Sarafine allowed the wine to slide past her lips and down her throat, wishing it to bring her some form of calm in the chaos that was engulfing her city outside the walls she was sheltered behind. Her gown was much alike the Queen's; metalwork on the bodice which resembled armour. They wear strength out there whilst we wear it in here.

Many noble ladies sat in the chamber in Maegor's Holdfast, quivering in fear and praying in hope. Sarafine was afraid too, but she believed in her King more than any god - he was the realest thing she'd ever experienced, and she hoped she'd experience him again.

"I don't like the screaming, mother," sweet Myrcella said from Cersei's side.

"I know, sweet child," the Queen ran fingers through the girls golden hair, "when your brother wins the battle, it'll be done with, I promise,"

"William's not going to die, is he?" Tommen asked and Sarafine's heart stopped at the suggestion.

"Not if the Gods are just," Cersei smiled at her youngest boy, "princess, where is our sweet Lady Sansa?"

The girl perked her head up from one of the prayer circles, her direwolf at her back as her own personal guard,

"There she is...Sansa, darling, come sit," the Queen beckoned to the Stark.

"Your Grace," she addressed as she sat, her wolf trailing behind her.

"Does your red flower still bloom, girl?" she asked, receiving only a nod from the clearly anxious Lady, "not long left, now, I imagine,"

"No, Your Grace,"

"Did you see my son off to battle?"

"Yes, Your Grace. He looked very handsome in his Lannister armour,"

"Yes, he did," she responded, as if she could see him in front of her, "do you know what it's like for me to watch them go out to battle?" she asked both of the girls.

Sarafine watched as Queen Cersei Lannister sipped her wine again, "My heart has never been heavier. I lost my husband to nature's cruelty. If I lost a son of mine to that dragon bitch...I don't know what I'd do. I don't even know if I'd live through more grief," she mused.

"Sometimes the people who've lost the most prove to be the strongest," the Dornish Princess offered.

"True indeed,"

"If the Targaryen can fight to sack a city in the name of vengeance for a family she never knew...I don't believe your fury over your losses would even be imaginable,"

she continued, "grief breeds choice; strength or submission,"

"And if we hold the fury of lions, I believe the choice is already made for us," the Queen smiled at her, "more wine,"

Sansa sat, barely sipping on her own glass.

"We will prevail, my Lady. You have to believe so," the Princess encouraged.

"I don't believe in much anymore," she sighed.

"Believe in them," Sarafine begged, sipping on her own wine again.

Sarafine looked over the women. All invited here by the Queen Regent, as the laws of courtesy expected of her; though Sarafine would be surprised if Cersei knew the names of any more than five of the fearful guests.

"Your Grace," Lancel Lannister burst into the room, his hair sticking to his face from the heat of battle.

"What news, cousin?"

"It's about your father," he spoke, his volume lowered, "he's been seen riding here for battle," the Princess heard him and Cersei took her hand.

"Will he be here in time?" she questioned.

"The King set the bay afire, Your Grace, but her remaining troops have begun to attempt a breaking down of the Mud Gate," Lancel avoided her question.

"How many?" the Queen near shouted, fear in her eyes. Sarafine was lost for words completely, all she could do was listen.

"I can't say, Your Grace, but Lord Tywin's forces are not far from arrival,"

"And what good is that if her army has already breached our gates?" she snapped at him, "where are my sons?"

"Waiting to defend the city at the Mud Gate, Your Grace," he informed.

"Both of them?"

"Yes, Your Grace,"

Gods, Will, please come back to me, Sarafine panicked internally, you promised not to leave me here alone! Get out of there!

She shared a look with the Queen and knew that they felt the same. Sarafine wanted nothing more than to see her love safe, even if it meant that she would have to go get him from the vanguard herself and drag him to his chambers where safety was somewhat assured.

"Listen to me, cousin. If either of my sons are harmed, you will suffer the same as them, do you hear me? Shield their backs. Both of them,"

Lancel nodded in terror.

"Do not return here unless you mean to tell me the battle is over,"

"Yes, Your Grace," the boy trembled, walking out of the room.

