Game of Thrones: Frozen Fire

Truths

"Jaime will try to teach you something," Dany replied coldly before tearing her eyes away.

Perhaps she couldn't blame him, but that did not mean she had lost her hate for the blood that ran through his veins. She could not have him near without the wishes of screaming at him. And she knew Jaime Lannister well enough to know he wouldn't go easy on the boys.

Arya frowned. "You can't do that! He is a Lannister. How can you trust him?"

Dany met those wolf eyes with a steely gaze. "How can I not when he defended Winterfell while I was giving birth to the heir of the North and the Seven Kingdoms?" Both girls looked at each other with fire in their eyes, anger but also fear buried deep inside; they were so much alike. "He owes me and now he is paying his debt. Besides, he wouldn't dare to do anything with my dragons and Grey Wind watching."

"He better."

"Do I really need to learn to fight?" Hot Pie asked. "I'm much better at preparing food than at holding a sword."

"And at eating it too," Jaime interrupted, accompanying his words with a rather forceful slap to the boy's head. "You need it, Maggot Pie." The boy glared at him but Jaime seemed unaffected by it. "Now hurry up before I lose my good humor and use you as targets."

Both Gendry and Hot Pie looked at him with blank stares, as if they were expecting something or not really believing him and his threats. In reality, Jaime Lannister looked scarier now that he only had one hand; the grueling training he had done to master the art of fighting one-handed had made him look tougher and less like the careless knight Dany had met once upon a time.

"Now!" Jaime shouted and both boys scrambled to their feet, even if Gendry looked a bit upset about it.

"Kingslayer," Dany warned.

"Stop looking at them as if they were just boys. Waters is almost the same age as your husband and the other… Ser Barristan was fighting tournaments at his age." He smirked. "You're soft, and you better not be, Your Grace."

"You confuse weakness and compassion."

"They are the same," Jaime replied, his hand on the handle of his sheathed sword.

"No. Weakness is your sister's thirst for power, her fear to be defeated. Compassion is what is making people love me and Robb, what makes them want to join us." Dany stood up, smoothing her skirts. She felt quite happy to leave a speechless Jaime behind. "Follow me, Arya. We have many things to learn today. Don't we, Young Lion?"

"Don't try your luck."

She grinned. "Why not? Am I not who your family is afraid of? Is not Robb the reason your nephew cannot sleep at night? Believe me, I am grateful for your services but that doesn't erase your family's disrespect and dishonor." She squared her shoulders. "I try my luck every day you are here, every time I take a step in Westeros. One word will not cost me more than it has already had."

She had already taken a few steps away when she heard him say, "Maybe the unspoken words are the most dangerous ones, Your Grace. Secrets are usually what cost more. I should know."

For the rest of the afternoon those words swam in her head, making her clumsy while practicing with Dacey and Ser Barristan.

What had he meant with that? She knew then that Jaime had learnt something she ignored and that was driving her mad.

-o-

When she asked for Robb to his squire, he nervously replied that he was having a talk with the Kingslayer and politely advised her not to interrupt. It was all she needed to know that said talk was more like a quarrel and that something must have been done to trigger such reaction in her Wolf .