The Wolf and The Lion || Jaime Lannister

Sixty Four

Rayna

The voyage back to Dragonstone is torture.
They didn't find him in the river, so I don't know where he is. I don't know if he's alive.
When I return I'm sure Varys will be able to tell me if Jaime has turned up anywhere. If he is alive.
I just want to see my husband but I'm terrified that I may never see him again. Gods of all places he had to be.
"Rayna, we've arrived", Tyrion says as he comes to summon me onto the deck.
I shake my head weakly not wanting to face the truth. Not wanting to have to accept he may be dead.
"Rayna"
"I just want Jaime, I just want him to be okay", I whisper painfully.
"Rayna, we'll never know until we get off this ship and ask Varys", he says equally pained.
The suspense has been driving me mad and killing me these past few days. When I have to face everyone I remember what Tyrion said. I'm a queen and I need to act like it. But in private I've been absolutely distraught.
I don't want to hear that my husband is dead.
"Come with me?" I ask and he nods.
"Together", he says and I hear the pain in his voice as well.
No one loves Jaime more than the two of us.
No one else feels my pain but him.

We walk into the keep and don't see Daenerys. I haven't come face to face with her since the attack on my men.
"Daenerys?" I ask Tyrion.
"With Jon", he replies "But let's focus on one issue at a time"
Hand in hand we walk to Varys and find him in the throne room.
"Your back", he says and he sees our expressions "I heard of the battle and well I must say I'm surprised"
I let go of Tyrion's hand and step forward. I don't want to play any games.
"I've seen battle and that wasn't a battle it was a slaughter", I correct him and he swallows his words. He doesn't thirst for blood, he knows it wasn't right "Is my husband alive?"
He doesn't let any expression slip through on his face "Honestly, I don't know", he replies and I stare at him in disbelief.
"You are the master of whisperers and Jaime is the Queens brother. If he was dead surely half of the seven fucking kingdoms would know by now", I snap and Tyrion steps between us.
"Rayna", he says trying to calm me but he can't, he's not Jaime.
"I've heard absolutely nothing of Ser Jaime, no news of death or where he may be. I haven't exactly had my little birds looking for him, I assumed he was in Winterfell"
"You are lying", I accuse feeling my anger turn to conspiracy "You have spies in Winterfell, you would have to know if the Lord of it went south with a fucking army".
He gapes at me as he realises I am certainly not the girl he knew in Kings Landing.
"Rayna", I hear Jon call and I turn to see him walking into the throne room.
Tears fall from my eyes as I run into my brothers arms and cling to him as my knees go weak "Jon", I cry as he freezes up.
"What's happened?" he asks fearfully pulling away with concern to look me in the eye. He knows I only ever become this hysterical when it's something bad.
"Jaime", I sob and he pulls me into his arms again tightly. Then I look over his shoulder and see Daenerys standing several metres behind him. I swallow hard and let go of Jon, my tears suddenly drying.
"What happened to him?" Jon asks quietly but I don't respond, I keep my gaze fixed coldly on Daenerys.
"Rayna, may we speak?" she asks and Jon looks between us in confusion.
"I'll explain", Tyrion says to him as he leads Jon away. Neither of us say anything as Varys approaches.
"If you are calm now Lady Rayna I have a raven from Winterfell I received shortly after you departed", he says handing an seemingly unopened scroll to me but I highly doubt he didn't read it.
"Queen Rayna", I correct as I take it.
Daenerys is silent as I open it and read it aloud.

"Rayna, sweetheart
I'm riding south to take over the Lannister army and bring it North. I hope that you are alright and I'm relieved to hear you are being treated well.
Love Jaime"

