Wife of the Wolf, Husband of the Sun
Chapter Thirty-Nine.
Elia brought her hand down to stroke soothing circles over her belly as the babe inside of her kicked as ferociously as a cart horse. The babe had been more and more active as of late, they did not like the boat and they had made their opinion quite clear to her many times over their long journey back to the North.
She was often confided to her quarters with only a bucket for company, she would have preferred to be out on the deck but she didn't like the idea of the crew of the ship watching her being sick. She still had her dignity, and soon enough she would have more than that.
Each day that had passed since they had left Lannisport had been unbearably slow in its passing, the ship they had left on had been the fastest in the Lannister fleet, she had been assured of that by the captain, by the Lord of House Lannister in Lannisport and by Lord Tywin himself and while that may have been the case they had been slowed down by the fact that they were being accompanied by three large warships to protect them and they were sailing along the cost.
Elia could understand why of course, sailing along the coast was safer and reduced the risk of the ironborn or other pirates from launching an attack on them and if there was an attack on them then while the larger ships were fighting them off they could slip away on the waves.
But while her head was telling her that it did not stop the irritation that seeped into her with each day that they made such little progress, while she knew that she should have expected this as Tywin Lannister would never risk his first born son without such protection it still felt as though as he was doing this to spite her, for daring to stand against him and ordering that he agreed to return her to the North.
She was also aware that these ships weren't just filled with Lannister sailors, they were filled with Lannister soldiers as well. Not enough to pose any threat in White Harbour but the message it would give would be very clear to Lord Wyman, his son was to be able to leave the north with no issue or there would be a great deal of trouble for him.
As she gazed out across the sea she almost thought that she could see White Harbour, just a little dot on the horizon even though she knew that was impossible. They were close, so very close but there was still a little bit further to go.
They had said down from Lannisport and down all the way down the coast until they had reached the Sea of Dorne, as they had been sailing through the Stepstones it had taken all that she had to stop herself from begging the captain to dock in Planky Town.
She knew that he wouldn't, Lord Tywin had order him to take them to White Harbour and no further. She had watched as Dorne sailed past with tears in her eyes. It felt like she would never be seeing it again. She would never be able to feel the hot burning sand in between her toes and waddle in the cool blue pools of the Water Gardens.
She had cried herself to sleep that night as for the very first time her thoughts were not on Ned or her babe or the North but was on Doran and Oberyn and all their children and how very much she loved them. And on the next night she had cried herself to sleep because she felt terrible for not thinking about Ned and the babe.
They were almost there, if they set sail in the morning and if the winds were fair and the oceans were calm then they could be in White Harbour before nightfall and then it was simply a matter of riding to Winterfell along the White Knife, it was a long ride but the worst part of the journey would be behind her.
As soon as she thought about riding a heavy kick landed against her side and Elia breathed harshly through teeth and she rubbed slightly more firmly to try and sooth them. She wouldn't be able to ride to Winterfell when she was like this, every day and every night she had prayed to the Mother that she would allow her to keep the babe inside of her for just one day more, just until she saw Ned.
But she knew that she wasn't going to make it to Winterfell, she had been lucky to last this long without birthing. She hadn't like the idea of birthing her babe at sea, neither Northman nor Dornish had been seafarers in hundreds of years and the idea of birthing at sea had terrified her and when Lord Tywin had pointed that out to her she had almost changed her mind right then and there.
But she couldn't, if she had than no threat she had ever made again would have worked. The worst thing was that she was prepared to do it but if she had changed her mind then and there it would be over. The old lion would never take her seriously until it was too late and all her death would do was bring more doom and more despair.
With every kick that her babe gave inside her she felt more and more guilty, it was the only threat that she was certain that might work. For all the pride that House Lannister had, for all their arms and armour and men to wield them couldn't stand against an alliance between The North, Dorne, The Vale and The Stormlands.
And now she was almost home, Lord Tywin hadn't dared risk that she was bluffing, just a little bit further.
After a few more moments the babe had finally settled and Elia let out a breath, how could simply carrying such a small thing inside of her drain her so? Did all women feel like this towards the end or was it only her? Elia had not spent much time around other pregnant women before, her mother had been pregnant with Oberyn after her but she had fallen pregnant with him almost a month after she had her.
Her mother had miscarried several times before Doran, several times in between him and her and twice more after Oberyn was born but the Maester had always said that there had never been any signs to suggest that there was anything wrong with her pregnancy, it just always went wrong.
