Sarah stood from the floor, using the wall to steady her on her feet before pushing herself away from the wall and rushing through the tavern. Melisandre acted quickly, blocking her path to the door as Selyse remained by the fireplace, looking into the flames as though it gave her answers. Sarah glowered to the Red Woman before trying to push her out of the way.
"He is a traitor. His sins are beyond forgiveness," Melisandre spoke. "He has a pull over you which needs to be severed."
"And if he dies?" Sarah snarled back. "What happens if he dies? Do I become empty then? Do I feel nothing?"
"You could never be with him," Melisandre replied. "He is a Lannister and you are a Baratheon. Nothing could happen for your father would not allow it. He is almost double your age and nothing but trouble."
"I don't care!" Sarah replied. "He is the only one who has not lied to me since I was awoken. He does not deserve to die. So move out of my way!"
Melisandre smirked before Sarah reacted with haste. She took a few moments to compose herself before she slapped Melisandre across the face. The Red Woman seemed shocked as Sarah pushed her out of the way then and ran out of the door. The cool air hit her cheeks and Sarah moved down the encampment, men whispering and looking at her as she rushed towards the end of the rows of tents. It was only when she came to the place where Jaime had been taken hostage did Sarah see the sight which scared her more than she had thought.
Her father stood over Jaime who was bent over a tree stump, his eyes closed as he waited for Stannis to swing the sword. There were no men around apart from Davos, but Sarah suspected her father didn't want a crowd to form.
She moved with haste as Stannis gripped his sword tightly. He had barely had time to raise it before he saw his daughter fling herself to the floor, her body covering Jaime's body. Jaime lifted his head from the trunk as he felt her sudden weight against his back.
"Get out of my way, Sarah," Stannis demanded from his daughter and she shook her head as Jaime struggled to move his head from the stump of the tree.
"No," Sarah responded. "I may not know a lot, but I do know that I cannot let you kill him. He saved my life-"
"-He ruined you." Stannis interrupted her. "He took your honour from you. You are a naive little girl. You do not know what you want, Sarah, but he has manipulated you into his way of thinking."
"I did no such thing," Jaime responded. "I am not the one who worships some deranged Fire God. Sarah knew what she was doing and she clearly still does."
"Lies," Stannis hissed.
"My King," Davos spoke lowly, "perhaps there is another way to discuss this."
"No," Stannis replied back Davos. "Take Sarah back to the inn. I shall take the Kingslayer's head and have it on a spike."
"No, you won't," Sarah responded as Jaime moved to rest by her side eventually, longing to hold her as she stood up and looked to her father, challenging his gaze. She refused to back down on the matter. She refused to let him win this argument and she refused to let him kill Jaime. "If you kill Jaime then I will never forgive you."
"I do not need your forgiveness." Stannis promised her.
"I am your daughter!" Sarah shouted out loud, surely causing a stir amongst the men who resided in the camp. "You lied to me about everything and Jaime did not. He has told me the truth and I believe every word he says. How can I not? He is the only one who makes me feel anything at all. I look at my own sister and I cannot even force myself to smile for her, but here I stand...with Jaime Lannister...and I feel alive and not like a walking corpse. Do you wish to take that away from me?"
Stannis kept still for a few moments, struggling to look at her as she moved closer to him and she knew what she had to do. She had to distract her father for a long enough time to give Jaime a chance to flee.
"He is a Lannister, Sarah," Stannis said. "I will not accept it. I cannot accept it."
"Then disown me," Sarah responded. "Disown me and cast me out with him...but do not take his life."
"You are my daughter. You obey me," Stannis reminded her and she shook her head.
"I am not just your daughter," she said, slowly moving one hand to her father's hand which held the sword and the other to his cheek as she slowly prised the sword from his hand and Stannis bowed his head for a moment. "I am my own person too. I do my duty by you, but when that means standing by and watching you and mother lose yourself to this Lord of Light...then I cannot do that...it is not right and there would have been a time when you agreed with me."
Davos remained still, looking to Jaime for a second as the Kingslayer also caught his gaze. The two of them then glanced back to Sarah and Stannis, wondering what the Lord of Dragonstone would do. Jaime had to admit that the Princess had a way with words. She was doing her best to play her position to her advantage.
"Yell at me and curse me," Sarah informed her father, slowly managing to pull the sword from his hands. "But do not kill him because he cares for me. That is not a crime and you know it. He may have committed many crimes before, but who has not in this time of war? Please, just don't take his life and leave me...empty...please..."
Sarah finally had the sword in her hand as she looked to her father and waited for his response. His eyes were wide and she wondered what he was thinking of as she took a step back and kept the sword within her grasp tightly.
"My King!"
Melisandre's voice echoed and Stannis looked over to her as Sarah moved back to Jaime, knowing that the Red Woman would manipulate her father into doing her bidding. She would see Jaime burnt alive if she had her way. Sarah helped the Kingslayer to stand and Stannis knew what she was doing.
"No!" Stannis snapped at Sarah as she held the sword in front of her. She stopped her father from approaching any closer to her and Jaime. The Red Woman remained behind her father's shoulder and Stannis glowered at her.
"You need to go," Sarah said as she stepped backwards and Jaime shook his head.
"I have chains on my feet," he hissed into her ear as the other three remained on the wrong end of her sword.
"Davos," Sarah called out. "I need the key for his irons."
"Sarah!" Stannis snapped at his daughter and she shook her head, moving the blade in her hands. She had an idea that her father could wrestle it from her if he had to. But he would do nothing so long as she pressed it against her own stomach and continued to move further into the forest.
"The Lord of Light brought me back once before. Do you think that he would do it again?"
