283AC

The midday sun in the Red Mountains was merciless.

Jaime had never been so far south before, and the heat of the Dorne was getting to him. The fifteen or so of his Uncle Kevan's men accompanying them, riding under his command, did not favour the weather either. The Westerlands were much farther north, far more temperate even in the height of summer; none of them were used to this.

Among those men were his old friends from his days as a squire, Addam Marbrand and Lyle Crakehall. His ten and eleven-year-old brothers Tyrion and Damon had also been eager to continue to travel with them on their search for Lady Lyanna, after they returned from visiting Oldtown, and he saw no real reason to object. Tyrion in particular rarely left King's Landing, and while he swore he was enjoying his lessons with their mother, Jaime thought it was good for him to be out from her shadow for at least a few months.

Theirs were one of the many groups of riders (though the only ones not from the North or Stormlands) out searching for Lady Lyanna Stark, and the man who had stolen her out from under the nose of her father and betrothed. 

Jaime had spent his early childhood in the Red Keep, and had thought he knew the prince well enough, though he would not consider him a good friend. He been very surprised to hear that Rhaegar would do such a thing, particularly with Tya Lannister looming over every move he made. He grinned slightly at the thought of what his mother would do to the prince when - if - he returned to King's Landing. 

What he would do if it was their party who found the elusive pair? Jaime wasn't exactly pleased with Rhaegar himself. Not only had the man wed Cersei - and of course he would loathe anyone who married his twin on principle - he had disgraced her, upset her, abandoned her while she birthed his son and heir.

Jaime had been in turmoil after Rhaegar had vanished. He wished more than anything to comfort his sister, who hid her pain and anger behind her usual charming public mask. He knew she would not receive it well, however. Neither would Father. Things had not been the same between any of them since some time before the Harrenhal tourney, a fact that still pained him. 

He grimaced at the memory. 

Father had always been the parent that he and his siblings had gone to for comfort. Jaime loved his mother, he truly did, but she was not like any woman he knew. Most mothers were kind and gentle, singing their children to sleep, soothing their fears and wiping their tears. The idea of the Lady Hand doing any such thing was laughable, though Jaime did not mind that particularly. There were other reasons he and his mother often clashed. His father had always been plenty kind enough to them all to make up for it.

The look on Jason Lannister's face had been anything but kind that awful day.

It had been just before they were due to leave for the tourney at Harrenhal; Jaime had been in the city after helping to defeat the Kingswood Brotherhood. Cersei had come to him late one night - their chambers in the Tower of the Hand were adjacent, the only ones on that floor - and neither of them had been thinking. They knew that their mother had gone to bed, but had not counted on their father climbing the stairs at just the wrong moment.

Who knew what he had heard that prompted him to open the door, but he had done so nonetheless. Cersei had smothered a scream at the sound of someone entering the room. Jaime had leapt off her, instinctively reached for his sword, only to realise who it was that stood in the doorway.

He had never seen his father look quite so much like Mother. The man had shut the door with a quiet click and a face of stone as his son and daughter hastily covered themselves, straightening their clothes.

"Father - " Jaime began, but was silenced with one look.

"I thought I put a stop to this when you were eight," He said, and Jaime heard the pain in his voice. The shocked revulsion and fury as well. "Then, I thought you were just children, foolishly playing without knowing what you were doing. But this..."

The expression he pulled had Jaime looking at the floor.

"Don't tell Mother," His sister blurted out, starting to cry. For once, he didn't think her tears were false; she might strive desperately for Mother's approval, more than any of the rest of them, but loved their father dearly. "Please, Father,"

"I won't tell your mother, for the simple reason that it would break her to know her eldest children let her down so disgracefully," He said, no less cold, though his voice was quiet so no one else in the sleeping tower could hear. "Not to mention, her reaction would likely break you as well. Though if this disgusting, unnatural behaviour ever happens again, I will have no other option,"

"You and Mother are cousins," Jaime could not help but say. "You love her. How would you feel, if you could never be with her?"

