THE QUEEN BEYOND THE WALL

Story the Fourth: The King and Queen of the Reach

 "A dashing young knight, clean shaven, with golden hair and green eyes? Well, maybe I know him."
Brienne is now sure that Edric is actually referring to Jaime.
"Though he seems rather fond of His Grace King Renly. Maybe he's forgotten you..."
The Maid is somewhat surprised and asks her new friend, by a campfire in the woods, more about Edric's liege lord and the way his path came to cross with the one she thinks is Jaime. And the boy answers:
"Well, he was Lord Renly from the start, a Baratheon of Storm's End, the youngest brother out of three whose parents died in a shipwreck before his third birthday... When he was still a child, both his older brothers went away (one to the capital, the other to Dragonstone) and left him alone at Storm's End, as an only child. So he grew up from an adorable child into a dashing young gentleman, slightly spoiled by his guardians, but nevertheless sweet and cheerful. Renly loves dressing up and being the centre of attention. That's how he's always been. I know him so well because we were raised at Storm's End together, like you and that fair warrior of yours."
"What a coincidence!"

"So he's now in his twenties, and weary of his lordship duties, so, to distract himself, he begins to daydream until he thinks he'll style himself king of the Stormlands. And the bannermen agree, and they tell him he must have a queen, and thus, a proclamation to find one is announced. From Bronzegate to Nightsong, the finest ladies in the land enter Storm's End to try to win his heart, but he looks at them with that fixed expression, with a glare sharper than steel and a sneer of discontent, and without saying anything... and their courage forsook them. They couldn't think of anything to say, and just repeated the last words he had uttered, which he did not particularly love or even care to hear again. Of course he hoped for something else! For he seems not to care for them at all, sending them away one by one with a graceful flick of the wrist. The suitors have to turn back in shame, some of them even in tears. It was as if they had drunk milk of the poppy, which made them doze off, and they did not recover themselves until they breathed in the cool breeze out of doors. So, about twelve days later comes this young man from the Reach, a clean shaven lad with long golden hair and bright green eyes, wearing a glittering breastplate, with a good sword by his side."

"Jaime! Sure he is!"
Well... There he stands, this dashing fair-haired youth, the Warrior incarnate, before my Liege on his throne of golden antlers... talking to him without bending the knee, as if they were brothers, to everyone's surprise, and both of them had a rather pleasant, lively conversation, which I couldn't hear properly for all the distance and the courtiers' whispers; but as far as they could see, they gave the feeling that they were taken with the wit of one another. They're both drawing all attention, the newcomer is cheerful, friendly, and clever, and it's crystal clear that His Grace finds the unknown knight after his taste, while the golden-haired stripling has found Renly charming."

"And they've both gone to the Reach?"
"To Highgarden, apparently, for reasons I haven't been told. Secrets of state. Most likely to tie the knot with a sister of his... And, while my Liege was away, comes this invasion and all these burnings... We've got to warn King Renly and his bannermen. By now, it seems that the wedding celebrations are still going on."
"Jaime's got a sister! And he would never get boring to listen to. Sure, it can't be no other... So, we're off to Highgarden?"
"You'd better keep your armour clean, or else the guards won't let you into the palace. For you're so modest that you won't impress the court with those looks of yours."
"If I do something worth notice there?"
"As long as you do something courteous and beautiful. Like dance, or speak well."
"Guess I'll try to do my best..."
Brienne has always longed to visit the Reach, for it is the land where many of her childhood tales take place. A place more fertile and lovelier than the Hall where she was born, the Reach, in her mind, makes Tarth and Storm's End look bleak in comparison.
The trek across Westeros is spent rather merrily, catching hares and freshwater fish, telling stories and each other's lives... getting, now and then, a steed at an inn or their armour and weapons polished. And soon, the Reach stretches before the fair maiden and the dark-haired boy, as far as they can see, in all its glory: a lovely hilly region with terraced vineyards on the banks of the blue Mander, shady linden groves, quaint villages... Vast orchards of peaches, fire plums and other fruits, fragrant meadows dotted with thousands of colourful wildflowers, fields of corn and of Reach roses as far as the eyes can see, like oceans of gold... Estates and large farmhouses, and bannermens' castles straight out of fairytales, surrounded by colourful gardens, crown some of the hills. The villages and marketplaces are hosting celebrations, with bustling fairs, due to the fact that the young Queen of the land is getting married. But nowhere, as Brienne and Edric hear, will the festivities be as impressive as at the royals' seat itself, where a tourney will be held.
