It was mid-morning by the time Jaime and the girl finally left the campsite. The air was clear and breezy, colder than the day before and with a hint of rain to come.

The girl didn't care about the weather. She was feeling so relaxed, in fact, that nothing short of the threat of a tornado would likely have fazed her. Whatever concerns she'd had earlier about travelling on foot now seemed insignificant. Her muscles were loose, the joints of her limbs felt slack, and her insides were all mushy as if she'd been lifted and shaken vigourously until all the parts of her were mixed together.

They crossed the Riverroad, avoiding a couple of farmer's carts, and headed into the trees on the other side. No-one heeded them. The trees did not grow as thick here, and the copses were separated by open fields. The land which had been flat along the riverbank now rose into hills, dipped into valleys. Little clumps of purple and white wildflowers appeared here and there among the grass, which reached to their knees. Normally the girl would be oblivious to nature's common beauty, but today she found herself noticing how rich the colours were, how pleasant the contrast between lime green and rich purple.

The ceaseless rush of the river had been a constant background noise, as well as supplying water and direction for a week. Its absence meant having to find other water sources and ways to navigate. But this didn't trouble the girl, either. All the stresses and nagging aches of her mind had been quieted along with those of her body. She felt rejuvenated.

With outstretched hands she brushed the tips of the grasses, hummed a tune as she walked. Every so often Jaime would look over at her, and she'd catch his eye and smile. Once he took her arm as they negotiated a ditch, and as he let go his hand dropped and he entwined his fingers in hers for a few steps. It felt like little bubbles of happiness were released by his touch and popped straight into her bloodstream. She tried to get a grip on herself, tried to keep the dreamy look off her face, but it was difficult when her feet didn't even feel like they were touching the ground.

After a while, the sound of upcoming traffic broke into her reverie. Jaime, a little ahead of her, carrying the axe on one shoulder and the pack on the other, stopped at a grove of trees just before the cleared land fell away down a long slope to the highway. She stopped beside him, and they watched the stream of wagons, riders and pedestrians meandering both ways along the King's Road.

'It's busy,' he observed.

'Yeah. The direction we're going, it'll only get busier.'

They watched a squadron of blue and grey soldiers ride past, maybe thirty men in all. The armour of men and horses glinted in the sun, the bits and stirrups jingled, and their wolf banners whipped and snapped in the stiff breeze. Jaime's expression was pensive. The girl wondered what he was thinking, but then she was distracted by the way his long fringe lifted off his forehead in a wave and curved down to flatten against his neck in the wind. She had an almost uncontrollable urge to brush the thick locks with her fingers. Clean and in the bright daylight, she noticed for the first time that his hair was a dark blonde and shone like burnished gold.

Another patrol of North soldiers went along the road below them, this time almost twice the number.

'Lots of military,' he mused. 'No point even trying to cross over. We can stay on this side of the King's Road all the way to the Capital.'

The girl had to drag her eyes away from his face in order to collect her own thoughts. 'There's not as much cover close to the road, we'll have to go right around towards Maidenpool, then cut over to Duskendale. I know the trails but on foot, it could take us...' She started to add up the hours and days in her head. There were a lot.

'As long as you know how to get us there, girl. Once we pass Maidenpool we're almost out of the reach of Northmen. I don't mind if it takes a little longer.' Jaime turned from the disappearing soldiers to face her. 'Long trips don't worry me when I enjoy the company.'

The girl felt her heart surge with delight at his words, and then almost immediately deflate at the flip-side implication: the time she had with Jaime was limited. Once they reached KingsLanding, they would go their separate ways. He would be home, and her home was somewhere very far away.

She shook off the thought. Why dwell on what has yet to pass? 'I'm glad you're enthusiastic about a long journey. I think it could run into weeks, and we're kind of short on supplies.'

'I don't care about supplies,' he said.

'The axe is our only weapon, we have no horse, the apples and bread won't last beyond today, and we only have one blanket. It looks as though the weather is changing and -'

'I don't care about blankets.'

