My weekly instalment of why does it take so long to get the next episode?
Every inch of her aches with the effort it took to push them back. Her arms were growing so weak that it took her whole body to gain enough room to even move her sword. She could see only Jaime among the living, she thought Podrick stood to right, but she had no way of knowing. Her eyes darted to him, and the dead swarmed up like a tide overtaking him. She shoved back, trying to gain enough room to help him, but she didn't have the strength.
Then as suddenly as they had come, they all dropped, as if the strings had been cut from a puppet. She looked over at Jaime, who stood struck awe with the shock of the end to the fight they had all thought would be their last. Beyond him she could make out Podrick, bent over, and puffing out air to try and stay on his feet.
"We won." The words came softly from his lips at first, and Brienne smiled. They battle had ended.
"We won!" He yelled, an almost hysterical laughter echoing through him. He reached over, across the like of dead men, and grabbed her head, his golden hand so cold against her red cheeks, still flush from exertion that it nearly hurt. She moved where he pulled her, and he pressed a frenzied kiss to her lips.
"We're alive!" He pulled back with a grin, speaking in a much softer tone. She could only state into his eyes, hers wide as saucers.
"Haha! We've destroyed them all!" Tormunds wail of victory broke the moment, and Jaime looked away, letting her go. It took her longer to regain her wits, and by the time she looked up Tormunds had begun charging towards her, his arms wide, and his lips pursed. Brianna tried to step back, but there was a wall behind her. To her surprise Jaime climbed over the dead, and met him in the middle with a hug.
"We won!" He yelled, but pressed his ice cold golden hand to the back of Tormund's neck, pulling him in.
"If you touch her without her permission, I am not too honorable to hit you in your sleep Giant's bane." He whispered in his ear, Tormund laughed, lifting him off the ground with a crushing bear hug.
"I would kill you here if it wouldn't anger the big woman." He said, his attempt at whispering falling very short.
"Her name is Sir Brienne, she has earned the respect of her title, wouldn't you think?" He pulled free, and clapped Tormund's shoulders hard. Tormund shoved past him, still grinning from ear to ear, but he didn't touch her.
"We should fuck to celebrate out survival!" He waggled his brows at her, she shifted away from him giving a worried look to Jaime.
"We should check on Lady Sansa, and Tyrion, Podrick, take Tormund, and start moving the bodies out to be burned, and check for wounded that need our help." She moved back to Jaime's side, and hurried inside, away from Tormumd's gaze. Jaime had to practically run to keep up with her. She rapped on the door to the crypt, taking a deep breath to steady herself after everything that has happened.
"My Lady, the battle is won." She called out, and the noise of the bar moving seemed almost deafening in the heavy silence of the halls.
"Brienne, you're alive!" Lady Sansa ran out, and wrapped her arms around Brienne, she didn't cry, but her slender frame shook.
"I did say we might live." Tyrion gave a bitter sweet smile, looking up at his brother. Somehow they had made it through yet another unlivable experience.
"I would not have survived without Sir Jaime, he saved my life, more than once." She looked over at him, their gaze holding just a moment longer than appropriate.
"It seems your debt to me may yet be forgiven." Sansa forced a polite smile, Jaime shook his head.
"She saved mine just as often, Sir Brienne lead her men bravely, any one of them who survived did so because of her." He only spoke the truth, but his words made Brienne's eyes shine with pride.
"We should see if we can be of any help. I think we are all eager to be free of the crypt. The two of you should see a maester, or at least rest. You're bleeding on the cobblestones." Tyrion pointed to the smattering of blood at their feet.
"So we are." They looked down at the wounds they had forgotten in the aching bodies drained by the battle.
"We don't need to take the Maester's attention away from the lives he may save tonight. We can tend to our wounds easily enough. We should make sure Podrick doesn't need to be looked after as well." Brienne looked back at were she had come, Jaime locked eyes with Tyrion, she needed rest, and she wouldn't get it looking after every wounded man on the battlefield.
"We can look after him. You make sure my brother doesn't fall asleep, and bleed out." Tyrion ushered them deeper into the keep, and the people sequestered from the fight rushed out, leaving them no choice but to go inward. The silence returned, and Jaime wondered if he had upset her with his kiss. She retrieved bandages, and a hug of steaming water before they went towards the quarters. It was good to see so many people alive.
"Can you help me with this." He raised his golden hand to the ties on his armor when they reached her chambers. H head not been afforded any. She came over, and helped him strip down to his tunic. In turn he did what he could to help her pull her heavy armor off.
