Sorry, everyone. This chapter should have been uploaded a few days ago, but technical problems with my computer delayed me, so here it is, the new Margaery chapter. I hope you'll like it, since we get to see two people we haven't seen together for a very long time.
I must admit that I was really blown away by the reactions to the last chapter. 36 reviews! The chapter with the most reviews only had 25 before. Thank you very much to you all for your support. It is thanks to you that I keep writing.
MARGAERY XII
"I don't want to follow lessons," the small boy said.
"You have to. You haven't followed any since you woke up, Bran. You must resume them," her handmaiden told him.
"I don't want to follow lessons," he repeated firmly.
"It's all right, Mira. Leave us alone, please."
Her friend obeyed and left with the book she brought to teach something to Bran. Ever since the day he woke up, he refused to do anything. He didn't follow his lessons with Maester Luwin, refused to leave his chamber, and he almost refused to eat. He only left his chamber for suppers, when Robb Stark ordered him to be with him and his little brother at the high table, but even then he didn't speak and barely swallowed anything. He was pale and had lost weight since his fall, and he didn't seem to recuperate any since his sleep ended. He was way worse than Willas after the accident that left him lame.
Margaery looked at her friend leaving the room before she reported back her attention on Bran. Lady Stark asked her to watch over him, and that's what she did. She came to see Bran twice a day, but so far it didn't improve his morale in any way. Nothing seemed able to improve it. She had asked Mira today to make him follow his history lessons, hoping a different face than Maester Luwin could make a difference, but to no avail. She had thought about trying on her own, but Mira was better when it came to learning and teaching.
"You can't continue this way forever, Bran," she told him.
"Why not?"
"Because that's no life."
"It's not a life to live without legs," he said bitterly.
What was she to do with him? "Have you ever heard of Doran Martell, Bran?"
"The Lord of Sunspear."
"Exactly. Do you know he's been forced to move in a wheelchair for years now, because of the gout? And he's still Lord of Sunspear."
"What does he do of his days?" Bran didn't show any interest, but at least he asked a question, so maybe somewhere he was interested by what she said.
"He rules the entire kingdom of Dorne, he speaks to men and women from all this territory and from the entire world, he wanders in the Water Gardens, and he eats, he drinks, he sleeps and he awakes every day to live."
"Can he ride?"
"I don't know," she answered honestly.
"Can he shoot arrows? Can he climb to walls? Can he run?"
"I think his main interests were not in these things, even before he got the gout."
"Then he's lucky, but I'm not Doran Martell. Maester Luwin says I'll never get to use my legs again. I'd rather be dead."
"Don't ever say this, Bran."
"I'd rather be dead." He said it again, clearly, detaching every word from the other. Margaery didn't like to see him like this.
"Look, Bran." She took a chair next to his bed. His direwolf was quiet, laying innocently on his legs. Margaery sometimes wondered if that was really the beast who killed the assassin. "I have a cousin who is lame. He cannot run, he cannot climb, he can only ride with a very special saddle, and although he can walk, he walks slower than everyone else."
"At least, he can walk."
"Yes, but like you he wanted to be a knight. He will never be one now, but he still lives, and he loves to live too."
"What does he do?"
"He raises hounds, dogs, horses and hawks. He writes. He reads. He helps my father to administer Highgarden and the Reach. And very soon, he will be married."
"But he can walk."
Margaery closed her eyes, sighing inwardly. Were all the Starks so stubborn? Catelyn Stark needed an assassination attempt to get out of this room. What would it take for her son? "You still have a family who loves you, Bran. If you don't want to live for yourself, then at least live for them. It would break their hearts if you died. And it already breaks their hearts to see you like this."
"Even my mother?"
"Your mother loves you very much, Bran."
"Then why isn't she here?"
"Your mother had to leave Winterfell."
"Why?"
She gave him carefully the official reason. "When I stopped at Riverrun, on my way to your home, I met your grandfather, Lord Hoster Tully. He wasn't well. His health was declining. He doesn't have long to live. Your mother went to him before it was too late."
"Did she think I would die?"
"Your mother prayed by your side for weeks before she left you, because she was afraid to lose you, even if Luwin assured her you would survive. She knew you would wake up. That's why she left, because she knew you would come back. But her father will not have your chance."
