the kingsroad; ❛ GOLDEN DEATH ❜
↷ game of thrones
❝ You are the only reason why I have survived this long ❞

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Tywin Lannister sent Skot Grifin to look after his youngest offspring when he shipped her off to King's Landing when she was merely a girl. At least that was what he told everyone. He sent Skot with her because he thought that Joanna would find some way to embarrass him and their family or that she would simply run off the moment she got the opportunity.

Instead of Skot being a loyal spy for Lord Lannister, he became Joanna's closest ally. She even dared to call him her friend. He had proved on multiple occasions that he would always put her safety first, even if that meant putting his own life in danger. She did not trust anyone the way she trusted him.

Joanna could have easily discarded him after successfully finding a husband and having her son but she found that her sworn protector made her feel more safe and content.

When she was woken up in the middle of her first night in Winterfell, she was even more happy that she kept him around her and her son wherever they went.

"Lady Joanna, please calm yourself. The threat was eliminated, you have no reason to──"

"Do not tell me to calm down as if I am a child!" Joanna exclaimed, her uncombed dark hair flying around and making her look like a madman. Her glare was heated despite the fact that Skot had not done anything bad in order to be at the receiving end of it. The sound of her little boy crying behind her made her shudder. She was reminded just how close she was to never hearing that sound again. "My child has almost been killed. My only child." She let out a shaky breath and stayed silent for a couple of moments in order to calm herself down. "Does anyone else know about this?"

Skot finally dared to look up from the dead man on the bedroom floor. He shook his head. "No. I just told the maid to wake you up. I wanted to see what you wanted to do about this first, because..." He swallowed. "The man sent to kill Flynn wore a sigil of House Baratheon."

Joanna's blood ran cold. Her and Flynn's claim on Storm's End had been rocky since her daughter passed away. She did have plenty of allies there but there were plenty more people loyal to the two youngest Baratheon brothers. Flynn was still a baby so there was no possibility of him claiming the official role as the Lord of Storm's End for another decade and Joanna...well, she was a woman. Maybe that was why Tywin wanted her to marry Robb Stark. He wanted her to rule over Winterfell if she could not rule over Storm's End.

She could not realize which was worse: staying at Storm's End or leaving it. Because she left, somebody could easily overthrow her but her own life could be in danger if she stayed.

"I knew that Stannis or Renly would eventually come after him or me." A look of disgust crossed Joanna's features. "Killing him immediately secures their claim on Storm's End. Who knows when they are going to stop? They sent a man to kill him all the way to Winterfell for Gods' sake! They are not going to stop trying to kill him."

Joanna thought hard about it. She did not care for her claim of Storm's End as much as she cared for her son keeping his life. She wanted him to have everything that life had to offer but Winterfell was unfamiliar territory and she had no way of protecting him there. She would have a hard time protecting him in any corner of the world because Baratheons were a powerful House. If they wanted somebody dead then they would make it happen.

"Go and wake Tyrion. Tell him that it is urgent."

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(TYRION'S POV)

"What is it that you want me to do exactly, Joanna?" Tyrion asked his younger sister. He was watching her with concerned eyes. She looked shaken up and paranoid; almost as if somebody had made an attempt on her life instead.

He had never seen her act like that. Other than the day that she gave birth to her daughter who died while she was still inside of her. Joanna was always calm and collected. She never looked like she was trying too hard but it was only because she had a good mask. He knew that there was a storm building inside of her ever since she got married.

"I want you to protect my son the way that you and I tried to protect each other all these years. Please." Joanna pleaded. Tyrion almost flinched. His sister never begged. She was never that desperate. "I know that he is not important to you but he is your blood. If anything, look at him as an extension of you." He never got a chance to agree because she kept trying to convince him, thinking that he would disagree. "You are a man, Tyrion. You hold a certain power because of that fact alone. Nobody will care if your bastard turns around. No one will suspect it."

She was right. Claiming that he knocked up some whore who left his bastard at his doorstep was an easy and believable lie. He had a tendency to surround himself with all sorts of women more often than not. It was a known fact. The sister's brother the dwarf. The sister's brother the drunk. The Kingslayer's brother the man-whore. The Demon Lannister. His brother was the man who murdered the Mad King and his older sister was the queen.

