Lady of the West

Chapter Two

Genna did not think that she had ever seen a woman so unhappy in marriage as the Queen, she had to keep reminding herself that the other woman was younger than her, but it was hard to do so when the Queen could pass for a woman who could be a grandmother. It certainly gave her a new perspective on Emmon at least, he may not have been her first choice or even her last choice, but he wasn't a bad man.

For a Frey, at least.

But having Cersei in her arms seemed to bring a little joy to the Queen, indeed it seemed all her troubles had melted away and with it the shadows of age that plague her and she looked like the young woman she was. "She's such a beautiful baby, Joanna would have been so pleased with her. She always wanted a daughter so badly, so did I of course and so did Princess Loreza, we used to say when we were all together in King's Landing that our daughters would be as close as sisters."

A hint of misery crept into the Queen's features then as she looked down at Cersei, the babe was awake now and was trying to grab the silver medallion that hung from the Queen's neck and put it in her mouth, that brought a laugh out from the queen who gently plucked it from the babe's mouth. "But life oft does not work out the way that we hope that it would, Loreza has a daughter of her own, but the girl is ten now and not strong from what I hear, I doubt that the two of them will ever know each other long enough to bond as we did."

"And I have never had a daughter, I have tried and yet the gods have denied me that blessing," Genna was shocked when saw that the Queen's eyes were wet with tears, having no idea what to say in that moment she simply stayed quiet as the Queen ran a finger over the top of Cersei's head. "And that simply gains more of my husband's ire, he wants a daughter as well and with each miscarry, each still birth, his hatred for me grows."

The Queen's shoulders were shaking then and Genna cleared her throat, looking anywhere in the room but at Rhaella. She had never been good with this, Tywin had taught her as a girl that to weep was to admit weakness and she was a lioness, it was for her to make others weep. She must not show weakness to anyone, it would be to the detriment of their house.

But he had never taught her what to do here, even the few stories he told her of his time at court and dealing with Aerys did not help her as the Queen did not seem much at all like the man, she was cursed to call both husband and brother. She was gentle, but there was a hint of steel underneath it and there was nothing but love and adoration in her eyes when she looked down at baby Cersei.

Her brother had taught her how to deal with enemies, never with another person.

She supposed it would have to a lesson she learned without him. She took a breath and found her words. "Most men are fools, when they are faced with something that will bring them pain, they will often look for someone to blame even though there is none. It seems that the same is true of Kings as well. You have given his grace a trueborn son and heir, none can doubt your fertility."

"And you are still young, there is time for more children yet. And I have never had any sisters, but I adored Tywin as a girl despite that he was older than me," Only three years had separated them in truth, but the Queen did not need to hear that, the message behind the words was what she needed and Genna's love for her brother needed no lies.

"You could have a daughter this year, or the year after that. Cersei would be glad of a companion by then, and as for the Princess of Dorne's daughter, well, I cannot say as I have never laid eyes on her but tomorrow is not today, the girl may be stronger in time, and she may be able to come and visit them. They may be close, close as sisters. Who can say?"

It was not as eloquent as she might have wished it to be, but it seemed that it had comforted the Queen at least a little bit as her shoulders had stopped shaking and her tears had dried on her cheeks, though her eyes were still wet.

The Queen looked like she was about to say something, but they were both interrupted when the door to the nursery opened without even a single knock and Genna was about to sharply reprimand whoever was on the other side of it, but her words died on her throat when she saw that it was Prince Rhaegar standing there, in the courtyard the prince had been the perfect picture of princely courtesy, quiet and withdrawn.

Now he looked more like she expected a boy of ten to act as he ran over to his mother, "Mother! You must see the library chamber, there are more books in there than the library tower in the Red Keep!"

"Rhaegar," There was a firmness in Rhaella's tone as she looked down at her only son and Genna could not deny that it sounded strange to hear from her, for the first time since she had met the woman, she sounded something like a Queen should. "I am very glad that you are enjoying your time here, but you've forgotten yourself. You are a prince and we our guests here, you do not just barge in without knocking."