"Chance? I envy him. I'd like to be dying just like him."
"You say that because you're not dying. Because you think you can't be happy without your legs, but that's not true. There are plenty of people who have no use of their legs, and they still manage a make a living without that."
"I don't want to live like that," Bran shouted.
"It's not your call, Bran," Margaery said with a sad voice. "We don't get to choose the life we have. All we can do is make the best of our circumstances."
"What good can come from the fact I can't walk?"
"You may not have your legs, Bran, but you still have your arms, your head, your mind, and everything else in your body. There are soldiers who lose their hands or their arms and they still manage to live without them. And you're still luckier than many people who have their legs and arms intact."
"I don't see how."
"I know boys of your age who would gladly give one of their legs or both to have a family like yours." She thought of all the orphans who were taken care of in her orphanages in Lannisport.
Bran didn't seem convinced. She tried everything, but no matter what she tried, he still remained bitter, in a dark and fool mood. It hadn't been so difficult with Willas. He had managed to recover from the loss of his leg quite quickly. Then, Bran was right on one thing. Her cousin could still walk.
"You want to be alone, don't you?" she asked him. Without surprise, he looked away from her at the ceiling. "I'll come back to see you tomorrow." She kissed him on the forehead and walked away.
Margaery pitied Bran. He wanted to be a knight, a kingsguard one day maybe, but now it would never happen. It was grave, indeed. The poor child couldn't go from one place to another without being carried by someone else. Tyrion was a dwarf, he was limited as well, but he didn't depend on someone else for the daily tasks. Bran did.
The image of Cersei smirking came to Margaery's mind. She balled her fists. How could Cersei do something like that to a child? She had children too. Tyrion told her that his sister loved her children, her one redeeming quality if she had any. How could she try to kill someone else's child, one who was the same age than Tommen? What was the problem with Tywin Lannister's children? Only Tyrion seemed to have inherited some goodness when he came into the world. Had Lord Tywin corrupted the two children he relied upon to continue his legacy, his eldest son who he destined to be his heir and his daughter because he destined her to be queen, while Tyrion escaped that because he was never supposed to be given any position or any responsibility? The Starks could see the results of her father-in-law's ruthlessness and suffered from them. She hoped, not for the first time, that he would burn in the Seven Hells forever.
She reached a balcony from where she watched men sparring in the courtyard. One of them was Robb Stark. He was quite good with a sword, though not as much as Loras or Garlan. Since his father left for King's Landing, he carried out the duties of Lord of Winterfell the best he could. No one could accuse him of laziness.
He managed to bring his sword at the neck of his opponent, ending the duel. He removed his helmet, all sweating, despite the coldness of the air. Margaery wore a deep red gown to prevent any chill. She was eager to go back to Casterly Rock. The acting Lord of Winterfell looked up and she knew he saw her. She smiled sweetly, then walked away to the godswood.
She wandered among the trees. Again, if she wanted a quick walk, or a long one, this place was much better than the glass garden. She spent time in there with her friends each day, sewing and gossiping, but when she wanted some time alone, and she needed more of these lately, the godswood was the perfect place. She arrived near the place Lady Stark spoke with the others weeks ago. No wonder she chose it to hold a secret discussion. Not many people came here. The Starks hadn't tried anything against her yet, and she didn't have the impression they would try anything. She felt the surveillance around her weaken these past days. Sometimes, when she went to see Bran, they left them together only with an old woman everyone called Old Nan. They couldn't hope she could do anything to stop her if Margaery tried to kill Bran.
The tension had lowered, but she would still feel better once they were far from Winterfell, on the way home. She thought about the great garden she had built on the northern hill, the gazebo carved in the rock and giving on the Sunset Sea, the other gardens all over the castle, her charity houses she built in Lannisport, the watery caverns in the depths of the castle where she used to swim. She missed it all, and she missed Tyrion as well. He couldn't be that far from Winterfell now. She wouldn't forgive him if he'd lost his way into Mole's Town brothel.
"Lady Lannister."
She turned to see Ned Stark's son walk to her. He had tried to wash his face after the duel, but she could still see the marks left by his training. She replied with her sweetest smile.
"Lord Stark. How helpful can I be to you?"
"Nothing. You already helped more than enough these past weeks."
"You flatter me, Lord Stark." She had the satisfaction to see him redden.
