"We shouldn't be out here alone."
Melara had always tried to be the voice of reason that whispered in Cersei's ear. It had always earned her a glance of annoyance from the young lioness. Very few had the privilege of telling Cersei what to do, and Melara was not one of them. If there ever was to be a time where Cersei's companion overstepped her bounds, she would be rid of her like those who had come before her. Cersei would send Melara home, or she could go missing, and no one would do so much as bat an eye. Yet, the handmaiden's words of caution never come without reason. Together they trudged through the wood that surrounded Lannister lands, moving deeper than they had ever traveled before. Trees towered high their green leaves so dense they blocked out the skies. The shadowy dangers left Melara's hands sweaty with fear, but Cersei had never let the fear stop her before.
"Why not?" Cersei challenged as her fingers clawed at the fabric of her gown to draw it up from where it hung elegantly around her ankles. She had to keep the fine fabrics from dragging through the wet soil that she could already feel seeping between her toes.
When Melara continued to protest, Cersei rolled her bright emerald eyes as she fought back a sigh. She did her best to ignore it all, but each whine that left the brunette's lips left Cersei to wonder why girls were always so fearful. With each confident stride and Melara's growing desperation, it became clear: not all could be brave lioness like herself. Melara's whines had turned into pleas, going as far as letting Tywin Lannister's name slip from her downturned mouth. Cersei's feet stilled between vivid green shrubbery and she against pale pink flowers that decorated each branch.
She admired them for but a moment, her fingers reaching out to stroke each petal. She didn't know what they were called, nor did she care to know, but it was this moment of peace that drew Melara in close enough for Cersei to strike. Reaching her hand out, Cersei took hold of the sweaty palm of her companion. Her hold was firm, to keep Melara from fleeing back to the castle, but gentle enough to coax her deeper into the wood.
"You don't need to be afraid of my father," Cersei made clear. He would never learn of their time in the forest. They wouldn't be so daft as to speak of it themselves, and the servants in the castle were left with no indication of where the girls would spend their afternoon.
Leading Melara by the grip of her curled fingers, Cersei tugged her through the brush. Thin branches whipped at her legs with every step, and Cersei was sure she could feel the tickle of beetles crawling over her ankles. Her feet stomped harder with each step and ignored how Melara squirmed at the feeling of the bug's legs scurrying over her flesh. Next time, she would leave Melara to enjoy her time in the castle with a thread and needle and she would brave the forest alone. Cersei would find the witch alone.
There had been fables of a witch deep in the grove outside Lannisport. The servant boys had once used the tales to spook the handmaidens in Cersei's service. Speaking of the old Essosi witch that sold cures and potions to conceal her practice of blood magic that would draw babies from the bellies of the mothers and birth creatures that hadn't been seen since the fall of the Targaryen empire. While her handmaidens had been left to cower, Cersei had been intrigued and had taken every opportunity to seek out the witch in the wood.
Billowing smoke from between tree branches in the distance had set her heart thundering deep in her chest. Could this be it, the witch she had spent so much time looking for? Cersei took in a heavy breath as she was consumed with doubt. The smoke could be from a fire set by weary travelers resting after a long ride, but she would not be met with disappointment.
Cersei's steps quickened, dragging her companion through the dirt and threes. The branches were catching the soft features of her face and scratching at her cheeks. Glancing back, Cersei watched as Melara shut her dark eyes tight, letting Cersei guide her blindly. Cersei scoffed as she dragged her deeper into the wood, and to the smell of smoke. When she stilled, her own lips parted in awe, that Cersei looked to her friend and watched her dark eyes flutter open to take in the sight before them. Cersei's blood chilled in her veins at the sight of the small slanted shack in the clearing between the trees. Vines crawled their way up the walls, the roof looked to be caved in with fallen trunks and the air reeked of smoke and wet moss. It was through the gaping hole in the roof the smoke plumbed. Cersei could feel Melara's grip tighter around her hand and she croaked out her careful words; "are you sure?"
Cersei did not hesitate, abandoning Melara's hold as she spoke: "Yes." She did not give the scared girl a chance to protest. Stomping steps of entitlement carried Cersei through the threshold, her olive eyes growing wide at the sight before her. It was such a disgusting way to live. The excuse for a dwelling was littered with plants, some of which Cersei had never seen. The table was cluttered with tonics and potions, though the golden hair beauty was skeptical. They were nothing like what the maester could provide back at the castle, the vials promising beauty, wealth, and death. Could she be so foolish to think they would provide more than a sour taste in your mouth? Melara followed close behind her, the heat of her body radiating against her own. She was such a poor foolish, scared girl-
A shriek took the shack, piercing the ears of the uninvited guests and earning a yelp of their own. Melara's hand tugged at Cersei's in an attempt to pull away from her grasp and retreat. Cersei's grasp only grew tighter, keeping Melara in the shadows of the shack before she let her go to take two confident strides towards the hag. Cersei let curious eyes wander over the woman who had made herself known from beneath dirty blankets and ragged clothes. The hag was a hideous woman, her eyes a rotten yellow and skin pale and leathery. Thin lips peeling, split, and threatening to bleed parted with a repetitive demand: Get Out! Her words rolled off her tong twice, then again once more. It was all enough to send Cersei's features into a grimace, but she failed to move from her place at the center of the shack. Cersei brought hand came up to stifle a yawn. She was far from impressed. "They said that you were terrifying. With cat's teeth and three eyes," she gazed up and down the frumpy woman disapprovingly, "You're not terrifying, you're boring. I doubt the words they spoke had any truth-"
"You don't know what I am," the hag sat up in her place, her long dry strands framing her dark features.
