Northern lights

84. Eastwatch

Rosalie Tyrell

There had once been a beating heart with the naivety of a child lodged under her ribs, looking to do the right thing. That heart had been cut with betrayal, broken by the losses and weakened by all the lies and empty promises. 

It beat still, against its will, despite the weight it carried now. Somehow it beat faster, with more purpose, with a fervor Rosalie thought had escaped her years ago - when Robb had left her lonely, in pain, lost as she saw the ending of their story was tragedy, despair. 

She blamed herself for the way he died, for losing Sansa in King's Landing, for her brother and sister being taken by The Sparrow, for her family dying....for her grandmother and Dickon especially. After walking away from Jaime, she saw no happiness in her future - she was meant to be alone while everyone else found the kind of love she once let slip through her fingers.

Honorable Rosalie who kept her vows in order to be just and fair died, there was revenge running through her veins in her blood. She wouldn't let her chance of love be taken again and she certainly won't allow those who have ruined her in the past to walk freely.

Rosalie had no more mercy or sympathy for her enemies, she had turned to stone. 

"It's nearly time", Robb's arm wraps around her waist, pulling her closer to his chest. His lips brush her ear, making her close her tired eyes. She leans on him, trusting him fully. Perhaps she should be more careful, but there are few she would trust with her life left - Robb is one of them. 

"I", she pauses, a wrinkle forms with her brows furrowing. "I don't want us to part." Swallowing thickly, she rests her hand on his arm keeping them close. "It never worked well for us in the past."

"I wish you would go North with me." He sighs, his grip growing tighter. "You know I have to help Jon and my people. Why can't you let it go?"

Opening her eyes, Rosalie huffs. Turning in his embrace, her eyes no longer possess the softness she would look up at him in the past. There is a sharpness of an unforgiving blade named revenge and he knows he's powerless against it. 

"You need to get us a living skeleton to convince Cersei to join the war against the Night King, but how would we get a chance to present it to her without convincing her to not kill us at first sight?"

"Tyrion is already going." Robb argues.

"He killed his father when Jaime released him last time. He will not be looked upon kindly." Rosalie reminds him. Just because she's hurt by Jaime, she still struggles to accept he's a villain in her story. It's suffocating thinking about it; about him. 

"And it must be you?" Robb exhales loudly, dropping his gaze. "Of all the people in seven kingdoms, it must be you?"

Tilting his chin up, Rosalie stands on her tiptoes and presses her lips on his bottom one tenderly. It's enough to keep his eyes on her, enough for him to swallow his pride and beg. 

"I'm pleading with you, don't go to him."

Inhaling sharply, Rosalie takes a step back, out of his embrace. Biting her lower lip, she shakes her head. "I'm not going to sleep with him, I just need to convince him we can be trusted."

"And if he decides to be the same brute he was in Winterfell when he had pinned you against a wall?" Robb snaps, making Rosalie flinch. "Because that is who I remember Jaime Lannister is. That is the kind of man he truly is and I do not know what magic he used to make you believe otherwise, but he is not to be trusted!" 

Swallowing thickly, Rosalie looks away. Robb's made a proper argument she cannot contest, but she had to do this. It's too much pressure to put on herself, but she's too stubborn to back down and there is no chance she would fail. If anything, she had learned how to manipulate Jaime into doing what she wants.