"Are you as mad as Aerys? Cousins are not twin siblings," He narrowed his eyes. "I hated your mother when we were children, and she hated me. The only reason we were betrothed was to avoid another poor match for her like Emmon Frey. Love came later. You are Lannisters, not Targaryens. Unless you wish to join the king in starting more rumours to sully your mother's reputation, you will never do this again,"

"Father, please - "

"Cersei, do you wish it to be publicly known that you are not a maid?" He spoke over her. "Someone will find out, if this continues, and you will be left with no option but to marry some old widower. We are not the main branch of the family - the only reason you have good prospects is due to our influence in court. And Jaime, if you think your mother will stand for the future Lord of Casterly Rock being known for... for laying with his sister," All three of them cringed. "You are sorely mistaken,"

They were grateful, in the days following that awful encounter - which might be one of the worst moments of Jaime's life - that their mother was very busy with preparations for Harrenhal. At the time, he had wondered what she could possibly be concerning herself with, seeing as she wasn't hosting the tourney herself; that had all been revealed later, of course. They were also lucky that she tended to have a blind spot when it came to her own family, and missed the fact that neither Jaime nor Cersei could look their father in the eye.

He knew that Cersei felt guilty about the whole thing, but more that their father had caught them at it. Given that their father had an eye on them most of the time, when his sister asked to talk to him in private, he had had her come on one of the rides with Tyrion and Rohanne, where they hung back slightly, heads together.

Then, Cersei had tried to convince him to join the Kingsguard, for there was an empty place then. All so he could be at her side forever whilst she married the prince. 

Her intentions were good, yet Jaime had refused nonetheless, for a multitude of reasons.

Despite all the time he had lived in Casterly Rock, he had grown up at court. None of his parents or siblings spared him anything in their letters, nor when he visited. He knew what the Kingsguard had to deal with - standing outside the queen's door whilst she was raped by the king, standing by as Aerys burnt innocent people with wildfire - and would not sign his life away for that.

Not to mention his mother would likely disown him. It often seemed like, deep down, she had not moved on from the two years in which she had been heir of Casterly Rock before Kevan was born, and had been eyeing up their house's seat ever since. He was her key to the Rock, considering he was to marry cousin Janei, and if he was to sabotage that in any way...

Besides, there were better things for him to do than stand guard for the rest of his life. Being the Lord of the Westerlands would be dull at times, but he knew all of Uncle Kevan's stewards and advisors were capable, loyal and could do all the mind-numbingly boring work. He did not mind some of it, besides. Whilst he had never taken to politics under his mother's tutorage, his uncle presented things differently. Made them make sense, and played to his strengths rather than hers. And he did not glare at him when he did not know the answer as though that look alone would make him magically know what to say. 

Yet it was his father's inevitable disappointment and anger was the main reason for him refusing his sister's offer. 

"They'll separate us if you don't, Jaime," Cersei had implored him. "Father won't let us be anywhere near each other otherwise, after what he saw. This way, it's out of his hands,"

But if he accepted, Father would know exactly why. Call him a coward but he could not face that look on his face again. Not even for Cersei. Disappointing Mother was one thing - she seemed perpetually disappointed in everyone around her - but disappointing Father was something else entirely.

"Jaime, look," Damon's eager voice caught his attention, and he was torn away from his dark thoughts. "There's tower on that hill there. I know it's barely midday, but could we shelter there tonight?"

The men made noises of agreement. As hot as days in the Red Mountains were, with no clouds in the sky the nights grew freezing cold. Some form of shelter, even that tiny tower, would be welcome. He wanted a good night's sleep as much as anyone, so agreed with the majority and led them towards the small tower, the only building for leagues and leagues.

"Horses outside," Addam rode up beside him as they drew closer, squinting into the distance. "Someone beat us to it,"

"I'm sure they won't mind sharing," Lyle grinned. "Might even have some better food than dried meat and hard bread - we can't be more than three days from Starfall, here," 

There was a murmur of approval from the rest of the men.

Jaime had a bad feeling about this but did not voice it. He was glad he didn't, for as they approached, a man came out to greet them. A man wearing the white armour of the Kingsguard. 

Their entire party stilled, shocked at the sight of Oswell Whent. Jaime forced himself to recover quickly, muttering at Tyrion and Damon to get behind the other men before fixing a sharp smile on his face.

"Ser Oswell," He greeted with bravado; if Whent was here, then so was... "Is his Grace anywhere to be found? We've been looking for him for quite some time,"

Whent let out a darkly amused chuckle, as Rhaegar appeared at his shoulder.

"Ser Jaime," The prince inclined his head, as though they were casually meeting in the halls of the Red Keep. "What brings you here?"

Behind him, Jaime heard Lyle snort incredulously, and felt like doing the same himself. 

"I'm sure you've realised that the entire realm is searching for you, your Grace," He said. "They're started to worry that if you leave the throne in the claws of my mother too long, you'll never get it off her again," That earned a laugh from his men, though the threat was hardly subtle. "You don't happen to have a certain wayward bride here with you, by any chance?"

