Wolf's Blood (Lion's Wolf book 3)

Chapter 4 ~ Kissed By Fire (Part 2)

I slipped into Qyburn's workspace and was greeted by a man who was far younger then I had expected any Maester to be, he wore no chains but he had the air of a man that held the wisdom of the Citidal.

"Maester Qyburn I presume" I said as I closed the door and Storm trotted up to Jaime and nudged his still form with her nose, the cold pressure musty woken him up from his daydream because he jumped and looked at her with a look of surprise.

"I'm no Maester m'lady" the older man stopped preparing whatever it was that he was doing and bowed slightly, I could see his face was littered with scars "you must be the King in the Norths sister" I nodded and moved to Jaime's sides and kissed his head gently.

"Anaris Stark" I met Jaime's eyes and shrugged, using my Houses name was a hard habit to break I would never get used to hearing 'Anaris Lannister' and it didn't roll off the tongue quite as well.

"You shouldn't be in here" Jaime muttered as I stooped to his height and brushed his hair from his eyes, he needed a change of clothes and a bath when Qyburn was done with him.

"I wouldn't choose to be anywhere else" I replied as Qyburn tapped my shoulder and handed me a vile of Milk of the Poppy.

"For his pain, we've discussed what I am to do" I eyed the vile and looked to Jaime who was shaking his head.

"Jaime, take the medicine or I'll make you take it" I murmured as I unstopped the vile and moved closer to him and he dodged me "Jaime, please" I eyed the vat of boiling wine and the instruments that were laid out for Qyburn to grab "there will be too much pain" I said pleading but he shook his head and I sighed in defeat, if he wanted to suffer then he could suffer.

Qyburn strapped Jaime's arm so it wouldn't bleed too much as he cut at the corruption and I moved behind Jaime's sitting figure to hold his shoulders, as soon as Qyburn began so did Jaime's screaming and Storms howling, I watched silently as Qyburn worked, tears welled and ran down my cheeks as my husband struggled against the pain before loosing consciousness completely "you're a strong woman, not many can stomach this" Qyburn looked for his work and I sniffled.

"It's the pain he's in that I can't stomach" I said truthfully, I knew he was in pain, while he hid it well it couldn't hide all of it all the time, "will this work?" I asked and Qyburn hesitated.

"There is never a guarantee but with luck yes" we met eyes for a moment and I nodded, words to live by if we were going to make it to Kings Landing.

~ Later ~

Brienne and I sat in a massive natural bath that was fed by an underground spring, the water ran hot under Harrenhal which is why Lord Harren built his massive castle on top it which supplied his house with hot water.

I handed Brienne a bristled brush and sunk down into the depths of the bath with a contented sigh, this is what I've missed, warmth, I glanced at Brienne who was watching Storm with caution as the Direwolf neared the tub and flopped down with huff "she won't hurt you, not unless I give the word, you attack me or you attack her" I muttered as I let my body soak the dirt off.

"Did you know she'd be as large as she is when she was a pup?" I leant my head against the lip of the tub and glanced to Storm who was to my left, between Brienne and I.

"I always knew direwolves were larger then bears, but no I couldn't imagine how big she would actually be" I grabbed my own brush and began to scrub at my skin, I smiled slightly as I heard footsteps enter the room "seems my lord husband is in need of a bath" I said as three men entered my periphery.

"Not so hard, You'll scrub the skin off" Jaime told Brienne as she slunk lower into the bath water so he wouldn't see her body, she'd rubbed her skin raw with the brush trying to get the dirt off, "you're the one that keeps making remarks about my stench" Jaime replied cheekily, it seemed he got his humour back slightly since I left him in the care of Qyburn, while he was still sullen there was a light back in his eyes.