A Lions Flower |J.Lannister|

• Chapter 29 •

She could hear only the clicking of her boots on the floor as she walked through the Red Keep. Rose was meeting Jaime in the throne room so he could escort her to the sept for the wedding. She made her way towards the big brown doors that were closed, normally they were open. Rose opened one side and entered the room. At the end of the room, near the throne knelt Jaime. His hair was a mess, his nose was broken and bloodied and he wasn't wearing his armor, just his black shirt and trousers. Rose looked upwards toward the throne and saw Cersei sitting on it, tapping her fingers on the chair, smirking back at her. Rose ran to Jaime and fell down in front of him. She lifted her hands to cup his face and his eyes held fear and he was breaking.
"What did you do?" Rose asked Cersei without taking her eyes off Jaime.
"I couldn't find you, so I found the one person I knew would answer when I called. You don't think he stopped coming to my bed because you were here? Did you? If you did you're more naive than I thought."
"Why are you doing this?" Rose yelled at Cersei as she held Jaime in her arms. Cersei was obviously bothered by the way Rose was cradling his weary body so she called in the Mountain.
"Are you going to kill me?" Rose asked Cersei , tears falling from her eyes. Cersei rise from her throne and walked down the steps to stand next to the mountain as he carried his big sword.
"No. Sir Gregor is going to kill Jaime and make you watch. Once he's dead then i'll order him to kill you too."
The mountain raised his sword and stabbed Jaime through the chest. Rose screamed in horror and agony as she watched the man she loved crumble to the ground.

•

Rose woke in a sweat and sat up quickly in her bed. She wiped her forehead which was drenched in sweat and looked out towards the great sea through the open balcony. Rose breathed in the cold, crisp air and got up from her bed and dressed for the day. Yesterday, the council and Jon Snow learned that Cersei sent Euron Greyjoy to kill Yara, Theon, and the sand snakes and they were either captured or killed, no one knew. It was a big hit on the Dragon Queen. Half her fleet was missing or destroyed and now Olenna Tyrell was retiring to her home. Rose was upset that her only living blood was leaving her alone in the world again but she understood that her grandmother wanted to protect her home. Rose suggested that she come with, Olenna was quick to say no, so Rose didn't ask again. After she dressed, Rose made her way to the throne room where Olenna and Dany were.

"I suppose you've come to say goodbye to your grandmother." Olenna remarked to Rose.
"I came to ask to join you again but I don't think you'll let me."
"I think you're probably better off here."
"The Tyrell's should be in Highgarden. It's our home and we need to protect it." Rose thought she sounded like Margaery for a moment which made her proud, Margaery always had a sense for knowing what needed to be protected and home, family, always came first.
"As long as I have the support of the Tyrell's when I take the Iron Throne, I will support your return to Highgarden." Dany told Rose.
"Then I will return to Highgarden."

Highgarden to Rose was what every fairytale imagined. Flowers bloomed on every corner of the castle and the people were kind. She felt like a princess growing up and imagined she would become one in the future, but fate had different plans for her. If she never attended any event with her father under the impression she would become a princess, she would have never met Tyrion and their friendship never would have bloomed. Rose took note that he wasn't there with her grandmother and Dany in the throne room so before she left she walked to his quarters and knocked on the door. Tyrion opened it with a somber express on his bearded face.

"I heard you were leaving." He told her and Rose nodded her head lightly.

"I'm leaving today. I will be going back to Highgarden with my grandmother in a moments time. I wanted to say goodbye before I left."

"Well I do wish you safe travels." Tyrion told her and began closing the door but Rose stopped him by reaching her hand out and pushing it open again.

"Did I do something wrong?" Rose asked him and Tyrion closed his eyes and clenched his fist, not in anger, just frustration.

"I thought you came here to serve the Queen and take down Cersei and now you're leaving? What could Highgarden possibly have that you don't have here?"

"It's my family home and my grandmother is the only person I have left. I figure that this war will eventually come to my home and I need to be there to protect it. It might not come now or maybe it will never happen but I would feel best if I was there as the heir to my house. When Greyworm takes Casterly Rock, Daenerys will have the rock and the reach will be allied with her, we are still supporting her claim to the throne." Rose explained to hum and he seemed to understand but was still irritable about it.

"Tyrion, when this is all over I want to be able to stand next you and Daenerys in the Red Keep. I want to win this war to avenge everything Cersei has done because my family didn't deserve to be murdered in the Sept like that."

"No, they didn't. Highgarden will be lucky to have a lady such as yourself as their heir. Goodbye Rose and safe travels to you and your grandmother."

Rose knelt down to hug Tyrion tightly.

"I'll miss you my friend."

"As will I."

Rose and Olenna arrived in Highgarden a week later. The Castle was just as Rose remembered and she spent about a week finding her way around the castle again. The second day she was back she stumbled upon Margaery's room and walked through the golden flowered door. It was as she remembered it being, perfectly made and lightly colored. She took notice that no one had been in this room since the last time Margaery had been there, which was a long time, as wilted, crisp flowers were sitting on her nightstand. Rose walked to the balcony where Margaery would look out at the large field that her room faced and let the sunshine in the room. Rose could only wish that Margaery could see that she came home after so many years away.

About a month later Rose was sitting on her balcony writing a letter to Daenerys about the status of the Tyrell army. They had a thousand soldiers they could supply to her army and a couple of ships. There was much more Rose would have like to have written but sharing tactics over letters wasn't safe, as it could be intercepted at any moment. Rose could hear horses in the distance but didn't think anything of it, as they had horses for work not too far from the castle. But the sound of hooves kept getting heavier and heavier as time passed so Rose finally got up from her seat and looked out over Highgarden and in the distance she saw an army of horses and soldiers charging at the castle. They were dressed in red and black, but not the red and black she had grown use to. This was Lannister red. Blood red and pitch black. She looked at the army coming closer and closer to her home and noticed the leader on his white horse guiding the army to the castle.

Jaime Lannister was here to take her home.