Author's Note: Thanks for your patience! I'm churning 'em out as fast as I can. Sorry this one took a bit longer. I'm gonna try to get a bit ahead so I can update the next few chapters more quickly than I have these last three. Anyway, enjoy!
Amarah inwardly cursed Jaime Lannister with every stroke through the chilly waters. How in the seven hells had she gotten herself into this mess? Just yesterday she had been warm and content within Riverrun's walls waiting for Robb's return from battle. Only to find herself now half-naked and freezing in this dirty river trying to keep her cousin's men from recapturing the man who she never should have helped release in the first place. Again, how did she do this to herself?
After she had spotted the boat chasing them down the river, she had briefly contemplated letting them retake the man who was quickly proving to be one huge, complete pain in her arse, but she had reluctantly decided against it. Since she had already made the promise to Catelyn to return the bastard to Tyrion in order to release Sansa, she had to honor her word though every fiber of her being might rebel against the thought. As Amarah gritted her teeth against the cold water that slapped her in the face with each stroke, she pictured Sansa's delicate face. She would see this through for Sansa. Otherwise, she might never escape the guilt that haunted her. So she pressed on.
Once Brienne had spotted the boat, she had surveyed the area surrounding them for any possible escape route when her eyes had landed on sloped hill just around the next bend in the river. Atop the hill were several large boulders which looked as if they might roll down into the waterway at any moment. Brienne had immediately volunteered to swim to the bank in order to roll the boulders down onto the ship that chased them. Amarah noticed the eager look in Jaime's eyes at this suggestion before realizing that he hoped Brienne would not be able to board their vessel once again after enacting her plan, thereby leaving Amarah alone with him. While she might be a match for Jaime's wit, Amarah was quite willing to admit that she was in no way able to compete with him physically. Without Brienne, Amarah had no hope of controlling him even with iron clapped about his wrists. So she had volunteered instead.
Brienne had adamantly been against it, but Amarah dismissed the lady knight's concerns by explaining her reasons. After hearing Amarah's logic, Brienne had haltingly agreed to the plan, but she still looked rather uneasy about it. Amarah was not entirely certain herself of her ability to carry off Brienne's scheme to escape the pursuing vessel, but she at least needed to try. So without taking the time to think on it further, Amarah had instantly stripped down to only her shift before diving headfirst over the side of their boat into the muddy water. The freezing temperature had been an unpleasant shock to her system when she first hit the water, and it took a few moments for her to brace herself against the discomfort in order to begin moving towards the shore.
This was where she found herself now. The water was damn cold, but she had finally managed to get close enough to shore to feel her bare toes sink into the muddy earth. Forcing her frozen legs to walk on the squishy surface beneath her feet, Amarah slowly made her way up onto the grassy bank. Once she was finally free from the water, Amarah valiantly held off a case of violent shudders that threatened to wrack her chilly frame and began vigorously rubbing her arms to restore the feeling in them. After a few moments of this, she began to trek up the hill that Brienne had spotted earlier. She stumbled a few times due to the numbness in her legs, but was able to reach the top just as the small boat containing Jaime and Brienne passed by. She looked a bit farther down the river to see that the larger boat was almost on them. If she didn't act fast, then they would soon be on top of Brienne's much smaller vessel and Jaime would be on his way back to the dungeons.
Taking a moment to brace her hands against the cool stone surface of the boulder, she waited for just the right moment to send it hurtling down the hill. She was not very strong but the weight of the boulder would do most of the work. All it needed was a little push from her to get started. Once the boat was a few feet from the spot in front of the hill, she gave a mighty push to the rock and watched it slowly build speed as it hurtled down the hill. Just for good measure, she sent off another boulder in the same direction that had almost the same size as the first one. If she had misjudged the distance the first time, this extra effort would ensure that at least one rock would make contact with the boat.