I see the coldness in her eyes as she says again "You are married to the Kingslayer"
"Yes", I say without shame and I step closer to her "He is my husband and I love him"
"He murdered his King, how can you trust him?" She asks and I laugh darkly and she looks at me slightly disturbed as if she isn't the mad one here.
"Your Father was an evil man, has anyone ever told you why he was killed?" I ask and I see her pride weaken.
"Tyrion mentioned it", she says stiffly
"Well let me give you a reminder", I say much to her displeasure "Your Father burned people alive, he was the Mad King"
"What are you implying?" She asks but she knows exactly what I'm implying.
"The Mad King was going to blow up Kings Landing with wildfire, Jaime killed him before he could. He saved half a million lives by killing one man"
"He was sword to protect him-" she begins and I can see the moral conflict in her.
"Not everyone is blindly loyal, Jaime's told me countless stories about your father and you should be glad he is dead" I say remembering the stories Jaime would tell me but how could she know the true extent of how wicked her father was, she wasn't even born then.She looks like she is about to strike me then she stops herself.
"You are right", she says softly "My Father was mad and wicked but I am not"
Not yet anyways.
"No, you are not", I say remembering myself, what I came here to do.
"I apologise for what happened, I wasn't aware that House Lannister is supporting you", she says then she stops as I can see she's had a realisation.
"How many of the major houses support you?" She asks and I remember what Tyrion warned me of.
"The Tully's and my cousin Robyn, just those that are blood and my husbands house", I assure her and she nods seeming satisfied. Except my blood is the North, the Riverlands and the Vale. The entirety of the North of Westeros. I am the Queen in the North, I want her to see me as that and not a threat to the Iron Throne.
"Your brother Jon", she begins and neither of us know what she will say next "He is a good man"
"He is", I say realising that she has grown affectionate towards him "I believe he thinks you are also good and I trust his judgement"
Well not really, she's a pretty woman and he has a cock but she thinks I trust it.
"What does he think of your husband?" She asks and I'm surprised to see that she trusts his judgement.
"I admit my family definitely used to dislike Jaime", I begin.
"Wasn't your father the one who exposed that Cersei's children were Jaime Lannister's bastards?" She asks curiously, not maliciously.
"Yes, he was" I answer stiffly
"And you still loved him after discovering that?" She asks more confused by this than judgemental.
"I did, I was furious and disgusted but he had not laid with Cersei since he showed his interest in me"
"How could you trust him after he lied to you?"
If she was any other stranger I would believe that she was trying to turn me against him but she isn't that type of person. She isn't manipulative, that isn't her type of power. She uses force not words to get what she wants.
"Jaime had lied to me while we were together in Kings Landing yes but he promised to marry me, he had killed for me, he had betrayed Cersei for me and he would do anything for me, even die for me"
"Then what happened, why were you married to the Bolton?"
The question I always hate to answer.
"Long story short a man manipulated me and sold me, I ended up the wife of the man who broke Theon Greyjoy, a man who was a brother to me and we both escaped him. When I was gathering men to retake Winterfell Jaime was laying siege to Riverrun and I convinced him to stop and let the Tully army fight for me. Then he commanded several thousand of his men to ride North to fight for me and he stayed with me in the North. He betrayed Cersei and the crown for me. Then we married"
Her eyes soften as she sees the love in mine. Daenerys confuses me. She is complex, alternating between being kind and a liberator to being cold and a slaughterer.
She is not her fathers daughter but at the same time she very easily could be, if she lets the infamous Targaryen madness take over.
"Then I saw him down on that battlefield in his Lannister armour, amongst fire and smoke and then-", I begin cutting myself off "I searched for him, I found no body but no one has seen him since"
Her eyes widen and go cold once more.
"You were searching the river", she says, her Dothraki must have told her "Some highborn lad charged at me when I was trying to remove the spear from Drogon as you must have seen, right where I saw you looking as you made your way towards me after the battle"
She knows.
"Was that Jaime Lannister who charged at me?" She asks. If she ever met him she'd kill him whether or not he was the one who charged at her.
"Yes but he had good reason", I reply defensively "You were burning his men alive, I know what he must have thought in that moment. One life for thousands spared"
"And is that what you think of me?" She asks and in all honestly I don't know. I have seen two very different sides to her, both equally as real as the other.
They say greatness and madness are two sides of the same coin.
"I think battles are necessary, that in war death is necessary but slaughter is unnecessary" I tell her "I've seen enough battles in my life to know the difference"
"How many men were killed when you retook Winterfell from the Bolton's?"
"Thousands", I reply shamelessly "Thousands of men who fought with swords against each other, not thousands of men against a dragon. The deaths were unavoidable, Jon offered to fight Ramsay one on one to avoid the battle but he refused and they died for it"
"Yes, Jon did", she says and I know she must wish Jon was the King. If Jon was King then chances are she could convince him to bend the knee. But not me.
We are interrupted by Jon and Tyrion reentering.
"Did you know it was your brother who charged at me?" She asks Tyrion and he is caught off guard by the question.
"Yes", he admits shooting me a nervous glance.
She slowly approaches him "Do not betray me again"
She then turns to me, the look in her eyes makes me wonder if she should be the one they call the ice queen "Thank you for speaking with me, we will continue diplomatic discussions another day"
She briskly leaves and Jon asks "What happened while we were gone"
"As much as I want to be her friend I don't believe that is possible", I realise. I genuinely did hope for a friendship when I came here but too much has happened, we are two queens and as far as she is concerned there can only be one.
"Keep trying", Tyrion pleads with me "She is kind, she is just not herself at the moment"
I wish that was true. I really do.
"I'll talk to her, I'll sort this out", Jon decides and he chases after Daenerys.
Tyrion and I both share a knowing look. Jon cares for her.

