BEAUTY AND THE BRONN
Jamie Lannister has captured a smaller castle to the west. He has been bargaining with the Lord of the castle as to terms of his surrender. Part of the terms, Jamie has decided, are to marry some of his army's captains to some of the noblewomen of the castle and leave them there to keep the castle safe from turning on him as soon as he leaves.
Afterwards, Bronn yammers away yet again about Jamie's promises of gold, a castle and a highborn wife. Jamie sighs in disgust and tells Bronn he should be grateful that he has the opportunity to take a wife from such a place-far better than the selection he would have had as just an ordinary sellsword. Bronn stomps off angrily and strides about near the trees just a bit away from one of the towers. He starts in surprise when he sees a young girl drop from the tree branches to the ground before him.
"Here, lass, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Bronn yelps in surprise as he advances quickly to stand close to her.
She backs up slightly and glares up at him. "What I do is none of your business," she replies sullenly.
Spoiled bitch, Bronn thinks immediately.
As the girl turns away from him to leave, Bronn impulsively grabs her arm and pulls her back toward him.
"Aye what you do is indeed my business," he snaps back. "The army I'm with has conquered this place, and all within its walls answer to us," he continues sternly. His eyes take in the girl's large round green eyes and the fall of her thick auburn curls about her. She's not dressed as fancy as a nobleman's daughter would be-she might be a lady's maid or some other type of servant. Even so, best not to have her wandering off by herself. The men were barely being restrained from rape and pillage by Jamie's stern orders. A young thing like this wandering about alone would be easy prey and a headache for Jamie when the deed was discovered.
The girl tries to pull her arm from Bronn's grasp, but he only tightens his hold causing her to wince. Just then another girl's face pops into view in the window above.
"Arden! For all the gods love, get back up here! We are to ready for tonight's feast," the girl called down frantically.
Bronn gazed thoughtfully at the girl still clasped firmly in his grip. "Who are you?" he demanded, shaking her slightly.
The girl tried again to jerk free of Bronn's hold. "It's none of your damned business," she snapped back.
Bronn leant down to glare directly into her eyes. "None of that foul mouth lass and answer me quick or I'll be taking you back to Flea Bottom where you belong," he threatened.
"Arden, hurry! Morgana has already lied once for you," the girl in the window shouted down.
"Best get you back up there then," Bronn commented drily as he dragged the unwilling girl back toward the tree. "Here now, I'll give you a hand up and keep an eye out until I see you're safe back through the window," he continued as he motioned to her to place her foot in his hand so he could boost her up.
The girl sighed unhappily and placed her foot in Bronn's palm. He quickly boosted her up to where she could grab hold of a lower branch and then, placing his hand firmly on her bottom he pushed her further up to where she could gain a foothold.
Pulling herself up, the girl kicked back at him as she squeaked at the unexpected sensation of his big rough hand on her bottom. True to his word, Bronn stayed put at the foot of the tree and watched until she reached the window and clambered back in. For just a moment she lingered and stared down at him while he stared back up, then she disappeared quickly as he heard her name being called again.
Bronn walked back thoughtfully toward the main hall entrance.
A few hours later the highranking men of Jamie's army are seated at trestle tables in the castle's main hall. The laird has watched the men eating and drinking nervously, casting furtive glances in the direction of the women seated at tables near his with his lords. Bronn had cast his gaze curiously about the room several times to see if the girl called Arden was a serving wench or lady's maid. To his surprise he had noted that she had been seated not too far from the lord of the castle himself. Now to wait for introductions to begin and he would find out just who she was.
As the feasting was starting to slow, the lord motioned for the musicians to liven their tunes as dancing would begin shortly. Bronn sighed inwardly-he wasn't well versed in all the niceties that went along with being a lord or knight but he did know he detested the dancing and with it all the attendant speeches in rhymes and riddles he would be expected to partake in with his various partners. He was a man who cherished frankness in his dealings with the other sex-he was used to showing what money he had and bargaining for what he could get. And he generally did very well, even long before he had had the gold he'd needed to get the top shelf whores. This last year, his service to Jamie had brought him within closer quarters to various gentlewomen than he'd ever had and it had served to enforce his opinion that these gentlewomen seemed determined to always make a man guess what they were thinking and seemed to get great enjoyment from ridiculing every man as much as they could for the man's clothing, speech, rank or title-anything really. He felt he would far rather face a horde of murderous enemies trying to cut him to pieces than face another session of dancing with some whey faced high born lady looking down her nose at him.