"You're not a half bad squire." She teased, trying not to think about the large patches of blood staining his clothes.
"It's not my first time." He pulled at the blood that had dried against his skin, gritting his teeth when it pulled open his wounds.
"Stop, let me." She took a cloth, sipping it in the water to set his tunic where the blood had dried before gently freeing it from his skin. Soon he stood before her in only his pants, even his boots had been removed to enjoy the warmth of the thick fur rug by her fire. She blushed, sipping the rag on the warm water once again.
He closed his eyes when she began the slow process of cleaning his wounds. He said nothing about being more than capable of doing it for himself. Most of his wounds were small, pressure wounds, and grazes between the armored plates, but he did have a significant cut just above his hip on the left. He reached out, grabbing her wrist when she pressed the cloth into the wound.
"I need to clean it out." She whispered, he released hisgrip,but moved his hand to her shoulder to keep himself steady.
"What will you do now?" She asked as she began bandaging his wounds.
"Help you clean your wounds, and look for a warm place to sleep." He tried to roll his shoulder, but let out a his as the bruised muscle pulled.
"No, arms up, what will you do now that the war is over? Will you return to King's Landing, I'm sure Cersei is missing you." She wrapped the bandage all the way around his muscular waist to keep it in place.
"I'm quite sure she isn't." He grimaced as she tightened it.
"Sorry, your done. How could she not miss you?" She stood up, and turned to her own clothes. Jaime moved quickly to help her, as she had him.
"She threatened to kill me if I left, and betrayed her again. Cersei is not a woman of idle threats. I'm sure someone is on their way here to end my life as we speak." He kept his eyes on her tunic to keep from thinking too hard on what he had given up to be here. He used his golden hand to hold the cloth so he could move the fabric as gently away from her wounds as possible .
"I couldn't imagine her truly want in to kill you, but that doesn't answer my question. You fulfilled your oath, if you aren't returning to King's Landing, where will you go?" She looked away as he lifted her shirt over her head, leaving her in just her bindings.
"Do you want me to leave?" He switched the cloth to his hand, resting his golden hand on the deep purple bruise on her tips carefully. She sighed as the cold eased the pain somewhat.
"No, but you aren't bound hear, and many hear would see you dead, why not go back to the woman you love?" She said, he nodded, pressing a bandage to a particularly long cut just beneath her breast.
"Cersei isn't the only person I love." He said , a wicked thought came into her mind, and she hopes it would ease the strange formality between them since his arrival.
"Yes, but I didn't think you loved Tyrion in the same way." She struggled to keep a straight face. He gave her a lighthearted scowl.
"You've been spending too much time around me, you're starting to pick up my mannerisms." He rolled his eyes. She gave a small smile, and he couldn't help but mirror it.
"You should smile more, the way it lights up your eyes is beautiful." He whispered , she looked away with a blush.
"Still, you could go anywhere." She continued to push, he signed trying to get a small cut to stop bleeding.
"I came to serve under your command, I will keep doing that until... Well likely until the day I die." He said, finally looking up at her. Her blue eyes watched him with wonder.
"I serve Sansa." She said, trying to look away from him, but finding her gaze held fast.
"I am aware." He returned to his work.
"She may ask me to lead her men south, to fight your sister." She etched his face to see if perhaps he hadn't thought of that.
"It seems likely since John agreed to help her win her war." He didn't seem phased by the idea in the slightest.
"What if I had to ask you to kill your sister?" She whispered, he stopped, and looked into her eyes for a long moment.
"I know you would never ask that of me, and if you did... I would, because I would know there was no other way, and that it was the right thing to do." He set the rag aside, her wounds weren't so deep as his.
"You trust me that much? How could you ever know you would be capable of that?" She stood, stunned by his decoration, a fresh tunic dangling from her hand.
"I don't knight just anyone. You are the most honorable person I know. To be honest, I don't know if I could strike that blow if it came to it. I love her, and I always will, but it's not the same as it once was. I'm not sure I could go back to her even if she would have me. I do know that I would try, for you. Wherever you are, no matter what battles you fight, I will fight beside you." He sat at the edge of her bed, his legs unwilling to hold him up a moment longer. She pulled on her shirt, and sank down beside him.
"I'm not a leader, I'm hardly a knight Sir Jaime." She whispered, he leaned back to pull off his belt, and with it his sword. He sat it between them.