Following the course of the lovely blue river, that artery of the Reach which still is called the Mander, the two young people remain impressed by all the sights they encounter. The Maid has grown impatient, she can't wait to see Jaime... it sure must be him, with that soft golden hair and those bright green eyes. And the idea of seeing each other again in such a beautiful backdrop would be grand indeed.
Then, after a week or two of travelling through the fertile Reach, Brienne and Edric notice from afar, at a riverbend, a soft hill crowned by the stateliest castle they have so far seen in their short lives, surrounded by open meadows and fields of golden roses, on which the lists for the tourney rise as a colourful encampment. On top of the hill, slender white towers line walls as white as cream. On the slopes of the hill, in between the wall at the foothills and the one at the top, grows a complicated hedge maze of sweet briar roses.
Now Brienne, as she approaches Highgarden, has made up her mind to take part in the wedding tournament, both to show the courtiers her skill as a fighter and to get closer to the one she thinks is Jaime. She reaches the lists by mid-day, and the guards posted there inform her that the bride and groom are still in the sept, and that the tourney will not begin until the wedding has come to an end. There will be a great feast at Highgarden, most probably in the castle gardens, after the tourney, and all of the knights who fight in the tourney will be invited. And thus, Brienne enters the lists with Edric for a squire. For the officer in charge of the lists, having Stormlanders who represent the bridegroom's birthplace in the tournament will give more local colour to the show.
Since the young Stormlander is also impatient to see his liege lord again, they decide not to wait until King Renly arrives with his Queen and her brother, but rather to enter Highgarden and surprise them at the sept door.
Which turns out to be easier said than done: the guards at the outer wall gate let them in upon hearing that they are a knight and squire at the tourney (they're also elated at the fact that the newcomers are Stormlanders), but trying to navigate the Highgarden briar maze without a map proves pretty hard for Brienne and Edric. In fact, after having walked for a long while, they realize that they have been walking around in circles, and thus, they can't get in or out. How will they ever get to fight in the tourney or see their loved ones?
Right when the Maid and her friend are beginning to despair, they suddenly hear the peal of wedding bells from the sept, and the shrill notes of a fanfare. "We're saved!", they think. Finally, they will be able to escape and give the royals their surprise!
And then, seconds later, a grand entourage in green and gold, turning left at the corner, appears before their eyes and crosses their paths: a dashing young man in a shining breastplate, with a crown of golden antlers (or branches?) on his long raven locks, a beautiful maiden in a white bridal gown, with a crown of golden Reach roses on her long auburn tresses, to the left of him, and a young blond knight to the right of him.
"Renly!", Edric calls the royal bridegroom as they advance towards the entourage. "Jaime!", Brienne calls the name of the one she's been looking for as loud as she can. "My fair warrior!"
The royal procession comes closer... the knight next to the clean-shaven King is not Jaime! Indeed, the young man's hair is curly and a darker shade of blond, like older gold, while his eyes are more of a hazel colour. His armour is inlaid with gilt flowers.
"He's not Jaime... he does resemble Jaime to a certain point... but, anyway, he's young and dashing..." Brienne staggers and all she sees is clouded, then, utter darkness. Yet she can still hear voices in her unconscious state:
"Edric? Is that really you? Have you come all the way from Storm's End?"
The soldier with the gold flowers on his armour said, "There's a young man lying on the grass... Is he...?"
"No, in fact, my knight Brienne is still alive."
"Have you come to take part in the tourney? Let's loosen that breastplate a little. Loras, go to the nearest fountain and get a ewer full of water. We don't want any warriors to fight in disadvantage."
