Never again (Jaime and Astraphel)

Jaime Lannister sighed a little bit as he stirred in his sleep. He was going to be married tomorrow morning and tonight he was enjoying having all the bed to himself. Of course when he moved he found a body in his way. He chuckled softly in the darkness without opening his eyes,

"I thought we agreed to respect tradition and wait until after the wedding?" he joked sleepily as he rubbed at his eyes, "What time is it?"

"Not long before dawn..."

That. Was not... Astraphel's voice.

Snapping to alertness in an instant, Jaime sat up straight in bed to see that Circe was dressed only in a thin satin night-dress and was laid on the side of his bed. In her hand was a jewelled dagger that Jaime recognised as belonging to their mother. He frowned at Circe,

"What do you think you're doing here?" he demanded, "Get the hells away from me woman!"

Circe laughed,

"So you can pretend that savage will make you happy?" she laughed louder, "She is a pretty little whore but still just a whore Jaime... and the Targareans married brothers and sisters together for decades..."

Jaime laughed,

"And I am a Lannister of Castely Rock." he told her forcefully, "Now get the hell out of my bedroom before I drag you out!"

Circe's eyes flashed and she raised the dagger as he got out of bed to shoo her,

"Come near me and I'll cut you up so much even that savage won't want to fuck you!"

Jaime raised an eyebrow,

"Speak about her like that again and I'll use that dagger to cut you little sister."

Circe reached for Jaime,

"But don't you see we're meant to be together? Forever?"

Jaime scowled,

"All I see is a woman so blinded by hate and greed that it has destroyed anything of the little sister I used to have so much fun with as a child. Get the fuck out of my bed."

Astraphel had been contemplating going into Jamie's room tonight and surprising him with a little something, true they were getting married tomorrow and showing restraint would be good - after all they had decided they wanted to respect tradition. If they didn't have sex though they would still be respecting tradition and having fun at the same time.

Unable to sleep because she could not get the idea out of her head, Astraphel stood up and wrapped a silk dressing gown around her body to keep her warm, and attached her dagger thigh holster before slipping the weapon inside. She never left herself weaponless, even while she simply padded down the hallway towards Jamie's room. They were close together in case she had needed anything in the night, he would not be too far away from her.

Of course when she heard a commotion inside of the room, raised voices, Astraphel placed her ear against the wood of the door and she frowned deeply. Jamie was in trouble with someone but what were they arguing about, eavesdropping was bad practice but she couldn't help her nature - besides it might not require her to enter daggers blazing.

It was Circe.

And she had been in her husbands bed.

Apparently they had done a fair share of bed sharing if she took the comments from Circe to mean anything. Meant to be together forever? Were they in love? Was everything that Jamie said to her some sort of cover for his true feelings? How could she have been so stupid as to think someone like him would have fallen for her as quickly as she for him - the fairytale prince of her dreams?

Opening the door with great force, Astraphel's eyes were black as slate once more with her anger, they were dulled as opposed to the twinkling playfulness they had been full of when she had left her room to come to her husbands side.

As she drew her dagger from her thigh, she heard the footsteps of the guards that had been stationed to monitor this corridor from time to time, probably when they had seen her here, weapon drawn they had assumed the worst and come to her aid. Not trusting her voice her hand shook as she held her weapon, her body coiling with suppressed rage.

"Seize her." she commanded through gritted teeth "And him. Seems like we have a trip to make to my father, and yours." Astraphel stated, looking at the two Lannisters with a complete lack of emotion in her expression.

While the guards walked with them towards the Chambers of the Hand of the King where her father and their father was staying, Astraphel implored the guards to wake her father not wanting to bother Tywin with this matter. Yet the guards seemed to insist that the Hand should be notified of what was going on seeing as his children were involved and as such, he was approached to awaken as well.

Jaime was beyond livid. Together forever? Together forever? Was this woman someone who had thrown her senses from the tallest balcony or something? He had never been in love with her as a lover and he never would be. How the hell was he, a Kingsguard, going to be able to refuse her when she was Robert's queen? He tells the king, he dies. He breaks it off, she tells the king some cock and bull about rape, and he dies.

