EDITED: 7th Jan 2022

263 AC

Tya would admit that her wedding day - her real wedding day, to Jason rather than that weaselly Frey - was one of the happiest days of her life. The only one that could compete was the day Aerys made her Hand.

It had been a long betrothal. She had wanted to prove that she could govern as Hand effectively on her own, and it wasn't just her husband telling her what to do. That had probably been for the best, however. In that time, she had gone from feeling a strange attraction to her soon-to-be husband and disliking him a lot of the time, to actually admitting that she enjoyed his company.

Of course, Jason still infuriated her often, as she infuriated him. They were not completely different people, so of course that hadn't changed. But they had learned to present a united front before an audience and keep their sniping and arguments to private locations, and actually found they complimented each other rather well.

The courtier who said that Jason was like the silk glove to Tya's iron gauntlet had meant it as a mockery - an insult to her cousin's manliness - though she found the description rather apt. He could be charming and diplomatic when he put his mind to it, an ability that she definitely lacked, though equally he had a knack for getting under people's skin. Hers in particular.

Though he deferred to her in public - as everyone had to, she was Hand of the King, although it rankled more when it was a man deferring to his future wife - in private it was a different story. Jason had never been shy with his opinion of her, and she had never intimidated him like she intimidated most other men.

He also threw her off slightly with how easily he touched her. They would be arguing and he would grab her arm, or shoulder, or waist, not afraid to push her as much as she pushed him, or look at her with that dark look in his eyes. There was a reason he did it too - it worked - and they both knew it.

"Why is it you would so easily accept a wife who would outrank you?" She had asked him once in the middle of such an argument, just to irritate him further. "Don't you care how people mock you for being less of a man for of it?"

He had laughed derisively at that, eyes flashing in anger.

"I may bow down to you in public, Tya, but when in our lives have I ever let you walk all over me in private? I care little for what others think, only what I know to be true. Out there you are Hand of the King but behind closed doors, you will be my wife,"

"So you wish for me to spend my days ruling the kingdoms, to come back to my husband and beg and scrape like some meek, subserviant woman?" She said scornfully.

"A little begging and scraping would do you some good," He said darkly. "And you shouldn't spit the word woman with such resentment, seeing as you are one. But no, of course that's not what I meant. I meant that I will not expect you to defer to me as my wife, but in turn you will not expect me to defer to you as Hand,"

Tya was silent, spending a good few seconds deciding whether it was worth continuing to argue when he'd actually said something quite reasonable.

"Fine," She ground out eventually, hating how often she found herself agreeing with him in matters like this. "That still doesn't answer why you'd put up with the mockery,"

"Being married to the Hand is something many women have desired for centuries," His lips twisted wryly. "Power and influence is a factor. As for the rest, if you don't know already then I'm hardly going to tell you,"

No amount of sharp words or glares could get it out of him.

*

They wed in King's Landing. Casterly Rock would've been more fitting perhaps, but Tya could not spend too long away from the city. She may have been Hand for a year now, proving herself a hundred times over, but there were still those who claimed a woman was too weak for such a high position, too easily distracted. But the Great Sept of Baelor was hardly a poor substitute.

Jason seemed like a better match now than when their betrothal had first been announced. Given Tya's position, she could not have a husband who would outshine her in rank, and try to use her to influence the king, which ruled out any match from the great houses, or even a lord's heir. The lords wouldn't stand for it, and neither would Tya. Besides, there was no one to object. All of her siblings and cousins would marry into the powerful houses of the west, making all the alliances they needed.

Sometimes she wondered what would've happened if she had tried harder with Aerys. If she had played things right, perhaps she could have been queen. But then again, perhaps not; though the king held no love or attraction towards his sister, he had agreed with his father's decision to marry him to Rhaella to continue the Targaryen tradition of keeping the blood pure. If Tya had tried harder she was under no doubt that he'd have wanted her, but it was unlikely he'd have made her queen. She would have simply been disgraced and called his whore.

And besides, the idea of using feminine wiles - which she didn't have - to try and charm a man whom she felt rather sick at the idea of sleeping with was hardly appealing.

