The first guests were due to arrive for the Lanister/Tarth wedding in the morning. Lord Selwyn had arranged a grand meal for his daughter and her fiancé, giving him the opportunity to question them both, endlessly on ceremony preparations and when they were due on their way to commence their tour of Westeros for their honeymoon.
Brienne had seemed a little distant during the meal, quietly eating her food and watching how well her soon-to-be husband was getting along with her fine father.
Jamie felt happy with his decisions and proud of how much he seemed to impress the Lord of Tarth [he could be very charming given the right circumstance]. For some reason he had found it very important to earn the good grace of this man… he fooled himself into thinking it was simply to have him agree to the wedding of his daughter… but in honesty, the respect of the man was more and more important to Jamie as he saw how loving and kind he was to Brienne.
It seemed that Lord Selwyn mattered to Brienne, making his opinion matter to Jamie. Interesting…
In truth, Jamie found he liked the Lord of Tarth; there was an almost an infectious enthusiasm that issued forth from Lord Selwyn that even the starkest man would struggle to find fault with.
After being assured by Brienne and observing her with Jamie over the past few weeks, Selwyn had been appeased and taken a great delight in each aspect of his only childs wedding. He approved the flowers and the food, the guests and the rituals… and, Jamie flattered himself, Lord Tarth even approved of his soon-to-be son-in-law…
"I wish you both all the best," Sewyn was saying as Brienne sank further into her chair, "you are well matched children… you, Ser Jamie… Just the sort of Knight my little Brienne always admired."
"Father," Brienne finally said, "I have not been your LITTLE Brienne for many years."
Selwyn gave a hazy, wine-soaked grin and Jamie got the distinct impression that his betrothed had never ceased to be a little girl in her father's eyes. "You have and have always had, good judgement, my girl. And this man is no exception. I hope you have many years ahead; fruitful and prosperous years!"
Brienne stood, "Excuse me, My Lords."
And as she retreated, Jamie found his head shaking… he just didn't understand it. He had given her time to adjust to the idea, he was getting on with her family, he had acquiesced to each and every request and demand… aside from a slight loss of control where he tore at her clothing and took full advantage of her innocence… he had been a true and worthy gentlemen.
Jamie shook his head… guilt was getting him nowhere.
"Son…" Selwyn sighed, "Trust me when I say that women are complicated creatures…"
Jamie nodded sagely… until Selwyns wide eyes caused him to question, "What?"
"Go after her, you plank!"
The dullness in the older mans voice made Jamie leap to his feet, "Right!"
He rushed out the room…
"Brienne," he called, quickening his pace to catch her and angering when she sped up to outrun him, "Brienne!"
Like a hind in the hunt, she bolted for safety… rushing to her sanctuary as he picked up his pace and caught her before she had managed to unlock her chamber…
He slammed the door with his golden hand, forcing it shut and causing Brienne to crumple against the wood.
But it was beyond confusion for Jamie… he just wanted to understand; "I haven't seen you in days…" he said in a low tone, "and now you run from me as if I may harm you…"
She still hadn't moved… scrunched against the door as she was and refusing to look at him…
"Is this because of the other day?" He questioned, "Brienne, I am sorry if I frightened you but I trust you understand that I would never harm you," he tried to bend to look her in the eye. "I thought you had enjoyed it?"
But still, she pressed herself into the door as though she willed her entire being to become the oak itself…
The sheer dismissal tore a hole in Jamie's chest… it felt worse than even the moment his hand had been removed. "I didn't force myself-"
"No!" She said quickly, turning to him, "you didn't. And I wouldn't have let you if you had tried…"
"So, why..?"
"Did you hear him?" Brienne asked in a whisper so soft Jamie almost had to stop breathing, "He wants a true marriage for his little girl… he wants grandchildren…" and then she turned to him, "Jamie… this thing of convenience for us means so much to my father. He thinks we are in love… he thinks we are marrying for all the reasons people should."
More incredible than the concept of his woman cowering in fear came the realisation that her eyes were swelling with tears…
He had to say something! Anything… "Very few people marry for love, Brienne."
Silence.
That hadn't helped at all
"I don't think I can do this…" she admitted, quietly.
And something snapped as he gripped her to him, clumsily opened the door to the room and forced them both inside; they couldn't do this in the corridor… Once in the chamber, Brienne fell back against the closing door, the momentum dragging Jamie with her and crushing his body against hers.
"What can't you do, Brienne?" He demanded in great confusion, "Marry me? Is that what you're saying? Or are you thinking I would ever expect or demand more of you?" He waited impatiently…
"I never thought I would marry at all…" she said, not really answering him, "And it makes sense to marry you for all the reasons you gave me…" The tears finally fell from her eyes and he felt wretched, unable to stop them as she sobbed, the motion ripping through her, causing a lung of air to be gulped in… "But I'm lying to him… My father thinks we are in love… and it isn't real, Jamie."
