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The Crippled Wolf-Stark SI: Ch.65
🕑 Added 2025-06-29 18:32:40 +0000 UTCChapter 65 JAMIE LANNISTER Jamie had known that such a day would come one way or another. He had tried to fight against it, but in the end,
Chapter 65
JAMIE LANNISTER
Jamie had known that such a day would come one way or another. He had tried to fight against it, but in the end, one could hardly escape the inevitable. His father had long desired to have him back as his heir, and now he had a King who desired to remove him from the capital as well.
And so, Jamie Lannister found himself stripped of his cloak for the burning of the Sept of Baelor, yet their new King chose to spare his life as an act of generosity for his years of service and kinship with the Queen.
Jamie had begged Myrcella, his own flesh and blood, so that he might remain beside her, but she had refused to budge, having fallen prey to the machinations of his father and her own lord husband.
So, he found himself in the King’s solar in front of the only person who could undo the command, and with every passing day Jamie was realising that Cersei had been right to fear this boy who had risen from a paltry second son of a barbarian Kingdom, to the King of the Seven Kingdoms.
He might be a Stark, but he was unlike any of his family. He was well versed in the games of politics, and had already taken hold of the power in the capital, and though he may have made a show of sharing power with the Queen, it was just that-a show.
Myrcella was simply too young and naive to see through his machinations, and now the boy wanted to remove the only person in the castle who could help her—him. But he would not let him succeed. He would not allow his father to succeed.
“I want you to rescind your order of stripping me of the White Cloak,” he demanded, and unlike Cersei and his brother Tyrion, he had always preferred a more straightforward approach.
Politics was their domain. The blade was his. It was far easier for him to hack away at his problems rather than try to solve them through words, and it had worked well until now.
The King raised a brow at his demand, as if mocking him, which made his blood boil.
“I am afraid I cannot do that. The decision was made after careful consideration and deliberation. The Westerlands need an heir, and Lord Tywin is insistent that you return to the West so that he may train you to be the next Lord of Casterly Rock,” he may act all innocent and naive, but Jamie knew that this went beyond his father.
This was not the first time Lord Tywin had sought a King to have him returned. He had made the same demand of Robert, though then Cersei had intervened on his behalf, swaying his mind.
But now she was gone. Cersei, Joffrey, Tommen—all of them gone, leaving only him behind to protect and care for Myrcella.
“Do not act as if you do not desire the same,” Jamie taunted, and his father may have handed him the knife, but he had no doubt that it was the boy in front of him wielding it.
“My only desire is stability,” and Jamie scoffed.
“I thought you were friends with Tyrion. I wonder how he feels about all this?” and the boy sighed.
“I already told him about this,” and Jamie was caught by surprise, and he wondered if this was the reason that his brother had been avoiding him for the last few days.
Even during the wedding. Tyrion had been rather quiet and distant, unlike his usual jovial self, and now that he thought about it, it had been some time since the two of them had sat down for a meal or a talk at all.
“He was angry. But your father made it clear—he won’t let Tyrion inherit Casterly Rock,” and he scoffed for the boy would never fall for such a threat not matter how much he may pretend otherwise.
“If I had not sent you back, then he would have simply taken a second wife and bred a new heir to replace him,” and he knew it to be an empty threat.
“That’s an empty threat,” Jaime said, though he suspected the King wanted to believe it.
“It matters not. In the end, I made the best decision for the future of the realm,” and his father must have sweetened the deal. He was sure of it.
“What did he offer?” he asked, and the King was silent.
“It does not matter. The decision has been made. The people of the city loathe you, and blame you for all the death and destruction caused by the burning of the Sept. In these circumstances, you cannot perform your duties as a Kingsguard effectively,” and as if that mattered. He was the only one who could protect Myrcella from the vultures around her.
“I know damn well how to do my duty. And I have no care about what the people think of me,” and the King leaned forward.
“But you should care, because you are but one person, and those outside, they are a thousand thousand,” and he saw it for what it was a veiled threat.
“And no matter how good an armor, or how skillful a swordsman, all it takes to down a man, even as great a warrior as you, is but one arrow,” as if anyone would dare to attack him, a Kingsguard.
“Let us not play anymore games,” Jamie added, and he had tried to be civil about it, but it was obvious that the boy was taking him for a fool, thinking that he was incapable of seeing through his ploy.
