Author's Note: It's been way too long since I've updated, so I'm fixing that right now. I really appreciate all the reviews and follows on this story despite my inability to post as often as I would like. Anyway, with that said, please read on!
Amarah had been faced with enough devastating sights in the entirety of her lifetime to leave a more than a few painful scars gouged into her heart. However, no sight had cut into that aforementioned heart quite as deeply as the sight of her childhood home, one of the few precious memories harbored in her memory for so long, standing against the grey sky as a charred, ravaged shell that in no way bespoke of its former glory.
"Not a pleasant sight, is it, Niece?"
The voice, as cool and steely at the wintery sky above them, managed to drag Amarah's horrified stare away from the scorched remains of Winterfell's walls. Carefully displacing any trace of emotion from her face, she turned to face the man she had traveled so many leagues to see. When her eyes landed on him, she noted that he looked much the same as she remembered. Still cold and unforgiving, though his face was a bit more weathered now, a touch of sorrow etched faintly into implacable lines of his weathered face.
Amarah tilted her chin up to convey a confidence she did not truly feel before standing to face him. "How good of you to see me, Uncle."
"You surprise me, Amarah," he said sweeping past her, not even bothering to acknowledge her greeting. "A wise stag would never creep near the savage lion in favor of preserving its own life. Not only have you ventured near the lion, but you have joined forces with those that have made us their prey."
He said the words with his usual remoteness, but the force of poisonous disdain that colored each carefully uttered syllable confirmed the wisdom of Amarah's choice to make this visit to Stannis's with only Brienne by her side, instead of the golden lion whom she had left safe distance away from her uncle. The words that would have defended Jaime against Stannis's accusations sprung to the tip of her tongue but stayed locked inside her despite the desire to refute her uncle's claims. It would have been a mistake to challenge him so soon, and after coming so far and suffering such great risk to bring about this meeting, Amarah had no intention making mistakes.
"I've something more important to discuss with you than my association with Jaime Lannister," Amarah returned in a voice just as chilly, though she strove to make her tone as civil as possible. It was best not to antagonize the provoked stag. Stannis narrowed his gaze at her words but held his tongue. "We've a common goal in mind, Uncle," she continued when he remained silent. "We stand the best chance of accomplishing that goal if we work together rather than sniping insults at one another for past grievances."
"Past grievances?" Stannis questioned her choice of words with a menacing step in her direction, but his path was quickly blocked by Brienne who had stood silent during the exchange until now. Stannis shot her a challenging look, and Amarah feared for a moment he would gesture his guards forward to seize her. He must have decided she wasn't worth the trouble because he stepped back with a derisive snort and waved his alerted soldiers away. "I would not consider your actions against me a grievance, Niece," he turned his malice back on her once Brienne had stepped back in place. "I would consider them a betrayal of the acutest kind."
Amarah refused to respond to his accusation with equal fury. "No matter what you think of my actions in the past, Uncle, I never wished you any harm. You must believe that. Despite what murderous actions you might have taken against Renly– " Her voice faltered then for just a moment as she fought to keep the anger she felt towards him safely hidden away. He would never believe the words she uttered next if she let that anger escape. "Despite what you did, I never blamed you for it. You did what you thought was best. The very same thing I was doing when I supported Renly's claim to the throne. Had I not agreed to do so, he would have abandoned me in the capital to the mercy of Joffrey and the queen. I should have never lived this long had I not committed the betrayal you now stand there and accuse me of."
"So what do you say now?" he questioned, moving towards her again. Amarah stiffened in response to his nearness, but forced her muscles to relax. It would never do to let him know his proximity intimidated her. She doubted very little that he had any other intention than to cower her into submission. He studied her impassive expression for a few moments of taught silence before speaking again. "You claim to support my claim to the throne? Do you really expect me to believe such pathetic lies while you stand with the Kingslayer at your side? I'm not so foolish as you suppose me to be."
"I don't suppose you to be a fool at all," she shot back, not quite managing to keep the anger as well hidden as before. "And I've made no promises to support your claim to the throne, but neither do I intend to stand in your way."
The palpable hatred in Stannis's gaze was clouded momentarily by a touch of doubt. "What is it you're proposing then? For me to align myself with Lannister scum in order to retake Winterfell and resume fighting them for my right to the throne when the battle for the keep has been fought?"
"I propose you help us restore Sansa to her rightful place in Winterfell," Amarah responded with more calm than she felt. "Ser Jaime has no intention of barring your path to the Iron Throne. He's broken from his family, just as Tyrion before him. With the queen imprisoned and his uncle and father slain, he understands that there is no further incentive for him to defend a false king on the throne. His only wish is to fulfill his promise to me to regain Winterfell for the rightful heir."
It was the most ridiculous falsehood, uttered in the most carefully crafted spirit of sincerity she could muster. Of course, Jaime had no intention of aligning himself with Stannis's claim to the throne, but Amarah had no intention of alerting her uncle to that fact. He would never agree to this preposterous alliance unless he believed Jaime to be of no threat, and from the skepticism he glowered in in direction at her promise that Jaime posed no threat, it seemed as if he found the lie as difficult to believe as she.
