It had been days since they left the Stark camp, but Visenya became more and more annoyed as the hours went by. It was during these moments, where she regretted walking back with Brienne and Jaime to King's Landing. She couldn't tell what was worse, walking the rough terrain and enduring the elements...or the constant bickering between Jaime and Brienne.
Rubbing her temples, she groaned in annoyance as the two continued to bicker, as she walked ahead of the group with Maegor.
"Do you know how long it's going to take us to get to King's Landing, walking through fields and forests?" He asked, glancing to Brienne.
"Yes." Brienne replied nonchalantly, not wanting to engage in conversation with the man.
"So how should we pass the time?" He smirked in amusement before looking toward Visenya. "Any suggestions, Princess?"
Visenya rolled her eyes. "I wish to be excluded from this conversation."
"By putting one foot in front of the other." Brienne answered, noticing Visenya's annoyance.
"It's going to be a very dull walk." He huffed before he noticed Visenya's annoyance...and felt the urge to provoke her more. "Why don't you give Visenya and I fifteen minutes alone and..."
Visenya snapped her head around, anger and fury present in her eyes. Maegor, noticing and sensing her anger, began to growl, making Jaime and Brienne stop in their tracks.
Jaime simply shrugged. "I take it as a no then?"
She narrowed her eyes before turning back around to continue walking.
"We are here to take you back to King's Landing, and bring back Lady Stark's daughters in exchange. Dull is fine." Brienne mused, giving Visenya a look of sympathy of all of the comments and advances Jaime's made towards her.
Jaime stopped in his tracks.
"You know, it doesn't matter how loyal a servant you are, no one enjoys the company of a humorous mute. Trust me on this." He began.
Visenya turned around and smiled as she walked back towards the two of them. "I enjoy your company, Brienne."
Brienne nodded. "Thank you, Princess."
Jaime rolled his eyes. "Of course you would. You would say anything to prove my point incorrect."
Her smile turned into a smirk. "Yes, I do."
He ignored her comment before turning back to Brienne.
"You think Lady Stark is going to want a giant towheaded plank following her around for the rest of her life? Or the Princess for that matter? A week's journey with you, and she'll order you fall on your sword." He continued.
"If either Lady Stark or Princess Visenya are unhappy with any aspect of my service, I am sure they'll let me know. They are both honest women." Brienne explained with a neutral expression, urging him on to continue to walk.
Jaime gestured to Visenya who was a few feet ahead of them.
"Though I tend to think that she's more honest than most." He remarked, but continued to be silent for another few hours.
They continued on for another few hours until they decided to take a break. Visenya, being tired, decided to sit down a few feet away from Jaime and Brienne, and leaned her back against a tree. Trying to get some sleep, she closed her eyes, as she felt Maegor place his head in her lap. Jaime, noticing her exhaustion, opted to speak to Brienne quietly, rather than to rouse the tired Princess.
"How did you come into Lady Stark's and Visenya's services?" He asked quietly. "There's something we can talk about."
"Not your concern, Kingslayer." Brienne huffed. "And why are you whispering?"
Jaime gestured to Visenya. "She deserves rest. She looks exhausted."
Brienne nodded, giving a somber look to the blonde.
"Back to your recent employment, it had to be recently. You weren't with them at Winterfell." He continued.
"How would you know?" Brienne questioned.
"Because I visited Winterfell." He explained. "I would have noticed your dour head smacking into the archways."
Brienne frowned before looking back to Visenya. "Why do you two hate each other so much?"
He sighed. "In truth, I don't hate her. I find her...fascinating. Remarkable. There have been many women I have come across, but never in my life, have I encountered one like her."
"You're fond of her then?" She questioned. "Then why do you treat her so coldly?"
He looked to the girl, before looking back to Brienne. "I've tried to get to know her, but she keeps remembering when Robert sacked King's Landing, and when I killed her father. I explained to her why I did it, and recently she's understood it more...but being shadowed from the truth for so long caused an anger in her to build up."
"I've noticed."Brienne nodded. "She hates Renly and Stannis Baratheon."
"Not just Renly and Stannis." He explained. "Every Baratheon in Westeros. I've tried to find a common ground with her, but no matter what I do...she will always see me as the man who killed her father."
"Maybe not." She replied. "If you get on her good side."
"Truthfully, I don't know if she has one." He murmured.
"Give her time." Brienne remarked. "Who knows, you two could be allies."
Jaime tilted his head back and forth, as Brienne dragged him over to wake up Visenya so they could keep moving. A few hours later, as they were walking in silence again, Jaime decided to break the silence once again.
"Were you pledged to Stannis?" He asked.
"Gods, no." Brienne replied immediately.
"Thankfully." Visenya murmured.
"Ah, Renly. Really?" Jaime asked in disbelief. "He wasn't fit to rule over anything more important than a 12-course meal."
Visenya stifled her laughter, as she knew, Jaime was right. Renly was a horrible king. Even in the small interaction she had with him, she could tell he was not fit to rule.
Jaime smiled as he watched Visenya try to hold in her laughter.
"Is this the first thing we agree on, Visenya?" He asked in disbelief.
"I suppose it is." She replied, wiping her eyes at the tears that were forming.
"Shut your mouth." Brienne commanded to Jaime.
