Jaime lay on his bed, tossing and turning as he thought about Gwen and everything which she had said to him. Her words continued to ring in his ears, not allowing him to sleep. It was as if she was there with him, telling him how she was falling for him. He couldn't get her out of his head even when he closed his eyes.

He was going back to Cersei. He was going back to the woman who he loved and would do anything for. It was Cersei who he loved and not Gwen. It was his Cersei. But Gwen had managed to guilt trip him. She had managed to hold some form of power over him and he didn't like it.

Vaguely he recalled what had happened in the bathhouse. He recalled seeing the bruises on her body as she lurked beneath the water, not wanting to show him the bruises which had formed on her skin. He remembered washing her soft back, running his hands over her bruises and wondering how anyone could hurt a woman in that way...no...not just any woman. Her. Gwen. How could they hurt her? He doubted she had done anything to wrong anyone.

She had stabbed herself to help him escape. She had cradled his broken body as he was taken of the one thing which defined him. She had encouraged him to keep on going. She had watched him for an entire week as his body suffered a fever.

And now he was going to leave her. He was going to leave her to the dogs and he knew they would chew her alive. They would either kill her or she would die trying to escape. He saw nothing for her if he left her in Harrenhal.

But it was not his fault. He had tried to persuade Lord Bolton to let her go. He had talked to him but it didn't work. Bolton was a stubborn man, Jaime knew that. The Kingslayer was as much a prisoner as she was in all of this. But there was light at the end of the tunnel for him.

He groaned as he flopped onto his back once more and closed his eyes, trying to let sleep find him and take him away from his own personal torment.

But he couldn't do it.

He couldn't sleep and he didn't know why. He sat up, pushing his hand from his hair as he ran his fingers over his beard and contemplated shaving it off in the morning. It wasn't exactly a redeeming feature on his face.

He moved slowly around his room, knowing full well that Gwen was in the room next door to his. He had heard the slamming of her door and had asked the maester earlier. He moved to the door, taking hold of the handle and realising that it was his own head on the line if he went through with helping her.

Shaking his head and wondering why he felt compelled to help her, he left and looked down the corridor which was empty. He wondered how he was going to smuggle her out of the castle. He had no chance. Just as he thought the coast was clear he saw a light moving up the walls of the corridor. Jumping back, he closed his door and locked it again, his hand tugging through his hair as he shook his head.

He couldn't do it. There was no chance of smuggling her out without someone seeing.

Bolton's men patrolled the corridors and kept him from escaping their scrutinising gaze. He leant against the wood and sighed. He would wait until tomorrow.

He would wait until Bolton's men left and then he would go for her.

...

Gwen stood at the window, looking down onto the courtyard as the men readied their horses. Most of Lord Bolton's men had begun to ride off, flanking him and keeping him safe as he stood around and waited for one final word with the Kingslayer.

The maid took a seat on the ledge of the window, her hand resting on the glass as she saw Jaime move across to Bolton. She noted that his beard had gone and his hair had been trimmed and he looked like he had done before he had been captured. She barely recognised him without the hair covering his pale face.

She watched the two men shake hands with each other, laughing and smiling as they parted ways and Jaime managed to climb onto his own horse. He looked nowhere near the man she had seen in the past few months. His attire was clean and he looked like the regal knight he once had been.

She continued to look as Jaime moved along on his horse, maester Qyburn riding behind him. Another tall man rode in front, leading the others behind him. She assumed they were Jaime's guard to make sure he returned to Kings Landing safely.

Gwen remained silent, willing for Jaime to look back once. She wanted to see him one final time before he left her. She didn't know why because it would only hurt her. But she supposed it hurt her more to see him ride away without saying anything. She closed her eyes, her hand sliding down the window as she felt herself begin to cry again.

She realised there was nothing else. There was no more that she could do apart from try and escape on her own.

"Do you always cry?"

Gwen turned around and saw the familiar sight of Hoat stood behind her in the narrow tower corridor. Gwen remained sat where she was, perched by the window as she looked at him, not knowing what to say back to him.

"I will take that as a yes," he replied. "It really doesn't become you. You'd be much prettier with a smile on your face."

"There's nothing to smile about," Gwen said quickly and stood up, trying to move past Hoat. He moved hastily, grabbing onto her arm and stopping her from moving away from him. She winced as his hand squeezed her arm and he pulled her back to him, his teeth bared in a sinister smile.

"Your precious Kingslayer has left. You need to accept it. It will make things easier for you."

"No," Gwen spoke lowly. "Now get off me."

"I can please you better than he ever could. He's a cripple now...no one will want him...not even that sister of his."

"Let me go," Gwen simply urged him, tiring of his words for one day.

