Chapter Six: The Lion's Imprint
Aemili slowly started backing away. "Frightened girl?" He asked mischievously.
"I am not who you think I am." She was grasping at whatever excuse she could.
"Of course not." He took a step toward her. "Leaving are you? Hope I didn't scare you away." He took another step towards her.
"Stay away from me." Her back hit the wall.
"Do I frighten you?" He was getting dangerously close. She shouldn't have been so stupid; she should have stayed in her room. Now her mistake may very well cost her.
"No." The word came out shaky and caused him to smirk.
"Like a wounded bird in a lion's den." His toes were touching hers at this point. "See what I did there." He laughed at his own sick joke.
"Oh Jamie, leave the poor girl alone." Someone called from behind him. Aemili could not see who it was over the Lannister's towering body. Jamie Lannister backed away from Aemili. She still could not breathe easy though, she had not yet escaped the King Slayer and now another Lannister surrounded her. "My, my, the rumours of your unique looks are true." He acknowledged. "Can see a touch of Lannister in you."
"I am not a Lannister!" She snapped. Jamie snorted.
"Does the same blood in my veins not run in yours?" Tyrion asked.
"Shall we find out?" Jamie threatened.
"Now brother, we have been told no harm will come to the girl while she is a guest of Winterfell." Tyrion came to her aid.
"Then she had better hope we do not meet outside these walls." Jamie stared at her menacingly sending a chill throughout her body. Tyrion sighed then walked away. Jamie stepped close to her again, this time bending his face close to hers. "I will be seeing you." He whispered, his nose brushing against hers. He turned swiftly and exited down the hall in the same direction that Tyrion had gone. It was once he was out of sight that Aemili could breathe again. She felt as if she had very nearly escaped death. She ran back up the stairs and to her room not wanting to risk it again. Like they had said, as long as she was within the walls of Winterfell she was safe. She was surprised to find all of the guards awake now seemingly unaware that she had left her room.
"Lady Aemilius?" One of them asked as she hurtled past him towards her door. She threw it open and ran inside, slamming it shut behind herself. To say she was terrified would be an understatement. Her knees buckled, she fell to the floor. Tears rolled down her cheeks, her entire body was shaking, and she could not catch her breath. She did not like her options. Stay under the same roof as the King Slayer and the rest of his terrifying family or try to ride home where she is a free target for them.
She managed to crawl to her bed where she lay on her stomach, face hidden in her pillow. She ignored the knock at her door. Even though she had been alone for so long she did not want any visitors, not when she is crumbling like this.
"Aemili, may I come in?" Jon Snow was at her door. Aemili did not reply. "I am in." He announces.
"I can see that." Her voice is barely audible it is so muffled by the pillow.
He closes the door behind himself and comes to her side, staring down at her with an amused expression. "How can you see anything with your face buried so deep in your pillow?" She cannot see but she can hear the smile in his tone.
"Any particular reason you have come to see me? Perhaps a lecture for leaving my room? Well, don't be worried, I have learned my lesson." She looks up from the pillow briefly but cannot look at Jon so buries her face again.
"You've left your room?" He asks.
"Don't pretend you don't know. Words travel fast around the halls of Winterfell." She peeks up from her pillow and sees that he is telling the truth, he did not know she had left. "Oh hells." She had just revealed what is still secret. "I left my room, as I said I regret it, let's not dwell on past mistakes." She waves her hand, refusing to look at him.
"Mind telling me how you've learned your lesson? It's alarming to hear such a thing."
"I can't say a word."
"Did you meet one of them?" He doesn't need to say a name. We all know who 'them' is.
"Maybe." She will neither confirm nor deny anything when she had done nothing and was already being threatened by one of them.
"Who was it? What did they say?" He demands.
"Not a word." She repeats.
"The Queen?" He asks. She doesn't respond. "Her twin?" She shifts uncomfortably without meaning to. "What did the scum say!" She can tell by his tone that he is enraged.
"Please don't ask me for I cannot lie." She begs.
"Tell me now!" She chances a look at him. He is breathing deeply, his face looking as hard as stone.
"I will not." She rolls over so her back is to Jon now.
"Why are you protecting him?" Jon snaps.
"I am protecting you!" She sits up and looks at him. "Jamie Lannister is a ruthless and cruel person. You do not speak ill of him unless you have a death wish. I do not and I do not plan on giving you one as well."
