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It was not the best of days, a little mistier than she would have liked and crisper weather than she would have wanted, but it wasn’t bad enough for her to abandon her plans of her trip down to Morne.
It wasn’t like he would be there, he’d likely stay in some swanky hotel and be driven around in the town car, one of the only town cars on the island.
The Isle of Tarth was small enough that she could make the trek in a reasonable amount of time, quicker if she saddled a horse, even quicker if she took her car. Though, where was the beauty when one drove past all the scenery. Besides, she’d get no exercise if she used the car.
And a horse would only raise eyebrows with any of the tourists. There were some who would frown upon her using the footpaths or the roads with her horse. It wasn’t like she’d be hurting anyone yet there were always those few impatient people who would complain.
Brienne knew it was her home, yet there had already been complaints to Lord Selwyn, something along the lines of ‘the horse's stink is polluting the air’, or ‘horses should be banned’, or ‘there’s no place for wenches here’. Even her father wasn’t certain if they were talking about the horses or her in that sentence. If the Lord Lannister would get off his high horse and stop complaining then Brienne would be happy, perhaps she would ride by him on her horse purposefully spraying his designer clothes with muck. She imagined him to be as ugly as his personality suggested.
Gods, Brienne wished she knew what he looked like so that she could do just that.
Eavesdropping was wrong. Brienne knew that. But it had been about her so she had stayed to hear him ranting about whatever scandal she was wrapped up in.
Before this it had been about her failed marriage proposals and now it was about her hobbies - there was always something that was wrong.
Thus the decision was made for her, she would walk. It wouldn’t do to anger either her father or Lannister.
Besides, the walk would do her good, it would help to clear her head. The mystery complainer would be gone in the wind like the ruined rubble of Morne which was slowly disappearing over time. She swore it got smaller every time she went there, it made her think that tourists were taking little pieces home for themselves. Brienne thought to herself to talk to her father about that once she was home, the ruins were a piece of their history.
With that decided and mental note made, Brienne quickly packed a backpack with enough supplies to last longer than she needed including nutrition bars and water - just in case. It never hurt to be over prepared.
Her pack was heavy as it settled upon her shoulders, the familiar weight made her smile as she left Evenfall hall.
Brienne set a leisurely pace towards her destination, nothing and no one was going to ruin this day for her. It was going to be just her and the wild and her runaway thoughts and it was going to be just what she needed.
Although Tarth was small, Brienne would never get bored of trekking the Isle of Tarth, it was her home and she knew it well. Even the paths that no one followed and the paths that didn’t exist, she liked to forge her own way. Walking the country was her favourite way to escape expectations.
The smells were something that screamed home to her, the grass, the sea on the breeze, it was all familiar to her as she walked.
There were many little nooks which were well hidden and often not too far from the main paths, far enough, though, so that she would not be happened upon by anyone else. Brienne was not partial to being accosted by tourists every second of every day, it seemed like there were more and more visiting Tarth since Lord Lannister started visiting.
Reluctantly, Brienne agreed that her father might be right upon that account.
Not that she would ever attribute their increased revenue in tourism to that family outloud.
Her father certainly seemed to think so. He liked to make sure that the Lannister family was well catered for. A sort of bribe to make them keep coming back, bringing all the business with them.
Brienne couldn’t care less. He was just a man with his children who came to visit Tarth, he was just like everyone else. No special treatment was needed in his case.
The sights were the same as always, if a bit haunted looking due to the fog rolling in from the sea, still Brienne could imagine all the sights as if she could actually see them due to the sheer amount of times she had seen them.
Brienne could see it all with her eyes closed even. She’d bet her mare on being able to walk the cliff pass blindfolded, not that her father would ever condone such an action nor give her his blessing to do that. In fact he’d actively tell her not to do that, she was his only heir.
She was the future of House Tarth.
Everyone was relying on her to carry on the House name.
And yet she had scorned every potential match her father had found her.
Things were not working out in her favour on the marriage and continuing their family line front.
It was just as she was contemplating a third marriage that Brienne heard something like a whisper on the wind.
A strange sort of sound that one would not expect to hear on the part of the trail she was on.
No tourist in their right mind would traverse this trail.
Brienne stood still, trying to hear the sound again, wanting to prove that she wasn’t going mad.
Just as Brienne was about to journey on she heard it again.
There was someone in the vicinity.
Though she couldn’t make out what was being said, the voice was getting closer and from the tenor they sounded like they were distressed.
Brienne started off quickly then, ready to help whoever it was in any way that she could.
—---------------------------------------------------
After a while of following the voice, Brienne could make out that they were shouting for help. A young girl if Brienne was not mistaken.
It made her throw all caution to the wind, she left all paths known to man and made a straight dash as the crow-flies towards the sound, forgetting all about any thorns, branches or cobwebs that were in her way. The fog was lifting now and Brienne could see more, yet still chose to ignore everything in her path.
All Brienne knew was that she had to help.
Upon coming closer, Brienne discovered that there were two voices instead of the one she had initially assumed, both quite high pitched, though, when Brienne came closer she could see that one belonged to a young boy.
They were waving her down, and Brienne paid no mind to the falling tree in her way, using one of her hands to brace herself as she clambered over it. There was no grace in the movement, not that she cared at that moment.
“It’s the we-” the little boy started to say, but the girl who was there drowned him out by saying, “It’s our pa, he needs help.”
“Where is he and what can I do?”
“He fell down there,” the girl said, pointing to a steep drop which was partially hidden by plants and their flowers. Brienne might’ve gone down it herself had she still been running towards the sound of them asking for help.
Phoning anyone was not an option as there was never any signal here, besides it would take hours for any help to get there, she had to do this herself.
There was no other option.
