down to the bottom floor of the inn he noticed that everyone was preparing to move on. He caught sight of Addam berating a young boy who could only be his squire for not saddling his horse correctly, asking if he wanted him to suffer from a broken neck and if he would like a slap on the back of the head.
An hour later they were all saddled and ready, Aunt Genna and her companions taking their place in the wheelhouse, and the journey continued on. It was only a few moments after they had set off that a fine rain began to fall down on to the retinue. It was no harder than a man spitting but the entire retinue seemed to pick up it's pace somewhat.
It was a good thing that they had as by the time they had arrived at Riverrun the rain was threatening to turn into a storm and the Tumblestone and the Red Fork looked as though they were mere moments from breaking their banks. The drawbridge to the castle was down and men rode at five abreast and soon the wheelhouse trundled in after most of the highborn guests were brought inside.
Jaime leapt from his horse and tried not to shiver as the rain continued to pound down on him, his cloak offering him little in the way of protection. He could feel the rain soaking through it and into his skin, all he wanted at that moment was a steaming hot bath and a hot meal and a plump bed with feather pillows that he could sink in to but he had the feeling that he was not going to get all of that.
Two men were in the courtyard to meet them, both wearing thick cloaks that seemed to offer them as much protection from the heavy rain as Jaime's own did him. Red beards hung from their chins and dark blue eyes stared out from thickly lined faces. Lord Hoster was shorter than his brother by half an inch but he still stood taller than Jaime himself and he didn't look like he would be much shorter than Jaime's father, his dark blue eyes seemed to the same colour of the Tumblestone when the rain rippled it's dark blue surface.
The Blackfish was the more handsome of the two, with higher cheeks and a mouth that was clearly more used to smiling than it was to frowning though at the moment his mouth was doing neither, his lips set into a thin, firm line. A boy ran out from the stable to take his horse while Jaime jumped out of his saddle, the soft mud that the ground of the courtyard had turned into squelching underneath his boots.
Another few boys ran from the stables and the squires of knights jumped down to help them, leading the creatures to the large building while the wheelhouse finally trundled in and came to a stop, the door was open and Aunt Genna was the first one out, bundled in so many furs that she looked almost like one of those drawings that Jaime had once seen of a large silver animal that moved on all fours and moved among the trees and mountains of the Summer Isles.
Her other ladies followed her out as Lord Hoster approached Jaime and Kevan, Jaime and his uncle both bowed in front of the lord. Even a Lannister must know when to bow his head, his father's voice reminded him at the back of his mind. They were in the seat of Lord Hoster's power and right now, at least, he was greater than either of them and demand their kneeling, even though Jaime could barely hide a frown as his knees touched and sunk into the mud.
"We thank you for inviting us into your home, it has been a while since I have seen Riverrun and it is indeed only grown more beautiful since the last time." His uncle spoke and Jaime had to find himself agreeing with him, It was a beautiful castle, triangular in shape with blue tipped towers reaching up into the sky and walls made of white stone which were being stained grey by the heavy rain that assaulted it's walls, it might not be as formidable as Storm's End but the rain was unlikely to bring this castle down.
"Thank you for your kind words, Ser Kevan. Please stand up, it would not due to have my most noble guests of Lannister kneeling in the mud." Hoster Tully helped his uncle to his feet and his brother helped up Jaime while Aunt Genna walked over to them, holding out her hand which both of the Tully brothers pressed a kiss to the back of her hand.
"My lords and ladies and good sers must be cold, please allow us to show you to your rooms, baths are prepared for all of you and once you are changed come down to the feast hall and you shall see all what the hospitality of Riverrun can offer." Hoster then turned to Jaime and inclined his head slightly. "And the Lady Lysa has been greatly looking forward to meeting you, Ser Jaime. I trust that she will not disappoint you."
Jaime didn't trust his words at that moment, he would rather chuck himself in the river than send one moment with Lysa Tully, and so instead decided to simply smile his smile which Cersei had once told him could outshine the sun and nodded his head, hoping that he looked happier than he actually felt.
A page lead him through the halls of Riverrun to his room where a tub filled with water stood waiting, wisps of steam rising from the surface. After the page had laid out his clothes and Jaime assured him that he wouldn't need any help in getting dressed, Jaime sunk into the tub and allowed the warm water to ease the ache in his bones and chase away the chill.
He closed his eyes and Jaime could feel the temptation to slip into sleep but he knew that he couldn't, his father would be so upset if his only son drowned himself in his own bath. It would give the people of the Seven Kingdoms a story to laugh about into their cups.