Things were much better now, anyway. Hand of the King was a much more powerful position than being queen. As far as Tya knew, Rhaella's duties were simply taking care of Prince Rhaegar, organising her ladies, helping the steward run the Red Keep household and being a pretty ornament on her husband's arm. Whilst Tya was essentially running the realm. Aerys liked to think himself an involved king, but he only involved himself in matters he believed interesting, leaving the more mundane work to her.

Besides, she would much rather be Jason's wife than Aerys'. Often with the king it felt like she was minding an unruly child, or trying to calm a volatile beast. With Jason... he was more her equal, as annoying as he often was. Even though he had to defer to her in public, in private, if anything, it was the other way around. Something Tya thought she would despise, but so long as no one knew, she found she didn't mind so much.

"Bad morning?" He entered her solar the day before the wedding, catching the look on her face immediately; she had fixed whoever had dared to open the door with a glare, which didn't abate as she realised it was him.

"The Master of Laws asked Aerys who would be replacing me as Hand once I grow big with child after the wedding," Her tone told him exactly what she thought of that. "Aerys seemed to have not considered that a possibility,"

"Gods," He looked amused. "I suppose he's not going to be Master of Laws for very long, then," He wasn't wrong. She had spent the hour since the meeting thinking up strategies to remove him from the Small Council, if he didn't drop dead of old age before she managed it. "I'll start dropping hints to Aerys, then - once you've driven the old man off, I'll make sure I'm his replacement,"

"The king believes you too lax and careless for government," She said. "He thinks you're only good as a drinking companion, or to shoot the creatures he cannot on a hunt,"

"That's no problem," He waved a hand, taking a seat on the other side of her desk. "Aerys is easy to convince of anything, so long as you don't ask him outright. I'll let him think it was his idea and he'll be falling over himself to give me the position,"

He had always been more subtle than Tya, who tended to tell people what to do and intimidate them into obeying rather than befriending then manipulating them. Silk glove indeed.

"If you're sure,"

"Of course I'm sure," It was his turn to glare at her for doubting him. "I'll be there as his ally. You counter his moronic suggestions all the time - I can make him think I'll encourage them. The real issue is, what happens when everyone gets uneasy that the Small Council is being overrun by Lannisters?"

"Most who question Aerys directly will only make him do the opposite," She wasn't concerned. "And only the king himself can decide to remove you - everyone else is irrelevant,"

"True enough," He laughed, glancing at what she was working on. "Is that for the wedding?"

"Yes," She scowled. "You should be doing it - you're better at... this,"

Jason stood and moved behind her chair, peering over her shoulder. In front of her was the seating plan for the wedding, both in the sept and at the feast. She had little patience for organising people like this, remembering who had a grudge against who, or who would be more slighted by a worse position. Tya would remember the information easily enough if it became useful to her, but casual diplomacy like this was a skill her soon-to-be husband was far better at.

"I thought ladies were meant to be good at things like this," He smiled slyly, taking the quill from her and crossing out several names on the paper, scribbling alternative ones underneath. "It's to be the most important day of your life, after all,"

Tya fixed him with a flat stare, though her lips twitched despite herself.

"If you think that marrying you is the most important day in my life, you should go and have a long, hard think," She said, earning her a smack on the back of the head. She turned around, outraged, to find him grinning. "Don't you dare - "

"Husbands are allowed to beat their wives for insolence. Count yourself lucky,"

"You're not my husband yet, and if you continue to speak to me like that, you never will be,"

"Someone has to take you down a few pegs," He laughed. "You spend all day as the second-most powerful person in the kingdoms - the least you can do is concede a little in private,"

"You're insufferable," She scowled, casting her eye back down to the seating plan her cousin was still making changes to. "If it was up to me, we'd have the entire high table for just Lannisters. Maybe Rhaella could join us, but Aerys wouldn't even be in the hall,"

"Do you want to sign both our death warrants while you're at it?" Jason remarked dryly. "His Grace is unhappy enough that we're marrying at all. He keeps telling me that if my wife is too hard to satisfy then send you over to him,"

"Satisfied?" She raised an eyebrow. "Is that what he calls Rhaella dreading every time he visits her chambers?"