“I know that you have the power to stop it. You are the King now, and as powerful and influential as my father may be, he is but one man, ruling over one Kingdom while you sit on the Iron Throne and rule over Seven Kingdoms,” and if he so desired it, he could deny his father with ease.
“Perhaps,” and those grey eyes did not deny his accusation.
“Then I want you to deny my father’s request,” he declared with finality as the boy sighed.
“Again, why would I do that and turn the richest man of the realm into my enemy?” and indeed, unlike his father, Jamie had little to offer in terms of gold and influence.
But he was not helpless. Not truly.
“Because if you don’t, then I shall reveal to the world Myrcella’s true heritage,” and there was no surprise in those eyes at his words, as he realised that Cersei may have been right about the boy.
That he indeed knew of their secret. But since when?
“You already knew,” Jaime whispered, stunned.
“I did,” and that had been his trump card, one thing he had hoped to blackmail him with.
“But I never thought that you would stoop so low,” he answered, and he had the gall to act so high and mighty even though it was he who had pushed him to this extent.
“Then why?” Why hadn’t he mentioned it to Robert? To even his own father?
“Why didn’t I reveal it to King Robert?” he asked, reading Jamie's mind as Jamie could only nod.
“Because, unlike you and your sister, I cared for Myrcella and Tommen, and knew that if King Robert were to learn of their secret, it would plunge the realm into a war that would kill thousands, and the first casualties of that war would be two innocent children who had done no wrong,” and so he must have known for years, and the King took a deep sigh.
“But still, to try and blackmail me using your own blood,” and he clicked his tongue as he continued.
“I should have expected that, after all, this is not the first time you have betrayed your own kin,” and his heart sank at those words, as the boy looked him in the eye.
“What do you mean?”
“Tysha,” and the world turned cold at that name as if someone had doused him in ice water. Of all the names he had expected to hear today, that had not been amongst them.
“How do you know that name?” Jamie whispered, his heart beating wildly in his chest, as the King raised a brow.
“That does not matter. No, what matters is the lie you spoke that day, a lie that ruined two innocent lives,” and Jamie had long felt guilty about his actions from that day, for he had been the one who had revealed Tyrion’s secret marriage to their father.
He had been the one who had led him to their secret abode.
“I had no choice,” he tried to defend himself, but the screams of that girl and the fate that she had suffered had haunted his dreams for years.
“You had a choice, and you chose to lie. You ruined two innocent lives, all because of your own selfishness,” and the voice grew chillier.
“You could have stood up for your brother,” and Jamie was shaking his head now.
“You could have stopped your father! You could have spoken the truth!” and Jamie denied those words.
“You know nothing! I had no choice!” he was young and naive, and was only trying to protect his brother.
“You had a choice, and you chose to betray your brother!” and he scoffed.
“I chose to protect him! I chose to save him from that harlot who had ensnared him! From our father’s wrath!” and the King scoffed.
“That harlot was his wife! A woman who loved him for what he was, not for the lord he one day might be, and you tore her away from him, tore away teh one person who loved him!” and Jamie had long lost his temper and the room was quiet as the King looked him in the eye.
“You were always a selfish little brat who cared for no one apart from himself,” he thought to himself. It was all lies.
“You ruined your family, lied to your own brother, fucked your own sister and betrayed not one but two Kings, and now you are trying to blackmail me with the life of your own blood,” and he shook his head.
“Lies! Lies!” he was not selfish. No. He had done it all for Cersei. He had even given up his claim for her, passing it along to Tyrion as a penance.
“No. I am not lying! You are the liar, Jamie Lannister! You! You lied that day! You lied that day when you told your brother that Tysha was....” and it was not the King who finished his sentence, but a thin voice from behind that shook him to the core.
“...whore!” And Jamie felt his world break into two as his head snapped back, towards that all too familiar voice, for he had thought that they were alone.
But no. They were not.
Behind him stood his own brother, the young Tyrion, who stood there, having appeared out of thin air, as a wave of nakedness hit him like never before, as he found all of himself laid bare in front of his own brother.
“Brothe...” he tried to call out, as he pushed himself out of the chair, but his little brother backed away in disgust, and those mismatched eyes of his. They were filled with tears of hate, anger, and disgust.
“Don’t call me that!” Tyrion lashed out, as his lips quivered, and Jamie found himself scrambling for words.