Soon he was clean enough and he stood up from the rub and rubbed himself dry with a scratchy towel and pulled on his clothes, a silk tunic and a fine crimson doublet and some trouser that were black as pitch and dark leather boots. He glanced at himself in the mirror in the corner and let out a heavy sigh, it was time to go and face his fate.
The feast hall of Riverrun was not as large as the one of Casterly Rock or the Red Keep but at a push it could hold at least five hundred people and the host that had come from the west numbered over a hundred and thus there was enough room in the hall to fit them. Jaime marched to the dais with all the enthusiasm of a condemned man who would be marching to the Headman's block.
His eyes sought out Lysa Arryn, sitting next to her younger brother. She wasn't an ugly woman, he could be thankful for that much he supposed. Thick red hair falling around a pale face with dark blue eyes, a faint splatting of freckles across her face and her teeth were clean and perfectly set. No, she wasn't ugly at all and yet Jaime didn't want this at all.
He wanted a tall woman with long golden hair that curled at the end and eyes of wildfire, with lips that could form a smile as gentle as a ray of sunshine or a smirk as sharp as a dagger blade. He wanted a shorter woman with curls as black as midnight and lips that demanded to be kissed, eyes that almost looked the colour of honey and a spine of steel that refused to break or bend. He wanted anything but Lysa Tully.
But given by the empty seat on Lysa's left and the fact that there were no other free seats on the dais, it didn't seem like anyone cared about what he wanted. He sat in the seat and glanced at the woman. "My lady." He greeted her plainly and that caused a blush to flush on her cheek and a bunch of breathless giggles fluttered out of her mouth.
After a moment or two the woman managed to regain control of herself all though there was still a foolish grin on her face like Jaime had told her the best jest she had ever heard in her entire life, this was the woman that his father wanted to be the lady of Casterly Rock. He could only hope that his uncle and aunt saw what he saw and managed to convince him against the match.
Eventually the girl found the wits to speak instead of just smiling dumbly. "It's a honour to meet you Ser Jaime, I hope that you find Riverrun to your liking and that I am pleasing to you."
"I can think of nothing more beautiful than Riverrun except for my Lady." It was perhaps the most barefaced lie that Jaime had ever spoken in his entire life but Lady Lysa didn't seem to notice as her blush came back and she was caught in another fit of breathless giggles.
Thankfully the food came then and Jaime had something else to put his attention on, they started on a soup made up of carrots and leeks which had been seasoned with salt and pepper, then came pork sausages seasoned with Dornish spices, the taste made him think of Elia and he then finished off his cup of wine under the guise of cooling down his mouth.
Then came the main courses, large trout's that had been rubbed in bed crumbs and fried in the fat of a goose and severed with a salad of green leaves, watercress and aubergines. The next main was several large gooses which Jaime had to assume was where the fat that the trout had been fried in came from, it was served with a sauce made of plums that was so rich that Jaime wondered if it was meant to be one of the sweets. And the final main course, a large suckling pig with an apple stuffed in his mouth and his body stuffed with chestnuts and white mushrooms and served with a honey glaze and on a bed of leaves.
By that point Jaime was stuffed that he was certain that if he happened to eat another bite then his belly would burst but there was still the sweet to come, two sweets in fact to bring the number of meals up to seven to pay homage to the Seven gods.
The first sweet were honey cakes each the size of a medallion, thick as a castle wall and slathered in honey. The cakes were so sweet and so thick that Jaime could only just take a bite of one and no more without being certain that he would be sick. The last sweet was far more palatable for him to handle, a mixture of cherries black and red, strawberries, raspberries and small chopped pieces of melon floating in thick sweet cream.
He glanced down the table, Lysa was sipping at her fourth goblet of wine with a half eaten bowl of the sweet cream in front of her. When she noticed him staring at her she giggled once again and looked back down on her food. Edmure Tully, Lord Hoster's son and heir was clearly trying his best not to fall asleep which didn't surprise Jaime as he had eaten a great deal of the food and the boy had been old enough that he been allow a glass of wine.
If Hoster Tully noticed that his son was about to collapse face first on the table then he didn't pay much mind to it as he was currently busy speaking to Jaime's Uncle, both of their faces seemed serious but the noise in the hall was so loud and their conversation held in whispers that Jaime couldn't make out anything that they were saying.
