Summary: Jon Snow meets a young woman (Marian) who comes to Winterfell in search of medicinal herbs to develop a cure for a mysterious illness which is killing people in Qarth, her home. Will she achieve her goal before it's too late? Who will help/delay her? JS/OC
Disclaimer: Do I own GOT? HA! I wish… (sigh)
*I've read and I don't own 50 Shades of Grey. PS: I hate 50 Shades. I like bondage. Not explaining why. End of the story. Just so you know where I get the influence for part of this chapter… and enjoy the show! ;)
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Previously…
"No buts, Marian! Tyrion Lannister told us that you admitted that you loved him. What am I to make of this? Do you still do?" He said worried and enraged to her like never before, and when he saw she was blushing a lot, he went on. "You're not denying it, I see. Therefore, I'm sending him to the Wall. Actually, he's leaving as we speak, by the way. It's for the best…"
"What?" She asked getting paler in a nanosecond.
"And you, as a princess, should know that. You have your place in society and he's got his." He went on, but she was no longer listening to him. "It's called being responsible."
She had rushed to the nearest balcony, trying to spot Jon in the multitude of people moving back and forth in the main road out of the city, down below. The warm wind softly combed her hair backwards as she leaned her head a bit forwards. The orange dying light of that late afternoon didn't help her much. Besides, the road was far too crowded and she didn't recognise anyone: their heads were too small in the distance and their movements, too hectic. She realised she would never see him again. Ever.
"It's for the best, Marian. Now come, let's have something to eat. I'm starving already!"
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Chapter 14: Friends, partners or enemies – they all seem equal to me
"I hope you have a safe journey to The Wall, Jon." Lord Stark told him with regret as they were walking down the huge entrance hall of the palace, which was magnificent, more than Winterfell.
Lord Stark's high hopes that he could actually do something to spare Jon from such a fate had vanished into thin air. The king was determined to hate Jon due to his unfitting social status and the fact that he had fallen head over heels in love with his recently discovered biological daughter.
"All these days…" Lord Stark went on. "I've tried to talk sense into the king, but he's a stubborn kind of man. He wouldn't hear a word about changing your destiny. I'm sorry, boy. I wish I could've make it work out for you."
Had it been any other man that had called him boy, Jon would've punched him in the face. He was a man, not a boy. But it was Lord Stark, his role model, so Jon just tried to ease the tension of his impending farewell with a light smile and a firm hand-shaking with the man he had always adored like a god. The elder man's frame was bathed in the melting gold of the setting sun, and he really looked like a god.
Robb was witnessing the scene right beside them with a dry smile on his face. He even felt it was quite unbecoming of him to react like that, but Robb had far too many words he needed to deliver to Jon's ears in private before he left for good. When Lord Stark said he needed to attend some urgent matters, Jon and Robb were left on their own right at the exit of the palace – and Robb believed he had waited long enough. They were pacing down the outer stairs towards the stables when suddenly Robb spoke thus to his brother:
"Jon, may I ask you to do me a favour before you leave?" Robb asked seriously.
"Sure. What is it?" Jon replied feeling that Robb was just serious because he was trying hard to repress the sadness to see his brother leave.
"Can you please unbutton your shirt?" Robb tried to ask neutrally, but he clumsily failed at it.
At that, Jon raised an eyebrow and believed his sibling to be half-way mad. His favour wasn't going in the direction Jon had thought it would. He had hoped that Robb would just tell him to take care and maybe he'd request a manly hug from him before they would say farewell to each other.
But no. Robb wanted Jon to unbutton his shirt.
"Did I hear you well? Did you just ask me to unbutton my shirt?" Jon asked Robb with hesitation.
"Yes, I just did." He said sternly.
"W-why?" Jon asked dumbfounded, swallowing hard because right beneath his shirt there was Marian's necklace.
"Just do it, brother." Robb insisted dryly.
Jon eyed him suspiciously, but he did as told. Right when he was unbuttoning the second button, he hesitated a little bit. He knew Marian's necklace would soon be visible. But he had not a single second to even think about what he could do or say to stop it: Robb suddenly grabbed his shirt and tore it open rashly in a split second. The anger was filtering through every pore of his skin and his eyes were aflame with the most primal of instincts.
"What's the meaning of this?!?!" Robb asked with clenched teeth and protruding, anger-flooded veins while getting hold of Marian's sea shell necklace and violently pulling it off Jon's neck.
"Robb, wait… I can explain." Jon tried to calm his brother.
"I'm dying to know, brother." Robb couldn't help but spitting out the last word out of his mouth with too much anger. His protruding veins gave a very clear message in that precise direction.
"She gave it to me in Winterfell, before I knew she was a princess." Jon said with a calm voice. "It was just a gift."
"And this?" Robb asked holding the silver ring right in front of Jon's face as if he was accusing him.
"This is the ring I gave to her," Jon replied blushing a bit, but still calm. "which she refused and put in her necklace right before she put it round my neck and… then she knocked me out and left."
"And why do you still have them, pray?" Robb asked enraged beyond any sane measure.
"Because…"
"Choose your words carefully, brother." Robb spat those words out if his mouth before Jon could give him a full answer.
"They were a gift. Why should I give them back?" Jon asked meekly. "Especially the ring. She refused me."
That wasn't exactly the truth, but it was all for the best – or so Jon thought.
"Because I may understand that you still love her, that they are a token of her love!" Robb admitted with ire.
"Robb, I'm just about to join the Night's Watch. Does it really matter now?" Jon asked hopelessly.
"Yes, it does matter, Jon!" Robb replied in anger. "A lot, actually! We're going to get married and I want to know why you still own this, hiding it beneath your clothing, and what you were doing in her chambers for so long last night! What am I supposed to think of that, huh?!"