As King Renly Baratheon loosens the modest breastplate on the unconscious form's chest, he realizes that Brienne is not a young man at all.
"But... he is a..."
"What is she doing here?", Queen Margaery asks curiously.
In the meantime, the vaguely Jaime-like Ser Loras has returned with a golden pitcher full of water. Though he doesn't need to: Brienne has already come to. And she is as surprised as everyone around her is.
"All right, let's be honest, Your Grace. I am a young woman, but I'm not a lady."
And then, Brienne tells her whole story: her now distant childhood on Tarth, her relationship with Jaime Lannister, how he grew cold and disappeared, how she found Storm's End under siege and Edric at the stake... how she saved all of those innocents, and how she believed that the knight next to His Grace was her long lost friend. With twinkles in his wistful blue eyes, her liege lord replies:
"This is Ser Loras Tyrell, Knight of Flowers, my lady's brother and the Lord Commander of our Kingsguard. It pleases me to find fellow Stormlanders here, and a maiden who rather would wield a longsword than a needle. You should be as brave a warrior as you are clever, for you have fooled us all!"
"I will give all my bravery, Your Grace".
"We now know each other. You may call me Renly. This is my Queen Margaery, and I have already introduced Ser Loras to you. At the tourney, you will meet the rest of the Tyrell family. Come on, Edric!"
During the tourney, Brienne throws all of the Reacher knights, including Loras's older brother Garlan, off their steeds. Finally, she even confronts the King of the Reach and the Knight of Flowers, who have, both of them, to accept defeat. Now completely victorious and cheered upon by the crowds, Brienne is given a wreath of golden Highgarden roses and crowns Renly "Queen" of Love and Beauty. Ser Loras advances towards Renly and gives him a kiss on the right cheek, as he casts a piercing glare at the lady knight.
Against a beautiful, colourful sunset, the grand wedding feast takes place in the Highgarden godswood: an earthly paradise where lindens cast their shade into white fountains, dark green ivy lines the palace walls, and flowers of every bright colour give the whole scene a lovely rainbow air. The Three Singers, the graceful triplet weirwoods, entwine their branches and reflect themselves in a tranquil pool.
The elegant tables are set in the shade of a wisteria trellis. The bridegroom is obviously in the very best of spirits, feeling that all eyes are upon him, bowing, shaking hands, and smiling left and right as, his own hand in his bride's, they sail confidently down the path, to take their place at the head of the table, where the guests are already assembled.
In between the meat pies and the peaches in honey, before the wedding cake is served, as the first stars light up the night sky and Arbour red and gold wine of the Tyrells' choice vintage flow freely from the fountains, Brienne has made the acquaintance of the rest of the Tyrell clan, at whose table she is allowed to sit, next to Ser Loras himself. There's old Queen Olenna, the clever matriarch, an elderly dowager with a rapier wit. There's her son Lord Mace, father to Loras and his siblings, a merry good gentleman who reminds Brienne of her own father, but with a broader girth. And there's Alerie, Olenna's daughter-in-law, a real learned lady, both clever and beautiful (Brienne would like to have a mother like her), who presides over her husband and children. There are these four children: Willas, a clever young man who leans on crutches -his left leg shorter than the right since that riding accident-, learned and calm, truly his mother's son; Garlan, stalwart and gallant as the Warrior himself; the dashing Loras, whose armour is inlaid with gilt flowers, a handsome lad now sitting between her and the King; and the youngest child and only daughter Margaery, with nutbrown hair and eyes, slender as a lily and fair of face as a Reach rose, now Queen of both the Stormlands and her own birthplace. And there's Garlan's lovely wife, Leonette: a red-haired and green-eyed young lady with breasts like ripe peaches, the Maiden incarnate.
Within that circle, Brienne even thinks of herself as too modest and a little out of place. The distinguished courtiers look at her as stiff and lifeless as statues of wax, and the lackeys who serve at the table snicker behind her back, but at least the Tyrells and their Stormlands in-law, especially the latter, are well-spoken and indulge in entertaining conversation with her, as the Maid of Tarth tells the story of all that she has been through, from Jaime Lannister's arrival at Evenfall to this very feast.
