A Rose and a Lion

Jaime VII

The bells rang all over the city. Stannis had come, at last. On the battlements of King's Landing, over the Mud Gate, Jaime Lannister waited for the enemy.

Stannis had twenty thousand men and over two hundred ships. They were invisible for now, hidden by the fog. Jaime knew they wouldn't be for long. He thought he could hear the beating of their drums.

Jaime had about seven thousand men, six of them from the City Watch, the rest being sellswords or contingents brought by the few houses who remained loyal to them in the Crownlands. All men who would run the moment the gates were breached. The same could be said of Ser Lancel Lannister and the Hound, who stood by his side.

He had scorpions, trebuchets, catapults, ballistaes, archers, myriads of pots of wildfire, everything that could repel Stannis from a distance. He had the city walls. If he could just keep Stannis away from the walls, out of the city, then they could hope to prevail. The moment his men breached the walls, the battle would be lost. Ser Jocelyn Bywater, the commander of the City Watch Tyrion chose and left behind when he moved, led the gold cloaks with an iron fist. Without him, Jaime couldn't have convinced this bunch of drunkards and thieves to stand on the battlements. That was why Bywater would take care of the defenses on the walls, while Jaime would lead troops on the ground.

In the bay, twenty ships to face Stannis' two hundred. Most of the Royal Fleet that was left deserted after Tyrion's departure. Many of these ships were made for trade, not battle, and they had no competent commander at their head. At least they would buy Jaime some time.

"You're going to die, Kingslayer, you know that?"

The Hound's raspy voice was as enjoyable to hear as the dying screams of a horse.

"As much as you know that you're going to die, I suppose," Jaime replied.

"Aye. Wish I had some wine."

That's the kind of answer Tyrion would give.

"What about you, cousin? Ready to die in your first battle?"

Jaime kept looking to the sea, but he felt how Lancel was shaking next to him, and he most certainly noticed the delay in the answer.

"I'm ready to perform my duties as a kingsguard."

A kingsguard without a king to guard. In the last few days, Jaime had tried to convince Cersei to abandon the city, but she would hear none of it. She spent half her days with her son. She had not wanted them to bury Joffrey's body under the Great Sept of Baelor. What time she didn't spend with a dead body was spent sitting on the Iron Throne.

Some would say this was treason. Cersei had no authority nor right whatsoever to sit on the Iron Throne. Since Joffrey was dead, Tommen should be king. Only him or his Hand could sit on the throne. To Jaime's best knowledge, queens were not allowed to sit there. It was something established during a great council that happened at the end of the Old King's rule, though it didn't stop a Targaryen queen to sit on the throne during the Dance of the Dragons, though for a very short time.

However, the Red Keep was so empty that no one dared or cared to speak against it. Cersei was almost always alone in the Throne Room while Jaime organized the defense of the city.

He had almost begged Cersei to leave the capital. It was their only chance to survive. He tried everything, from proposing they should just escape to Essos where they could live alone, or ride for Casterly Rock and be there for their son. To the first idea, Cersei replied:

"I shall not leave my children alone in this world."

To the second idea, she replied:" My son is already lost to me."

Jaime had to accept the fact that his sister would remain here, alternating visits to Joffrey's dead body and long periods sitting on melted swords. She would not move, no matter what he said, no matter what he did. The only option left for him was to defend the city the best he could.

He could have run away, go to Tommen and continue to serve him, but it would mean abandoning Cersei to her fate, and that he couldn't. He already abandoned one sibling, he couldn't leave the other behind.

Anyway, Tyrion would probably not want him at Tommen's side. Margaery probably told him what Jaime revealed about his first wife. Tyrion would want him dead after that, and Jaime couldn't blame him. That was why he told Ser Barristan to go. Jaime was a kingsguard, and his place was to his king's side, but he couldn't be anywhere Tyrion would be, and Tommen was at Tyrion's side.

Defending the capital for his king, and defending his sister, what could be more honorable? A brave death on the battlefield was probably the best he could hope for. Maybe it would remove the stain of being a kingslayer. He could always dream.

