The Lions and the Wolves

Chapter 10: Ill Winds

"You'll need me in King's Landing." Brienne urged furiously. Her face warped and twisted with such anger that even Jon felt a little uneasy. "Not further South accompanying the Lannisters!" The news of their shocking survival and her upcoming quest was going down terribly. The group had stepped out of the library and moved back to the secluded room further down the corridor that they'd claimed as their gathering spot. The Lannster captives securely barricaded in their current book holding room. Ser Davos flinched at her booming voice.

"More than anything, I need you to get them to Horn Hill safely. I trust you and you alone with this task." Jon steadied his dark gaze on her intense blue eyes but her face remained unchanged. The anger pouring from her stance.

"He's right." Ser Davos chimed in. "I know how to use a sword but I'm no match for Jaime Lannister, even unarmed with a half-cut side and a missing hand." He smiled embarrassedly. "If he was to start something en route, I'm not sure I'd be able to fight him alone."

"You escorted him for Lady Catelyn, I trust you can do it again for me." Jon softened his brows to frame his black-orbed eyes, offering her a pleading stare. "I dislike the pair with everything in me, but they're to be prisoners in my care. Tyrion has been good to me and we will treat them kindly." He gestured to a deflated looking Tyrion behind him, oblivious to the twitch in Brienne's lower lip, her memory burning painfully with the recollection of Jaime leaving her in Winterfell. Bedding her, taking her maidenhead and then abandoning her. Cold, alone and used. "He's badly wounded, he'll need a maester as soon as they arrive." He trailed off before uttering a final sentence, one that would embed itself painfully in her tender heart concealed beneath her hard, cold armour. "And she's pregnant, see that nothing happens to either of them along the way." He held out Jaime's confiscated sword. "I don't doubt your abilities but if you run into trouble along the way, handing him a blade might just be your only option."

"He'll fight 'til his death to protect Cersei. If you've ever seen him fight for her you'll know how dangerous he can be, even in the most dire of situations." Tyrion added glumly, glancing at Brienne he knew that she was aware of how he'd fight tooth and claw for her. "He'd help defend you when needed, especially if it's our sister's life that is threatened."

"I know all too well." She agreed coldly. "He lost his fighting hand for me, when I escorted him back to King's Landing." Her mouth twisted displaying a look of pure disdain at the memory before noting their intrigued faces. "Our captors were going to rape me. He stopped them and they took his hand. Getting back to your sister was the only thought that pushed him onwards." Elaborating less confidently she looked towards Tyrion, his eyes saw through her with a knowing glint. He'd seen them at Winterfell and knew exactly what had gone on between them.

"A Dothraki warrior raped Cersei not three days ago. Jaime took his head. He was alone, injured, half drowned, starved and dehydrated. Do you know how driven you have to be to muster the power to do that?" He let his gaze travel between all in the room before adding to the depressing sentence. "The Dothraki's braid was one of the longest I've ever seen. You run into danger, you give him that sword." Nodding in approval at his own words, he turned to pour himself a much needed cup of wine.

"Even so," Jon continued, a displeased look on his face at Tyrion's bold commands. "Take no precautions in the meantime. Bind their hands-"

"Bind their hands?" Tyrion repeated Jon's words back to him in shock, the wine only just making it down his throat before he'd turned to speak.

"We will not risk them making a run for it, if Dany finds out-" He stopped himself from finishing his sentence, the answer not even worth uttering. "Their hands will be bound. If trouble happens along the way, Brienne will cut them free."