He snapped,

"Together forever?!" He roared, "Do you even look in the mirror?! You are a bitter and twisted woman who cares for nothing but your own self! You threatened me into a relationship, if you can call it that, and I had to play along with your sick little games or lose my fucking head!"

Circe appeared shocked even as she noticed the door opening,

"What do you mean?" She smirked 'seductively' when she noticed Astraphel before Jaime did, "You loved it..."

Jaime spat on the floor,

"Fuck you Circe." he cursed her, "I pretended not to hate every second of it because if I didn't you would have run to Robert and had me killed. If I had refused your first attack on me you would tell Robert and have had me killed! At what point does that sound like something I would support?"

Of course it was then that Jaime noticed Astraphel there. His shoulders slumped as Circe began to cackle madly to herself. He tried to lunge for her but the guards restrained him,

"You'll never be happy with your little savage whore now Jaime!" she crowed as they were dragged towards the Tower of the Hand, "You're only ever going to be mine!"

Jaime scowled,

"You are an evil bitch Circe!" he cursed her before turning to Astraphel, "You have to understand Astraphel... I didn't want to... I had no choice!"

"Of course you had a choice." Tywin's voice declared coldly and he gestured them all into his main office, "You should have fought back. I don't care if it would have cost you your head, you have brought shame on my family, my legacy, and that is worth more to me than your head or your life Jaime. You weak little cretin."

Astraphel could hear those words ringing in her ears and the happiness she had been feeling turned to ash in her mouth, she couldn't believe that the man she had loved had been with his sister in such a manner! It was...disgusting. Had he been with whores, with other women that was acceptable understandable even but with his own sister. It made her feel sick to think about.

She didn't dare look at Jamie or that woman because she knew that she was teetering on the edge of tearing both of their heads off and making their father wear them around his neck, or crying into the arms of her father because she was so embarrassed by this situation she had found herself in and the happy anticipation of her bedding was now complete and utter anxiety.

How could she love what had been...there?!

When her father appeared Astraphel went and stood by his side, and as soon as he saw her upset cradled her in his arms. She didn't move her arms around his frame she just stood there trying to process what had happened.

"What is this? What has happened child?" he asked her "Speak true now."

Astraphel took a deep breath and she looked at the floor as she spoke;

"I was walking to my...to Ser Jamie's chambers, I wished to see him. It was then I heard argument from within. I listened at the door. I heard that these two...people, have been having sex with each other in the past and she was trying to initiate it tonight - how she ended up in the room without consent however is beyond me. She said that they belonged together forever, as well as further insulting my honour and our people's in the same manner she did this very night at dinner."

Stepping away from her father her eyes settled on the woman's;

"I told you what would happen if you laid a hand on my former husband again. I'll have your head for this. I will. No clean stroke of a sword for you, I'll hack off every tendon and vein and make sure that you're head is stuck on a spike on these castle walls."

Before she turned her attention to Jamie, her eyes softened and she felt a lump in her throat;

"And all you have told me are LIES." she spat before turning to her father again and stating fiercely; "You cannot make me go through with this marriage knowing what my husband has done Father, how can I lie with him now I know?"

Circe seemed to puff out her chest in pride as Astraphel told what she had seen and what she had deduced at the same time that Jaime deflated. Tywin sat there with his jaw locked in a square and his eyes narrowed in displeasure. Circe must have been blind not to feel his anger but Jaime was certainly not. And it was fucking amazing how all of the man's anger was directed on Jaime! It would never be Circe's fault now would it?

Tywin steepled his hands together slightly,

"Lord Graaven I can assure you that this is as much a surprise to me as it is to you and your daughter." he told them before glaring at Jaime, "And I assure you that I shall retrieve some form of satisfaction from you no matter the cost to the pride or welfare of either my two... 'children'."

Jaime didn't even pay attention to Tywin though, his whole focus was on Astraphel and nothing else in the world,

"Astraphel please... you don't understand! She would have had me executed had I refused!" he told her, pleading with her, "I have never lied to you... never! Everything I said about you, about us, was true and I swear it by the Old Gods and the New! I swear it on my honour as a knight and as a man, I have never lied to you."