She wasn't going to miscarry the baby now but even if the birth went without any problems that didn't mean that her babe was safe, her thoughts turned to Mors and Olyvar who had both died in the cradle before she had been born. Elia wasn't as strong as her mother, she did not think that she would be able to bear that.
"Stay in just a tiny bit longer, just until we reach the North. I want your father to be the first one to see you, the first one besides me." Elia whispered as she moved her hand off of her stomach and turned her attention out on to the waves.
The Three Sisters were grim little islands but they were close to White Harbour so as soon as they had docked here for the night Elia knew that their journey was almost over. They had nearly been conquered by the North over two thousands years ago and when the Three Sisters had agreed to join with The Vale for protection that had caused a thousand years of warfare between both kingdoms.
In the end the Three Sisters had become part of the Vale, most weren't happy about that but from what Elia had read about the subject, which admittedly wasn't much, it seemed that the men and women of the Sisters thought that if they were going to lose their independence then they would rather lose it willingly rather than have it taken from.
Still, from what she had been able to gather it was still something of a sore point for both kingdoms and it was clear that the Three Sisters liked to pretend that they were still independent of either of them.
Elia had to admit that she did not like it here, she imagined that island life was a hard life and it would brew a hard people but Dorne brewed a hard people as well, living in the desert was hardly ideal though she would not deny that she had been shielded from most of it due to being safe inside the Water Gardens and Sunspear for most of her life.
She did not like the way that men looked at her, the Three Sisters were mainly made up of the sistermen, a bloodline not connected to the First Men although there had been some mixing in recent years, there were some First Men and Andels thrown into the mix as well but Elia had doubted that most of the men of this isle had ever seen someone descended from Rhoynish blood before.
They were currently on the middle island of Sweetsister and many men had been staring at her lately and all too suddenly she found herself longing for Jaime, the sistermen always claimed that they did not care about the affairs of any of the mainlanders and that might just be true but Tywin Lannister's reputation was well known through out all of Westeros and no one would dare try anything to her if his son was at her side.
Almost like the Warrior himself answering her prayer the door of the tavern she sat outside of opened and Jaime walked out, dressed in his armour of gilded steel that shone so brightly in the sun. He had a sword clasped at his side, a gift from his father before they had left Lannisport, everything about him screamed wealth that the people of these islands could only dream about.
She wasn't sure but Elia got the feeling that dressing like that was probably not the best idea, thankfully at least while he was dressed in that armour no one could try anything and Elia couldn't deny that it did make her feel safer. As well as the tavern that was now filled with Lannister soldiers.
As Jaime sat down next to her Elia was certain that there was a look of concern on his face, at seeing that Elia graced him with a gentle smile. She had meant what she had told Lord Tywin that day in Casterly Rock, of all the Lannisters there were only two that she trusted and Jaime was one of them.
A part of her was truly still angry with him for what he had done, he was still partly the reason that she had been separated from Ned after all but ever since he shown to her the Stone Garden inside of Casterly Rock, offering her a small refuge from the world, she had found that her anger towards him had been growing less and less as of late.
She had loved the Stone Garden, she did not worship the Old Gods and had always believed in the Seven but she couldn't deny the peace it had brought to her. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, she would slip out of her chamber and sit in the garden until morning came with only the silence and the weeping face of the weirwood as company.
And it was strange, but sometimes she was certain that she could hear voices even when she was all alone. They were never any louder than a whisper and often times the voices were strangers to her but once or twice she was certain that she could hear Ned, she had been starting to worry that she had been losing her mind and thus after that had spent a few days away from the weirwood but soon she found that she needed the comfort that it provided her.
"Are you feeling better?" Jaime asked and Elia nodded in response, when she had first went into the tarven it had been so hot and the smell of cooking fish had hit her nose with the force of a punch from a man dressed in full plate, she had to run out and sit down to try and catch her breath.
"I am fine, it was just a little too crowded for me." Elia said as she pulled her fur closer around her to try and shield herself from the chill, she could already feel that if she stayed out in this much longer then she would get a chill and that would be dangerous when it was finally time for the babe to come but if she went back inside then there was a very real danger of her fainting and if she did then she could fall and hurt her babe.
She was surprised then when she saw Ser Jaime undoing his fur cloak and wrapping it around her, it wasn't as thick as hers but it did help in keeping the worst of the chill out. She granted him another smile, which had been rare during her stay in Casterly Rock but as soon as she saw Lannisport and the great outline of the Rock slowly disappearing from her sight they had become more common. "Thank you Ser Jaime, this is very gallant of you."