"So you claim you have convinced him to support my cause?" he asked with one arched brow testifying to his disbelief at such a reality.
Amarah allowed a coy smile to curl up the edges of her rosy mouth. "I make no such claim at all. He simply agrees to not impede your efforts to continue to the capital after winning the support of the North in the retaking of Winterfell. Once Sansa is restored to the Stark seat, he has no further intention of involving himself in this war between the would-be kings."
Stannis surprised her by latching his viselike grip on her arms and yanking her close to his penetrating gaze. "If you lie to me, girl, know I will cut your heart out with a relish few have ever known."
Out of the corner of her eye, Amarah saw Brienne reach for her sword, but she used the one free hand fluttering at her side to halt the action. With Stannis's attention fastened on her steadfast gaze, the small gesture went unnoticed by him. Once she was certain Brienne's hand had been stayed, Amarah responded to her uncle's menacing threat.
"I would expect no less of you, Uncle."
She was met with a deafening silence at that reassurance and thought for a moment that this ruse of theirs had failed miserably. It had been foolish to believe that Stannis Baratheon would agree to assist a Lannister in anything but meeting a swift death. Just as Amarah bolstered her nerves to receive the cutting dismissal of her proposed alliance, he released her with enough force to shift her balance and send her hurtling into the map-covered table at her back. She gripped the rough, wooden edges to keep from falling into an undignified heap but still kept her gaze glued to his. She would not waver, even in the face of certain defeat.
"Tell the Kingslayer if he wishes to discuss a treaty between us, he has until sunset on the morrow. If he fails to fulfill those terms," Stannis stepped closer to her again, but refrained from touching her as before, "I will send my men to slaughter him and all those that stand with him."
If Amarah had felt any trace of guilt for the deception she was carrying out against one of her own blood, the last trace of it was wiped away with those words. Fixing a wobbly smile on her face that conveyed just the perfect amount of cowed submission, Amarah nodded her head in agreement. "I shall inform him, my lord."
"You are dismissed," he stepped back then, waving her way as if he could no longer stand to have her in his sight. Amarah didn't argue the reprieve from his company and waved Brienne to follow behind as they moved to obey her uncle's order to depart. Just as they were about to leave, another figure entered through the flap covering the entrance, though the new occupant appeared to lack the ability to stand on his own as he was dragged in by Baratheon soldiers flanking him on either side.
Amarah thought not much of the man's appearance, supposing him to be one of the Bolton scouts captured by her uncle, but before she could pass by him, her attention was arrested by a pair of terror filled eyes, staring at her from a face so altered she almost didn't recognize it. "Wait!" She shouted the command to the soldiers before she even realized the words had left her mouth.
Their shock at her boldness in ordering them to stop, must have halted their progress. Not bothering to spare more than a glance in the direction of her disapproving uncle, Amarah ventured closer to the hunched over figure that tumbled into the dust on his knees as soon as the guards released him. "Seven hells," Amarah muttered under her breath, too much in a state of shock to say anything else at the boy's appearance.
"What is it, my lady?" Brienne questioned from behind her, oblivious to the significance of this ragged person's appearance.
Amarah ignored her in favor of approaching the man and reaching out to tilt his face up into the light. The sight that met her eyes shocked her so that any words she might have uttered were stunned into absolute silence. Seeing her revulsion at his appearance, the man let his lids slide down over the pain filled orbs that had seared her unexpectedly with their startling reflection of excruciating torment. Whatever hatred Amarah had felt in the past towards Theon Greyjoy for his actions against her family was instantly drowned in that moment by a surprising wash of sympathy for the tortured creature that lay crouched at her feet, with a thin trail of wet tears streaming from underneath the closed lids that shielded his tortured gaze from view.
"What happened to you?" Amarah questioned him, still reeling from the obvious torment that had been inflicted on the wounded soul before her.
Stannis answered for him. "We found him like this, escaped from the Bolton bastard and whatever atrocities he met at the boy's hands. No more than what he deserved, of course. He's fortunate to still be in possession of his life. Though, he'll not keep that too much longer."
"You plan to kill him?" Amarah asked, turning to her uncle with a confused gaze. "Why do you wish to kill a man that helped undermine the support for one of your opponents in gaining the throne?"
Stannis fixed a gaze on her so cold and direct that she felt a tangible shiver of cold whisper across her skin. "Because all traitors deserve death. Go to your Kingslayer now, Amarah. Leave this boy to me."
Looking back at Theon, Amarah didn't know why a tug of pity squeezed her heart at the thought of leaving this traitor to her uncle's unforgiving hands, but something in her heart would not allow her to abandon the boy to such an undignified end. "I think it best we leave him alive," she turned to her uncle once again, ignoring the order to depart. "He's been inside the keep. He knows how this Bolton bastard thinks, his proclivities and weaknesses. He could be instrumental in allowing us to defeat them."
