In a cage with a lioness

Chapter Four

"You promised that you wouldn't go!" Tommen said with a cry as he clung to the skirts of the dress that I was wearing and while he was not my son, the sight of the tears rolling down his cheeks was enough to make me feel like I was the worst person in the entire world and for a moment all I wanted to do was forget that I had ever suggested that I should go back to Casterly Rock and pick the little boy up and carry him back into the castle.

But I had to do this, I needed to get out from under Ser Kevan's watchful eye. I needed to find a way back to my world and I couldn't do that here, in the middle of this viper's nest. Cersei was not the most bookish of characters in the series, to say the least. It would look like she was plotting something and no doubt Ser Kevan would try and stop me and he had the power to do so now.

This was the way it had to be, even if it hurt me to do it. I ran my fingers through Tommen's hair for a moment and just considered scooping him up and carrying him into the wheelhouse and hang anyone who tried to stop me but I knew that if I did that then I would lose all the progress that I had made so far, I had gotten Kevan to let me out from under his watch.

He would never trust Cersei, not as if I could really blame him on his part but I needed to go and I couldn't risk him stopping me now. I was lucky that he wanted Cersei as far away from Tommen as he could get her as it would be easy for him to have Cersei confined to her rooms and if he did that then I had no way to get out from them and I would be trapped with Cersei for the rest of my life.

I wasn't going to let that happen.

But that didn't change the fact that having a sobbing eight-year-old in your arms, an eight-year-old who had lost everyone he cared about in such a short time and was about to have his mother leave him as well, was still hard to cope with and I didn't know what I could say to make him feel better so instead I simply pulled him closer to me and brushed my fingers through his curls and pressed a kiss to his forehead before I pulled back and held him by his shoulders.

"Tommen, listen to me," I said, as gently as I could while still trying to be firm so that he would listen to me, whenever my little sister would get upset when she was a kid and it was up to me to calm her down I had learned that it wouldn't work to just croon at a kid, you had to be firm as well. "I know what I promised and I am so sorry that I am breaking it, but your safety is the only thing that matters to me and the best way for me to keep you safe is if I am at Casterly Rock."

Tommen sniffed as fat tears continued to roll down his cheeks and I brushed them away as I stared down into his green eyes and my heart broke all over again, but I had to be strong now. "How can you keep me safe if you aren't here?" The little king whimpered.

"It's hard to explain, and I wish that I could explain it to you but I can't. Not right now, when you're older you'll start to understand but right now I need you to be a brave boy for mother and do what Uncle Kevan tells you, okay?" Tommen was too upset to speak but he nodded and I pressed a kiss to one of his round cheeks and held him tight to me before I let him go.

As I stood up I did my best to pretend I could not hear Cersei weeping inside of my head.

Tommen went running back inside of Maegor's holdfast, his crown fell off of his head as he went. Ser Boros Blount and Ser Meryn Trant followed him inside and did a maid who stopped to pick up his crown. I sighed at the sight but pushed mine, and Cersei's, desire to follow after him away and walked over to where Kevan Lannister was standing.

"Let him have cream and apple cakes for a treat after his supper tonight, they are his favorites and I think he will need some cheering, and please make sure that he does eat his supper tonight. I've been worried that he's been a little too thin lately."

"I will see it done," Kevan Lannister spoke with a nod, being named Lord Regent had clearly pleased him and he had wasted no time in filling all of the empty offices and seats on the small council as if he expected me to somehow snatch the position away from him. "I am aware that letting go of the regency was hard for you to do but you will find it is all for the best, your place is at Casterly Rock."

"I am sure you are right uncle," I said even as I felt Cersei's loathing, both for her uncle and for me. "I will write often, and I trust that you will allow Tommen to write to me as well."

Kevan frowned at my words, in the time since I had asked him for permission to write to Tommen in the first place he had clearly grown worried about what I would write to Tommen but the eyes of the court were on him and he must have known how it would look if he denied me this. "Of course niece, the king is your son after all and you may write to him as often as you like though I mean to keep him very busy learning what it means to rule, and thus it may not be often that he has the time to read and reply to them."

"I understand uncle, but he is still my son and I pray you will not keep him from me too long, he is also a little boy and eight more years have to pass before he is a man grown if I might beg a favor of you then let him have some time to be a little boy. He likes kittens, let him have one." Better Tommen get one from his uncle rather than get three from his wife, it was a blatant way for Margaery to try and get him on her side.

Cersei may have handled the Tyrells the wrong way, but she wasn't wrong to mistrust them.

"Very well, now we have held up your escort long enough I think. Time for you to go," Kevan said and offered his arm for me to take, it was hardly a subtle way of saying that he wanted his niece gone but I wasn't about to argue as getting away from him and to Casterly Rock was the best thing for me, I'd be in my own place of power and out of Kevan's reach.