To her delight, both boulders smashed into the boat. One smashing in the hull of the ship while the other tore a hole almost all the way through the middle. Just as she was about to let out a very unladylike whoop of delight at her success, she noticed that Jaime and Brienne's boat had moved much farther down the river. She would have to run along the bank for quite a ways to even have a hope of catching up with then. With the way she shook like a falling leaf in the breeze, she knew there was no possibility of being able to catch them on foot. Calmly fighting down the anxiousness that realization caused her, Amarah began to look for another means of escape. While scanning her surroundings, she noticed that there was another bend in the river a few hundred feed in front of Brienne's vessel. If she could cut through the land quickly enough, she would be able to meet the boat on the other side.
She took one last glance at the large boat before her that was rapidly filling with water to ensure those men would be no trouble before taking off in a quick run to reach Brienne in time. She had kicked off her shoes along with her dress before diving into the water and her feet were cut by numerous rocks and thorny vines as she ran barefooted over the land, but she refused to give up. Ignoring the pain, she pressed on and her persistence was rewarded as she finally reached the bank on the opposite side of the land that jutted into the river.
"My lady" she heard Brienne call out to her. "You must hurry!"
Amarah held back the retort that sprung to her lips at Brienne's prodding as she was all too aware that speed was of the utmost necessity. She looked at the swirling ripples of water and gritted her chattering teeth in anticipation of the cold. Holding her breath, she swiftly dove back into the swirling depths before she would have time to rethink the action. Once her body hit the water she was struck once again by the sudden cold. Gods, it was almost worst than the first time. However, the frigid wet motivated her to reach Brienne and Jaime with as much speed as possible. Churning up the water behind her with powerful kicks, Amarah swam as quickly as possible to the boat that was floating closer towards her. It was with great relief when she felt Brienne reach over the side and pull her back in as if she weighed no more than a doll.
"Well done, my lady" Brienne congratulated her with a hearty thump on the back.
Amarah was not able to respond at first as she simply tried to take in gulps of air through the steady chatter of her teeth. Her thin shift was not much protection from the balmy breeze that blew against her wet skin chilling her to the bone. As she sat there fighting the cold she caught a glimpse of Jaime Lannister who still sat in the same place she had left him. He seemed to be staring at her oddly and as she looked down at her chest she could see why. Her underclothing had been struck transparent by the water and her breasts were now on full display with her cold nipples drawn into tight sharp points capturing his attention. Despite her chilled state, Amarah felt an embarrassed blush start from her toes traveling all the way to her hairline as she hastily folded her arms over the revealing sight. Once he noticed her action, Jaime at least had the good grace to look embarrassed before hastily withdrawing his gaze.
"M-my c-c-cloak" she finally managed to request Brienne over the chatter of her teeth.
Brienne promptly tossed the woolen garment to her, and Amarah immediately swathed herself in its welcoming warmth. Giving a small hum of pleasure at the dry wool on her skin, Amarah settled back with the covering drawn tightly about her shoulders. Jaime's gaze had returned to her by now, but instead of finding the embarrassment of a few moments ago, she saw a gleam of respect in his eyes.
"Well done, Princess" he said echoing Brienne's words.
It was on the tip of her tongue to respond with a scathing comment, but something caused her to hold the urge in check. Maybe it was the rare look of sincerity in his eyes or maybe she was just too cold too care. Whatever the reason she simply gave him a nod of acknowledgement before sinking back once again into the warmth of her cloak and turning her head to watch passing scenery. No one spoke again for some time.
Amarah decided they would stop for the night several hours after the sun had sunk over the horizon. Both her companions seemed as weary as she and no one debated the decision. Brienne rowed the boat over to the rocky shore and they hit the sand with a dull thud. Amarah stood gingerly taking a moment to work out the kinks in her back she had acquired while sitting in such a confined space for a long period of time. Once she felt sufficiently stretched out, she took Brienne's offered hand to climb onto the pebbled shore.
"What will we do with him?" Brienne questioned as she hauled Jaime out of the boat. He looked a bit disgruntled to be handled in such a way, but he refrained from saying anything.