"Until tonight, pretty," he whispered into her ear and Gwen managed to pull herself away from him, sniffing as she moved back down the corridor. She looked to Brienne's door which she was sure would contain the knight. Could she go and talk to her? Would Brienne be as willing to speak as Jaime had been?

Gwen supposed there was only one thing to do. She knocked on the door and Brienne allowed her entrance, stepping back from the door and allowing Gwen to enter. The tall woman wore a ghastly yellow gown and Gwen blinked profusely to make sure her eyes weren't deceiving her. She had to admit that it wasn't the most flattering thing on her.

"Has he gone?" Brienne wondered.

"He left this morning," Gwen said in a quiet voice. "Only a few moments ago."

Brienne's bed was unmade still and there were a few gowns which had been left on the floor.

"Did you go and see him off?"

"No," Gwen replied and she busied herself by making Brienne's bed, placing the sheets back where they belonged. Brienne watched the maid with wonder before she saw Gwen sniff loudly, her eyes watering as she plumped up the pillows.

"What has happened?" Brienne wondered and Gwen stopped making the bed and simply collapsed onto it.

"He...he went without saying anything...I thought...I know I told him not to bother but I didn't think he actually would...I thought he cared...I thought he..." Gwen spoke incoherently and Brienne remained stood where she was, unable to comfort the girl for she knew nothing of crying woman. She took a seat in the chair in the corner of the room as Gwen pushed a hand through her curls and folded her legs.

"I...Jaime and I had an argument last night," Gwen admitted to her. "He...well...it doesn't matter now. None of it matters because he has gone. He has left and I don't know what to do."

"There is nothing to do but fight them," Brienne said.

"And if we fight them then we die."

"I would rather die than go through with what they have planned," Brienne said to her and Gwen shook her head. "What would the Kingslayer say to you?"

"He'd tell me to accept it," Gwen snorted once and looked away and to the window. Dust sparkled in the sunlight, glowing in the room as it caught Gwen's attention.

"He'd tell you to be strong," Brienne said. "I'm surprised you're not going with him. I didn't think he would be able to leave you here."

"It was an easy decision for him to make," Gwen shrugged. "He went to talk to Lord Bolton but he wouldn't change his mind. Hoat needs his prizes."

"Sickening," Brienne spat out. "How women can be treated like this...like cattle traded at market..."

"It's how it always has been," Gwen shrugged once more.

"And that was it?" Brienne wondered. "Jaime just left you? He told you that was all there was to it?"

Gwen sighed once and looked away from the floating dust in the room, her hands resting on the silk of the pink gown which she wore. Brienne continued to study her with a piqued interest and Gwen shook her head.

"We...I can't really remember what happened. I yelled at him and he yelled at me. I told him...I shouldn't have told him...I should have kept my mouth shut but I couldn't. I couldn't just let him go without him knowing. I suppose I was foolish to think that he would tell me he felt the same."

Brienne tried to make sense of Gwen's incomprehensible sentence and she found her eyes widening and her mouth hanging open.

"You told him that you loved him?" she wondered and Gwen shook her head, rolling her eyes and looking upwards to hold the tears which formed in them.

"Gods no," she replied. "I basically told him that I was on the way to falling in love with him. It's foolish, really. So silly. All he was...he was just a man who offered me comfort. He was a man who looked after me and that doesn't mean that I should fall for him...Lord Robb often offered me comfort and I never fell for him. Not once did I think about him like I do Jaime."

"Only you know how you feel," Brienne said to her. "Although I think you are a fool is you feel something for him. He is the Kingslayer. He is a member of the Kingsguard and has fathered his sister's children. I cannot see the attraction."

"There's something else," Gwen replied, shaking her head back and forth. "He's not all that bad...he really isn't...but he doesn't care for me like I thought he did. I suppose he just pitied me."

"And if you think that then you are as blind as he is," Brienne rolled her eyes. "Both of you relied on each other. I watched the pair of you and you both relied on each other."

"We both pitied each other," Gwen contradicted her. "Well...I cared for him but he pitied me."

"Can you use your brain for one moment?" Brienne snapped at her. "He cared. He cared about you. He just doesn't love you like you love him."

"I don't love-"

"-Spare me," Brienne urged her and Gwen kept her mouth shut, her face shocked at the knight's bluntness with her. "You are well on your way to loving him. Obviously not now he has left you here."

"Obviously," Gwen echoed.

"But it doesn't matter because I have no intention of being here much longer," Brienne said. "Hoat's men guard the castle and I am sure they will have heavy scrutiny on us. I am sure I can handle them."

"Do you think so?"

"Well you won't be able to," Brienne informed her. "We will have to wait until night when the dark is on our side."

"And then what do we do?" Gwen wondered.

