Interlude 1

Queen Cersei settled into the first peaceful sleep that she could remember in what felt like ages. Finally getting revenge on her enemies had that effect on her. Just the thought of Ellaria Sand having to watch her daughter die inches from her within her reach made Cercei smile. At least Ellaria got to see her daughter one last time instead of getting news that she had been kill hundreds of miles away like Cercei had when Ellaria had killed Myrcella. She could thank the brash and offensive Euron Greyjoy for her recent revenge. He was turning out to be a more effective asset than she had originally hoped. Things were starting to look up for her, and because of that, sleep finally came easily.

"Cercei." A girl's voice whispered in her mind.

Cercei rolled over in her bed, still asleep. Her mind subconsciously ignored the voice.

"Cercei." The voice was louder than a whisper this time.

Cercei's mind forced it out one more time, but her sleep wasn't as deep as it had been moments ago.

"Cercei!" the voice yelled in her mind. Her eyes snapped open.

"Who's there!?" she yelled. No one answered her. She looked over to the other side of the bed where Jamie would normally be, but he wasn't there. He was away leading their remaining armies in a siege to take over Highgarden.

Cercei got out of bed and shivered as her naked body was surrounded by unseasonably cold air. She put on a robe and walked to her door, opened it, and peered outside. To the right of her bedroom door was The Mountain, standing ever silent and vigil. While the sight of him was unsettling to others, to Cercei it was a comfort. The Mountian was someone whose sole allegiance was to her and he would protect her at any and all costs. She breathed a sigh of relief and closed the door. She left her robe on and crawled back into her bed.Must have been a dream.she thought as she settled into a less sound sleep.

"Cercei!" the girls voice screamed into her mind again.

Cercei woke up instantly and grabbed the sides of her head in pain. The voice was so loud, and definitely real.

"Who's there!? Who are you!?" she screamed again, too afraid to leave her bed this time.

"You know who I am, you scheming little bitch." The voice replied. It was a woman's voice, and it was dripping with hatred.

"This in my head, and clearly a dream." Cercei nodded to herself and seemed satisfied with her own conclusion.

"Ah, listen to you, smug as ever. Still parading around like you deserve to be here. Like you deserve every good thing you have ever obtained, despite the means you used to obtain it." The voice said.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Cercei said in an almost annoyed tone. This was most certainly a dream. She could deal with dreams.

Suddenly, the shudders from her room burst open and a young woman walked through the window seemingly on thin air. Cercei huddled farther into her bed and watched as the woman descended as if walking down invisible steps until she was standing on the floor at the foot of her bed. The young woman had short hair and was cloaked in all black. Her face was vaguely familiar to Cercei, but she couldn't quit place her. What disturbed Cercei the most was the fact that this dream was feeling more and more real by the second.

"Who are you! What do you want?" Cercei repeated.

"I'm not surprised you don't recognize me." The young woman said. "It's been years since you saw me, and I was quite young when your son ordered Ilyne Payne to bring him my father's head."

The blood in Cercei's veins went ice cold. "A-Arya." She stuttered.

"There you go." Arya smiled wickedly.

"You're not really here. You're dead." Cercei said mostly to herself. Though she doubted that. The news from the Twins about the Frey massacre had been littered with whispers that a Stark had been the cause. She had tabs on most of the Stark children, except Arya.

"Oh, I am most certainly still alive." Arya said. "And as far as what I want from you…well that's simple. I want your life, and the lives of those you care about."

As terrifying as this all was, Cercei was still convinced this was all a dream. She had enough real problems to deal with, she didn't have time to let herself worry about some apparition in her sleep. Besides, she was a queen. In her rise to power she had dealt with plenty of threats to her life and the lives of those around her. The corner of her mouth turned up into a small smile.

"Good luck. I've had armies of men and women that have wanted to put me in the ground, and still I remain." She said.

The apparition of Arya walked over to a bare section of wall and pulled out a small sword which she used to scratch something into the stone. "Valar Morghulis." She said to herself as she walked back to the foot of Cercei's bed still staring at what she had written on the wall. Slowly she turned her gaze back to Cercei. Suddenly, Arya reached her hand forward and Cercei felt her neck contract. She tried to take a breath, but found herself unable to. Arya lifted her hand up and Cercei felt herself raise out of the bed by her neck. Her robe slipped off and Ayra smiled as she stared at Cercei's naked body flailing as she clawed at her own throat. She brought Cercei forward as she dangled in mid air until her face was mere inches from her own.

"I want you to know something. I'm coming for you." Arya growled in Cercei's face. "You, and everything you know and love will be burnt to ashes. You may think me a simple child, but I have obtained powers you would not believe in your wildest dreams. So, enjoy the time you have left, because I'm saving you for last. I will wipe the Lannister name from memory and use your blood to rewrite the history books."

Cercei watched in horror as Arya revealed what looked like a sword made out of glowing red light. In the blink of an eye, Arya swung the blade and severed Cercei's throat.

Cercei woke up in a panic drenched in sweat and gasping for breath. She looked around her room and saw that the first rays of sunlight were peeking through the closed shutters on her window. She looked at the section of wall where dream Arya had scratched some cryptic phrase, and to her relief she saw that there were no words, but a portrait hanging there. She laid back in bed for a second, lettering her mind recover from the horrible nightmare. Suddenly, a thought formed in her mind and she needed to put it to rest. She crawled out of bed in her robe and walked over to portrait. She stared at it for a moment, not wanting to move. Finally, with trembling hands she pulled the portrait off the wall. Scratched in large letters were the words "Valar Morghulis".

Cercei fell to the ground and began to weep.