"I am a knight Princess, sworn to protect women and their babes even if it is just from the cold." Jaime replied with that handsome smirk of his and Elia couldn't deny the giggle, if felt good to be able to laugh again. She had encourage the sailors of the ships to sing their bawdy songs, she had wanted to laugh loud and she had wanted to laugh long.
"Well, I am quiet pleased to have you for a champion and a companion."
"And here I am, happy to be had." Jaime rubbed at his armoured arms, clearly trying to pretend that the cold did not bother him.
"Ser Jaime, I truly am fine. This cloak has helped keep out the cold a great deal, I shall come in soon when some of the men have come out and it is less crowded. Go and get yourself some stew and warm yourself by the fire. I shall be fine." She tried to sooth his doubts but it was clear that the thought of leaving her out on her own did not sit well with her.
Thankfully for Ser Jaime it seemed as though he did not needed to make that choice for himself as the sound of several horses galloping towards them drew his attention. He stood to his full height and pushed Elia behind him gently when she stood as well, at least a dozen riders atop black horses came to a stop outside of the inn.
Thankfully several of the Lannister soldiers must have heard the sound of the horses approaching as the door to the tavern swung open and at least thirty of the men ran out, though some of them were out of armour and quiet a few of them were half dressed. All of them were armed however, some with swords and others with spears.
One of the men urged his horse forward, he was quite an ugly man with a nose that had been broken several times to the point that only it's position on his face suggested that it was a nose to her and a very prominent brow with eyes the colour of mud. When he spoke, it reminded her of man who had just been strangled trying to speak. "Well met."
Jaime seemed surprised by the surprisingly civil greeting but he said nothing about that, simply met the other man's gaze without blinking. "And too you, can we be of any help? If you're looking for directions then I'm afraid we aren't going to be of much help but I'm sure you can find what you're looking for. It's not a large island."
There was some laughter from the riders but none of them seemed to be particularly amused by his words, the leader spoke up. "It is not a place we are looking for, Ser Jaime, it's a person, you to be specific. Lord Godric Borrel, Lord of Sweetsister is wondering what it is that brings the son and heir of Tywin Lannister and four Lannister ships this far north." He turned his attention from Jaime's face to look over his shoulder, directly at Elia. "And I am sure he would be curious about why Princess Elia is traviling with you."
The ugly man laughed as he saw her eyes widening. "We care little for you mainlanders but travellers from The Vale and The North that stop at our islands do bring us some very interesting tales. We heard of what had happened at the tourney celebreating the betrothal of your sister to Prince Rhaegar, Ser Jaime. We always like stories of the mad man that rules over you."
"He rules over you as well, the Three Sisters are part of Westeros. Last time I checked, the only problem is I can't quiet remember which part of Westeros is belongs too." Jaime mocked and there was a fresh wave of laughter from the Lannister soldiers though the man atop the horse frowned deeply and Elia could see that his grip was tightening around the reins of his horse.
"Be that as it may, Lord Godric wishes to speak with you and I am sure with Princess Elia as well." Jaime frowned heavily and Elia knew that he was going to refuse, before he could Elia stood forward and spoke.
"I am sure that Ser Jaime and I would be more than honoured to speak with Lord Godric, please lead on." Jaime whipped his head around to stare at her, clearly wondering if she had gone mad but Elia didn't acknowledge him at all, simply kept her eye on the ugly man on horse back who stared at her for a few moments before he nodded and turned his horse around and he and his group trotted off a little bit away.
"Would someone please bring us the horses?" Elia said as she gritted her teeth her teeth to stop herself from groaning, she had spied Lord Godric's hall as soon as they had docked on the island. a large ugly black thing which seemed to almost be part of the rocks it was built on with a long bridge that they would need to ride on to get to the castle.
It did not seem a long ride in truth but a great deal of it was uphill and the thought of how uncomfortable it would be irked her, regardless she knew that they had to go and speak to him. Their position was not as strong as Jaime would like to think, ever since they had left Lannisport they had done their best to not announce their presence, the pretence was that their ships were a merchant vessel and their escorts and Jaime was simply a night in service while Elia, if anyone bothered to ask, was simply a tradeswoman from Myr who did business for the Lannisters.
