Author's Note: Thank you again for all the lovely reviews, follows, and favorite alerts for my story. It always makes me very happy when I read a review that says I've been able to alter someone's opinion of Jaime. He's the best, so I'm just happy I can play some small part in helping others realize just how awesome he is:) Here's the next chapter! There are characters from the books that I cut out simply because they're not really essential to the story, and I wanted to streamline things as much as possible to make things simpler. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy it!
"Hopeless" Amarah muttered to herself while staring into the murky depths of her ale.
As she peered into the amber liquid, she could see a pair of grey eyes staring back with a weary expression which irked her even further. Without thinking, she jerked a balled fist towards the offending image, sending her tankard flying across the small space before crashing into the wall, its contents leaving a dark stain on the weathered wood as evidence of her frustration.
Amarah stared at the sight with a growing sense of helpless fury. "So fucking hopeless" she sighed again, the sound of her frustration evident in her tone.
"We still might find her, my lady" Brienne's voice sounded confidently, breaking through the din of revelers around them who had gathered in the inn's common room for an evening of drinking and enjoyment. Amarah did not share their enthusiasm.
"How?" Amarah demanded of her loyal knight, turning back to regard her with an incredulous gaze. "We have been searching for months with nothing to show for our efforts. We've pursued every one of Jaime's leads he uncovered in the capital and they have all lead to no where. Sometimes, Brienne, one is forced to admit their defeat, no matter how disappointing the result may be."
Brienne eyed her silently for a few moments, a faint censure coloring her gaze that helped to gall Amarah's irritation even further. What right did Brienne have to find fault with her? For months she had tirelessly pursued every twist and turn of this fruitless journey to find her missing cousin. All through the Riverlands and beyond she had searched, and nothing. Not even a whisper of the little wolf girl's whereabouts. There had been a most promising tale that had reached their ears of Sandor Clegane who traveled through the Riverlands with a young girl in tow, but that had all come to naught as well when they had discovered from the elder brother of the Quiet Isle, where he was reported to have vanished, that the Hound was dead.
They had returned from the Quiet Isle to this inn of the Crossroads where they now sat. At first, Amarah had doubted the brother's tale of Sandor's death as she suspected he was hiding something from them, and they had been told of a man wearing the helmet of a dog who ruthlessly attacked and robbed travelers and villagers near the Trident. Amarah had decided to see if the rumors of Clegane's survival were true only to find that the tales of the man wearing the helm in no way matched Clegane's physical description. Sandor Clegane had been one of the tallest knights Amarah had ever encountered, taller even than her lanky lady knight, but this man residing near the Trident was not tall enough to be the imposing Hound. Most likely, Clegane had died, just as the brother had said, before his body was looted by the bandits who had claimed his helm.
Hearing the news which confirmed the tale of Sandor's death had caused Amarah to reach the end of her patience. She hated this feeling of helplessness which engulfed and surrounded her consciousness. When they had first started on this journey, she had been optimistic that she would somehow discover the whereabouts of her last remaining Stark relation, but as the days of searching had slowly morphed into weeks and months, she was beginning to understand that she would most likely never see her cousin again. It was this realization that had sent Amarah into her present dark mood as she and her small party sat among the late night revelry of the Crossroads Inn.
"What do you plan to do then, my lady?" questioned a small voice from Amarah's side.
Amarah looked away from Brienne's penetrating, blue gaze to regard the small boy next to her. Soon after she and Brienne had left the capital, they had come upon young Podrick Payne who had followed them from the city, hoping to be of some use on their journey. Neither Brienne or Amarah had the heart to deny his earnest plea to help, so they had graciously allowed him to accompany them.
Podrick might have been a quiet boy, but Amarah had soon discovered that despite his reticence, he was rather handy in a fight. Obviously the boy had focused all his efforts on swordplay rather than intelligent banter with his peers, and the result was most satisfactory indeed. Though when not in the midst of a fight, he quickly reverted back into his shell of a timid, watchful creature. This was the mood he was presently in as he watched Amarah with an observant, clear-eyed gaze in the flickering candlelight that illuminated the cramped space surrounding them.