No, they weren't in love, Jamie admitted to himself. But he admired and respected her and the thought of her this upset hurt him deeply… "Is that what you're afraid of?" He asked, "Lying to your father?"
She nodded, looking to him with no more tears but searching…
And it occurred to Jamie that the sacrifice of her freedom and the union of the two houses… the money and power and status would, of course, mean nothing to the woman who prided herself on honour…
Of course the lye of it all would be the most intolerable part…
He remembered describing her as absurdly loyal… it was a quality he admired greatly. He remembered being so… once upon a time. It was something precious about his wench. Something he was determined to protect.
"There are many kinds of love, Brienne," he said, "there is passion, there is empathy, there is friendship…"
"And we are…"
"Friends," he said, knowing there was more but not wanting to scare her…
"I have never let a friend touch me the way you did, Jamie…" she said.
His heart flipped… she just admitted she let him kiss her. He felt a flush, "No?"
She looked at him with large, blue eyes… "No."
The swirl of emotion rolled through him and he couldn't help but ask, "Did you like it?"
Her eyes flicked downward and his breath caught, wondering if she was remembering the feel of him against her hand… wondering if she wanted to feel that way again…
"You haven't answered me," he pointed out, trying to beat back the excitement gripping his chest, "Did you like what we did at your dress fitting?"
And she looked up to him, eyes lingering on his lips a moment before meeting his, "Yes."
Before he had realised it, Jamie had gathered her in his arms again, pressing his lips to hers and determined to make this a slow and sensual feeling, in contrast to their last kiss. But to his elation, he found Brienne gripping his arms and dragging him further against her own body, pressing them both against the door.
Jamie braced his golden hand behind her, as his other ran up her body, feeling the curves that teased him so much in her wedding gown… he tried to breathe to slow himself down…
But Brienne was determined, taking charge of the kiss, swirling her tongue impatiently about his own and pressing Jamie further to her…
He completely lost any chance of calming himself when her long leg dragged up the outside of his and hooked about his hip, slamming them both together…
He was lost… the scent of her filling his lungs, the taste of her on his tongue and now the thought she had brought them that much closer to joining… his hand wove between them…
Brienne froze when his fingers found her and something inside him whispered that this wasn't the way things should be between them… but she had made the offer with her body even if she hadn't thought of what she was doing or asking or craving…
His finger moved; small circles, caressing as he felt her shudder and her tongue resumed its rough exploration of his mouth…
The first, tentative touch of her hand on him almost made his knees buckle as they both juddered heavy breath between each other and his eyes shot open to see her looking at him, her tongue still in his mouth, her hand moving up and down the length of him…
Blood and lust fired through him at the thought that Brienne, his Brienne, wanted to touch him… and he growled, making the look in her eye darken as she stroked him through his breeches and gave a little bite on his lower lip…
The room swirled and Jamie couldn't stop himself… he found the strength from somewhere to pin her harder against the wall and devour her entirely, only further encouraged as she began to whimper… and the sound made him want to hear more…
A knock sounded at the door, "Ser Jamie…"
Briennes eyes snapped wide with shock as Jamie urged, "Ignore him…" and covered her mouth with his again, quickening his pace on her, hearing her moan and feeling her leg tighten on his hip…
"Ser Jamie…"
Tearing his mouth from Briennes, Jamie growled, "Not now!"
But she had already stopped touching him… Gods! He was going to KILL that squire…
"I must insist…" the boy squeaked.
Jamie pulled back a little and Brienne rested her hands on his chest, stilling their heartbeats and cooling their breathing as they parted…
"What is it?"
"Your wedding party has arrived, my Lord…"
Cersie… Jamie thought and looked down at himself… he had better straighten himself up…
But when he looked to Brienne, it didn't matter anymore… her hair was ruffled and skin pinked from their exertions… but those big, ocean eyes continued to display her vulnerability and appeal…
You aren't really… Jamie wondered, are you?
He stepped further away from her, "I should greet them."
Something in her stance deflated, "Of course you should…"
Jamie wondered why she gave
And with that, he swirled his cloak about himself and left the room.
()()()
Tywin Lannister smiled, looking overly pleased from some unfathomable reason…
Jamie did his best to swallow the paranoia running rough-shot through his mind, but the way the old man grinned at him and kept casting glances Briennes way made Jamie nervous.
Cersie had scowled constantly throughout their tour of Evenfall Hall and requested the bride-to-be escort her and her fiancée to their chambers the moment the tour was concluded.
Jamie hadn't liked the idea, but Brienne had given his hand a reassuring squeeze before she led his sister away…
They were so vastly different, Cersie and Brienne… Jamie noted so many physical differences as the women walked away… He had only ever loved Cersie, but in loving her he had to accept who she was and as she disappeared from sight he found he didn't completely trust her. Not with Brienne.
Would he ever trust anyone with Brienne?
