Chapter 8 ~ You Win or You Die ~

We’d been ridding for days, Jaime refused to let me go, which meant I couldn’t jump on Ember, who had followed us, her sharp brown eyes taking in everything as we left the Kingsroad, I longed to climb on her back and ride her back to the Capital, Jaime be damned. 

 

“You need to eat” Jaime said as he tried once more to come into my line of sight, I shifted and looked in a direction where he wasn’t which caused him to humph and begin to mutter to himself, the guards were huddled around another fire, a good distance from us, they’d look over every now and  again, chuckle, say something disgusting and then go back to other conversations, “Anaris, you need to eat” he stepped into my line of sight one more but I had already turned away from him “damn it woman,” he growled, in seconds I was on my back with an angry Jaime on top of me, his fingers biting into my cheekbones, “eat or I’ll force the food down your throat” I turned my head again so I couldn’t see his eyes. 

 

His fingers bit into my cheeks once more and I’d had enough of being manhandled, without making a subtle movement I slipped the dagger, I had hidden in my underclothes, out from its sheath and had it against his throat and met his eyes for the first time “try it, I fucking dare you” I growled past clenched teeth, his hand swept the dagger away from his neck and he had me pinned more to the forest floor, we’d now gotten the attention of all his men, each one now watching with hunger. 

 

“I will not let you starve yourself because of your father” he glowered at me as I tried to struggle from his grip, his legs were straddling my thighs tightly and any movement I made caused him to hold me tighter “I don’t want to hurt you” he said through clenched teeth and I thrashed again, only this time I hit him very close to where every man would hate to be hit. 

 

“You already have” I snapped back, my wrist was free from his grip and my fist smashed into his cheek, his head snapped to the side and his grip loosened giving me enough wiggle room to get out from under him and ran to Ember who was watching with her intelligent brown eyes, I jumped on her back and took off in a direction. 

 

“Anaris!” I heard Jaime shout from behind me, glancing over my shoulder I saw him rush to his horse. 

 

“Faster” I whispered to Ember as I heard hooves catching up to us, I needed to get back to the Capital, I needed to make sure my father and sisters were okay, I needed to get away from Jaime. Dodging a low hanging branch at the last possible moment I pushed Ember to go as fast as she could go but Jaime’s shouts to his men and the sounds of their horses were too close “please” I prayed to the old Gods begging them to help me. Ember leaped over a small stream, the height of her jump dislodged me from her back and the moment we landed I was thrown from her landing on the rocky bank of the stream, my breath leaving my body in a huge whoosh “fuck” I gasped as I gathered myself of the ground and tried to get back into Ember before Jaime could catch me. 

 

“Gods, woman would you stop” I didn’t hear his horse, or his men but I certainly felt his rough hands on my shoulders as he wrenched me around to face him, “give me something to tie her up with” he growled to one of his men who nodded and dug through his saddle bags. 

 

“You piece of shit” I spat as I tried to get out of his hands but it was no use, I was surrounded by Lannister guards who would jump into action at just a nod of his head “I fucking hate your guts Jaime Lannister” his arm left my shoulder and he placed his hand over my mouth which just made me angrier. 

 

“And something to gag her with” he said as the soldier handed him a length of rope, “you don’t hate me, you’re not capable of it” he nodded to another soldier to hold me still while he removed his hand from my face and began to tie my hands up tightly. 

 

“Oh I am very capable of it Lannister” I growled, my eyes narrowed more as he secured a strip of cloth between my lips and let out a string of curses that would make my mother very disappointed if she had heard them. 

 

“We’re close to my fathers camp, a day or so more and then you can hate me when we’re out of these fucking woods” he yanked the rope that was tightly wound around my wrists and forced me to move, I glanced over my shoulder and saw one Lannister guard gently pat Ember on her shoulder and lead her back towards the camp. 

 

—————

 

I glared at Jaime and his father Tywin from my seat, I was still tied up, much to mine and Tywin’s disgust, Jaime wasn’t taking any chances though and figured that I’d run first opportunity that arose and he was correct, our first night at his fathers encampment was full of tension, Tywin had removed my gag and then quickly replaced it when he realised I had some very choice words to say about him and his oldest son. 