Amarah opened her mouth to answer his question about her intended plans, but the thought went forever unspoken as the pleasant atmosphere of the inn was suddenly disrupted by the sudden appearance by a small, dirty-looking band of men. As Amarah's eyes darted to the group of new arrivals, she felt her irritation turn abruptly to unpleasant recognition. Standing in the midst of the crowded space and wearing a helm fashioned into the shape of a murderous hound was the very same noseless bastard who had smacked and thrown her about while she and Brienne had been captives to the bloody mummers. The same men who had taken Jaime's hand.
Amarah's horrified gaze quickly swung to Brienne who had noted the appearance of their former foes as well. Her hand was already on the hilt of her faithful sword which she had carried by her side ever since the day Jaime had gifted it to her their last day in the capital. Podrick also had reached for his weapon while Amarah silently withdrew her dagger from where it was safely hidden within the folds of her cloak. No sooner had they drawn their weapons than Noseless and his hideous companions took note of their presence as well.
The noseless one sent Amarah a lecherous grin that filled her with equal parts fear and revulsion. "Well what do we have here, Biter?" he addressed his ferocious looking companion before approaching their small party with deadly intent. "Seems this pretty piece couldn't resist my charms after all. When we watched you ride away from Harrenhall with that pathetic cripple who hides behind his family name, I thought I might've been denied my right to get inside those fancy skirts o' yours. Well what do you say now, girl? Ready for a real man to fill that sweet, little –"
He never had time to finish the disgusting offer before Brienne jumped from behind the table with a roar of murderous rage. Noseless hadn't been anticipating the suddenness of her attack, but he had the advantage of number. His men quickly drew their swords to hold her off until Noseless had the chance to draw his sword to meet Brienne's attack. Podrick quickly rushed into the fray as well while Amarah stood watching the chaos in helpless indecision. Her only means of protection wouldn't last a moment against the mummers' swords, but neither could she stand idly by while her companions faced death to protect her honor.
Taking a deep breath to calm her frazzled nerves, she boldly prepared to join the struggle just before she felt a heavy weight crash against her, sending her flying in the opposite direction of the fight. Dazed by the unexpected force that had sent her sprawling across the floor, she angrily looked to whoever had ungraciously shoved her out of their way, but her fury quickly dissipated when she looked into the eyes of a ghost from the past. Shaking her head to clear it of the fantastical notion, she looked at the man once again to find the same sight that had greeted her stunned gaze moments before.
Gods help me she thought to herself in astonishment. He looks almost exactly like Renly.
The boy who had shoved her towards the hard floor, regarded her with an expression of equal astonishment before they seemed to simultaneously recall that there was a deadly struggle occurring just a few feet from where they both were. Looking towards the fray, the boy reached to retrieve his own dangerous-looking sword before throwing her one more impatient glance.
"If you value your life, my lady, I would suggest you stay put" he bit out tersely before joining the fight himself.
His group of companions which had escaped Amarah's notice in her earlier astonishment, rushed behind him to take on the group of mummers who attacked Amarah's friends. Amarah's gaze left the handsome youth in order to locate her knight who she found finishing off the disgusting, noseless bastard. However, Amarah's sigh of relief at Noseless's death was quickly cut short by the sight of the ferocious creature that had been referred to as "Biter", rushing a weakened Brienne before fastening his sharp, pointed teeth on her exposed cheek.
Amarah gave a shout of indignation as she quickly rose to her feet to stop him from maiming her knight any further. Warning be damned, Amarah would not stand by and watch this vile creature attack Brienne without lifting a finger to help. Grasping the hilt of her shiny dagger, Amarah rushed toward the struggling pair before capitalizing on the advantage of surprise by burying her trusty weapon in the creature's back. As the cold metal pierced his skin, he quickly relinquished his hold on Brienne with a loud cry of pain to claw at his back in an attempt to remove the offending dagger. Quickly stepping away from him, Amarah watched as he tried in vain to dislodge the little blade before finally slumping to the floor in cold, silent death.
Amarah quickly looked away from the sight to find Brienne nursing her wounded cheek, little rivulets of bright red blood already beginning to seep through her large fingers. "Are you badly hurt?" Amarah questioned her anxiously.