Tywin nodded to himself,

"There is to be punishment fitting their crimes."

Tywin stood from his seat and drew one of the two golden swords he had had forged for he and his son Jaime. He looked at the blade for a moment before casually plunging it into Jaime's stomach. Jaime fell to the ground in shock as he felt his father's sword impale him straight through the kidney. Jaime looked up at the man in shock as he casually cleaned the blade on a shaking Circe's robes before gesturing for the door to open.

A rather strange looking man entered the room, grinning darkly to himself even as he stepped into the office,

"Looks like I missed some of the fun Lord Tywin..." Ramsay Snow said with a smirk, "But if I remember correctly... I get to entertain a queenie!"

He giggled a little bit,

"I wonder if she'll like little Reek!"

Tywin raised a hand and Ramsay fell silent. He turned to Lord Graaven,

"I will have my son pay the blood price... and my daughter shall marry a bastard." he paused, "And he will not put up with her attitude."

Ramsay tittered a little bit,

"Oh no... I like it when they behave."

Astraphel blinked a little bit when Tywin said that he was going to get them some justice no matter the cost from his children. Still she couldn't help but feel a deep sense of betrayal and the bedding still haunted her...but she supposed that this was the best that she was going to get. The ideal outcome would be that her father would let her go home and she wouldn't have to get married at all, but she doubted that would happen.

Staying quiet when Jamie was protesting to her, Astraphel didn't know if he was lying or telling the truth but she was still angry with him. Still seething. Why would he have let her into his room if he didn't want anything to do with her and she was as bad as he said she was? Surely he would be more alert than to let just anyone walk into his room?

When the sword was plunged into her husbands stomach Astraphel didn't know what to do or what to say. She was still angry of course but this man was still to be her husband, and she did still love him. Kneeling beside him and pressing down on the wound Astraphel hoped that Lord Tywin didn't just leave him here bleeding - she wasn't a medic and she couldn't heal up this cut.

"A medic needs to heal this my Lord I have no idea how to sew it closed." she stated with a small sigh "It is bleeding a fair amount."

In all of the ways she had wanted her hands to touch her husband first this was not the way and her stomach felt a cold stone land in it.

Her father summoned one of their own medics to look at the wound and Astraphel stepped back to regard the new man who had entered the room with a cautious gaze. He seemed rather...odd. That was perfect if he was the new husband of Circe. She deserved nobody less, he seemed rather cruel and strict that was what she needed.

"Me and our people find these punishments fitting Lord Tywin." her father stated with a slight bow "The wedding shall still go ahead as planned."

"But Father!" Astraphel cried.

"Enough child, the marriage has already been agreed. Graaven's do not go back on their word. They have been punished for their actions and after tomorrow, they will be in seperate corners of Westeros...no more can be done." he soothed, rubbing her cheek with his large rough thumb "What else would you have me do, hm?"

"Marry me to someone who hasn't done that in the first place." she stated with an unhappy pout on her lips "As you wish it father, I shall carry on with the marriage. If something like this happens again however, by divines or not I will be returning home."

"As you wish it my daughter." he grinned, poking her nose "Now smile for me, today was to be your wedding day although I suppose...that will have to wait." he stated, looking in disdain at Jamie who was being stitched up on the floor.

"Lord Tywin..." Astraphel murmured softly, flicking her gaze to look at him in the eyes "Might I add one more thing to the punishment of your daughter? A small trifle, nothing excessive...I have a feeling her hands will be full without that."

As soon as she had permission, Astraphel took out her dagger and wound Circe's hair tight about her fist as many turns as it would go until it was taught in her grip. Taking the dagger she cut off the majority of her hair, leaving her with it almost as short as Tywin's hair itself. When she stood and presented the hair to her new husband Astraphel smirked a little bit.

"Here, do what you will with it. The humiliation will be enough to sate me."

"That's enough now child." her father stated firmly and she nodded her head, placing her dagger back "I think that these two have some words they need to say to each other in private, my Lord shall we retire once more?"

"Bring him back to his rooms, we will talk there." Astraphel commanded their guards.