"If he has threatened you I will tell my father, he will do something about it." He is determined to deliver some kind of justice; Aemili can see it in his eyes.
"It is like he said, outside these walls I am no longer safe. I will be leaving soon, I would prefer to do it with me off his mind. If your father has a word with him he will be dead set on gutting me."
"Then you won't ever leave."
"You know I cannot simply stay. Neth is my home, my family is there."
"Lady Stark did it, why couldn't you?"
"She came here to be with the one she loved. I have no one holding me here like that." She said something wrong because a look of betrayal crosses his face and he is backing up slowly.
"I will leave you." He turns quickly.
"Wait!" She shouts making him pause at the door. "I do not know what I said, please."
"You are right, you do not know what you said." He exits the room, slamming the door behind him. The sound hurts Aemili's ear, or maybe it is the coldness in his words. What had she said to make him so angry? Yes, the Starks had become a second family but it was not enough for her to stay here. She could not, the idea of it was… well, Aemili found herself thinking it was not so outrageous. She had already been here for months and did not look forward to leaving, and that was before Jamie Lannister threatened to kill her outside the walls.
She rose quickly, wanting to go after Jon and apologize. She opened her door, which startled all the guards on duty. "Which way did he go?" She asks hurriedly.
"My Lady, you have orders to stay in your room." One of them says.
"That was last night." She counters as she rushes down the hall in the direction she thinks he might have gone. It is the same path she walked earlier. Unlike this morning she is not being quiet, let the Lannister's see her, let them threaten her, but she is finding the idea of staying more and more enjoyable by the minute.
She can hear the guards clanking down the stairs behind her, calling out to her to stop and turn back but she will not listen. She is determined to find Jon and she is not going to let anything stop her.
"Oh goodness sorry." She runs straight into someone and falls to the floor, without realising who it is. "My apologies." She brushes herself off and looks up to see whom it is she has collided with. Terror engulfs her when she takes in the person's appearance. She does not know the person but they have the striking Lannister looks.
"The fault is mine, my lady." He offers her his hand. She stares at it as if he has just offered her a vial of poison.
"Prince Joffrey." The guards halt behind Aemili and bow quickly.
One of them quickly scoops Aemili up off the floor and pushes her behind him protectively. "I fear we have not been introduced properly. Your name?" He asks. She is not sure if he is trying to be funny or cruel but either way she is not taking the bait.
"Primrose Gulliver." One of the guards answers quickly. "My daughter visiting for the day." He lies. Aemili is too afraid to say or think anything.
"Then why is your daughter being heavily guarded? Lady Maddeson, would you like to try your hand at lying to your prince?" The guards all take a cautious step back.
"I… um… we…" She stutters but she is unable to say anything. She can see the arrogant cruel person he is by looking into his eyes.
"That is what I thought. I will overlook this ordeal on one condition." He is displaying an arrogant smirk, had Aemili not been so terrified she would have wanted to smack him.
"W… wha… what?" She manages to ask.
"Walk with me." He is not asking. Aemili's hands grab the hem of the guards armour and clutch into it tightly. A walk with the Lannister Prince is more terrifying then the thought of facing a pack of wildlings. "No? Lying to your prince is a crime punishable by death?" He threatens.
Aemili had no choice, death or a walk with the prince. How hard could it be really? She would refuse to walk anywhere that is private and there were not many high places he could easily push her from. She stepped around the guard slowly, as if he might smite her on the spot. He offered her his arm, which she took very hesitantly. Joffrey waved the guards away but they do not move. "We no longer require your protection." He demands.
"We will not leave the lady." They reply firmly. Aemili is very grateful. Joffrey leads her away, making a point to ignore the horde of guards following them altogether. He leads her to the courtyard. She feels so vulnerable out in the open with all the Lannister's roaming around, especially with one hanging of her arm. They pass Theon who gives her an alarming look. She refuses to acknowledge him but does not fail to see him flee the courtyard. She is unsure of if that is a good or a bad thing but hopes whatever it is it gets her away from Joffrey. "Enjoying your time in Winterfell." She can only nod. "Why do you not speak to your prince?" He is feigning hurt but there is cruelty in his eyes. He wants to see her squirm, she knows it.
"It is very nice." Her voice is so quiet she is almost certain he did not hear her.
