After nearly a year, Cersei can safely say things are not going as well as she thought they would.
One, Ellaria Sand is still around, despite her efforts to get Oberyn all for herself. The bastard woman notices, as she promised she would, and begins to retaliate. If her husband notices they are competing for his attention, he doesn't show. He even suggests, more than once, that the three of them should sleep together, only for Cersei to politely refuse—Ellaria never says a word, either because she doesn't want to get caught or because she wants Cersei to be 'the difficult' one in their love triangle.
Not that she loves Oberyn. She enjoys sex with him—how could she not, when he is so much skilled in women's pleasure—and his company is amiable, but love is a strong word she'd rather not throw away, at least not in her mind.
In the time they are married, Cersei only got pregnant once, only to lose it soon after finding it out. Oberyn mistook her frustration with sadness and tried to comfort her. "Not every marriage blossoms so soon," he explained. "Look at me and Ella, we are together for longer and have yet to have children of our own."
However, shortly after her loss, Ellaria announced her own pregnancy, and she has yet to lose it. Despite her best efforts, Cersei can't shove away the thought she did it on purpose to get back at her. (Yes, yes, it's an irrational suspicion; pregnancy is not something that can be so neatly planned.)
On the bright side, she gets along well with the children. Obara flowered a few months after her arrival, and, as Ellaria was away with Oberyn on a visit to Hellhot, it was Cersei who guided her through the beginning of her womanhood. Those days spent together strengthened their bond, and now her husband's firstborn always goes to her in times of need.
She has yet to forge such a bond with Nymeria and Tyene, but Sarella is a sweet girl who straight up falls in love with anyone who gives her attention, and Princess Arianne likes to have a lady of a Great House around to teach her about ruling.
Prince Doran's wife Mellario showed up two months after Cersei's arrival to fetch her son Quentyn—understandable, given his age—so there are no boys in Sunspear, only in the Water Gardens.
Oberyn talked to Lady Alyse about only charging nobles to leave their kids in the marbled paradise, in order to fund its maintenance, and the new law passed, much to Cersei's satisfaction. She already has left a mark in Sunspear, as small as it is. Of course, she aims for more, but for now this is enough.
It is only when Oberyn announces his sister is coming with her family that Cersei realizes she hasn't written to Jaime once, busy as she was with her plans to win her husband over. What is he thinking of me now?
It dawns on her that she doesn't miss her twin as much as she once expected to. For all the passionate night they shared over their lives, with or without sex, his absence doesn't sting all that much. It was much more noticeable in her first weeks, since they had spent every possible night in bed since his return to Casterly Rock, but Oberyn is a fairly good replacement—a more experienced one, even, who drives her to the edge quicker than her brother ever did.
Still, when she hears of his impending arrival, she smiles. Due to their lack of written communication, she's sure they have a lot of catching up to do before falling back in bed. Perhaps Jaime can give her the viable child she was denied not so long ago.
Much to her irritation, Oberyn has Ellaria greet Queen Elia and Jaime alongside them, as well as Princess Arianne. From the distance, she catches sight of Prince Doran, his wife and son.
Jaime looks as handsome as ever in his crimson jerkin and mustard-colored breeches. His hair is cut short, and it's clear his last shave was before leaving King's Landing—even so, his stubble is pleasant to look at, enough that it leaves her already excited for later.
It doesn't help that Oberyn leans to her ear and whispers, "I'd like to try out the three of us. Or four."
She might even allow Ellaria in her bed if it means having Jaime to herself. The Sand woman is eyeing her twin with desire, so the possibility is not far-fetched—although not the most pleasant to imagine.
Queen Elia is courteous as always, and so is Jaime in a public setting. He kisses Ellaria's knuckles chivalrously, oblivious to her heated gaze as he claims it's a pleasure to meet her. Prince Doran greets his brother and daughter warmly and smiles sincerely at Sand, while Cersei only gets a polite greeting. It's to be expected, she reminds herself. He's known Ellaria for at least two years, and he barely ever met you. Give yourselves time.
Princess Arianne guides her parents and brother to their old chambers, while Ellaria is responsible for accommodating the staff that came with the royal party. It leaves Cersei and Oberyn alone with the royal family as they go to Queen Elia's old room. "We cleaned another room for King Aegon and Princess Rhaenys," she says, "as we did not know whether you two would want to share chambers or not."
Jaime and Queen Elia exchange glances and sigh almost at the same time. "We won't," the Queen answers for both of them. "As good as my husband is as a bed fellow, I like my privacy, and I think he can say the same."
"Definitely," Jaime agrees. "Especially since we absolutely don't need human warmth to sleep well here."
Her goodsister laughs at that, and it annoys Cersei that the two of them have inside jokes—and they sleep together in King's Landing! Granted, it seems that bed sharing is all they do, and there are no feelings to keep them together when given the chance to spend their nights apart.
"Oh, but human warmth is just as welcome here," her husband quips in. "You'll soon find out this is no issue at all, Lord Jaime."
Queen Elia glares at her brother, seemingly catching on his meaning. She has to talk to Oberyn before bed time; she wants Jaime all to herself before sharing him with her husband, and Ellaria is not a certainty in this arrangement.
They give the royal family time for rest, during which Cersei talks to her husband. "Please, let me have one night with Jaime before throwing yourself at him," she pleads.
He laughs. "Of course, my dear," he replies smoothly. "I was under the assumption you'd get your meal first, then invite me for tomorrow night."
"If he agrees," she replies. "I'm not sure he will." Jaime doesn't strike her as someone who would engage in orgies, but then, she didn't find them appealing either until Oberyn suggested having one with her brother.
