CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE: The Truth Outs

"If you tell the truth,

You don't have to remember anything."

-Mark Twain

Jaime's mouth went slack as he gaped at the clearly defined bump at his wife's midsection.

"You're…I- We've been travelling for a week now. It's been months since we left King's Landing!" He stumbled towards Caryssa, his stolen sword slipping from slack fingers, nearly tripping over the savaged corpse of a newly one-armed Dothraki screamer. "How long have you known?"

Wide-eyed and cursing herself for her lapse in judgement, Caryssa fumbled for something to say.

This was not how she had envisioned her husband discovering her pregnancy. She had not actually intended for Jaime to find out at all, at least not until the war was over, or Tywin and Cersei were cold in their graves.

On the one hand, there was Lord Karstark, who desired nothing more than to see her husband a head shorter, and, on the other, were her goodfather and goodsister, one who would use her unborn child to usurp her brother's claim to Winterfell and the other who would cut both her and her babe's throats herself if she could.

Yet, she could not help but feel guilty at the hurt clear in Jaime's eyes.

He hated to be vulnerable, to be weak, but his eyes betrayed him every time.

Caryssa's reasons for concealing her pregnancy had been, were still, valid.

And yet.

"Since before we left the capital."

"Why didn't you say something? Why didn't you tell me?"

His hands hovered between them, dirty fingertips not quite brushing her swollen stomach.

"You attacked my father and killed my friend. You kidnapped me and waged war on my family. My father was murdered by your illegitimate son that you fathered with your twin sister," Caryssa released a harsh breath, her face screwed in pain and tears welled in her eyes. "Having a child of my own…it's everything I've ever wanted, and I can't even enjoy it, because my husband is my enemy. I couldn't share my news with my family or friends, because if it spread your father would use our child as his tool to stealing the North and my brother…my loyalty to him would be questioned by his men."

"Lord Karstark," Brienne breathed, drawing the couple's attention. Viscera dripped down the maid's face, but she did not seem to notice as she gazed intently at the princess' belly. "Lady Catelyn mentioned it was surprising that you had appeared nervous when confronting him after the Kingslayer's recapture, but it was because of the babe. The Kingslayer killed Lord Karstark's sons, and you were afraid of what he might do to your babe if he found out."

Jaime craned his filth-covered face back towards his wife, his heart skipping a beat when he noted the tear tracks through the dirt and blood splatter that painted her cheeks.

He could count on one hand the amount of times he had seen his wife cry since they had met, and the one thing all those moments had in common; him. Every single time, and they'd been married less than a year.

"You thought your brother's own men would harm you just for carrying my child?"

"Rickard Karstark is an honorable man," Caryssa stated, avoiding Jaime's soft, green eyes. She did not want his concern. Had he been a different man, she would not have been put in this position. Jory may not have been borne of one of the Great Houses of Westeros but carrying his child would not have put her in so much risk. "But grief can turn even the gentlest heart to wickedness. He wanted vengeance and Robb denied him. I worried if I made my announcement that he would see a different path to the revenge he so desperately sought."

"Ryssa, I-"

His voice was soft, his eyes tender, and he lifted his hands to delicately cup her face, filthy thumbs carefully wiping her tears away.

Caryssa swallowed a sob.

"My father thought that marrying me to you would keep me safe, but, by being Jaime Lannister's wife, I have never been in more danger," Caryssa whispered, as she brushed her husband's hands away from her and stepped back to put distance between them. She replaced her bow onto her back and looked to their captor. "We should search the bodies before we move on. We might find something useful."

The princess stepped around a motionless Jaime, bending down to collect her discarded cloak before clicking her fingers, beckoning her four-legged companion back to her side.

Rhaenyra's muzzle was stained dark red, just like in Caryssa's dreams, and the human had to grit her teeth to avoid vomiting again.

"We should discuss this, how this impacts our mission-"

"Our? My wife and I were dragged on this so-called quest of Lady Stark's against our will!"

