"You didn't have to do that, my lady." You apologetically look down at the dirt and use your boot to kick a stick into the burning fire. The gentle hum of the dark wilderness, filled with crickets and other creatures, surrounds you along with the crackling of the flames in front of you. You sneak a look across from you to see Brienne, her face illuminated by the bright hues of the fire, concentrating on the squirrel roasting in front of you. She grips the end of the pole and turns it, making sure every angle is even and crisp. She swallows a sigh and her deep blue eyes make contact with yours.
"They would have killed you." She nonchalantly replies as she grabs a heavy log from behind her and adds it to the fire.
"Yes, they most likely would have, but you don't have any allegiance or debt to me. You lost a great deal of money." Your eyes flicker behind you to see Podrick stepping on a stick, which made the loud snapping sound that distracted you. That snapping sound. That's how it all began.
You immediately have a flashback to a few hours earlier.
It was just around dusk when you were wondering through the woods looking for herbs. Since you work on the land, your workday ends as soon as the sun sets, and you didn't think it would have turned into such an affair. All you wanted was a bit of lavender. You love the taste, and the smell is even more delightful. You were heading past the land and into foreign fields, but knew you were close to the unclaimed gardens filled with lavender. It's a few miles past the woods, but you'll make it before it gets too dark if you hurry. The wind is strong as the breeze throws your hair back and forth from your face, and plays with your brown dress. You spread your arms out and touch the sheaves and blades of wheat as you throw your head back and take in the beautiful weather. The cool air from the night chills your skin as you slip through the fields and head towards the forrest. You can feel the difference in your boots from the soft bounce of the grain beneath you as the rough roots of trees begin to overtake your footing. Branches swoop everywhere, and the trees are practically giants in comparison to you. The sky is a beautiful purple-pink color, and you can see the beginning of bright stars forming along the already forming full moon.
You hop from tree to tree, practically skipping as the sky turns to a deep purple. It's already dark. You grab the trunk of a tree and set your head against it. Wow. What a beautiful day. These are the days your mother and father would tell you to cherish, breathe in deeply and take in every smell, ever sound you can. You smell the strong scent of pine mixed with a growing bit of smoke.
Smoke? Why would anyone be camping here? It's practically empty land besides the farm a few miles back.
Your curiosity gets the best of you as you decide to investigate further, and follow the scent of smoke as well as the faint sight of gray ash billowing in the north. You walk for about a mile and notice a camp set up with about 15 men. You would be more frightened, but it's dark enough to where they would only be able to see you if they were focusing on you, and they clearly are too busy. They have what looks like ale, and they are chugging it aggressively as they sing an odd sort of song about bears. Some are sitting on logs and laughing while others are starting fights and throwing punches at each other while those around them throw coins. A strong fire roars with two large deer on sticks roasting. You see a flag in the background but cannot make out the symbol in the darkness. You can barely see the men with the faint light the flames cast on the men, but you can see the glint in their swords and weapons from the fire.
Although you would love to know what these people are doing and who they are, you decide it would be too dangerous, especially for a young maiden alone, only twenty.
You turn to journey to find your lavender, but before you can take a second step, a branch beneath your foot breaks, sending a sharp, loud snap echoing through the camp. At this noise, a man on a log turn and looks towards your direction.
"Look, someone's here!" He says as two other men follow him to where you are hiding behind the trunk of a tree. You see the length of the shadows approaching your tree and you begin to panic.
You try to run but a man grabs your wrist and swings you around to face him. You release a high pitched scream as you look to see a very tall man in front of you, at least six and a half feet tall. His black beard is long and scruffy, and his hair comes down to his neck. His face is plastered with an aggravated expression as he practically drags you into the camp.
"Ser, we have a visitor." He announces as he brings you to a man that is supposedly in charge. He wears many furs and has brown hair with a sinister look. He has a beard, mustache, and thick eyebrows. A wicked grin comes upon his face at the sight of you. He eyes you up and down, taking in your every inch.
"Well, what a treat." He says as he walks towards you and places a dirty hand under your chin.
You immediately jerk your chin away and sneer at him.
"Not so fast, wench. You better be more grateful." He says as he places a hand around your neck and grips your throats tight, nearly cutting off your air.
You scream for help which earns you a heavy slap across your cheek.
"Shut it, bitch, or I'll kill you." He hisses, taking a dagger from his belt and putting it to your throat.
You swallow a gulp forming in your throat as a tear falls from your cheek. He smiles at this. He knows he has you.
"Now, if you don't mind, I would like to put you to use." He says as he takes off his furs and removes his belt. "You're a maiden, are you not?" He jeers with a wicked grin forming, and at this you kick him right where it hurts. The man holding your wrist behind you struggles as you begin to squirm in his grasp and you kick him in the shin. The men grapple for you, but you slip out of their grasps. You are practically free when one grabs your wrist and swings you to the dirt, the wind knocked out of you as you collide with the ground. You begin gasping for air when you hear the sound of metal scraping and see the glimmer of a sword in front of you.
"You're gonna pay for that, bitch. But first, we'll have a bit of fun." He challenges as he begins to unlace his pants and you hear the shouting and jeering of the men around you. They're laughing, laughing as he climbs atop you and smiles. You begin to scream, but cannot finish before he slaps you again, this time splitting your lip and filling your mouth with a familiar metallic taste of blood.