"Very boring and ugly if you ask me." He responds. She wants to tell him that nobody did ask him but remains silent. "I have heard many things of your beauty. Had things been different we would likely be married." Aemili tries to swallow the bile that has risen in her throat. "Or your sister, where is she?"
"Home." Aemili says quickly.
"A shame, I hear many things about her as well." She knows what he is suggesting. He has heard of Mags flirty ways. How he knew she does not know but the fact that he looks turned on by it sickens her. "My grandfather told me a story once of a stupid girl who defied all the rules and get caught. It reminds me of you. Shall I tell you the story?" He asks with amusement. Not waiting for her reply he continues. "A silly little girl had been banned from the capital but she went anyway. While there she encountered the fierce man who had banned her. Want to know what he did?" She swallows hard, a lump was forming in her throat. "He did not kill her like he wanted or even beat her senseless as his anger begged him to do. Instead he took his ring, heated it under a flame and pressed it to a very sensitive part of her skin as a warning. He said to her if she ever though of returning to look at the burn and remember what he is capable of." She is on the verge of being sick. She makes sure to mask her emotions. "Want to know why it reminds me of you?" Again he continues as if she actually wants to hear. "Because if you were to ever set foot in the capital I would do just that. I would burn you with my ring and send you on your way with a warning." She tries to rip her arm away but he is holding onto it tight, so tight she is certain it will break soon. "Am I making myself clear?" He makes sure to hold up his fist with a gleaming metal ring on it. It's a lion's head, a ring she had seen before.
"Y… yes." She stutters.
"Excellent." He releases her arm with a final squeeze. Her arm will likely be bruised later but she cannot complain if that is her only injury by the end of the day. "Be gone, I am done with you." He orders.
She does not need to be told twice. She quickly gathers her dress and runs from the courtyard. As she comes to the exit Robb and Theon stop her. Obviously Theon fled to get Robb but they had come to late, the damage had been done. She refuses to let the tears fall, not where people can see her but she cannot hold them much longer.
Robb puts his arm around her and guides her back into the castle. He leads her into a vacant room that was likely a storage room at one point. Now all that remains is a broken stool and some straw. "What did he say?" Robb asks. Aemili shakes her head. If she talks she will cry, if she looks at him she will cry and she will not cry until she is back in her bed, her face buried so deep in her pillow no one can hear her. "Tell me!" He orders, sounding fearful close to Joffrey. That is the breaking point, she cannot stop herself. The tears spill and she is unable to breathe. Her knees can no longer support her. "Aemili!" He grabs her before she hits the grounds. "I will kill that prick!" He hisses under his breath.
"Shut up!" She shouts.
"He had no right. Whatever he said he will pay for." Robb is also determined, just like Jon had been.
"I was the one wandering the halls. I asked for it." Aemili sobs.
"Tell me what he said." Robb demands.
"He told me…" She cannot say it, she cannot even think it.
"What did he tell you?" Robb urges her on.
She takes a deep breath. "He told me a story about myself." She cries harder as she remembers the day.
She had been in King's Landing for four days, wandering the streets. She had wanted to see what would happen if she did it and after being there for so long that she had been feeling so powerful and rebellious. It was on the fifth day that he had found her. She knew there would have to have been spies around the city but she assumed they were just going to leave her alone. How wrong she had been. He pulled her from the streets and into some building. It was empty of people, perfect for him. He threw her against walls and slammed her to the ground. He said nothing, simply took of his ring, held it over a burning candle. He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her up. He moved so quickly that she did not have time to react. He pushed the burning room onto the flesh of her throat. She screamed which only made him press down harder but she could not stop herself and he only pressed harder. It felt like forever before he finally let her go. She fell to the floor; her hand flew up to the fresh burn. "Stay out of my city." He placed the ring back on his finger and left.
"Make them leave." She whispered. Robb signalled for everyone to clear out. The only person who stayed was Theon but she didn't care. Slowly she removed the necklace she never took off. It was a simple silver ribbon with a blue and green pendant hanging from it. She turned her head and revealed her neck to Robb. Visible in her porcelain skin was the imprint of a lion; one that would match exactly with the ring Prince Joffrey wore.
"He did that to you?" Robb asks in disbelief. Theon leans closer to get a better look.
She whipsers, "Tywin Lannister did that to me."