"We continue searching for Lady Sansa and Lady Arya like we had promised the Lady Stark." Brienne said as if it were simple. "We cannot sit here and do nothing."

"Agreed," Gwen nodded with her and she stood up from the bed. "I'm off to get some rest before tonight."

"I'll come to you," Brienne said. "And then we go."

"Understood," Gwen said to her and headed towards the door. "Look after yourself, Brienne."

"You too, my Lady."

"Gwen," she replied. "Just call me Gwen."

"As you wish."

Gwen returned to her room, locking the door for the remainder of the day. She tried to get some rest before Brienne came to her but it was no use. There was no point. She simply sat on her bed, her eyes staring at the cloth above her four poster resting place and she wondered where he was. She wondered what he was doing at that moment in time. She didn't know why. She should be trying to get him out of her mind. She shouldn't be wondering what he was doing.

The sun slowly faded until its light could no longer be seen on Gwen's floor. The darkness took over and she waited for Brienne, hoping that it wouldn't be long before she knocked on her door. But it didn't matter. Gwen's heart beat raced as soon as loud knock banged on her door and she gulped loudly, knowing full well that Brienne would never be so brash.

"Come out, come out, little lamb."

Gwen groaned as she heard Hoat call her and she wondered what would happen if she just remained where she was and refused to unlock the door.

"I can break the door down," he answered her unspoken question. "There is no use in hiding from me."

She grunted once and stood up, moving to the door and unlocking it in time to see him stood there.

"Come along now, my dear," he said, his knuckles grazing over her cheek. "No need to look so down about this. I'll look after you."

"I doubt that," Gwen said and Hoat rolled his eyes, grabbing her wrist and dragging her along with him. She looked back as she heard Brienne's door open and she saw the knight stood there, her face one of knowing. She had waited until it was too late.

"I'm willing to look past the fact you spat on me, pretty," he assured her and she shook her head. "I'm willing to treat you with a little more respect than my men ever did. All I ask is for the tears to stop and for you to be eager."

"You're going to have a long wait for that," Gwen spat back.

"I don't doubt it...but I'm a patient man."

...

Brienne huffed and slammed her door shut, knowing that she had to act now before Hoat did something to Gwen. She couldn't let him break the girl any further than she had been broken. She looked around for her armour in the room, knowing she would need it if she were to act.

Thankfully she found it in the wardrobe and quickly changed, placing her well suited attire back onto her body before she moved from the room. She knew her sword had been removed but she could easily steal one of those from someone. She walked down the corridors, lurking in the shadows as she tried to find where Hoat had taken Gwen.

"Oi!"

Brienne froze at the shout directed to her and three men walked down the corridor towards her, their swords ready to swing straight at her as she gulped loudly and shook her head back and forth. She stood where she was, taking a stance and waiting with intent as they moved closer towards her, their eyes fixed on her as they did so.

"You dumb bitch! You're not supposed to leave your room."

One swung at her and she expertly dodged it, moving to the side and punching him in the face squarely, breaking his jaw as she snatched his sword from him and clashed with the other two. She had to admit that the Kingslayer had been better than these men she were facing. She sparred easily, hitting her one sword against their two swords before she managed to hit one man in the face with her elbow and then sliced the other one through his stomach.

"Impressive."

Brienne turned around, her sword still held in the air as she looked at the man who drawled the word to her. He stood there, his arms folded and an air of cockiness on his face as he moved forwards, looking around before his eyes settled on Brienne.

"What are you doing here?" she asked from him, refusing to drop her sword.

"I persuaded the men taking me to Kings Landing to turn around and come back. It's amazing how much power gold has."

"Guilty conscience?" Brienne wondered and he shrugged at her.

"Perhaps," he admitted. "Where's Gwen?"

"Hoat has her."

"Then why are we wasting time standing around here?" he snapped at her and began to move down the corridors, looking around as he held a sword in his left hand, ready for any threat to present itself. The corridors were mainly quiet; the guards who served Lord Bolton and who were escorting Jaime seemed to be dealing with them.

"Why did you come back for her, Kingslayer?" Brienne snapped. "She told me last night how she confessed everything to you-"

"-She confessed nothing which makes anything significant," Jaime cut her off, not wanting to talk about what they had discussed.

"Yet you came back for her," Brienne said.

"I came back for you too...mainly because I knew that you would be with her..." Jaime admitted as he moved quickly past two men who had begun to duel amongst themselves. He could only imagine how the majority of Hoat's men would be dead by morning. And Jaime would have great pleasure in taking care of Hoat himself.

"Tell her how you feel," Brienne snapped at him.

"And why do you care?"

"Because you are both as dumb as each other," Brienne replied and moved up the steps with him, walking through the tower as it spiralled.