 

Tywin had hunted down a stag earlier in the morning while Jaime was trying and failing to get me to eat more then a bite of food, he’d had me brought into his tent that he used to hold meetings with his commanders, he thought that having me watch him skin and gut this stag would make me feel uneasy and fearful for what may come next but little did he know that I was used to seeing animals gutted, skinned and cooked. 

Jaime stood near by with a letter in his hand, he was dressed in his Lannister armour while Tywin, also in his Lannister amour, sharpened his knives with his back to me “‘Summoned to court to answer for the crimes of your bannerman Gregor Clegane, the Mountain’" Jaime tried to read out loud, he wasn’t very good at reading or writing so having him actually read an important message was one of the cruelest things Tywin could’ve done to Jaime “Uh, ‘arrive within the fortnight or be branded an enemy of the Crown’ Poor Ned Stark” Jaime put the parchment down and ran his hand over my tangled hair causing me to jerk my head away and glare at him “Brave man, terrible judgment” he clicked his tongue. 

“Attacking him was stupid” Tywin spoke up has he began to methodically skin and gut the stag with his now extremely sharp knife, “Lannisters don't act like fools” he threw the innards into a wooden pail by his feet and wiped his hands clean “Are you gonna say something clever?” He looked at Jaime who was looking at me smugly “Go on, say something clever” Tywin scowled. 

“Catelyn Stark took my brother” Jaime said through clenched teeth, he was irritated that his father was talking to him like he was a child who needed to learn a very important lesson. 

 

“Why is he still alive?” Tywin asked causing my spine to stiffen and my hands to clench, I started to pull on my restraints as hard as I could and I could feel the ropes tearing at my skin.

“Tyrion?” Jaime asked in disbelief as he tried to stop me from causing pain to myself. 

“Ned Stark” Tywin said dispassionately as he began to hack at the stags muscles, tearing the skin from the muscle as he sliced through it with his knife. 

“One of our men interfered, speared him through the leg before I could finish him,” Jaime grabbed my hands and tried to soothe the hurt I had caused “he’s also the father of my wife”

Tywin turned at that point and looked at me, I glared straight back at him, imagining all the ways he’d die at my hands “your wife is now a Lannister, her ties to the Starks severed the night you married and bedded her” he then looked at Jaime expectantly “why is he still alive?”

“It wouldn't have been clean” Jaime defended 

“Clean...” Tywin scoffed “You spend too much time worrying about what other people think of you” 

 

“I could care less what anyone thinks of me” Jaime turned my head and we locked eyes for a moment, he was trying to get me to calm down but it was only making me more angry. 

“Now that's what you want people to think of you” Tywin pointed out making Jaime roll his eyes “you care what your wife thinks” 

“It's the truth” Jaime tried to argue but his eyes had widened, giving his lie away. 

“When you hear them whispering ‘Kingslayer’ behind your back, doesn't it bother you?” Tywin asked but he already knew his answer, everyone knew the true answer. 

“Of course it bothers me” Jaime replied as he crossed his arms across his armoured chest. 

“The lion doesn't concern himself with the opinions of the sheep” Tywin said as he peeled the skin back off the meat of the stag “l suppose I should be grateful that your vanity got in the way of your recklessness. I'm giving you half of our forces. 30,000 men. You will bring them to Catelyn Stark's girlhood home and remind her that Lannisters pay their debts” his words caught my attention and I felt a burning behind my eyes, my mother thought Tyrion had tried to have Bran killed but I knew Tyrion wasn’t stupid enough to do that. 

“I didn't realise you placed such a high value on my brother's life” Jaime said as he undid my ties to the chair but kept his hands on my now red raw wrists. 

“He's a Lannister. He might be the lowest of the Lannisters, but he's one of us. And every day that he remains a prisoner, the less our name commands respect” 

“So the lion does concern himself with the opinions of..” Jaime said said but Tywin wasn’t having any of it and the sound of his knife hitting the wooden table under the carcass, the sharp noise caused me to jump. 

