Oaths and Vows {Jaime Lannister}

Chapter 13

Megara laughed as Tyrion proceeded to sip his wine, still doing a dance with his eyebrows. 'You're disgusting, Tyrion Lannister, absolutely repulsive, to think things like that.' She said. 'Well you can't blame me, you two were gone all day. That typically means you're off fucking like overly happy rabbits.' Tyrion said. Megara gasped in a playful manner, reached across the table to shove his shoulder.

'Well, we spend hours talking, does that mean we "fuck like rabbits" all the time?' She asked. 'It could,' Megara laughed again, and so did Tyrion. It was late in the afternoon, and the sun was setting behind the walls of the Red Keep, but Jaime was still guarding the king. He had to be on guard early that morning, and had also taken Barristan Selmy's shift for the day, leaving him to stand outside the king's door from dawn until dusk – though Megara had no idea why.

'But what about the whores, Tyrion,' she said. 'They'd all hate me, you belong to them, little-man.' Tyrion was taking another sip of his wine, which consequently sprayed out over the table when he started laughing. 'I thought you'd care more about Jaime – than the whores,' he said, pausing for a moment to wipe off his face.

'Do you, though my Lady? Care about Jaime?' He asked, his face taking on a kind of seriousness she didn't know was possible in the little man. Her hands moved to say that she did almost instantly, until she hesitated. Did she care about him? Had she genuinely grown close enough to Jaime to say, to honestly say, that she cared for him? She certainly didn't not care about him... 'I think I do,' was what she told Tyrion, as well as what she settled for herself.

'Don't worry, Meg. I didn't expect you to know for sure, you're too young to know anything like this for sure. But, if you're at least on your way caring then I am glad. Jaime deserves someone that really cares.' Megara couldn't help the smile on her face as Tyrion told her this. It was incredible how much Tyrion cared about his brother. One thing was sure, she cared about Tyrion.

'You, Tyrion Lannister, and the worst, good man I have ever met.' She said, her small smile still on her face. 'Thank you?' Tyrion laughed, causing her to do the same. They continued to talk for a long while, before she decided to ask something that she regretted even as she was asking it. 'Do you think Jaime cares about me?'

It sounded like such an odd question, especially considering she was asking the man's brother, but it was a question that she sincerely wanted to ask. Besides, there was no one else whose opinion she would trust in the matter. Well, other than Jaime, but she wasn't going to ask him if he cared about her.

'Of course he does, I've never seen him so happy about getting his arse kicked before. And yesterday, after you cut your hand? Cersei once fell out of the second window of a tower in Casterly Rock and he barely cared, but you cut your hand and he ran to call the Maester.' Megara smiled, and Tyrion reached forward to grab her hand. "Let me put it this way, Meg, Jaime doesn't care about much, and I don't know the future, but I do know that he cares for you and I don't think that's going to change."

'I got pretty lucky didn't I? Jaime could've been anyone,' she laughed, moving the conversation along. She disliked the fluttering feeling in her stomach at what Tyrion said, and she wanted to discuss something else. 'Your parents did put an awful lot of faith several strangers, didn't they? You never did tell me why your family decided to forge an alliance.'

Shit. 'It was a strange situation, it required a strange solution.' She said, hoping the vague answer would be enough. 'What was the situation?' her rescue came in the form of clanking armor rustling leaves, as Jaime entered their private part of the gardens. 'Evening, M'lord' she smirked as she greeted him, causing him to laugh. 'How was guarding day?' He gave Tyrion a blank look, and that was all the answer that was needed.

They talked late into the night, laughing and enjoying themselves. When Megara was walking back to her chambers, she felt like nothing could go wrong. She wasn't thinking about her mother, or the dangers that had been revealed to her, because she somehow felt that she was safe. She was a mage in a land where magic was rare, she was a warrior where woman were seen as weak, and, if Tyrion was right, she had Jaime in her corner.

She lit the candles in her Chambers with haste, settling on her bed to write a letter to Ellie and her father.

'Dear Ellie,

How are thing back home? I want to know everything, because I'm about to tell you an excessive amount. It's been amazing here over the last two days, as unlikely as it sounds. I thought that after Gwen's threat my hours were numbered until something horrible would happen, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Jaime is... amazing, and I'm at least certain that being married to him won't be the worst experience of my life. Tyrion is literally hilarious, and my best (Totally not my only) friend here in King's Landing. Write me back soon, okay? And tell my father that I love him and miss him.

And, if you see Gwen and feel brave, flip her a bird for me?

~Meg'

Once she had completed her letter, she made her way to the balcony, and reached out her mind, searching for an eagle. She brushed past the insects and the rats, the crows, the dogs, the cats, she ignored the horses in the stables and the fish in the sea, searching for an eagle. Eventually she found one, perched on a branch in the forest, searching for dinner.

After tying the letter to its leg, Megara settled into bed, before taking off in the eagle's body. It was a perfectly blissful flight, beneath the shining stars as she flew across the sea. She felt her human eyes welling up with tears when she saw the dark black land of Asshai, and the glowing white grass.

When she saw Shadowstone, she let out a genuine sob. However, the memories were not all that was making her cry as she saw a large collection mages gathered outside. Gwen was walking in front of them, and talking. She was breaking all her vows as she berated them for no apparent reason.

Megara circled above for a time, watching as the woman's gaze landed on a young child, who yawned. "What was that, you ungrateful cur? Yawning, while I'm trying to help instruct you to be great! How dare you?" and then she did the unthinkable, she stuck the small girl.

Megara, knowing she couldn't do anything, swooped around the side of the towers, right to Ellie's chambers. The girl had to laugh as she saw Ellie and Harry on the girl's bed, sharing in a very passionate kiss. Megara cawed loudly, watching as Ellie went red, but rushed to the bird.

She gave the eagle a hug, as if it was really Megara, before reading the letter that was attached to the bird's leg. "Is that Meg? What does she say?" Harry asked, coming up behind Ellie and wrapping his arms around her waist. "Yeah," Ellie said as the eagle cawed again.

"Hi Megara, Ellie's told me a lot about you." He grinned slyly in Ellie's direction, causing the girl to nudge him, before she looked at the bird. "Well settle in, Meg. It's a long story that you're asking for." Ellie told her all about how Gwen was losing her shit, breaking her vows, attacking mages, executing people – with Harry cutting in with how she was abusing and belittling all of the alchemists, or how she made sure no one was able to stand up to her.

When they were done, and Ellie promised to write in the morning, Megara took off for the Alchemists tower. She frowned with her human lips and her beak as she saw the glow in her father's station. He would typically never stay there that late, he'd always finish to say goodnight or have dinner with her.

When he saw the eagle, he too embraced it as Ellie had, and talked at some length with the bird. He showed her some of his new potions, and told her about how good Harry was, and how much potential the boy had. And then, as the sun was beginning to rise, Megara left the mind of the eagle and returned to Westeros.

She wiped her face of the tears that had fallen earlier in the night, and got herself ready for a new day. However, as she opened to door to her chambers, intending to make her way to the gardens, she found herself face to face with Jon Arryn.