“What’s your name?” Brienne asked, trying to calm her racing heart. At the same time she slid her backpack off her shoulders.
“I’m Myrcella and that is Tommen,” Myrcella replied, making Brienne look at Tommen when she gestured her head towards him. He was looking at her, strangely.
“And you’re the we-”
“She’s the lovely person who is going to save pa, Tommen,” Myrcella said, quite loudly, again drowning out her younger brother.
Brienne knelt on the floor, unzipped her backpack and was looking for what she needed to traverse the steep decline. She couldn’t even see the man who was down there, but she could see that if she went down on foot there wouldn’t be a hope in the seven hells for her to get back up again, especially not with someone who was injured or wounded in tow.
“I’m hungry. Are you hungry?” Myrcella asked Tommen, as she looked at the contents that Brienne was pulling out of the bag. A box of cereal bars.
“Help yourself to them,” Brienne said, still looking through her pack for the rope that she needed to anchor herself to a tree.
Myrcella quickly grabbed the box of cereal bars before handing one to Tommen.
“But, I’m not hungry and pa won’t like that we’re taking this from her,” Tommen said.
“Just eat it,” Myrcella said, after they shared a somewhat sheepish look with each other that Brienne caught as she was pulling the rope out.
‘Stranger danger’, Brienne thought, ‘of course they wouldn’t want to take food from a stranger’.
“I’m Brienne of Tarth-”
“I know who you are-” Tommen started and again Myrcella interrupted him, this time by putting the end of the unwrapped cereal bar into his mouth.
Brienne smiled at her antics and wished that Galladon was still alive. They were like that as children.
“Okay. I’m just going to tie this to this tree and lower myself down. You wait here,” Brienne said, fully taking charge of what needed to be done.
Tommen said something unintelligible due to having his mouth full and Myrcella nodded.
Though she was not eating a cereal bar which Brienne thought was strange as she was the one who said she was hungry first.
Something strange was going on but it could wait until Brienne rescued the man at the bottom of the drop.
It didn’t take long for Brienne to tie the end of the rope around her middle, test the strength of the tree and lower herself down, granted it was only about ten or so metres.
Once she reached solid ground which she could stand upon her gaze found a man who was laying face down on the floor. Her instincts kicked in and she rolled him over to check if he was breathing.
He was.
It was like the tale of rapunzel, but the opposite, Brienne thought wistfully, how she wanted a handsome knight to rescue her from the tower of Evenfall Hall.
And here she was rescuing the handsome knight from himself.
For he was handsome. And he had only himself to blame for stepping off the beaten path.
But he was so very handsome.
When Brienne tried moving him his eyes snapped open and her sapphires met his emeralds.
She could get lost in those eyes.
And then the illusion shattered when he said one word, “Wench.” His eyes then closed once more.
Immediately Brienne knew what the problem was and what Tommen was trying to say.
This was the Lord Lannister who was complaining about her.
Still it did not deter her in her mission to tie him to her and lift him back up to the path.
Brienne thanked her extensive fencing, hockey and equestrian training. Even with them it was a struggle to get him up and she needed to catch her breath before beginning to move him back to civilization.
After a short while of them fussing over their father, Brienne managed to get some water into the children and started hauling Lord Lannister with her to the nearest road.
She just had to get him to a car, then she could leave his life again.
“I should have at least bought my horse. That would have been preferable to this,” Brienne said, under her breath as she bodily dragged Jaime up the trail, Myrcella and Tommen trailing behind her.
She had given them the task of carrying her backpack and was astounded as to how they were doing it, they were each carrying a strap and it was hanging between them. The whole thing was very sweet and made her long for children of her own.
Despite the slightly overcast day they were happy enough to keep walking along after her, not once did they complain about the extra weight nor the light drizzle which was falling upon them.
And not once did they complain when they waited on the side of the road for the first car to come by. When the children got into the perfectly normal run of the mill car, with Lord Lannister, they thanked the driver and her profusely.
Another further testament as to how their father, Lord Lannister, had brought them up. He had raised them right.
Now he just needed to do the same for himself and all would be right.
Rest assured though Brienne would be having a conversation with him when he was awake.
In her mind that was, she hoped to never pass him again on her horse or in her car or on foot, she might do something he’d regret.
Surely, Lord Lannister had heard what happened to one of her previous engagements.
—--------------------------------------------
Less than a week later
“Brienne! Brienne, what have you not been telling me?” her father said, loudly, his voice echoing around the entirety of Evenfall Hall.
Brienne gasped and got hit in the chest with her opponent's sabre. Her bout was now lost.
She quickly bowed before racing off towards the sound of her father.
“Brienne!” her father called once more, prompting Brienne to move a little faster, something was very wrong.
Except it wasn’t.
Her father was standing in the entrance hall, holding flowers and smiling like there was no tomorrow.
“Engagement number three is coming. You’ve been holding out on me dear daughter,” her father stated, pulling her into a proud hug, almost squishing the flowers in between them.
“Engagement?” Brienne asked, not fully aware of the situation.
“Yes. These flowers are for you. The courtship has begun,” he said, giving her the flowers.
Brienne took them from him and had barely had a chance to take them in before he asked her to read the card on them.
Dearest Wench,
For you will always be wench to me, think of it like a term of endearment. But Myrcella here wants me to call you the Lady Brienne. Lady Brienne, you have my many thanks for rescuing me. These flowers are a show of my eternal gratitude.
Have you ever wondered why I visit the Isle of Tarth? Here’s a hint, it’s because of you.
Mayhaps you would like to take a ride with me sometime this week before I travel back to the mainland.
Jaime.
P.S Tommen says hi and wants to know if you have another cereal bar
Brienne smiled as she brought the flowers up to her nose, they smelt wonderful and like him.
She had to prepare for a ride.