"Get off me! Get off!" You scream as he tries to rip your dress. The men have formed a circle around him and are cheering him on until you hear a faint sound of hooves. You hear a deep voice command, "Stop! Immediately! Stop!"
A tall figure dismounts from a horse and another follows. The men part to form an opening for the two new visitors when the blonde haired one pulls the man off of you.
"And what do you think you're doing?" A deep voice spat as the figure threw him to the side.
"What are you doing? These are my solders, this is my camp, and this is mine!" He points to you at the last word as you sit up, still covered in dirt, sitting on the ground.
"I belong to no one." You retort quickly as you stand up and dust the dirt from your arms.
"Who are you?" The man grumbles.
"I am Brienne of Tarth, and this is my squire, Podrick. And you are?"
"Selye. Soldier of House Bolton. We were merely taking what is ours." He finishes with a smile.
"Taking the locals as prizes now are we?" The voice demands as the figure protectively moves to stand in front of you.
"You tell me. She walked into our camp, she has no business here. Well, at least not until she made herself our business." He said with a sneer.
It is then that you notice the figure is a woman. She is tall and quite muscular, but her features have a softness to them. Her short blonde hair wavers in the cool breeze and her icy blue eyes look to you in a kind of reassurance.
"No worries, I shall take her off your hands." She stated as she began to lead you away.
"Well, no way! We were just about to have some fun! You cannot take her away! She's our property now!" He cursed.
"I am no property!" You quip before the woman hushes you.
"Well, I have a few gold coins I can give you for her." She replies and you hear a rattle of coins being taken from a pouch.
"Hmmmmm...How many?" The man asks with a smirk.
"5." The woman nonchalantly mutters.
"5?!? Why I wouldn't pay more than 3 for a bitch like that!" He retorts with a laugh.
"So you'll take it?"
"Well, she did injure some of my men and gave me a swift kick in the groin, so I'm not sure I even want to sell her. I might just take her for myself and have my luck with her." He growled as he began to approach the Brienne and looked at me.
"Well, if you would like to end this, I suggest you take the offer. Or, I could fight you?" She offers and unsheathed her sword.
He takes in the scene before him and makes a decision.
"Fine, I'll take the coins, the bitch isn't worth it if you ask me. She may be a fine maiden, but she's a nasty bitch." He barked as he spit in your face. You screamed in anger as Podrick held you back from retaliating while Brienne gave him his payment. The men laughed and shouted names at you as you were carried away.
"Do not listen to them, they are little shits." She said as she walked you away. She noticed the tears streaming down your cheeks. She leads you to the horse and hoists you up. She sits behind you on the saddle as she grabs the reins.
"What is your name?"
"I am Katherine."
"I am Brienne of Tarth. You will be with us now." She says as she leads the horse away from the camp. You hear the laughter and yelling slowly disappear as you ride further in the distance.
"You do not even know me. I am not of wealth or power. I cannot fight well. Why did you help me? I have no money to pay you." You stammered, your eyes filling with tears from confusion.
"I do not wish for money or power. That is not why I helped you. I heard you screaming. I heard the men laughing and taunting you. I knew if I did not assist you then you would have been left to die..." she announced.
"You did it out of kindness and honor? You knew they would have taken me, did you not?"
She merely looked into the fire at your question, which was an answer in itself. You stand up from where you sit and walk to sit next to her. She has already taken off her armor, and she shifts so you have room to sit next to her. You sit down and lean into her as you rest your head against her shoulder.
"My lady, I cannot thank you enough." You whisper as you wrap your arms around her thick waist.
"I am no lady." She replies quickly as her breath hitches from the contact.
You look back in surprise.
"You're betrothed? Married? You've lost your maidenhood?" You question with a smile.
"Nonsense. I am a maiden, I am no lady though." She says with a smile as she looks down at you.
"So you are like me... looking for someone to take you away and protect you?" You quip as you give her waist another squeeze.
"Never, I will do the protecting and will not let a man distract me." She says with a chuckle.
"Well, I can see you will be good at protecting, but you do not wish for a man regardless?"
"No, not quite."
At this, she looks down at you with a face full of seriousness and focus.
"Well, since you are not looking for a man..." you begin to say as you once again give her waist a gentle squeeze and look into her eyes with an expression of understanding.
At this she takes you into her arms and gives you a kiss. The first kiss is chaste, thoughtful. It is your first kiss, and well worth it. It soon turns into a frenzy. They are hungry kisses, threatening to kill as you are both yearning for each other. Soon you are both gasping for breath as you look at each other with admiration and happiness.
"What are you thinking?" You murmur as you catch your breath.
"I think... that was the best 5 gold coins I have ever spent." She says with a laugh.
"I belong to-"
"I know, you belong to no one." She finishes with a chuckle.
"Wrong."
At this her eyes widen and eyebrows furrow in confusion.
"I belong to you."
She smiles and grabs your face as she takes you in for another kiss.
"Well, my lady, we better get some rest before tomorrow. We have a long journey ahead of us."
"I do not care, as long as I am with you."
She wraps an arm around your waist as you snuggle up against her, your back completely covers by her entire body. You can feel her smiling in your hair, and you turn your head to give her one last kiss on the lips.
"Goodnight, my knight."
"Goodnight, my lady."
