Chapter 2 ~ Walk of Punishment ~

I was lashed to the leader, a man by the name of Locke, he kept my body closer then necessary as we rode slowly to Harrenhal, his men were loudly singing the Bear and the Maiden fair while Jaime and Brienne were tied back to back on another horse talking to one another quietly. 

 

Locke pulled my body closer to him one more time and I swung my head forward and head butted the back of his skull, he yelped out in pain and turned to glare at me “my lady has fire in her veins” he commented causing his men to laugh louder. 

 

“I have wolf’s blood coursing through my veins” I replied with a glare of my own “keep doing what you’re doing and it’ll be your blood spilled” 

 

“Without your sword you’re defenceless, maybe I’ll let my men have you for the night,” he reached back and touched my leg, causing my teeth to grind “or maybe I’ll keep you for myself” apologising to the horse in my head I shifted my body and used my momentum to drag Locke into the mud with me, my side hit the floor and I just moved my leg time so it didn’t get landed on, my knee pressed Locke into the mud as I got up and kept my knee pressed into the middle of his back. 

 

“Defenceless am I? I suggest you listen to me well Ser, I was trained by the best swordsmen in all of Westeros and from across the Narrow Sea, I don’t need a sword to kill you” I said into his ear before I lent closer and bit into it pulling a chunk off making him yell out “you’re just Bolton’s glorified lapdog” I shoved his face into the mud and got up looking at the men around us who were staring, I knew I had Locke’s blood streaking down my face but I cared little “anyone else?” A few men shook their heads “that’s what I suspected”

 

“We’ll bed down here” Locke growled out as he stood up and shook the mud from his cloak, he grabbed two more ropes from another man and tied them tightly around my body as the others went about to set up camp, “be thankful I’m not permitted to kill you, Lady Stark” 

 

“A scrawny little man like you couldn’t kill a rabbit” I replied, as he dragged me to the tree Jaime was tied to and forced me to sit next to my husband. 

 

“You were always a vicious one” Jaime mumbled as the men tied Brienne to the tree across from us. 

 

“I get it from my mother” I replied as Locke came back over with a nasty smile on his face, “what now?” 

 

“Just coming to get what I’m owed” he smashed the hilt of his sword against the side of my head and the world bled away to black. 

 

~ Hours Later ~

 

“Unbesmirched,” I heard Locke say as I came to, men were yelling in the distance and Brienne was yelling loudly as well but when I opened my eyes I couldn’t see her. 

 

“Not defiled,” Jaime replied, as men dragged Brienne back into camp, she had been beaten, her lip was split and she was bleeding, I met Brienne’s eyes and asked silently if she was okay, she slowly nodded her head. 

 

“Fancy word for a fancy man” Locke commented with a chuckle making Jaime chuckle as well.

 

“I hated to read as a child, but my father forced me to study the books every morning before I could practice with sword or horse,” Jaime looked at me with a smile “Two hours every day holed up in the maester's chambers. I learned a lot of fancy words” he winked and turned his attention back to Locke. 

 

“I bet you did” Locke smirked “Your father, he'd pay your weight in gold to get you and your wife back?” He looked between Jaime and I suspiciously. 

 

“You'll be a rich man till the end of your days. And your sons will be rich men and their sons after them. Lands, titles- you'll have them all” Jaime replied with an arrogance only he seemed to possess “The North can't win this war. You're a smart man. You understand that. We have the numbers. We have the gold” he shrugged as Locke raised his hand to stroke his scraggly beard in thought, his eyes gave something more sinister away though. 

 

“Aye, you have both” 

 

“Fighting bravely for a losing cause is admirable. Fighting for a winning cause is far more rewarding” Jaime kept going even though I elbowed him subtly, Brienne caught my eye and shook her head, her way of saying stay out of it. 

 

“Hard to argue with that” Locke mused, he seemed to be thinking about what Jaime was offering but I knew Bolton’s men were loyal. 

 

“Jaime” I hisses but was ignored because he thought he was actually making headway with this oaf of a man. 

 

“Now that we're speaking together man to man, I wonder if you need to keep me chained to this tree. I'm not asking to be freed from my constraints, but if I could sleep lying down, my back would thank you for it, I’m not as young and resilient as I once was” he looked at me and smiled, “I haven’t held my wife in my arms properly in a year as well,” I went to tell him where to stick it when Locke spoke again. 

 

“None of us are,” Locke nodded and turned to his men “Unchain Ser Jaime from the tree, but keep his wife there,” he dodged the gob of spit I sent his way and laughed as his men unchained Jaime, “Suppose you'll be wanting something to eat” Locke smiled at me and turned to Jaime who smiled back like they were friends.

 

“I'm famished, actually” Jaime answered truthfully, my stomach rumbled at the thought of food and I curled into myself. 

 

“I think we've got a spare partridge on the fire” Locke said with a smirk and Jaime grinned, and got up with the help of Locke’s men. 

 

“Well, I do like partridge,” Jaime said as he groaned, he was sore from being attached to the tree. 

 

“Bring the bird over here and the carving knife”Locke called to the man in charge of cooking, he led Jaime over to a stump and gestured to it, “Will this work as a table, my lord?” I looked at Brienne and my stomach dropped when I heard a scuffle and saw Jaime was pushed down, face first onto the stump and Locke held the carving knife out of Jaime’s view. 

 

“Locke, don’t you dare!” I screamed and thrashed against my restraints but it was no use. 

 

“You think you're the smartest man there is,” Locke pointed the sharpened carving knife directly at Jaime “That everyone alive has to bow and scrape and lick your boots,” Locke seethed as I continued to wiggle against my restraints. 

 

“My father-“ Jaime stuttered out, my hands began to bleed but the stinging pain didn’t stop me from my mission, I had to get to Jaime. 

 

“And if you get in any trouble, all you've got to do is say 'my father' and that's it, all your troubles are gone” Locke jabbed the knife in Jaime’s face not stabbing him but the motion was enough to make me scream. 

 

“Don't” I begged but was ignored while Jaime stayed silent. 

 

“Have you got something to say?” Locke jeered, my left hand slipped free and I quickly continued to get out of my bonds, “Careful. You don't want to say the wrong thing. You're nothing without your daddy, and your daddy ain't here. Never forget that” he let Jaime up and withdrew the knife, he took a step back and just as I got free he moved back to Jaime “Here, this should help you remember,” he brought the knife down and cut Jaime’s sword hand off, there was silence as I shoved Locke away and Jaime began to scream as he realised what had just happened. 

 

“Jaime” I mumbled as Locke snatched the severed hand up and moved it away while I quickly wrapped his bleeding wrist and and applied pressure, I took my other hand and touched Jaime’s face as he stopped screaming and just stared at his missing hand “I have you, it’s…” I swallowed bile that rose in my throat “you’re go to be just fine” Locke reappeared with Jaime’s hand and strung it around his neck, “you sick son of a whore” I went to grab it but Locke moved faster. 

 

“I wouldn’t do that bitch” he grinned, squeezed my hand, where my wrists were rubbed raw from my escape “I’ll cut yours off too” he flung my hand back at me “tie Ser Jaime and his bitch back up” he then sat at the fire and let his men shove us back to where Brienne sat silently