During dinner, Cersei sits in front of Jaime and entangles one of her legs with his, rubbing skin against skin while they eat. Her twin's gaze grows heated as time passes by, and she sees he can barely restrain himself when it's time to retire for bed. Only Princess Rhaenys is capable of tearing his eyes away from her—she noticed, in King's Landing, that he has a soft spot for the girl.
He doesn't hide his intentions when he follows his sister instead of his wife. Queen Elia glances at him with a hint of amusement, which is odd in her eyes—then again, the Queen was raised in the same culture as Oberyn, and she did marry Jaime aware of his relationship with Cersei.
They don't talk at all for the first hour, too busy touching and kissing one another. It is only when they decide to take a break that she is able to bring Oberyn's proposal up. "My husband knows about us," she says, "and he was wondering if you'd be up for an addition to our bed."
Whatever reaction she expected, Jaime sitting up and squeezing his eyes at her wasn't one of them. "Your husband," he all but hisses. "The one you've been fighting with his lover over, instead of writing to me?"
She sits up, letting the bed sheets fall. "What?"
"You think I'm not aware? Your husband wrote to my wife that you and Ellaria Sand are not getting along. I've known you all my life, Cersei. I knew it was no coincidence you were quarrelling with Oberyn's paramour. Tell me, sweet sister, what does he have that I do not? A larger cock? A better tongue? More skilled hands?"
Her eyes go wide. Never, in a million years, she'd think this would happen. Oberyn always acted oblivious to hers and Ellaria's subtle exchanges, and yet he caught on enough to report it to his sister. Then Jaime, who never saw a thing, quickly guessed the reason behind their conflict.
"You are imagining things, Jaime," she replies, raising her hand to touch his arm.
He recoils. "You two were whispering to each other when we arrived—"
"He was asking to get in bed with us!"
"How often do you two fuck?"
"I—I don't know, Jaime! This is my marital duty!"
"He married you while fully aware of our relationship, and he already has a woman to warm his bed. There is no need for you to do the same."
This conversation is getting ridiculous. "Jaime, my marriage is not the same as yours. Queen Elia has two children already and, as you said it yourself, you have an heir in Tyrion. I have a duty to give Oberyn trueborn children."
"Do you?" He counters. "He won't inherit a damn thing. He may rule Sunspear now, but it is only in his brother's name. When Prince Doran dies, his daughter gets Dorne, not your husband. So tell me, Cersei, where does your obligation lie?"
She stands up, uncaring if she's naked. "I refuse to let you turn me into a villain," she snarls. "You have it all, Jaime. Lord of Casterly Rock, Warden of the West, husband to the Queen Mother and Regent… You have all the power to make all the changes you want. Who am I here? All I've been able to do is to convince Oberyn to pass a ridiculously small law that might fall as soon as Doran comes back! If I need to spread my legs to grow in influence over my new home, how can you judge me?"
Jaime's face suddenly goes from angry to sad. "But power is not what I aim for, Cersei," he argues, sounding strangely soft. "I use it to achieve other goals, yes, but I don't say or do things in order to gain more of it. This was always your ambition, never mine."
She doesn't understand. "But we are one and the same," she counters. "One person in two bodies. How can you not want power when I do?"
"I just don't," he replies. "And, frankly, Cersei, I don't think we are one person in two bodies. We may be whole together, but we're also whole while apart. And you know it, deep down, otherwise you wouldn't have chased after Rhaegar, and now you wouldn't be fighting for Oberyn's attention. You know you are whole all by yourself, and you've been telling us otherwise because… well, I don't know why." He shakes his head. "I've been telling this because I believed it. I did it for a long time, but… I've realized the truth."
"This doesn't have to change a thing," she insists. She cannot lose her brother, not like this. "You… you don't have to be faithful to me. We can live our lives, then, whenever we get to meet, we can… well, do what we just did. Get fun. Pleasure. You satisfy me in ways Oberyn cannot, and I'd bet it'd be the same for you."
He looks even sadder as he stands up, and she realizes it was the wrong thing to say. "If we were one and the same, Cersei," he says quietly. "You'd never have propositioned such a thing." He begins to dress up. "I fucked you all these times because I wanted you like a husband should want his wife. I loved you like a husband should love his wife. I still do… but I can't keep going like this. And neither should you have to." He buttons his shirt up. "I hope you can find true happiness here, sister. I really do, and I think you can if you let yourself try. But I can't be part of it anymore."
With that, he opens the door and leaves the room. Slowly, she sits down on the bed. There is no reaction, no feelings, nothing.
The rest of the week goes awfully. In the morning, her husband knocks on the door connecting their chambers. When she opens, he asks, "How did it go?"
"There won't be orgies," she snaps. "If you truly want him, you have to do the work yourself."
Instead of snapping back, though, he softens. "Are things over between you two, then?" She hangs her head low, which is answer enough for him. He pulls her into a hug. "Perhaps it's for the best. Keeping up a relationship with such a big distance between you two is next to impossible."
There is no judgement, and she fights off tears.
She and Jaime avoid talking to each other beyond formalities. Queen Elia looks at her softly, as if aware of what happened between them—though, if she and Jaime are as friendly as they appear, he may have told her.
Even Ellaria treats her more gently, although it might be because Cersei hasn't made any move on Oberyn this week. To be honest, she lacks the energy to do so while her twin is within her sight.
Their awkwardness cuts the royal trip short—a week instead of ten days. Jaime tentatively hugs her goodbye, but makes no promises to write to her or anything of the sort. She doesn't either. She doubts they'll speak to each other anytime soon.
This changes things. If Sunspear is all she will ever have, with no Jaime even as reprieve, she must not continue to live on as she does now. She must sit down and think of how her life has to be from now on.