And then his father requested to speak with him privately…
"I trust the wedding plans are complete," the older Lannister asked from behind a large glass of wine as he sat to watch the sunset across the water…
"As much as can be," Jamie replied, cautiously… still unnerved by his fathers amusement.
"And the brides dress…" Tywin began, locking Jamie in his gaze, "it has been repaired?"
And there it was…
"How did you…" Jamie began before back-tracking slightly to ask, "What have you heard?"
The older man gave a funny look that was almost playful as he gave a laugh, "Come now, Jamie…you can tell me…"
The dress had cost a fair price, but Jamie couldn't believe his father would be angry over it… "I thought we had managed to keep that private."
Tywin chuckled.
The sound was so alien to Jamie that he almost had to pinch himself to make certain he wasn't dreaming…
"Oh my son!" Tywin moved an arm about Jamies shoulders in such a warm manner the younger man could hardly recall but for his early childhood…
Jamie couldn't help a smile and began to chuckle with his father…
"For so many years I have thrown women and whores and ladies and serving boys at you…" the old man rolled his eyes, "anything to get you away from your sister…"
That halted Jamies laughter…
"And here we find a woman who no other man would touch…" the laughter stopped and he sighed, "except you…"
"Father…"
"Oh, Jamie… I was told all about the dress fitting fiasco…"
Jamies eyes widened, "Father…"
"About you helping The Maid of Tarth out of her silks…"
Jamie shook his head, "You don't understand…"
"Oh! I understand, Jamie… From the reported state in which you were both in when you left her chambers, I understand entirely…" then his chuckling ceased… "I am not entirely decrepit, you know… in fact, I have a paramour of my own awaiting my return in the city…"
Jamies stomach rolled; the whispers he had heard in Kingslanding were true then? He hopes his brother would never hear them…
"I am pleased, Jamie," his father said, shocking the man…
"Pleased?" Then Jamie, again, wondered what the old man was scheming, "You have never been pleased with anything in all the years I have known you."
Tywin nodded and raised his glass, "Perhaps, this once, life is allowing me some joy in the path laid before my family…"
Jamie grimaced, "The family is at war, your Grandson is dead and your youngest child is in exile…"
"But my eldest son remains… the Lord of Casterly… and will produce many fine children who can share both the Lannister home and now this house of Tarth…" he tipped the glass towards himself, "A fine match indeed."
Shaking his head, Jamie left the room.
()()()
"He's a little slut and you know it, you pathetic waste of skin."
"Knock, knock," Jamie called, entering his sisters chamber with no further announcement.
Cersie was poised in her chair on the veranda, looking about ready to leap from the thing and strike Loras, who gave the first impression of a deeply upset school child…
Jamie looked between them, "I trust you were not describing me?"
Cersie sat back in her chair, glaring at her husband, "We were discussing my fiancées choice of hunting partner for our honeymoon," she said though her teeth, "Loras was proposing the squire, Seamund be the one to fetch his kills and polish his… armour…"
Jamie shook his head, there was no escape for poor Loras. Cersie would not let him hide behind pretence… and, he imagined, if he were to take a lover, she would make him aware she expected to be able to do the same.
Loras looked to Jamie quite nervously, making the older man assess the child before him and conclude; his sister would eat the poor creature alive should he provoke her.
The young rose clearly agreed, excused himself and beat a hasty retreat from the battle… leaving Jamie with his sister.
They regarded each other for a time, until Jamie broke, "A fine husband he will make."
Cersie snorted, "Just as fine as the specimen you have set your eyes upon."
Jamie instantly regretted his comment and held up his hand, "I really didn't come here to fight."
"A shame," she admitted, "because I have nothing but fight in me. I have no intention of giving in as easily as you would have me."
He approached the veranda… the sun was almost set and he wondered if the scene was a portent for their situation, "There is no fight, Cersie… there is only survival."
His sister clutched her chest and mocked, "How profound."
But he was tired and just wanted peace between them, "Can we at least agree to make it through our weddings with some degree of civility?"
"No."
Jamie sighed; at least she was honest. He hadn't really supposed they would be able to part in such a manner on amicable terms, "At the very least," he asked, "would you try to stay your enthusiasm for my joining day and remain dignified."
"Dignified?" Cersie questioned, "Oh, my brother… my celebrations have already begun…"
And before he could question her, the squire he had so recently contemplated strangling entered the room… and before the child could even announce his presence, Jamie felt a twinge of pain rush through his head… "What?"
And the boy… whose permanent expression, it seemed, was one of sheer panic said, "Your Maid, Ser Jamie…"
Jamie ground his teeth; Cersie sniggered.
"Yes…"
"She withdraws her conscent, my Lord…"
Jamie blinked.
He shook his head…
"What?"
The boy shifted, nervously, from one foot to the other… "She will not marry you, Sire…"
And Jamie suddenly felt his chest hollow…
Cersie laughed and raised a glass of wine, "Let the games begin!"