8) Cersei - Myrcella: "Your role as a wife"

Stupid Imp!

Stupid, good for nothing Imp!

Stupid, good for nothing, evil greedy creature of an Imp!

He had sold her daughter, her little girl. He had gone behind her back and sold Myrcella for his own nefarious plans. He was always scheming, always undermining her. He was always getting in her way, sabotaging her plans and thwarting her efforts. He had sent her men away, poisoned her so she couldn't attend the council meetings, spread ill words about her. But this, this was just too much. He crossed a line. He messed with her children.

It was not Myrcella's fault. She was an innocent girl who had to pay for her uncle's nasty machinations. And Cersei was helpless to stop it. But she wouldn't send her daughter unprepared. Myrcella wouldn't be a victim of this terrible system that eats little girls. Myrcella will never become a manipulated little sheep, like that silly Stark girl they tried to force upon Joffrey. No. She had to prepare Myrcella for what awaited her. She would have to talk to her. Now.

Cersei sat at the table and watched her two youngest children share a meal together. Myrcella and Tommen loved each other, but thanks to that seven times damned traitor of a brother she had, they wouldn't be able to enjoy each other's company for a very long time. Cersei watched with a mixture of pride, ominous sadness, nostalgia for what was to come and barely contained rage while the two young children laughed together at the table.

Not now. Not yet.

After breakfast it was time for their lessons. After their lessons it was time for lunch. After lunch it was play time. After play time it was time for an evening snack. Cersei didn't want to interrupt any of that. Her daughter had a right to enjoy every minute of the precious little time she still had in the city with her family and her friends. So she waited until it was her time to be with Myrcella. Her time and only hers.

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"You have such lovely hair" Cersei told her daughter as she brushed her long golden curls. "But soon you will have to brush away the knots on your own. I won't be there to do to for you." Thanks to your cunt of an uncle, she wanted to add but held her tongue. Myrcella loved her uncle.

"I know how to do it" she replied cheerfully.

Of course she knew, it didn't take a maester chain to brush hair, Cersei thought. "Show me" she smiled and gave her daughter the brush.

As Myrcella started untangling the knots and straightening small strands of hair at a time, Cersei couldn't stop herself from just looking at her daughter. She was beautiful, and this idiot Martell prince was getting far more than he ever deserved. The Martells. Stupid Imp!

"Things are different in Dorne" Cersei started. She needed to prepare her daughter. "They are not as civilized as we are. Not quite as savage as the northerners but certainly not nearly as refined as people in other regions."

"Sansa is from the north. And she's not a savage."

"No, she isn't. But neither is she very bright, is she? She's dull and boring, not like you."

"I like her."

"Of course you do. You're a sweetheart" Cersei smiled. "But do you think Sansa is prepared to be Joffrey's wife? To be a Queen?"

"She's too young."

"Like you. Young, beautiful and sweet" Cersei said and gently grabbed the brush from her daughter's hand. "Let me do it." She sat behind her daughter and continued stroking her hair, silently relishing the closeness with her child. "But unlike her, you will not be sent there like a lamb to the slaughter" she spat through gritted teeth.

"What do you mean?" the girl asked confused.

Cersei took a deep breath and sighed. It was time to begin.

"Your role as a wife. What do you think is expected of you?"

"I don't suppose we'll be married for some time yet. I think I will first get to know Prince Trystane, we'll become friends, we'll fall in love and then we will marry."

"Sounds beautiful, doesn't it?" Cersei smiled condescendingly at Myrcella's back shaking her head. "And after you marry?"

"We'll have children. Many children. And we will live in the castle and play with them."

"Are you excited?"

"I don't know" the girl shrugged her shoulders. "On the one hand, yes, I am. I'll be marrying a prince and having his children. But part of me is a bit scared."

"Why?"

"Because I don't know Dorne. I don't know the Martells. I don't know Prince Trystane. I hope he will be nice to me."

"He'd better! Or he'd have to face me!" Cersei joked and was happy to see her daughter laugh as well. "But you're right. It is indeed an exciting prospect. Soon you will be a child no longer and you need to be prepared for what's coming."