Jaime was in shock both figuratively and literally considering his father had just stabbed him in the gut for being forced into having a one-sided relationship with Circe. And Circe's punishment was... well it was to be married to Bolton's bastard. And to be fair Jaime was suddenly very glad that he was only stabbed since it was widely known what Ramsey Snow had done to Theon Greyjoy. He would much rather be doing what he was doing now (trying to keep his blood on the inside of the body) than try to live life without body parts.

Tywin sighed a little bit as he stood up straighter, bowing his head to both Astraphel and Lord Graaven with a frown that was clearly reserved for his children,

"I apologise for this shameful secret coming to light and that it ever occurred in the first place." he told them both, "I find myself at a loss as to how this could have happened and assure you that such a thing was never accepted by House Lannister."

Jaime groaned from his position on the ground,

"I told you all how it happened..." he muttered even as the medic tried to shut him up, "But none of you seem to accept my side of it..."

Circe shook her head,

"No no no no no!" She screamed, "This is NOT how it's supposed to happen! Father you will tell these savages that they will..."

"HOLD YOUR TONGUE!" Jaime roared, surprising everyone as he staggered to his feet despite the frustrated medic's handling of his wound. He pointed a threatening finger at Circe, "One more word out of your putrid... diseased... vile little mind and no amount of blood relation will save me from ripping your throat out!"

There was stunned silence as Jaime closed his eyes and muttered quietly so Astraphel was likely the only one to hear him,

"Always wanted to say that to her..."

Tywin nodded her permission and Ramsey clapped his hands in amusement as Circe had her hair cut down dangerously close to her scalp. He sighed in contentment as he pulled Circe towards the door by her wrist, almost dragging her on the floor,

"Oh I do love other cultures..." he said whimsically with a bow to Astraphel before turning to Circe as he dragged her away, "Did you know there's a group of people who live in the Red Waste who believe that the best punishment is for a woman is to breed her with dogs? Well I have lots of hunting dogs from my father..."

Jaime was picked up by the guards but he forced himself to walk back to his rooms with Astraphel in tow. He waved them away when they went to help him as he leant against a wall, eyes closed,

"I wanted to tell you." he told her softly when they were alone, "But how could I? How could I tell the most wonderful woman I've ever met that... that I was forced into something so incredibly shameful?"

Astraphel looked at Jamie as he walked alongside of her, he was wounded and that hurt her heart to see, she didn't want her husband wounded on what would have been their wedding day. She wanted to wrap her up in his arms and hold him tightly but she didn't, instead she tried to stop the swirling feelings that she had in her heart from what she had learnt this night.

It seemed as if Jamie...really did mean what he said when he told her that he had thought he had no other option but to do that, and he had never wanted to. The fact was however he had still done it and it made her feel unhappy to know that his manhood had been inside his sister and would now be going inside of her.

When they were in his rooms once more she guided him to his bed and made him lie down with forceful pushes to his legs and shoulders;

"It is better for you to have told the truth, than for me to have found out like that with her in your rooms, dressed like that." she stated quietly "Now I cannot trust you Jamie and we are not even married yet, it fills my heart with such sadness."

Sitting down on the bed she placed her head in her hands and took in a few deep breaths to try and calm herself down but it didn't work very well, she still felt like she was going to burst into tears any second now. Now that she was alone with Jamie she didn't want to have to pretend everything was alright because it wasn't.

"I do not know what you expect me to say Jamie. It has hurt me badly, and I do not know how to stop it hurting. It needs to...otherwise I fear that our marriage will be unhappy even before it has started." she admitted with her eyes glistening with tears "You do not love this woman? You swear it to me Jamie, prove your love to me."

Astraphel softly came to straddle his hips and she kissed the area where he had been stabbed not minutes before;

"I did not want you to be hurt, even in the middle of all of that." she stated softly "You are making me turn soft of heart already."