Since the birth of Prince Rhaegar four years ago, there had been no more princes or princesses that had lived longer than a month after their birth, and the king was growing increasingly impatient.

"Apparently the king's definition of satisfaction is rather different to everyone else's," His tone was light, though he hesitated before continuing. "I know you can deal with stupid comments like that, but if he tries anything further - "

"My noble husband can kill him on my behalf," Tya glowered at what she took for attempted, unwanted chivalry. "Bravely, hidden with a bow and arrow from two hundred feet away,"

"You can mock me all you like, Tya, but don't underestimate those mercurial moods of his, particularly when he's in his cups," Jason was uncharacteristically serious. "He respects you far more than me, but I see a side of him that you only get glimpses of. Some of the things he says in front of me, knowing full well we're betrothed..." He trailed off, eyes dark. "Not saying you're weak or helpless, because I certainly know you're vicious enough to stand up for yourself, and you take care around him as it is. But be on your guard, is all I'm saying,"

She was tempted to argue that - she had known Aerys since she was ten years old, she knew how to deal with his ridiculousness and he listened to her better than he listened to anyone - but Jason rarely got like this.

Instead Tya pressed her lips into a thin line.

"Fine,"

*

She did look beautiful on her wedding day.

Tya rarely paid much attention to her appearance aside from the impression she was giving off, usually aiming for regal, intimidating and older than she actually was. Her typical gowns were relatively high-necked and broad shouldered, with sweeping skirts done in shades of most commonly Lannister red, but also dark shades of purple, green, blue or even black, and her hair was usually scraped back into severe, practical braids or a knot at the base of her neck.

Today, however, she looked more like the young woman of one-and-twenty that she was.

Her golden hair was done in elaborate braids, though some strands were left down to frame her face. Her gown was white, with slashes of red, and gold lions gambolling around the skirts. The neckline was far lower than she usually favoured, the skirts more voluminous, and instead of her usual dark leather boots that added an extra two inches to her height and clacked sharply on the floor when she walked, her feet were clad in soft doeskin slippers.

Her bearing and posture still made the more girlish than usual dress seem regal, and she still looked nowhere near looking like a blushing, giggling bride, but today Tya presented a slightly softer image to her usual stern, untouchable one.

There was no hesitation when she kissed her new husband in the sept, lingering a little longer than was strictly proper. She wasn't smiling constantly throughout the feast but smiled a lot more than she normally did. She was even in a good enough mood to let her father kiss her on the cheek; they were the same height now, she noted. Age and consumption had shortened him.

Aerys had been glowering for much of the ceremony, though she expected nothing less. She wasn't foolish enough to believe the king loved her; his behaviour was nothing more than that of a spoiled boy who has everything gifted to him on a plate being denied something for once. That was the only reason she interested him the way she did. But it was rather irritating nonetheless.

She remembered Jason's words from the previous day, and tried not to glare.

During her first wedding, Tya had considered how much better it would be to wed Aerys and be queen. Compared to being wife to a nameless Frey, it would have been infinitely better. But not compared to what she had now. Definitely not.

"Your father seems to have avoided embarrassing himself overmuch tonight," Her new husband murmured where he sat beside her. "I did task Genna with keeping an eye on him - she seems to have done her job well,"

Tya had wondered why her sister had not left Lord Tytos' side all evening.

"I paid a servant to keep topping his cup up with apple juice instead of that cider he likes so much," She said. "So far it looks like he hasn't noticed,"

He snorted.

"Between us we may have achieved one night in public where Lord Lannister doesn't humiliate us all,"

She hummed in agreement, but glanced across the hall.

"Aerys is suspiciously quiet,"

The king had made decent conversation with them during the meal, laughing and joking with nothing untoward, which made her rather wary. Surely he had something planned, to have gone from glowering in the sept to being the charming version of himself he usually presented to people he didn't know. Now Aerys seemed to have migrated down to the dance floor, though kept his wine cup in his hand.