"I'm sorry mother," The prince spoke and then turned to face Genna, falling into a low bow. "I am sorry my lady, please forgive me for forgetting myself and for my rudeness."

"You are forgiven, my prince," Genna said with a nod, most boys would get more excited over a sword or a horse than a book in her experience, but books had their place to be sure. "Would you like to see the Lady Cersei; you can hold her if you would like."

Rhaegar glanced at the babe in his mother's arms and stepped forward with a nod, once he stepped closer his mother handed Cersei over to him after showing her son how to properly hold the babe and once, she was in his arms Rhaegar looked down at her and studied her face for a few moments before he looked up at his mother with a serious frown for one so young. "Mother, do I have to marry her?"

Genna looked dumbly at the boy before she turned to look at his mother, who sat there looking mortified before she quickly jumped to her feet, took the babe from Rhaegar's arms and gentle placed her back in her cradle before she spun and snatched up her son's hand. "I am afraid that you shall have to forgive us Lady Genna, my son and I have to go now."

For a moment Genna wanted to tell her that the other woman did not have her leave to go, not until she had explained herself, but after that moment had passed, she remembered that the other woman was the queen and so she simply said nothing, not trusting herself to speak, and nodded her head.

Once Genna was alone she rose from her chair and walked over to the cradle and stared down at the babe, half asleep and utterly helpless against the threats of the world. Genna took in a deep breath, swore to protect her, called in the septa and left the nursery to go and find her brother.

She found him in Tywin's solar, their older brother may be naught more than ashes now, but Genna was certain that she would never be able to think of the room as belonging to anyone other than Tywin. Tygett was sitting behind the desk, a heavy frown on his face and while that was normal for Tygett, the cup of wine in his hand was not. "Did the king say anything to you that might suggest he was thinking of arranging a betrothal between Prince Rhaegar and Cersei?"

"Suggest? The man offered it, bold as brass, after I had shown him to his room." Tygett scoffed and finished his cup, clearly considered refilling it, and then throwing it over to wall which it collided with a very heavy thump. "I told him that I would consider it and he acted like I spat in his face."

"Tywin said that the man was fickle, he likes to be flattered and pleased and told how brilliant he is. From what little he told me about his work at court, no is not a word that our King likes to hear." Genna frowned and sat down at the desk, she had sat in this very seat a thousand times before, but it was never anyone other than Tywin sat across from her before, it was strange. "What else was said?"

Tygett looked sheepish then and if their House wasn't at such a vulnerable point, she might have found it funny. "I may have said to him that if Tywin wanted his daughter to be a Queen, then it was the least that he owed to him, and I also basically accused him of trying to steal Casterly Rock from us by disinheriting Cersei and making sure that it was left to her sons instead, her Targaryen sons."

Genna had to remind herself that Tygett was not meant for this, they had two brothers before him and both Tywin and Kevan had been healthy as horses before the sickness had come for them both. Still, a part of her did want to give him a slap on the back of the head. "Tygett," Genna began, trying to do her best to sound like mother had. "He is the king, if there is anyone, we must hold our tongues around then it is him."

"I know that."

"I hope so, because there will be a price paid for this, I assure you of that. Aerys Targaryen is not a man to forget insults, Tywin told me that as well." Genna sighed heavily and rose to go. "I will be in my rooms if you need me, we still have the feast to get through and I doubt that it will be uneventful."

Tygett nodded and Genna left him to his scowling, her husband was waiting for her as she returned to her rooms. Emmon seemed to take note of her foul mood and asked her no questions, which she was grateful for as she laid back on her bed and stared up at the celling, counting the cracks in the stone.

As the sun set the time had come for the feast, Genna dressed in gold and crimson had rubies in her hair and her husband dressed in grey and blue with the twin castles of House Frey stitched over his heart in silver thread and she allowed him to escort her to the feast hall.

The hall was large enough to seat over a thousand, a great statue of Lann the Clever stood at the farthest end of the hall, wrought in gold that was polished till it shone brighter than the sun with rubies for his eyes and cast the dais in a great shadow, the wall was panelled in gold as well and the light of the torches set in sconces caused the walls to softly glow.