Of course that story had some problems as well, for one the fact that Elia was quite clearly heavily pregnant. Thankfully, most of the places they had stopped in for one reason or another had never seen a woman from Myr before and so they simply accepted it when she told them that women from Myr were always working, and if they were carrying a babe then she simply kept working until the birthing time and once the babe was out she went back to working.
Of course, Elia had no idea if that was true, she wasn't Myrish after all but many had trouble telling them apart as both the Dornish and the Myrish had similar looks with dark olive skin and curly black hair, a common theory held by the maesters of Oldtown was that some of the Rhoynar had stopped in Myr and settled there although it was not a popular theory in Dorne as they held quite firmly to the legend that Nymeria and her ten thousand ships had only ever truly settled in Dorne and nowhere else.
But Lord Godric knew that they weren't merchant ships and the ugly man had known that Jaime was Jaime and that she was no tradeswoman, if he knew then he could send word to the king and then all their plans would be ruined, it was too late to turn back now but Aerys would make certain that Tywin paid for this deceit.
Jaime did not quiet seem to grasp this however as he stepped forward and sized her arm firmly as several of the squires ran off to fetch the horses. "What are you doing?" He hissed as his eyes seemed to burn with anger, it was strange but at that moment Elia couldn't help but notice just how much Jaime Lannister looked like his twin at that moment.
"We need to go and speak with him Jaime, he knows who we are. He could send word to Aerys and could put your family to the sword. We have to convince him not too." That seemed to have stricken the right chord with Jaime as his gaze had softened and pulled his hand away.
As soon as he had done so the squires returned with the horses, Elia had to bite her lip to stop herself from crying due to the embarrassment that came on to her when it took two knights to help her on to her horse, it was a larger creature than she was used too but she needed it to support her weight and that thought nearly made her cry as well.
Elia had never been one to hide from or ignore her emotions but while she had been at Casterly Rock she had done her best to keep them hidden, she didn't want pity from any of them and she didn't want any of them to think that she was weak.
But now that she was away from the Rock she found that even the slightest of things seemed to threaten to make her cry, she didn't as she was still surrounded by Lannister men and again she didn't want to be thought of as weak but the temptation was there and it came more easily now.
She decided then and there that as soon as she was back in Winterfell and the babe was born and she knew that they were both safe then she was going to lock herself in a room for an entire night and cry herself to sleep, she thought that she deserved at least that much.
The ride was as unpleasant as she had been expecting and her babe had made that it clear to her as it used her insides as a training dummy. At one point she felt bile burning at the back of her throat but with a few deep breaths the feeling went away.
Soon enough they were passing across the bridge that lead into the bleak castle and were ushered into the main hall, the castle was dark and dim with only a scant few torches mounted on to the walls. A drop of water hit her on the head and Elia looked up to see that the roof was leaking and the chill was seeping in through the walls, it almost seemed colder inside than out.
Lord Godric Borrel was sitting at the high table of the hall, hunched over a large round loaf of black bread which had been hollowed out to act as a trencher for a thick serving of stew, the sort that was famous on the Three Sisters. The man was ugly, which seemed to be something that was quite common on the islands. Elia would never say such a thing out loud of course but she didn't see the need to deny what was simply a fact, she found the man to be quiet ugly.
He had large shoulders and a neck that barely seemed to exist, it almost seemed like his head was simply a part of his torso. His cheeks seemed to be permanently flushed and his nose was large and sore, a wiry black beard covered all his face though some of it was stained white from where he had been less than carful with the stew.
There was a strength to the man, a hardness despite the flabbiness that hung all around his body, while he had clearly enjoyed the food that came with being a lord Elia got the sense that he did not seemed put off by the idea of hard work. On the wall behind him, hanging mounted, was a large maul.
The man's eyes were narrow but they did not seem to miss anything, he watched them carefully as they approached. Most of his gaze was focused between Elia and Jaime, for a few moments he looked between them before finally he kept his gaze on Jaime. "Well, this is something of a fucking turn up. Who'd ever thought I had have Tywin Lannister's cub in my hall? And his Dornish wife as well."
"We are not married, My lord. I am Princess Elia Martell and I am married to-" Before Elia could continue Lord Godric held up his hand to silence her and Elia bit her tongue, whenever it seemed that something didn't make her upset it instead seemed to make her furious, she would not be happy to be told to keep quiet even before she was pregnant but it seemed that the babe was simply making the feeling worse.
