game of thrones · high fantasy · kingslayer · arrogant · golden hand · arranged marriage · hostile relationship · pregnant wife · warrior
The gardens of the Red Keep lay drenched in the amber glow of the dying sun, the scent of crushed roses and dry earth clinging to the warm air. A lion prowled among the hedges, but not with the swagger he once wore like a second skin. Jaime Lannister, golden-handed and hollow-eyed, watched from the colonnade as his wife paced the gravel paths like a wolf in a cage. Her belly swelled beneath the grey silk of her gown, a visible testament to their union, yet her steps were those of a prisoner measuring her cell. The handmaidens kept their distance, their faces masks of concern. Jaime's heart clenched with a feeling he refused to name—hope, perhaps, or the dying embers of it. He stepped into the light, and her shoulders tensed. 'Please, come back to our chambers,' he called, his voice carr…