"I know you're a witch," Cersei watched the woman's eyes grow bright, as if they could glow through the darkness of the shack, "and that you can see the future. Tell me mine."
"Everybody wants to know their future. Until they know their future," the witch's words carried much caution as Cersei watched her stand from her seat. Her dress settled around her body, falling tight around her middle where a semblance of her figure remained. Maybe there was a time where she was beautiful, but now Cersei was sure she was an overgrown toad.
"This is my father's land. My land," her foot stomped, she would not be taking no for an answer. "Tell me my future of I'll have your two boring eyes gouged out of your head," though they weren't all that boring. Cersei had never seen eyes that color before. Their eyes remained locked as the witch hovered over her apothecary, skeletal fingers drawing an elegant blade that she held out to the Lannister Lady. The witch's lips split into a grin bearing rotting teeth as Cersei took the blade with a steady hand. Slicing through the pad of her thumb with ease she offered her hand to the had and dropped the blade to the dirt. She near grimaced as her thumb had been taken by the hag's mouth, tasting the blood from her skin.
"Three questions you get. You won't like the answers."
Her heart began to race in her chest and her mind was cluttered by the many things she could ask. Cersei's ambition soon consumed her, there were things she must know; "I've been promised to the prince, when will we marry?"
"You'll never wed the prince, you'll wed the king."
Cersei did her best to hide the excitement that stirred inside her, "but I will be queen?"
"Oh yes, you'll be queen. For a time," the hag paused, her fingers toying with trinkets to distract Cersei's wandering eyes, "In comes another. Younger, more beautiful, to cast you down and take all you hold dear."
Being the Queen was all Cersei had ever wanted. Her eyes were near electric as she glanced back at Melara. She would be marrying Prince Rhaegar, they would both bask in King's Landing feast on the finest meats and pastries and wear the finest fashions. All of Westeros would want to be her or be with her. Her eyes found the witch once more, her lips parting to beg her final question: "Will the king and I have children?"
The hag sneered, her lips curling as if she were going to let out a cackle. "No. The king will have 20, and you will have 3. Golds will be their crowns. Gold their shrouds - and when your tears have drowned you, the valonqar shall wrap his hands about your pale white throat and choke the life from you-"
Cersei lurched back, eyes looking towards the door now. She would not believe this to be true. Her feet tracked through the small pool of blood that had gathered in the dirt, her hand grasping at Melara but this time it was she who protested. "I want to ask three questions too," her friend insisted. Cersei tugged upon her arm, but to her dismay, Melara wriggled free. Cersei watched, horrorstruck as Melara crouched down into the dirt, took hold of the blade, and sliced it across her palm. Eyes narrowing, Cersei watched as Melara offered the blood to her crone and spoke four words in a breathy whisper; "will I marry Jaime?"
You stupid girl, the Cersei thought. Every bit of fear that had coursed through her was becoming anger now. Jaime does not even know you are alive, her mind continued to spew hatred. Jaime had been in King's Landing for as long as she could remember, his life vowed to the protection of the King. He lived only for swords and horses, his honor and her. Cersei found a semblance of peace when the witch found her voice once more; "Not Jaime, nor any other man. Worms will have your maidenhead. Your death is here tonight, little one. Can you smell her breath? She is very close."
Cersei's green eyes watched as the color paled from Melara's once warm features. Their hands came together in a desperate hold, Cersei feeling just how clammy her companion's hands had become. "Com'on, we have to go," Cersei choked out, her feet kicking up the dirt as she stumbled through the door and back out into the grove.
Cersei ran until her lungs were begging her to stop. Her feet stumbled over rocks and branches, shooting pain up their legs that only eased as they reached the edge of Lannisport. The warm sun greeted her as she erupted from the shade of the grove. Beside her, Melara stood, her chest heaving as she glanced back over her shoulder. Cersei did the same, following her gaze, they hadn't been chased. "Cersei-" Melara breathed out desperately, calling to her lady. Cersei watched as Melara arched over the near well, her hand reaching out to the rope that would draw a bucket of water up to them. Cersei watched as a trail of blood was left on the rough rope as she drew the water bucket. Careful strides carried Cersei to the edge, her eyes gazing down into the endless darkness that was the well. It was the darkness that consumed her when her small hands met Melara's back in a firm shove, sending her down in the rocky depths. Her ears were not met with screams, there was no splash or thud that would indicate that Melara had hit the bottom of the well. Cersei could see no blood as the rocks cracked her skull, yet all Cersei could see was red.