She realised he was staring at her the way she'd stared at him before, as if trying to memorise every detail of her face. When his gaze dropped to her mouth, the girl totally forgot what she'd been going to say. She was drawn to him as if by a magnet, and closed her eyes as he curled one hand around the back of her neck.

'It's strange to feel this way about someone else,' he said, almost to himself, sounding genuinely mystified. 'I never thought I could.' He ran one hand through her hair to the ends, watching the strands fall from his fingers. It made her scalp tingle deliciously.

'Do you wish you didn't?' she heard herself asking.

He gave a slight shrug. 'There is no point wishing to feel one way or another. We can't help what we feel.'

'It's better than when we hated each other.'

'I never hated you, girl,' he disagreed. 'And you never hated me.'

'Not even when you strangled me with that chain?'

'No. I didn't do that because I hated you. I didn't know you then. You were just an obstacle to be overcome. A... nothing.'

'And what am I now?' she asked.

He tilted his head and regarded her with half-lidded eyes. 'Now, you are most definitely a something.' His fingers tugged on her hair and she obediently tipped her face up to be kissed. His lips and tongue fitted against hers so seamlessly it was as if they'd been made to fit together; as if the whole point of her mouth even existing was simply to kiss his. After a time that may have been a minute or an hour, she had no idea, he pulled himself away. 'A very, very distracting something,' he said in a low voice.

She moved away from him, breathless. If we don't stop behaving like this, I'm going to have to add another few weeks to our journey, she thought. Not that I would mind.

They retreated back from their view of the King's Road, and the girl led the way up to where she knew a track cut through the hills. They followed this until midday when they came to a depression in the ground under a rocky hillock just higher than their heads, sheltered from the wind. She suggested they stop and eat.

Jaime agreed, although he didn't look the slightest tired, despite having carried the heavy axe and pack for hours. On the contrary, since getting rid of his manacles he seemed possessed of a cocky confidence and easy swagger. While the ragged clothes and long hair were the same, his presence had definitely changed. The girl doubted she could have recognised him as the same man she'd first encountered sitting by the roadside. He was like a caged wild animal that had been released and now prowled free looking for something to sharpen its claws on.

Or maybe it's me who's changed, she thought. Maybe I see him through different eyes.

They shared the apples. She watched him eat, watched him hold the water flask, thinking all the time of how well she knew his mouth, the touch of his hands. How he looked when he was naked, what sounds he made when he was at his most unguarded, when ecstasy overcame all else. It was a weird kind of intimacy, in that she felt she knew so much about him, but at the same time nothing.

'So are you ever going to tell me why you were being kept a prisoner?' she asked.

'Are you ever going to tell me your name?' He turned the questioning back on her, quite slickly, she thought. He's good.

'If I do, will you tell me why you were being kept a prisoner?'

He grinned at her persistence. 'No.'

She threw her apple core at him, and he evaded it by falling backwards onto the ground. She lay back too, on the soft grass. Picked a stem, chewed on the juicy end.

'Your girl. What's she like?'

'You just don't know when to give up, do you?' he teased.

'I'm only curious.'

'Curiosity rarely leads to happiness. People always want to know things they'd be so much better off not knowing.'

'Humour me. Lie if you want,' she said. 'Not like I'm ever going to meet her.'

Jaime was quiet for a minute, as if thinking how best to respond. After a while he rolled onto his side and propped himself on one elbow. He studied the girl, and she wondered if in his head he was doing some kind of comparison. 'Well, she's blonde,' he finally said, and the girl figured he had been.

'Is that the only similarity?'

'She can also be a real pain in the arse.'

The girl laughed. 'Maybe that's just a woman-thing.'

'You could be right.' He thought some more, still staring at her as he did so. His stare was starting to make her feel hot and restless, although the sky was now overcast and the air chilled. Jaime went on: 'She's strong. Determined. But, she's complicated. Most people misunderstand her. That's only because they don't know her like I do.'

'She's lucky,' the girl said.