Aunt Genna seemed to have favoured the honey cakes over the sweet cream as the remains of at least three rested on her plate, she had eaten well that knight and her cheeks held a slight red tint from the two cups of wine she had. Emmon Frey was sitting next to his wife and he looked as pale and miserable and stupid as ever, Aunt Genna barely seemed to notice that he was there and in all honesty that was for the best.
And finally the Blackfish himself was sitting at the end, he didn't look happy as his dark eyes were examining the rest of the hall, Jaime noted that he was still on his first goblet when ever his older brother was nearly finished with his second. He didn't look happy to have so many westermen in one place and Jaime wasn't sure why that would be.
Still, Jaime followed his gaze and examined the rest of the hall, it was about half full as even though the westermen's numbers only came over a hundred a great deal of the Riverlords had come as well, close to the dais were the lords Blackwood and Bracken, a place of high honour and neither and higher than the other in order to avoid starting a fight, or a war as the case may be.
There were dozens of other Freys in the hall aside from his Lady Aunt's husband, each as ugly as the next and dressed in grey lambs wool. The naked maid of house Piper was dancing over a dozen man's breasts while others bore the plowman of Darry or the acorns of Smallwood. Indeed it seemed that every house of note in the Riverlands had sent members so that they might be represented.
Every house expect for House Whent, no matter how hard Jaime looked he could not see the black bat on any man's breast. If he hadn't drunk so much of wine or eaten so much food than he might have taken a moment to consider what the might have meant but alas, he had drunk and eaten well and his mind drifted from one thing to the next.
He soon caught sight a sulky youth, dark hair and small with green eyes which looked like moss instead of the brilliant emerald of his and Cersei's own. His gaze was dark as he glanced up at the table and then back down at his plate. He didn't seem to be with anyone so Jaime had to guess that he must have been Lord Hoster's ward or mayhaps his bastard. Did Lord Tully have a bastard? Did his brother? He couldn't remember now.
"I hope that we will have food like this at our wedding, I admit that I do not know much about what you eat in the Westerlands though. I hear apples are gown there quite a lot, I like apples a great deal, do you make cider? I had cider from the Reach once and I loved it. Oh, and cucumbers!" Lysa Tully had taken to speaking to him again and the strange urge to throw her into a river had returned to him. "Do you have any idea when will be wed? I hope that the winter doesn't last much longer and then we can be wed in the Summer, it's meant to be bad luck if you wed in the Winter."
"Our marriage will be colder than any Winter, I promise you that my lady. It will be colder and darker and drag on longer than the Long Night itself and will bring ill fortune on us both." Jaime said none of that, instead he merely stood and caught the attention of Lord Hoster. "I pray that you forgive me my lord, I am afraid that my head is light and stomach as full, I would beg your leave to retire."
Lysa whimpered her distaste at that idea but Lord Hoster gave him leave to do so even as Jaime saw a look of slight disapproval on his uncle's face, promising a hunt on the morrow. Jaime left the hall as quickly as he could without making it seem like he was trying to get away from the hall, as he reached the doors he was certain that he could feel someone glaring at his back but he didn't stop to turn around and look at who it might be.
He soon found himself back in his room and collapsed back down on to his bed, the sounds of the hall still echoing in his head. He closed his eyes and though his body seemed to be begging for him to give into sleep, he couldn't. He was still brimming with the thought of having to marry Lysa Tully. He hated this, he hated all of it.
He sat up and his eyes landed on a writing desk, a thought came into his mind. He stood and walked over to the writing desk and retrieved some parchment. He stared at it for a moment before he retrieved some ink and a quill and began to write. Cersei. She would know what to do, she was going to be the queen some day and she would fix it. She would write to father.
Jaime was too tired and too drunk to find the ravens of Riverrun and so instead crawled into his bed and clutched his scroll close to his heart, promising himself there and then that this would not happen. It wouldn't.
He fell asleep then and dreamed that he was Cersei's husband and the father of her children.
End of Chapter Forty-Seven.
Yep, Jaime's still an arsehole. If that's not clear, while I love all three Lannister siblings, I do have to admit that I don't like it when people say that every bad thing that Jaime does is Cersei's fault. Bran, for example, Cersei did not ask Jaime to push Bran out of the window, he did it because he thought it was what she wanted.
Also, another thing that bugs me is that apparently some people think that Cersei seduced Jaime into their relationship when now, it's pretty equal on both sides when it comes to rolling in that muck.
Anyway, that little rant aside I hope that everyone will leave a review if they enjoyed as well as a follow and a favourite. Constructive criticism is always welcome.
With much love,
Doctorwhofan12345.