“No, it's not an opinion, it's a fact! If another House can seize one of our own and hold him captive with impunity, we are no longer a House to be feared” his fury was palpable and I felt my skin crawl at the look of hate in his eyes “Your mother's dead. Before long I'll be dead. And you and your brother and your sister and all of her children and your lady’s future children. All of us dead, all of us rotting in the ground. It's the family name that lives on. It's all that lives on. Not your personal glory, not your honour, but family. Do you understand?” In the periphery of my eye I saw Jaime nod mutely, obviously his fathers out burst cause him to be scared as well, Tywin turned back to what he was doing “You're blessed with abilities that few men possess. You are blessed to belong to the most powerful family in the kingdoms. And you are still blessed with youth. And what have you done with these blessings, huh? You've served as a glorified bodyguard for two kings. One a madman, the other a drunk.” He looked at us over his shoulder, and his eyes went to my stomach “The future of our family will be determined in these next few months. We could establish a dynasty that will last a thousand years. Or we could collapse into nothing, as the Targaryens did. I need you to become a man you were always meant to be” I shifted my feet, he knew, he had to, he saw what I had in that satchel when we first arrived at the encampment “Not next year. Not tomorrow. Now” Jaime looked down at me and lead me from the tent, even from behind the gag he could see me mouth ‘oh shit’

Our tent was the farthest from Tywin’s, it was close enough for the guards to know if something was wrong but far enough for them not to hear Jaime try to get me to talk to him, he pushed me gently into a chair and began to undo my bindings, my wrists were red and close to bleeding “I wish this could be different” he said quietly, meeting my eyes, he slowly removed the gag from my mouth and I resisted the urge to lick my extremely chapped lips. 

 

“Bit late for that Lannister” I said as I rotated my jaw slightly and sighed happily when it popped “you’ve attacked my father, abducted me and now your father is wanting you to march an army into my grandfathers lands” I closed my eyes with a wince as he applied ointment, that the Maester had given to him, to my wrists and cheeks where the gag had sat. 

 

“Your mother struck the first blow by taking my brother” he argued, he poured fresh water into two goblets and handed one to me, “I didn’t want to fight your father,” I shot him a look that screamed that I knew he was lying to me “alright, so I did want to fight him” he shrugged easily. 

 

“You’ve always wanted to fight my father,” I said as I took a hesitant sip from my water “Tywin knows that I’ve been taking that draft,” I said as my thumbs traced the edges of the goblet. 

 

“Yes” he sat down on his heels and touched my knee with one of his hands, “he demanded to know why, I lied said it was to help with pain” I raised my eyebrow in question. 

 

“And he believed you?” I asked with a scoff, Tywin wasn’t that stupid, the heat from Jaime’s hand seeped through my skirts and warmed my icy skin underneath, I moved my leg and his hand slid off “you still attacked my father in the streets” I stood up and touched the tangled mess of my hair. 

 

“I’ll get a squire to prepare you a bath” Jaime muttered and left the tent with a pinched expression, I grabbed a brush that Tywin had somehow procured and began to run it through my hair, the sharp pain in my scalp helped battle the guilt that raged in my gut, I knew Jaime wouldn’t have actually killed my father, but he still killed Jory. 

 

“M’lady” a stuttering voice came from behind me causing me to turn, at the open of the tent was a young boy in Lannister red holding a pail of steaming water “I have water for your bath” I nodded and pointed at the deep metal basin behind a screen, he bowed deeply and with several other young men they began to pour the hot water into the basin and leave to fetch more until it was completely full, while they did that I tackled the mess that was my hair, stray leave and twigs fell loose as I yanked the brush from my scalp to tips on my hair “m’lady compliments of Lord Kevan Lannister,” he placed a box down on the table and then bath oils next to it, he bowed and left quickly, closing the flap behind him I stripped from my clothes and snagged the oils from the table, there was a small note telling me the scent was black lotus, I upended the bottle and poured most of the contents into the steaming bath water and all but jumped in.

 

“Heaven” I mumbled with a sigh and began to scrub the dirt from my arms and face, the spice of the lotus began to override and take over the stench of sweat and shit that was imbedded in my skin, I grabbed the rest of the bottle and poured some onto my scalp, my hands followed the flow of the oil so it went to every part of my hair, I heard the tent flap move and I immediately covered myself “Jaime!” I growled at him with a glare. 

 

“I’ve seen you before” he said with a smug grin, he came closer and grabbed the small scrubber that was on the small stool next to the tub, he began to wash my back methodically, “you have dirt on top of dirt on your skin”

 

“I wasn’t aware Lannister’s sullied themselves to wash peoples backs” I muttered as I continued to wash my hair, my scalp now burning with how hard I was scraping my nails.