Loud footsteps could be heard on the stairs behind them, and Whent cursed under his breath. Speak of the Stranger and she will appear. 

"My lady, I thought you were told to stay upstairs," Rhaegar turned to face the woman - the girl - who had rushed down to join them. 

It had been eight months since anyone had seen her last.

"Fucking hells," Lyle muttered, and once again Jaime shared the sentiment. Lyanna Stark's belly was visibly swollen with pregnancy. There was no question whose it was.

"Jaime Lannister?" She ignored the prince completely, her tone blandly cordial, so different from the wild, lively girl with a wicked smile who had emptied her drink over her younger brother's head at Harrenhal. "My brother is betrothed to your sister. Please, ser, I - " 

"Lyanna," She broke off as Rhaegar took her arm in warning, shrinking away from him slightly. "Remember what we spoke of. It's not safe to leave, not until Aegon is born," 

Her reaction to his touch, as well as the way she looked up at Jaime - her eyes reminded him of a cornered animal despite her ladylike tone - told him all he needed to know. He had only met Lyanna a few times, and they had exchanged little more than courtesies, but he knew that she would not plead like that easily. 

Until now, he had suspected that the girl had foolishly run off with Rhaegar, believing herself in love, rather than the claims of rape and kidnapping that Stark and Baratheon were throwing around. Now he wasn't so sure.

"You already have a son named Aegon, your Grace," Jaime's smile was sharp enough to cut. "My sister blessed you with a strong healthy boy in your absence. He has violet in his eyes, gold and silver in his hair, and sits the Iron Throne on the lap of his grandmother whenever she holds court," You don't deserve Cersei, you never did, and Lyanna Stark did nothing to deserve you. 

At that, saw the wolf stir in the girl's eyes. 

"You bastard," Lyanna's voice was barely more than a whisper as she looked up at the prince, the look on her face unmistakably betrayal. Fury, too. "I had no doubts of that already, but... you absolute fucking bastard," 

She tore her arm out of his grip, darting backwards when he tried to grab her again. When Whent moved to stop her, there was a murmur of shock from the watching men as she pulled an eating knife out of her skirts. Particularly when - instead of pointing it at the armoured knight or trained warrior prince where it would admittedly be useless - she held it to her own neck.

"I'll do it," She looked Rhaegar dead in the eye. "Don't think I won't," 

Jaime recognised that this was not just the dramatics of a young girl.

"Let her pass," He said, more cold than one should address the future king, smile gone. "Now,"

"Seven hells, you've changed since you were a boy," Whent muttered. "Never used to be able to imitate your mother quite so well," 

Prick. Nonetheless, the man stepped out of Lyanna's way with a terse nod from Rhaegar. Clearly the prince valued the child growing inside her that much. She was pregnant, but clearly only around five or so months; nowhere near enough that the babe would survive even if it was cut out of its mother.

Lyanna practically ran past Whent and Rhaegar, straight to one of the tied-up horses that he presumed was hers; it looked Northern and stocky enough. Jaime nodded to one of his men, who dismounted and moved to assist her with putting on the saddle and bridle. He was going to offer that she ride behind him or one of the others, given her condition, though if he had been locked in a tower for eight months he would doubtless want his own horse too.

"Are you coming too, your Grace?" He turned back to Rhaegar, tearing his attention from the girl who was surprisingly adept at tacking a horse, a job most ladies never even thought about. "Or would you rather enjoy more time spent in this delightful tower?"

"I sense there is little option otherwise," The prince replied, and had the nerve to smile wryly.

"You're the Prince Regent," Jaime shrugged. "We can hardly drag you back as a prisoner," Though this was a very strange power dynamic. They probably could do just that, but they would hardly get away with it upon returning to King's Landing.

"Yet you will take Lyanna no matter what. Therefore, I ride with you,"

"Do as you wish," He said carelessly. "Though if you will oblige me, your Grace - Lady Lyanna rides at the front where I can see her, whilst you and Ser Oswell ride at the back,"

Whent had moved to tack his and Rhaegar's horses, whilst Lyanna was already swinging into the saddle from the ground. Perhaps with less grace than she would have done prior to pregnancy, but impressive nonetheless. She sat astride, Jaime noticed, her skirts gathered up on either side. Some of his men were ogling the fraction of bare leg this revealed, though Addam was already giving them stern looks to stop.

