Jaime strained against his bonds but even with two hands it had been difficult. Now, with one hand and weak from loss of blood, it was useless.
He knew that while he had convinced them to leave Brienne unharmed last time, this time Locke would just completely ignore him.... A bleeding man with no right hand, covered in mud and his own blood, his severed hand tied around his neck.
"You really think that will sway me?" Locke inquired, crouching in front of Jaime in a teasing manner. "What will you offer this time? Your other hand?"
Jaime could barely keep his head up, but he glared daggers at the man. "You're testing your luck."
Locke hooted with laughter before standing up, "You've really fallen from your high and mighty position haven't you Kingslayer? Last night you were so brave and full of witty comments. Would it be safe to assume that with the loss of a limp comes the loss of sarcasm?"
Jaime gritted his teeth, forcing himself to not say anything for he knew it would only make things worse. Locke opened his mouth to taunt Jaime further when something caught his attention. The light of the fire seemed to dim and when he looked at it, he saw that the flames had indeed gone down so that they barely gave any light.
"Relight the fire," he ordered one of the men.
The man rushed over and seeing that there was still plenty of wood on the fire, was about to bring it up to Locke but thought better of it and threw another log onto the fire. For a split second it relit but then it went down again.
Locke snapped his head in the soldier's direction, "Don't use a wet log idiot!"
The soldier shook his head, "The firewood is as dry as paper sir... it just... stopped burning."
Locke grunted in annoyance and grabbing a nearby log, approached the fire. He was just about to throw it in when he jumped back in shock for the log in his hands had suddenly burst into flames!
"What is going on!?" one of the soldiers asked in horror.
All eyes landed back on the fire, only to see something that made their blood boil. A small lick of flame seemed to move itself out of the campfire before leaping across the soiled earth. It was not the fact that the flame was moving itself that surprised the men, nor the fact that the flame was still burning on soil where there was nothing to keep it burning.... But rather the shape that it began to take.
The lick of flame's shape began to change and for a moment it looked like a dog of some sort with a longer tail.... Until it grew in length till it was about a foot long and spreading from its sides were what looked like a pair of wings.... a dragon!
The flaming dragon did not stop moving as it bounded around the clearing, purposely running along the edge of the clearing, lighting a long stripe of earth on fire so that the whole camp was surrounded by a ring of fire. The campfire was now blazing much stronger than it should have, and the small fire dragon had disappeared but none of the men really cared for their eyes had landed on the first human figure that had appeared that night.
The figure slowly strode toward the camp before walking clear through the ring of fire, not even registering the heat and the person's clothes not catching on fire. No one present could really make out much of the person's attire. The person was garbed all in black and while the cloak the person wore concealed a great deal of their outfit, those present could make out the slender legs, slim waist and shape of a woman's bosom.
"Well, well," Locke smirked, his confidence returning, "What do we have here? Let's see, are you by any chance the giant woman's little sister? Or better yet, the Kingslayer's lover? Can't quite decide since your face is all covered up."
Jaime and Brienne exchanged looks, knowing full well that the stranger wasn't either, but they were just as clueless as the Boltons and Locke.
A soft rumbling chuckle erupted from the stranger's chest before she spoke, her voice purposely toned deep so as to disguise her voice but even though it was a girl trying to sound like a man, her voice came out surprisingly venomous, rough and deep.
"I am neither," she replied.
While she had been talking, Locke had given two of his men a look indicating that he wanted them to pounce on the stranger. However, Evelyn saw the look and smirked inwardly at Locke's assumption that she wouldn't notice it.
The two men came at Evelyn from the left and the right. the first man who was closest to her fell just when his hand was about to grab his sword. All eyes locked on the fallen man to see a long black arrow protruding from his chest. They all looked back at the girl to see that she had loaded an arrow onto her bow and drawn within a manner of a few seconds, so fast that they hadn't seen it happen. Now, her bow was not loaded, and the second soldier was almost upon her.
Jaime bit his lip. The stranger was trying to help them but was going to end up getting killed in the process. However, Brienne noticed something that Jaime did not.... Something only a woman would recognize. It was harder for men to distinguish the build of a woman through a woman's clothes because for men, if a man was muscular, it was quite obvious compared to a man who was not strongly built. For a woman though, a woman could be at the peak of her strength, very fit with iron muscles but a man couldn't tell because women do not have the obvious muscle display that strong men do.
Brienne saw it though... the difference. As a woman, Brienne knew how her body was different compared to a woman like Margaery Tyrell who was not built strongly but rather delicate and elegantly. This stranger standing before them was petite for her age and from the size of her bosom, the length of her arms and legs and the shape of her hips and thighs, Brienne could easily tell that this woman was not a child but rather a petite woman in her early adulthood, no older than twenty-five. With that said, Brienne hadn't failed to notice the way the stranger's body moved or her muscles tensed when she drew back her bow and shot. It was very indistinct, but Brienne noticed it. This girl was not built like the delicate, elegant women that Brienne encountered all the time, nor was she strongly built in the same ways as Brienne... Brienne's arms and legs were her strongest suit and while this stranger had obvious arm and leg strength, the main strength of her body was her core.