"I can think of no one I would rather follow. I would kneel, but I fear I wouldn't be able to stand up again." He smirked, and she shifted to face him better, confusion plain on her face.
"Sir Brienne of Tarth, I offer you my service, I will shield your back, keep your council, and give my life for yours if need be. I swear it by the old gods, and the new." He had moved so one leg hung low off the bed, as if to kneel without fear of falling.
"Jaime." Her mouth hung open, he pushed the sword closer to her with a little nod, it felt nice to hear her say his name without formality, but now was perhaps not the time. She shook herself out of her daze.
"I vow that you will always have a place in my heart, or by my hearth," She grimaced at her misstep , but Jaime's smile only grew.
"And meat, and mead at my table. I pledge to ask no service of you that would bring you dishonor. I swear it by the old gods, and the new." She finished, he moved his sword to lean against the bed.
"There, now you'll always know where I plan to go." He shifted back, letting himself lay sideways across the bed.
"We should rest." Brianna removed her boots, and pulled the covers back. He got to his feet with a long suffering sigh.
"You're right, I should go find an empty place for the evening." He moved to pick up his boots, but Brienne touched his shoulder.
"You should rest here, the bed is more than large enough, and you likely won't find an empty bed inside the walls." He turned in surprise.
"You wish to sleep with me?" The twinkle in his eyes when he teased her had returned.
"No! You need rest, and it will be warmer here. Go freeze to death outside for all I care." She turned away, and retreated to the bed, he laughed, a true deep laugh, that eased the pain of the battle as nothing else could.
"Thank you, for your kind offer my lady." He went around and slid beneath the warm furs beside her. She lay so close He could feel the heat of her through the blankets.
"I only wish you'd been able to bathe first." She whispered , he shook his head.
"We both stink of death woman, go to sleep." He closed his eyes, but they both lay stiff, hyper aware of the other so close.
"You kissed me." He hardly heard her soft words in the dim fire light, and for a moment he thought to feign sleep to escape them.
"Yes, I did." He spoke. long after the heavy silence had become uncomfortable.
"Why?" He could hear her shaking, the armies of the dead were nothing compared to the fear she felt now. She could feel him shrug.
"Because I've wanted to kiss you for a long time, but it never seemed right. Should I not have?" He rolled over to face her, she went through a myriad of emotions before she spoke.
"I'm certainly not some whore you can frequent! I am a maiden, I'm not a custom to these sorts of things." She had trouble holding onto her anger, her cheeks so red he'd begin to wonder if she had a fever.
"You think that I am? I would never think you were a whore, and I've certainly never been with any. I've only ever kissed one other woman in my life. It's not something I do lightly." He whispered, she shifted to face him, just staring for a moment.
"You're not attracted to me." She said it with such certainty that it broke his heart.
"Why would you say that?" He reached out to brush a strand of her hair stuck to her brow with blood, and sweat.
"I'm even uglier in the daylight remember." She raised a brow at him, he groaned, letting his hand fall back to the bed.
"Oh come on, I was your captive, I was trying to upset you. You're not a typical lady I'll give you that, but you're beauty outstrips anyone else's in a way that those idiots can't appreciate." He scowled, silence fell again while she tried to catch him in a lie.
"Do you love me?" She swallowed hard, her voice shaking, and her heart pounding in her throat, not sure she wanted to hear the answer.
"That is something of a weighted question. I don't know, I think that I might, but I'm not exactly experienced in this area. I've only loved one woman before, and I'm not sure it was even love. I know I trust you, and I'm certainly attracted to you. I know when I close my eyes at night you're the last thing I think about. I miss you when you're not near me, even when I was with Cersei. I want to make you smile, and I have never wanted to kiss you as badly as I do right now." He reached out to twine his fingers with hers, her eyes shining with unshed tears.
She shifted closer until her brow touched his, his breath hot on her cheek. He closed the distance, and pressed his lips to hers gently. They moved together, in an un-demand, languid kiss. She opened her mouth to him, and he happily tasted her. She wrapped around him, desperate to get closer. He moved to kiss her neck, her nails taking down his back. His hand moved up her side under her shirt. She pulled back, and he stopped without question.
"I can't. Despite everything, and how much I want this, even though I deny it, I'm a lady, and if you want more it can't be like it was with Cersei. This can't be a shameful secret." She looked up at him with so much fear in her eyes. He nodded, leaning in to kiss her brow.
"I don't want anymore secrets. I just want to hold you." He whispered, she laid her head on his chest, breathing him in. He held her close, stroking her hair until they both fell into sleep.