Jaime stood and motioned for Tyrion to follow him.
Confused and curious Tyrion followed his brother through the doors and straight to his chambers. He took a seat on the bed without being prompted and watched his brother pace around in front of him.
"I'm not sure how to start this" Jaime admitted after a moment.
"Perhaps use your words? You are not so poetic that you can write me poetry or a song about it" Tyrion jested.
Jaime stopped pacing. He stopped, he turned and Tyrion noticed just how serious he was.
A cold feeling settled in his gut.
"I-" Jaime struggled with his words, unsure how he could even bring it up.
Maybe he shouldn't. He could just tell Tyrion something outlandish and hilarious before moving on. That would be ideal.
But Tyrion deserved to know. He deserved to know that somewhere out there is a woman who loves him for who he is and nothing else.
And that the only reason he'd lost her was because of their father and Jaime himself.
"Tysha" Jaime began and Tyrion's heart dropped. She was no whore. I never bought her for you. That was a lie that Father commanded me to tell. Tysha was ... she was what she seemed to be. A crofter's daughter, chance met on the road."
And there it was. He'd said it. The words were out and there would be no way to take them back now.
Jaime stared into Tyrion's eyes and knew the exact moment that his little brother's world shattered. He saw it in those mismatched eyes, tears forming. But not heartbreaking tears, but that of pure loathing and anger.
And it scared Jaime quite a bit. He had never seen that look in Tyrion's eyes.
"Brother-"
"Leave."
"Tyrion, please-"
"I said, leave me alone!"
Jaime said nothing more and walked out of the chambers. Just as he had closed the door, he heard his brother roar in fury and rage. But most of all he was in pain. Jaime heard things being thrown around, things being broken and Tyrion roaring all the while.
He left him to vent, returning to the Viewing Hall.
People stared, but he did not answer, reclaiming his seat in silence.
"Where is your brother?" his mother asked.
"Trying to not let the world shatter around him" Jaime replied.
Joanna bit her lips and nodded.
How can she help? That's all that she thought about.
[DUNGEON, SOMEWHERE]
[MYRANDA and VIOLET remove LORD THEON GREYJOY's restraints and help him down from the cross.]
Theon closed his eyes and willed himself not to watch. He couldn't. No more false hopes. He couldn't handle it anymore.
[MYRANDA removes THEON's hood. VIOLET holds a cup of water to his lips and helps him drink. He grabs the cup desperately and spills its contents into his mouth. VIOLET strokes and soothes THEON's forehead. MYRANDA kneels next to him and applies a salve to his forehead. THEON squirms.]
"Shh, shh, shh. Myranda knows what she's doing. Let her. She trained as a septa, only she had other urges."
"Perfectly natural" Yara nods. She was a woman, she knew exactly how bad those urges could get. And how stupid you became when they hit hard.
"So did the septons, only they lied about it."
"Typical" Yara added with a roll of his eyes. Who would ever question the oh-so-holy Septons?
Catelyn on the other hand thought the exact opposite. The girl must have tried to seduce the men.
Olenna couldn't care either way since this had nothing to do with her in any way, shape or form. Why were they even watching a turn cloak getting tortured?
[VIOLET and MYRANDA fondle THEON's bare chest. THEON is suspicious.]
"Where is he?"
"There's no one here but you, me, and Violet."
[VIOLET and MYRANDA continue to caress THEON. VIOLET slides her hands under THEON's trousers. He grabs her hand to stop her.]
"Don't you want us to see it?"
"Oh, come on. Let us see it. Everybody talks about it."
"Oh this is most cruel" Varys said with a soft chuckle. "To use this form of torture on him."
Theon refused to open his eyes to watch. That man sent these girls no doubt. The Spider's words only confirmed it. He didn't deserve this, didn't deserve to be tortured at all. It was the Starks that should be punished for how they treated him, how they were treating him now!
Treating you like a son and part of the family? His voice spoke to him in his mind. And now treating you as if you stole their home, and killed two people they held dear?
"SHUT UP!" Theon exploded.
All eyes turned to him, but the boy was glaring at the floor.
"The boy's losing his mind. And he isn't even being tortured yet" Olenna snorted.
Yara watched her brother with worry. But the boy was not coming to her. And she was not going to reach out until he reached out first.
[She is disappointed that THEON is flaccid.]
"Do you think we're ugly? He thinks we're ugly."
"Well, he's been through so much. Look at his poor face."
"Help me. If he comes back-"
"We need to make him feel better."
"And how can we make him feel better?"
"I have an idea."
[VIOLET stands and comes to MYRANDA. She pulls the lacing of MYRANDA's dress until it peels away. She helps the dress to the ground. THEON is excited but disbelieving.]
"Don't, you fool! It's a trap" Yara muttered. One tit and men just gets hard! They are tits for fuck sake!
"Oh, she's shy. You know how they are, these religious girls."
"Maybe he doesn't know how we are."
[MYRANDA straddles THEON and undulates on top of him. VIOLET kisses his forehead.]
"Oh. I felt something. Oh, Lord Greyjoy."
