"Brienne." Sansa's voice coming into her office jolted Brienne from her work. "Am I interrupting?" She was but Brienne found organising troops to be dreadfully dull, especially when she would only receive complaints and probably have to change them again.

"Not at all," Brienne said, gesturing to the seat opposite the desk. "What can I help you with?" Sansa took the seat with grace, so unlike Brienne who was always so lumbering and awkward. Everything Sansa did was graceful.

"This morning I wanted to speak to you alone but the dragon queen wanted to be involved and Jon wants me to be friends with her, so I thought I'd make the effort." Brienne's lips twitched. "I did want to check you were happy, though."

Brienne felt comforted by the look of genuine concern on Sansa's face. "I am happy, my lady," Brienne said. Sansa gave her a look and Brienne smiled. "Sansa," she corrected.

"I never imagined that you would want to get married and have children. It is what you want, isn't it? Ser Jaime isn't putting any pressure on you?"

Brienne almost snorted. Every time Jaime fucked her he mentioned children and Brienne felt a sparkle of excitement inside her each time. "I never thought it would happen, Sansa," Brienne told her and Sansa smiled. Brienne ignored the pity in her liege's eyes. "I promise this is what I want."

"And, if you do become pregnant, what will you do?" she asked. Brienne considered how many times Jaime had fucked her in the past day. If her body was as fertile as her young age promised, she was likely already pregnant.

"Continue to aid you in whatever way I can, my lady, but I will not risk the life of my child." Brienne's own mother had died in the birthing bed and as had Jaime's. Undue stress was not worth the potential pain. Sansa nodded, smiling.

"I would not risk the life of your child, either. I am sure she or he will be very dear to me. I would have you continue the paperwork side of things," Sansa said, gesturing to the paperwork on the desk, "and I would keep you by my side, as my companion if not my guard." Brienne smiled. She would be a terrible companion. "Even when you are not wielding the sword yourself, you are invaluable in spotting danger."

Brienne bobbed her head and Sansa smiled. "I will tell you as soon as I am pregnant," Brienne told her. Sansa's lips twitched.

"I assume it will be soon." Brienne pressed the back of her hands to her cheeks to try and cover the blush. It only made Sansa laugh. "I will let you get back to your work, Brienne. I only wanted to check."

At the door, Sansa paused and Brienne looked at her questioningly. Sansa shook her head slightly. "I just wanted to say that I hope you will be so happy." Tears sprang to Brienne's eyes and she barely nodded before Sansa had left.

Shaking herself, Brienne turned back to the paperwork, stifling a groan. This was not her speciality.

An hour later, Brienne found herself glancing at the door, hoping for a visitor, perhaps Arya or one of the other high-ranking officers in Sansa's household. Her mind wandered as she glanced outside to see that the sun was high in the sky. She was needed by Lady Sansa in perhaps an hour, although she knew that Sansa would send her maid to fetch her when it was. It was far easier than trusting the sun, Sansa said. When Sansa had finished her discussions about organising the bodies from the battle to be burnt, she would spend time with her sister until sundown, most likely, when Brienne would have dinner with her and Arya. And then she would return to her chambers.

Where Jaime would be waiting. Or so she hoped. She knew he had some things to do but expected that he would be finished before her. A smile played at Brienne's lips. So domestic. She knew that it was rather romantic of her to say but she loved every part of her new found thing with Jaime. She loved him saying he loved her. She loved telling him she loved him, watching him smile and not smirk or grin. And she loved fucking him.

She'd always assumed, back when she only had her fingers and her imagination, that Jaime would be good in bed. He certainly talked a good talk. Over the past day, he had certainly proved himself. Obviously, Brienne didn't have any comparison. But she loved being in bed with him, loved the way he made her feel. She'd heard enough talk around war camps to know that sex wasn't always good. Jaime certainly made her feel good.

Brienne's face heated as she remembered the previous day. And night. And that morning. Her brief reverie was startled by a knock at the door. Her eyes bulged and she pressed her hands to her face in an effort for them to cool down. The door opened, before Brienne had even asked them in, and revealed Jaime, still dressed in Podrick's clothes.