Brienne ignored Jaime's interruption, glowering at him fiercely before continuing.

"If I had known you were with child, I'd have never been so rough with you, nor would I have dragged you along-"

"I'm not suddenly some delicate flower in need of coddling!" The young woman snapped. She was with child, not an invalid. She glanced over the bodies of the dead when one caught her eye. Caryssa moved towards him and started to reach down when her back screamed at her for her effort. She made a face. "This one's clothes are finer than his men's. Would one of you turn him over, please?"

"What was that about not being a delicate flower?" Jaime sniped, before he trudged over to the dead man in question and shoved his body until his face faced the sky. "This is Vargo Hoat. He was one of my father's men. Why would he attack me?"

"He might've been the first one Princess Caryssa shot. Check his pockets. He might be carrying orders from Tywin. We can see what his intentions were."

"Ah, there you go, wench, proving to us all that you're not just an ugly face."

Brienne and Caryssa both scowled at the lion, forcing him to roll his eyes and do as they bid.

Vargo's pockets were empty, but his boots concealed a knife.

A knife that bore the sigil of House Bolton.

"It seems your father's gold doesn't buy the amount of loyalty that it used to." Caryssa remarked.

Jaime simply narrowed his eyes at her, before glancing back at Hoat's rapidly cooling corpse.

"Why would Hoat switch allegiances to Roose Bolton of all people?" Brienne questioned.

Caryssa had suspicions.

Roose Bolton was not known for his kindness and honesty. He was a cruel, hard man, one her father would have happily seen to the chopping block had he had the evidence to charge him with a crime.

The Boltons' sigil was a flayed man for a reason, and though flaying was outlawed in the North, there were still whispers of the practice being used against prisoners in the Dreadfort.

Ned Stark had never been able to prove the rumours true, but they persisted.

"Bolton must have offered him something that Tywin Lannister wouldn't," Caryssa murmured, before turning to her captor. "See if you can find a couple of their horses somewhere in the trees, Lady Brienne. We'll get to the capital more quickly on horseback, and we should make haste. Sansa has been under the Lannisters' thumb for too long."

"You want to continue on this foolish quest? Have you gone mad, wife?"

Caryssa sighed and prayed for the strength with which to handle her husband.

"For better or worse, my mother has provided me with an opportunity to make a difference in this war. Without Sansa, your father has little left to bargain with. He's losing this war and if Robb takes Casterly Rock, the illusion Tywin has spent so many years crafting fades," Caryssa stepped closer to Jaime, her eyes holding contact with his, so that her words would hit him deep in the gut, "If he loses the Rock, House Lannister is no longer a House to be feared, and a House that inspires no fear can fall."

A/N:

Hey guys!

So, I'm back again! I managed to write this one pretty quickly, but the next chapter might take longer, partly because I intend on making it a longer chapter and because I need to go back and watch the show again for some canon inspiration. But ta-da!

The response to the last chapter was overwhelming...you guys have no idea how great it felt to see all your comments and how positive they all were! It really made July seem slightly less crappy!

So...Jaime and Brienne know about the baby now! It's out in the open, well between these three anyway. I've already got baby's name picked out and everything...honestly can't wait until I get to the part of the fic where Baby Starkister is born! Oh, and Jaime got to keep his hand! Hope that little change pleases some of you!

I'm sorry that this chapter was short, but I'm gonna take a little longer for the next one to try and at least double the length of this one!

Anyway a huge thank you to all of my lovely reviewers, you guys have no idea what it means to me! I know I normally just list all of you out, but I have to give a big shout-out to Brooklynhills who went back to the beginning to start leaving reviews on basically every chapter. It made me smile when I saw the long list of review emails!

Thank you to:

Bella2192, Brooklynhills, Guest (1), era-romance, serenitylovegod, Daphne Ackerman, MusesOwnMyMind, smilin steph, NicoleR85, lovesaphira, Sparky She-Demon and last but not least, Cherryhacola!

Thank you all so much, and I hope to see all of you at the next one!

Sophie x