Chapter 7

The silence surrounding Winterfell enveloped them both. Everything was quiet like a crypt, except for the gusts of wind regularly howling alongside the castle walls and letting the snow swirl beyond the windows. At least Jaime only heard that grim noise for a while, trying to comprehend the meaning of what he had just heard. His good hand laid beside his plate, he had stopped breathing without realizing it and he was still staring at Brienne.

But instead of those two beautiful sapphires, he was seeing the dreadful undead creature before him once again… A whole army of them, growing after each and every battle… In his mind, he saw the dragons again too and he couldn't stop shivering when he tried to imagine the combination of the two. This shiver brought him suddenly back to reality. His eyes were still locked with Brienne's. He wished he could stop staring at her and look at something else so as not to embarrass her, but he could not. He could not and so he chose to drown in them rather than fall into hopelessness, for, without this gaze, without those eyes, he had nothing to live for anymore. He wasn't thinking about Cersei anymore, about their possible future child, about Tyrion or Bronn… At that moment, and possibly until the day he would die, these beautiful worried eyes were all that mattered to him. He was realizing how much he had missed them, and he didn't want to go away from them ever again. His heart squeezed in his chest when he thought that the battle against the White Walkers wouldn't happen without Brienne and Oathkeeper. He just couldn't bear to lose her, when he had just found her again, but he knew all too well that nothing and no one could prevent her from fighting to protect the Stark children.

She won't die, not here, not now, not like this… Not if there's still a breath of life left in me.

Brienne was still looking at him, an expression of mixed concern and determination on her face… And could there also be some tenderness in those eyes that he was so desperately trying to read?

I am weak and the situation around us is desperate, no wonder I'm beginning to image absurd things to try and comfort me…

He swallowed with difficulty and finally got out of this stunned silence: "It seems we're really fucked, then. At least, I'll have the pleasure of fighting alongside you, even if… my fighting skills will make me far less useful than you…"

His voice broke somewhat when he said this, and he got angry at himself for showing so much weakness. He tried and failed to resist looking at his arm, cut and useless, lying on the bed covers. But when he looked up again, he locked eyes with her again and she was staring at him with a mix of compassion and pride written all over her face.

"You are one of our most precious assets in this war, Ser Jaime." Bloody hell, there she was again, with her "Sers". He wanted so much to have this barrier broken between us, but she didn't make the task easy for him. "You are so much more than just a sword, you are a remarkable military strategist. And your presence here proves that you have faith in our possible victory and that you were brave and honourable enough to keep your word. I am pride to fight at your side, more than I could be at the side of anyone else."

Brienne went quiet and gazed so intensely at him that he had the impression the space between them was vibrating with energy. This space between them, he longed so much to close it right now, to tenderly put his fingers on her cheek and press his lips on hers, showing her what he really felt for her…

But you can't, and you won't, she is not yours and will never be. And she'd probably punch you right in the face if you tried anything!

Visibly embarrassed by her declaration, Brienne lowered her gaze and the skin of her cheeks seemed to turn slightly red in the light of the flames in the hearth. Despite him, Jaime felt a wave of longing pass through him and the love he knew he had been feeling for her for so long now seemed to take fire with these words she had just spoken. Feeling his heart beating increasingly fast, he leant slowly towards her, took her hand and squeezed it gently in his. He felt her shudder slightly under his touch, which made him smile. She was always so shy, as brave and strong as she might be. Emerald eyes and blue sapphires crossed once again, and Jaime kept smiling to hide the emotions she was stirring in him. "You are far too good to me, Lady Brienne. But I must confess, a little bit of trust is quite welcome when you are a Lannister coming to these icy Northern lands to fight and try to save the world!" He squeezed her hand a bit more, but ever gently. "And it is most welcome when it comes from such a dear friend."

Jaime really wasn't excepting Brienne's reaction: her eyes, until now so warm and soft, became veiled and strangely sad, and she withdrew her hand from his, gently but firmly. Her gaze was strangely bright, her voice stranger still and her chin trembled slightly when she spoke: "Anyone knowing you as I do would trust you. Everybody knows you are far more than only useful for the upcoming battle." She stood suddenly, looking down as if she was trying to avoid locking eyes with him when he couldn't take his eyes off her. "We should be sleeping. You are certainly exhausted, and he will need all our strength tomorrow, and every day after that. I'll take all of this back to the kitchens."

Bewildered and, indeed, very tired, Jaime only reacted when she had already reached the door. "Brienne…" She looked back when she heard him, still staring at him with this strange look on her face and with something he could have taken for melancholy. "I don't understand… How have you known the Wall had fallen? How could you have known what had happened?" She hesitated for a second before answering him: "Bran Stark told us. He has seen it all. I don't understand myself how this is possible, but he has… visions, visions from the past and the present, from things that can be happening at the other side of the world… Some say he had taken control of ravens to fly over the Wall, seeing through their eyes, when it happened. I don't know if this is true, but these powers will, at least, allow us to be prepared when… they reach Winterfell." She looked at him one last time before getting out of the room with his tray and closing the door behind her.

Exhausted and overwhelmed by all those different emotions, Jaime let his head fall on his pillow and closed his eyes. An undead creature, an ice dragon, Brienne's eyes, Bran Stark changing into a croaking raven that began to twirl around the room. All these pictures mixed in his head until he was feeling dizzy.

Bran Stark has got magic powers. Nonsense. And why did Brienne react like this when I only tried to show her that she is important to me?

A sudden knock on the door made him open his eyes. Wondering why Brienne would choose to knock this time, he hardly managed to let out a weak "Come in" that he was sure the person could not have heard behind the door. But the door opened and Bran Stark was suddenly before him.