The wedding cake, rising above all the lemoncakes, rosecakes, baked apples, and spicy honeycakes, is seven-tiered, decked in seven different kinds of sugarspun Reach flowers, with sugarspun lifelike figurines of the bride and groom to crown it all, filled with seven different fruit and edible flower preserves. Never has Brienne tasted anything so scrumptious before. Yet Renly washes his share down with a long draught of Arbour gold, having nearly choked upon learning of the siege of Storm's End.
There were sparkles of rage in the newlywed's eyes as he thought of his beleaguered birthplace. Indeed, the reserved and stern Stannis Baratheon had never been interesting in Renly's eyes... but that shy youth has now become an inflexible warrior king, determined to claim what he believes is rightfully his. The brothers have spent decades apart... What ever happened to Stannis on Dragonstone for him to become such an oppressor? For Renly Baratheon, this change means nothing good.
When the dessert is already finished, and the supper ended with a last drink of brandy, the ball is opened by the royal bride and groom. The older Tyrells, husband and wife, dance with each other. So do Garlan and his Leonette. And so do young Edric and fair Brienne. They waltz and twirl, holding their partners by the hand and letting the ladies follow their steps, graceful as falling linden leaves. Though one couple stands aside from all the others: the Maid of Tarth firmly leads Edric Storm as they dance, and he follows her steps.
When the first dance is over, couples are exchanged: Loras, whose armour is inlaid with gilt flowers, now dances with his sister, Leonette with her father-in-law, Edric with tall Alerie, and King Renly himself leads Brienne out to dance. The maiden's cheeks blush scarlet like ripe strawberries, so much that her freckles disappear, and she lets herself be led for once: he looks at her wistfully, and the blue eyes of both sparkle brightly. Never since Jaime left Tarth has she felt this helpless. "Can this really be love?", the blond maiden whispers to herself.
As the sound of dancing and the spiraling circles fill her consciousness, Renly comes out to the balcony with her, his own silk-gloved hands holding those of Brienne, clad in steel.
"How wonderful the stars are," he says to her, "and how wonderful is the power of love!"
"I know your heart belongs to another," she answers; "for my own heart is another's as well. Still, I cannot thank you enough for all of your kindness and the way you have treated me!"
The nearly full moon is now in the middle of the night sky, and the Tyrells and their courtiers are once more within the keep. Renly and Loras have led Brienne through a beautiful drawing-room lined with portraits of beautiful ladies and dashing lords, then through elegant halls, each one grander than the previous (First comes a hall with a floor of white marble, hung with tapestries of crimson silk, depicting battle scenes of Reach history in bright colours. Then a hall with a floor of pink marble, hung with paintings of such size and magnificence that the Maid would ordinarily have stopped to admire them, followed in turn by a third hall, which has a floor of black and white marble laid in squares like a chessboard, and which is hung with mirrors in gilded frames), into the bedchamber wing, where the Knight of Flowers has generously offered her his own room; he will stand guard himself in the chamber of his dear sister and her dashing spouse. He has said he can do no more. The Maid cannot find the right words to thank them.
The bedchamber itself is vast and elegant, filled with the scent of freshly-picked lavender and Highgarden roses, with a canopy bed of curtains thickly embroidered with gold and silver thread, a mirror that occupies a whole panel of the walls, a wardrobe twice or thrice as large as Brienne's own at Evenfall Hall, and a costly crystal glass chandelier on the ceiling. There is also a lovely ornate dressing table.
Loras has servants dress her in a fine negligée of crimson silk, its collar and sleeves lined with fine Myrish lace, and then, he pushes the bed-curtains back for the Maid to go to bed, before affably taking leave of her.
As Brienne wraps herself in the soft mint-green brocade sheets and draws the golden velvet bed-curtains, she thinks of the kindness she has encountered at court. That night, sweet dreams come to her: she is leaving Highgarden, leaving the Reach, she comes into an open field in more northern lands, a rider gallops towards her... it is Jaime, this time, no longer cold or detached, offering her his hand, and both of them riding away past holdfasts and cots. But it is all only a dream, and thus, it fades away as soon as she awakes.