"You can't possibly mean that I…" Jon replied a bit offended.
"That's precisely what I mean!" Robb shamelessly interrupted him. "Bearing in mind that we'll become king and queen of Westeros, your actions may be considered as treason! So you'd better start talking… And don't beat about the bushes!"
"She's pure." Jon didn't think twice about it. Spitting out the truth as it was, and calmly, would make it easier for him, but that didn't mean that his words would be trusted, of course.
"Would you swear it upon all the Gods and your honour?!" Robb pushed him.
"Yes, I would." Jon replied firmly.
"Good, now we'll see if you're telling the truth." Robb immediately replied dryly. "Guards!"
"WHAT?!" Jon exclaimed thunderstruck. "No! Wait! Robb! What's the meaning of this?!" He yelled while two well-built guards roughly grabbed him by both his arms.
"I'm taking some precautions just in case I find out that you're not telling me the truth." Robb answered darkly.
"You can't honestly think that I'm lying to you and that I have…!"
Jon didn't dare to finish the sentence, mainly because he was the worst liar alive and the fact that he had almost had sex with Marian. He would've done it if he had had enough time. But he hadn't. That was the whole point. Frustrating as it had been, he felt some sort of relief then, because it meant that Marian was still pure. But…
"How will you know that I'm telling you the truth?" Jon asked him forcing himself to be calm again.
"The Septa will test Marian. They know how to verify a woman's virginity. She'll be notified shortly."
"What will you do with me in the meantime?"
"Guards." Robb replied sternly as if those guards knew exactly what to do – and they did.
While they locked Jon up in a dark corner of the jail, Robb decided to pace in the gardens for some minutes to chill out a bit. He had to admit that his jealousy was pushing him to act like a monster. Jon was his brother after all, and he had never meant to harm him. Ever. He was even more loyal than any of the family's direwolves. And Marian had never owed loyalty to the Starks and yet she had always been a guardian angel to every single soul in Winterfell… and a good friend. A really trustworthy friend.
Robb bit his lower lip as the sun slowly died in the orange horizon, thinking whether Jon had told him the truth. He hoped so, but if he had, then how would it make him feel? Jon was used to being misunderstood and distrusted. It was a bastard's life. But Robb was unsure whether he would ever forgive him for this – or whether he would forgive himself for doubting his brother.
It was a first. One of those first times you wished you'd never have to face.
However, the clock was ticking… and Marian would soon be politely told to undergo a physical test on her purity at the hands of the Septa.
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In the meantime, the setting sun did no longer cast its rays on the metal bars and thick walls of the cell Jon had been incarcerated in. The jail was too far down below the ground that only the midday sun could reach it.
He had never been in prison before, but somehow he had expected some company to keep him busy during those dull hours of painfully waiting for the test to be run on Marian. Even a nosey cellmate would have sufficed. He would've carved his potential curiosity into Jon's mind and make him confess his worries – and probably make fun of them. Nevertheless, Jon was alone in prison. His only friend was a small cockroach which happened to pass by.
A lonely sigh escaped from his lips as he got a glimpse of the first star in the early night's sky, and he wished he hadn't been such a fool and thought about an escape plan with Marian when they were still in Qarth… or in Winterfell, back in those good old days in which he was blissfully oblivious of the truth of her parentage. Had he convinced her to run away with him in any of those previous occasions, they wouldn't be facing such a painful fate at that moment probably. On top of that, during their last trip on the ship he had refused to spend more time with her thinking that it wouldn't be beneficial to either of them. He had thought that it would look suspicious.
Bollocks.
Robb was suspecting him already. Jon should've seen it coming. It would've been their last time together.
But Jon admitted to himself that he could've never foretold his brother's steaming jealousy towards him and his anger-driven control on Marian. It was so unlike Robb to act like that – but he guessed there had never been such an amazing 'prize' into the bargain.
"Anyway," He whispered to his newly acquired small friend with a soft smile dawning on his lips. "I shan't be kept here for long: Marian is pure. I don't need to worry about that." But his gentle smile died as soon as he remembered the hard-core reason why he wouldn't stay eternally locked in. "What really worries me is what I… will do… in the Throne Room, according to the vision I had."
He would kill someone with his sword, deflower her on the throne and kill her with one of her daggers.
The clock was ticking.
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The King had taken Marian to his chambers to have a quiet family dinner, but it wasn't a quiet one in Marian's mind. The information that the king had revealed to her had triggered a thunderstorm in her head, and he would never even fathom anything about it. He was too busy digging into a huge roast wild boar. Its smell was mouth-watering, but she could only center her attention on the man in front of her becoming a lowly, hunger-driven beast.
'The king is so decadent that I wonder whether he realises of it.' Marian thought trying to veil her distress. 'Not only by the way he freely speaks of murder or the way he eats like a beast, but also by the way he thinks this is overtly good and normal. I wonder whether he's ever witnessed a single example of a more humane and sane way of treating people or handling difficult situations… or eating habits. And he also drinks beyond any healthy measure. I'm amazed that he hasn't already fallen on the floor and died due to alcohol poisoning…'
"Have a bit of it, love!" The king roared to her with amusement. "It's delicious!"
"Thank you, your highness." She immediately replied with too much politeness. "But for the time being I'm enjoying the fruit. The grapes are fabulous."
She really hoped that by adding a nice comment about food would keep him distracted and under the impression that she was feeling good and satisfied instead of disgusted and threatened by him.