"What do you think you are doing?" Stannis hissed and remained still, refusing to move closer to his daughter. "Take that away from you."
"I hate to agree with your father," Jaime informed her, "but do, in fact, take that from your stomach."
"Give the key to Ser Jaime, Davos," Sarah ignored the two men and Stannis continued to stare at his daughter as though she were in the throes of lunacy at that moment in time. He couldn't understand what was going through her mind as she continued to hold the blade against her stomach. Stannis turned to Davos and nodded once.
"Do you know that he will not make it far in these woods, Sarah?" Stannis checked with his daughter as Davos handed Jaime the key and he bent down to free himself from the irons on his ankles before awkwardly removing the ones from his wrists. "He has no hope of freedom. As soon as he has gone then I will send men after him."
"No," Sarah replied, shaking her head back and forth as Jaime took hold of her waist softly with his hand. He curled his fingers around her waist and Sarah's trembling hands held onto the blade. Jaime bent down to whisper into her ear. He knew that this was impossible. Stannis was right. He would send men after Jaime and they would drag him back to Stannis for execution.
"Your father is right," Jaime whispered into her ear so that Stannis couldn't hear. "I will not stand here and watch you hold that to your stomach."
Sarah turned her gaze to look at Jaime as he dared to move his hand up her waist to her cheek, keeping her head turned and her gaze focused on him.
"You need to run," Sarah whispered, Jaime's left hand distractingly stroking her cheek, much to the dismay of Stannis Baratheon. "I will stand here for as long as possible. My father would not dare do anything whilst I am like this, even if it means letting you go."
"Sarah!" Stannis snapped her attention back to him as impatience took hold of him in his veins. "Drop that blade now. He will not get far and we both know that you have no intention of taking your own life."
Sarah shook her head back to her father as Jaime's fingers danced over her pale slender neck.
"Just let him go," Sarah begged her father. "He is no threat to you."
"He is an enemy," Stannis reminded his daughter. "He is an enemy and he must pay for that. He has corrupted you, Sarah."
"No, the Lord of Light corrupted you."
"The Lord of Light corrupts no one," Melisandre finally interrupted the conversation and Davos glowered at her. "You shall face death this time, Sarah Baratheon. If that sword pierces your body then you will not be brought back."
"Then let us hope that it does not pierce my body," Sarah responded and looked back to Jaime. "Go, now. Just run, Jaime. You need to go and get away from here...for me...please..."
Jaime almost felt pained to leave Sarah behind, worrying what would happen to her. She was well aware that she would be punished for her crimes. He doubted she would see the light of day again or keep her father's trust. But what of her emotions? Would she ever be able to feel anything again, or would she be empty?
"Go!" Sarah yelled at him, anger taking hold of her.
It was then when Stannis reacted. His daughter yelled and glowered at Jaime and Stannis moved with haste, circling Sarah and rushing to knock the sword from her hands as his arms engulfed her waist and took her by surprise. Sarah shrieked loudly as Stannis pushed her to the floor and made a move to grab hold of Jaime.
"No!" Sarah called out as Jaime fell to the ground and scrambled for the sword.
Stannis did the same thing, both men rolling over on the ground. It was Davos who moved with haste, grabbing the sword from the floor as Stannis balled his hand into a fist and hit Jaime across the cheek. Sarah reacted quickly, pulling at her father's clothes to try and get him away from Jaime.
"Please stop," Sarah begged her father. "Just let him go...Jaime..."
"Death by fire is the purest of deaths, my King," Melisandre piped up as blood trickled down Jaime's nose and the Kingslayer remained on the floor, unable to move as he felt his face almost begin to swell up. There was no way out of this. There was no way to get out of the mess he was found in.
"Please," Sarah begged Stannis. "Just leave him alone."
Stannis continued to glower down to his daughter, his hands on her upper arms as he kept her in front of him.
"I am in the right mind to strike you," Stannis promised his daughter, "but I have no intention of hitting a woman, especially my daughter."
"You know that this needs to be done, my King," Melisandre spoke as Davos picked Jaime up from the floor and looked to Stannis who nodded in agreement.
"Take the Kingslayer to the outhouse and keep him locked up until I decide for a fire to be lit. If death by fire is the purest of deaths then the flames have a lot of work in wiping away the Kingslayer's sins."
Sarah watched as Davos moved with Jaime in his grip, the Kingslayer barely able to stand as blood continued to run from his nose and his lips. Her eyes widened as Jaime looked to her and Stannis kept hold her by the arm. He bent down to hiss in her ear, his gaze following his daughter's after the Kingslayer;
"He will not hold your affections," Stannis said to her. "And you will never do anything like that again. Do you understand me?"
Sarah snatched her arm from her father's grip before stumbling away from him. Her own eyes met his and the glare inside of them showed her Baratheon temper.
"And if you think that I shall sit back and watch you burn him then you are sadly mistaken," Sarah promised her father and Stannis shook his head. He would lock her in her room if he had to. She began to rush off and Melisandre remained still, the smirk still held on her face as she watched Stannis rush after his daughter.
Stannis caught Sarah by her waist and pulled her back against him as he noted tears form in her eyes. But her tears would not do anything to him now. He would not let them. He grabbed her under the knees and tossed her over his shoulder.
"Put me down!" Sarah demanded.
"No," Stannis replied. "You will not help him and I shall not sit back and watch you. You are my daughter and you are under my control. Jaime Lannister shall die and you shall forget him."
"I will never forgive you for this," Sarah snarled, her fists hitting against her father's back as he continued to move with her over his shoulder, wishing that she had never met Jaime Lannister.