Sarah couldn't sleep once she had rushed from Jaime that night, refusing to believe anything that he had said to her. Her mind was in a whirl with information. Her father had killed his brother. She had run away and embarked on some ridiculous trek with Jaime Lannister where he had lost his sword hand and she had fallen for him. How could any of the even be possible? It didn't sound plausible, never mind ring true with her.

The following day was spent on the road once again and Sarah did everything she could to avoid the subject of Jaime Lannister. She rode by herself mainly, preferring the solace in comparison to her mother idly fretting over her health. She did note how her father rode ahead with Lady Melisandre, both of them whispering into each other's ears. Sarah did not know what they spoke of, but she suspected it must be something to do with battle tactics.

"Princess."

Sarah scarcely noted her horse come to a stop and Ser Davos stood on the ground, offering her his hand. She took hold of it and Davos grasped her waist to help her down, steadying her on her feet once she hit the mud underneath her riding boots.

"Ser Davos," Sarah spoke lowly, "do you mind if I speak with you in private?"

Davos avoided her orbs and she wondered what she had done to him to make him look so scared of her. He noted Selyse staring at him, almost warning him away from her daughter whilst she sat on the cart and Shireen sang quietly by her side.

"Best not, Princess," Davos said, shaking his head and looking to the floor. "Your mother wouldn't approve."

"Please," Sarah begged him, taking hold of his arm before he had the chance to rush away from her. Why could he not look at her? Had she done something to anger him before her injury? "No one has told me the truth since I came back...I just...I need someone to speak sense to me..."

"Davos!" Stannis's voice called out and Davos quickly looked to the pleading girl before he muttered back to her;

"After dinner," he assured her and she released his arm as Stannis came to stand next to the pair of them, his hand stroking Sarah's horse as she looked up to her father, peering into his eyes as the sun beat down through the canopies of the trees and almost blinded her.

"Are we simply stopping for a rest?" Sarah asked her father and Stannis nodded back to her.

"Aye," he replied. "You should go and sit with your mother for a while. No doubt the woman has been fretting about you riding on a horse. The Lady Melisandre says that you should be well enough on horseback for the majority of the journey."

Sarah's brow furrowed. Shouldn't she be the one to know if she was well enough to ride a horse? But she didn't speak out against her father. She merely stood on her toes to peck him on the cheek as he held onto her upper arm and then watched her leave for her mother, catching Shireen as she jumped down from the cart and whirled her around in her arms.

"What did she ask of you?" Stannis demanded from Davos, still stroking Sarah's horse whilst his eyes remained fixed on his daughters as Sarah sank to the grass floor and Shireen sat next to her, her skirts flowing out as she picked a daisy from the ground.

Davos nonchalantly shrugged. "She wanted to know how much further we have to travel. I think she is weary."

"She mentioned nothing of Jaime Lannister?" Stannis checked and Davos finally looked to his King.

"No, your Grace, why would she?"

Stannis inhaled sharply, still watching as Shireen laughed but Sarah struggled to. She struggled to even smile and normally she would always beam when she was around Shireen. Stannis could see that she was not herself and it wounded him more than he cared to admit. People called him cold and calculated, and he suspected he was, but no one knew the inner turmoil which raged inside of him.

"She went to see him last night. A guard informed me that he saw her running from the outhouse in the middle of the night."

"And have you asked her of it?"

"No," Stannis replied. "She would only ask me questions which I do not wish to answer. How can I tell her that the Kingslayer manipulated her? How he made her think she cared for him? He is almost double her age...far too old for her...and he is a Lannister."

Davos gulped then, recalling what Jaime had said to him a couple of days ago. He remembered his exact words. The words which had fallen from his mouth clearly stated how much he cared for Sarah Baratheon. Davos had an inclination the girl felt the same way after he had heard the rumours. She had never confirmed them when she helped him to free Gendry, but he could see that she had changed from the small girl who clung to her mother's skirts.

"It must be hard for her, your Grace," Davos commented. "She remembers nothing and she has been through so much."

"So much involving Jaime Lannister and turning her against me," Stannis said and Davos almost felt the need to remind the King what he had done. He had murdered his own brother and had intended to murder his own nephew. Was there any wonder that the girl disagreed with him? "No, she is not so know any of it."

"And what if Lannister told her about it all?"

"Then she does not believe him," Stannis responded. "She would have questioned me straight away if he had told her anything. She is the same girl I sent to Winterfell; the same girl who would not dare question or second guess me."

"Do you think she is truly the same?" Davos wondered as Shireen rested her head on her sister's lap and looked to the sky above, a smile on her face but nothing on the elder girl's face. "She seems different."

"Aye," Stannis commented, "I can see that, but I can do nothing about it. It is the price I had to pay to bring her back to us."

"But now she pays for it," Davos mumbled so Stannis couldn't hear him. The Onion Knight quickly nodded to his King and made an excuse to leave whilst Stannis remained where he was, watching his daughter with mixed emotions.

...

"I need to know the truth," Sarah spoke as she took Davos by his arm and took him by the arm as they wandered through the woods. They had set up camp for the evening and Sarah had managed to find Davos before the night fell. He walked her to the outskirts of the camp before stopping to turn and look back at her.