'Because she loves me?' Jaime smiled wryly. 'I'm not an easy person to love. I can't solve her problems, I go missing a lot. Loving me is a burden more than a good fortune.'

'I meant because you love her,' the girl replied. 'I hope she appreciates it.'

Little spits of rain began to swirl in the gusts. The girl sat up, grabbed their pack. 'I wish we still had the packs that were on Sooty. The waterproof tarp and spare furs. We're gonna get drenched.'

Jaime took the pack off her. 'We'll find shelter if it starts pouring. But this is just a shower.' He stood in front of her in the blustery wind, his skin shining from the droplets, hair tangling wildly. He grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet, close into him. Then he said quietly in her ear, 'We're being followed.'

The girl's heart skipped a beat. She didn't move her head, but flicked her eyes along the treeline over his shoulder. 'Kiss me,' he instructed.

She pressed her lips on his lightly. 'How do you know?'

'I heard them,' he murmured against her mouth. 'About half hour ago. I was sure I saw someone too, on the track behind us, but they were some way back and I wasn't sure. But while we've been here, there's been movement on top of that little hill, near the rocks. So now I'm sure. Don't look. Keep kissing me.'

She did as he told her, nerves prickling with apprehension . Are we about to get ambushed? How could I miss being followed? I'm normally so careful. But she knew why. Because thinking about Jaime every second didn't leave room for thoughts of anything else. She berated herself for being so undisciplined. What good is feeling blissful if that feeling gets us both killed?

Jaime held her forearms and pulled back a little to look into her eyes. 'Stop doing that now or I can't concentrate' he said, with a smile. She wondered how he could look so relaxed with the possibility that arrows may hit them at any moment, but his eyes sparkled with a barely contained excitement. 'Alright this is what's going to happen. We're going to go over to that levee, underneath the rocks, together, as if we were going to... enjoy ourselves. I know it will be hard to pretend but, just do your best.' He smiled again, and the craziest thing was that she felt like smiling back. He continued, 'When we get directly underneath the rocks I'm going to turn you around and kiss the back of your neck. Then - we run, up the sides of the hill. You go right, I'll go left, and whoever's up there will be trapped.' He looked positively thrilled at the prospect. If he could have purred she was sure he would have.

She, in contrast, was silently freaking out. There was so much could go wrong with this scenario that she didn't even know where to start. Somehow, she allowed herself to be walked over towards the levee by Jaime, who played the ardent admirer convincingly the whole way; stroking her waist and nibbling her ear.

They stopped under the overhang of the hill, faced each other, the cluster of rocks blocking the spatter of rain. The air around them in the sheltered pocket was still. It was like the eye of the storm. Whoever's up there has the perfect shot at us, the girl thought, panic tightening her throat. Barely yards away, directly above us. Fucking hells.

Jaime pressed her up against him, and she felt his hardness. This is turning him on. Dear gods, the man has a death wish. He turned her around, slowly, lifting her hair up with one hand. As every second ticked past she expected the hiss of an arrow and a steel barb to sink into her flesh. She felt cold air on the nape of her neck, and then the soft touch of his lips. 'Now,' he whispered.

She sprang away, the adrenaline spiking through her body giving her wings. She made it up the hill in about five strides, took a sharp turn behind the rocks, skidded on loose gravel and nearly fell over. She saw a man running, and Jaime from the other direction make a flying leap and tackle him to the ground. The girl ran over and jumped on the man's head, held tight until he stopped thrashing.

'Lie still,' Jaime growled. 'You're not going anywhere.' His voice was so authoritative that the girl wasn't surprised when the man almost immediately obliged. She got off his head now he wasn't struggling, keeping one of her knees on his back.

'Who are you and why are you following us?'

The man mumbled something into the dirt and Jaime nodded at the girl; she stepped off the man and withdrew the sword from the scabbard on his belt as she did so. Jaime stood, dragging the interloper up by the scruff of his jacket collar. Although nearly as tall as Jaime, the man was gangly and young. About her own age, the girl thought. Then she saw his face and realised she knew him.