"I am aware, you're married to Eddard Stark. You know that men of the North are not received warmly here, certainly not a whelp of Rickard Stark. That man is the sourest old cunt that I have ever met." Elia felt the need to come to the defence of her goodfather but she found that she could not find the words to use, it was probably for the best. It was bait and she would not bite it.
"Of course, according to King Aerys your marriage has been dissolved and he sent you to Casterly Rock so that you could get used to your new home. I do have to wonder what the king would think if he were to find out you were here, so close to the North?" He mused as he dragged his spoon through his stew and popped some more into his mouth.
"Oh, where are my manners? You both must be starving and your companions must be as well." Lord Godric gestured towards a woman that was off to the side, messy black hair fell limply around her face and once she saw that Lord Godric was gesturing towards her she jumped in surprised and quickly ran out of a small side door.
"My eldest daughter, don't have enough money to pay for a load of servants here. Have some but not a lot, half of the men who brought you are my sons." It wasn't too much of a surprise to Elia, while there were plenty of servents in both the Water Gardens and in Sunspear she was the daughter of a great house and while Dorne was one of the poorer kingdoms it did not mean that she had ever lived in anything less than luxury.
But while the Three Sisters might have been part of the Vale they did not get to partake in it's rich bounty, most of it's wealth came from ships that ran aground and were smashed into wreckage against the sharp rocks in the Bite, the bay that lay in between The North and the Vale.
Many of the sailors on the ships had been worried about crossing it, it was dotted with rocks and you often heard stories of ships being wrecked against them. Elia had not been enthused about crossing the bay either but Winterfell was just past it and they could not have come all this way for nothing, they couldn't turn back now.
Soon several woman, all of various ages, came back into the hall. Now that Elia knew that Lord Godric did make servants of his children she could see a resemblance between some of the women and their father, which sadly did not bare well for them. Elia and Jaime were seated at the high table with some of the Lannister men and a few of Lord Godric's sons.
She and Jaime were placed on Lord Godric's left and right respectively, places of high honour and Elia was certain that she saw more than a few dirty looks being aimed at them but they said nothing and their Lord did not chastise them so Elia did not comment on it. They were soon served their food and Elia had to admit that she felt a great deal more relived.
The Three Sisters were not a courteous place by any means but they did respect the guest right, Lord Godric had invited them into his hall and was giving them food. That meant that they were protected under the guest right. Of course, that only meant that he wouldn't do them any harm while they were under his roof. He could still send a raven to King's Landing and inform the king that they were there,
They were severed Sister's Stew and even the smell of it made Elia feel ravenous, she was not overly fond of fish and the smell of it lately made her feel sick but she did not know what it was about the stew but the smell did not bother her. The stew was severed to them in a trencher of black bread, the stock was made of heavy cream and butter and the stew itself was made up of leeks, carrots, barley, yellow and white turnips, onion cods and three different types of crabmeat and seasoned with salt and pepper.
Elia was certain that she had never had something so delicious in her entire life, it did not have the spice of the food of Dorne but it filled a spot in her and it made her long for the North even more than she had already been doing. Once the stew had been finished, which took close to half an hour by itself, she used her spoon to scrape around the bottom of the trencher to collect any scraps of stew that was left.
She was glad that Jaime had eaten as well, really they were under guest right as soon as Elia had eaten but she felt better because if Jaime had eaten then he was officially under the guest right as well. He was clearly still unsettled by being here and only eaten half of his stew but it was enough, Elia wondered if it would be churlish and greedy to ask if she could have it.
Instead of asking she turned her attention to Lord Godric who had finished his own stew. "A wonderful meal my Lord, I thank you for it." Elia said with a gentle smile.
"It was no trouble of mine my lady, I didn't make it."
"Of course, I give my thanks to your daughters as well." Elia glanced around the hall to where all the Lannister soldiers were sitting, many of them had finished their stew and were drinking deep from tankards that were filled with a ale so dark that it was almost black, Elia had been offered some as well but she had turned it down and had been replaced with a tankard of clear water that was still warm from being boiled clean.
Many of the men were now their second ale and some of them were starting to look at the women in the hall with a look that Elia had seen before and it made her frown. That was not a problem that they needed at the moment and so she turned her attention back on to Lord Godric. "I am sure I speak for all of us when I thank you for the hospitality but I am afraid that we should be going, we plan on setting sail on the morrow."
