Growing up on Tarth she had been a solitary child, when she wasn't reading or practicing in the yards with swords she was star gazing and dreaming. Evenfall was considered a minor house to most of the mainland Lords, Tarth was nestled in the waters just off the coast of many towns and ports, a strategic place that occasionally a ship might land for a night or two, her father had received many captains and they would dine in the hall sharing their tales of strange exotic places, and the many storied adventures they had encountered along the way. These visitors were the first to plant the seeds of adventure within Brienne. She would listen intently to the stories of the captains and the other sea faring men, imagining herself as a knight boldly joining them, participating in adventures that would earn her the praises in songs. When others had retired to their quarters she would stay up late looking up to the night sky, staring at the stars and dreaming of a world where she could wield a sword, earn the respect of others with her good deeds.

As she became older she felt the weight of being Selwyn Tarth's sole heir grow heavier and heavier. Her father would often take a new lady, and every time he did she would pray for a brother to be born, even if he was a bastard she was sure she could convince her father to forego her claim. It would seem her prayers and her father's efforts would both prove to be fruitless. In many ways her appearance came as a hidden blessing, with each failed betrothal her father seemed to become more resigned to the idea that she would never marry, would never sire a child. She suspected her unwillingness to marry was the reason he took so many women to his bed chambers, in a way she felt at fault for setting him up for Cesei's trap.

She had bested her captors in the cave, but it had not been easy work. Managing to wrestle a blade from the first; she delivered a flurry of frantic strikes, not sure if they were undead creatures she showed no mercy and had swung for their necks. It was fortunate that these guards were not of the same calibre as Robert Strong had been. Ignoring all the protests of her injuries she eliminated the first two by removing their heads from their bodies. A third had come up on her left, her blind side; his blade sunk into her torso, the agony had been astonishing. She was certain her attacker had punctured her lung. As he pulled his blade out of her she fell to her knees with a great cry, the blade arched up into the air coming down at her, it was all Brienne could do to raise her stolen blade to parry the attack. The dead thing was tireless, but it was slow and clumsy. She delivered a returning strike to its neck, lifting herself up she put all her strength into slashing her blade to the right, when the body fell she kicked the head hard, separating it from its neck. She collapsed, spitting blood onto the cave floor, her breathing was ragged and short, her mind and body almost begged to be turned off, to collapse and rest, Brienne shook her head and forced herself to her knees, then feet. Leaning against the cave wall she could hear the movement of the corpses she had jut slain. There was no wildfire this time; she was trapped in the cave with these creatures, horrifyingly raising their headless bodies back to life. There was little time to hesitate, Brienne hacked and slashed at each of the corpses, severing limbs, throwing and kicking them away as far as she could. Running on pure adrenaline, she limped out of the cave; the ocean waves were loud and crashing below her somewhere, she looked to the sky for her stars.

Her heart dropped when she heard the voices of men outside the cave. Brienne knew she was done, she had no more fight in her, and her only hope was to run. It was a blessing when she heard the snorting of her horse. Brienne couldn't make out how many men there were around the fire, their shadowy figures hidden by the trees. She patted her horse gently shushing him, untied his reigns and made her escape…

She rode her horse hard, the great beast's hooves thundered underneath her. Her chapped hands tightly clung to the reins. Her pursuers were close behind her; she could hear their yells in the near distance. Brienne ducked low kicking her heels into the poor horse's side. She wasn't entirely sure how far away she was from the Rock, but she knew she knew was heading in the right direction, the Evenstar of the East was to her right, she was heading North, she hoped if she kept riding the terrain would become more familiar.

When the horses pace began to slow, she knew she could push him no more. Brienne dismounted gracelessly, her head dizzy, and her sight seriously impaired with only one good eye struggling to see in the dark night. Once her feet were firmly planted on the frozen ground Brienne slapped the rear of her horse sending him away alone. She hoped the men chasing her would continue to follow the horse and not her. Thankful for a moonless night Brienne slinked into the pine forest and headed in the opposite direction of the sounds of the men chasing her, with luck they would pass her by and she could continue north.

Brienne had never been the kind of girl that had spent any time imagining the details of her future wedding night, but she could admit with certainty that hiding from a band of men hunting her down like wild game would not have been it. She leaned against the trunk of a tree gasping for breath, the snow was starting to fall again, she hoped it would keep falling; her tracks would be better hidden. There was a part of her that yearned to close her eyes and sleep there, letting the snow bury her like a blanket. Jaime. The thought of him was enough to make her move and to continue walking towards what she hoped was Casterly Rock.

It had been quite some time since she had heard the noise of her pursuers. She moved so painfully slow, her side protested with each step, her breathing was cut short with each inhale. She fell several times, scrambling in the dark, the root of a tree, the icy surface of a rock, there were so many invisible obstacles below the new snow. The worst was when the cold started to set in, as the winds picked up she could feel it slice into her like a whip. Her limbs felt heavy, she was so utterly exhausted, but she knew she couldn't allow herself to rest, afraid she wouldn't be able to pick herself up again. Her hand pressed to her side, she winced as she could feel the warm stickiness of her wound, drops of blood melted into the snow below her feet, slow at first, but as she ploughed forward, the drops made their patterns more quickly, like crimson rose buds. Her vision became hazy, her head dropped, and her eyelids would not stay open, she fell with a thud into the snow, her consciousness fading. Closing her eyes she thought she could hear his voice…

"Brienne?"

"No M'lord. It's your sister. She has just now arrived and wishes to see you."

"Cersei?"

"Jaime," Brienne's voice called to him, very weakly, barely a whisper as she tumbled into to unconsciousness.