Ugh. Seems I uploaded chap 1 of 2nd Prophecy, 2nd Chance to this first by mistake. Deleting that and replacing it with the correct chapter now.
Chapter Beta'd by RhaenaTargaryen on ao3!
When Jaime awoke it was no longer dark. As he tried to rub the sleep from his eyes, the sounds of Cersei sobbing and screaming "No!" pierced his ears. He turned to look at her and his heart stopped. She was lying in a pool of blood. He moved to assess the damage, and surprisingly she didn't protest. She lay there motionless, continuing to sob, as he checked her. It didn't look to be enough blood that she would die, but she had certainly lost the baby.
Her hysterical sobs continued, and he tried to pull her in to comfort her. She pushed him away angrily. Her eyes had a hateful look in them as she turned to him accusingly. "Now I have nothing! I should have stayed dead in The Red Keep. You shouldn't have let Tyrion bring me back!"
"Cersei...I...I'm sorry," he said, holding his hands up in defeat.
"Why did you come back for me? Why?!" she yelled scornfully.
"We still have each other. Can't that be enough? I love you," he pleaded, making a grab for her hand.
She pulled her hand away and eyed him hatefully. "You fool! It's not enough! Why would you think it would ever be enough?!"
"I...I...I'm sorry Cersei! For everything! I'm sor..."
"Jaime!? Jaime?! Wake up!" Cersei was nudging him awake urgently.
It was still dark out as Jaime snapped awake. His nightmare came rushing back to him and he feared the worst. "Is something wrong?" he asked, voice shaking.
"No! Quite the opposite! The baby kicked! He or she is being very active right now! Do you want to feel? Grab my hand," she said, sounding happier than he'd heard her be since they came back.
The moonlight was not nearly enough for him to see, so he felt around until his hand found hers. She moved it down to her stomach, placing her hand on top of his, and he waited.
"I felt the kicks when I was heading back from the trees. No monkeys bothered me this time. When I came back I could see that you were having a nightmare so I thought I would wake you," she explained.
"I'm glad you did," he paused for a moment, finally feeling it kick. "She is very active right now! Maybe she will enjoy playing with swords and climbing trees as her mother did."
"She?" Cersei asked.
"Just a feeling," he said.
"Well, maybe. And we will let her, won't we? She won't have my childhood where she is forced to pursue womanly things and scolded or whipped for taking part in any boyish activity."
"Of course. She will have the world. Or as much of it as we can give her anyway."
Their fingers entwined as they felt another kick.
"Have you thought of any names?" he asked.
"I was going to use the name Cerion if it was a boy, and if it was a girl, Cerenna. But now..." She trailed off and he expected she would say to use such names was foolish. He was sure that she by now realized that they could not use such names if they were to ensure they did not arouse suspicion. Finally, she continued. "Now I realize we should name the baby after Tyrion."
In shock, he let go of her hand. He stared where she lay, his mouth agape, trying to find the right words to say.
"Don't act so surprised. He brought us back. Lannisters always pay their debts. This will be my way to atone. Since I am unlikely to get pregnant again, even if the baby is a girl we shall name her after him."
"You would name a daughter Tyrion?" he asked, finally finding his voice.
"Of course not. If it's a girl I will name her Tyrionna. Or perhaps Tyrianna to honor both Tyrion and our mother."
"That's rather touching of you, but we are no longer Lannisters and such names would arouse too much suspicion."
"Would it really? He was Hand of the Queen for that dragon bitch. I'm sure plenty of people named their children after him."
Instead of further arguing the point he opted to ask her why she liked the names Cerion and Cerenna.
"I would have liked for our child's name to follow our naming traditions but still be somewhat unique. Cerenna is such a pretty sounding name and our family hasn't used it all that often. Cerion is the male form of my name as you well know. And also Cerion Lannister was a great warrior and ruler. But I'd rather name the baby after Tyrion as I've told you."
"Both of those names will be rather rare in the free cities. They might arouse suspicion."
"It matters not. I'll likely name the baby after Tyrion. But what names do you like?" she asked to his surprise.
He was ecstatic that she had asked. He had names picked out for decades. Names that he both thought she would like and that would fit in with the free cities naming traditions. Names that he had long ago resigned himself to the fact of never being used.
"Well, I've always thought Teos, Tion or Leon would be good names for a boy. I like the name Cleo as well, but free city names don't tend to begin with C," he replied, trying to sound casual.
"Cleo? I suppose it does sound nice. We've had Cleos in our family of course but I think I like it much better without the S at the end," she replied approvingly. "And why those other names?" she asked.
"As you know Tion is a name our family has used, though rarely, but also a name I've heard has been used in the free cities. So it wouldn't arouse suspicion. Teos is a name that fits the free city naming traditions as well and I figured you may be partial to T names. Leon is another name I thought you might like that also fits their naming traditions."