He looked along the battlements, lit with torches, with archers in position and men armed swords and axes below, ready to fight. They might still keep Stannis out. As long as he didn't come inside, Stannis wouldn't win. That's all that mattered, keeping the enemy outside the city walls. He spent days making sure the city was prepared. If only they had more men, but they lost these men the day Cersei decided Margaery Tyrell had to die. Jaime cursed his sister, and he cursed himself for loving her.

"There they are," Lancel said.

He saw them just like his cousin did. The ships were coming. First, he only saw one, then two, four, six. Quickly, they reached over twenty ships and their numbers kept growing. Their fleet was officially outnumbered. They couldn't hope to defeat this fleet, but they could occupy it. Jaime ordered the signal to be sent. A torch was thrown over the battlements.

Their ships, what was left of King's Landing maritime forces, sailed forward at great speed. They were already positioned out of range from their ballistaes and trebuchets on the sea side, which were unmanned anyway, and they moved further far away. They were nearing the enemy ships. Soon, firing arrows were exchanged and ships fought at close range.

People might think that battle is an exhilarating experience, full of actions, where you don't have time to think, where you fight with glory for your king or your lord. Most of the time, the latter is false. As for the exhilarating experience, it is real, but only for a short time. Many battles are quite short. What is long are the time before the battle, the waiting before the two armies meet, and the chase that follows, after the defeated army runs away and the victorious gives chase to the remnants. Most of the killing happens there.

But even during the battle, not all forces are engaged at the same time. There are reserves, and parts of the battlefield where the engagement is delayed. As for sieges, they are worse than anything. The waiting represents most of the siege, with small skirmishes there and there, and rarely a major assault.

Right now, this is what happened. Jaime had to wait while the men on their ships were fighting Stannis' troops. Battles are exciting for the very short time you're in, when you are part of the action, indeed, but when you stood aside and look at others doing the fighting in your place, it was boring. All they could see were exchange of flaming arrows. No ship was burning yet, three pairs were hooked together, but they could barely hear the clamoring of the fight.

The good thing was that their ships were blocking the shortest way to the Mud Gate. This would force Stannis to land his boats farther, making his men an easy target for their archers. And that's exactly what Stannis did.

The boats began to appear. They were swimming far away from the battling ships, getting around slowly.

"Clegane, Ser Lancel, it's time."

Jaime walked away from the battlements, making a sign to Ser Jocelyn Bywater who returned it. The walls were his. The three kingsguards arrived at the gates, where the best available swords in King's Landing were waiting. Which meant there were few of them, and they were at best decent swordsmen. Barely thirty knights were among them.

"Men, this is time."

Jaime looked at them. Some of the knights looked proud and ready to do their duty, but almost all the men who were present had the eyes of people who knew their hour had come. Jaime was still on the last steps of the stairs leading to the battlements. He walked the last of them and arrived on the ground. He was at the same level than his men now.

"Listen, men. I know what you're thinking about right now. I've been there me too. You think we have no chance to win, that there's no way you're going to survive this. You think you should run away to safety, desert. Perhaps some of you think it would be dishonorable and you stay here for this reason. Perhaps some of you simply fear to be executed if you're caught deserting. Perhaps some believe they'll have a better chance of surviving if they only desert once on the other side of this gate."

"Let me tell you something. Fuck your honor! Fuck your survival! And fuck the king, and his kingdom! You're not here to fight for your king. Tommen is far away, safe. He abandoned you. Don't fight for the queen either. She's hiding in the Red Keep while she sends us to be killed. But think about King's Landing and its people. You know what happened the last time this city was sacked? Some of you were probably there, and the rest have heard of it. Well, let me tell you something men, this is going to happen again. The moment Stannis walks through this gate, this will all happen again. Your houses will be burned, the people you love will be killed or raped, everything you have will be stolen. We are all that stands in the way of another sack of King's Landing, and if we run away, Stannis will hunt down, all of us."

"But you know what was different seventeen years ago? The Mad King opened the gates. Tonight, the gates won't open, and we will be there to defend them. What say you, men? Do you want Stannis to sack your city? Do you want him to kill you?"

"No!"

"No!"

"No!"

The answer came from everywhere, stronger and more determined each time.

"Then follow me! For the city!"