"I wonder at the kind of warped sense of morality that can allow you to think it acceptable to spare the life of a man who betrayed those you claim to have loved," Stannis murmured then, but Amarah ignored the censure in his gaze. Despite the sympathy that might have been inexplicably stirred in her heart for the traitorous wretch that knelt in the dirt, she meant what she said about using Theon to their advantage in retaking the keep.
"Despite what you think of my morals," she answered, barely restraining her irritation at her uncle's glaring disapproval, "this man can help us to retake Winterfell in the name of the Starks. Don't sacrifice that chance at victory in favor of your self-declared right to dole out justice in the name of Robb Stark."
Stannis lifted a finger of reproach in her direction. "Tread carefully, girl. You may have manipulated my brothers into doing your bidding, but I shall not be so easily managed. I'll do with the boy whatever I think right. Now I'll give you one more chance to leave here before I call the guards to bind you both hand and foot."
Though the words burned on her tongue to lash out in response, she swallowed them back. "As you wish, Uncle. Though I would ask once more that you think carefully before taking this man's life so carelessly."
With those words she turned and left her Uncle just as she had found him, simmering in self-righteous condescension. Her conscience felt the slightest prick of guilt for leaving the pathetic shell of a man at her uncle's mercy, but she justified the action with the thought that, despite her sympathy, it truly was no more than he deserved. At the present moment, she had more important concerns to deal with than the traitor, Theon Greyjoy.
Jaime ignored the searing pain in his arm and bruised ribs as he continued to advance on Clegane, ready to strike out at the slightest sign of weakness. In response, Clegane retreated, keeping his sword pointed in a deadly angle at the golden knight who continued to pursue him relentlessly around the small clearing. Just as he was about to rush on his prey, Jaime's attention was diverted by the sound of approaching footsteps. Taking advantage of the distraction, Clegane rushed at him and sent him sprawling face first into the grassy earth with a loud smack of hard steel against the back of his armor. Once he had sufficiently recovered his wits, Jaime looked up to turn a fierce scowl in the direction of the his opponent.
"It's not much of a victory if my back is turned."
Clegane gave an unconcerned shrug. "Then don't turn your back, Kingslayer. The lady is returned, so you'll no longer be needing me." He tilted his ugly head in the direction of the footsteps that had distracted Jaime from his victory. Without another word he turned and left Jaime in the clearing.
Jaime was too relieved at Amarah's appearance to dwell on the blow his ego had been dealt at Clegane's hand. He had been too restless since her departure to Stannis Baratheon's camp to sit around like an idle fool. He understood her reasons for going without him, but he hadn't been happy with the decision. In an effort to take his mind off the relentless anxiety clouding his mind in her absence, he had turned to several rounds of practice with Clegane to help sharpen his skill with a sword. Though now, with sore muscles and a bruised arse, he was beginning to regret that decision.
"Despite the undignified position, my lord, I still find you quite charming," Amarah spoke as she reached down to help him stand. Jaime vaguely noted that the amused smile on her lips somewhat undermined the loyal effort to sooth his pride.
Choosing to ignore her humor at his expense, Jaime knocked away the grass and leaves stuck to his clammy skin while questioning her of what had occurred with Stannis.
"I'm not certain he believed me entirely," she admitted to him, chewing her lip in consternation at her uncertainty of their plan.
Jaime reached out to brush her lip and leaned forward to place a soothing kiss there before murmuring his reply against her mouth. "But he agreed to discuss terms of peace between us?"
"Yes, he agreed to that at least" Amarah answered, turning her head slightly and burying her face against his sweaty neck.
"Something still troubles you," Jaime surmised aloud when she said nothing else.
He felt her nod. "Theon Greyjoy was there. He looked…" She trailed off of a moment as if trying to find the right words. "He looked so completely broken. I've never seen anyone look like that. Never."
"Did it frighten you?" Jaime questioned.
"It frightened me to think anyone could be possible of such inhuman cruelty," she admitted softly. "I once thought that no one in the seven kingdoms could be a sadistic and diabolical as Joffrey, but the sight of Theon Greyjoy has convinced me otherwise. It only served to convince me further that we are right to join with Stannis in order to defeat this monster who has claimed Sansa's rightful home."
"Stannis agrees to fight with us then?" Jaime questioned, still not satisfied with her answers in regard to what had occurred between herself and her uncle.
She was quiet for a few moments as if considering the correct words to say. "He's agreed to nothing more than to meet with us, but I think if we can convince him of your desertion of the Lannister cause, he will do what we ask."
"With his help, we should have little difficulty in defeating Bolton and his son," Jaime mused aloud. "However, when the keep has been won– "
Amarah finished the thought for him. "When the keep is won, Stannis dies."
And the plot thickens. I really wanted to bring out Amarah's more manipulative side with this chapter but also contrast that with the more sympathetic side of her that can feel pity for a tragic character like Theon. Yes, it's coldblooded to plan her uncle's death, but in her mind, it's what is necessary to keep the man she loves alive. Once the keep is won, she knows that there is no way Stannis would really let Jaime Lannister walk away alive. The only question is, can she go through with the scheme and will Stannis suspect what she plans? Keep reading to find out what happens next! Any comments are much appreciated as always.