"My lady, I want to give you my apologizes for the behavior of my house towards you since you arrived. We've been somewhat rude and you didn't deserve it. My family simply has a tendency… to not entirely trust the Lannisters… because of past experiences."
"What past experiences?" She feigned ignorance.
"There are certain things that Lord Tywin Lannister did during the last war that my father witnessed, and he disapproved of these... actions."
"I suppose this is about the Targaryen children and their mother."
"Aye," Robb Stark conceded reluctantly.
Margaery nodded. "Believe me, no one in House Lannister is proud of this. Me and Tyrion the last. I never got to know my father-in-law. From what Tyrion says, he was everything but a good man. The father and the son didn't get along at all."
"No?"
"No. If Tyrion had been the one leading the Lannister army to King's Landing that day, Elia Martell and her children wouldn't have died. My husband is unable to order the death of children."
"Really?" Robb Stark asked her.
"Really." She confirmed, keeping an innocent face, knowing the effect it would have.
"Are you sure about that?"
"I am." Robb Stark looked at her queerly, intrigued. She let nothing appear. "Would you like to walk with me a little?"
"Of course." He hastened to accept and followed her.
"Your godswood is very impressing, I must say."
"It is ten thousand years old. No one has ever touched it."
"I hope the Old Gods are not insulted with my presence."
"I'm sure they're not," he babbled. She smiled at him once again. They kept walking in silence for some time. "I hope you appreciated your stay here, my lady."
"I did, but as soon as Tyrion comes back, I must leave."
"I will regret your departure." She had no difficulty to imagine it.
"I had a good time here. Winterfell is a fascinating place, I must admit, but as much as I may like it, my place is at Casterly Rock, and I don't hate it either."
"How did you happen to be married with Lord Tyrion?" She could see how interested he was in the answer she would give.
She smiled, thinking of her first meeting with her husband. "Our family organized the marriage. That's how things are done."
"And your parents just decided like that to marry you to him?"
"Oh no. That's a decision that requires time to think about. But in the end, they did accept. And I've never regretted their decision a single moment."
"Never?"
"Never."
She looked straight ahead of her, leaving the young lord to ponder her words. "Do you know your husband well?"
"I hope so. I've been married to him for over two years now, after all."
"And you say he's not like Tywin Lannister."
"Not at all. I'm quite happy to be married with him. He's a very caring husband."
"And yet he leaves you behind for months in order to visit the Wall."
She shrugged. "A whim of his. Tyrion always wanted to travel. When he was young, he wanted to travel through Essos, visit the Free Cities, but his father forbade him."
"Is that one of the reasons why your husband didn't like Lord Tywin very much?"
"No. Believe me, there are many good reasons why the father and the son hated each other."
"What reasons?"
"I'm afraid I can't tell you. This is private. I'm one of the very few to who Tyrion told this, and I don't want to break his trust."
"He trusts you?"
"Of course. We have no secret for each other."
Before Robb Stark could say something else, one of the servants of Winterfell came running.
"My lord! My lady," he added once he recognized her. "There are people coming. Red banners."
Her heart bumped in her chest. "Finally," she said. She almost ran past the man and went out of the godswood.
They arrived about one minute after she stopped before the gates in the yard. A long column of Lannister men with her husband at the head. She had never been so happy to see him. He was well, from what she could see. He only looked a little more beefy with the furs he wore, but aside from that, he was just like when he left.
On purpose, she hugged him tightly as soon as he was off his horse. "Are you all right?" he asked her in a whisper only she could hear.
"I am. Nothing happened to me," she replied in the same kind. They would talk more about it later, when they would be alone. She released him. She was really happy to see him, and relieved too.
"Lord Lannister." Robb Stark had arrived to welcome him. He didn't seem happy to see Tyrion. Margaery suspected there was more than one reason for this, and she could only grin inwardly.
"Lord Stark. Thank you for watching over my wife while I was away," her husband replied. She saw Robb Stark turn blank for a second. Tyrion's choice of words may have suggested something.
"That was no problem, my lord." She could see in Tyrion's eyes that he had noticed the reaction of the acting Lord of Winterfell.
"We will only stay here for tonight. We're riding for Casterly Rock tomorrow at dawn."