“All these years! You were the only one who did not treat me like a monster,” and his brother’s voice quivered with pain as tears slid down his face.
“You were the only person I had. But even you!” and the words hit him hard, as Jamie found himself tongue-tied.
“All this time!” Tyrion screamed, and he had no defence.
“Tyrion, I had no choice. Fath...” but his brother scoffed.
“No. NO! Don’t put this on Father! You! You lied to me! YOU, WHO KNEW EVERYTHING, LIED TO ME!” Tyrion screamed as Jamie turned towards the person who had instigated this all.
“You!” he gave a mocking laugh to the King.
“You planned this all!” and perhaps he should have listened to Cersei all those years ago. He should have killed him back then in the North.
“I am not the one who lied,” but he had. He had done something far worse, and someone had to stop him. Just as someone had stopped the Mad King, for he was even more dangerous than Aerys in his mind, and so reaching for the little blade in his back pocket, Jamie jumped towards the grey-eyed boy as he tried to do as Cersei had told him years ago.
“But you have done enough damage!” and he aimed it at the boy’s neck, who jumped to the side, just barely in time as his blade cut through his cheek.
“Guards! Guards!” he heard Tyrion scream as a sense of betrayal took over him, as he crashed into the King’s chair. The boy King had taken out his sword and was stuck in a corner as blood dripped down his face.
BANG!
The door split open as Sandor, the newest addition to the Kingsguard, entered the room.
“Kill him!” Jamie ordered.
“Arrest him!” the King ordered, as the burnt man found himself conflicted about whom to follow, and as the large man did not move Jamie knew that he had to finish what he had started, and lunged towards the King once more, yet the crippled boy was able to move quickly and with the greater reach of his sword, the boy parried away his dagger pushing it out f his hand.
CLANK!
But that did not stop him as Jamie closed the distance and used his greater strength to force back his hands before he grabbed him by the neck and gripped it tightly.
“I should have done this years ago....” but before he could finish, he felt pain rip through his body, as he heard a crossbow being fired.
“AGHHH!” and he turned back, but before he could do so, the hulking Clegane was upon him, pulling him back and throwing him into the wall.
“AGHHHHH!” Jamie screamed as his back hit the floor, while he nursed his shoulder.
“What are you doing, you mutt! I command you as your lord...” but just as he was about to push himself back up, he found a cross-bow aimed at his face.
A crossbow that was being wielded by none other than his own brother.
“Tyrion,” he called out, “you have to under...” yet his brother did not let him finish.
“Not another word....” and soon enough, Sandor Clegane was upon him as well, as the King’s voice came from behind.
“Arrest him and put him into the Black cells! And do not speak of what you witnessed to anyone....”
.
.
.
And as Jamie Lannister was carried out of the room, the crossbow fell out of Tyrion Lannister’s hands as the little man turned towards the bleeding King as a tear slid down his face—the first of many.
“You are a cruel man, Cregan. A very cruel man,” and the King did not deny those words, as he simply stood there holding his bruised neck, as the Lannister lord wept in front of him, in silence.
“Cruel I may be—but I never lied to you. Not ever,” he argued, as the little dwarf scoffed and faced him once more as he wiped the tears in his eyes.
“I need to see her!” he requested, and before he could, he could not find the courage in him to do so, but now that he knew the truth. The ugly truth was that he owed her a great debt.
“She does not....”
“I don’t care, Cregan. She could kill me, and I would deserve it,” he lamented, for he had abandoned her, abandoned the only person in this world who had loved him for what he was.
“Tell me where she is,” he demanded, though it sounded more like pleading.
“I will do it,” the blonde man continued as his voice shook.
“I will do as you say. I will become your staunchest supporter, your most loyal servant, but I must meet her. I must!” and the King was silent, before he took a deep sigh.
“There is a manse just beyond the gates. Qyburn will lead you to it....”
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Comments
FallenMetalGod
Thank you, and that was a fantastic chapter, showing that Jaime doesn't see the wrong he has done because he always sees himself as the victim or unlikely hero. However, I like how Sandor finally chose a side and Tyrion decided to understand what Cregan did. I do hope Cregan and Tyrion do either become friends or at least allies. I am very interested in seeing Tyrion and Tysha's meeting, depending on how this goes. Great job, as always, and I look forward to seeing what happens next.
Radiant Tiefling
Thank you for the chapter.