He felt a sharp jab in his ribs as Sir Montague jerked his chin toward the tables where the highborn ladies sat. "Now we'll see what choices we have for our wives, eh?" he chortled.
Bronn barely withheld his disgust-first that Sir Montague had jabbed him in the ribs and then because he'd spoken to him at all. Bronn had from the first viewed the man as an empty headed fool who was a knight and lord purely by the accident of birth and not as the result of any show of bravery or strategy on the field.
Bronn gritted his teeth and was in the midst of thinking of an insult worthy of the worm of a man when a movement from the front of the room caught his eye and he turned to see the girl he'd argued earlier being trotted out by the Lord of the manor himself. He clamped his jaw shut tightly and turned away so Montague wouldn't see his interest in the girl. Although he was a knight, Montague was higher ranking and was just the sort of sod who would go after the girl if he thought for one minute anyone else was eager for her.
Then it dawned on him, if she was the manor Lord's daughter everyone would want her. He shot a look at Jamie and frowned. By God, he had been promised a multitude of things since he'd joined up with Jamie-riches, a castle, a highborn wife. The whole damned Lannister family was famous for their damned promises-and most of those promises were never followed through on because the recipient had been killed or exiled. -
Bronn straightened up and gazed intently at the girl. She was young-no more than fifteen or sixteen. Willful alright. Foul mouthed as well-but she could be easily cured of that. More than anything else though she was beautiful. Not the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen-Bronn had seen many a beautiful woman. But the difference was those women had been older and artful in their beauty. This girl was beautiful without artifice and without experience in using her beauty to her own advantage. This girl was raw material he could mold and shape into the wife he desired.
Glancing on either side of him quickly, Bronn was relieved that none of the other men seemed particularly interested in the girl. He leaned over to Jamie and motioned to him.
"Yes," Jamie whispered back, smirking at the look on Bronn's face. He was guessing Bronn had seen a woman he wanted and this would end all his arguing and yammering finally.
"Who is the chit there with himself?" Bronn asked quietly, trying to avoid Montague overhearing.
Jamie's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Why that's Lord Brimbleby's youngest daughter," Jamie answered.
"I want her," Bronn said bluntly. "No arguments. You promised me a highborn wife. She may not be as highborn as I'd expected, but I want her," Bronn said stubbornly.
Jamie nodded thoughtfully. "And if you get her as your wife, you'll stay here and manage things for me?" Jamie watched as he saw surprise then anger play over Bronn's features. "You didn't think you could wed her, bed her and then leave her did you? These marriages have to be made in good faith on both sides-that means any man who chooses to marry any of these women will stay behind to keep the castle loyal to the Lannisters," he explained.
"And just what it is that I'm to do here?" Bronn retorted angrily. "I've never been anything but a soldier-I don't know anything about running a castle."
"You didn't know anything about being a knight either did you, and yet here you are now-a knight. You're a quick study, I imagine you'll figure it out," Jamie snapped back. He would miss having Bronn by his side in battle, but he trusted Bronn to do right by his family here at the castle. Unlike the other men under his leadership, Bronn had no illusions of taking over the throne.
Bronn reluctantly nodded. "Alright then, but only if I get that girl. No other," he at last answered and turned back to gaze across the room at the girl.
Across the room, Arden felt someone gazing at her and lifted her eyes to stare directly into the steely blue gaze of the stranger who had caught her climbing down the tree earlier. He wasn't a handsome fellow-not like the other lords she had seen come and go as she grew up. He was however striking-tall, broad shouldered, sunburnt and weather worn-the signs of living outside much of the time as soldiers were wont to do. As his gaze lingered on her, she felt a shiver go up her spine and she reluctantly tore her gaze away to focus on what her father was saying to the party.