Jaime had been sent to check the walls of the city again so that he would not be there to see me off, Kevan had suggested it, and even if Cersei had spat and cursed inside of our head when he told me I was more than happy with that decision as it would make it easier to get out of the city.

I allowed Kevan to help me into the wheelhouse, it was not the monstrosity that Cersei had ridden all the way to the North but it was still very ornate and probably cost more than a jumbo jet in my world cost, but it was nice and spacious inside and while I couldn't approve of Cersei spending all this money on an up jumped carriage when people in her city starved but I might as well try and enjoy it.

My guest was waiting for me inside and I said goodbye to Cersei's uncle by pressing a kiss to his cheek before he shut the door and the wheelhouse began to trundle on, making the long journey to Casterly Rock.

"I am very grateful that you accepted my invitation," I said as I took my seat and smoothed down my skirts. I had been practicing in the privacy of Cersei's chambers how to walk in these dresses and I thought I had been doing quite well, for the most part at least, I certainly felt like I wasn't going to trip up anymore whenever I took a single step at the very least.

"I am honored that your Grace would extend an invitation to me at all," Qyburn hummed, at a glance you would never be able to tell that he was a monster. He did look a little bit like a grandfather, he had a face used to smiling it looked like and instead of the black he wore in the show he wore pale grey robes that looked like they were made out of the softest wool. "Though I must confess, I am somewhat surprised that I received an invitation at all. I did not think I did anything to gain your attention."

"Of course you did, I heard of you from my brother and I have heard that if not for you then he most likely would have lost his entire arm instead of just his hand," I reached out for a platter of honey cakes that was seated on a small table in-between the both of us and brought it up to my mouth to take a bite out of it. "You saved my brother, and you are certainly not as much a fool as that old oaf Pycelle. I am certain that I can find you a place at Casterly Rock as a reward for your service."

"Your Grace is kind," Qyburn said and reached for a honey cake himself.

Soon enough we had passed through the lion gate and began to make our way down the gold road, Qyburn and I spoke of things of little importance as I tried to get my mind away from what I had planned. It had to be done, I thought about eating another honey cake but I was certain that if I did then I would simply bring them back up as my stomach felt like it was trapped in a hurricane.

The wheelhouse came to a stop and I hope that I looked surprised enough to fool Qyburn, there was a knock at the door of the wheelhouse and I reached out to open it and a man in Lannister crimson stood there. "Pardons your Grace, the front two wheels look like they are splintering and so we thought that we might replace them before they broke."

"Fair enough. Qyburn, will you join me for some air outside?" I asked, it was not as if Qyburn could refuse me and so we stepped out from the wheelhouse and I allowed myself to take a deep breath of the cool morning air, it felt like pins were stabbing me on the inside.

There was a small grove of trees and I suggested to Qyburn that we take a walk to stretch our legs, I offered my arm and he took it graciously as we made our way over to the grove. Cersei's guards followed us at a respectful distance, but close enough that when I needed them they would be ready.

Once we were out of sight of the road I sighed, unlinked my arm from Qyburn, and stepped back from him. "I am sorry Qyburn, for whatever that's worth."

Qyburn only had a moment to frown and I knew he was going to ask me what I was talking about but he didn't have the chance to do so as one of Cersei's guards grabbed the older man by the back of his head, pulled it back to bare his throat and his sword ran across Qyburn's neck.

The man only had a few moments to gasp, blood gushing from his wound and he stumbled a step forward before falling forward onto the ground, his blood soaking into the forest floor. I stared down at him, as it finally sunk into me what I had actually done. This wasn't something that Cersei had done, I had done this. Me. I had stared at the maps, I had plotted this out and I had the one who told the guard to do it.

"Your Grace, you all right?" The guard said as he pulled out a cloth and ran it down the sword casually, within moments it was clean and was catching the light of the sun.

"Fine." I turned and tried to walk out of the grove but I stumbled and nearly tripped, I managed to keep my balance and made my way out of the grove and towards the wheelhouse and climbed back in, shutting the door and letting myself fall back into the seat and letting my eyes fall shut.

Within moments, we carried on our journey to Casterly Rock.

And what was the point of that, may I ask?

It took all I had to not let out a sigh of irritation when I heard Cersei speak in our shared head. "Trust me, it's better this way. Qyburn was a Dornish spy, he was telling Prince Doran everything that happened at court."

I personally wasn't sure if I believed the theory that some of the fandom had that Qyburn was Doran's friend at court but I knew that I couldn't leave him at court and I couldn't bring him with me to Casterly Rock, he would just work his horrors there at worst or spy on me at best so I had to deal with him. I had to do it, didn't I?

Hmm, you might actually be able to do this after all.

I shut my eyes and tried to sleep, and did my best not to think if the Queen's praise should make me laugh or weep.

End of Chapter Four