Lady Melara squeezes his arm as she passes him, just a quick touch to his arm that warms him completely. It is a passing gesture, and he realizes that it is not rejection as she kneels before his mother. She goes to Oak Spoon, bowing her head to his Lady Mother and Lord Father for a moment. Jaime watches as she hefts the sword easily in her arms. She stands, blade in both hands and it gleams in sparks across the white sand. She takes pain to clean the blade of lingering dirt with her skirt, delicate and careful. She actually uses the belt of its scabbard and places it delicately across her thin torso. She winces only slightly at the movement, as the blade hits her back. She does not struggle with weight, for all the blade is nearly her height. She looks comfortable with the blade. And though she had been whipped she showed no discomfort with it against her wounds.
He stares at her, entranced.
"Lady Melara," his Uncle is still using a soft, gentle voice. A far cry from his usual harsh grumble or sonorus yell.
"I will not leave my House's legacy quite yet, Ser Tygett. I will feel comfortable with it with me," she said softly.
"Very well."
Jaime offers his arm again, hesitantly. She hadn't accepted it… But she hadn't rejected him either. She looks at him, her lovely eyes questioning. He only offers his arm again, a warmth crossing his cheekbones. Her confusion clears, and she grants him the tiniest smile. It's a soft sort of smile, the very opposite of her usually toothy smile.
Jaime likes it all the more.
She carefully takes his arm. Jaime blinks quickly. Her hold is gentle. Jaime wonders how a girl who had only known suffering in his home can be so gentle. She is a tragic song , he thinks, the suffering heiress of a Keep harmed by a monstrous uncle… Brought justice by her own merit. Pretty as one too, he notes with a blink. He had always noted it perhaps faintly in the back of his head- her coloring alone is unique from the brown and blonde that is perhaps more usual to the West. But her face is pleasing as well, gentle and quietly dignified, and her eyes are something else.
They walk to the Maester.
Jaime is an idiot.
He speaks.
"I'm sorry for what has happened to you," it is words. Just words. Partly. Her suffering is more than his useless words.
She looks at him, curiously.
"You are not at fault, Lord Jaime," she replies.
He wishes to scream. To rage. But how can he if the one that has suffered doesn't? He swallows down his rage.
"Someone- I- should have noticed."
She hummed.
"My Uncle and I made it difficult for people to see it. Him, for the fear of this very outcome, I for the fear that I would not be helped. You are not at fault for the actions of others, Jaime Lannister. You can't control what other people do. You can only control your reaction to them. Especially as the future Lord of the West… People will try to hide things from you, to please you, to take advantage of you. You must do your best to prepare for things like that."
He sighed.
"I don't- I am not adept at the lessons of a Lord. Let alone the actions of one," he confessed.
She shrugged. She didn't wince even though she had been whipped that morning.
"You are young. You will learn. And if isn't your strength as a lord, learn to trust those who will help you through it. That is part of lordship, to understand who will be able to shore up your weaknesses. Is it not the same for a knight? If you are not for the Caverly, do not joust. If you are not adept at the sword, have someone else melee. Strengths and weaknesses are different, Jaime."
He thinks she's that sort of person, one that can shore up strengths. She had helped him breathe with only a few soft words… Realizes it with a lost breath as she imparts the wisdom of his lordship, something he thinks of rarely, dubiously. Melara Hetherspoon is wise. And her true smiles are small, not hesitant- but small and fleeting. She has had little reason to smile since her parents died, he knows, suddenly. All of her bright smiles have been forced. Performative.
Jaime thinks he will take great pains to make this girl smile. Bright and true.