A Wolf and A Lion || Jaime Lannister Love Story

Chapter 31 - Confronting a Lion

     Jory stood guard by Ned Stark's study, taking note of Aurelia's walking presence.

    "My Lady," Jory greeted her, and Aurelia smiled at him. He opened the door for her as Aurelia entered the room, seeing her father standing in the same position as before when Cersei left. She saw the tensed look upon Ned's face, but it quickly disappeared when he saw Aurelia.

    "Tell me why is there a tourney in your name when you do not even fancy them?" Aurelia questioned his father with a grin of her own. Ned can only chuckle hearing his daughter's words, knowing that she speaks the truth.

    "The King wanted to have a tourney honoring me in becoming Hand. I told him it was unnecessary but I cannot change the King's mind." Ned told her, "Why are you not there with your sisters?"

    "Did you not hear about what happened to Ser Hugh?" Aurelia asked her father, and Ned almost forgot about that. He had wanted to speak to the newly anointed knight to investigate Jon Arryn's death even further, but it seems impossible now. His death was all too questionable, considering the circumstances.

    "I did." Ned replied, moving away from his desk to stand closer to Aurelia. "Is that why you are here?" He inquired,

    "I could not watch it anymore after his death. It was a horrid thing that happened to him." Aurelia remarked, as she let out a sigh and sat down one of the seats situated in front of the desk.

    Ned was aware of Aurelia's hatred towards death, but they never spoke about it before. Aurelia prefers to brush the thought away, hoping that it will diminish over time. The tournament was not the first time Aurelia's seen death. The first was that day in the North when Aurelia joined her father and brothers to the beheading of a Night's Watch deserter. When she watch that deserter die, the feeling was not as grim as the one she recently witnessed. When Ned swung the sword Ice through the deserter's neck, it was clean, quick, and happened in the blink of an eye. With Ser Hugh's death, the pain lingered as Aurelia saw the knight helplessly struggling for breath and relief. Why death impacts her to such an extent, Aurelia does not know. She understands that it is a part of life; that death is inevitable.

    "Why does it affect me in such a way? Sansa shrieked when she saw what happened, but she processed the entire situation better than I ever could. She's still there watching. Even Arya who is six years younger than me, fared better. I know nobody is fond of death, but it does not have any affect on them. Or at least not to a great extent." She began to express, hating the feeling inside her.

    "People view things differently. There is nothing wrong with that." Ned comforted Aurelia, "It shows that you have a soft heart."

    "When you beheaded the deserter, it did not feel as strong as this. Maybe it was because he broke his oath, and I understood that death was the consequence." Aurelia continued to confide in her father. "But with Ser Hugh..."

    "Perhaps it was because you know he did not deserve to die. He was an innocent man." Ned spoke,

    "He didn't have to die." Aurelia pointed out, unknowingly showing the innocent side of her.          What Aurelia said reminded him of how Catelyn would always disapprove when he rode off to a beheading, especially when that involved a deserter. It was not that Catelyn disagreed with the law, but she was never fond of the fact that the life of someone innocent has to be taken away. Catelyn has the same perception as Aurelia, and now Ned realize where her daughter got it from.