But he and Joanna? She was a widow and a mother and he was a dwarf. Most importantly, she was his sister. It did not matter that they did not share the same mother. She was more of a sister to him than Cersei ever would be.

Would his father be disappointed that he had an illegitimate son? Probably. Would it be the worst thing that he thought Tyrion did? Most definitely not.

Tyrion took a step closer and grabbed Joanna's hand softly. She grew quiet and stopped rambling like a mad woman.

"I will do it," Tyrion said and felt a warmth in his chest when she let out an enormous sigh of relief at his words. "Skot and I will take him tonight. We will tell everybody that we went to Storm's End to announce to everybody of Flynn's death. They will have to think that their future Lord is dead. We will do a fake funeral and then go back to King's Landing. I will say that I got to Flynn when one of my whore found me while we were entering the city. Nobody will know. That secret stays between the three of us and I will be taking it to my grave. I promise you."

Joanna let out a shaky breath and there were obvious tears in her eyes. Tyrion refused to acknowledge them, knowing that she always had trouble being vulnerable around people. She crunched down and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

"Thank you."

"Anything for blood. Especially if it's you." Tyrion sighed and hugged her back. When she pulled away, he cleared his throat, "We have never been apart for this long. I am going to miss you, little sister."

"The only two sane people in this family are getting separated," Joanna said. Her voice was shaky and she rushed to wipe away the tear that perfectly rolled down her pale cheek. "You are the only reason why I have survived this long."

Winterfell was too far away for them to visit each other as much as they liked. When she got married the first time while he was living in King's Landing, she was not too far out of reach. But her marriage to Robb Stark changed everything.

"Do not waste more of your breath on men who do not deserve you." Tyrion started solemnly. "Do not tolerate Robb Stark's behavior if he turns out to be just like Tommen. You are a force and you do not deserve to be weakened by men like them."

"Robb seems kind. He is a Stark. At least they value honor and loyalty." Joanna said, sounding like a hopeful little girl who she was before she married Tommen. Despite everything that she had to do to survive, she still somehow saw the best in people.

"Tommen seemed kind too, remember?" Tyrion reminded her hesitantly. "The Starks are loyal but we are outsiders to them. You will have to be patient when you are trying to gain his trust but you will have to make him fight for your trust too."

Joanna shrugged. "There is no rush. He did not even propose yet."

"You can never be too careful."

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(JOANNA'S POV)

Watching Skot and Tyrion disappear with her son was one of the hardest things that she ever had to do. They told the servants what happened and one of them woke up Ned Stark who insisted on paying his respects to her immediately and told her that she should call him if she needed anything.

Joanna was a good actress. Her crocodile tears when her husband died were a little difficult but crying over her son was not fake in any way. He might have been alive but he was still gone. She would never be able to raise him as his own or teach him about life. She gave that liberty to Tyrion who she was sure would take perfect care of him.

The following morning at breakfast, everybody was watching her with pitiful eyes. Sansa Stark practically rushed toward her to pay her respects, looking genuinely sorry about Joanna's son's "death". Catelyn followed after her oldest daughter and then Arya awkwardly did the same. The King did not even seem to acknowledge her presence (not that she expected anything more) because he was far too drunk. Cersei offered her a forced condolence and Jaime did not leave her side and constantly fussed over her.

"Excuse me." Robb Stark cleared his throat. "Can I talk to Lady Joanna for a moment?"

Jaime narrowed his eyes up at him and then looked at Joanna for permission. She nodded. He let out a heavy sigh and got up before walking away. Robb watched him walk away with raised eyebrows.

"Well, he is scary." He admitted and sat down next to you. He got straight to the point. "How are you?" He flinched before she even had the opportunity to answer. "Sorry. That was a stupid question. Of course, you are not alright. I cannot imagine losing one child let alone two."

"It is not like you have any to lose, Stark." Joanna raised an eyebrow with a ghost of a smile on her lips.

"Not yet, anyway."

His charming overexaggerated grin made her bark out a laugh of surprise. She expected a lot from the heir to Winterfell but she did not expect him. He was challenging in the best way possible and so warm despite living in the coldest part of the Seven Kingdoms.

"You are very bold." Joanna mussed. Her reaction caused him to visibly brighten because she did not push him away or shut down his weak attempt at charming her.

Robb raised an eyebrow. "Is that a good thing?"