"Very well." Robb Stark looked behind her, and his eyes widened. "Jon?"
Margaery turned to see Jon Snow standing there with their men. "Hi, Robb. Glad to see you again," he said.
"What are you doing here?" He obviously didn't expect to see his half-brother, and Margaery neither.
"Jon Snow is riding with us to the Rock," Tyrion explained.
"What?"
Margaery understood immediately. Tyrion hadn't only gone to the Wall to piss off the edge of the world. Still, he could have told her, though she wouldn't have expected he would succeed. Maybe she underestimated her husband, which hadn't happened quite often during the last year.
"Lord Lannister offered me a place in his household at Casterly Rock," Jon Snow said. "And I accepted."
Robb Stark was looking at his half-brother in utter consternation, then his expression turned entirely serious. "We'll talk about this later. Do you need anything, Lord Lannister?"
"No, just some rest," Margaery's husband replied. "We have a long road ahead of us."
"I can arrange for supper to be brought to your chambers, if that is your wish."
"No, no need," Margaery intervened before Tyrion could answer. "We'll sup with you in the Great Hall. This is our last night here, it wouldn't be appropriate to not show you our gratitude by leaving you alone."
Robb Stark looked troubled again. "Thank you, Lady Lannister." She really worked well with him. He probably didn't have the chance to meet many girls. The North was a large land and few lived here. It wasn't like Highgarden where all their bannermen came at least four times every year for various celebrations.
"So it's true."
Margaery followed Tyrion's gaze as he said these words and saw the great man named Hodor standing there, holding someone in his arms. "Bran!" she exclaimed. "It's good to see you out, finally."
"I had no choice," he said gloomily. He looked at his brother. Robb Stark forced him to come out.
"Bran, how are you?" Jon Snow asked.
"I'm right. What are you doing here? They told me you were gone, to take the black." For a short moment Margaery saw Bran's eyes shine, but it was all gone in a second.
"Turns out I'll be heading south, finally."
"Hello, Bran," Tyrion said. "Do you remember anything about what happened?"
"He has no memory of that day," Robb said, on an accusing tone.
"Curious."
If Tyrion noticed Robb Stark's tone, and he certainly did, he showed no sign of it. He simply seemed to find it curious, like he said, that Bran remembered nothing. Margaery had tried to know if he remembered anything the moment he woke up, but Bran really couldn't remember how he fell… if he fell.
"Would your charming companion be so kind as to kneel? My neck is beginning to hurt," Tyrion said to Bran then.
"Kneel, Hodor," Bran told the giant, and he did as he was told.
"Do you like to ride, Bran?"
"Yes. Well, I mean I did like to."
"My brother has lost the use of his legs. He can never ride again," Robb Stark said again with the same accusing voice.
"Nonsense," Tyrion scoffed. "With the right horse and saddle, even a cripple can ride."
"I'm not a cripple," Bran protested weakly.
"Then I'm not a dwarf. My father will rejoice so much to hear it, he will come back to life and dance on his own tomb. I have a gift for you." He handed a long scroll to Bran. "Give that to your saddler. He'll provide the rest. You must shape the horse to the rider. Start with a yearling and teach it to respond to the reins and to the boy's voice." He explained that as Bran was looking at the design he gave him.
"Will I really be able to ride?" Bran asked.
"You will. On horseback you will be as tall as any of them."
"Is this some kind of trick?" Robb asked. "Why do you want to help him?" He obviously still had a bad opinion of her husband.
"Your brother Jon asked me to help him, and I'm a man of my word. A Lannister always pays his debts. And I have a tender spot in my heart for cripples, bastards and broken things." For the first time since he woke up, Bran was smiling. Tyrion had succeeded within seconds what she failed to accomplish for weeks. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm tired."
He walked away and Margaery followed him, shooting one last glance to Robb Stark, one that said I told you. They found their way to their chambers without problem and Tyrion closed the door as soon they got inside. He took her by both arms and looked at her, worried.
"Are you all right? Are you really all right?"
"I am," she assured him. "The Starks tried nothing against me. They don't believe they have enough proof to arrest me, or you, for the time being."
He sighed in relief. "Good. Tell me everything."
She told him all that happened, all the details of the attempt of murder and the conversation she surprised, and what she did afterwards. Bran effectively had no memory at all of his fall.
