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asoiaf/got ficlet: worth the price
Written for the Robert's Rebellion comment fication. Originally posted here.
worth the price
Jaime/Cersei | gen | ~800 words
Cersei sought out her brother as soon as she arrived in King's Landing, waiting just long enough to change her dress and wash the travel dust from her face. The hallways and courtyards were milling with lords wishing to swear fealty to their new king, but Cersei threaded through the crowds as quickly as she could, and she eventually found him outside White Sword Tower, his white cloak spotless and drawn around his shoulders, nearly hiding his brilliant golden armor. She hadn't seen him since well before the rebellion started; he was just as beautiful as she remembered, tall and shining and proud, but he also seemed thinner, had shadows lingering under his eyes.
She wondered what the Red Keep had been like in the days before King's Landing finally fell, with the Mad King screaming at the voices in his head and roasting people alive.
"It took you long enough," Jaime said as she approached, his mouth curving with the soft, teasing smile he saved for her. "Father sent for you weeks ago."
"He also burdened me with a wheelhouse and two hundred men," she said tartly. The slow, plodding pace had nearly driven her to madness, but their father had insisted; the war had left much of the smallfolk in chaos, and the high roads were now crawling with rapers and thieves. "Is it true you murdered Aerys, or is that just some vile web Varys is spinning?"
Jaime's smile hardened a little, turned sharp at the edges. "Murder is such an unpleasant word. I prefer to think I stopped him from burning this pretty red castle to the ground."
"They're calling you Kingslayer."
"Let them," Jaime said easily, taking Cersei by the arm. He led her around the side of White Sword Tower, into a small garden of red and purple flowers and slowly climbing vines. "As long as I get to keep my head, they can call me whatever they please."
She caught her hand in his cloak. "Ned Stark--"
"Several people wanted my head for treason. Ned Stark only wanted to pack me off to the Night's Watch," Jaime said, laughing darkly. "Who would have thought he would be the reasonable one?"
"It never would have happened." She stroked her hand over his jaw, brushed her fingers through his hair. It was longer than it had been the last time she'd seen him, falling softly past his chin and curling at the back of his neck. "Father wouldn't have allowed it."
"Thank the gods for that. I'd look terrible in black."
"Don't say such things."
"Stop worrying," he said, turning his face into her touch, kissing the palm of her hand. "No one would dare kill me now, not after a royal pardon." He curled his fingers around her wrist, pressed his thumb over her pulse. "Robert seemed quite geniune about it. Of course, having me killed might have started his marriage off poorly."
"Jaime," she said quietly, narrowing her eyes as his hand tightened on her wrist. "You knew this would happen one day."
"That doesn't mean I'm happy about it," Jaime said, his cloak fluttering with a sudden breeze. He frowned at her for a moment. "Are you happy about it?"
"Of course not. I'd rather be with you." She wanted to kiss him, but she didn't dare; the garden wasn't secluded enough, and Varys could already have someone watching her, for all that she'd only been in King's Landing two hours. "Things could be much worse."
"How?"
"Father could have sold me to someone in the Iron Islands, or someone in the north." Cersei felt ill just thinking about it. Robert was coarser than Jaime, brash and blustering, but he was tall and strong, handsome in his own, rough way, and he wasn't twice Cersei's age. "At least this way, we will be together."
Jaime sighed quietly. "You won't like him."
"I don't need to like him," she said honestly. She'd stopped believing she'd marry someone she loved after Aerys denied her Rhaegar. "I'll have you with me, and I'll be queen."
"Queen Cersei," Jaime said slowly, tilting his head. "I suppose that's worth letting Robert Baratheon fuck you."
"Don't be crude."
"Robert has a slow mind and a quick temper, and he drinks far too much," Jaime said, sliding his hand over her hip. "He might be terrible to you."
"I only need to stand him long enough to give him a son." Cersei leaned into him, as close as she dared. "After that, you can kill him."