Jaime groaned a little bit as she pushed and prodded him until he was on his back on the bed. He closed his eyes, a hand covering most of his face as he just laid there for a moment, reflecting on some of the worst moments of his life... the moments with Circe. When she said that she would not trust him because of the way she found out he winced,

"She wanted to try and force me one last time..." he told her quietly, "It doesn't matter now but I wanted to tell you when he was gone. That way she wouldn't be able to do anything to make an already difficult conversation and revelation even more so but... well... yeah today happened so no to that idea huh?"

He swallowed thickly when she went into more detail about how much he had hurt her with the situation that had been thrust upon her. He tried to reach out to her and ended up holding her hand after quite a bit of pained groaning,

"I never wanted to hurt you... I never want to hurt you at all." he whispered to her quietly before pausing and shaking his head, "I never loved her Astraphel. Not even a little bit. I have never loved anyone... until I saw you for the first time. I love you Astraphel and only you."

Of course when she straddled his hips and kissed the area of his wound he was a little bit tender so his hissed slightly in pain before chuckling,

"Careful... I'm tender." he teased her with a small smirk before pulling her closer so that their mouths were only inches apart, "Softening of hearts tends to be something we share... you're all that I want in a woman Astraphel... all I could ever want or need in a wife."

Astraphel ignored for the most part what Jamie had said about telling her about what had happened between him and his sister, it was done now and there was nothing else to be said about it. Of course it would have been better for her to have found out under different circumstances however there was nothing that could change what had happened now - all they could do was figure out how they were going to move on from this.

She would not allow Circe to win in driving a wedge between the two of them that wasn't going to come out. Their marriage and love would continue, she knew it. This was just a temporary bump in the road.

"And I never want to hurt you Jamie, I am sorry what happened to you happened." she whispered softly, her eyes lingering on his cut that would form an inevitable scar "All we can do now is promise that this will never happen again, no woman will come between us, not like this. Promise me that you will only and always be with me, and I will promise you the same."

Smirking a little bit when he said that he was tender, Astraphel began to roll her hips on top of his own, feeling his lean muscles underneath her legs was thrilling but it was the sensation of feeling something else that she wanted. Unable to stop herself purring happily as she continued her actions, Astraphel kissed the tip of Jamie's nose before moving her lips back to that same distance.

"Oh, if you are so tender I suppose I had better stop. Is that what you want, my lion?" she asked teasingly, her feather soft rolls pressing down slightly harder to tease him "I will if you tell me to."

Knowing that she wanted to kiss Jamie, and actually kissing him was something different. Her brown hair tumbled about her face as she leant down from above, her eyes were sparkling with happiness the tears slowly being replaced by the sensation of exploring her husband and his kind compliments and words.

Jaime had to admit that getting the topic away from Circe was most definitely for the best.

He didn't want that bitch of a sister of his to ruin his marriage because that was exactly what she had wanted when she approached him after all. And letting her win was not something that Jaime was going to allow. He would not give her the satisfaction of knowing that her last little plot to try and rule his life had succeeded,

"I promise you Astraphel that you will be the only woman I will ever love and the only woman I will ever be with." he assured her quietly but without hesitation, "What happened before will not happen again, nothing like that will ever happen again. I swear it my love..."

He chuckled a little bit at the smirk she adopted upon hearing him say that he was tender. Smirking a little bit, his hands went to her hips to help her rock and grind her hips against his own so that he could feel her against his growing arousal. He smirked a little bit,

"I said I was tender..." he chided her with a smirk, "Not dead from the waist down. I will never be too tender for this my dear sweet wife to be..."

Leaning forwards when she brought her lips closer to his own, Jaime finally claimed her lips in a kiss that he had been wanting to give her ever since he had first started to notice her. Humming in the kiss as it deepened slightly, he pulled away with a smirk,

"You taste sweet..."

Astraphel sighed softly when she had his promise, in this lovers embrace when they were so tender together it meant so much more than all of his words when he had been in trouble with his father before. Here he was saying them because they were true, they had to be true, but before they could have been any old lies that would have saved him from a harsh punishment. She believed him now, and her hand went to cup his cheek, caressing it gently.

"I promise you Jamie that you are the only man I shall ever lie with, and the only man that shall hold my heart for the rest of my days." she stated with a soft smile, wanting to reassure him just as much even though he had no reason to need reassurance.

