Hi @beesreadbooks Here we have another one, Meeting in a train ride. It’s set during an indeterminate period of time, vaguely regency/victorian, and it’s definitely not a short prompt. I hope you like it anyway.
Brienne rushed through the station, one hand clutching the crumpled letter of reference in her hand the other tight around the handle of her suitcase, as the whistle announcing the departure of the train echoed inside the crowded platform. She dodged people moving away from the train, entire families who had come to say goodbye to a loved one and were now in her way as she ran for the train.
All the good references in the world would be of no help if she missed the train.
She made it by the skin of her teeth, climbing on board just as a cloud of vapour was released and the machine started chugging along. She took a deep breath, calming her galloping heart, and rested against the wall of the carriage as they departed, leaving King's Landing behind.
She wasn't sad to leave the city, King's Landing had proven to be too big and too noisy and too crowded for Brienne, but she would miss the people. She had enjoyed her time as a governess for Lord and Lady Stark's children, would have stayed with them longer but they were going back to Winterfell, where Brienne wasn't really needed anymore. Still, they had asked her to go with them. Winterfell was too far and too cold, though, and Lord Stark had mentioned some bachelors of his acquaintance he wanted to introduce to Brienne.
She already knew how that always turned out and would rather spare him the disappointment and herself the humiliation.
"I understand, the north is not for everyone," Cat had said with that soft smile that always made Brienne miss her mother, Sansa hugging her tight enough that Brienne felt her throat closing. She had been lucky to end up with the Starks when she moved to the capital, the spinster daughter of a minor lord who had been driven from her own home by a distant relative as she was grieving her father, friendless and almost penniless, and too ugly to marry. "Don't be a stranger, you'll always be welcome with us."
Cat had been the one who found her a new position and wrote the letter of recommendation. "Lord Lannister served with Ned in the army, he's just resigned his commission to take over the Lannister estate. He's adopted his sister's children after she passed away last month, he's going to need all the help he can get." There wasn't a Lady Lannister to share the responsibilities him, which was why he had eagerly hired Brienne just on Cat's recommendation and requested that she came as soon as possible. "He can be difficult, the Seven knows Ned used to hate him when they were both just privates. He changed, though he's still arrogant as only a Lannister can be." Brienne must have looked doubtful at that. "Don't worry, I know you will be good for them."
"I am," Cat had reassured her. She had also insisted that Brienne took a cabin on the train to Lannisport, not a just a seat. "It's a two-day journey, Brienne, we can afford for you to be comfortable."
She was now grateful for it, as all the seats were already taken and they looked hard and small.
Brienne moved down the carriages until she found the one marked in her ticket, and couldn't help the flush of pleasure and embarrassment to see Cat had paid for a first-class cabin for her.
She could sleep comfortably tonight, no need to worry about fitting her big frame on a normal-sized one.
The cabin wasn't empty when she opened the door, though. Sitting on the bench were two small children, their golden heads bent together and giggling with the mischief only small children could. They looked up when Brienne entered, their laughter stopping abruptly. A boy and girl, he couldn't be older than six and she was younger, both dressed in what looked like very fine clothes, obviously siblings, with huge green eyes and golden curls and the prettiest faces Brienne had seen. She double-checked that she was in the right place, and looked at the long corridor. All the doors were closed, and there was nobody around.
"Hello," Brienne said, entering the cabin and letting her suitcase on the floor. They didn't appear to be in distress, so they probably weren't lost, though they were too young to be on their own.
"Hello," the girl said, smiling at her brightly. The boy didn't say anything, just stared at Brienne with narrowed eyes.
Brienne crouched down, she knew she was tall and it was intimidating for children so young. "I'm Brienne, what are your names?"
"I'm Myri, he's Joff," the girl said still with the same smile.
"Shh, don't," the boy, Joff, said. He grabbed the girl's hand and pulled her closer to him. Brienne smiled at the protective gesture with a sting of the old hurt thinking about her own brother.
"I'm not going to hurt you," she said, keeping her tone calm and reassuring. "This is my cabin, are you in a cabin like this with your parents?"
Joff shook his head, still with the same mistrustful expression on his face. His sister was much more open. "Our uncle."
"Does he know you're here?" Another shake of Joff's head. "He must be worried about you if he doesn't know where you are."
"He's asleep," Miry said with a giggle. "We're hiding." Brienne had to bite her lips to keep herself from smiling at the pure delight in her voice, there would be a very worried uncle if he woke up without the children around.
"He's always with Tommen or sleeping," Joff said, judgement clear in his high pitched voice. "He's not fun anymore."
Before Brienne could ask who was Tommen and which cabin they were in, a voice called loudly from outside. "Joffrey! Myrcella! Where are you?" The children looked at each other and giggled together. "This is not funny! Joffrey! Myrcella!"
