The Lion Queen and The Prince of The Sun
Chapter Nine
The cakes were as small as they were sweet and she was tempted to reach out and take another one but Margaery had learned to be a lady when she was three years old and she know it was not courteous for a lady to take more than she should and it was never done for a lady to appear greedy, even so holding herself back from reaching out and taking another cream cake took a deal of effort.
She and her ladies had been waiting for the Queen to join them for awhile now, the Lannister girl apparently had council meetings all through the they had been told to start without her. Even so, it was well past morning now and yet Queen Myrcella had not given even a single hint as to when she might finally come and join them for the rest of the day.
Margaery supposed she must remember that her ladies were not truly her ladies anymore, they had all been called on to attend Myrcella and thus Margaery was just as much a lady-in-waiting as were the rest of her cousins. Not long ago she would have been a Queen, not long ago she had been a Queen in point of fact and now she stood no higher than some of the other noble ladies who had come to attend the Queen.
Father had not been best pleased with that, losing the pride of having a daughter as a Queen and having a grandson as a king but he had been convinced at the time that he would be able to convince Queen Myrcella to put aside her Dornish prince of a husband in exchange for Willas, Margaery loved her oldest brother more than any words could say but while Willas was a good and gentle man, honorable and loyal and kind, but she got the sense that this was not going to be as easy as her Father expected it to be.
From what little she had seen since she had been serving the Queen, the young girl seemed quite devoted to her Dornish Prince but if she had learned anything about her Father it was that he always got what he wanted and right now what he wanted was to ensure that he had a grandson that would be a king and Margaery knew her Father well enough to know he would stop at nothing to get it.
He got that from Grandmother, Father might have lacked her subtle touch when it came to these matters but he got his endless ambition from her, Margaery couldn't deny that she had it either of course. She had wanted to be Queen, even if just for a moment and never quite as much as either her Father or her Grandmother had wanted her to be.
But then the boy had died, he had been golden, beautiful and content to play the gallant for most of their wedding. She knew what he was of course, spending time with him for anything close to a moment was enough for anyone to see what he was and poor little Sansa had been confirmed all of her worst fears during on of the teas they had to together with her Grandmother.
But Margaery knew what she was capable off and she was fairly certain that she would have been able to keep the king under her thumb but in the end she didn't have to worry about that, her wedding had ended in tears and death. Joffery had been cruel and arrogant and without a doubt she knew that their marriage would have been unpleasant, to say the very least, but even so the way he died had just been so horrible, it was the first man that Margaery had ever seen die and she prayed it would be the last.
He had been tall but he looked so small in his mother's arms as he clawed at his own throat as he tried to take a breath, it had been a horrible death and she hadn't been able to look. She could still feel Grandmother's bony fingers digging into her arm through the sleeve of her gown, whispering into her ear to be brave but in that moment she couldn't, all she could do was cry.
But the tears had been from shock and fear and far from any grief, in truth the tears were in part relief as well. But there had been tears of sorrow for poor little Tommen who had chocked on the pastry of his pie while everyone around him was too busy trying to save his brother. He had been so very sweet, the first day she had meet him on her first day in the capital he had bowed to her and welcomed her to the capital with words that had clearly been rehearsed several times and he looked so proud that he had said them correctly.
It was a shame, if Tommen had been the older brother than a great deal might have been for the better. He had been sweet and gentle and more easy to lead than Joffery would have been, he would have been a better king than his brother and a better husband as well. But it did no good to dwell on what might have happened if things had turned out differently all they could do now was make the best of it.
Her newest duty was to try and convince the young queen to put aside her husband though how her Father expected her to do that she didn't have the faintest idea, Myrcella might have asked for her to come back to the capital to attend her but that was hardly because she desired Margaery's company. It was a token gesture to the rest of her family, to let them knew that the Queen still favored them.
But it was a minuscule gesture considering what she had done, taking both Lord Rowan and Lord Tarly from her Father was a stroke of brilliance she could not deny it even while acknowledging that it was terrible for them. Mathis Rowan and Randyll Tarly were two of her Lord Father's most powerful bannermen and now one of them was entrusted to speak with the Queen's voice in all matters when she was not present and could sit the Iron Throne when she was not present and the other was entrusted with bringing peace back to the realm and fighting the Queen's battles in her name.
Her Lord Father's bannermen and both had been risen to heights greater than him, she had left the city by the time of the small council meeting when that decision had been announced but Garlen had still been with Father and Loras was still a member of the Queensguard even if he was now serving the wrong Queen and both had written to her of his reaction.
