Chapter Nine

A/N: Thank you to magnus374 and komninosmichaelides for reviewing.

When Joanna rose to break her fast the next morning, she could not help the feeling of guilt festering in her gut as she saw her children sat together at the table. They seemed so innocent, sat side by side, Jaime helping Tyrion to cut into his egg while Cersei looked on, smiling gently. Seeing the affection the two held for their brother, the woman wondered for a moment if she might have made a mistake. 'Mayhaps it truly was nothing, just the love of a brother for his sister.'

"Good morning, lady mother." It was Cersei who spoke first, inclining her head respectfully. "Did you sleep well?"

'She is the perfect young lady, even at her tender age.' Joanna could not help but notice. Her daughter had been well-trained, like a prized mare to be ridden in the melee.'I wonder how long it will last.'

"Well enough, thank you, sweetling." Joanna answered, forcing a smile to her lips. "I found it a trifle warm, is all. We do not have the stiff sea breeze here to cool us."

"Surely it is worth the heat, Mother." Cersei continued. "The city is so very beautiful, more beautiful than anything in the Westerlands. If I had the choice, I would never leave here."

Joanna's smile faltered. She could not help but think of her young girl wed to the Targaryen prince, sat under Aerys' eye for the rest of her days. 'She is so very like me.' Joanna recalled, trying to disguise a shudder. 'I will not allow him to come near her.'

Jaime looked down at the table, worrying his lower lip between his teeth. For a mother, it was a gesture she recognised in an instant. "Jaime, what is the matter? You look so deep in thought."

The boy looked up and across the table. Cersei was frowning at him. He cleared his throat, but it did not make his voice any louder. "I like King's Landing, but it is nothing like home. I want to be at Casterly Rock, nowhere else."

Joanna sighed quietly. Judging by the rounding of the boy's shoulders, Tywin had already told him of his fate. With a turn of her stomach, the woman remembered that she had caused his unhappiness.

"The Westerlands is our home." Lady Lannister reasoned, trying to right these wrongs. "It is only right that we should miss it. But there are plenty of places in the world beyond the gates of Lannisport. It is an adventure to see them."

"A'venture." Tyrion agreed, nodding his head so violently he must have cricked his neck. For a moment, Joanna's smile was true. At least she had one child she had not done wrong.

Joanna turned to Cersei, to gauge her reaction to her brother's news. Tywin had gone to the twins the moment the raven arrived from Crakehall. He had asked her to accompany him, but she would not. She could not bear to see her daughter's face when she first learnt they were to be torn apart.

The girl did not seem saddened, merely far-away, lost in her own mind. It was not a frequent occurrence- Cersei was quick-tongued, more like to speak her mind than consider her words- and it was enough to make Joanna pause.

"Cersei, you seem distant." Lady Joanna stated. Her daughter jolted as if she had been pricked with a needle. "Is something amiss?"

Cersei floundered for a moment or two, trying to find the right words to speak. In the end, she settled for a feeble lie. "It is nothing, lady mother."

"Is that why you look as if the ground has opened up beneath your feet?" Lady Lannister was no fool. She had spent her youth among the snakes of King's Landing and she had learnt to tell the truth from their lies. Her own children were simple by comparison, and the eldest of them looked as if she longed to bolt from the room.

"Mother?" Cersei had always prided herself on being a lion, like her father- at that moment, she sounded more like a field mouse, and her lip began to tremble as she met her mother's eye. "Why must Jaime be sent away? He did nothing wrong."

"Sweetling, it is not a punishment." Joanna professed, feeling the lie burn her tongue. "Jaime will squire for Lord Crakehall, so that he might learn how to be a knight. He will be a man grown before long, and he must prepare for his role in the world, just as you will do."

"But why can he not practice sparring with Uncle Gerion?" Cersei pressed. "And why can I not learn my craft from you?"

Joanna's brow furrowed. "You will learn from me. Who else do you think might teach you?"

Jaime and Cersei shared a glance. Even Tyrion seemed to notice the tension in the air. Lady Lannister's heart beat against her chest, with the force of a drum calling her to war. In the end, it was her son who broke the fastest, offering an explanation for their silence.

"When Father came to see us, he told me I was going to Crakehall," the boy reminded her. His mother stayed silent. She knew there must be something more. "Then he told us Cersei would be fostered as well."

Joanna's mouth fell open in shock. Her eyes flitted from her eldest son to her daughter, who was biting her bottom lip ferociously to keep her tears from falling. 'My darling girl,' Joanna thought. She could almost hear the splintering of her heart beneath her breast. 'She tries so desperately to be strong, even when the world is falling apart before her eyes.'

"Well…" the woman sighed, trying to compose herself a little. "It should not be so terrible. Both of you can come home to visit as often as you like, or I will come to visit you."

"How can you?" Cersei asked, bitterness seeping into her words. "You'll be a hundred miles away."

Lady Lannister saw her daughter's lips move to form the words, but all she could think of was Tywin's assurances. The twins will be a hundred miles apart. Of course he had not misspoken.

Joanna did not look at her children when she finally spoke the words. She could not bear to see their faces. "Cersei, where did your father say you would go?"

Something inside her already knew the answer. There was only one reason her husband would not tell her of an alliance, and only one man who could command the loyalty to make it happen.

"He said I would go to Highgarden, to be fostered with the Tyrells."

Joanna did not try to hide her rage. She pushed her chair away from the table, rushing from the room in a flurry of silks. She left three children in her wake, upset and afraid, wondering what the future would hold, when even their own father would not keep them close.

A/N: Joanna vs. Tywin next chapter! Let's see who wins that fight! Please review!