Jaime

"It will take fucking ages to get to Winterfell with no food or horses", Bronn complains as we are on our third day of walking.
"Well I'm sorry, I didn't plan on all the food and horses getting incinerated by a fucking dragon", I mutter.
"Be glad I saved your sorry ass from that fate as well"
I can only imagine what Rayna would say if she had seen me charge at the dragon but in that moment I knew that if I killed the Targaryen girl the war would be over. Well at least partly.
Rayna and Cersei would inevitably end up in their own war but at least neither of them have dragons.
"How hard is it to find an army?", he says as we enter the Riverlands.
"Well if any of them survived Daenerys would have made them bend the knee"
I lost my men. I watched my men die and I nearly died trying to save them by killing Daenerys. I wonder what Rayna will think when she hears of this. Gods when she gets my letter what will she think's happened to me.
As night approaches we reach a small town and see Lannister flags.
"Well, looks like some of those fuckers must have escaped", Bronn comments and we approach the Inn that the flags lie outside of.
"How?" I ask as we walk inside and see men in charred and ash covered Lannister armour.
"I don't know about you but I need a drink", he says and the men go silent as they see me enter.
"You're alive", Lord Tarly exclaims as he approaches me and shoves a drink into my hand.
"What happened, why did Daenerys let you go?" I ask immediately and he leads me to an empty table away from the men who are becoming rowdy again.
"You can thank your wife for that", he says and I blink at him, I must be missing something.
"Rayna is on Dragonstone" I say confused and a little delirious from the journey.
"She was at that battle, she saw the whole thing", he tells me and it takes me a moment to process. She must have gone to watch, to see what Daenerys's army can do.
"Did she know I was there?" I ask immediately, Gods if she knew I was there and didn't see me among the surviving men she must think the worst.
"She definitely did, she had us searching the river saying that your brother saw Bronn push you off your horse as the dragon was about to get you"
Fuck she must have seen me charge at the dragon, she definitely must think I'm dead.
"I need to send a raven", I say immediately standing up to go find something to write with but he stops me.
"Just hold on, let me tell you what happened", he says and I sit back down and reluctantly listen, I just want to send her a raven to let her know I'm alive. She can't think that she's lost anyone else or she might go mad.
"The Dothraki rounded us up, she stood with Daenerys. She clearly didn't know that they were her men until I told her that we served the Lord and Lady Of Casterly Rock and Winterfell. The dragon queen didn't like that. She wanted to execute me and some of the other men as an example but Rayna stepped forward and was prepared to die with us. She said we were her men and that we won't bend the knee and that a good queen should be willing to risk herself for her men. The dragon queen let us go and all the men in here bent the knee to Rayna"
She truly is a Queen. For all these soldiers to bend the knee to her she must have truly made an impression on them but then again that's my Rayna.
Randyll finds me something to write with while I have a drink and Bronn eventually comes over.
"The men told me quite a story about the Queen in the North", he says as he takes a seat across from me.
"I heard"
I guess I won't have to imagine what she'd say if she saw me charge at the dragon. I'm sure I'll get quite a mouthful when she returns to Winterfell. I remember in Dorne telling Bronn that I wanted to die in the arms of the woman I love, that is true now more than ever. As much of a heroic death charging at a dragon would have been I want to go home to Rayna, I want to die in her arms with our children by our side. I nearly died and I've finally realised that I don't want to die. I want to live for her. Just as she begged me to when I lost my hand, she begged me to keep on living and fighting for her and I will until my last breath which hopefully won't be for a long time. I want to die a father, a proper father.
Randyll gives me parchment and some ink and I've never been this eager to write.
"We should stop somewhere along the way to Winterfell to get supplies and rest", Randyll suggests.
"Riverrun", I answer and cringe at the memory of the last time I was there "Lord Edmure won't be very happy to see me but technically he is now my uncle my law, he won't be happy but we will be safe"

Rayna, sweetheart
I'm alive and well. I've heard you were at the battle and that you saw what I did. Don't worry I am alright and with the remaining men. You are being praised as quite a hero by them all, you were brave. We will be stopping at Riverrun in a few days time so send a raven to there. Hopefully they won't be too unwelcoming. I can't wait to see you again, it's been far too long. I hope you will be coming home soon.
Love Always, Jaime

Now I just have to survive the Tully's.