 

“We don’t but I think I can make an exception for my wife” his hands dipped over my shoulders to the tops of my breast that were just below the waterline and my back ceased while my hands clenched tightly in my hair “I want to apologise for the way I treated you, I shouldn’t have tied you up” as he spoke he touched the inflamed skin on my wrist. 

 

“No you shouldn’t have” I shrugged off his hands and dipped below the water to rinse off my hair when I resurfaced he was sitting closer, his face a hairs-width away from my own “Don’t” I mumbled, looking down at his hands as the clenched the sides of the tub, with what looked like great effort he removed one hand and smoothed my hair from my eyes. 

 

“I love you Anaris,” I went to move my head but he stopped me with both hands “I know what I did hurt you, I shouldn’t have fought your father, I was on my way to see you when I stumbled upon Lord Stark” his eyes narrowed as he said my fathers name “I was going to tell you what was happening, what your mother did,” he growled and I moved my hands to his and removed them from my head. 

 

“No your shouldn’t have started that in the street and the fact that my mother believes that Tyrion is capable of doing that to Bran” I shook my head and looked at our hands “you also shouldn’t have taken me with you, I need to protect my sisters from the darkness that looms over the Capital” I swallowed my fear that had been creeping up my throat since we’d left the Red Keep “a war is brewing Jaime and I don’t think I’ll survive it” 

 

~~ Whispering Wood ~~

 

Distant shouts and clanking of swords were the only noise coming from the inside of the woods, Jaime had ordered 2 Lannister guards to protect me from anyone who wasn’t on ‘our side’ my grip on my sword tightened as I heard a wolf howl in the distance “Robb” I mumbled and took a step forward but was stopped by one of the guards. 

 

“Lady Lannister, we have orders to keep you away from the fight” he said quietly which caused me to sigh deeply, another howl rose from the Wood and a shiver raced down my spine. 

 

“Your orders were to stay by my side” I growled out making him shrink away from my glare, he was younger then I and his fear of me was very obvious, I went to take another step when an arrow struck the ground in front of my booted foot. There was a flurry of movement and the guard who was just talking to me fell to the ground, an arrow sticking out of his eye socket, the other guard jumped into action and shoved me towards the tree line, I stumbled for a moment and took off running, my only thought was to get to Jaime or my brother, whoever I happened upon first.

 

There was a gargled shout and a body hit the sodden earth, arrows wizzed past my head and body as I continued to sprint to the relative safety of the trees, someone shouted closer to me and I was tackled to the ground from my right as I entered the woods, as I hit the ground my hand gripped the dagger that I had strapped to my thigh and I held onto it out of sight of the men who had pursued me “well looky ‘ere boys, we got ourselves a Lannister whore” a hand grabbed my braided hair and yanked me onto my back, as soon as I got a look at the man on top of me my dagger was dragged across his throat, his blood covering my face and torso “you fuckin’ bitch” I shoved the male from my body and was on my feet in a defensive stance in seconds, 3 men remained and their shock at what I had done to their friend was wearing off quickly. 

 

“Fuckin’ whore killed Jullen” another male shouted, he threw himself at me but was met by the sharp end of my sword, like a hot knife through lard, his chest armour was no match with the razor sharp blade that I had sharpened, he cried out in pain as I twisted the hilt, the blade turning his heart into a bloody pulp I wrenched it out of him as quickly as possible and intercepted the sword that was being swung at my body, the metal crashed together and I shoved the oppressing sword away with all my strength, his shield distracted me as he tried to take me down once more. 

 

“Karstark” I muttered and looked at the man “listen to me, I am Lord Eddard Starks daughter, Anaris” I ground out as I halted his advice once more, another howl rose from the darkness around us, closer then before “in the name of your liege lord, I order you to stop!” I shouted over his battle cry, I danced away from his sword strike and nailed him in the shoulder with my dagger. 

 

“You’ve married and bedded a Lannister, you’re a whore!” He ran at me again but stopped short when his friend was taken down by a white blur, in his distraction I sliced through his neck and removed his head from his body in an easy slice. 

 

“Fucking traitors” I spat on his remains and turned to the wolf that had quickly killed the other Karstark man, she was bigger then when I had last saw her, her eye was still milky and the tips of her ears were now grey “Storm” I said with a smile as I stooped low and held out my hand for her to get my scent. 