"Depends if your actions are as bold as your words," Joanna said and met his eyes with a smile of her own. He seemed stunned for a moment but was quick to hide it with nonchalance. "If that is the case then it is most certainly not a good thing."

"Then that is the first of many flaws that you will discover about me, my lady."

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Brandon Stark fell from the tower of Winterfell two days after Joanna's son was proclaimed dead. There was not a Stark in sight and the Lannister family sat around a table in deadly silence until Cersei's only daughter spoke up.

"Is Bran going to die?"

Cersei looked at Myrcella solemnly and stayed quiet.

Joanna stopped playing with the otherwise untouched food on her plate and looked at her niece. "No, sweet girl. He is not going to die."

The girl was delighted by her response if the enormous grin on her face was anything to go by. She let out a quiet but happy laugh. Cersei and Jaime shared a look.

The former turned to look at her half-sister. "What do you mean?"

"The maester said that there is a high chance of him surviving." Joanna simply said and took a sip from her cup. She was slightly disturbed that Cersei looked so displeased by the news but she dismissed it because she was a raging lunatic who despised the Starks. The person who fueled her hatred for them was dead which is why Joanna found the whole ordeal ridiculous. Ned Stark's sister was the love of the King's life but she was, well, dead.

Cersei kept staring at a dot above Jaime's head for a couple of moments before she said, "It's not mercy, letting a child linger in such pain."

"Would it not be a little depressing for two important children to die only two days apart at the same place?" Joanna asked her in an almost taunting manner. Cersei lacked compassion, even when it came to children despite having three of her own (if you could even consider Joffrey to be a human being). "Besides, if the gods wanted him dead, he would be. You should see how devastated his mother is. You could hear her cries from down the hall. Now imagine if that was you."

Cersei's face shifted at her last sentence. There it was. The hatred for Joanna that she barely even tried to hide. It was never love nor fondness nor sympathy. It was always hate or indifference. Joanna was not family to her. That was obvious. Not only did they have different mothers but Joanna was not a lioness. Not like Cersei. She lacked the golden hair and the pride.

She must have felt Myrcella's curious eyes on her because she clenched her jaw and lowered her head a little. A mother was never supposed to seem like a villain in the eyes of her children. Yet Joanna had a habit of testing Cersei whenever the timing was wrong. Time had already proven that they were very different as mothers.

Cersei quickly composed herself and raised her chin. She gave the widow a nasty glare and shortly glanced at Tommen and Myrcella. "Come."

The young Baratheons followed their mother out of the dining room, leaving Joanna and Jaime alone.

"Even if the boy lives, he will be a cripple, a grotesque." Jaime started nonchalantly. "Give me a good, clean death any day."

Joanna tilted her head. "Can any death be considered good?"

He shifted awkwardly, now avoiding her gaze. "You know what I mean."

"I don't," Joanna said sharply. "Brandon is the son of the wealthiest man in the North who is about to become the Hand of the King. He has money and his life will not fall apart if he can't walk. It will be hard but at least it would not be over."

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Joanna realized that everybody was losing someone that day. She lost her son. Catelyn's own son is slipping away and her two daughters and husband are about to leave for King's Landing. Robb Stark lost his bastard half-brother who was about to travel to The Wall.

She watched the half-brothers bid each other farewell before turning to her own brother. The brunette wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. Jaime and her were most certainly not as close as her and Tyrion but he was her protector. There were countless men he protected her from, even their father. Those he could not defeat himself, she killed instead.

He was a rock to all three of the Lannister siblings. Even Cersei. Especially Cersei.

"Take care of yourself, sister." He whispered into her ear before he pulled away."

"You too." Joanna nodded. "Do not cause too much trouble. Keep your ego in check."

Jaime rolled his eyes but cracked a small smile. "I love our conversations. Robb really is a lucky man."

"Shut up." Joanna chuckled and gave her a short kiss on the cheek before allowing him to walk away. He got on his horse behind Cersei who was already staring at Joanna when she looked at her.

Knowing that the two women would not see each other in a long time, Joanna managed to force a polite smile. Cersei merely acknowledged it with a nod.

Myrcella and Tommen were the complete opposite of their mother. They ran up to Joanna and hugged her at the same time. Joanna let out a light chuckle and ruffled their hair.