The sensation of Jamie growing hard underneath her hips made Astraphel alight with pleasure and a happiness at being able to please her new husband. Laughing softly when he stated he would never be too tender to deny her pleasure, Astraphel placed a soft series of kisses up and down his neck sucking softly on one place in particular to give it a small red mark;

"Such a male, you should be resting up to be back on your feet but...I think that you owe me a little pleasure don't you?" she asked with a smirk, grinding her hips against his arousal and feeling herself growing slicker, Astraphel closed her eyes while happily mewling in pleasure.

The kiss however stopped her sounds short and she allowed herself to return it, her lips gently pressing against his own, one hand raising to cup his cheek to deepen the kiss. His lips were drier than hers but the kiss was still amazing, one of those moments she would remember forever. Their first kiss as the sun rose behind them through the windows.

"Ah...ah! Jamie..." she whispered as she felt his full hardness beneath her hips when she resumed her rolling, she had quite by chance ground her clit against him happily. Astraphel slunk down to his hips, her lips kissing just above where his breeches stopped, her tongue gently swirling around the tender skin there "Do you really deserve such a thing, my lion, should I wait until our wedding night like we said to do such things?"

Jaime could tell that something had changed in the way that she was going to be viewing his story from now on. He could tell by the way that she relaxed against him after he'd spoken that she did actually believe him now. That was all he wanted, even if he would have liked it much better if she had always believed him.

But he was being realistic here.

"And that's all you needed to say to make me the happiest man in the world." he assure her with a massive grin, resting his forehead against hers, "You're all mine Astraphel and I'm all yours. I'm not about to share you with anyone."

He could see that his arousal was pleasing to her on a number of levels. She enjoyed having it pressed against her because it represented how attracted he was to her. Purring a little bit, he grinned when she laughed a little bit at him. He loved how she laughed. It made her seem even more beautiful, made her eyes twinkle a little bit more,

"I'll be back on my feet in no time at all." he assured her with a wave of his hand, "But some things are much more important... some things cannot be put off and I would dream of ever putting them off either. And yes... I owe you."

The kiss was unlike anything else.

He had been kissed before and it felt nothing like what was going on right now. Right now he was kissing Astraphel but it felt like he was accepting her into his soul more than anything else. He held her close to him as their kiss deepened and he could swear the kiss was beginning to make even him weak at the knees. He smirked a little bit as she squeaked almost at feeling his arousal pressed against her when she straddled him a bit more,

"That's my name..." he purred a little bit before hissing in mild pain as she carefully licked the area around his wound. He smirked slightly, "Well now that would just be mean... to leave me all high and dry here when I know you are getting worked up too..."

Astraphel was happy when she heard that Jamie was possessive as well, he wanted her to be all his and that was what she was. She was going to be all his and that was the way that she would stay, she would be loyal to her husband and he would be loyal to her from this moment onwards. Nothing else mattered, and tomorrow when they said their vows in front of a holy man, that would be sealed in front of everyone else.

"This makes me happy." she admitted with a bright smile on her lips "We shall start again, forget that tonight ever happened, except for when we rejoice in your sisters misfortune at being married to such a strange fellow."

The fact that he was thinking he would be back on his feet soon, made her relieved. It meant that he had suffered much worse than this and had been fine afterwards - the medics here would do a good job. Jamie did owe her but she would wait until tomorrow night for that, then she would take her pleasure that he owed her.

Unable to stop herself from pressing her lips to his own once more, Astraphel tenderly continued the kiss, lifting her lips from his own whenever she needed to breathe, but never letting them seperate from his for too long. She wanted to be able to keep kissing him forever it felt so pleasant but they should be back to bed - she would stay with her husband.

Rolling off to his side, Astraphel pulled the covers over Jamie and herself before pressing her body close to his;

"Well then that is my last little bit of payback." she smirked, sticking her soft tongue out "You'll have to wait until tomorrow, until we're married. I'm sure you'll be able to handle it. If you don't mind, I'll stay with you tonight, I just want to...be close to you."

Hugging his arm to her chest, Astraphel curled up into a ball, closed her eyes, and tried to go back to sleep.