Jaime was still angry for long after they left Milo's villa. The idea of anyone touching Lyanna had made him furious. It wasn't just because of the complete vulgarity of what MIlo had suggested, though that would have been bad enough in itself, it was because he cared for her that it bothered him so much. He hadn't wanted to admit it to himself before then. He hadn't even wanted to admit it to himself when she had kissed him that morning. He knew now that even if Cersei could have been convinced to agree to come to Essos, he would never be able to go through with his plan to see Lyanna married to someone else. He wanted her too much for himself to ever let that happen. Maybe she wouldn't want him now that she knew about Cersei but he at least had to try.
They visited several more wealthy citizens of Braavos who were rumored to be hiring guards. Two told them that they didn't need anyone anymore. Three told them that they were considering someone else and to come back at the end of the week for a decision. Then while Jaime spoke to a wealthy merchant in his garden about a job, Lyanna noticed a child playing the harp on the patio nearby. It was a young girl, perhaps seven or eight years of age. She would play a few notes, then stop, struggling to find the next one. Lyanna approached her with a friendly smile.
"I can help you with that if you like." She told the girl. "My name is Ava."
"I am Dorella. I can never get the notes right." She said sadly.
"It's like this." Lyanna showed the girl how to play the song and soon she was playing it without difficulty.
Jaime and the man who owned the villa approached her.
"I see you have charmed my daughter into finally playing that song." The man said. His name was Belaro.
"I just helped a little." Lyanna said.
"Do you know how to read and write as well as play the harp?" Belaro asked.
"I do, yes." Lyanna told him.
"Good. Then I will hire you both. My daughter needs a tutor and I need another guard. You will have a room in the villa, three meals a day, and wages each week. I do not pay as much as Horam Mott but I also do not allow my home to be turned into a brothel like Milo Topatis. If you chose to stay here you will be treated fairly as long as you work faithfully. If you try to steal from me or become lazy, I have been known to throw my employees out on the street without pay, but that is the worst that you can expect from me." Belaro told them and he sounded as if he were being honest about it.
"Sounds fair enough to me." Jaime said. Lyanna nodded her agreement.
"You are staying at an inn somewhere?" Belaro asked them.
"Yes. The Red Dragon it was called." Jaime told him.
"Then go back there tonight. Come back tomorrow and your room will be ready for you here and your work can begin." Belaro said.
It was a long walk back to the inn. They had travelled far across the city that day.
"That was easier than I thought it would be." Lyanna finally said.
"It was. I'm sure eventually we'll find out why. If something seems too good to be true then it probably is." Jaime said.
They walked for a while in silence and then Lyanna saw something to her left that caught her attention and she stopped. "Look, a godswood."
Jaime followed her as she went into what looked like a garden in the middle of the city. It had a single huge weirwood tree in the center. Lyanna went slowly to the tree. She knelt down in front of it and reached out and touched the face, tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry…" She whispered. She was too. She was sorry for everything she had caused and though she didn't know if the gods were listening, she felt the need to try to repent if she could. "I'm sorry for what I did...for abandoning my honor… for running away...I'm sorry that I didn't stay with my son...or with the man who wanted to marry me...it wasn't the honorable choice to make...I don't even know if it was the right one...I'm sorry…" Before she knew what was happening she found herself curled up at the trunk of the tree weeping. Jaime knelt down and sat down on the ground next to her. He reached for her and pulled her into his arms so that she was curled up on his lap.
"I can't speak for what the gods have to say, but if it helps, I forgive you." Jaime told her.
"It does help…" She said, her tears falling faster onto his shoulder. They stayed like that for a long while until she finally calmed. "It's getting late, it's almost dark, maybe we she go." Lyanna said.
"Not yet." Jaime said. "There's something I need to say first."
"I didn't think you kept to the old gods." Lyanna said.
"I don't. I don't really keep any gods at all. I just think it will mean more to you if I say it here." Jaime said, then fell silent. Lyanna didn't seem to mind. She was relaxed in his arms, eyes closed. "You know that I care for you don't you?" He finally said.
Lyanna's eyes popped open. "I suspected but…"
"I want you to know that anything that happens after this is because I care for you. I don't want anything from you, not a child, not the fulfillment of any prophecy, not even for you to replace anyone that I've lost...I only want you...will you allow me to care for you, to learn to love you?" He asked her, trying to hide how much it worried him that she might say no.
Lyanna shifted in his arms so that she straddled his lap, her eyes never leaving his. Then when she had settled she whispered. "Yes."
He hadn't intended to take her there under the heart tree. He had only intended to declare his intentions to her. Neither of them tried to stop what was happening. They had wanted one another for long enough that there was no stopping it anyway. They began to lose track of time the moment their lips met. They forgot that they were in the godswood and that the city streets were nearby. They forgot about Rhaegar and about Cersei. They forgot about everything except for the feeling of their bodies joined together. Together they felt whole.
"Now we should go." Jaime said, pulling on his tunic afterwards. It was dark in the godswood which Lyanna was thankful for or they might have been seen. They had probably been heard well enough as it was.
She dressed and took his hand and they headed back towards the inn. They had almost reached the inn when suddenly she stopped, squeezing his hand as she did. "You do realize what just happened, taking me in the godswood like that?"
He hadn't realized it until she said it. "Does this mean we're married now?"
She nodded, but she was smiling. "By the laws of the old gods I think it does."