Amarah surveyed his tired looking face before replying. Though Jaime hid it well, she could see he was a weary to the bone as she. Despite his tired state though, they would still need to keep a close eye on him. "We'll tie him to a tree I suppose" Amarah answered with an unconcerned shrug of her shoulders before turning to walk up the bank to the grassy surface beyond.
They didn't move too far away from the bank in case the need for immediate escape arose unexpectedly. There was a rather sturdy tree near where they landed which Brienne immediately lashed Kingslayer too. His unkind comments earlier in the day had come back to haunt him as Brienne took the opportunity to tie the ropes much tighter than was necessary. Amarah bit back a smile at his grunt of discomfort as she finished tying the ropes.
"I should survey the area, my lady" Brienne informed her once she was done tying up Jaime.
Amarah nodded in immediate agreement. "Of course. I'll keep a watch on him. I doubt he'll be too much trouble in his current state."
Jaime shot her an annoyed look over that observation but still said nothing. Brienne gave a short bow of acknowledgement before taking off through the trees to patrol the land. Not knowing how long she would take to return, Amarah settled down next to Jaime who still sported a look of discomfort at his bonds. Feeling an unexpected tug of sympathy for him, Amarah leaned over to loosen the ropes enough to restore the circulation to his limbs. It was not enough to let him escape, but it would give him a bit less discomfort.
"My deepest appreciation, Princess" he said in that mocking tone once she removed her hands.
"Anything for you, Ser Jaime" she cooed prettily in the voice she had heard so many ladies at court use when trying to gain his attention.
She saw a genuine smile of amusement grace his lips at her sarcastic reply. "I never knew I affected you so."
"You did once" she replied without thinking. Realizing what she had just said, she instantly clamped her lips together and stared resolutely ahead of her without continuing that train of thought. Jaime however was unprepared to let that topic go unexplored.
"I was under the impression you always hated me." His tone of voice sounded a bit strange as he tried to question her. She turned once again to regard him with a hard gaze but she could not read the foreign expression in his eyes.
Giving an inward sigh of resignation, she decided to answer his question. After all, what did it matter now if he knew? "When I first came to the capital I thought you were some sort of…golden god" she finished after finding the right words. She followed that revelation with a short laugh at her own naiveté in those days. "The handsome knight of the king's guard. I was too shy to speak to you in those days so I just admired you from a distance. Then one day, or one night rather, I realized what a fool I was."
She said nothing else after this, but Jaime's curiosity had been aroused. "And what happened to open your eyes to the man I truly am?"
"I saw you with her" Amarah answered in a quiet voice not bothering to elaborate on the "her" she referred to. They both knew.
Jaime looked rather surprised by this revelation. "When was this?"
"My second year in the capital. I couldn't sleep and I was walking the halls when I heard you coming so I hid. That's when I saw what you did. Who you really were. I've never had much fond regard for you since."
"Forgive me if I find it difficult to believe you knew of this all along without telling your father to have both our heads mounted on a spike."
"I almost did" she admitted. "But I didn't want the throne, so I decided Joffrey could have it for all I cared. Of course if I had known what a shit ruler he would prove to be I might have said something, but I only wanted peace. So I held out hope my father might eventually marry me to some kind nobleman and I could leave the city to live with him and have his children. Of course those hopes all came to naught."
Jaime said nothing for a few moments as he mulled over all she had just said. As they sat in companionable silence, Amarah realized that this was the first conversation they had ever had without taking the opportunity to fling insults at one another. "You're full of surprises, Princess" Jaime finally replied interrupting her train of thought.
"If only I could say the same for you" she sighed deciding this conversation was becoming too much personal between the two of them. Turning her back to him she recommended that he get some sleep. They had a long day ahead of them tomorrow. He made no reply, but eventually she heard him shift around trying to find a more comfortable position as he settled in for the night.
Before he drifted into unconsciousness she thought she heard him mutter something under his breath. "Full of surprises."
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