That was why Brienne saw what Jaime thought couldn't happen.... The slight tweak of the stranger's muscles as the girl prepared to bring her leg around. The Bolton soldier was not prepared when his legs suddenly shot out from underneath him but instead of just letting the man fall back onto the ground, the stranger moved.
As agile as a deer, the stranger did a somersault into the air, over the still falling body of the Bolton soldier and when she landed, she was right where his body was preparing to land on the ground. His head was inches from the ground when her hand reached down and cupping the nape of his neck in her hand, lifting his whole body back up with one hand before slamming him down face first onto the ground.
Brienne heard Jaime make an inhuman sound between a gasp and a snort of laughter and when she looked at him, she saw the slightest twitch of a smile... the first she had seen in days. The stranger evidently amused him.
After making sure that the Bolton soldier got the hint, Evelyn rose to her feet and as she did, Ace flew down from where he had been perched in the trees watching the show only to land on the girl's shoulder.
"As the man said a moment ago," she growled. "You are testing your luck."
Locke felt a shiver run down his spine. This woman was dangerous, but he wasn't about to let his prisoners go.
"What do you want?" he hissed.
The girl tilted her head as if thinking but when she placed her hands on her hips, Locke knew that she was giving him the look of 'you are really thick in the head'.
"You're easier to read than a book," the girl grunted in her fake deep voice. "You do not wish to give up your prisoners but that is not why I am here. I am here to make sure that you safely get these prisoners to Harrenhal.... In one piece."
"Too late," Locke snickered. "One of them is in two pieces."
Evelyn's eyes flitted over to Jaime whom she could now see clearly. Covered in mud, sweat and blood, he was almost unrecognizable, but Evelyn could see it.... his firm jaw.... Sharp lips.... Bright blue eyes.... it was the same Jaime who said goodbye to her in King's Landing almost two years ago.
"I was not talking about the physical body idiot," Evelyn pointed out.
Striding past Locke, Evelyn approached the two prisoners. The Boltons all looked at Locke, waiting for him to tell them to pounce on the girl while her back was to them, but the moment Locke even moved a finger, Ace turned his head 180 degrees to give the man a pointed look with his big owl eyes.
"You really don't learn the first time," Evelyn said, not looking back at him. "Do you really think I would walk into your camp alone without first thinking of my chances?"
"How do you know your chances?" one of the soldiers sneered. "There are ten of us and one of you."
"Correction," Evelyn said lazily. "The two motionless bodies by the campfire prove that there are only eight of you. But besides that, I rather like my chances."
Locke opened his mouth to speak but Evelyn looked at him over her shoulder. "And I'm not alone."
The Bolton soldiers did not know where it came from, but a deep guttural growl seemed to erupt from the girl's throat and for a moment, they thought it was the sound of a bear.... But then it sounded like a cat almost.... And soon they found themselves thinking it was a reptile of some sort.
Before they could try to identify the growl further, a black shape appeared behind Evelyn and the men all took two steps back at the sight of the large horse.
"Chance," Evelyn said calmly to the horse, "Keep an eye on them."
When the horse turned his piercing eyes on the Bolton's, the men all shivered. Not once had they ever been afraid of a horse before, but this beast was menacing and the way he seemed to look at all of them even without meeting their gaze was like a thousand eyed serpent.
While Chance had the men under control, Evelyn approached the prisoners and crouched down. Cutting the bonds that held the woman to the tree, she helped the woman stand.
"Why aren't you helping us escape?" the woman asked.
Evelyn took a quick glance at the woman and saw that if they were both standing, Evelyn wouldn't even reach her shoulder.
"You both are food and sleep deprived. Not to mention your friend is seriously injured. If you two tried to escape and even if you had horses and a day's head start, someone else would find you and let's just say, you would be caught all over again."
Brienne nodded, understanding the stranger's logic. Evelyn turned to Jaime now and bit her lip to keep from crying at the state he was in. After cutting his bonds and helping him sit with his back against the tree, she cut the cord that held his severed hand around his neck. Reaching to her belt, she took out a cloth and wrapped the hand up in it so that Jaime didn't have to look at it.
A thought came to the girl and standing up, she walked a ways off before turning to the owl on her shoulder. Ace listened to her whispered words intently before flying off into the night, a message from Evelyn to Zinzi, saying to keep Calum safe and hidden till she returned.
When Evelyn returned to Jaime and Brienne's side, Brienne had managed to wrap a blanket around the shivering Kingslayer.
"Thank you for helping us," Brienne said. "I don't know what they would have done if you had not appeared."
Evelyn smiled but knew they couldn't see it. "It is the least I could do. You will be safe in Harrenhal though and your wounds will be treated."
"Who are you anyway?" Brienne inquired.
Evelyn's eyes flitted over to Jaime who was barely conscious but looking at her expectantly, also curious about her identity. The girl shook her head and shrugged.
"The Warlock."