"Those names sound rather nice. Have you thought of girl names too?"
"How about the name Saerlena?" he asked.
"It's a pretty-sounding name. How do you spell it though?"
"The ae spelling is commonly used in free city names for girls. So it begins S-A-E and ends R-L-E-N-A."
"Hmmm. Perhaps I could call myself Saerlena then? I know I can't keep my name, much as I would like to. Cersei is too rare a name."
"Tyrion gave you the name Anna in honor of our mother. It's one of the simpler names found in the free cities. Besides, I thought we were talking baby names here," he teased.
"Anna is too plain. It would need to be something other than just Anna."
He laughed, "True it doesn't suit you. Saerlena does and of course, it is a name that fits in the free cities."
"Well I do hope you have other female names to suggest for our baby as I know nothing of their naming traditions. Though I really wish to name our child after Tyrion. Do you really think it so risky?"
"A bit. I suppose we will have to see if you're right. If people really have named children after the hand of the dragon queen."
"The Mad Queen you mean. Though I suppose nobody will see it that way," she said bitterly.
"She destroyed much of King's Landing. I doubt they will view her favorably," he argued.
"She'll have some excuse I'm sure, and the smallfolk will accept it," she said.
"Another name I like is Leonaella," he said, quickly getting back to the subject of names before Cersei could get more upset.
"How did you come up with that name and how do you spell it?"
He spelled it out for her and then explained. "Leonaella like the name Saerlena fits the common free city practice of names having an A followed by an E. It actually was a tradition that was started in Old Valyria."
"I think I remember being taught that. I must admit I've always liked the sound. Though I do hate to give our child a name at all associated with the Targaryens."
"You used to love the Targaryens. Used to want to marry one even," he stated, a bit too bitterly.
"That was a long time ago. Now I'll always remember them as not only the House that thought us not good enough, but the house that stole my Throne."
"If it makes you feel any better about things I don't think that she will be sitting it."
"Really? Why not? She has a dragon and thousands of soldiers."
"Tyrion won't let it. Not after what she's done," he stated confidently.
"She will kill him."
"Not if he or another kills her first."
"I'd love it if we heard news of that but I doubt it will be the case. Who do you think would sit the Throne if she did die?"
"I don't know. You aren't thinking of..." he trailed off, worried.
"No. Of course not. I meant what I said in The Red Keep. I want our baby to live. If we go back for the Throne, they will die just like all our others." She paused for a minute before continuing. "If it's truly a risk to name the baby after Tyrion we will perhaps go with one of your names. I must admit I'd feel a bit disappointed. I was always so terrible to him, yet he still brought me back."
"I'm sure he would understand. Besides, I doubt he will ever be able to meet the child anyway."
"Yes, the free cities are vast. I doubt he will find us," she replied sadly.
Free cities? Was she planning to not settle in Pentos, but another city? Traveling further in her condition would be unwise. Either way, he doubted she would want to row further so they were certainly heading to Pentos first. He decided he would ask her tomorrow if she planned to settle in Pentos or elsewhere. He should broach the subject of a house name while they were on the topic of names. "Have you thought of a house name?"
"A house name?" She asked, blankly.
"Yes. A house name. We certainly can't use the Lannister name."
"I'd never given any thought to such. Don't most of them not have house names?"
"The poor and lower class typically don't. But your crown, rings, and necklace should provide us with enough to live an upper-middle-class life."
"I see." She was quiet for a moment and seemed to be in deep thought. He knew better than to interrupt her when she got like this so he just stayed quiet and waited for her to speak.
"Drumm," she said.
"Drumm? Why Drumm?" He asked, curious.
"I don't wish to discuss it. Not now." Quickly she changed the subject. "How do you know so much about the naming traditions in the free cities?"
She seemed a bit upset when she said she didn't wish to discuss it so he decided not to press the matter. "We were taught about it during our teachings."
"I'm sure we were taught such things but I can barely remember such. Certainly not as much as you and I was always the better student."
"I used to hope..." he trailed off, embarrassed.
"What?"
"That you would run away with me. To the free cities. It wasn't just a spur of the moment thing that time I asked you all those years ago. There were many more times I tried to broach the subject as well but you always took it to be a joke. It wasn't. That's why I know so much about their naming traditions."
"Aye. Well...I...I am now," she replied, sheepishly.
Now that you have no choice, was what he wanted to say. Instead, he said, "It's late. There are still at least a few more hours before sunrise. We should get some more sleep."
"I suppose so," she replied awkwardly, cuddling up against him.
I've decided that overtime I will post all 26 chapters on here that I posted on ao3. If new people comment I will likely publish them faster, but rn I plan to do about a chapter a month. I'm also going to be copying all my reviews from ao3 over here. Thank god I had copies of them all saved in my emails.
Please comment and tell me what you liked about the chapter and/or what you think of the names!
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