Myrcella remained quiet waiting for her mother to continue.

"As the wife of the Prince of Dorne, what do you think are your duties?"

"Be a good wife. Love him. But he'd better love me too!" she grinned echoing her mother's words. "Have his children. Help him with the castle. Comfort him."

"Yes" her mother nodded noncommittally. "And who will comfort you? Who will help you?"

"My husband, I suppose. He'd better!"

"No. Men are no good. Do not expect your husband to comfort you, to help you. Do not expect anything from men that you can get yourself."

"Not all men are bad. Father was a good man. So are uncle Jaime and uncle Tyrion."

"They bring you gifts and they laugh at your jokes, but do you think they listen to you or care about you and what happens to you? No. All men care about is their power. And as women, we're not supposed to get in the way of their power. Or so they think. But we can have power as well."

"You have power."

"Yes, because I made it that way. Your father never listened to me. I was a good wife and gave him children. I did my duty. But I did not stop myself at just doing my duty. Make sure you get what you deserve."

"Did father not love you?"

"Of course he did." Of course he didn't, but no need to worry her about that now. The oaf is gone, dead and buried. "He loved me as his wife. But I had to gain my space in power, he didn't give it to me. My own father also denied me my space in power. My brother" the cunt that sold you, "tried to undermine my place in power. But I'm still here. I'm the Queen."

"Yes you are" Myrcella turned around to face her mother and gave her a sweet smile. She reckoned her hair had been brushed long enough so she remained facing her mother. "And I will be Princess of Dorne."

Oh, sweet innocent Myrcella, you've no idea.

"Yes, sweetling, you'll be Princess of Dorne. And don't let anyone take that away from you. No husband, no man, no Lord, no servant, no filthy Sand snake bastard from Dorne can take that away from you. I'll always be here for you. And I can be there at your side the minute you need me."

"Thanks mother"

"You will make your own place. You have a beautiful smile. Polite smiles and sparkling eyes open many doors. Polite eyes and sparkling eyes hide your deep innermost thoughts. Don't let men tell you what to do or where to stand. You have your own voice, let it be heard."

"Yes, mother" Myrcella replied starting to feel a bit more apprehensive.

"Men say our duty as a wife is to provide them with heirs. Well, our children are our heirs, not theirs. We carry them, we bear them, we birth them, we raise them. You will have beautiful children, and they will be your heirs, whoever the father is."

"Will their father not be my husband?"

"Of course sweetling. And if he isn't, just make sure everybody thinks he is."

"What do you mean?"

"Appearances hide truths, sweetling. As long as the men around you think you're fulfilling their expectations, you can do what you want, and nobody can take anything away from you. Men are easily fooled"

"Polite smiles and sparkling eyes…"

"Hide truths" Cersei nodded finishing the phrase. "Your uncle is sending you to Dorne because he thinks this will suit his needs and he expects to achieve power through you. Your power is for you and only you to use, not for your uncle or any other man to claim. With power you will have many enemies, envious ambitious people who will resent you and will try to take things from you. Don't let them."

"I will try to make friends."

"It's lonely at the top. People who reach out to you are not your friends. Powerful women like me, or like you will be, were not meant to make friends. We were meant to make people serve us. That's how you get things done. Power breeds more power. We were born to be powerful, you and I. But you need to make it happen yourself. Nobody will give it to you and many people will try to take it from you." My father, my husband, my Imp brother, Ned Stark, my good brothers, lickspittles at the Council. And I will not be there to protect you from men like them.

"Mother, you're scaring me. I never thought being the wife of a prince would be so dangerous."

Cersei was going to answer but stopped herself. Myrcella was young and had her whole life ahead of her. Dorne was different. Yes, they were savages, but what they lacked in refinement they also lacked in cunning. What she had said was enough for now. Myrcella would not be sent to Dorne unawares, but no use scaring her either.

"Don't worry, sweetling. You will be fine. You will thrive in Dorne. You'll make a great Princess." You will not be a little dove.

"I hope so!" she sounded excited. "Thanks mother."

"Goodnight, sweetling."

"Goodnight mother."