A Rest of Swords

Part two

"Does that matter?"
She didn't reply, just looked at him, apparently thinking if she should insist on an answer. Apparently, she agreed with him that it didn't matter.

"You came back", she simply detected instead.

"I did." To kill you...
The thought stabbed him painfully, but he knew he wouldn't change his mind.

He watched Cersei as she crossed the room with big steps, came to stand in front of him and lost no time before she pressed her lips against his. Jaime responded automatically, he couldn't help it, the feeling of it just too familiar to him. But that was the only reason, he discovered with relief. No reaction from his body, no passion, no love. She had become a simple habit and after experiencing something entirely different, it felt just...not right anymore.

Cersei seemed to notice that something was wrong with him as well, for she drew back, looked at him - surprised, shocked. He thought to have also caught a hint of disappointment, even sadness, but they were gone before he was even sure they had actually been there. Now it was only anger shining in her eyes.

"You slept with her, didn't you?", his sister spat at him without letting him time to answer. "You slept with that giant whore!"

"No", he stated calmly, "I slept with a woman."

"A woman." She laughed disbelievingly. "You call that beast a woman?"

"I'm not calling her anything. That's just who she is."

Cersei stared at him as if she couldn't recognize him, and perhaps she actually didn't.

"Are you out of your mind?", she snapped. "Has something blurred your vision?"

"It rather seems to me that I'm seeing clearer than I ever did before." Jaime was surprised that he stayed so calm, but somehow her anger made it easier for him to control himself.
Cersei, on the other hand, couldn't believe what she heard. Had she actually lost him? Him, who she thought to be safer in her grip than everybody else? But if he wasn't back because he came back to her, how he had done so many times before...

"Why are you here, then?", she demanded to know. "What do you want?"

"I came to kill you", Jaime said, as composedly as he could, trying to suppress the hurt in his voice.
His sister could only stare at him in disbelief, this conversation becoming more surreal with every minute.

"You can't be serious."

"I've never been more serious in my life."

"You can't", Cersei told him again, because it was the only thing that came to her mind at this moment. She couldn't understand what was happening. All this...it just couldn't be true. She was having a nightmare or something...and still, seeing him standing in front of her, this look of determination in his eyes, everything seemed so real that she couldn't help but begin to slightly panic.
"You...you can't!", she repeated. "Even if you wanted to, you could never do it. You love me."

"Of course, I love you, you are my sister", Jaime told her truthfully and a spark of hope flickered in her eyes, only to be extinguished by his next words. "But I can and I will."

"Try then, Jaime Lannister, one-handed Kingslayer", Cersei tried sarcastically this time, her anger further inflamed. "Are you also going to become a Queenslayer now?" A mocking smile formed on her lips, underlining the pitying tone her voice had taken. "But you will fail. I'm not only your Queen, am I? Not even just your sister! You can't kill me, Jaime. It's me. I'm a part of you, as you are a part of me, we belong together, we always have, and I won't let some Sapphire-bitch who just came along steal you from me! We are one, Jaime. Remember who you are! Kill me and you will lose a part of yourself!"