'I hope he buys it.' She went on thinking as she kept analysing him and her current state of affairs. 'I can't wait to lose sight of him! My thoughts on him and his real reasons as to why he needs me here in King's Landing have been confirmed. My suspicions about me just being a useful tool to ensure a male heir only need an oral, direct confirmation on his behalf; but the truth is that, according to the plans that he has just unveiled to me a few minutes before, his main interests only roam around his legacy and getting me married to Robb in front of his brothers in a bountiful celebration. And getting Jon out of the equation. That doesn't leave much room for actual love in his plans, neither romantic love with Robb nor father-daughter love between both of us. He hasn't even asked me a single question about my life or my adoptive father or my interests…'
But her wary thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a group of ladies who entered the room giggling.
"Your highness," The eldest began speaking to the king in a very polite form of address and attitude. "we are sorry to interrupt your meal with our presence, but we wondered whether we could share some time with the young princess here. We're dying to get to know her already."
He sudden admission that Marian was a desirably new acquaintance amongst the ladies in the court revealed a sudden passion within Marian's heart. Maybe she could find a trustworthy female friend among those women with whom to share her worries.
"Don't worry about it, Lady Amiss." The king eventually said right after swallowing down a huge bite of roast wild boar. "You may enjoy her company if she's done with dinner, of course."
"I'm not that hungry, your highness." Marian replied not thinking twice about it. Not only would she lose sight of him, but also she would meet new potential friends in that new city. "I'm done with dinner."
"Then you may leave." He answered gently. "Good night."
As the ladies left the king's chambers and walked down the corridor, they started to talk to Marian in a forced amiability, as if something was wrong. She wondered what was really going on, but she couldn't put a finger on it.
"So, your name is Marian, right?" Lady Amiss asked first in a know-it-all attitude.
"It is." Marian replied naively as the other ladies surrounded her as they walked down the corridors.
"Like I said before, ladies, let's go to the gardens." Lady Amiss insisted. "The night's sky is lovely in King's Landing. You'll love it, Princess Marian."
The other girls giggled and Marian tried to smile gently as if she fitted in the group.
"So," Lady Amiss said when they reached an inner patio surrounded by four walls with enchanting stone archways. In the center of it there were rose bushes and orange and lemon trees. Ivies grew from the base of those old stone pillars and rose up to meet the sky. There was also a nice-sized passionflower bush on one side, its huge purple flowers shot their bright colouring into the eyes of the onlooker. "this is it. Look at the night's sky, princess. Doesn't it look lovely from the greatest city in the whole world?"
"It really does, Lady Amiss."
The rest of the ladies giggled again. It was becoming a nasty habit of theirs, and Marian was getting tired of it already.
"What are you giggling about?" Marian asked straightforwardly.
"We've prepared a scavenger hunt, my princess." Lady Amiss replied.
"Yes, a scavenger hunt." A younger lady added right afterwards.
"It's a bit late, but why not?" Marian tried to stay positive about it even though she smelled something fishy.
"In this garden, there's a bunch of clues which will lead you to a final goal." That younger lady who had spoken before said.
"That's right, Lady Bird." Lady Amiss added right after her friend's comment.
"Me? Only me, you say?" Marian asked intrigued.
"Yes. We've done this for you." Lady Bird replied with a strange smile on her lips.
"Well, thank you. It's awfully nice of you…" Marian commented trying to sound nice. She meant it, though.
They giggled once more, but Marian tried hard to ignore it.
"What's the final goal?" Marian asked.
"Knowledge… my princess." Lady Amiss answered with too much pride. "Very crucial, vital knowledge. You'll love it, I'm sure."
"Oh, good. And where do I start?" Marian asked a bit too naively.
They giggled with more vehemence.
"What? Did I say something funny?" Marian asked at a loss about what was really going on.
"Actually, yes, my princess." Lady Amiss replied daringly. "You speak as if you didn't know what's up. That makes it funny."
"What?" Marian asked blindly. "What are you talking about?"
"The hunt has already started, Princess Marian." Lady Bird said with cheek. "Go on. Try to figure out what's this all about if you're so clever as they say you are."
"Don't play the naïve girl with us, my princess." Lady Amiss went on with badly repressed anger and pride. "You might be the king's daughter, but that doesn't mean that we're gonna treat you as such, especially bearing in mind that fact that you're a bastard girl."
Silence reigned in the patio. Only a distant star dared to move then, shooting its tail behind in its wake.
"You boast of being so clever and yet you're so fucking naïve…" Lady Amiss continued boasting of knowing Marian's personality beforehand.
All the ladies present except Marian giggled freely at Lady Amiss' comment.
"You'd better take that back, Lady Amiss!" Marian replied seriously, half offended.
"Or what?!" Lady Amiss dared to yell back at Marian. "It's not as though anyone cares about what you can say or do… You're just the cunt which will deliver the next male heir, and as such you've got no power beyond birth giving."
"And should you not give birth to a male child, then you'll see…" Lady Bird added darkly then.
"What are you even talking about? Are you nuts?!" Marian asked not knowing how to handle the situation.
"Hey, this is King's Landing, in case you didn't notice." Lady Bird replied with sarcasm.
"We're not still alive because we care for justice or for people who is weaker than us." Lady Amiss pointed out with severity. "Staying alive here comes at a great cost, meeting the right people at the right moment, making alliances, marrying above your station regardless of your future husband's brutality or moral deviousness, and making great sacrifices to ensure your families' honour. That's what it takes to stay alive here."
"That's why we don't like newcomers like you." Another young lady in their company added.
"That's right, Lady Whitedove." Lady Bird added, revealing the name of another of Marian's new bullies.
"What?" Marian asked, not knowing what to make of this.
She had had high hopes that they would take her side and become friends, but those bitches were far more bitchy than the real bitches Marian had ever met in her entire life. Ross and Winterfell's sluts were far more polite, understanding, trustworthy and gentle than those well-bred, noble women from King's Landing. But then it was pretty clear that they would never become friends.