She gave him what she hoped was an admonishing look. "You should wait until I say come in. I could have been in a meeting." Jaime shrugged and sauntered over to her. Brienne misliked the smug look on his face. It never meant anything good.

"You're not, though," he said, stood next to her and leaning against her desk, forcing Brienne to arch her neck to look up at him. He took the opportunity and bent down to press a soft kiss to her lips. "What are you doing?" he asked, picking up some papers and then dropping them again unceremoniously. Brienne pursed her lips, reorganising the papers into careful piles.

"Organising the soldiers," she told him. Jaime widened his eyes mockingly, glancing at the papers again and then back to her.

"Riveting," he said. "I can think of something more fun to be doing." Brienne's lips betrayed her by transforming into a smile at the sight of Jaime's lascivious grin.

"No, Jaime," Brienne protested. "I have a meeting in an hour and I need to do this so that I don't have to do this again tomorrow." Jaime's grin did not fade. He pressed a kiss to her lips and lingered this time. When he pulled away, Brienne subconsciously followed him, desperate for more.

"I'll be really quick," Jaime whined and Brienne rolled her eyes.

"Is that a brag?" Jaime glared at her and kissed her again. Brienne wanted to give in so much and she truly hated doing the organisation. He moved her chair with some effort and stood between her thighs, which opened easily at his prompting. Reaching for the laces on her breeches, he gave her a look with wide, pleading eyes.

As if Brienne was ever going to say no.

She reached for his breeches too and he grinned, pressing their lips together again, more passionately. "Did you bar the door?" she panted when they pulled apart. Jaime groaned and pulled away.

"Take your breeches off." Brienne did as he said, as he backed up towards the door to bar it and then returned to her, stood only in a shirt, leaning against the desk. Jaime grinned and parted her legs again. "Sit on the desk, wench," he said, raising his eyebrows at her. She gave him a warning look but did as he suggested anyway.

"I'll kill you if you get anything on that paper and I have to start again," she said, spreading her legs to give his fingers access. She moaned softly at his gentle caresses, unsurprised that she was already wet for him.

"It'll be you making the mess, Brienne," Jaime promised before claiming her mouth again. It always surprised Brienne how efficient Jaime could be between her legs when he was kissing her too. He pulled away and undid his own breeches, just enough to make it possible, but not enough that he couldn't cover them if someone got through the door.

"Hurry, before someone comes," Brienne said, grinning and reaching up to kiss him. He flinched and Brienne looked at him curiously. His eyes had gone wide and his lips parted. "Jaime-" But he didn't let her finish. As quickly as his actions had paused, they started again. He sheathed himself inside her in one thrust, distracting Brienne from whatever had upset Jaime. Brienne let out a whine, covered immediately by Jaime's mouth. She tightened her legs above his arse and groaned against his lips when she felt him hit something deep inside her, pleasure radiating in waves. "So good," she muttered against his lips. He smirked. Brienne moved her mouth from his lips to his neck, trying to copy the kisses he had given her there over the past day or so, kisses that were still evident in the marks he had left. She was gratified every time he moaned or bucked his hips wildly.

Jaime was hissing something in her ear but she couldn't concentrate. His fingers were rubbing circles around her clit, just the right amount of pressure, and Brienne could feel her climax building. She loved fucking him, so much. He was so good. She loved him so much.

"I love you," Brienne panted, cupping his face. A smile spread across Jaime's lips and he captured hers in a searing kiss, covering the grunts and moans escaping from Brienne's mouth despite their location.

"I love you," he replied, tenderly despite his frantic actions between her legs. "Are you close?" Brienne nodded tightly, feeling herself reaching the top of the mountain, ready to tumble down to safety in Jaime's arms. He kissed Brienne again and Brienne tried to pull him closer. She never wanted to let him go.

"I- Jaime-" she cried out, arching her back as he pushed her over the edge, making her clamp down all her muscles on him. He groaned and finished himself, masking his cry of passion in a bite on her shoulder. Breaths still coming ragged and fast, Brienne clenched her legs around him and pushed her hands through his hair as he recovered.

When he started to move backwards and away from her, Brienne shook her head, pressing their foreheads together. "No, stay there," she pleaded. He gave her a funny look. "What?"