Sweet and noble Garlen had spoken of how Father was displeased and perhaps a little irritated that the Queen had chosen to give such honors to his bannermen without considering him for either position where as Loras had informed her that he had never seen Father so enraged before in his entire life, not even when the Red Viper had crippled Willas at the tourney at Oldtown, it had only gotten worse when he had tried to summon them both for a meeting in his apartments in the Red Keep and both men had refused him, citing important duties that the Queen had given them to perform.
When Grandmother had heard that she had simply sighed and shook her head and warned her that if she had a son make sure early on that she taught him how to listen to her for if she did not then she would be cursed with having an oaf for a son just as she had. Grandmother had been quite receptive to the idea of sending her back to the capital however though she did not intend to make the journey herself.
"The truth of the matter my dear little rose is that this is a battle that has already been lost." Her Grandmother had said to her as they had dined on fresh caught red salmon rubbed in garlic and butter and baked in pastry, a rose petal soup sweetened with honey and marzipan butterflies with spun sugar wings. "Your Father won't want to admit that to himself yet but anyone with two good eyes and half a thought in their heads will be able to see it but your Father has always been greedy except now instead of being greedy for custard tarts, he is greedy for a crown instead and this time his greed could destroy all of us."
Lady Olenna had devoured one of the dragonflies and in between her bites she spoke again, Mother had always said that in her old age her Grandmother cared less and less for manners. "So, here is what you are going to do. You will do as your Lord Father bids of you like a good girl and return to the capital with your darling little cousins to serve this new Queen as loyally as you can and try and gain her favor as best as you can, your Father will wish for you to try and get her to put aside her husband for Willas but do not let your ambition overextend your means my dear."
Grandmother had reminded her of that once again as she, Alla, Elinor and Megga were about to set of back to the capital of the Seven Kingdoms, reminding them that the axe was always hanging over their head and now it had just gotten that much lower. Father had however in all of his letters had urged her to convince the Queen to put her husband aside just as Grandmother had predicted.
Either way she didn't have as much access to the Queen as either her Father or her Grandmother had predicted. Queen Myrcella had already a great score of ladies surrendering her most of them from Dorne but a few ladies from the Westerlands and the Crownlands as well. It seemed that Margaery and her cousins were the only ladies from the Reach and the Queen treated them with a polite courtesy as was to be expected but Margaery was far from having her ear.
But while the Queen might have been keeping her at something of a distance that same feeling could not be said to extend to the rest of the capital, when her retinue slowly rode through the River Gate a great cheer went up and what seemed to her like a great horde of people began to shout her name at the very top of their voices and the great cry did not cease until her wheelhouse rolled into the Red Keep and the drawbridge was raised up.
The people had not forgotten her and the food that had been sent in her name and that would be the one advantage that she held it seemed, the Queen was a stranger to them due to being kept inside the walls of the Red Keep when she should have been outside of them winning hearts and then being scurried off to Dorne to bathe in the sun while the city starved.
And now this girl that none of the people of the city knew had been placed above them all on the throne, another lion like the one that had sacked their city, burned down their homes and took everything from them. Margaery knew that she was the Queen in their hearts even if it was to Queen Myrcella's health that they prayed for and the little part of her that was too much like Father and Grandmother could not help but be pleased with that.
The door to the chamber opened then and the Queen walked into the room and Margaery and her cousins rose to greet her. The Queen was ever so slightly younger than her but she was also slightly taller as well, Queen Cersei was quite tall for a woman and Joffery had been tall for his age so she imagined it only made sense for Myrcella to be tall for her age as well.
She was grabbed in a gown of black and gold today, the Queen did seem to flit between her Father's colors to her husband's and to her Mother's with some regularity. Myrcella did not look well in Baratheon colors, her pale skin had been a gift from her Mother and black made her look sickly, almost like she was half a corpse and did not belong in the colors of her Father's house.
"I apologies for keeping my ladies waiting, I am afraid that matters with the Small Council overran." Myrcella spoke as she gestured for them to retake their seats before taking her own seat at the head of their table before picking up a goblet and filling it up from a pitcher of lemon sweet before picking up an apple cake and biting into it, she stared at the little delight for a moment before letting out a disappointed little sigh.
"Is there something wrong your Grace?" Margaery asked as she leaned forward and picked up her own goblet of lemon sweet and took a sip from it, enjoying the tart sweetness on her tongue.
"Oh, it's nothing important. I simply gained quite a licking for Dornish food while I was there and they do love their spices and now I simply find most food that is not Dornish to be quite bland. Oh, the cake itself is lovely just simply now what I like." The Queen finished the cake dutifully and took another drink from her goblet before she rose again.