"We don't like newcomers like you." Lady Amiss repeated.
"Bastard children who think they have a rightful claim on the throne." Lady Bird added sternly.
"People whose blood isn't fully noble but who have been well bred and educated." Lady Whitedove interfered.
"You can't be serious!" Marian exclaimed.
"With higher morals and principals." Lady Bird added sarcastically again.
"Who love to pretend they're better than us, fitter to rule than us." Lady Amiss spat out all her venom in those ill-meant words.
"What are you talking about? You're mad!" Marian replied unable to believe her ears.
"If it wasn't for you, the king wouldn't even have doubted Queen Cersei's truthfulness and Prince Jeoffrey might've married me…" Lady Amiss added setting her ire fully free. "And then, I would've become queen someday. But no: you came along and caused all their deaths…"
"Bearing in mind that you're allegedly a doctor, it sounds awful, doesn't it? To have their blood on your hands…" Lady Bird seemed to love irony and sarcasm far too much by the way she spoke to Marian.
"You must be kidding me! I didn't cause anyone's death!" Marian tried to defend her honour and her former job as a doctor.
"Let's make this clear once and for all:" Lady Amiss said taking a threatening step towards Marian. "you're not making friends among us, ever. And every single one of us is going to make sure you can't make any alliances with anyone in this court. The servants and the guards will serve you because they have to, but as far as the nobles are concerned you're not going to win anyone's sympathy. We have more power than you think. And we have our ways to make the men do what we want. You're a worthless little piece of bastard shit – and you know it. So now that you know your place, you'd better stay quiet… Or don't." She finally said with a funny undertone. "I personally won't mind hearing you scream as Robb Stark tears your hymen apart on your wedding night…"
"If she's still a virgin." Lady Bird added with sarcasm.
"Yeah, right." Lady Whitedove joined in.
They went away giggling and laughing at Marian, and soon enough she was left on her own in the patio, much to her relief.
"Now that was the… craziest… bullshit talk I've ever gone through." She whispered to herself feeling a huge relief now that they were gone.
"I'm sorry that they ganged up on you like that, Princess Marian. Although I expected as much to happen." A manly voice said coming from a badly lit corridor with mild, fake exhaustion, but as soon as he spoke again he took a couple of steps forward so that Marian could see him. "Lady Amiss and her friends aren't usually or genuinely friendly, I can testify that myself."
The moonlight shone on him as if he was a friend, not just a stranger. His lean frame and expensive clothing told a tale of a life of books and business, not of battle. His fine nose and nicely shaped moustache revealed a fine taste for manly elegance even though it was obvious that he didn't consider himself to be drop-dead gorgeous – and he wasn't. He was older than her, he was probably in his late thirties or early forties, but he seemed fit. And he moved around the bushes towards her as if he was a fox, cautious and silent, with his eyes fixed on Marian as he came closer and closer to her.
"I do hope Lady Amiss and her girls haven't bullied you much." He went on with half a smile on his face and a warm voice. "She loves to scare away new female servants… or to shame those who decide to stay. She's easily vexed, the Old Gods and the New know why. But you don't need to be scared of her. You're the princess after all."
"One: she hasn't scared the hell out of me. She's angered me." Marian replied trying to regain her usual spunk and rational control. "Two: if she's easily vexed and scares people away, she's got a problem. Not I."
"Very brave on your behalf." His smile broadened and it felt heart-warming to her. "I encourage you to speak your mind out to her the next time. Don't just stand there watching."
"I know." Although she knew he was right, Marian didn't like that last comment very much because it felt somehow controlling on his behalf. It was as if he was hiding something. "But I also know that being a princess or outspoken here won't impress her much. I bet she's quite used to this power game."
"Power game…" He repeated whispering and then he chuckled, displaying his white canines for a second. "By the way, my name's Lord Baelish, dear princess. Some people also refer to me as 'Littlefinger', although it's not a nickname that I love. I'm the Master of Coin."
"Nice to meet you, Lord Baelish." She said extending her right hand to him, not thinking twice about it.
"Nice to meet you too, dear princess." He whispered with a husky voice as he took her hand and softly kissed it.
Only a brief moment of silence passed by under that lovely moonlight and then Lord Baelish went on speaking.
"I've waited long enough to finally meet you." He said trying hard to veil his excitement. "I didn't trust the former queen. And her offspring turned out to be spoiled little brats like her. I do feel lucky that such a sensible and daring young lady is the heir to the Iron Throne."
Seeing that Marian refrained from talking about the matter as if mentioning it had bothered her, he smiled and tried to change the subject.
"I'm sorry that I mentioned the dead." He apologized, but it felt as though he didn't mean it. "But since I am Master of Coin, I really like to know how people are in order to foresee how much they will spend. It has become a habit of mine."
"Analyzing people to see how much they'll spend. Good thinking, actually. Especially if it's your responsibility." Come to think of it, he had a point. She had to admit it. His strategy might've saved his ass when making ends meet.
"Let me guide you back to your chambers, my dear princess." Lord Baelish said then. His gentleness wasn't second to any of his other psychological traits. "We may talk on our way about the ladies, if you feel like it."
"Sure. Why not?" Marian complied gently.
"I was delighted with the idea of meeting you partly because I was told your striking birth story." He started the ball rolling as they walked to her chambers. "I've always loved exotic people, especially women."
"I'm not as exotic as you may think, Lord Baelish." Marian replied not feeling genuinely exotic, as he had just put it. "I don't have strange customs or Gods."
"Maybe." He added politely. "But Qarth is a very rich environment, rich in terms of coin and people. I understand that commerce has made your fellow countrymen quite open-minded and glad to integrate very diverse people in its society. Your tolerance and flexibility towards differences should be quite high. I was looking forward to know your perspective on any matter that might affect the well-being of our country, since you might prove a very useful ally."