Jamie's mouth twisted with a wicked smile. "Why not? He couldn't be any harder to kill than Aerys."
worth the price
Jaime/Cersei | gen | ~800 words
Cersei sought out her brother as soon as she arrived in King's Landing, waiting just long enough to change her dress and wash the travel dust from her face. The hallways and courtyards were milling with lords wishing to swear fealty to their new king, but Cersei threaded through the crowds as quickly as she could, and she eventually found him outside White Sword Tower, his white cloak spotless and drawn around his shoulders, nearly hiding his brilliant golden armor. She hadn't seen him since well before the rebellion started; he was just as beautiful as she remembered, tall and shining and proud, but he also seemed thinner, had shadows lingering under his eyes.
She wondered what the Red Keep had been like in the days before King's Landing finally fell, with the Mad King screaming at the voices in his head and roasting people alive.
"It took you long enough," Jaime said as she approached, his mouth curving with the soft, teasing smile he saved for her. "Father sent for you weeks ago."
"He also burdened me with a wheelhouse and two hundred men," she said tartly. The slow, plodding pace had nearly driven her to madness, but their father had insisted; the war had left much of the smallfolk in chaos, and the high roads were now crawling with rapers and thieves. "Is it true you murdered Aerys, or is that just some vile web Varys is spinning?"
Jaime's smile hardened a little, turned sharp at the edges. "Murder is such an unpleasant word. I prefer to think I stopped him from burning this pretty red castle to the ground."
"They're calling you Kingslayer."
"Let them," Jaime said easily, taking Cersei by the arm. He led her around the side of White Sword Tower, into a small garden of red and purple flowers and slowly climbing vines. "As long as I get to keep my head, they can call me whatever they please."
She caught her hand in his cloak. "Ned Stark--"
"Several people wanted my head for treason. Ned Stark only wanted to pack me off to the Night's Watch," Jaime said, laughing darkly. "Who would have thought he would be the reasonable one?"
"It never would have happened." She stroked her hand over his jaw, brushed her fingers through his hair. It was longer than it had been the last time she'd seen him, falling softly past his chin and curling at the back of his neck. "Father wouldn't have allowed it."
"Thank the gods for that. I'd look terrible in black."
"Don't say such things."
"Stop worrying," he said, turning his face into her touch, kissing the palm of her hand. "No one would dare kill me now, not after a royal pardon." He curled his fingers around her wrist, pressed his thumb over her pulse. "Robert seemed quite geniune about it. Of course, having me killed might have started his marriage off poorly."
"Jaime," she said quietly, narrowing her eyes as his hand tightened on her wrist. "You knew this would happen one day."
"That doesn't mean I'm happy about it," Jaime said, his cloak fluttering with a sudden breeze. He frowned at her for a moment. "Are you happy about it?"
"Of course not. I'd rather be with you." She wanted to kiss him, but she didn't dare; the garden wasn't secluded enough, and Varys could already have someone watching her, for all that she'd only been in King's Landing two hours. "Things could be much worse."
"How?"
"Father could have sold me to someone in the Iron Islands, or someone in the north." Cersei felt ill just thinking about it. Robert was coarser than Jaime, brash and blustering, but he was tall and strong, handsome in his own, rough way, and he wasn't twice Cersei's age. "At least this way, we will be together."
Jaime sighed quietly. "You won't like him."
"I don't need to like him," she said honestly. She'd stopped believing she'd marry someone she loved after Aerys denied her Rhaegar. "I'll have you with me, and I'll be queen."
"Queen Cersei," Jaime said slowly, tilting his head. "I suppose that's worth letting Robert Baratheon fuck you."
"Don't be crude."
"Robert has a slow mind and a quick temper, and he drinks far too much," Jaime said, sliding his hand over her hip. "He might be terrible to you."
"I only need to stand him long enough to give him a son." Cersei leaned into him, as close as she dared. "After that, you can kill him."
Jamie's mouth twisted with a wicked smile. "Why not? He couldn't be any harder to kill than Aerys."