 

Her large paws squelched in the blood soaked ground and she pressed her nose to my knuckles before licking my hand with her large tongue, she stepped closer and made a rumbling noise in the back of her throat before stepping back and letting a bone rattling howl rise into the sky she took off into the woods but stopped clearly waiting for me to follow. 

 

We walked through the woods as the fighting began to ebb we walked through the woods as the fighting began to ebb and the sound of the woods began to once again take hold, I watched as Storm scented the air and let out a whine as another wolf stepped out of the darkness with a man beside it “gods, Robb!” I shouted throwing myself past his wolf Grey Wind and into my brothers waiting arms “I’ve missed you” I said finally letting a sob out of my throat. 

 

“Ris” he mumbled into my hair as he squeezed me tightly “why are you here? I thought Lannister would send you to Casterly Rock” he pulled me away and took in my armour, it had been a gift from Lord Kevan before we had left to the Riverlands, it was Lannister armour that was what made Robb’s brow furrow. 

 

“He would’ve if I had let him” I touched my brothers scruffy face and smiled “Gods you look more Northern then you did when I’d left” he chuckled and dragged me into another embrace, I snuggled as close as our armour would allow and closed my eyes for a moment before realising the Woods had gone silent “Jaime” I went to pull away to go look for him but Robb refused to let me go. 

 

“Let’s get you back to my camp” he pulled me into his side and let out a low whistle causing both Storm and Grey Wind to run in front of us. 

 

—————

 

We arrived at his camp at low light where mother was waiting, she let out a sob and threw herself into my arms just as I had done to Robb, her body shook with emotion as she patted my hair “oh my sweet Wolfling” she pulled away and touched my face that was still covered in Karstark blood “I’m so glad you’re safe” she pulled me into her embrace. 

 

“I’m here mother, I’m fine” I pulled away and looked to Robb who was speaking to Roose Bolton “have you seen Jaime? Have they brought him to the camp?” I stepped back when she sighed. 

 

“The Lannister” she growled, her eyes looked beyond my shoulder and I turned to find Jaime in shackles, on his knees in front of Robb. 

 

“Jaime!” I went to grab him but Roose had my arms in a strong grip before I could do anything “let me go Bolton” I growled as I ripped my arm from his grip and touched his scraped up face gently. 

 

Jaime met my worried eyes and then glanced over my shoulder to my mother “Lady Stark. l'd offer you my sword, but l seem to have lost it” he gave an indignant shrug and then his eyes went back to me

 

“It is not your sword l want,” mother spat back, even though she was a Tully by birth she’d been in the North long enough to grow fangs sharper then any North Lady “Give me my daughters back, Give me my husband” my ears perked up at that and I turned my attention from Jaime who sighed in mock despair. 

 

“What’s happened?” I asked to the crowd of men who were watching the exchange, “tell me” I shouted and stood. 

 

“King Robert is dead, father has been labeled as a traitor and the Lannister’s have our sisters” Robb replied his eyes never leaving Jaime. 

 

“Kill him, Robb” Theon Greyjoy shouted, “Send his head to his father,” I sneered at Theon and stepped in front of Jaime “He cut down ten of our men” Theon glared at me and smirked. 

“He's more use to us alive than dead” Robb replied to the Squid, who looked ready to stomp his foot. 

“Take him away and put him in irons” mother ordered the Umber men behind Jaime. 

 

“No” I swung around and smacked one of the men in the face with the hilt of my sword before raising its tip at the other man “do it and I’ll cut you down Harlik Umber” I glanced at the other men who were ready to jump on me “I’ve fought many of you and won already, don’t bruise your fragile egos anymore then they already are” Harlik, who blinked in surprise at my actions, raised his hand to show he meant no harm. 

“We could end this war right now, boy, save thousands of lives,” Jaime spoke still on his knees in the mud “You fight for the Starks, l fight for the Lannisters, Swords or lances, teeth, nails - choose your weapons and let's end this here and now” Jaime said, letting cooler heads prevail, I knew he was just trying to get out of this situation. 

“If we do it your way, Kingslayer, you'd win. We're not doing it your way” Robb nodded and hands had me and were pulling me back from Jamie, I slashed my foot back and caught Roose Bolton in his knee before trying to elbow him in the face. 

 

“Robb, don’t do this” I said as Harlik dragged Jaime to his feet and began to shove him away from us “mother, please!” I begged but my words fell on deaf ears.