Author's Note: Thank you as always for the amazing comments! Here's the next chapter as promised. This one is a bit shorter but the next one will be longer to make up for it. Read on!

Only two more days until they reached King's Landing, and every step closer filled Amarah with an even greater sense of dread. They had traveled for three days without difficulty and there was no reason to assume they would encounter any hindrance to prevent them from reaching their destination. Amarah almost wished they would be set upon by bandits who took them captive. It would most likely be preferable to being manipulated by the Lannisters. Well, Tywin Lannister might choose to manipulate her to his greatest advantage in this war for power in the seven kingdoms. Cersei would most likely just kill her given the first opportunity. Tyrion would be Amarah's only ally in house Lannister once she reached the capital. Despite all she and Jaime had been through together, she knew he would never defend her against his sister and father. She would be a bloody fool to think otherwise.

These less than cheerful thoughts were what filled Amarah's head as they made camp the third night of their journey. She had drawn more inside herself the closer they traveled to the capital, but, if Jaime noticed her change in demeanor, he said nothing. She still rode with him, and he helped her slide off their horse with his left hand after they came to a halt. Amarah had noticed that his left hand was slowly growing in strength with each passing day, and she suspected he would soon retrain himself in the art of swordplay with his remaining hand. It would not surprise her if he proved to be a better knight with only the one hand than other men who were in possession of both.

She started to walk away before he stopped her with the sound of his voice. "You'll dine with me tonight, Princess."

It was an unusual request since they had taken to eating their meals in the privacy of their own tents since departing Harrenhal, but she nodded her head in agreement all the same. "If you wish it, my lord."

Jaime looked surprised by her formality. "You don't wish to eat with me?"

"Even if I did not, does a prisoner have the right to refuse her captor's orders?"

A dark look passed over his face at her attempt to start an argument with him, and she spotted the angry tick in his jaw that indicated his effort to leash his temper. "Trying to make me the villain once again?"

"I don't need to try."

As soon as Amarah said the words, she regretted them. Jaime didn't deserve her ire. He had acted with as much gentlemanly behavior as could be expected from a Lannister over the last three days. However, her growing anxiety over returning to the capital had her in a fine fit of temper, and he was the one she chose to unleash her fury on. Even if he was acting more kindly towards her now, he was still a Lannister after all.

She could tell he wanted to return her verbal blow with one of his own but decided against it. "Despite your feelings in regard to my moral character, you will still dine with me."

With that order in place he turned to dismount his horse and walked towards the large tent the soldiers had already put in place. Before following him, Amarah took a moment to find Brienne and explain to her knight the reason why she would not be dining with her that evening. Brienne had never been far from Amarah's side since departing the keep of Harrenhal, and she was grateful for it. Whatever dangers Amarah encountered in the next few days, she knew without question there would always be at least one person she could trust.

Once she had spoken with Brienne, Amarah approached the tent Jaime had already entered. There were two torches lit inside and a low-lying makeshift table set up in the center. Jaime sat cross-legged on one side of the table and beckoned her to join him. She complied silently with the request and sank to a pallet on the other side of the table facing him. One of Bolton's men who had been assigned to act as Jaime's squire carried in some meat cut from the rabbits that had been killed and roasted earlier that day. Once the man had left and they were alone, Jaime looked to her with a guarded smile.

"Are you done sharpening your claws on me, Princess?"

She felt shamed by his reminder of her behavior but hid the feelings as she returned his quip. "Stags don't have claws. We have horns."

He gave a faint smile at her correction of his words. "Well are you finished prodding me with them? I don't see what you have to be angry about. Have I done something to offend you? Even if I am your captor as you say, I would point out that I've treated you with much greater hospitality than when our roles were reversed."

That point hit home as Amarah felt another prick of guilt over her earlier comment to him. "You are right, my lord. Forgive me."

