The Wolf and The Lion || Jaime Lannister

Forty Six

Jaime

I march around giving orders to my men, not completely sure what to do with them. I'll need to talk to the Lady Of Winterfell about what she wants me to do. In the end I just order them to make camp outside Winterfell.
"What's your sorry ass doing down here looking so grim, I thought you'd be having some alone time with the Lady of Winterfell", Bronn says.
"I don't know", I admit, on the battlefield she was in my arms but as soon as we got inside those walls she shut down "Women are complicated"
"That might just be the smartest thing you've ever said", he laughs "I'll take care of shit down here and you go get your lady"
"You sure?" I ask not quite sure if leaving Bronn in charge is a good idea.
"Yes I am, what are you worried I'll fuck up telling them how to put a tent up?"
I make my way into Winterfell and try to remember where to go, it's been years since I first came here.
Jon approaches me "Looking for Rayna?"
"Yeah I am, do you know where she'd be?" I ask. Robb was always extremely protective over Rayna and from what I've seen of Jon Snow so is he.
"Up in her room", he says crossing his arms.
"And how do I get there?" I ask not wanting to deal with this.
"I would have thought that after all the time you spent in there last time you were here you'd remember"
Sansa walks over and thankfully interrupts us.
"Jon, Ser Jaime helped us win that battle and we would have lost more men if it weren't for him so enough", Sansa chastises "Ser Jaime follow me"
I go to follow her but Jon grabs me arm and says quietly "I know you love her but be careful with her, after what Ramsay did-"
Then I realise why he's being so protective of her and I understand. Now I understand why Rayna recoiled from me. In Riverrun she may have been fine but being back inside these walls has brought it all back.
"I will", I promise him knowing that Rayna won't be the same girl I knew after what's been done to her.
He gives me a nod and pats me on the back as man to man. Sansa guides me through the halls "Don't worry, soon you'll find your way around" she then pauses and looks at me "That is if you plan on staying?"
"I do", I say knowing that after everything I've done I couldn't go south if I wanted to "I don't want to leave her again"
"Good", she replies and we continue walking "I know you love her but things have changed, she won't be able to be Lady Lannister now or Lady Of Casterly Rock"
"I know that", I say defensively unable to ignore the hostile undertones in her voice.
"We are grateful for your men but I haven't forgotten what you did to Bran"
We stop in the hallway as she stares me down.
"Does anyone else know?" I ask
"Only Rayna and myself", she informs me.
"Thank you", I say, if Jon found out Gods I'd be fucked "If anyone else found out I wouldn't leave here alive"
"I know, so be careful", she warns.
"We always got along in Kings Landing", I remind her, confused by the sudden hostility.
"I was younger then, more naive, now I am home and I am tired of seeing my sister hurt because of you"
"Those letters-" I begin.
"I know", she says cutting me off "I know what Littlefinger did, and I know everything she did was to protect me and this family but now we know Bran is alive and out there somewhere"
I swallow hard "He's alive?" I assumed he was dead, when Rickon and Bran went missing and they were never found.
"You don't know do you?" She says with tears in her eyes "Before the battle Rickon was killed by Ramsay, I've sent men to recover his body from the field"
Shit. When I saw him here he was only a boy. Younger than Bran. Gods poor Rayna "I'm sorry for everything that has happened Sansa, but where can I find Rayna"
"Down the hall in her old room"
"Thank you", I reply and I walk there and knock on her door. There is no reply.
"Rayna", I call "Can I come in"
I hear her unlock the door from the inside, it opens only a crack as she takes a moment to check that it is me.
"Jaime", she smiles but something's not right. She's not right.
"Can I come in?" I ask, she nods and opens the door for me.
She is still wearing her armour. She reaches around trying to undo it but she's struggling, her hands are trembling.
"Let me", I say and I use my one hand to undo her armour. She flinches as it hits the ground and tries to laugh it off "You'd think with the amount of times I've taken armour off you I'd be able to do it myself"
"Ray", I say gently as I turn her to face me. "I heard about Rickon, I'm so sorry"
"As soon as I heard Ramsay had him I knew he was dead", she says as I stroke the side of her face.
"There is still hope for Arya and Bran", I say treading carefully.
"The last time you were in here was when I was drunk and you were comforting me over Bran", she says looking at the bed.
"I remember", I say, Gods I don't want to do this again. I know that what I did is something she will always struggle with but I don't want to fight over it again.