"Plans can change all the time my lady, the winds might seem fair one moment but you'd be surprised how quickly a storm can come on. The Bite can be treacherous, and even on calm waters it is hardly what I would call safe. Plus, what sort of host would I be if I were allow you to leave my hall on such a cold and bitter night? I assure you that no inn on Sweetsister can match Breakwater castle for comfort."
It took all Elia had not to let the frown she was fighting show on her, looking over the Lord's shoulder she could see that Jaime was not even bothering to fight it and several of the Lannister men closest to the high table had picked up his words and were glancing amongst themselves and the son of their lord, waiting for orders.
"My father would be very grateful for the hospitality you have shown us, my Lord. I am more than certain of that." Jaime spoke and Lord Godric turned to face him and Elia shot the younger man a look over Godric's shoulder, warning him to be careful. "But do you know what else I am certain off? If you try and stop us from leaving your shit stained rock, my father will burn your crap keep to the ground and salt the ashes."
Elia sucked a breath through her teeth and the hiss was made louder by the fact the entire hall had gone quiet, Godric stared at Jaime for a few moments before he quickly grabbed him by the back of his head and pulled him close, his spoon in his other hand which right now he was holding like it was a knife.
Elia let out a shriek and every single chair in the hall scraped against the floor as every man jumped out of their chairs and glared at one another, there was no true advantage as none of the Lannister men were armed but neither were any of Lord Godric's men, all of their sword belts were hanging on pegs that were near the door.
"They say your father shits gold, do you boy?" Lord Godric asked as he tightened his hold on the back of Jaime's hair and he brought the spoon closer. "I bet that I know what you're thinking, what can he do with a spoon? Well, let me tell you I can do quite a bit with it. I can scoop out your eyeballs for one, or maybe I could jam it down your throat and watch you choke."
"Do anything to me and my Father will-
"Your father is not here, he's thousands of miles away hiding under his big Rock and all his armies are going to get here in time to save you if I decided that I really don't want to suffer you anymore." Lord Godric laughed deeply for a moment before he spoke again. "You're handsome, pretty actually, better looking than all my girls. And you never wanted for anything growing up, you're one of the best swordsmen in all seven kingdoms. And you think that throwing your name and your father's name around means that you can get away with whatever you want."
"Learn a lesson from this right now, trust me I am teaching it to you much more gently than some might and I have never been accused of being gentle in my entire life. Your father's name, won't always save you. Now." Godric let go of Jaime's hair but before Jaime could do anything in retaliation Godric put his hands on his chest and shoved him back down into his chair. "Say sorry."
Jaime breathed heavily and his eyes were alight with rage, he looked like he was about to say something but a look from Elia made him sigh and slump into his chair. "I am sorry my Lord, that was unworthy of me."
"Fuh, but not unworthy of me eh?" Before Jaime could respond Lord Godric turned to address the rest of the men in the hall. "All of you take a fucking breath, I am not so stupid as to a kill a son of a powerful lord in my own house, he's my guest and is under my protection. Now all of you fuck off! I need to speak with these two alone."
The Lannister men did not seem thrilled at the idea of leaving them alone with him but when the other men and the woman began to fill out it was clear that they could not stay and so as soon as they stood and turned they began to flood out of the room, before they all left however Elia noticed that all of them took their sword belts back, the message their quite clear about what they would do if any harm was done to the heir of Casterly Rock.
"Pray that you never have as many children as I do, both of you. They never seem to stop eating and when they do, it's only to complain that they do not have enough. Puh, the joy that is children." Lord Godric stood up from his chair and walked around the table, Jaime and Elia following him as he went to stand in front of the fire that roared in the hearth. "why did anyone ever think that children were joyful? They are brought into this world with blood and tears and pain, and if you ask me they never seem to stop causing it."
He turned his head to look at Elia and for a moment she watched as the light of the fire caused the shadows to dance across his face, for a moment it almost looked like there were deep and dark scars gorged across his face. "But you don't need me to tell you that, you'll be having your own soon enough. And I tell you something, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how much they drive you to the last of your wits. You're still going to love them, you don't get a choice."
"I love my sons, I love my daughters. There pains in my ass that never stop whining for even a single second but I do love them." Elia was surprised to see that for just a moment she could see the truth of what he was saying in his eyes, he truly meant every single word of it.
"And I do not want to see that mad man tying them to stakes and burning them to ashes, if he does it to the bloody High Septon then he isn't going to much care about me and mine, is he?" He glanced between Elia and Jaime. "You will both be leaving Sweetsister on the morrow, as soon as day breaks and I don't give a single fuck what the weather is like. I want the both of you gone and neither of you were ever hear."