The Princess thought to herself...is this how I'll feel my entire reign as Queen? Terrified for him? She didn't like the idea of it...that anyone could hurt him and that he would not recover. He may have been a King but she had seen with her own eyes that he bled the same way as everyone else. She didn't want to live in fear that traitors contesting for the Throne would come for her love...and her too if they wished. They could hurt her in her bed, in her solar, in the streets of the city she called home - she'd learnt that in these past few weeks.

They could've come for her any day, but now it seemed so much more of threat that her and her love would be attacked. Everyone was watching them, everyone was talking of and forming opinions about them - it was only a matter of time before the Princess would be a victim of treason; whether she'd pay with her life of temporary health she did not know - but that was the way of the world they lived in.

"Mother," his small voice spoke.

"Yes, Tommen?"

"What will happen if they get past the Mud Gate?"

"Don't worry yourself, child. Your brother is strong...he will protect us just like your father did," Cersei tried to reassure her son, but Sarafine remained somewhat unconvinced.

He is strong, but he is only human. She believed in him, still, but not too much to think he was invincible. She could still hear the distant calls of "nock, draw, fire" when she listened close enough; a clear sign that the battle still raged on. She hated the sound.

She thought of her family in Dorne for a moment. What would they think when they hear of this? she worried. They had already been wary of betrothing another of their Princesses to a crown Prince, though William was not a Targaryen; her Aunt Elia and cousins Rhaenys and Aegon had been slain by a now late Lannister commander. Will they ask for me to return to Sunspear? she feared. Separation from her love scared her more than anything. King's Landing had been her home longer than Dorne had...she didn't wish to live anywhere else or with anyone else; regardless of her family name.

In truth, all the Princess wanted to do was sleep. Her eyes were heavy and her bones were tired. She did not know what the hour were when they collected her to see William off to battle, but she had not slept since the evening before. How could I? she thought, remembering the sounds that the breeze blew into her room; the plague of orders and grunts from William's troops as they prepared for what was to come.

"Shall we sing a song, Princess?" Myrcella spoke from next to her.

"Of course, Princess. Which song would you like?"

"I don't know, any, I don't mind,"

"I think it's quite the occasion for The Rains of Castamere, don't you?" she said, knowing that the girl hardly understood the meaning of the song but that the Queen and most other women in the room would appreciate the sound.

"And who are you, the proud Lord said, that I should bow so low?" Sarafine started, looking to Cersei.

"Only a cat of a different coat, that's all the truth I know," the Queen joined before the room chorused the tale of victory with them.

A coat of gold a coat of red, a lion still has claws.

And mine are long and sharp my Lord, as long and sharp as yours.

And so he spoke, and so he spoke, that Lord of Castamere

And now the rains weep o'er his hall, with no one there to hear.

Yes, now the rains weep o'er his hall, and not a soul to hear.

"You'll make a great Queen someday, my love," Cersei smiled at her, "I couldn't be prouder of you,"

"You forget that you taught me all I know," Sarafine ran her fingers through the blonde hair of the Princess as her mother had done to her before, "I owe it all to you,"

"Your Grace!" Lancel's voice shouted again as he burst back into the room clutching his shoulder. Oh, please don't bring us bad news, she begged in her mind.

"They've breached the gates, Your Grace," he whispered and the heart of the Princess felt as if it had sunk to the bottom of the bay.

"My father is not here?" the Queen questioned, furiously.

"No, he-"

"Where are my sons?" she demanded.

"I do not know, Your Grace, I believe they are still fighting," Lancel stuttered.

"Has William given the order?"

"He sent me to give it to you, Your Grace,"

What order? the Princess asked, is there something I have missed?

"Sarafine," the Queen turned to her, "get Lady Sansa. It's time to go,"

"Cersei," Sarafine looked up at her, "what's happening?"

"It's not safe for us here,"

Without a second thought, Sarafine rushed to the other side of the room where Sansa Stark knelt and prayed,

"Sansa, we have to leave,"

"Leave? Leave where?"

Sarafine did not answer but to grab the girls hand and pull her along, behind the Queen and her younger children, the wolf following all the way.