"Before we set off tomorrow, it might be advisable to change into some breeches, my lady," He said to her as she guided her horse into their group. "Perhaps tuck your hair under a cap, too. Your father and betrothed have many search parties out searching for you, but I'm sure there are less savoury characters out there who would love the idea of such a large ransom,"

She nodded wordlessly.

It took the girl a few days to start speaking to anyone beyond answering questions with bland, polite answers. For the most part, Jaime let her ride in peace alongside him. She did not complain about the heat, nor the fast pace, nor the breeches he had requested from one of the more slightly-built men to lend to her.

Though he did notice how after a while she started speaking to Tyrion and Damon as the travelled. Perhaps they reminded her of her own younger brother, who couldn't be more than a year or two older, or perhaps the young boys were simply the easiest to get along with... everything. Tyrion was happy to talk anyone's ear off if they expressed the slightly interest in what he was saying, whilst Damon, with his kind smile and thoughtful remarks, was ever a calming presence.

"Jaime," Tyrion called to him eagerly on the fourth day. "Jaime, you'll never guess what Lyanna said - "

"Stop it," The girl hissed at him, though she was fighting a small smile. "Tyrion, you're terrible at keeping secrets,"

"Secrets?" He raised an eyebrow, amused. "Planning to kill me in my sleep, my lady?"

"It wouldn't be you I would be plotting to kill," She muttered darkly, making him repress a laugh. 

"Lyanna told us she could joust, and I laughed at her," His little brother said gleefully. "So she got annoyed and said she rode in the Harrenhal tourney. A mystery knight - we saw her, remember,"

"That was you?" Jaime had to admit he was shocked, and more than a little impressed. "The Knight of the Laughing Tree, I presume? You brought down three squires,"

"I'll never be telling your brother anything I wish kept secret again," She rolled her eyes, reminding him how young she was; sixteen, almost two years younger than him. "But yes, I did,"

"Had Aerys not had a coup to distract him, I feared he would string whoever it was up from the walls," He shook his head. "You weren't bad for a squire, let alone a lady. Your seat was excellent, though your arm was weaker, if I recall. You dropped your elbow too much,"

"You say that like I'll ever joust again," She gave a hollow laugh. "For all I know, they'll send me to the Silent Sisters when we return,"

"Your father wouldn't go to all this effort to find you to just do that," 

"Either way, I will never be let out of anyone's sight again. Though surely I cannot marry Robert with this," She gestured at her stomach. "That's something, I suppose," 

Jaime chose not to voice his father's words to Cersei. The idea of Lyanna marrying an old widower was strangely depressing, considering he barely knew her.

He still did not miss how she refused to look at Rhaegar. Would he try and hold onto her, keep her in court instead of quietly letting her return to Winterfell in disgrace? The idea of that was even worse.

She became slowly more talkative over the next few days of travel. There were times when she would go quiet and sink into that dark, distant mood again, but they became fewer and far between. Though Lyanna was undoubtedly more subdued that she had been when he had seen her previously, she began to smile more often, speak more freely, even laugh a couple of times.

"Here," When most people had gone to bed one night, Jaime approached the girl where she was sat by the dying fire, holding out one of his daggers hilt-first. "Take this. You might need it," He smiled tightly as she glanced at the prince's tent. "Careful, now. I'm sure that look wasn't treasonous, though others might take it differently,"

"It was definitely treasonous," Lyanna muttered, and he snorted, glad they were out of earshot of the tents.

"In your case treason is quite justified, I'd say,"

"Don't tell your mother that," She warned. "Returning will be bad enough without being strung up on the gallows,"

"My mother has certainly thought far worse these past months. Probably planned worse," He said, glad when her lips twitched into a faint smile. "I'm not actually sure how she will react to Rhaegar's return. She backed him in front of the entire Seven Kingdoms, and he humiliated her," His mother despised being humiliated more than anything else.

"What will she do to me?" The question seemed to spill from her lips, as though Lyanna had not wished to voice that fear. "Your sister is his wife, and I carry his... his bastard,"

Why do you hesitate? Jaime wasn't sure what he could say to that.

"Pray it's a girl," He said eventually, though judging from the look on her face he was sure she already was. "And if not... best seem like you haven't a bone of ambition in you other than to return home and live a quiet life in the North with your lowly bastard son - a Snow, not a Rivers nor a Waters. Cry, tremble, act the traumatised, feeble victim if you have to,"

"Isn't that what everyone expects me to be anyway?" The look in her eyes then was hard to discern. 