Roars and cries followed as Jaime marched among his men to the gate. When it opened, the others followed him outside, most of the knights first, a few remaining behind to make sure all swordsmen would follow.

Outside, the boats carrying Stannis' troops were arriving on the shores. Their archers began to rain down arrows on them, and catapults, trebuchets, scorpions, ballistaes joined them.

Several men fell, but others survived, and more were coming.

"Everyone here dies with a clean sword, I'll rape his fucking corpse," shouted the Hound. Jaime immediately felt his men getting readier than ever. It was more effective than his entire speech. Jaime brought his men forward, while maintaining them at safe distance. Then the first of Stannis' men came and battle began.

Jaime easily cut the head of the first who approached him. The hound plunged his sword in the heart of his first. Lancel took more time to deal with his own, finally slashing across his face.

The men he fought were no great warriors. They were the vanguard, the easier men to sacrifice, arrow fodder. Still, there were many. They would be overrun soon.

They kept the enemy at bay, but soon the battle was a general melee. Jaime entered the fever battle and just killed everyone who happened to stand before him. One swing was enough to disfigure the face of a man, to cut a leg, an arm, a head, the whole body over the belt. He would push his opponent to the ground and then plunge his sword into his heart. And then green shades started to light the battlefield.

Bywater followed the plan. Their trebuchets and catapults were adjusted carefully to target the shores where the boats arrived, and now they were bombarding them with pots of wildfire. The flames flared, and soon the shores of Blackwater Bay turned into a hell of green flames. Between two fights, Jaime could see Stannis' boats struggling to find a way to the ground. Some were burning, and men came to the shore already on fire. Water did not quench the fire, and more pots were thrown, increasing the intensity of the flames.

His arm was grabbed. Jaime was about to give the ending blow to the owner of the said arm, but he realized just at the last minute as he turned his head that it was one of Bywater's boys, a messenger.

"Ser Jaime, Ser Jocelyn needs your help. We're under attack."

"I know." He shrugged away the arm of the boy and killed the closest opponent.

"Ser, they're attacking us from behind. They're in the city."

This time, Jaime turned to the boy." What?"

"They're inside the city. They're attacking Ser Jocelyn's men at the gate."

How? That was the only question that came to Jaime's mind. How did Stannis' men got inside? They didn't let them approach the walls.

But that was irrelevant. What mattered on the battlefield were facts, not their why and how.

On his left, Jaime spotted Clegane.

"Hound!"

Clegane looked at him, and Jaime saw something he never witnessed in the Hound. Fear. His sword was pointed to the ground, his left arm pending lifeless, and he was walking away from the battle.

The next moment a sword went through his chest. Jaime looked all around. They were keeping the enemy at bay, but they couldn't force them to retreat. Wildfire slowed them down, but more kept coming all the same.

Lancel was fighting not far away. The Red Keep was visible over his head. Cersei was there. If Stannis' men were inside the city...

"Ser Lancel! Cousin!"

He seized him by the shoulder and forced Lancel to look at him." Stannis is inside the city. We must head back to the Red Keep." Lancel's eyes were at a loss." COME ON!"

He almost shove his cousin towards the gate to make him understand, and they both ran to the walls. As soon as they went through the gate, they were welcomed by two men who tried to kill them. Dealing with them easily, Jaime found himself in front of a general melee. Behind the gates and on the walls, Stannis' men were everywhere. And they were winning.

"We need to close the gate," Lancel shouted.

"No, we head to the Red Keep."

"What?"

"You heard me. Stannis is inside the city. The city is lost, but not the Red Keep." Neither Cersei was, for now." We'll only get killed if we stay here."

Not waiting anymore, Jaime ran through the mob of men, hacking everything on his way. He received a hit on his armor from behind. So much for not taking any before. He turned to face his opponent who brought his sword on his head. Jaime blocked it, but before he could counter-attack and end this, a sword went through the other man's skull. The one who held it was Lancel, who was revealed by the dead man's fall.

"Let's go."

Jaime would thank him later, if he could. He and Lancel made their way through the enemy and allied troops, until they could get away from the spreading battlefield inside the city and run freely to Aegon's Hill.