In the morning of the next day to Jaime's arrival, they were both at the training yards. Brienne was watching the men and giving occasional instructions or offering advice and corrections, without engaging actively. Jaime at first had been wary of joining the drills, unsure of the men's reaction to him, but Brienne had interceded and eventually Jaime had engaged in the spars and exercises without bigger issue. The few ones that had survived the Long Night remembered him from the battlefield and the new recruits had heard stories, so they respected him as a knight and a fellow soldier. If they harboured any resentment against him for their lady commander's past unhappiness, they kept it to themselves, not daring to upset her by showing disrespect for her fiancé.
Because of course, by then the whole castle knew that they were betrothed. Jaime hand't been precisely discreet the previous night in the main hall, having mentioned the subject a little too loudly for everyone to hear. His devilish grin had only widened when Brienne chastised him for his indiscretion, and as if that wasn't enough to embarrass her, he grabbed her face and planted a resounding kiss on her lips. The whole hall whistled and applauded and toasted them with their wine jugs. Brienne's skin was as red as a poppy.
Despite the smooth camaraderie at the yards, Jaime was aware he was due to Pod's reprimand and expected it. The boy didn't disappoint.
As soon as Jaime took a break to drink water and wipe off the sweat from his forehead, the squire came close to him. "Ser Jaime," he greeted, fighting his own natural shyness. "Pod," Jaime reciprocated, nodding. He felt almost amused, waiting for the sermon. Or as much a sermon as Pod was capable of.
The squire took a breath to encourage himself. "Ser, I'm glad you're back with us. I feel a deep fondness and respect for you. You've become a valued friend and a comrade-at-arms I trust with my own life." He stopped to breathe and strengthen his resolution. He evidently wasn't used to speaking so much in just one go and even less used to berate someone. "But Ser, I've been near Lady Bri... Pardon me, Ser Brienne all the time you were far away. She's endured countless setbacks throughout her life and she hides her sorrows well, but I noticed. She hasn't been the same, not just because of the discomforts of pregnancy. She's been downcast and subdued, in a subtle way, because she's not the sort of woman who puts her feelings at display easily. You know her. She won't let her misfortunes get the better of her, because she is the the most selfless person I've ever met." Pod took another pause, moved by the memories. "I can see you truly love her, Ser, but I hope that you won't fail her again. I wouldn't forgive you a second time and maybe I don't look like a man who elicits fear at first sight, but I assure you that the affable side of me you are familar with would be replaced by a side you don't want to meet. I pierced Ser Mandon's head with a spear without wasting a second for attacking Lord Tyrion with his sword and splitting his face in two in the Battle of Blackwater." Pod's usual bashfulness was suddenly nowhere to be seen.
Jaime assessed the boy with renewed admiration, proud of his devotion to Brienne. "Duly noted. There won't be any need to emasculate me, I swear. I intend to pamper and devote myself to my future wife until my last breath, which will most probably be exhaled at her own hands around my neck when she grows too fed up with my annoying endless attentions."
Both men smiled and nodded to each other. A deal had been made and Jaime didn't doubt that the boy would be true to his word.
After their conversation, they resumed their training as if there had been no interruption. If Brienne had gathered the topic of their talk (which she in all probability had), she didn't let it show.
The morning passed in the blink of an eye. Everyone scattered to get ready for lunch and Brienne and Jaime headed to their chambers. She looked well rested and earlier her breakfast hadn't threatened to reappear. She'd admitted she hadn't slept so soundly in two months and her morning nausea hadn't abated so much since before realizing she was expecting. She attributed those improvements to happiness and he agreed. One didn't need to wear the maester's chains to pick up that the psychological component had a strong influence in the reactions of the body, and Brienne's had borne a heavy burden of distress and heartbreak. Jaime had expressed his regret once more, but she had dismissed it saying that it was all in the past now and anyway she didn't consider him guilty for loving her while he still had his complicated past to deal with. She reminded him of his own words in the Riverlands: We don't choose who we love. That silenced him effectively and brought a smile to his lips.
After lunch, they decided to go for a walk around the battlements. The snow had stopped its fall since early in the morning and, though as cloudy as any other damned day in the North, one at least could set foot in the open air without being stabbed by hundreds of snowflakes as sharp as razors.
The walk had been Brienne's idea. She apparently didn't miss her afternoon naps.
The repairs of the destroyed sections of the castle were progressing slowly but steadily. There were scaffolds almost everywhere. In the early afternoon the workers employed to rebuild took a break to eat their lunch and rest for a while. That was the ideal moment to stroll around without hearing the deafening sounds of men shouting to one another and dozens of tools in loud use. The castle was already noisy enough with its normal crowd of people busy with the normal tasks typical in a castle.
The cold air still bothered Jaime, but it was bearable in the afternoon when it wasn't snowing, what happened rarely.
Jaime's previous sense of guilt at Brienne's admission of her afflictions gave way to his usual mischief. "Now wench, did you have to end up taking roots in the most damned remote corner of the fucking world? I'm worn out to the bone with traveling back and forth from the South to the North and from the North to the South and back again. If this freezing backwater place is the punishment you had in store for me, you've succeeded thoroughly in making me pay. I was so done with feeling my ass go numb atop a horse and my ears and fingers falling in pieces under the godforsaken cold. What other proof you need of my adoration for you than me crossing half the world to stay in this frozen hell? I told you how much I hate the North. That must count for something." His smirk was fully displayed.
"Hasn't it begun to grow on you then? The North, I mean," she needled, remembering vividly their first drunken night together.
"Something is growing on me, but not precisely the North," he whispered sensually, pulling her by the waist to meet his hardening cock with her lower belly.
"Oh, get off me, you lustful man." She swatted him playfully, glancing furtively around to make sure no one was watching them.
He didn't relent. "Yes, get off. I like that expression. Very suggestive. I've always suspected you're a wanton wench."
"Incorrigible." Brienne shook her head.
He wrapped his arms around her more tightly. "That's my second name. It implies that you can correct me as you see fit."
She snorted. "As if I could."
He disagreed. "Definitely you can and you have. You've already tamed this wild lion. No one had achieved that feat. Cersei wasn't interested in encouraging me to be a better man. Neither my father nor my sister cared for such features as integrity or any features they deemed as weaknesses. If it weren't for Tyrion's and my aunt Genna's good influence in my life, I wouldn't have experienced honest, unconditional love. But there was only so much they could do. Corruption reached me at a very young age. I'm afraid my hands will be forever tainted. But you're the first person who has made me question my own life and made me wish to improve the way I conduct myself."
Her eyes were shining with tears. "Jaime, that's the most beautiful thing anyone has said to me."
"I intend to say a lot of beautiful things to you from now on, my love, until your ears are so sore you'll have to cover them or force me to shut my big mouth."
"I love you, my blabbermouth." And that time it was her who kissed him on full display.