"Not as badly as I would have been had you not intervened, my lady" Brienne assured her quickly.
Amarah noted that her knight's reply did not entirely answer the question, but with the fight dying down around them, her attention was soon directed elsewhere. The boy who had spoken to her earlier and his companions had succeeded in dispatching the rest of the mummers, but before Amarah could even take the time to rejoice in the mummer's defeat, she saw the black-haired youth turn his brilliant, blue gaze on her once again. Amarah noticed with a cold sense of dread that the look in his eyes was far from friendly.
"Take them" he ordered his men in a hard voice without ever removing his chilly gaze from her face.
As his men moved to obey the order, Amarah instinctively stepped back before questioning his actions. "What reason do you have to take us captive?" she demanded of him. "Have we done you some harm?"
"All traitors should answer for their crimes, my lady" he said in a voice hard as unrelenting steel.
Amarah's eyes narrowed to grey slits at his unfounded accusation that she was a traitor. "And who do you accuse me of betraying, boy?" she asked, deliberately addressing him in a way that would undermine his attempt at playing the seasoned knight.
His scowl only deepened further at her attempt to goad him, but he did not stray from the topic at hand. "I accuse you of betraying your family, Lady Amarah" he replied, surprising her with the use of her name.
"My family is dead, you little bastard" she shot back at him in anger. "And you know nothing of me."
"But our leader does" he answered taking another step closer, still trying to bully her into submission. "She is the one you must plead your innocence to, so you need not waste your breath on me."
With this final comment, he swung abruptly about on his heel before motioning for his men to carry out his orders and follow behind with the prisoners. As the men obeyed his silent order and came closer to take hold of Amarah, she took advantage of her last few precious seconds of freedeom to look back at her loyal knight. She saw that Brienne's bloody hand was no longer covering her wound but tightly gripping the hilt of her sword once again.
"Forget about that, Brienne" Amarah commanded her quickly as the men came closer.
Brienne regarded her with a confused expression. "My lady?" she questioned with raised brows.
"Run" Amarah ordered her knight.
Brienne's confusion only seemed to worsen at Amarah's unexpected command. "I cannot leave you, my lady. You must not ask it of me."
The men were almost on them now. "I'm not asking, Brienne. I'm giving you an order" Amarah whispered fiercely. "Go and find Jaime. Tell him I need him."
There was no longer any time for words or explanations. The men had reached them by then, and Brienne had her sword raised to strike them down. However, she finally seemed to realize that there were too many. If she tried to subdue them in her weakened state, they would doubtless cut her down without a thought. Amarah sent her a desperate, silent plea once again to obey her command. To her immense relief, she saw the grudging acceptance in Brienne's eyes as she quickly shoved off the men who reached to take her, and turned to run through the crowd of onlookers who stood around gawking. A few men attempted to follow her, but Brienne was too fast for them.
After a few tense moments, the men who had attempted to pursue the fleeing knight returned with defeated shakes of their heads, and Amarah was able to breathe easier once again. She didn't know what these men planned to do with her, but she knew that Brienne would not rest until she had fulfilled the command to find Jaime.
If you ever need me, Princess, I will be sure to find you she recalled the whispered promise that had played over and over in her dreams since she had parted from Jaime. As the men bound her hands together and prepared to lead her away, Amarah replayed those words again in her head and quickly sent up a silent plea to the seven that Jaime would be able to fulfill that particular promise. For she did not want to contemplate the possibilities of what would befall her if he could not.
There was no way I couldn't include Gendry in this story:) I imagined him being a bit hardened by his time with the brotherhood, so that was why I wrote him a little less friendly than we're use to seeing him in the books, but I am definitely planning to explore the potential of the connection between him and Amarah. They are family, after all:) And Amarah does know the name Gendry Waters even if she had never seen the face that goes with that name:) Next chapter we'll check in with Jaime and see if Brienne was successful or not. Our school has a few vacation days coming up at the end of this week so I may be able to post another chapter as soon as this coming weekend or a little bit earlier! Just as a friendly reminder, nice comments from readers always motivate me to work as a fast as I can to get the next chapter to you all. So please review and let me know your thoughts:) As always, thanks for reading!