As was the tradition Aerys had the honour of escorting the most senior woman in the family to the high table, in truth that was Cersei but considering the babe was asleep in the nursery the duty of it fell to Genna. And so, she detangled herself from her husband and linked arms with the King, who looked like a little boy whose Septa had told him that he may not have another lemon cake.

As Genna and the King made their way to the high table she was comforted to see that the hall was full of Lannisters, they weren't utterly alone. Jason Lannister, Joanna's brother, was sat at a place of high honour in a table near the dais and was dressed all in black as he had been since news of his sister's death had reached him, two tables down was young Lord Samwell Lannister, Lord of Lannisport and the only survivor of his family after the plague.

Many nodded at her as she passed them, and it offered her a little comfort, and as they climbed the dais and sat at the table it pleased her to see that there were as many Lannisters in the room as men that the King had brought with him.

Tygett escorted the Queen, and Prince Rhaegar made the walk on his own and once all were seated the feast began. The first course was a salad of leafy greens, apple slices, chopped nuts and small wedges of a fine white cheese and dressed with olive oil and servants and cupbearers made sure that their cups were always filled with a fine Arbor Gold.

The hall was filled with the sound of cutlery clattering against plates, music from pipers and lutes and the soft voices of the singers and for all that it had the makings of a fine feast there was a heaviness in the air that made it clear that stories had already been spread throughout the Rock about the argument between her brother and the King, in a castle like the Rock there was always people listening.

The second course was fish, baked in butter, garlic and herbs to the point when the white flesh broke apart from even the slightest touch of a fork, it was very choice and yet Genna found that she couldn't enjoy it all that much.

It was after the third course was brought out, a soup made of carrot, onion and barley and spiced heavily with fine black pepper from Dorne, that the King rose to his feet with his newly refilled goblet raised high in the air. The hall was plunged into silence as they all waited for the King to speak, Genna had been in the middle of buttering some bread to dip into her soup and did not let go of her knife, indeed, something told her to hold on to it all the tighter.

"I must thank my loyal lords and ladies of Lannister for arranging such a welcome," the King spoke, his voice was heavy with wine and his eyes almost seemed to glow like indigo fire in the light of the torches. "I am aware of the great sorrows and tragedies that have befallen your great and noble house of late, it is the sort of thing that would destroy any lesser house."

"And thus, as your King, I have thought long and hard about how I might even slightly ease the burden from your shoulders for even a moment and after a conversation with Lord Tygett," the King gestured his wine cup over to where her brother was sitting, Tygett said nothing and simply watched as the King continued to speak. "I have come to an idea of the perfect way of how to help you."

"And thus, before this feast, I have sent two birds away. One to King's Landing and one to Storm's End, to make it be known that my will is that Lord Steffon Baratheon, Lord of Storm's End and Lord Paramount of the Stormlands be granted the title of Warden of the West!" The gasp that went up around could not be contained, cups and daggers were dropped, and the rough hacking noises suggested that some of those that had not stopped eating were now chocking.

King Aerys sat back down, clearly as pleased as a cat that had gotten at the cream and his two Kingsguard knights stepped closer to him, their hands dropping to their sword hilts, ready to draw them at a moment's notice. The Queen was staring down at her soup below and the prince was staring at his father, clearly confused.

The feast continued one, but the anger was palpable and Genna continued to butter her bread, wishing it was blood.

End of Chapter Two


Okay, two things.

One, I wanted Genna to comfort Rhaella but I really hope that I did it in a way that felt true to her character, she didn't strike me as someone who would be overly sentimental or use a lot of sweet words. She is trying to reassure Rhaella, but in a realist and grounded sort of way and I hope that comes across her.

And as for the position of the Wardenship, keep in mind it was a plot point in the first book that Jaime could have been named Warden of the East, despite being born in the west. You are guarding Westeros from threats coming from the direction, you don't really need to be from the most western kingdom to have it, at least that's how I understood it.

Anywho, hope you enjoyed.

Next chapter we are back in Tygett's perspective, a slight time skip, and the little lady of the Rock has some words to say.

Until then, and if you could please leave a review, a follow and a favourite if you enjoyed this.

With much love,

DiscordantSymphony