Jaime looked around, finally seeing a door with two guarded men stood outside of it. He heard the sounds of womanly cries and he instantly knew he had found her. He held his sword in the air as it clattered against a guards. He urged himself to fight better, to push on through the pain of his body as he heard Gwen yell again.

Brienne moved first, easily disarming one guard and running her blade through his chest before she helped Jaime, seeing him struggling was enough to make her consider helping him. She dealt with the final guard before Jaime moved into the room, the door slamming against the wall behind it as he saw the sight before him.

He'd been too late. He knew he should have come earlier.

He could see Hoat sat up on his knees, one hand on her hip and the other on her head as he kept her facing the bed as she sat on all fours. He looked behind him to where Jaime stood and released the blonde's head as he drew out from her, pulling her skirts down from her waist to cover her.

With one final shove her pushed her to lay on the bed as he stood up, moving around the room as Jaime moved to the other side, slowly prowling with his sword in his hand.

"You've got a nerve coming back here," Hoat growled at him and Jaime shrugged nonchalantly as he caught Gwen's gaze for a moment. "You come back for her? Pretty little thing...very willing too..."

"Well, you won't know anymore. Not even any whores will be pleasuring you." Jaime replied and Hoat grabbed onto his own sword and moved hastily as Jaime moved to the side of the bed. He held his hand out for Gwen as his eyes remained focused on Hoat. Gwen quickly took hold of Jaime's hand as he held his sword under his arm.

He pulled her from the bed and looked at her for a moment before walking her to the door where Brienne stood, nodding at her to take hold of Gwen. She held onto Brienne's hand as Jaime grabbed his sword once more and looked at Hoat.

"And what are you going to do?" Hoat asked. "You're missing a hand."

"I intend to go through with my promise from yesterday," Jaime said. "I will slice you open from balls to brains and leave you here...your rotting corpse..."

"With one hand?" Hoat wondered.

"Well, we will just have to see," Jaime said and he quickly moved forwards, swinging his sword at Hoat haphazardly and Gwen wondered how he was going to fair. She could see he was weak. He wasn't at his best and anyone could see that. Gwen looked to Brienne for a moment and the knight nodded, stepping forwards and helping Jaime, completely throwing the Hoat off balance.

"I can manage," Jaime snapped at her and Hoat fell to the floor, his sword dropping from his hand as he scrambled back and Jaime and Brienne pointed their swords at him.

"Need a woman to help you?" Hoat snarled at Jaime who pressed his sword further into Hoat's stomach.

"Now, shall we see what you're made off or shall I just kill you here and now?" Jaime enquired from him.

"Do what you want," Hoat whispered. "You're the one who will be the cripple in life."

Jaime snapped, plunging his sword deep into the Hoat's stomach. Gwen shrieked out loud as she heard Hoat scream in pain and she turned her gaze to Jaime, his eyes narrowed as he stabbed into Hoat.

He pulled his sword back out, blood dripping from the blade as he passed it to Brienne, his body splattered in blood. He looked to Gwen as she stood there, her face completely unreadable as he looked at her.

"You came back," she whispered and Jaime nodded at her, moving forwards and resting his hand on the small of her back. He led her out of the room as Brienne followed them.

"I came back too late," he told her, his eyes completely scared as to what he had just seen.

"But you came back," Gwen whispered. "Why?"

"Guilty conscience," Jaime explained to her and she felt pain in her side as she watched Jaime. He glanced back down to her and stood still, looking at Brienne and urging her for a moment of privacy. She took the hint and left them in the corridor alone.

"Gwen...what you said last night..."

"Forget about it," she shook her head, her hair moving around her head as she did so. "I didn't mean it...well I did...but I know that it doesn't mean anything so I'd prefer to forget about it."

He said nothing before he moved his hand to her chin, his finger curling underneath it and drawing her gaze to him.

"I do care," he whispered to her. "But I can't...Gwen...Cersei...she's the one who I love. She's the one who I have..."

"I know," Gwen whispered and Jaime smiled softly as her gaze looked down and he knew that she was hurting. What did she expect? He was a member of the Kingsguard and she was a maid for the Starks. Did she honestly think that she could act on her feelings?

"Come here," Jaime whispered and he drew her into his arms, running his hand down her hair as she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her head into his shoulder. "I'm so sorry I was late...too late..."

"He'd...he'd nearly finished then..." Gwen whispered to him.

Jaime held her tighter at the piece of information and he ran his hand down her blonde hair as she pulled herself against him. He inhaled sharply, closing his eyes as he remained content for a few moments, holding her to him.

...

A/N: Another chapter for today! Thank you so much to everyone who has already reviewed today. I do hope you enjoy so far!