"I don't care who you speak too, I don't care if you think that you're with someone that you think that you can trust completely and there is no one around that can overhear you. You do not mention me, you do not mention my family and you do not mention that you were ever on Sweetsister. If you have to say you were on any of our islands then say you on Longsister, Rolland could do with a bit of suffering if you ask me."
"We understand completely my Lord, the desire to protect one of your own is something that anyone with a beating heart can understand. No one shall hear from us that we were ever hear on Sweetsister, you have my word." Elia said before considering if she would have to kneel to prove it, she hoped that she didn't have to as she had enough trouble getting out of bed, she didn't want to even think about getting up off of her knees.
"No one will hear it from me as well, and I will make certain that none of my men will speak about it. You have my vow." Jaime swore but Elia knew that he couldn't truly be able to keep to that vow, he could order the soldiers and the sailors not to speak of the fact that they were hear, could order them to swear it but sooner or later something would slip out. In the arms of a whore or after a touch too much ale, the truth would come out and when it did it would eventually reach someone highborn and then it would more than likely reach the Spider and from him it would reach the King. That was the way that it always seemed to do.
"I thank you for that, but your word won't matter much to me. What I want is for you to listen to me very carefully. If the two of you being here brings down ruin on to me and mine, then I swear by the Lady of the Waves then I will come and find you and bring ruin to all that you hold dear, do we understand one another?"
"Perfectly." Elia and Jaime said as though they were one person.
"Good."
"Now that we understand one another My lord, with your leave I think we shall be heading back to our inn." Jaime began but Lord Godric scoffed and shook his head.
"Nonsense, I meant what I said earlier. What kind of host would I be if allowed you to leave my hall on a night like this? And no inn can match Breakwater for comfort. Plus, forgive me my lady but you look like you're going to pop any moment and trust me when I say that you do not want to start having a child on horseback. You'll stay here tonight."
Jaime looked as pleased about that as Elia felt, Lord Godric might not turn them over to Aerys and they were both glad of that but that didn't mean that either of them truly liked the man or wanted to stay in his home for a moment longer. More than anything else, a person's mind could change after a full night's rest and he could decide anything in the morning.
But at the same time she could not deny that the idea of riding down that hill again did not sit well with her and she was so very tired at the moment and the idea of bed that she could walk to sung to her like a siren leading her to her doom. So, she accepted the invitation for the both of them with as much grace as she could muster.
To be true, it did not seem like Lord Godric would take no for answer.
Sooner after she had agreed another of Lord Godric's daughters came into the hall and took her out and lead her to a guest bedchamber, the room was smaller than the one she had at Casterly Rock but that wasn't much of a surprise to her but it did make her feel more like she was an animal that had been locked in a pen.
The other woman helped her into a bath and helped her dress for bed, it was not a pleasant experience whatever so ever as the water was barely warm and the woman did not have a gentle touch. She never thought that she would miss Clara but while the other woman had been spying on her she at least always made sure that her bath water was hot and she didn't pull her hair when she brushed, well, she learned how not to after a while.
Soon she was dressed for bed and the woman left her be as Elia climbed into bed, as soon as she laid down she let out a hiss as she felt a sharp pain in her side and a great deal of movement inside of her and she soon began to rub soothing circles into her stomach once again.
"Not yet, please not yet. Not here." She whispered, half pleading and half praying as she shut her eyes firmly to try and stop her tears from falling. "We're almost there, just one more day. Please, I beg you just one more day."
It took at least another hour of rubbing those soothing circles before the babe finally settled and the pain went away and Elia suddenly felt like sobbing but she knew that would simply cause the babe to move again and so she bite firmly down on her lip and shut her eyes, finally falling into a restless sleep.
End of Chapter Thirty-Nine.
This chapter was important because I wanted to make sure that everyone got an inside look at Elia's mental state and how she's doing which is not good, she managed to get herself away from Casterly Rock but in order to do that she did have to threaten to kill herself, her child and bring on a war which would kill thousands.
She is not handling it well, which I think I captured pretty well.
Anyway, next chapter will be from Jaime's perspective and will be set in White Harbour and I don't feel comfortable saying anything more about that at this time.
As always please review, favourite and follow and please know that I am utterly fine with constructive criticism.
Love,
Doctorwhofan12345.