•𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖗𝖉𝖚𝖘𝖙 • Jaime Lannister OC

✹seventeen✹

Rhena's own portrait was beside Joanna's. The frame was gold as well and was decorated with roses and lilacs and dragon's wings and teeth. Small daggers and swords also lined her portrait. While some lords were against a woman learning how to fight, Tywin congratulated it, claiming that with both her blood of Visenya and Jaime's blood of Lann the Clever, their children would be the strongest and most cunning of them all. Once she passed into one of the seven heavens or hells, her frame would be refashioned into something else, something that completed her and her legacy. Perhaps it was her children's names engraved at the bottom, or the sweets that she would grow to love late into her years. Rhena herself would never see the completed work and she supposed that was the beauty of it.

The young woman glanced behind her at a black velvet couch which was situated just so that she could gaze up at the paintings without craning her neck too far up. As she settled in, Rhena's eyes met Joanna's. The artist, a woman named Chasery Dayana had captured Joanna's image so perfectly, she almost seemed alive. Joanna had insisted on a female painter and as such, so had Rhena. They both believed in the talent of women and their strength and power.

In Rhena's opinion, Joanna's portrait was better than any there. She was able to look kind and stern and breathtakingly beautiful all at once. Most claimed Cersei to have the greatest resemblance but Rhena believed that Jaime had gotten the most out of Joanna's soul. Jaime had her smile and her kindness and her sense to do things for others. That reflection was the only one that mattered in Rhena's eyes.

A clicking sound alerted the young woman of another presence in the hall. Rhena straightened herself and turned to the left where the footsteps were coming from. A young maid with dark red hair rounded the corner with a tray in her hands and a black letter atop it bearing the Targaryen seal. She was dressed in black as was the standard uniform for any who worked in the Lannister castle.

"M'lady." The maid bobbed into a curtsy and held out the letter. "A message from Princess Elia." Rhena's eyes brightened as she plucked the letter from the tray.

"Thank you." She said with a kind smile. The maid curtsied again and smiled before turning away and retreating back down the hallway. Rhena waited until the click of her heels could no longer be heard before tearing open the thick black envelope. She allowed herself to sink comfortably into the soft cushions as she lost herself in her sister's words.

My dearest Rhena,

Though it has only been a year, my heart aches to see you again. You have been gone for far too long at Casterly Rock and I await the days until you come back to King's Landing. I do not know how much Rhaegar has been writing to you throughout the year but Rhaenys grows stronger every day. I wanted to tell you before anyone else. I am with child again. I pray to the gods that it is a boy. Rhaenys would benefit with a brother who could teach her the ways of the sword as Rhaegar taught you.

My brother Oberyn is planning a trip to the capital with his eldest bastard Obara and his love, Ellaria Sand. Obara's just a few years older than Rhaenys and wishes to see the Targaryen palace. I know that you have your responsibilities with the Lannisters in Lord Tywin's absence, but I would love it if you could make a trip down in time to help me birth again. I fear that I won't be able to do it alone.

Your father's been growing restless. He sees enemies everywhere, even in his year old granddaughter. The Queen's health has worsened. She has taken to her rooms again with Viserys, a last ditch effort to escape from Aerys; his rapes and lust for a son. The King's furious with her for keeping Viserys all to herself. He rages about how a prince should grow alongside his father's throne and not behind a mother's skirts. I hope Rhaegar doesn't have any of these strange notions when any son of ours comes to be in this world.