Jaime's brows rose in surprise at her apology. "What was that? I think I must have misheard you. Surely the world has come to a crashing end if the princess Baratheon is asking my forgiveness."

Amarah felt a reluctant smile pulling at the corners of her mouth in the face his exaggerated show of surprise. "Keep mocking me like that and I'll take back every word."

Jaime raised his hand in mock surrender before dropping the subject. As he picked up a piece of meat and tore it apart with his teeth before chewing, he regarded her with a thoughtful gaze. Amarah had still yet to touch the food in front of her.

"You don't care for rabbit, Princess?" he questioned her after he had finished swallowing the first bite.

"I'm afraid I've not much of an appetite" she answered with a shrug.

A flash of concern flickered in his eyes at her admission. "Surely it's not my company that's affected you so."

"No" she replied with a quick shake of her curly head. "Merely the thought of our destination."

Jaime considered her response for a moment, and Amarah imagined she could see a trace of sympathy in his gaze before she looked away. "You know I've no choice but to bring you to the capital."

Amarah had been studying the food on her plate after revealing the source of her current anxiety, but her gaze instantly snapped back to his when she heard the seriousness behind his statement. He was looking at her with a most somber expression, his eyes now devoid of any trace of mockery and humor. Once Jaime was certain her had her full attention, he continued on.

"These are not my men that escort us, Princess. They are Bolton's soldiers and they carry out his orders. As long as I agree to abide by those orders, they are under my command, but if I decide to act on my own wishes, they will no longer be quite so accommodating. I have no desire to deliver you to the capital and into the hands of my father. No doubt he'll try to marry you to some stupid, distantly related Lannister to keep the Baratheon house in check. No matter how much of a tragedy I might consider that to be, I have no choice but to continue on."

Any hope she might have felt that Jaime would help her escape this fate wilted instantly after his little speech. "Once your sister knows I'm in the city, I doubt there's any need for me to worry about marrying some stupid Lannister relation. I'll most likely be dead within the hour of our return."

Jaime's face hardened at Amarah's mention of Cersei. "She won't kill you. My father would much rather have you alive than dead. He wouldn't allow it."

"Oh, yes, because most certainly she would ask his permission before slitting my throat" Amarah answered with a harsh laugh. "No matter how you choose to deny what Cersei really is, you cannot dispute the fact that she hates me. It is not some small inkling of dislike that she feels towards me but a burning sense of hatred. She's tried once before to have me killed and she will do it again. That I can assure you."

Jaime leaned towards her then with a look of rare sincerity behind those green eyes. "I won't allow anyone kill you."

She was taken off guard by the unexpected words but didn't give them much credence. "The only way to prevent Cersei from killing me is if I am dead already. So unless you plan to do the deed yourself, there is no way to protect me from her or anyone else."

Frustrated by the course their conversation that was quickly leading no where, Amarah thought it would be a wise decision to bid a good evening. Without giving him the opportunity to respond to the dire prediction of her fate, Amarah stood abruptly leaving her plate of food untouched. She gave Jaime a shallow curtsey before turning to go. He mumbled some sort of farewell to her retreating back before she pushed aside the flaps of his tent and walked out into the darkness of the night. She didn't like leaving him with bitter words between them, but she feared if she stayed any longer, she might say other things she would later come to regret. It was much safer to retreat from this battle rather than continue on.

As Amarah walked towards her tent, she realized that she had left her cloak behind after removing it during her meal with Jaime. She wouldn't have bothered to retrieve it, but the cloak served as her only source of warmth at night. With an irritated huff at her forgetfulness, she turned back to retrace her steps. When she reached Jaime's tent, she was just about to enter in when she was stopped by the sound of Maester Qyburn's voice. Peering inside, she saw both men's backs turned to her as Jaime looked over a piece of parchment in his hand.

He took a moment to look over the message before turning to the old maester. "When did this arrive?"