"I will miss you!" Myrcella said and gave her a sad look. Her eyelashes were wet with unshed tears and her pale cheeks were painted red. "You are so lucky. You get to marry a rich lord with a big castle and snow."

Joanna brushed her golden curls behind her ear. "You have time. You are beautiful and you will find a beautiful husband of your own someday."

"You think so?" Myrcella asked, her eyes now filled with newfound hope. Joanna hated how innocent her little niece was because she knew that the world was going to ruin that soon enough. Their world hated little girls.

"I know so." She placed a kiss on each of their foreheads and they went running to the horses next to their mother.

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(ROBB'S POV)

Robb needed to take charge. His father was not dead but he was going to far away that he might as well be. His mother was no good. She had been crying since Bran fell and he did not have the heart to tell her to get it together. He needed to be her rock as the oldest son. He needed to take the burden of Winterfell that his father left behind.

His family needed stability. Which was why he went to Joanna Lannister's chambers right before Bran was almost killed by an assassin. Their conversation was completely proper. He asked her to marry him in the least romantic way possible but he tried to not give himself a hard time about it. Robb knew that he had a duty. She had duties too.

He thought that knowing each other for a month was a good amount of time before the beginning of their engagement.

"What I am about to tell you must stay between us," Catelyn said the morning after as the five of them gathered beneath the weirdwood tree. "I don't think Bran fell from that tower. I think he was thrown."

Robb's breath hitched and his jaw clenched.

Maester Luwin said, "The boy was always sure-footed before."

"Someone tried to kill him twice." Catelyn pointed out. "Why? Why murder an innocent child? Unless he saw something he was not meant to see."

Theon tilted his head. "Saw what, my lady?"

Catelyn's eyes shined a dangerous way they did whenever one of her children was threatened. She was ready to do anything in her power to get to the bottom of it. "I don't know. But I would stake my life the Lannisters are involved. We already have reason to suspect their loyalty to the crown."

"The Lannisters?" Robb repeated with wide eyes. "You could have told me that before I proposed to Joanna."

"You proposed?" Catelyn asked, matching his stunned expression. "We had a way of getting you out of it before but now it is over. The only thing you can do is keep a closer eye on her and marry her as soon as possible."

Robb nodded and stayed silent. He did not want to marry Joanna on a whim. He would have preferred for them to take their time and get to know each other. He also refused to believe that she had anything to do with what happened to Bran. She was too sympathetic when she went to visit him with Robb. Did she seem cold and distant? Yes. Did she seem as evil as the rest of her family? No. He had only known her for a month but nobody was that good of a liar.

"Did you notice the dagger the killer used?" Rodrick Cassel asked and held up the blame found on the assassin. "It's too fine a weapon for such a man. The blade is Valyrian steel and the handle dragonbone. Someone gave it to him."

"They come into our home and try to murder my brother?" Robb almost growled. "If it's war they want..."

Theon cut him off and confidently said, "If it comes to that, you know I'll stand behind you."

"What, is there going to be a battle in the Godswood?" The Maester mocked. "Too easily words of war become acts of war. We don't know the truth yet. Lord Stark must be told of this."

Catelyn shook her head. "I don't trust a raven to carry these words."

Robb quickly offered, "I'll ride to King's Landing."

"No. There must always be a Stark in Winterfell. I will go myself."

Fear pierced his chest. He did not want to let her go unprotected and he believed that nobody besides him and his father could properly protect her. "Mother, you can't."

Catelyn shot back. "I must."

Robb was stunned and simply stared at her in silence.

Rodrick cleared his throat. "I'll send Hal with a squad of guardsmen to escort you."

"Too large a party attracts unwanted attention. I don't want the Lannisters to know I'm coming." Catelyn denied him and then looked back at her oldest son. "Talking about the Lannisters...tell Joanna that I went to visit my sister."

"Let me accompany you at least." Rodrick suggested. "The Kingsroad can be a dangerous place for a woman alone."

Robb's eyebrows furrowed. "What about Bran?"

"I have prayed to the Seven for more than a month. Bran's life is in their hands now."

a/n: The parallels between Catelyn and Joanna are simply too good this chapter

First time that I am stepping away from the plot: Tyrion went to Storm's End before he went to the night's watch where he met up with Jon.

This was a surprisingly long chapter but probably my favorite one because of all the povs