CHAPTER 7 | AN INNOCENT MAN

THEY were walking down the side of a hill, where the grass lay thick. Laila felt the long strands tickle her calves as they trudged through it. Upon hearing a horse neigh, she looked up, spotting a man guiding a horse with a stack of hay walking the opposite way of them. She stopped their movement, and Jaime almost crashed into her again. She felt her palms grow sweaty as the man locked eyes with her.

The man lofted a brow at the three. "Where are you headed, then?"

"South," Laila replied. She tried her best to hide the worry in her voice. "And you, Ser?"

"Riverrun," he answered quickly. "Staying off the Kingsroad, are you? They get you no matter where you go. You can't win."

Jaime laughed. "No, you really can't."

"Looks like you're safe enough, though. Being guided by two ladies." The man then looked to Brienne. "Meaning no offense, my Lady, but I wouldn't tangle with you."

Brienne didn't respond. Neither did Laila. She felt odd about the encounter.

"Seven blessings to you!" The man bid them.

"And you," Brienne nodded her head curtly, and they watched him leave. As he stumbled down the hill, Laila noticed him trying to stare all the way. She blinked a few times in confusion.

Jaime whispered, "He knows who I am."

"He doesn't." Brienne disagreed.

"Maybe you're right," he mumbled, "but what if you're not? What if he tells someone?"

Laila turned to view at the two. "He's right. Something's wrong." She looked over her shoulder at the man already far enough away. "He knows who Jaime is. I know it."

When her eyes met Brienne's again, the lady knight furrowed her brow. "No," she shook her head. "I know what you're thinking, Laila, and we're not doing it."

"It's better to prevent a disaster from happening now then later." Laila tried to reason. "He knows something. You need to kill him."

Brienne looked to Jaime, who was nodding his head in agreement. She sighed, but still replied, "He's an innocent man." She gestured with her chin to move. "Walk."

"More innocent than Lady Stark's daughters?" Jaime asked in a soft tone.

Brienne didn't care to answer. She pushed him forward again.

•••

Jaime suggested they make camp for the night near the clearing beside a river. It was the first time that Laila and Brienne took one of his suggestions into account.

The sun had already set, leaving a dark purple stretching across the sky. Laila saw no stars. Brienne slumped her body against a tree, but not before she tied Jaime to a tree by his chain. She still had Laila keep watch, but told her to wake her up once she needed sleep. Laila needed to stop being so offering, because she had never been so sleep-deprived in her life. The bags under her eyes were probably atrocious.

She made a small fire in the middle of them for warmth. Laila put her knees to her chest and watched the flames lick at the edges of the stones she placed in a circle around it. She rested her chin on her knees, wondering how her life got to this point. She shouldn't have accepted this task. All she had been since the first day was fearful. What purpose did she have towards this? Lady Stark's trust? Probably. While Laila knew that Catelyn most likely trusted Brienne a lot – which was why she tasked her with this as well – she did trust Laila more, who had been with her for more than ten years. But what was Laila to do exactly? Make sure everything went in order? She didn't quite know, but it wasn't like she could say no to her lady.

Laila held her secret dagger in front of her, placing in between each hand. "Where did you get such a thing?" She heard from a spot beside her.

She looked up, realizing Jaime had asked. Laila had to admit, it was pretty hilarious to see him tied to the tree. She held up the dagger. "This?" He nodded at her question. "My father. He said it was passed down in the family for generations." She twirled the dagger around. "I don't really know how to use it, though. Yesterday was the first time ever."

Jaime nodded, leaving an odd silence hanging in the air. Laila sighed, looking up again and noticing that his eyes met hers. She stuck the dagger back in her cloak. She glanced to Brienne's sleeping form before asking, "What you said earlier –" she used her hands to explain "– the whole, 'We don't get to choose who we love,' bit. I really didn't know what you meant."

"Really?" Jaime lifted his brow. "I thought I made it plainly obvious."

"I have a theory." Laila paused, collecting her thoughts. "Well, I shouldn't say theory. It's practically confirmed. Lady Stark never told me directly, but I know the real reason Bran Stark fell from that tower." Her eyes went dark from the light of the fire. "And you do too."

Jaime nodded with a frown. He didn't like thinking of that day. "Indeed," he replied.

Laila stared at him with narrowed eyes. She saw the regret flash across his face. She thought he never regretted anything.

"Let me ask you something." Jaime said after a brief moment of silence. "When and who was your first ever kiss? Assuming you've had one."

Laila scoffed, "Of course, I've had my first kiss." She bit her lip at the fond memory. "It was when my father and I first came to Winterfell. I was seventeen. It was with the blacksmith's son." She ran a hand through her hair. "He was a year older than me. Tall; long black hair; russet, smooth skin. I was so happy when it happened."

Jaime grew confused as her face twisted. She continued, "But then after, he ... refused to speak with me. He acted like I was nothing; like I didn't exist. Turns out he didn't know I was Lady Stark's handmaiden until then, and somehow felt himself to be better than me. I guess there's a class system for commoners too, but if we're being honest, I would have been much higher class than him if the Ryswells hadn't thought so less of my family and I." She glanced up and sighed. "I'm sorry. I tend to ramble."

"That's fine," Jaime said, and then paused. He stared at the fire, watching the sparks float into the air. The flames crackled and he cleared his throat. "My twin sister was my first kiss. It happened when we were nine."

Laila and Jaime's eyes connected. She sat back on a tree behind her. Jaime didn't say anything, and she guessed he was waiting for her to say something. She didn't know what to say though. Why was Jaime Lannister making a confession to her – a handmaiden? Did he think the rumors would cease once he told Laila Ryswell? She didn't think so.

"It all started when we were children. Cersei says it was because we were predestined for each other." Jaime's vision went back to the fire, but he still felt Laila's gaze on him and only him. "As children, we would creep into each other's beds and sleep with our arms entwined. Long before we had grown, we saw mares and stallions in the fields and dogs and bitches in the kennels fucking each other, and then we began playing at doing the same." He almost laughed, which Laila felt odd. "I remember once my mother's maid had caught us at it. I don't recall what we had been doing exactly – and it's probably better that I don't know – but whatever it was had horrified our mother. She sent her maid away, moved my bedchamber to the other side of Casterly Rock, set a guard outside Cersei's, and told us that we must never do that again. If we did, she said she'd have no choice but to tell our father. But it was not long after that she died giving birth to my halfman brother. It has been going on ever since."

Laila's stare left his. She looked off to the side, and into the darkness of the woods around them. She suddenly felt cold. "Why are you telling me this?" She then asked.

Jaime shrugged, as if it wasn't that big of a deal. "Someone had to know."

Laila nodded. They shared one last glance before she stood and stomped her foot into the dying fire. It was crushed in that moment, and they were left in a sea of blackness. Her eyes stayed wide open, but she still muttered, "Goodnight, Jaime."

•••

A/N: Just wanted to let everyone know that the whole paragraph of Jaime talking about Cersei is basically taken from his third chapter in a Storm of Swords. I changed words around, but it still isn't my idea!