"Do you?" Davos worried, knowing that the truth would only turn her against her father again. Perhaps turn was too strong a word, but he knew that she would question him and be upset with the choices he had made. "Sometimes the truth hurts, Princess. It hurts more than lying to ourselves."

"But I have a right to know it," Sarah responded, biting down on her bottom lip as she did so. She took a few moments to think before leaning against the trunk of a tree, folding her ankles and looking to the setting sky. "Ser Jaime told me that my father had killed his brother. He killed Renly. Is that true?"

It was common knowledge, or so Davos assumed. His hesitant answer told her that it was enough. She inhaled sharply, shaking her head back and forth as Davos made his excuse;

"Your father didn't know about the Lady Melisandre and her powers. She produced...this creature...this creature was said to be the one to kill Renly...technically your father did not kill him. It was the creature that killed him."

"How did she create the creature?" Sarah wondered, still not too sure if she believed what she was hearing from Davos. A creature? It sounded ridiculous, but she had seen Melisandre's powers. Nothing could be classed as ridiculous.

"I do not know..." Davos said, lying about that. He knew full well what Stannis had done to dishonour his wife and Davos knew that it ate him up to think about it. He would not remind Sarah of her father's disloyalty. "But I do know that your father regrets what happened with Renly. He is not cold hearted."

"And so was Jaime telling the truth?" Sarah checked. "I ran away and met him?"

"Aye," Davos said. "I do not know what happened afterwards, but..." Davos trailed off, wondering if he should say anything else to her on the matter. "Your father left you on Dragonstone after you went against him and aided me to help his bastard nephew escape."

"Why did I do that?"

"Because the Lady Melisandre...the Red Woman is dangerous. She would have killed the boy and you couldn't live with that."

"And my father would have let her?" Sarah sounded horrified. She had always assumed that she'd have bastard cousins due to her uncle's whoring. "What power does she hold over him?"

"She convinced him that the boy's death would be beneficial for the entire kingdom. He thought it was the right thing to do, but I think she is the decision maker behind everything that he does. I should not be telling you this, Princess. Your father would kill me if he found out."

"He will not," Sarah replied. "I just needed the truth. Ser Jaime told me one story and my father told me another. But what about Jaime?"

"What about him?" Davos asked. "I spoke with him briefly about these matters...and...he did save you...and I think that he may care about you. You have been through a lot together and that does change people. Perhaps he does care for you?"

"Perhaps," Sarah whispered, looking back to the sky once more and then to Davos. "I need to see him."

"He is by the edge of the camp in the back of a wagon. He is under constant guard."

"Tell the guard you want to relieve him of his duty. Please, Davos. I just want to talk to him. I don't know why and I can't explain why...but there is something about him which I can't ignore and it doesn't make sense to me."

Davos inhaled sharply before nodding to her request. He walked with her back through the camp as men sat and conversed. No doubt Stannis would be with Melisandre and Selyse too. She seemed unable to leave the woman alone.

Jaime had been kept prisoner in the wagon for ages, his feet also chained together along with his hands. Dirt was covering his face and he looked a complete mess with his clothes askew around his body and almost in tatters. Davos relieved the guard and Sarah looked at him expectantly before she dared to climb onto the back of the wagon after making sure there was no one in sight in the midst of the forest.

"What are you doing back here?" Jaime asked from her and she moved her hand to wipe a speck of dirt from his face.

"If I cared for you then it would make sense, wouldn't it?" Sarah asked, almost looking confused and Jaime relished the touch of her hand against his skin. "I guess that would make sense and it would be why I am drawn to you for some unexplainable reason."

"You feel drawn to me?" Jaime checked and she looked him in the eye, groaning as she did so.

"I spent all of last night tossing and turning and then thinking about you today as well. I could...it sounds stupid..."

"No," Jaime quickly spoke, longing for any revelation. "You can talk to me, Sarah."

She bit on her bottom lip for a moment; "When we were close yesterday I felt...there was something. It was as if I wanted to be close to you and I don't know why. But today I have felt nothing like it, even being with my sister and I know that I love her more than anything. So why is it you that I can't stay away from?"

Grinning, Jaime longed to move out and brush his fingers through her hair and tell her that it was normal for her to feel that way. He wished she could remember it all. But he did none of that. Instead he jutted his head forwards, his lips quickly capturing hers before she could move away. He felt her stiffen into the kiss, but all it took was a quick flick of his tongue along her bottom lip and she closed her eyes and moved closer to him, her hands on his shoulders as he longed to free his.

Finally, he pulled back from her and she remained still with her eyes closed. He looked at her, trying to find a reaction but failing miserably. He took a few more moments before pecking her on the cheek and she moved her hand to his stubble covered one, keeping his warm lips against her cold skin.

"Don't move," she whispered and Jaime rested his forehead against the side of her head. "It feels so familiar...so warm..."

"I will stay here so long as you need me to, Princess," Jaime promised her, kissing her on the cheek again and she exhaled a loud, shaky breath. "As long as you need me."

...

A/N: Thank you to mellielannister, cc and CupcakesAndAlice for reviewing the previous chapter. Do let me know what you think!