"The power game again, huh?" Marian concluded with a bit of cheek.
"I won't fool you, right?" Lord Baelish seemed to mean quite to opposite, though.
"Probably not." She didn't want to play with fire. That man seemed to play his cards too well, with too much discretion. Lady Amiss had been far too straightforward, but Marian suspected that King's Landing would have smarter players than her. But she went on speaking: "But you were saying that you wanted to meet me and that it was partly because of that. You have quite pointed it out, actually."
"I have."
"What about the other part, if I may ask?" She asked feeling curious.
"I was also hoping to meet you to ask you a favour." He replied, much to her amazement.
"A favour? We've just met and you're already asking me a favour! Lord Baelish, this is rather forward, isn't it?"
"It is, but the majority of the people who live in King's Landing don't live long enough… for different reasons." He answered quite darkly. "We've been living in peace for so long that we dare to call that casualties of… peace." His somber attitude made her freeze for a moment.
"What are you talking about?" She went on suddenly worried. "You know my whole story although we've never met. You must know that I'm a doctor's apprentice – do you mean that there's people who need my medical assistance?"
"Not really, although it would be great to count on you should I request it in the future." He added also worried.
"You may, Lord Baelish." She replied politely.
"Thank you…" His smile felt like a high-volume spirits burning down her throat: nice and warm at the beginning, but branding her and a bit nauseating at the end. But he went on as serious as before. "The power game that you were talking about before is about having the right friendships, my dear princess. Lady Amiss was absolutely right there – and I'm a master at the game. I wouldn't have lived this long if it hadn't been for my connections and my wit."
"I don't need an introduction, Lord Baelish." Marian dared to move forward in the conversation, as if she wanted to be treated like a fully-aware adult. "I'm old enough to know where danger is and how to act accordingly. You've mentioned a favour. I guess that you'll offer me your guidance, protection and connections if I volunteer to help you."
"Quick wit and to the point, my dear princess. I like it… This will surely keep you alive long enough around here." He made a crucial pause, but he didn't keep her waiting for long. His smile broadened before he went on. "I know about your dancing performance in Winterfell's brothel. You see, I've got spies everywhere. I can learn any secret from any person I want. And I draw power from that…" He added seriously, but calmly, as if he could actually own people just by knowing their secrets. But then, his tone of voice revived and felt like a joyful, young water spring when he said thus: "And your blushing is just adorable. I'll have to make you feel embarrassed more often, my dear princess…"
"I'm not embarrassed." She explained, blushing more, of course. "I just thought that this anecdote would never reach my father's ears." She wondered whether Lord Baelish thought he would ask her absolutely anything now that he knew that secret from her.
"It won't. You don't have to worry about that. Your secret is safe with me. I'm not blackmailing you, I'm offering you a partnership." He said seriously.
"A partnership?" She asked amazed.
"Yes, you and me. Allies."
"And where do my dancing abilities fit in the whole picture?" She asked frowning a bit, genuinely amused by the man's interests.
"Exactly. You see, I also own a brothel here, in King's Landing. I wanted to expand the business and make it more… challenging." He said it feeling the thrill of the entrepreneur. "I wanted to add something new, daring, and impressive to the business. And that's you, my dear princess: you'll teach my whores how to dance in the fashion of your home town. It'll through the other brothels out of the game. We'll own the whole city."
"OK, it's not a big deal anyway." Marian accepted right away. She didn't really think it was such a big deal.
"I've only got a question for you, my dear princess." He seemed a bit bothered by what he had in mind to ask her, as if his business and honour depended on her next answer. "My spy was unable to tell me whether you're still pure or not. You see, I want to make sure that you'll be very well placed here in court, that no one doubts you, not even the less worthy of the servants. Otherwise, I won't consider you the perfect ally. And to do so, you have to fit it perfectly in the royal court in King's Landing. A perfect princess is virgin. So…" And then he went on a bit sadly, but seriously. "I was told that you had a very close relationship with a man in Winterfell."
"Yes, I did." She admitted blushing a bit as she thought of Jon.
Her dear Jon. His unruly curls, his soft eyes, his shy lips, his rough beard, his broad shoulders, his well-built body and arms, his lean general shape, his… undying love for her.
"Did that close relationship gave way to intercourse?" Lord Baelish asked straightforwardly, without blinking.
"No!" Marian replied all of a sudden, with pride.
"Very well then, my dear princess." He replied with a warm smile when they had reached the door to her chambers. They remained standing as they talked a bit further. "You have to be careful, you see. Your head would fall off very awkwardly if the king knew that you had given your virtue to a man who doesn't deserve you. But you haven't, right? I'm sure that Robb Stark will be such a happy husband by your side."
"Are you telling me that you don't trust my answer?" She dared to ask.
"Whether your virtue is intact or not doesn't really concern me at the end of the day." He answered seriously. "What does concern me is that my partner is telling me the truth. You can offer me more political power and a new dancing style to my girls… And in exchange for that, I can offer you a lot more than contacts and guidance, as you've said before. A lot more… Think about it: proud Lady Amiss, imposing her ideas over yours, bossing around the palace as if she owned it… She's not a royal but she acts as if she was one. You should be the one under the spotlight, not she. All the other ladies of the court should follow you, not her… You're far more beautiful… and the princess, of course. What if I helped you to teach her a jolly good lesson, my dear princess?"
"What do you mean?" She asked whispering, feeling the words roll out of her tongue as if she didn't have control over them.
"Casualties of peace, my dear princess, casualties of peace." He said with a dark, sinful smile on his face.