[MYRANDA's breath quickens as she rubs across the length of him. THEON holds onto her, joining into her rhythm. VIOLET shrugs off her own gown. THEON is entranced. MYRANDA grabs his face and pulls his attention back to her.]
"What? You like her better?"
No, he couldn't look. It was a trap. Any moment now that bastard was going to drop in and start torturing him again. These girls would probably join him in the torture!
[MYRANDA kisses THEON. VIOLET kneels beside them and grabs hold of THEON. RAMSAY's horn blares from across the room, startling THEON. VIOLET and MYRANDA retreat and RAMSAY walks out of the shadows.]
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Terrible timing."
He knew it. He fucking knew it! He knew better now. There was no hope. He was here to see that he had no future. Regardless of what he believed or not, his turning on the Starks brought him his downfall! He was here to see himself meet a torturous end.
Lord Stark promised him the Watch after this, so maybe he'd be spared! Anything was better than what his future self was going through.
[THE NORTH, CAMP]
[MEERA REED walks into camp, carrying the rabbit she has caught. OSHA and HODOR set up the tent while RICKON STARK sleeps next to them. LORD BRAN STARK and JOJEN REED sit talking nearby. OSHA walks over to confront JOJEN.]
"What are you telling him?"
"It's all right, Osha."
"It's not all right. You think I can't hear you every day? Filling his head with black magic. Talking about visions and three-eyed ravens and worse."
"You're from beyond the wall, right?" Bran turned suddenly to Brynden. "Is he there? Is he real?"
Brynden knew the boy meant the Three-Eyed Raven.
"He is" the man nods.
Bran turns back to the wall and puts himself into deep thought. If the Three-Eyed Raven was real and he was calling for him… maybe he could convince his father to take him there. He needed to know why he was being called.
Ned inhaled deeply and exhaled a sigh. All of his children were involved in one dangerous event after the other. Bran's one worried him the most, him heading into the White Walker territory like this… He needed to know what this Three-Eyed Raven was and figure out how to save his son from it.
And this Wildling Brynden was his only way to that information.
"I don't fill his head with anything."
"So what do you talk about?"
"What's happening to him and what that means."
"Go on, then. Tell us what it means."
"It's not like that. I wish I could tell him all the answers. It would be much easier."
"He's taking Bran into something he has no idea of!" Catelyn said harshly, the fear for her son's safety and well-being the primary forces driving her thought process.
Even if Ned wanted to defend Howland's son, he wouldn't and couldn't. The boy had no idea what he was taking the rest into, and such blind belief… Ned saw no sense in it.
"I don't want you talking to him anymore. Until we get to your brother at Castle Black."
"We're not going to Castle Black. I told you already. Jon Snow isn't there. Bran needs to find the raven beyond the Wall.
"Absolutely not!" Catelyn shrieked. "Under no circumstance is, Bran allowed anywhere beyond the wall!"
"But mother-"
"Enough Brandond" Catelyn cut him off sharply, "The Lands beyond the Wall are no playground for you to trounce round on and explore. If not Wildlings then those White Walkers would get you. And if neither then the cold or who knows what sort of beasts live there! You will not go there, end of discussion."
Bran turned to his father and saw the same stubborn look he saw on his mother. That was unfair! The Three-Eyed Raven was looking for him! He needed to know why!
Brynden watched in silence and frowned.
"The raven's been coming to me ever since I fell from that tower. He wants me to find him. I don't have my legs anymore. This is what I have now."
"You have a family. You need to go back to Castle Black so you can get back to them where you belong."
"Listen to her" Robb pleaded in a whisper.
"The Wall isn't safe either if the Wildlings attack" Jon muttered with worry.
Robb and those who heard him (his mother only) had new worries on their minds now.
"What if I belong in the North? What if I fell from that tower for a reason?"
"You fell from the tower because some bastard wanted to hide his incest" Brandon the Elder growled. "You're a Stark of Winterfell and you're in the North. The Lands beyond are not yours!"
Bran scowled, arms folded over his chest. He needed to go beyond the Wall.
"Is that what he's telling you? That it's all for a reason? All these bad things happened because the gods got big plans for you? I wish it were true, little lord. But the gods wouldn't spare a raven's cold shit for you or me or anyone."
"You don't understand. You don't know."
"The woman left her entire life and ran to this side of the Wall for a reason," Rickard said evenly. "She knows what's out there more than you do."
"You don't know. None of you know. None of you have been up there. I had a man once. A good man. Bruni, his name was. I was his and he was mine. But one night Bruni disappears. People said he left me, but I knew him. He'd never leave me. Not for long. I knew he'd come back. And he did. He came in through the back of the hut. Only it wasn't Bruni. Not really. His skin was pale like a dead man's. His eyes bluer than clear sky. He came at me, grabbed me by the neck and squeezed so hard I could feel the life slipping out of me. I don't know how I got the knife. When I did, I stuck it deep into his heart. And he hardly seemed to notice. I had to burn our hut down with him inside. I didn't ask the gods what it meant. I didn't need to. I already knew. It meant the North was no place for men to be. Not anymore. I promised your maester I'd get you to Castle Black and no further."