"You know I'm not angry anymore Jaime, it's just being here with everyone brings back a lot of memories, good and bad", she says and she pauses, deciding if she's going to elaborate, she turns her head from me "The last time I was here I was a prisoner"
"I know sweetheart", I say taking her hand, not wanting to think about what she suffered. When I saw that bastard and hit him I didn't want to stop until his face was beat into a bloody, unrecognisable pulp, however Jon had already beat me to it anyways and she is the one who should kill him.
"I was locked in a little room day and night, not allowed out, the only people I saw were Theon but he wasn't Theon anymore, Ramsay and his crazy whore", she trembles and I know that she just wants me to listen, to be here for her and I will be "Before the wedding I wanted to leave but I knew that they'd kill me if I tried, so I went through with it. Our wedding night I was going to go through with it but-"
"You don't have to", I say gently but tears fall down her cheeks and I know that she needs to get it off her chest, to let go of the horror.
"He beat me until I was on the ground and when I tried to get up he kicked me back down so I fought back but he liked that. He asked me if I chose to submit and I chose violence"
She swallows hard and can't meet my gaze "He raped while he made Theon watch"
"Rayna", I breathe quietly feeling sick to my core. She wasn't just raped, she endured far worse. "He came to me every single night, I swear the only reason I didn't get pregnant was because I was beaten and starved that badly I couldn't carry a child. I just wanted to die Jaime and I went to battle saying that I would die before I'd go back to him"
I want to touch her, to comfort her but I don't know if she'd want a mans touch.
"He is in the dungeons and you are here with me, he will never touch you again", I promise and she nods and wraps her arms tight around me as she sits in my lap. For a while we don't say anything, we just sit and I hold her, burying my face in her dark hair and breathing her in. She is here. She is here with me and we are together. No one will change that ever again. Not Cersei, not anyone.
She eventually looks up at me and I run a finger over her cheek and she winces.
"Your hurt", I murmur.
"I'm fine I'm not bleeding, I'm just a bit bashed up from those bastards who tried to take me to Ramsay"
"And they are dead as well", I remind her but I see the shadows in her eyes.
"I haven't seen that much blood since the red wedding", she says wincing at the memory.
"Hopefully you'll never have to see another battle like that again, it was an awfully bloody one"
"I didn't expect battle to be so, so", she says trying to find the right word.
"I know sweetheart", I say stroking her back and pressing a light kiss to her forehead. She looks at the blood covering her.
"The bath should be cool enough", she says getting off my lap "Now I'm not struggling with armour anymore"
She walks close to the bath and is trembling as she begins to unlace her shirt, she can't face me.
"I can leave if you want", I offer knowing that I need to be patient with her, that I need to be understanding.
"I just don't know how long it will be until I can be with a man again", she stutters and I walk close to her and take her face in my hands.
"Ray, I love you", I promise her "Take the time you need, if you don't want me to see you undressed or be in your bed that is fine"
"No it's not", she says clearly frustrated "He fucked me up Jaime and I don't want him to have any hold over me, I want to be able to sleep with the man I love and not be terrified"
"Shh, Shh", I say soothing her as my arms wrap around her and she rests her head against my shoulder, I kiss the top of her head and hold her close as she tries to calm herself. I might just give Ramsay a visit later.
She steps out of my arms and looks me in the eye as she finishes unlacing her shirt.
"I am not afraid, this is my home and you are the man I love, I'm safe now"
"Are you sure?" I ask maintaining eye contact and making sure not to touch her.
"It's been months, I can't let him have power over me", she says strong "I want you Jaime"
I watch as she strips herself naked and although she's still trembling slightly she takes my face in her hands and kisses me firmly. I rest my hand on her waist not moving it anywhere else.
"Your hand is cold", she laughs and I can't help but laugh as well as I realise she means the gold one. She takes my golden hand in hers and kisses it.
She leads me to the bath and sighs as the steaming water touches her skin.
I grab a cloth and begin to wash the blood from her skin, still careful of where I touch her.
"I'm sorry about what happened in the courtyard", she says suddenly, looking up at me with those blue eyes of hers "Its just, the North is very different from the south and Lannister's aren't well liked here, no one will be happy that I plan to marry a Lannister"
"So you do plan on marrying me?" I ask her.