Suddenly, the Septa, a very stern old lady, came around the corner of the corridor and looked pretty pissed off. A whole bunch of novices followed her right behind her, and they didn't look pleased either. Marian wondered what was wrong when out of the blue, the Septa stopped right in front of her, frowned deeply when she realized who Marian was talking to, and then she coughed on purpose once.
"Lord Baelish," She began rather proudly and formally. "can you please excuse us? We need to talk to the princess concerning a private matter."
"Sure. I was leaving anyway. Good night to you, women." He said in a very posh and fake manner to the ladies present. Then he briefly turned to Marian and spoke thus: "And good night to you, my dear princess…"
Marian was unsure whether to trust Lord Baelish or not. He had a point, in everything he had said, but he looked like the devil himself. He had the qualities of both a savior and a menace, and she knew she couldn't separate those two halves. If she wanted (or needed) some help, she'd have to cope with both sides of him at the same time. Nevertheless, she didn't have much time to think about those matters, since the Septa was somehow bothered with her even though it was the first time that they had seen one another. But Marian had an idea.
"My dear Septa, I see you frowning. I've just arrived this late afternoon and I didn't have time to meet you. I didn't mean to be rude to you, though. How are you?" Marian decided to be extremely polite with her.
"I'm fine –thank you– but we must speak of some private matters concerning you, Princess Marian." She said in a rush and with mild anger.
"Let me just open the door to my chambers. We'll have some privacy there. Will it suit you, dear Septa?"
"Yes, very well, princess." The Septa replied dryly.
Not long after that, they entered Marian's chambers and sat in a nice sitting room.
"What's wrong, dear Septa?" Marian feared to ask. That late afternoon and early night had brought very tough first meetings and quite harsh first impressions so far.
"I've just been told that you might not be pure, my dear princess." She spit it out as if she was used to doing so.
"What?!" Marian couldn't believe her ears.
"I don't mean to offend you, of course. But I needed to talk to you about it as soon as possible." The Septa went on quite formally. "Are the rumours true, young lady?"
"Of course not! Who's the one spreading such ugly rumours about me?!" Marian asked naturally enraged and offended.
"My sources are trustworthy and you have to understand that I won't reveal them to you."
Of course she wouldn't reveal them. She could only prove her loyalty and worthiness as a servant of the king by gossiping and paying attention to such ill rumours. Since the king wasn't a very religious man, it was far too obvious that the Septa felt useless in court – useless except when there was 'trouble' with young ladies like Marian. That was why she needed to protect her 'sources'.
"But…!" Marian tried to complain. She really wanted to know who started the whole thing. She wanted to kick their asses.
"No buts, princess Marian!" The Septa argued back impatiently.
"Is it Lady Amiss?!" Marian pushed her to confess.
"I said no buts, princess!" The Septa was greatly pissed off, but she was trying to contain her anger because Marian had just arrived that same day. "I know that becoming a princess has been a very recent event in your life, but you have to understand that high-born ladies have always been controlled as regards their virtue. Now, you affirm that you are undoubtedly still a virgin. Is that correct?"
"Of course it is!" Marian shot back with pride, although she had been bothered when Jon refused to get on with it before they would get interrupted for the hundredth time.
"Very well then, princess Marian. You shall undergo a test to prove that you actually are." The Septa concluded matter-of-factly.
"WHAT?!"
"You don't have to worry, Princess Marian. I won't hurt." A young novice added, worried.
"You don't trust me?!" Marian shot back dumbfounded.
"We have to make sure of it." The Septa explained. "The king will demand it as proof against the rumours and then he may want to punish those who spread the lies about you, Princess Marian."
"The king?! He knows about this?! But…" Marian blushed and didn't know what to think of it.
"You have nothing to fear if you're pure, right?" Another novice asked quite meekly and naively.
"I feel so embarrassed right now." Marian replied almost whispering, trying hard to hold her anger at bay.
"It's normal. Others feel as much." Another not so young novice added then, as if she had witnessed other purity tests before.
"It's an offense. A very grave offense to you, Princess Marian." One of the youngest concluded with pride. "But we'll do right by you."
"Even though the test is made in public, you have nothing to be ashamed of." The Septa mentioned.
"IN PUBLIC?! What the-?!" Marian's heart was being assaulted by many radical bits of news that day.
"Yes, in public:" The Septa went on. "the king, your fiancé Robb Stark, Lord Stark, other ladies and lords in the court, and the ones gathered here tonight, of course. You shall be isolated behind several layers of high-standing panels of white, thick bed sheets all around you. No one will see you naked but us. The rest of the people present will only hear us talk and deliver the verdict at the end of the test, Princess Marian."
"Can't it be made in private at least? Why not the king and… us only?" Marian asked, trying to make it less of a painful event.
"I'm sorry, but the rules of the purity test are quite strict." The Septa replied sternly. "Otherwise, the rest of the members of the court might think that you have something to hide."
The Septa had said that last bit with far too much darkness, cheek and pride, so much so that it felt like a direct accusation, but Marian put on a brave face and replied daringly.
"I have NOTHING to hide."
"Very well, then. Tomorrow at dawn."
Not long after that, the Septa and the other novices went to sleep in their own chambers and left Marian on her own. Dubious thoughts were rallying in her mind, fighting for the foremost place of dominance in her long list of worries.