"He really remembers nothing?" Tyrion asked her.
"Nothing. I tried to discover what it was, tried to see if he would remember, but he doesn't."
"Possibly a consequence of the shock he had when he fell. I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing."
"Cersei could be behind this, Tyrion, you know."
"I know." He winced. "She could do that, if Bran was a threat to her."
"Tyrion, I've been thinking about this. I discussed with Jon Arryn about the possibility of marrying Loras to Myrcella. What if he talked about it to Cersei afterwards, and she decided to kill him for this reason? Lord Arryn wasn't completely opposed to the marriage, from the way he spoke to me."
"Cersei would be capable of killing for her children," Tyrion recognized. "That's not impossible."
"Lady Stark seemed to believe he saw something he wasn't supposed to see. What if he surprised Cersei in a discussion with someone? Someone who helped her to kill Jon Arryn?"
Tyrion seemed surprised. "That would explain a lot of things. In this case, it's probably better that Bran remembers nothing."
"What do you mean?" she asked. She didn't expect her husband would say that.
"If that's really what happened, if Bran Stark was to recover his memory, then imagine what would happen. We would all be in danger."
"We are in danger with Cersei," Margaery countered. "She tried to have you killed. She tried to turn our bannermen against us. Now she murders the Hand of the King and tries to kill a boy of ten in his sleep!"
"We don't know that for sure. Not yet. There are strange events going on in King's Landing, for sure. We must warn Kevan so he can keep an eye on everything there."
"Can we trust him?"
"He knows Cersei tried to murder me. He's on our side. The one I don't trust is Pycelle. And Varys. And Littlefinger. There's almost no one we can trust in this city. We'll send a rider to King's Landing as soon as we leave Winterfell."
"We must deal with Cersei, Tyrion."
"I know, but how?" He went to the table and poured himself a cup of wine. He also served her one. "If Robert was to discover that she murdered Jon Arryn, he would execute her immediately."
"Would that be a bad thing?"
Tyrion looked at her. His eyes were expressionless for a moment. Then he looked away. "She's my sister."
"She tried to murder you," Margaery reminded him.
"I know, but Cersei is not entirely evil. She is power hungry, selfish, vain, cruel, but she's a mother too. She loves her children. No matter what we can say about her, she would never do them any harm. And… there have been some good times between us. Not many, but there have been some." He made a pause, lost in his memories. "You remember, I told you I used to tumble all over Casterly Rock when I was six. That made the septons, the squires and the servants smile everywhere. Even Cersei laughed when she saw me do it. There are times… I can manage to see the sister I'd like to have."
That was Tyrion's greatest weakness. He hid it well, but he craved for people to love him. She had seen it firsthand with herself. He had wanted her to love him the very moment they met, and his wish had been granted. However, it wasn't enough for him. He wanted to be loved by the rest of his family, and by all the people around him. He didn't do much to be loved. He wasn't crawling on the ground, begging for people to love him, quite the opposite, but deep inside, he wanted people to love him. Even his sister. Margaery came to sit by his side and placed her hand on his.
"I understand she is your sister, Tyrion, but she's a danger. If she really assassinated Jon Arryn, and if she tried to have a boy of ten killed in his sleep, who knows what else she could be capable of? She may even be trying to start a new uprising against you as we speak," she told him very softly, to make him understand.
"I know she is dangerous, but if Robert commands her execution, I can't stand by while he takes her head off her shoulders."
She withdrew her hand from his. "You would go to war for her?"
"Of course not!" She was reassured by his answer, and by the tone of it. He reacted as if it was the most stupid thing he ever heard. "I won't start a war to save Cersei from her crimes. I'm not Jaime. But I won't do nothing while she is executed either. I know my brother. He may try something foolish if Cersei is in danger. The best course of action would be to take her away from King's Landing and send her somewhere she can no longer pose a threat."
"Where?"
"I don't know. There are a few lords in the Westerlands who may be willing to welcome her as a guest. Preferably some in isolated mountains. Minor lords who wouldn't be powerful enough to give her any power if she tried to use them. An island could be good as well. One of the Shield Islands maybe, on your father's lands. She wouldn't have any influence there."
"Maybe." It could work. There was only one great problem. "But how will we do this? Cersei is the queen."