"Of course", she smiles taking my hand in hers and kissing it "Although now that I'm Lady Of Winterfell I may need to keep the Stark name"
"Well I declared myself Lord of Casterly Rock so I suspect Cersei and I will be grovelling over that title"
"Lord Jaime Lannister", she smiles then her smile faulters "Jaime, when we marry would you be happy here in the North"
"I'll admit I'm not a fan of the North but I love you, I stayed in the Kingsguard for most of my life to stay with a woman who was married to another, I would happily stay here with my wife"
"I don't want you to be unhappy here", she says and I realise how much she must love me, that it is real love unlike what I had with Cersei. Cersei didn't care that I wasn't happy in Kings Landing, never even thought about it but Rayna, she truly does love me, she wants me to be happy no matter what.
"I could never be unhappy with you"
She touches my face and brings my lips to meet hers and I savour the touch of her lips.
"So you will stay here with me?" She asks
"As long as one day I can take you to Casterly Rock?", I ask stroking her cheek.
"Of course", she smiles and I kiss her gently, lovingly. Neither of us are going anywhere. Finally we can be together. Perhaps being sent to Riverrun was a blessing.
"What are you thinking about?" she asks as she sees the contemplative look in my eye.
"That fate is finally on our side"
A knock on the door disturbs us.
"Lady Rayna, I was hoping we could have a moment", Littlefinger calls through the bolted door.
"Tell him to fuck off", she mutters wrapping her arms around herself sliding down deeper into the water.
I stand and open the door slightly.
"Ser Jaime", he greets in surprise "Is Rayna there?"
"She's busy"
"Can you tell her that I request a private audience", he taunts.
"No", I answer "I thought your fractured cheek would be warning enough to stay away"
Before he can reply I slam the door in his face and bolt it shut.
Rayna uncovers herself as I return to her side.
"What will you do about him?" I ask, there is no way in hell he is going to be alone with her again.
"He's going to be executed", she tells me matter of factly.
"On what grounds?" I ask, there are plenty of reasons but she needs a good one to execute the Lord Protector of the Vale.
"For murdering my Aunt Lysa, who he helped murder Jon Arryn, and then telling my parents it was the Lannister's who did it"
"What?" I exclaim, this is all news to me. I heard Lysa killed herself and as for Jon Arryn-.
"Lysa went mad and tried to kill me so Littlefinger killed her. She told me before it happened that she was the one who killed Jon Arryn as he stood between them and then they blamed it on the Lannister's. He is the reason the war of the five Kings even happened, he put our families against one another"
So it was Littlefinger.
"But why?" I ask "Why would he do all of that?"
"He wants to be King of the seven kingdoms, with me as his wife", she confesses "Neither of which he will have"
"He certainly won't", I agree and she grasps my face in her hands.
"Tonight I will become whatever the Lords elect me to be, and I will marry you", she promises "I will make them see that Jaime Lannister is an honourable man"
Even after everything I have done she still believes I am honourable. That I'm a good man. She is the one who has had faith in me when no one else has. The only person to call me an honourable man.
"No one will tear us apart ever again, not Cersei, not Ramsay, not Littlefinger, not anyone, if anyone one tries then fuck them all. I'll kill anyone who tries to hurt you again, until no one stands in our way, you and I are the only ones that matter", I promise
She stands and climbs from the tub standing before me unafraid with only passion in her eyes.
"Do you know why I love you Jaime?", she asks and I'm caught off guard.
"Why?" I ask resting my hands on her waist as she comes closer.
"You love like no man I have ever met, no matter how wrong it may be, how many people are against it you still love, you betrayed the Crown to come to me, to be with me. No man in the seven kingdoms could love me like you do because there are no men like you, only you, and all of the pain we have endured over the years is worth it because I love you Jaime Lannister and I will be your wife"
Before I can respond her lips are on mine and she is taking off my armour.
"Ray", I sigh as she kisses my neck. "Are you sure?"
"Yes", she says as the last of my armour hits the ground. "I want you Jaime, every part of you, I want to kiss you and make love to you until I forget any other man has touched me"
I let her take control as she lays me down on the bed and climbs on top of me kissing me desperately. If she's on top she's in control of everything and that's what she needs. That control had been taken from her and now she needs to take it back.
That night we don't fuck animalistically or roughly as we often did, we make love sensually and desperately. It's not just our bodies that join together that night but it's as if our very souls forge together and come together as we do.
We have fought against fate ever since the moment we met and now no one can tear us apart.