"If things change, find me," Cersei instructed to Lancel before they exited the chamber in the Holdfast; leaving behind the women and wine which had been their company the entire night for a destination the Princess did not know.

It took her a moment to process Lancel's words; maybe the horror of their nature had washed over her and left her unable to comprehend them, but it appeared to have worn off now for she understood them in their entirety.

She'd made it inside, Sara realised, and it could all be over now.

From there on, she did not recognise the hallways they were walking through. She could not cry, she could not speak. All she could do was think about her William and the fate he were suffering on the battlefield for all the Seven Kingdoms that he ruled. The Blackwater was truly a dark place tonight.

Qyburn met them in the halls, a torch in his hand and a grim look on his face.

"You are sure that you know the way?"

"I've studied these tunnels for years, Your Grace. Trust me," he responded, looking over their company and back to the Queen. It was then that Sarafine realised what was happening. She squeezed Lady Sansa's hand tighter as they followed one another down countless stairs and into a dark abyss; lit only by the flames of Qyburn's torch.

Silent tears fell from the eyes of the Princess as they walked through the seemingly endless underground halls. Sansa was crying too, she could feel it when they linked arms. No one said a word; not even curious Tommen or innocent Myrcella. They walked with mouths shut like everyone else. The only sound to be heard was the footsteps of the royal party. Sarafine would've walked faster, as would everyone, had her heart not been carrying the weight of the world and her eyes constantly blinking the emotion out of her vision.

Qyburn moved with haste, but no one else could match him in pace - not even the four guards that accompanied them or Lady the direwolf. The walk seemed to go on for hours, or maybe it were just her sadness that made it feel that way. Lady Sansa whispered something to her about Will, but she barely heard it and didn't care to ask for a repetition. All she could do was hope and pray that the gods would deliver him.

"Are we far?" Cersei broke the silence.

"Judging by my markings," he held a torch to the wall, "we are halfway,"

Sarafine figured that they must've been deeper underground than even the Black Cells beneath the Keep; for she could not hear anything that was happening on the surface of the city. Maybe there's nothing happening at all, she thought, maybe she burnt everything to ashes like her father had wanted too. Maybe she's just as mad as him.

She didn't want to accept it, but she knew that if the Targaryen's forces prevailed, William would not see the light of day again. Her heart broke as she thought of it, wishing to be by his side instead of escaping in a maze of tunnels to wherever in the Realm the Queen had deemed safe for them.

Then she heard the footsteps that were not any of their own and her heart stopped beating in its place. The steps were quicker, louder, more urgent than anyone else's. She closed her eyes, if this is the end please make it quick, she prayed. Lady growled a wicked sound, her tail brushing against the dresses of Sansa and Sarafine.

"Your Grace! Your Grace!" his painful voice echoed through the tunnels. Lancel. Qyburn held the torch up and Sarafine was almost afraid to look in fear that the sight would not be pretty.

"What is it?" the Queen whispered, moving past her future-daughters and to her timid cousin.

"Lord Tywin has arrived, Your Grace. The Tyrell's at his side. The city is saved, Your Grace,"

"Oh!" she cried, tears of joy bursting out of her and Sarafine alike, "my sons? Where are my sons? Take me to them,"

"In the Throne Room, Your Grace,"

The trip backwards through the tunnels was such a rush that Sarafine could barely remember a single exchange she had. She ran through the narrow walls and up the steps, her shortness of breath making every attempt to slow her - but she did not stop until she saw him.

And when the Princess saw her King in his armour again, his face worn from battle, tears poured down her porcelain cheeks as he wrapped her in his steel-coated arms.

"I promised you, didn't I?" he whispered, smile evident in his tone.

"Don't ever do that to me again," she laughed through her tears.

"You are so beautiful when you cry," he held her face in his hands and kissed her.

And for Sarafine, everything was right again and her heart could continue beating.

- A/N -

Yay for Will and Tywin's victory! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you are still hanging out to see Will in combat - don't fret! You will definitely see it soon!

Let me know in a review what you thought Cersei and Will had planned and what you thought of this chapter! ;)

Have a lovely day! X