Brienne clutches the letter. When Sansa handed it to her that morning, Brienne was glad she waited until after the war council to peak at it, or else her thoughts would have been elsewhere. Daenerys Targaryen, Tyrion Lannister, and the rest of her followers depart for King’s Landing the next morning, and as it was, Brienne was already elsewhere before she glanced at the envelope and saw the sigil engraved on the sealing wax. As lovers do, (she thinks in this brief gap of time they’ve been lovers) when one is struggling, the other takes part of their struggle whether it can mitigate part of the pain or not. When Jaime told her his plan that morning, his hand shook so much as he fastened on the golden hand that Brienne rose to help him. He sighed deeply, looking at their feet and all she wanted was to take all his struggles away, and if it had to be, if someone had to feel them, she hoped it would be her.
Hours after, hidden away in the furthest corner of the great hall, she clutches her father’s letter and her heartbeat thumps.