Margaery may be more powerful than Cersei, but she didn't have the power to send the queen to an isolated castle far from everything. Not without good reasons to expel the queen from court. They needed the consent of the king to start.
"First, we must discover Cersei's part in all this. We don't know for sure if she's behind Jon Arryn's death or the attempt of murder. It could be someone else. King's Landing is a place of schemes. Everyone is plotting against everyone there. Let's find out the truth first, then we will take action. We have a few weapons we can use against my sister if need be."
Indeed, they had. Tyrion was right. They knew a few things about the queen that may cause her great harm if she wasn't careful.
"For now, better to keep a low profile until we leave at dawn. We'll be far from Winterfell tomorrow and leave the damn North behind," Tyrion concluded while taking a sip of wine.
"If only you hadn't visited the Wall," she said with a voice between exasperation and sorry. She took a gulp of her cup as well and relaxed. "You could have told me you were going there to convince Jon Snow to follow you."
"I didn't know if I would succeed. I was surprised when he followed us at the end. I thought he would remain at the Wall. Starks are hard to convince."
"He's not a Stark. He's a Snow," Margaery corrected with a smile.
"He is more Stark than his siblings. They look more like Tullys, except his little sister."
"Are you sure this is a good idea to bring him to Casterly Rock, when the Starks believe we tried to murder one of them?"
"Maybe not, but he will be alone there. He won't be much a threat, and it could be useful if problems arise to hold a Stark at the Rock."
"You're planning to use him as a hostage?"
"No. But the Starks will think twice before trying anything against us if they know one of them lives in a castle surrounded by Lannisters and men loyal to us. Even if he's a bastard." His face showed something like sadness.
"You pity him, don't you?" she asked him.
"He didn't choose to be born a bastard."
No more than Tyrion chose to be born a dwarf. Tyrion was quite generous and merciful with people who never had a chance in life or who were mistreated without deserving it. Once, a man at the head of a theater troupe came as they held court because a merchant had men destroy their stand near his business. The merchant said their show wasn't good for his shop nearby. One of the members of the troupe was a dwarf girl of maybe fifteen. Tyrion had made her advance and tell everything that happened. When she was done, he asked very strange questions.
"How many people were watching your piece when it happened?"
"About a hundred, my lord, for each day since we arrived," she had shyly answered.
"How much was the price for an entrance?"
"Two copper coins."
"And how much longer were you planning to stay in Lannisport?"
"A month, maybe two if the people liked the show enough."
The next thing Tyrion did was to sentence the merchant to pay the troupe what they would have gained if they had remained for two months in Lannisport. When the man protested, Tyrion stated that whether he learned to live with dwarves nearby, or he had to pay them to go away.
"So, how was Mole's Town?" she asked him, returning to the present time.
"Didn't have much time to see it. We rode next to it, but never stopped."
"You surprise me." She feigned the said surprise. "I thought you would take the opportunity to visit its famous brothel."
He looked straight at her. "After spending so many nights with you, I can't imagine myself with another woman." There was no trace of sarcasm in his voice or his face. "So, what about Robb Stark?" His mocking demeanour was back.
"Do you really think I would fall for a Stark?" She made sure from the way she said it that this would never happen.
"I don't know. He's quite a handsome boy. And I saw his reaction when I talked about you."
Margaery laughed at that. "I just used my personal charms, to make him think of me in a better way. I doubt he believes I had something to do in the attempt of murder now." She explained to Tyrion how she brought Robb Stark to have a better opinion of her. He knew why she discreetly seduced him.
"Let's hope the plans for the saddle I gave to his brother will convince him I didn't either."
"Thank you for that," she told him. "Bran has been in a horrible mood ever since he woke up. You don't know it, but it was the first time I saw him smile in weeks when you told him he could ride again." She took a sip of wine. Her husband was looking at her closely.
"You're fond of the boy, aren't you?"
"He's only a child." Whoever tried to kill him, that was unforgivable. She noticed that Tyrion's eyes had dropped on the floor. She knew why. They both knew why.