"Are you not? Though admittedly you're not weeping, you seem pretty traumatised to me - "

"I'm not some damsel in distress, Lannister," She had that look in her eyes again, an old, proud defiance that suited her so much more than the ladylike shell she had worn. 

"I did have to rescue you from a tower. That's how it goes in the songs, is it not?" He was joking, and she knew it, but that didn't stop her eyes narrowing in anger. 

"In the songs, the lady is an innocent maiden stolen away, who gracefully weeps her days away," Lyanna said. "She does not go with her jailer willingly, does not lay with him willingly, does not enjoy it,"

He had suspected as much, though it was a shock to hear her admit it.

"Perhaps not," He said mildly. "At the start, anyway. What about when it wasn't willing, and you didn't enjoy it?"

Her bitter smile made her look far older than sixteen.

"That makes me no less of a whore, to most people. I was asking for it, they'll say. They'll laugh and say what did I expect - that it's a fitting punishment, that I got what I deserved in the end. I'm not the sweet, innocent maiden in this story, Lannister,"

"Whether you lay with someone once and enjoyed it, that's still rape if he forces you a second time,"

"Don't say that word," She snarled. "I - it makes me sound weak,"

Fair enough. In her place, no doubt he'd feel the same, though he disagreed with the sentiment from where he was stood now.

There was a silence.

"What did he tell you?" Jaime asked the girl. "To get you to go with him. You don't seem easily led," 

She was silent for a moment, pale face glowing in the firelight, knees huddled to her chest; as far as they could go with her six-months pregnant belly anyway. He could sense there was something she wished to say, that was on the tip of her tongue, but she thought better of it.

"He said he loved me," Lyanna said instead. "I didn't believe it, not really, but he was kind and handsome and said I could be his... official mistress," Again, that hesitation. There was something she wasn't telling him. "It would be a disgrace initially, but he said he would sort everything out with my family, with Robert, and the High Septon. He said I would be free to ride, hunt, travel and do whatever I liked. So long as I bore him just one son, for some prophecy he'd read about. It sounded absurd, but better than being married to Robert, so I away I went," She chuckled mockingly. "Stupid girl. It was less than a year ago, but I feel so much older," 

There was a pause.

"Out of interest, what was so bad about Baratheon?" Jaime asked. "Not that I'm judging you - I would likely run away rather than marry him, in your place," Though for entirely different, Cersei-related reasons. 

Lyanna smiled bleakly.

"Robert wasn't even that bad," She said. "That was the worst of it. I knew he had a temper, but so do I, and he never used it against me. I know that he likes to ride and hunt, so I likely would've been able to do that as well. I could see us becoming friends, eventually. But he drinks and whores far too much. I know Ned said that he was a good man and would respect me as his wife, but I think once Robert bored of me he would go back to the same ways. And as Lady of Storm's End, I'd have responsibilities tying me down, a castle to run, heirs to pop out. My life wouldn't be my own. I figured I'd rather be scorned as the king's mistress than give up a chance at that kind of freedom,"

"Even if you could stand the sight of him, I would advise against becoming Rhaegar's mistress," He said. "My sister would sooner poison your food or smother you in your sleep than stand having you at court,"

To his surprise, she laughed, albeit bleakly.

"If he tries to keep me at court, I really will start a war,"

*

The first (and likely only) change in POV! It was very strange writing a Jaime who has not been through the torture of serving Aerys. I couldn't resist throwing in the Jaime and Lyanna scenes; it's nice to be writing them together again after I finished the Wolf of Casterly Rock. Anyone who has read that and is wondering why their dynamic seems different to that at the start of TWOCR, there is not the pressure of an arranged marriage hanging over them so the initial hostility is absent from both sides.

Addressing the reviewer on fanfiction.net who said that I had ruined the story by making Cersei's son the prince who was promised, please at least read the rest of the fic before leaving a comment like that, else it's just embarrassing for both of us. Remember that Elia had a son called Aegon in canon. Having posted all my stories across three sites, it's very interesting to see that the unnecessarily rude comments (which are very different to the well thought out constructive criticism, which I always appreciate and take into account) tend to come from fanfiction.net haha. 

Anyway, thanks for reading. Not long left of this story now, only a few more chapters - I'm planning on wrapping things up at roughly the same time the rebellion was resolved in canon. Though how do people feel about an epilogue perhaps from Dany or one of Rhaegar's children around 297AC? And maybe a bonus stand-alone chapter titled 'what if Tya had actually married Aerys' which I know was a direction many people wanted this to go (I already have this half-finished haha just not sure if I'll post it)?