Jaime shrugged, hiding his face in her hair. "You told me to hurry."

Brienne reached and moved his head so that he was looking her in the eyes. She saw wariness there and furrowed her brow, releasing her legs. She kept her eyes on him, narrowed, while he fixed his breeches and rubbed a hand over his face. Realising he had no plans to make eye contact with her, Brienne tried to find her own breeches, feeling empty and sticky between her legs.

"Right, I'm going to go." Brienne shot him a wounded look. "You have a meeting and-"

"Not for half an hour at least, Jaime," she protested, finding her breeches behind the desk and redressing. She tightened her own laces and then approached Jaime to tighten his. He flushed. She met his eyes. "What's going on? You're acting strange."

Jaime shrugged her away, stepping back. "You were in a rush. I should go."

Brienne shook her head. "Why does it matter if I was in a rush? I didn't want anyone to find-" Brienne's heart fell as her face did. Cersei. He must have been told to hurry so many times before. Brienne approached him, ignoring his lowered eyes, and placed her hands on his cheeks. "You can take as much time with me as you like."

"You told me to hurry," he repeated. Brienne gave him a sad smile and he returned it. "I'm sorry." Brienne shook her head.

"No," she muttered, pressing a butterfly kiss to his lips. "I'm sorry. Please tell me when something bothers you."

Jaime shook his head, leaning against her desk. "It shouldn't bother me."

Brienne pressed a kiss on his lips again. "Jaime, I- she treated you dishonourably." Jaime snorted and Brienne felt her lips twitch. "Well, yes, aside from the obvious, she treated you as though you weren't worthy." Jaime clenched his jaw and Brienne dipped her head to kiss it. "I don't want this to be a one way thing. I want to be together."

Jaime nodded hurriedly. "So do I. Gods, Brienne, so do I. I'm sorry that-"

"You have nothing to be sorry for!" Brienne interrupted.

"Wench, let me speak," he said and Brienne ducked her head. "Cersei used me. From when we were young, all she wanted to be was me, to be able to be a lord rather than a lady, a king rather than a queen. She hated that the only différence between us that she could see was a cock. She spent our whole childhood telling me how we could only ever love each other, no one else. So, by the time she came to my bed, wet and wanting, I didn't believe anything else. I didn't think I could love anyone else.

"What she wanted was for me to be completely loyal to her, so that I could do all the things she couldn't - fight her wars, protect our children with my sword. I became a kingsguard for her, gave up my seat and future for her. If she couldn't have something, neither could I. And it made her even happier if she could have something I couldn't. Gods, Brienne, I did truly love her. I thought I truly loved her. I was obsessed by her. She consumed me and then I met you and I lost my hand and I returned to her and I thought she'd changed but it was me who had changed. There were things I wouldn't do for her. I questioned what she said rather than just do her bidding without thought.

"What I want to say is I'm sorry that it took me so long to break away from her, break out of the obsession I fell under. I always thought we were two sides of the same soul, that I couldn't be whole without her. But, with you, it's like you look at me and remind me that I already am whole."

Brienne was crying by the time he finished, tears slipping down her cheeks despite her eye-burning attempts to stop them. She had never asked for details of his relationship with his sister, never wanted to know. And, now that she did know, it made her so angry that Cersei had been so cruel. She reached up and cupped Jaime's cheek. "You did some things wrong," she told him and he tried to duck his head. She kept it firmly in place. "You did some things wrong, Jaime, but I forgive you. I love you. You are honourable and true and I am so proud to be marrying you so that everyone can know how much I love you and honour you."

Jaime's face spread in a smile. "I love you, wench," he said and Brienne scowled. He chuckled. "I'm sorry for being so somber." Brienne shook her head.

"Be as somber as you like, as you need," she said, kissing his chin. "You can make it up to me later."

A grin unfurled on Jaime's face. "Yeah?" he queried. Brienne nodded, hoping that the smile on her face was playful. "I promise I will," he said, kissing her.

When Brienne's meeting started twenty minutes later, she dismissed Jaime with a kiss to his lips. He left her office with a grin still on his face.

XXX

"What has you grinning, brother?"