"Why?" He asked. "I lived with him at court since he was a boy, don't forget. Could hardly escape the little tulip. Skipping down the corridors in his embroidered silks. I knew him far better than you."
"I knew him as well as anyone. As a member of his Kingsguard, he trusted me with everything." Brienne admitted. "He would have been a wonderful king."
Visenya rolled her eyes. "I highly doubt it."
"I hate to say this, but I agree with the Princess." Jaime began. "It sounds like you fancied him."
Brienne shook her head in disbelief. "I did not fancy him."
"Oh, gods, you did." Jaime began trying to contain his laughter. "Did you ever tell him? No, of course not. You weren't Renly's type, I'm afraid."
Brienne in response yanked on his chains in anger.
"He preferred curly-haired little girls like Loras Tyrell." He continued. "You're far too much man for him."
"Brienne nor myself are interested in such rumors." Visenya interjected.
"Unless they're about me, Princess." Jaime smirked. "I know how you think. You dream of me."
Visenya narrowed her eyes. "You wish I did. If anything you dream of me."
"And just as you stated. You wish you did." He snarked back, before turning his attention back to Brienne. "It's all true about Renly. His proclivities were the worst kept secret at court. It's a shame the throne isn't made out of cocks. They'd have never got him off it."
Brienne immediately yanked roughly on his chains pulling him to her and placing her face directly in front of his.
"Shut your mouth!" She demanded.
But Jaime didn't stop.
"I don't blame him." He continued. "And I don't blame you, either."
Brienne pushed him away from her, and Jaime glanced toward Visenya who was crouched on the ground, scratching behind Maegor's ears.
"We don't get to choose who we love." He murmured getting a distant look, once his eyes landed on Visenya.
Visenya glanced up ensuring that both Aegonar and Sunspear were still flying ahead, which they were, thankfully. It was then she heard twigs cracking and footsteps, making her immediately stand up, placing her emerald cloak's hood over her head. It was a man leading a horse.
The man frowned upon seeing the three travelers and the direwolf.
"Where are you headed, then?" The man asked.
"South." Brienne replied. "You?"
"Riverrun." He replied. "Staying off the kingsroad, are you? They get you no matter where you go. You can't win."
Jaime shook his head. "No, you really can't."
Both of them shared a laugh, making Visenya frown in confusion, placing a hand on her bow, in concern.
The man gestured to Brienne. "Looks like you're safe enough, though. Meaning no offense, my lady, but I wouldn't tangle with you. Seven blessings to you."
Brienne nodded. "And you."
The man starts to walk away, but looks back over his shoulder, making a chill run down Visenya's spin. He knew who they were.
"He knows who I am." Jaime began.
Visenya nodded. "Not just you...me. It's likely someone came across the ash pile that the dragons burned."
"He doesn't recognize either of you." Brienne began, though she herself was having her own suspiscions.
"Maybe you're right." Jaime sighed. "But what if you're not? What if he tells someone?"
"We're not doing it. He's an innocent man."
"More innocent than Lady Stark's daughters?" He asked.
Visenya sighed, inserting herself between the two. "I am not in the mood to mediate another argument. It is getting late. We all need rest. We travel till dusk, then we make a fire, and I call the dragons down."
Both of them nodded, and they continued on, until dusk occurred, allowing for all of them to settle down for the evening. Visenya just like she said, called the dragons out of the sky, telling them they were done traveling for the day, allowing them to sleep and rest.
The three of them sat by the fire, and Visenya got a distant look in her eyes.
"What's on your mind, Visenya?" Jaime interjected making her meet his gaze. "You've got that look."
She frowned. "What look?"
"The look where you don't know what to do, and you are beating yourself up mentally." He explained. "I've come to notice it, when you get stressed or frustrated."
She sighed before looking down at her hands. She was stressed. She was worried about Sansa and Arya. She was worried about Jon. She was worried about Bran and Rickon. She was worried about Robb and Catelyn. She was worried about Daenerys. She worried about everyone but herself.
"When I was a child, and when my father was...sane." She began, making Brienne and Jaime's eyes fall on her. "He use to take me into the dungeons of the Red Keep, and show me the dragon skulls. I'll never forget the first time I saw Balerion's skull. I was nothing, compared to the size of it. He showed me Vhagar, Meleys, Caraxes, Syrax, Dreamfyre, Sunfyre, Vermithor, Moondancer...the list goes on and on...I use to be able to remember them all, but now it's like a distant memory."
She picked her head up and looked into the fire.
"As the dragon skulls went on, they continued to get smaller, and smaller. It went from Balerion the Black Dread, to a dragon the size of a small dog. But still through it all, even after all the dragons were gone. People continued to say, 'The Targaryens are closer to Gods than to Men.'" She turned around and glanced at the sleeping Aegonar and Sunspear, before turning back to the fire. "I use to think it meant that it was because of our dragons, but most recently, after watching those men die before me, I realized it's not the dragons. It's our ability to control them."
As both of them watched her body language, that's when it hit them both. She was one of the last Targaryens...one of the last individuals that had the blood of Old Valyria running through her veins. Unlike her ancestors though, she was reflecting on the past actions of her family, almost like it was a curse. A curse that she can't get out of/ Some say it may be her name, but others say, it is the Targaryen curse that has plagued her. But unknown to Visenya, it has plagued not only her, but also her only family member left.
Daenerys.
A/N:
As always, let me know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.