'Great. Great. Great. This is just great.' She thought feeling her distress take over her rational control. 'A mysterious enemy bribes half the guards in Qarth and plans an attack at the docks because he (or she) wants me dead. Robb is my newly acquired fiancé, but he keeps acting a bit weird lately and I don't know why. The king doesn't want me to go on studying and practicing medicine the way I did before – and I still don't know whether I can fully trust him or not. He probably only wants me to get a male heir for the next generation. Lady Amiss and the other ladies of the court hate me to the core and they're surely behind those ill rumours that I'm no longer a virgin. On top of that, the Septa is really pissed off at me as if I was a born trouble-maker. And Lord Baelish looks too much like a coin of his. I really think he's got two faces: the helpful partner and the evil mind behind the game… And Jon has just been forced to leave and join the Night's Watch, leaving me behind for good… All in one single fucking day! Great. Just great. Friends, partners or enemies – they all seem equal to me.'
It would prove to be a very long night with restless or little sleep.
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In the meantime, King Robert was having a jolly good time in his chambers.
"Yeah, that's right, luv…" He whispered with exhaustion, lying stark naked on his bed.
"It feels so good…" She moaned freely on top of him. His tits bounced up and down with joy, and some of her ginger curls had fallen from her loosened bun.
The window was partly open, letting some fresh air come in in that hot night. The curtains moved gently and floated in the air from time to time. The bed sheets were wrinkled and messed up on the floor right beside the king's bed.
"I've told you not to be so loud, Lady Bird…" He said as if he was tired of repeating himself, but he loved fucking girls who were far younger than him. She was exactly the same age as his daughter, but she was already married – to one of those men who preferred the company of other men, or so she had told him. "Or I'll have to punish you."
"Mmmh…" She replied coyly as he caressed the vivid red marks of her back, which he had softly flogged some days before, while he went on fucking her.
Of late he had deviously thought of punishing the whores and ladies he 'slept' with, because regular intercourse was getting rather boring. For starters, whores loved to put on an act of how big his manhood was and blah, blah, blah… – and he had abhorred it already.
One word. Two syllables.
BO-RING.
He found it boring. It was always the same old story. That's why he had started fancying one unattainable, high-born – married or not – lady after another, so much so that he had had 'secret' affairs with the majority of the ladies in court simultaneously. Of course, they were more than glad to comply with the king's commands since he had promised them jewels, expensive clothing and more political power if they agreed to 'sleep' with him. Naturally, chasing ladies like that eventually turned out to be quite an easy task because they swooned and adored him from the very start, to the point that he eventually lost all interest in doing it. He fucked and fucked and fucked… and paid unbelievably high-priced bills for earrings, necklaces, dresses, shoes, and every single fucking whim of every lady in court with whom he fucked. Obviously, all the ladies vowed to keep their 'romance' as a lovely sinful secret until they would die. He made sure of it.
A few months ago, one night proved to be quite restless when a young servant found the corpse of one of those high and mighty ladies in the stables. Nobody knew what had actually happened to her.
Nevertheless, he had eventually lost all interest in the chase and in paying such bills. In spite of that, his dick was in override mode most of the time, ruling his body and soul every single night. His physical needs couldn't be ignored, but he still wanted something more out of sex. He needed to do something.
That was why he envisioned his girls in extremely nasty situations and then he tried to make them undergo such painful experiences during intercourse with him. He never revealed the truth to them: the fact that he was bored would've made them angry, to be sure. He just argued that he felt excited by doing such things to them, that they looked lovely feminine when they were punished by him – and they bought it. They would be willing to do absolutely anything to comply, because the king would reward such loyalty with more riches and power. Eventually, of course, he would find any stupid excuse to punish them – or they made sure they did something for which it would be too easy to get punished.
"I'm sooo sorry for being loud, my king. I couldn't help it." Lady Bird added whispering feebly, shamelessly faking her worry for having upset the king. "Can you please forgive me?" She whispered in abandon as she kept on moving her hips on his.
"You know my rules…" He whispered back with cheek.
"Oh, my king!" She gasped as he fucked her harder just once.
And then he stopped fucking her abruptly.
"Stand up." He said coarsely.
She did as told trying not to show a devious smile on her face. One of the rules was not to display that they loved being told what to do and being punished. Otherwise, it would mean further punishments – which they also loved, but mostly they preferred to do one thing at a time, step by step, as if it was a little game of their own.
"Let's go." He commanded. "You know what you have to do."
They went to an adjoining little room which had been secretly devised as a "punishment room", but should anyone bump into it and open the door, they wouldn't think of it as such. The setting had all been devised as if it was just another bedroom. The punishing instruments were most mundane: spoons, forks, knives, tea cups, bed sheets, bottles, etc., such common objects, so normal and easy to find them or use them every day, that they kept the ladies thinking about intercourse with him and they made them stupidly horney every single minute of every day.
That was why Lady Bird went into that adjoining bedroom without hesitation or shame. King Robert slowly followed. That night he had thought of a test she should pass, or else she'd get her ass spanked or her back flogged again. Like four nights ago. He smiled a devil's smile as he remembered it. She looked lovely when she cried and screamed under his painful ministrations.
"My king, what have you got for me tonight?" Lady Bird asked meekly. "Spanking? A drinking game? Dirty dancing? A good old BJ?... Or flogging again?"
"Something new, my deer."
He loved hunting puns. She couldn't help smiling at him, though briefly.
"You can't smile, remember? You're not supposed to like it."
"Oh, my dear king, what shall become of me?" She said faking her concern. "I'm a no-hoper."
He smiled back at her as he came closer and closer to her.
"The spoon game." He said with a husky voice.
"Oooh. New game." She whispered back with curiosity. "What does it entail?"
"You have to carry little spoonfuls of pepper from one full plate to another empty one, placed in two opposite places of this room. Once you've finished transporting all the pepper, you shall be free."
"That's too easy, my king."
"Wait for it: you can't hold the spoon with either of your hands. You'll have to do it with your teeth and lips, crawling on the floor with your beautiful hands and knees… naked. And I'll watch you in the meantime."
"Fair enough, my king." She replied coyly.