'You're Callem. Cole's son, from the Hollow,' she said. 'I thought I recognised Cole's steel.' She lifted up the sword, which even at a cursory glance was extremely well-crafted.

The man flinched from her fearfully, his pale face imprinted with pebbles where he'd been pushed into the ground. He actually appeared terrified, which bemused her. He knows me, and Jaime's not that scary, she thought.

'Th-they're tracking you. Th-they sent me on ahead to report back when you stopped t-t-to rest,' Callem stuttered. He seemed keen to unburden himself. Jaime tightened his grip on the collar and the young man cringed. 'P-please don't kill me!'

'I'm not going to kill you. Or rather, not immediately.' Jaime looked to be in his element, intimidation obviously being one of his fortes. 'So, you're the scout. Why didn't you go straight back and report that we were resting as soon as we stopped here?'

Callem looked so petrified he was beyond words. The girl wondered if he was about to piss himself. It made her want to giggle, the effect Jaime was having on this poor kid.

When there was no reply, Jaime clicked his teeth together, which the girl had to admit was rather a threatening sound. 'Were you hoping to watch us fuck? Is that why you hung around?'

'N-n-n-no,' Callem choked out. Tears glimmered in his eyes as Jaime twisted the material at his neck.

'No? That's a shame, you could have had a happy memory to take to the grave with you. You could have pictured this girl here,' Jaime gestured in her direction, 'moaning in pleasure, when the time comes for me to slit your throat with that sword she's holding.'

'Let him be,' the girl admonished. 'He's barely older than a kid. He doesn't know what he's doing.'

Jaime smiled at Callem, but this didn't have any sort of reassuring effect on the young man. He gasped for breath and wriggled like a fish on a hook, which made Jaime smile even wider before he said, 'Tell me how many others are following us, and exactly where they are.'

'T-t-t-twelve men, villagers from th-the Hollow. Brodrick is leading them. Th-the-they're hiding in the trees back down the t-t-t-track about half a mile.' Callem started crying, snot leaking from his nose and snail-trailing down his cheek.

'Have you seen us?' Jaime asked.

The young man's face was turning a puce colour, his eyes bulged in their sockets. He shook his head frantically.

Jaime considered him for a moment longer, then abruptly let him go. Callem staggered backwards and fell over. Jaime turned away. 'Get up. This girl here likes you for some reason, so thank her for saving your life. If you breathe a word to anyone of having seen either myself or this girl, ever, I will personally find you and kill you in a manner that will make you wish to every god you've ever heard of that you'd never been born. My family will find you if I can't.' Callem stumbled to his knees, retching and coughing desperately to get air.

'What are we doing?' the girl asked, sword in one hand, surprised that Jaime had actually released the boy.

'We're going to turn the tables on some villagers,' Jaime said matter-of-factly.

'Yeah... um. Are you fucking mad? He said there are twelve of them!'

'Twelve villagers from RedHollow. Not twelve soldiers.'

The girl must've looked thoroughly unconvinced, because Jaime sighed, reached over and grabbed Callem's arm to help him to his feet. 'How did you find us, boy? Go on, tell her how you tracked us here.'

The boy coughed again, gagged. 'The-the-the- the horse.'

Jaime looked over at the girl to make sure she'd got that. 'Your horse. They have your horse, and they're using her to find us.'

The girl felt her heart stop completely, then start up again at a gallop in her chest. She gaped at Callem. 'Sooty? They have Sooty? But she would never go with anyone else...' she trailed off at the guilty look on the boy's face. Callem rubbed his neck and spat blood onto the ground, his tongue testing for loose teeth. 'Th-they have ch-ch-ch-chains,' he said.

There was a long silence. Rain slanted down, wind chased grey clouds across the sky.

The girl frowned, looked down at the sword in her hand thoughtfully. Suddenly she tossed it over the boy's head to Jaime, who caught it in his left hand. The clouds opened up, and sunlight shivered down the blade; Jaime spun it with a lazy flick of his wrist and the steel flashed.

'How do you go with a sword?' she asked.

Jaime shrugged. 'I go alright.'