"Just now, my lord" Qyburn replied. "The raven was sent from Harrenhal just this morning. It all must have happened some time last evening."

"It's true then?" Jaime questioned him further.

"Yes, my lord. Lord Bolten sent his own raven from the Twins to Harrenhal confirming the deaths of Robb and Lady Stark."

Amarah couldn't hold back the gasp that escaped her lips on hearing the maester's words. Jaime heard the noise and turned to meet her horrified gaze. While she looked into his eyes, Amarah could not escape the overwhelming sorrow that threatened to choke and envelope her at the news of Robb's death. Without thinking, she turned and ran.

She heard Jaime curse and begin after her, but she didn't care. She just kept running. It felt as if all the cares of the world were raining down upon her head, and she couldn't get away from the pain. Her lungs pumped the cool air in and out in loud gasps, but still she ran on. She had to get away from the pain that was closing around her even now. Her head pounded and throbbed, but she couldn't afford to stop. She had to escape the tide of sorrow that chased her. She had to run faster. She had to get away. Amarah heard Jaime getting closer as he pursued her through the darkness of the forest, but she ran even harder as her legs and lungs burned with the effort. Better to feel this pain than the agony that chased hot on her heels. She wasn't running from Jaime but rather the terrifying weight of sadness and sorrow that she couldn't seem to escape no matter how fast she fled from it.

As she ran blindly along through the dark forest, Amarah's foot caught a stray tree root and she went stumbling face first onto the hard earth. The brambles and branches cut her face and hands as she fell, but she barely felt them. She just scrambled up once again to continue her flight, but just as she began moving again, she felt Jaime come from behind her and wrap his arm about her waist. An instant sense of panic took over her senses as she immediately began to scream and kick like a wild creature, but he refused to release her. She had to make him let her go. She couldn't get away from the pain. He was keeping her from escaping the pain. It was too close now. He must let her go. Amarah continued to scream and flail about until her throat was raw and she became limp with exhaustion, but still he held her fast within his iron grip.

Finally accepting defeat, she then slumped to the dirt covered ground and merely sat there in a state of shock as Jaime kneeled behind her, holding her fast. She couldn't run from the horrifying truth any more. Robb was truly dead. She imagined his face so full of love and kindness that day in the stables as he had bid her farewell in what seemed like another lifetime ago. She remembered his sweet, loving kiss and how he had held her so protectively in his arms. The agonizing realization that she would never feel his arms around her ever again hit Amarah with stunning force. She couldn't escape the pain anymore. It squeezed her heart into a tight iron fist until it shattered into a million pieces.

Then the tears came. She was powerless to stop the flood of sorrow as it carried her along into the sea of never ending agony and grief. Every pent up emotion that she had tried to lock away so deeply inside herself was caught in the flow of the tide, spilling out with her tears. She saw all their faces; her father, Uncle Ned, Renly, Bran, Rickon, Aunt Catelyn, and Robb, the man she had loved more than life itself. They were all gone, and she had never known such agonizing sorrow as this. As the tears continued to flow, she sobbed with grief over those she could not save. Those she loved and would never see again. It was all too much. She couldn't bear the weight of her sadness any more and had finally broken under the strain.

Through all this Jaime said nothing. While she sobbed and moaned like a wounded animal, he remained silent. She felt him continue to hold her in his strong embrace as she crumbled under the weight of her pain. He simply held her through it all.

True fact: I shed a few tears right along with Amarah as I wrote this chapter. It was hard to put her through this but it was necessary to bring her to a breaking point. She's always relied on only herself through everything she's experienced and therefore locked away tons of emotions without facing them, and it eventually had to come back and haunt her. Also, this was Jaime's chance to be the pillar of strength that she's now forced to rely on. As I said, a difficult chapter to write but really necessary to the evolution to their relationship and growth as characters. Anyhow, after all that rambling, thank you so much for reading! Please let me know what you think:) Next chapter we finally get back to King's Landing!