"Don't forget not to sneeze, my dear." He said with a devious smile of his which turned her on. "If you drop a single spoonful of it, I'll make it more difficult for you to carry the pepper. And then you may have problems."
"Oh, what will you do then?"
"That's an ace up my sleeve."
"Let's just hope that I don't mess it up, then, right?" She said tantalizing him.
"Oh, you'd better watch out, my luv."
And that was how the task began. She kneeled on the floor in front of a full small plate of pepper and tried to get the spoon more or less full carefully using her teeth and lips to move the spoon. It was harder than she thought it would be, but she did it. Then, she slowly turned around, being extremely careful not to drop it. She didn't want to do it wrong from the start: part of the game obviously involved her doing the 'right' thing to appease his anger, and only later… she could be a bit clumsy.
As she crawled onwards to the empty plate on the other side of the room, her tits moved as he watched the show intently and sipped from his large glass of red wine. Not long after that, she successfully delivered the first spoonful of pepper, but then she had to come back for more.
King Robert spurred her to go on with lousy, sexually-overt comments. He wasn't a brilliant man when it came down to talking. Refinement in oratory was for the learned type of man. He was better than that – or so he though, of course: he was a warrior and an experienced hunter, the type of man who really knows how to handle a woman in bed. Or on the floor. Or anywhere.
"Get on with it already, little bitch." He had never called her a bitch, but she moaned a bit after that – and she found that she liked being insulted when she was trying hard to satisfy him. "The longer it takes, the harder I'll fuck you later."
The clock was ticking, she thought as she crawled back to the full plate, sending a brief smirk to the carpet on the floor as she felt her wet folds ache in anticipation. Lousy, and quite drunk by then by the way, as he was with his comments to her, she couldn't help, though, getting horney. She felt it in the nature of her subdued roleplaying.
"Good girl, luv… By the Old Gods and the New, I'd fuck you right here and now." He growled trying hard to contain himself. "If only you'd behave yourself… I wouldn't have to punish you like this."
He was only saying this to tempt her, to tease her. She couldn't answer. Not because of the spoon in her mouth, but because the king's rules during a game or a punishment were very specific when it came down to letting her speak: she wasn't supposed to, except with direct permission on his behalf, of course.
"Mmmh…" She only replied moaning coyly, as if begging him to take advantage of her right there and then, in front of the full plate of pepper silently waiting for her, as if she needed him to end her allegedly debasing agony.
"You're not supposed to answer." He said darkly and then he slowly bit his lower lip. "I'll have to make the task harder for you now… You deserve this, bad girl."
Having said that, he rose from his seat to get closer to her. When he stood right behind her, she tensed up and he commanded:
"Stop moving." He said with a dry voice. She did as told immediately. "Put both your hands behind your back." She did it without hesitation. "More… Let me see how you touch your elbows, like this…"
And he pulled both her forearms, binding them together with his strong, calloused hands, until she could touch her elbows with either of her hands. Then, he proceeded to tie her wrists and forearms with his thick leather belt. She felt like dying to be touched where it ached her the most, right between her legs.
"Now, you'll have to continue your task without using your hands to crawl. What about that now, huh?" He asked daringly, gently spanking her naked ass once, which made her roll her eyes in abandon.
But she couldn't waste much time relishing in the dirty pleasure he was giving her, because she had to go on. One spoonful after another, she carried the task out flawlessly, until she decided to push his patience a bit further: she pretended to accidentally drop a bit of pepper due to an unexpected sneezing.
"You naughty little slut…" He commented harshly. "You'll never learn!"
Therefore, he went to her again and tied a leather collar for dogs round her delicate neck, with a book tied on a string which hung from it, making her balance unstable every single time she moved.
"This will make it a bit more difficult to you, right?" He asked with cheek. "How does that feel?"
As he asked that last question, he dared to gently touch her aching wet folds just once with the tip of one forefinger. She had to drown a scream down her throat and almost collapsed. But she had a task yet to fulfil. He spurred her to go on, but this time it was really difficult not to mess it up.
In fact, she dropped the next spoonful of pepper genuinely by accident, and King Robert had had enough. So he grunted, rose from his seat and stormed to her.
"I've had enough, little bitch. I shall have you now."
And he kneeled behind her to fuck her hard and rough. She moaned freely and shamelessly.
"You like that, don't you?" He said between gasps of fury.
She couldn't answer.
The Septa couldn't either.
"What the-?!" The king roared with a dying voice when he realized that the Septa had found them doing it – in such a devious style.
Lady Bird's face grew paler and paler when she saw the Septa's horrified and disapproving face.
"What's going on in here?!" The Septa asked with a thin, shaken voice.
"What the hell are you doing here in my private chambers, woman?!" The king roared furiously, as if he was insulting her.
"And what is Lady Bird doing here in your private chambers like that, your highness?!" The Septa roared back with fierceness, which left the king speechless and belittled by her. "I'm not supposed to chide you, your highness, but I expected better manners from our king! This is most unacceptable! And you, young lady, I'm also talking about you! If betting was an acceptable pastime, I'd bet all my savings and honour that you consented to this!... We shall have a little talk once you get dressed! Now…"
She tried to calm herself because she had come to deliver an important message to the king.
"Now, your highness," She went on a bit calmly then. "I've come here tonight because I have very important news to deliver to you."
"News? What's happened?" He asked annoyed.
"Robb Stark has doubts as regards Princess Marian's virginity, and I have my own too." She replied serious as hell.
"WHAAAAAT?!" The king roared back unable to believe this.
"We have agreed to make Marian undergo a purity test tomorrow at dawn if you agree to it too." The Septa went on harshly. "We need this, your highness. The Iron Throne could be at stake."
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