"Give it time," Jason seemed darkly amused. "He's gulping down that wine fast enough that he'll be roaring drunk before long. Then the fun will begin," They both watched as he grabbed a nearby serving girl with a large bust, openly groping her in the middle of the hall and laughing. "There we go,"

Tya closed her eyes briefly in exasperation.

Her cousin was right; the king only got drunker as the night went on. Of course, most of the others there were dead drunk too and so only laughed uproariously at Aerys' antics. Even Tya was feeling a slight buzz from the wine she'd had, considering she didn't normally drink more than a glass.

"Ser Jason!" Her heart sank as the king called out to her husband, slurring his words slightly. "Your bride looks beautiful - surely you can't keep her all to yourself. Let all the lords in the room lay eyes on our dear Lady Hand's beauty. Every inch," There was a weak round of lewd chuckles, though not many; most were not so drunk that they did not see the look on Tya's face. "I believe it's time for the bedding,"

She had been dreading him saying that. She hadn't asked the king not to call for the bedding ceremony, knowing that would only drive him to do so for certain, but had clung to the vain hope that if she didn't mention it then neither would he.

"Seven hells," Jason muttered, clearly sensing her discomfort as he placed a hand on her stiff arm. "If you don't want this, we can call it off now,"

That was uncharacteristically thoughtful. But people were already moving eagerly towards them, so they had to speak quickly.

"We can't," She said through gritted teeth. "He'd insist on it. We'd only come away looking foolish," And quite honestly, she didn't want the inevitable tantrum refusing Aerys would cause, not on her wedding day.

Her husband clearly realised she was right, squeezing her arm slightly.

"Ten minutes, and it'll be over," He said. "Then if you want, all we have to do is sleep,"

She made a slight scoffing noise, meeting his eyes.

"What do you take me for. We're not sleeping,"

He raised a surprised eyebrow, though grinned at her as the gaggle of idiotic, shrieking, giggling ladies descended upon him.

"I'll hold you to that, my lady," He managed to say before they carried him off, cooing over his good looks.

Tya narrowed her eyes, but didn't have to watch the sight of her husband being gradually disrobed by a horde of women for very long. She herself was swept off her feet by a dozen pairs of eager, grasping hands, the king foremost amongst them.

A large part of her wanted to slap each and every one of them off her, then kick Aerys in the face to boot, but the more rational part realised she could not get out of this without looking like a fool. The king was very drunk, she had seen enough of that tonight, and when he was drunk he was even more liable to fly off the handle and cause a scene, which was the last thing she wanted. No, for once all Tya wished for was all eyes to look away and let her be alone with her husband.

She had no desire to have those men of power she battled against and worked with every day see her reduced to nothing more than a naked woman to gawp at rather than the strong, untouchable image she had built around herself. Too late for that, she supposed.

Her dress was gone by the time they climbed the stairs, the braids in her hair falling out. Before long, Tya only wore her chemise and smallclothes, and Aerys' eyes raked over her with undisguised lust.

"I've never seen your hair loose before," He said, somehow making even that suggestive.

Tya shot him a glare, which he was impervious to at this level of intoxication, though many of the men around him noticed and shifted uncomfortably. Aerys, in fact, seemed to take her glare as an invitation.

The custom of the bedding ceremony was meant to deliver the bride and groom naked to their marriage bed, making raunchy jests and crude suggestions along the way. It was certainly not customary for any man to do as the king did to her and grab the bride's barely-covered breast with one hand, pulling her in for a bruising kiss with the other.

Tya immediately tried to wrest away from him, hearing the rather shocked exclamations from some of the men and jeers from others, but his hand was fisted in her hair, making escape difficult. In the end, she simply bit down hard on his tongue - which was halfway down her throat - making him recoil with a cry, bleeding.

"I believe his Grace has had too much to drink," She said cooly, brushing her hair out of her face. "Careful, Aerys. You'll get blood on your shirt,"

There was some laughter from the other men, though others were silent, realising her words hadn't been a joke but a stark warning.

Fury flashed through the king's eyes briefly, but he really was dead drunk (and therefore even more mercurial than ever) so it passed before any more damage could be done.

