When Tormund left the hall to relieve himself, the others had used the opportunity to head to bed, even if only for a short time. They were out of wine and all immensely tired. Tyrion departed for the East wing while the Davos led the rest of the party upstairs. Podrick excused himself quickly and stumbled through the darkness toward his chamber. Davos watched him for a moment, then turned back to Brienne and Jaime whom, he observed, were at it again – the staring thing. Davos looked between them, seeing that they clearly didn't even realize he was there, and left without a word to them, calling after Pod to help him recall which door was his.

"Ser Jaime – " Brienne started in a low tone.

"We should both get some rest, Ser Brienne of Tarth," a smile played on his lips, "you may be a freshly-sworn knight but I don't spring back so easily these days, and we have quite the fight ahead of us."

She ignored him, "Jaime, what you did – "

"- no one has ever deserved it more," he interrupted fiercely, taking a step toward her and searching for her eyes in the dim light, "And it could not have waited another day. There may not be another day after this one. The only guarantees we have are in the past," he echoed, pausing to look at her sword.

When he lifted his eyes to find hers again, they captured him wholly. He took another step. "Brienne… I have little to offer," he said with some defeat, "I'm an old knight who changed sword hands mid-career and I've wasted my entire life being loyal to a viper who abused that loyalty, whose venom still flows through me in my weakest moments, and I've done terrible things because of it. But I-"

"You're a good man, Jaime," she interjected. "An honorable man. She does not define you."

He nodded, "I'm starting to believe that." He smiled sadly. He was close enough now to watch as her face turned to worry and looking to the ground, moving him to quickly add, "I'm done with her, done with the past. Today is all we have... fighting for the living, fighting by your side may be the second-most honorable thing I've ever done, and I am determined to make the most of it."

"Only Second?" she teased, looking back up at him, the fog of her breath filling the space between them.

The look she was giving him made Jaime's pulse quicken. He wanted to take that last step, to hold her face in his hand and swear every oath possible to her.

Instead he sighed and nodded, "No matter what happens now, even if I became that weak man again, even if I die today, I will have at least lived long enough to have done one permanent and truly honorable thing in this world in making you a knight. You, more than anyone, deserve the respect demanded by that title, and having it ensures that others will forever see you as I do. As the best of us all."

They were both near tears again, awash in exhaustion, wine, and mutual feeling.

And I'll kneel down
Wait for now

"I hope that there is," she said finally, her voice wavering.

"Is what?"

"A day after this one."

"As do I," he agreed sadly, his voice breaking. There was that hope he'd been craving, that light shining in the darkness, showing him the way. He took a step back, "Rest. You know the dead won't." He held her glance for another moment, cementing it in his mind before nodding and turning toward his door.

"You're stronger than you think you are," she muttered to his back through the darkness.

"I hope you're right," he whispered over his shoulder, afraid to look at her again. He waited until he heard her door shut with a thud before entering his own chamber. As he closed the door behind him, he pressed his back to it and sank to the ground. Unbeknownst to him, she'd done the same on the other side of the hall. Neither slept much.

When the horns sounded, Brienne rose from the floor and stretched her limbs. It was still dark, and an uneasy chill hung in the air. She fed the fire and adjusted her armor. Then, clutching Oathkeeper, she said a prayer to the Warrior.

When she opened her door, Jaime was standing at attention across the dark hall, his door having just closed behind him. She nodded to him and preceded him down the stairs.

A/N: I do not own Game of Throne or these characters; some dialogue may be taken verbatim from HBO's Game of Thrones or George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. Lyrics used are directly from Mumford & Sons' "I Will Wait" (C) 2012.