Bran's scowl faded and he felt bad for Osha now. Maybe he was a little mean to her.
But he still needed to go beyond the Wall! He needed to find this Three-Eyed Raven. He wondered whether Old Nan had stories about him.
[THE RUINS OF HARRENHAL]
[JAIME and the men ride into the old courtyard. The castle is a ruin around them.]
"You went back" Myrcella said, half in surprise and half with some happiness.
"I guess I did," Jaime said with a smile. This Brienne of Tarth must have earned his future self's respect more than she has his.
[JAIME hears singing in the distance. He dismounts and runs towards the sounds of the crowd. "STEELSHANKS" WALTON and his men follow.]
[MEN singing]
"The bear, the bear and the maiden fair / From there to here, from here to there / All black and brown and covered in hair / He smelled that girl in the summer air / The bear, the bear, and the maiden fair!"
[JAIME climbs some wooden steps to join the crowd on a viewing platform. The crowd yells and cheers. In a wooden arena, BRIENNE stands desperate and defensive, brandishing a wooden sword. Her dress is torn and covered in mud. Blood oozes from gashes on her neck and shoulder. An enormous brown bear lumbers and stalks her.]
"They put her in a cage with a bear?!" Sansa screeched in shock and horror.
"Worse. That's a fighting ring" Brandon the Elder said. "She has no way out until she is let out. And with her using a wooden sword…"
"The Bolton Men are just as savage as their Bolton Lord" Lyanna spat in disgust.
Jaime gripped his knee tightly as he watched in anger. Locke… He would make it a personal mission to hunt this man down.
"Well, this is one shameful fucking performance. Stop running and fight."
"She has a wooden sword!" Arya screamed in outrage.
"A wooden sword?"
[LOCKE notices that JAIME pushing his way towards him.]
"I thought you'd gone."
"You gave her a wooden sword."
"We've only got one bear."
"I'll pay her bloody ransom. Gold, sapphires, whatever you want. Just get her out of there."
"All you lords and ladies still think that the only thing that matters is gold."
[LOCKE shoves JAIME.]
"This makes me happier than all your gold ever could. And that makes me happier than all her sapphires. So go buy yourself a golden hand and fuck yourself with it.|
"Does this man not realise that Lord Tarth will want his head for this and Roose might just offer it without a fight?" Lyanna asked outraged.
"None of these men expect to survive the war" Rickard explained coldly, "so they are getting their entertainment before they go off to die."
Lyanna spat in disgust.
[The bear rears up before BRIENNE. She tries to hold him off with her wooden sword, but the bear's reach is too long. He takes a powerful swipe and disarms her. BRIENNE staggers backwards. The bear pounces and knocks her to the ground. JAIME jumps into the wooden arena, arms flailing. He lands behind her, and startles the bear.]
"What are you doing?!" Joanna hissed at her son.
"Saving her life probably" Jaime answered.
The mother glared at her son. It was not that she didn't care that the girl was going to get ripped apart by a bear, but she cared more that her son might get ripped apart by the bear.
[ He helps BRIENNE up as the bear regroups. JAIME puts himself in front of BRIENNE. The bear swipes the ground and advances on them. Suddenly, a crossbow bolt pierces the bear's side. He turns his head towards the pain in its shoulder. It's "STEELSHANKS" WALTON.]
"What the fuck are you doing to my bear?"
"Lord Bolton charged me with bringing him back to King's Landing alive and that's what I aim to do."
Joanna sighed in relief. Good, her son stood a fighting chance at survival.
[The bear shakes its head back and forth, confused by the pain. JAIME runs to the arena wall and crouches by the wall. BRIENNE clambers onto JAIME's back. A man in the crowd grabs her outstretched hand. Two men pull her to safety. The bear roars.]
"Hold my legs."
[BRIENNE lies over the side of the platform and reaches down. The bear charges at JAIME. "STEELSHANKS" WALTON fires a bolt that lands wide.]
Joana inhaled sharply. Gods... please…
[JAIME jumps and grabs hold of a beam that juts out of the arena wall and clambers just out of reach of the bear. The bear roars. BRIENNE continues to reach down to JAIME as he tries clumsily to scale the wall. He swings his legs up, gains some leverage and hooks his handless forearm around the beam. He then lurches into BRIENNE's reach.]
Her shoulders sagged and Joanna visibly relaxed. Jaime was safe.
[BRIENNE and the men pull JAIME up to safety. The bear pounds the wall. JAIME stands up to confront LOCKE.]
"We're taking her to King's Landing. Unless you kill me."
"She belongs to me. Lord Bolton's orders."
"What do you think is more important to Lord Bolton? Getting his pet rat a reward or ensuring Tywin Lannister gets his son back alive?"
[JAIME and LOCKE standoff. LOCKE's men prepare for a fight, but LOCKE relents.]
"This is probably the only time I'd thank Tywin Lannister and his unforgiving nature" Lyanna muttered.
Joanna rose as the screen darkened.
"Mother, where are you going?" Jaime asked.
"To check on your brother. I need to make sure both my boys are doing alright."
With that said Joanna went through the doors and towards the Lannister chambers.