"Cruel," He declared, slurring, pointing a wavering finger in her general direction. "You are cruel to me, Lady Lannister,"

"I run your kingdom," She said flatly. "If you want a kiss, go to your wife,"

Another flash of anger, and more laughter from the men. Then Aerys' face twisted into a bleary smile, as he spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Lady Tya bites like the lion on her banners," He declared, to louder laughter from everyone, and a universal sigh of relief that the king was joking again and the Hand wasn't going to have him killed. "Sharp claws, like the lord in that Castamere song,"

"She is the lord in the song," Someone pointed out. "Lady just didn't fit with the words,"

"She is!" Aerys looked delighted at that realisation, looking around. "See! It was a good decision to make her Hand. How many men have songs written about them?"

Tya could name several unflattering songs the smallfolk sang about the king there and then, not that they would ever reach his ears.

Though Aerys didn't touch her again for the rest of the journey to her chambers in the Tower of the Hand, it was a relief when they finally deposited her in the bed beside Jason, and the door shut, muffling the rowdiness from outside.

Tya sank back onto the pillows, seeing her husband glance at her, amused. She moved to cover herself, feeling rather exposed but trying to make it seem like she was merely cold.

"You've got blood on your face. It's not yours, is it,"

"It's Aerys'. He... took some liberties," Jason's eyes clouded in anger, but she cut him off before he could speak. "He won't do so again, believe me," I just bit the king - bit Aerys, of all people. The thought was absurd; so absurd that she actually chuckled. "He stuck his tongue down my throat and I bit him hard enough to make it bleed,"

Her husband's eyebrows rose, and he seemed to want to remain angry, but the image was clearly too much.

"For gods' sake," He shook his head, unable to suppress the grin that formed on his face. Then he realised she was still laughing to herself - which she did rarely enough - and had to join in. She was still furious at what the king had done, and would be for a long time, but for now it was easier to let it go. "You seem to make a habit of biting people - your mother loved to tell that story of you biting Grandfather as a baby. I always said you were vicious,"

"I'll bite you, if you carry on with that," She glared at him, arms still folded across her chest, legs crossed.

"Please do," He replied, making her eyes widen.

"Jason!" She moved to hit him in anger - he still made her act like a foolish child - but he caught her wrist. She realised that her chest was now exposed, and her husband lazily raked his eyes down her naked form, smirking when she scowled. "Go on then, if you're so eager,"

"I know you don't know much of things like this, but you'll have to uncross your legs first," He replied facetiously, earning another glare.

"It's hardly the first time I've had a man rutting on top of me," Her words were sharply delivered, designed to put him off.

He just laughed, of course.

"Emmon Frey wouldn't have known how to please a woman, let alone a woman like you, if his life depended on it," He tilted his head, eyes darkening. "Although, I suppose it did," He sat up slightly, and Tya felt the familiar stab of longing that she had felt around him for a long time, him and no one else. Around Jason, she could understand why lots of women went along with the pretence that laying with a man was enjoyable. Not that she would.

But then his hand moved between her legs, and her eyes widened.

"What are you - " She broke off, at both the look on his face and the unexpected pleasure that ran through her.

"He just went straight in?" Jason didn't stop, but his face showed his disdain for what she had revealed. "Gods, no wonder you're so uptight about all this. How old were you again, fourteen?"

"Don't you dare - pity me," Tya managed to get out, wincing as her words came out rather breathy. She had never before been breathy in her life.

Her husband's eyebrows rose in amusement.

"I wouldn't dream of it," His eyes darkened further as he looked down at her, nudging her legs slightly further apart. She didn't stop him. "That Frey was unworthy to even look upon you,"

Sometimes, he knew all the right things to say to her. Tya craned her head to kiss him, and it was unlike any kiss they had shared before.

She learned that night that not every woman who claimed to find bedding pleasurable was lying.

*

No surprises that Aerys pushed things too far at the wedding. I always wondered what 'Aerys took liberties with Joanna during the bedding' meant - I doubt he went as far as raping her, but it was hardly just a few inappropriate comments.

Anyway what did you think of this chapter? I hope this better demonstrates the relationship between Tya and Jason. Thanks for reading!