"I know that you and I have not spent that much time together since you and your cousins have arrived in the city Lady Margaery, something which I very much mean to rectify. In another world we would have been sisters after all, I wonder if you would mind joining me for a short walk? Perhaps through my gardens?"
"Your Grace does me a great honor, I will be delighted to keep you company." Margaery dismissed her cousins and sent them on their way before she followed the Queen out of the room, Ser Addam Marbrand and Ser Arys Oakheart were waiting outside for the Queen and Margaery was quick to congratulate Ser Addam for his appointment to the Queensguard and complimented Ser Arys on how gallant he looked in his white scale armor.
Myrcella's gardens were a product of fine work and Margaery had to admit that it did seem quite a peaceful place to let an afternoon slip away in the hot sun of summer, though now in Autumn it seemed that rain drops were clinging to every petal and stem and the ground underneath their feet had transformed into thick mud by the downpour that had come down last night.
They stopped to allow the Queen time to pick flower, a yellow rose with sharp thorns. The Queen twirled it between her thumb and finger for a moment before bringing it up to her delicate little nose to inhale it's scent. "I don't remember planting any yellow roses by the time I left for Dorne though now it seems as though they are growing in every corner. They are such pretty flowers and they smell so sweet but their thorns are so very sharp, I might make myself bleed if I am not careful."
"A rose only makes one bleed if the one who picks it is not careful your Grace." Margaery spoke with a sweet smile as her eyes narrowed slightly, truly looking at the young girl who she now had to call Queen. She was subtler than her brother had been and it seemed that she would have to be more careful with her. "A gentle touch and you shall be fine."
"Yes, a gentle touch. Of course, it is important to remember that when a rose is picked that it does die not long after and if it makes me bleed is of little concern after that." The Queen dropped the yellow rose and allowed it to sink into the mud as she held Margaery's gaze. "Tell me, my Lady, did you enjoy my wedding feast? My Mother planned most of it, she's quite good when it comes to those matters when she chooses to be. I did have some little input of course, I added some Dornish dishes that I was fond of though I hope they were not too spicy."
"They were lovely your Grace, such exotic tastes and I am sure that the Prince Consort must have enjoyed them." And Prince Trystane might have enjoyed them but a single spoonful of the snake stew had made it feel as though someone had little a fire in her mouth and Megga had spent much of that night crouched over a chamber pot.
"Well, of course he did. Don't we all enjoy a taste of our homes? It was a night that I wanted him to remember and I assure you that he did, and not just because of the food." The Queen laughed at that and Margaery joined with her and as soon as the Queen stopped so did she. "It was I think the happiest night of my life, though I was surprised when on the day of my wedding as we were riding back to keep from the great sept, for every voice that called my name or my husband's another ten was calling for you."
"I was not overly surprised of course, the people love you well considering your family sent them so much food in your name after months and months of them being starved." The Queen took a step closer then and it was perhaps for the first time that Margaery noticed that her green eyes were the exact same shade as her mother's. "How quickly they forget that it was your Father who starved them to start with when he decided to support my uncle."
"Your Grace-" She began but Myrcella held up her hand to stop her from speaking.
"Now, I don't mean to bring up any old wounds or start a feud with you, it was chaos and plenty who declared for my Uncle Renly or my Uncle Stannis have returned to the crown now. If I were to punish House Tyrell for abandoning the side of the crown then I would have to punish all of them as well and that just isn't likely at all. I'd like us to be friends and If I'm right then your family would like us to be friends."
"So there we are then, we're friends." The Queen smiled and embraced her like she had known her all of her life and pressed a kiss to both of her cheeks before pulling away and adjusting the the pendent that hung around Margaery's neck, the cold metal of it seeming to burn her skin for just a moment. "Just, remember who the Queen is. I should so have to hate to remind you."
"Now, you should get inside my dear. It seems as though it is going to rain again." Queen Myrcella spun on her heels and made her way back to Maegor's Holdfast with Ser Addam and Ser Arys following behind her like silent specters as the rain began to fall. Margaery could only stand there for a moment, telling herself that it was only the chill and the rain that was making her shake.
End of Chapter Nine.
Welp, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
I was really worried about going into this chapter because I've never written for Margaery before and while the show expanded on her character it's less like she was Margaery and more like...she was a character Natalie Dormer would play, no shade to Natalie she's great I just don't think she was playing Margaery.
Anywho, this was also the chapter that shows us a different side of Myrcella. Keep in mind for all that people say she doesn't have any of Cersei's nature and she is Jaime's blood as well as Cersei's she is still Cersei's daughter and she has her Mother's pride and I wanted to explore that as well.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please leave a review, a follow, a favorite if you enjoyed and constructive criticism is always welcome.
Lots of love,
DiscordantSymphony