They had been over this before and didn't need to tell each other anything else about that matter. They were married for more than two years, and still they had no children. Despite her mother's reassurances, she began to be afraid that she was barren. The first time she confessed her fear to Tyrion, he had replied that if someone was the problem, it was him. After all, he had been with many women in the past, and none of them got pregnant from him as far as they knew. However, that meant nothing. Tyrion wasn't Robert Baratheon. The king was laying with almost every woman he crossed, from highborn ladies to whores in the brothels in Flea Bottom. Margaery knew he had twins from a servant at Casterly Rock, one of the weapons they had against Cersei, and another bastard son at Silverhill. Tyrion, on the other side, only slept with whores before their wedding. They often took moon tea, which prevented them from getting pregnant most of the time, and even if they got pregnant, there was no way to tell if their children were Tyrion's or one of the many other possible fathers. As for his first wife, Tyrion hadn't been long enough with her to know if he got her with child, and the girl in Kayce had no child from him by all accounts. There was no way to tell who couldn't have children of them two. Maybe they both couldn't.
No, Margaery. You will have children. You only need time. Your mother needed time before she got you. She wouldn't give up. She and Tyrion needed children. They needed an heir for Casterly Rock, unless they wanted to let Cersei's children get their hands on it. She liked Tommen, this sweet boy who always held a cat in his arms, but she didn't want him to end Lord of Casterly Rock. He was still Cersei's son, and the queen would do anything to control the Rock through him. Margaery wouldn't make any compromise on that. The future Lord of Casterly Rock had to be her son, and no one else. A few more sons and daughters could also help them to fortify their position through alliances. And Joffrey was betrothed to Sansa now. If Margaery could have a daughter, then she could arrange when the time was right for her to be betrothed to Joffrey's heir. Her nephew may not like her, but no one would be stupid enough to not realize how the support of the Lannisters and the Tyrells were vital to the Crown. King Robert was wed to Cersei Lannister because maintaining the Lannisters on his side was of the utmost importance, and that was before they were allies with her family. A girl whose father happened to be the Lord of Casterly Rock and whose grandfather was the Lord of Highgarden would be the best match for a future king.
Apart from the political benefits she would gain from them, Margaery just wanted children. She loved Tyrion, and she wanted to start a family with him. She wouldn't care if they were dwarves. Tyrion was a dwarf, but he was still one of the most brilliant man she ever knew, and the man she loved. She looked at him, and she couldn't see any of the ugliness some people said they saw in him. He kept looking down, the fingers of his right hand playing with the cup he laid on the table. They were late in the afternoon, but they had some time.
Slowly, Margaery stood up and came to stand right before Tyrion. She took his cheek in her right hand and turned his head until he faced her. Then she leaned and kissed him. He had been gone for so long. A moan escaped her throat as soon as their lips connected, and her husband sighed as well. A warm feeling spread through all her body, the same she had each time they shared a deep kiss. This time, however, it also came along with an urge. She climber over him as he still sat in the chair and placed her legs around his hips. Her husband had shorter legs and arms than the other men, but the rest of his body was completely normal, no different from any usual shaped person. Height didn't matter in this position.
She deepened their kiss further. She could feel the taste of wine on his lips. Of course, he didn't forget to bring a lot of it while he was at the Wall. Quickly, her hand confirmed that Tyrion had enjoyed wine far more than women while he was away. She kissed him with passion, running her hands through his hair, over his face, and began to unfasten his doublet. All the while, his own hands didn't remain idle. Short arms didn't stop him from using them and his fingers caressed her hips, her back, her arms, her shoulders, her face, her legs. An energy she hadn't felt for too long filled her entire body.
"I missed you."
She broke their kiss just long enough to say the words, but Tyrion used the pause to move his mouth on her chin, then trailed it along her neck until he reached her collarbone and began to kiss the surface of her skin near the neckline of her dress. His breath was hot against her skin, a welcomed warmth in this cold place, as he spoke the same words in an infatuated whisper.
"I missed you too."
For those who hoped for a lemon here, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but there are none in this story.
On a sad note, I must announce you that "A Rose and a Lion" will go back to its slower pace of one chapter published every two weeks instead of every week. The reason is simple : I'm starting to update "A Shadow and a Wolf" on a regular basis once again, two chapters per week, beginning on Saturday. I regret that I can't update these two stories together more often, but I'm only human after all. :) Still, my master is coming to an end, and to a real end now, so it should be easier now for me to update these stories frequently. Don't worry, I'm not abandoning any of these two fics.
Please review
Next chapter : Jon
