A resolute look flashed across Ser Brienne's face as she continued, "Let me bear it. Let me use my life to wipe out Stark's blood debt—for your great cause, and for the entire Seven Kingdoms."
Gryn's brown eyes shifted slightly, steadily meeting her clear blue ones.
"It isn't worth it."
As he spoke, Gryn raised a hand and beckoned to the tall, upright Brienne, signaling for her to come closer. Without the slightest hesitation, she stepped forward and bent down in a respectful posture of attention.
In the next instant, Brienne's pupils suddenly contracted.
Gryn's raised hand stroked her cheek. Its warmth spread through her skin, so vividly scorching that it seemed to freeze both her body and soul in place.
"To me, you are more important, Brienne of Tarth."
A burning flush spread over her face. She hurriedly lowered her eyes, not daring to meet Gryn's gaze. After quite some time, she finally heard her own trembling voice. "Your Grace, I—I have no way to repay you." Her heart still pounded wildly, and she seemed to want to confirm whether the voice she had just uttered was merely an illusion born of her surging emotions.
"You have always been exceptional. You have never disappointed me."
Gryn's gentle, low voice was like a stream, slowly flowing into Brienne's ears. Only then did she barely calm her turbulent emotions. Her king always managed to make her heart race when she least expected it.
"Then—the Starks—I worry that family ties will cloud their judgment." One of the duties of the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard was to offer counsel when the king required it. Though Ser Brienne avoided the king's gaze out of nervousness, she did not forget her duty as Lord Commander of the Kingsguard.
"That boy is nothing more than