Jaime hadn't been two minutes out of Brienne's office when his brother found him. Brienne had told him that Tyrion wanted to speak with him that morning but Jaime had important business with his troops and, truth be told, he wasn't sure he wanted to hear what Tyrion wanted to say.

"I doubt it has anything to do with being in this cold hell, so I'm assuming it has something to do with your bride-to-be." Jaime did not like Tyrion's mocking tone but said nothing. Most of the things Tyrion said were mocking. And Jaime knew there would be worse to come. "Were you going to tell me you were getting married?"

Jaime shot a funny look down at Tyrion as he followed him into his chambers. "I did tell you!"

"You told Sansa."

Jaime shrugged. "You were there. And Sansa is your wife so-"

"Sansa is not my wife," Tyrion snapped, walking away from Jaime towards his window seat, overlooking the yard. Jaime raised his eyebrows at his back. Touchy. "Anyway, I don't care about that. I care more about the fact that you left Cersei, stole her armies and came all the way up north. When did you fall out of love with Cersei?"

This question took Jaime more aback. He reached up to scratch his head, settling into the seat opposite Tyrion and glancing out of the window. "Tyrion, you know that that- that relationship was wrong and dishonourable."

"Yes," Tyrion said, inclining his head. "I've had to watch you suffer through it all my life." Jaime closed his eyes and opened them again, trying to ignore all of the times he had chosen Cersei over Tyrion, despite her cruelty. "What changed?"

Jaime sighed. "I've just spoken about her with Brienne. Do I have to do this again now?" Tyrion gave him a derisive look and Jaime glared. "I was chained up for a year, Tyrion, and then I met Brienne and she reminded me that I could be better. She reminded me of my dreams, of who I had wanted to be and, when I actually did good things, she believed that I could keep doing them and - fuck, is it so wrong for me to want to be a good person?"

Tyrion blinked. "I did not say it was wrong."

"You didn't say it was right," Jaime mumbled, watching the young squires duel in the yard. After a few moments of silence, Jaime turned to Tyrion again. "I don't want to spend my whole life defending what I did with Cersei. I hate who I was, hate who she made me, but I can be someone better now, make the right choices now."

"And that's why you're marrying her? Because she makes you feel better about yourself?"

Jaime saw red. "I'm marrying her because I'm in love with her," he snapped. Tyrion merely raised his brows. "I want to spend the rest of my life with her. Yes, she makes me feel better about myself, but not because she condones my actions. She's not like Cersei. She makes me feel better about myself because she makes me see who I could be if I made the right choices. And she makes me feel better about myself because she loves me. She sees me, sees my past, knows all of my secrets and still loves me, truly."

Tyrion put his hands up. "Okay, okay, you love her." That mocking tone again. Jaime's anger did not leash itself.

"Why do you have a problem with this? Is it because you're bitter and alone?"

Jaime regretted it the moment he said it. Tyrion furrowed his brow and curled his upper lip. "It'll be you who is bitter and alone when Cersei kills your bride without a second thought." Jaime shook his head. "What? Are you going to protect her? A one-handed knight past his prime?"

Jaime scoffed, looking away from his brother's broken face. "I've spent my whole life doing exactly what Cersei wants me to do. I refuse to give up this life because of her too. I am going to marry Brienne and we're going to have a family."

"A family that Cersei will hunt down and kill," Tyrion scoffed.

"Yes!" Jaime shouted, standing up. "Cersei can hunt us all down and try and kill us but Brienne and I will protect this life with our lives. By the Seven, Tyrion, it's like you want me to be miserable!"

"I want you to be realistic. All you're doing is angering Cersei. Once you've done this, she will never take you back."

Jaime's jaw dropped. "You truly believe I am doing this to make Cersei jealous?" Tyrion shrugged. "Gods, Tyrion, I know I've been pathetic for years for Cersei but who do you think I am? I love Brienne. I'm marrying her because I want to spend the rest of my life with her."

Tyrion sighed. "Jaime, you have to understand-"

"No, Tyrion, you have to understand," Jaime said, thrusting his finger into Tyrion's face, "I am getting married in a week. If you don't want to be there, don't be. I'm creating a new family. I don't need my old one."