The King of the Reach himself peeps in through her bed-curtains, his attendants bringing forth an armour of cobalt blue steel, inlaid with bluebells and forget-me-nots, with a knee-long cape of the same cool colour.
So she is dressed in this blue armour, that sparkles on her reflection in the mirror that covers a whole panel of the bedroom wall.
As for Edric, he has eaten supper and then slept with the army officers, having already enlisted in the ranks of the Reach.
For breakfast, there are spiced honey cakes and various fruit pies, served with clear lager and with mint tea. The maiden now sits to the left side of Queen Margaery, and the Lord Commander to the right side of King Renly Baratheon, both royals sitting on the thrones that have presided the banquet-hall table.
They talk about the invasion of Storm's End, and Brienne learns that the invaders' leader is also a Baratheon, one of Renly's older brothers, with whom he had broken ties long time ago. The vast army of the Reach has been already trained and prepared for the upcoming conflict.
The royals offer to have a notice about Jaime's whereabouts sent throughout the Seven Kingdoms, and detachments to carry on the inquiry Westeros-wide while the rest of the army is fighting the war.
Renly offers Brienne to enlist in his ranks and join them at the war front, where she could perform gallant feats, but she only asks for a horse, new weapons, and provisions to carry on her search for Jaime.
And thus, at the entrance of the briar maze, right before she crosses the garden gate, she beholds a white gelding, caparisoned in cobalt steel as well, with a green silk saddlecloth, on which the embroidered golden rose of Tyrell and stag of Baratheon shine brightly as stars.

From the saddlecloth hangs a fine longsword, with a ruby-eyed golden lion head for a pommel, in a finely ornate scabbard glittering with golden lions and rubies, aside from a fine mint-green silken bag, also embroidered with the Tyrell rose, containing a glass canteen full of summer wine (the same Arbour red that was served at the wedding feast) and a dozen journey-cakes.The rubies on the sword glitter like stars, and, when she draws steel, she sees that the blade is covered in black and scarlet ripples. Why would a Baratheon or Tyrell keep a Lannister sword, and one of costly Valyrian steel besides, in the first place?"'Tis a wedding gift from Lord Tywin himself," His Grace replies to Brienne's question. "Yet Loras and I have already got many fine swords, and besides, you are looking for the Lannisters' missing heir, or not?"Thanking her hosts sincerely, the Maid of Tarth fixes her new sword on her belt, having already thought of a name for it: Oathkeeper, since it will recall that she swore to find Jaime.

King Renly and Ser Loras help her get on her steed, embrace her, and wish her good luck. So do the rest of the royal family. Even Edric comes to say farewell, for he is going to war. The young bannerman looks like a child Renly in his breastplate and doublet. He has been given permission to be part of her escort, and thus, they shall have a little more time together.
"Farewell! Farewell!" say Loras and Renly, and Queen Margaery as well, drying up their tears into silken lace handkerchiefs. Looking back at Highgarden for every now and then, the maiden crosses the garden gates with the detachment she has been given for an escort. At the borders of the Reach, the other riders depart to join the army, as Brienne takes Edric in her arms and they kiss each other for maybe the last time.
"Farewell!", both say in tears, for maybe they wouldn't see each other anymore. Then, Edric departs with the rest of the riders, leaving Brienne on her own, riding up north. This is the saddest of all farewells for both of them.
Maybe Jaime has joined the Night's Watch to escape his father's expectations. So thinks Brienne now. If so, she is most likely to meet him at the icy Wall where the known world comes to an end. Surely taking the black means a celibate life married to the Watch he can never leave, but what matters to the Maid is that Jaime is safe and sound. And, after having a long talk with him about their adventures... surely the best option for her would be to turn southward away and fight under Renly's banner for a just cause; but now, finding Jaime comes first on the list.
So, she leads her steed into the Riverlands. At the first inn, she has to exchange that horse for a dun mare after having had breakfast and spent the night there, unaware that there are also scoundrels at that very tavern, and that she'd better be careful with the rarities she carries.