There was a thread of panic in the voice that had Brienne unfolding from her crouch to open the door. In the corridor and advancing in Brienne's direction was a man who was obviously related to the children. He was stunningly attractive, with the same golden curls and green eyes, though his were dulled with pain and exhaustion, dark bags under them, and sharp features that looked almost gaunt. He had a baby in his arms, Tommen Brienne imagined, probably the reason he looked like he needed two solid days of uninterrupted sleep and a few warm meals.
"They're here," she said, and his eyes sharpened on her. He crossed the space separating them in fast strides, his bearing martial and focused. He looked her over as he stalked in her direction, not liking what he saw if the furrow in his brow and the thin line of his mouth were any indication. Brienne was undaunted. "This is my cabin, they said they were playing hide and seek?"
He sagged at that, all the menace in his posture replaced by weariness, clearly aware that the children had been playing a trick on him. The baby chose that moment to start fussing, taking his attention from Brienne for a second and the man swallowed loudly, taking a pacifier from somewhere in his person and giving it to the child. Now that he knew there was no danger he appeared even more tired. "I'm sorry they have inconvenienced you," he said and followed her into the cabin. He stood there, hesitating, looking between the children on the seat and the babe in his arms. He looked like he wanted to hug them to his chest and at the same time throttle them for scaring him. He settled for a big sigh. "Come on, we need to go back to our own cabin and let the lady her own."
The children pouted. "You're just going to sleep again," Joff said as if that was the worst sin, the man clenched his jaw in obvious frustration. "I want to play."
"Joff, when we get home--" he began, and Joff pressed his lips together, gearing up for a tantrum.
Brienne wouldn't know what it was that made her speak, but she could see he had been scared for the children and that he was overwhelmed with all three of them, and that if Joff started crying the other ones wouldn't be too far behind. "It's no inconvenience, they can stay with me and play for a while." He opened his mouth, his reticence as obvious as his need for some sleep. "I'm used to children. I'm a governess, I have books and games and they will keep me from getting bored myself. We're not going anywhere, this is a long trip, Mister…?"
"Jaime, my name is Jaime," he said, exhaustion clearly having won the battle.
"My name is Brienne Tarth." She offered her hand and he took it with a puzzled expression on his face. His hand was warm and calloused, and he held onto Brienne's for longer than what considered appropriate, his thumb moving absently over skin. Brienne flushed deep red and would have snatched her hand if it didn't look like he wasn't aware of his actions.
"Why does the same sound familiar?" he mumbled, taking his hand away and rubbing tiredly at his face. "They can stay for a while?"
"Yes, and you can go back to your cabin or take that cot over there if it would make it easier to be in the same room," Brienne pointed at the empty cot on the other side of the cabin. He looked like he was about to protest some more, though his eyes were almost closing of their own accord, "but you should lie down before you fall."
"It would be inappropriate, Miss Brienne," he protested, blinking rapidly at her to keep his eyes opened. She almost laughed, nobody would think anything untoward had happened between a man that attractive and Brienne the Beauty, even if there weren't three children with them.
He didn't look like he was joking, though, or like he thought is a ridiculous prospect.
"Your children are with us," Brienne reassured him and he nodded slowly, she turned at an insistent tug on her sleeve to see Myrcella looking at her with wide and eager eyes. "Yes, Myrcella?"
She was rewarded with a toothy grin. "You'll read to me?"
"If your uncle agrees." Jaime had lost the fight with his own exhaustion and was now curled on the cot, Tommen pressed against his chest and arms surrounding the babe protectively. His brow was still furrowed, though his eyes were now closed and his breathing was evening out. "Sit there and let me get a book," she said to the children, lowering her voice.
"I want to play," Joffrey said, the pout still firmly on his face. She had the feeling he had been very spoiled up till now and was not used to being ignored.
"We'll play after we read the book," Brienne said, not giving him an option and Joffrey nodded, satisfied with that promise.
She grabbed her favourite one from her suitcase and sat between Joffrey and Myrcella to read, her voice lilting in the beloved phrases and images, eyes lifting to look at the sleeping man in her cot from time to time. Like this, with him sleeping in her cot and the babe in his arms, the children sitting by her side hanging to her every word, they would look to anyone as a family and Brienne felt the usual burn of pure longing for a family of her own.
Maybe that was what had prompted to offer her help to them, maybe it had been the children's smiles and innocence, or the look on Jaime's face when he had seen them, unharmed, the sheer relief in his eyes. Brienne didn't know, and didn't know why the children had trusted her on sight and why she felt so comfortable with them, and their uncle, but she knew grief and loss, and this family seemed to have gone through their share of it.
The same as the Starks had helped her when she had most needed it, she could help this family until they got to Lannisport.
And if she was very lucky, she would be able to help the Lannister's just as much.
