.
XII
Warning
The trip that should have taken Joanna, Arys, and Yoren a week took them hardly a matter of days. They hardly stopped for food and rest; when they did stop, Joanna was restless. She had no appetite and her mind was racing too fast for her to get any sleep. She thought of everything that could happen, all the ways that things could go wrong. Tyrion could die before Catelyn Stark brought him to King's Landing. Catelyn could go back on her word and take him to Winterfell anyways. Her mother and father could decide that Tyrion wasn't worth saving. They could decide to execute Catelyn for arresting Tyrion.
Oh, gods, she thought. She was angry at Lady Stark for arresting her uncle, but she didn't want to see her killed, either. She was a mother, worried for the life of her son. Grieving parents did rash things sometimes, didn't they? As long as her uncle wasn't harmed, she saw no reason why Lady Stark should be punished harshly for her actions. Cersei loved her children more than her own life; Joanna hoped that she would understand.
Cersei never understood. Joanna knew this. She immediately felt foolish for hoping for any kind of understanding from her mother. Cersei wanted the things in her life to be perfect, and took the greatest offense to any little detail that was wrong. As much as she despised her brother, she would still view his arrest as a personal offense. Joanna was loathe to see what Cersei would say, or do. She didn't always have much influence over the king, but since it was her brother, perhaps he would defer to her wishes.
It was decided, then. She had to keep her mother from finding out for as long as possible. That was a difficult task for a queen so keen in politics. But Joanna would do what she could.
The trio raced through the streets of King's Landing, straight to the Red Keep at the opposite end of the city. Joanna knew that she had to be quick. Her family would want to see her, no doubt, though she hoped that returning a week earlier than planned would delay them, if only for a bit. Once she was relieved of her horse, she turned to race into the Red Keep. Ser Arys grabbed her arm.
"Where are you off to, my lady?" he asked, confused. She pulled her arm from his grasp.
"I have to speak with Lord Stark," she said, rushing off before he could stop her again.
She hurried to the quarters that were kept for the Hand of the King, relieved that she remembered the way. She approached the door, out of breath from climbing the steps of the tower. The Stark's captain of the guard was stood at the door of the study, and Joanna gave a quick sigh of relief – she had found Lord Stark.
"Princess Joanna?" He seemed surprised to see her. "I didn't know you were back."
"I need to see Lord Stark urgently," she said, nearly panting. Jory Cassel frowned.
"What's wrong?"
"I don't have the time to explain," she said impatiently, shifting from foot to foot as though she were about to run right past him and burst through the door. "I need to speak with him."
Cassel was still frowning, but he turned and knocked three short times on the door before stepping inside.
"Pardon, my lord," he said. "Princess Joanna is here to see you, she says it's urgent."
Apparently given approval by Lord Stark, he turned and waved her inside. She brushed past him quickly. Inside the solar, Lord Stark was standing before his desk, his daughter Arya beside him. Arya was filthy, dressed in boys clothing with her hair tousled. Joanna had no time to inquire or even to say hello.
"Lord Stark!" she cried before he could greet her. Noting her urgency, he rose a hand as though to calm her. "We returned as fast as we could!"
"What's happened?" he asked.
Joanna opened her mouth to speak, then her eyes flickered to Arya, and her lips clamped shut. She hesitated. Ned Stark seemed to notice that her hesitance relied on Arya's presence, and leaned down to kiss her head.
"Go on," he said. "We'll talk later. Jory, take her safely to her room."
The two left, and he moved past her to close the door behind them.
"What is it?"
"It's your wife," she explained. "She's arrested my uncle at the Crossroads Inn. My mother and father don't know yet, I wanted to warn you before they knew. I know that your wife is bereaved for your son – she's being rash. Perhaps you can make her see reason when she returns."
He blinked, processing the stream of information she'd blurted to him. "She's coming here?"
"I convinced her to bring him here instead of Winterfell," she said. "Perhaps if you could speak to her when she arrives, she'll see that this is all just a misunderstanding."
Eddard was silent for a moment. She allowed him his quiet so what he had heard could sink in.
"Thank you," he said finally. She shifted on her feet.
"I have to tell my father now," she said. "I'll make sure he understands that you already know."
"No," he said, somewhat suddenly. She frowned.
"The King has to know, Lord Stark," he said. "The whole city will know by tomorrow. He'll be angry if he finds out that way."
"He should hear it from me," he said. "Not his daughter."
She saw no reason to disagree, and it saved her a task that she wasn't looking forward to. She nodded. "Very well."
She turned to leave, crossing the room to the door. Just before leaving, Lord Stark called to her.
"Thank you," he said. Joanna's mouth raised in a half-smile, half-grimace.
"Good luck," she replied, and left on her way.
She trailed through the halls, making her way back to her room. First thing that she needed to do was come up with a reason for not coming to see her family right away. She supposed that she could say that she was in desperate need of a bath – which was true. She was eager to peel off her travelling clothes and finally wear a fresh dress. That might placate her family – her mother especially, who always hated to see Joanna unkept as she very much was now.
Feeling as though a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, she walked with much less urgency, and absorbed the feeling of finally being back in the Red Keep. It was nice, indeed, to be home. She was eager to see Desmera again, and to tell Myrcella and Tommen about her travels. They would be fascinated, she was sure. Each of them had bemoaned not being able to accompany their sister to the Wall. She would have to think of some embellishments to her story to make it one worth hearing.
It was nice to be in a warmer climate again as well. As much as Joanna had come to enjoy the cold air of the North, she did look forward to wearing lighter clothes and spending more of her time out of doors without having to come inside and warm up every so often. The North lacked the gardens of the south, of which the Red Keep had plenty. Joanna looked forward to spending the coming days wandering through the gardens with Desmera and her other handmaidens in tow, perhaps going down to one of the beaches at the foot of the castle to dip their toes in the water.
Until then, Joanna was just happy to be back in her room, where her feather bed awaited her. It had been far too long. Finally reaching her door, a small smile rose on her face as she reached out to the handle, preparing to relish in the sight of the one true haven that existed to her. The door swung open, revealing to her –
Cersei.
Joanna froze. Her mother was waiting for her, and she was not happy. The smile she wore was tight, and Joanna could practically feel the anger in her mother's eyes boring into her. She sat at the table, a glass of wine in her hand, Ser Arys standing across from her. That was almost worse. Cersei was in her room, and she had been waiting.
"There you are!" she said, standing. "When Ser Arys reported your return, I thought I'd come straight to your chambers to see you. I didn't imagine I would have to wait."
Joanna said nothing. The look on Cersei's face got progressively worse as she failed to hide her fury. Sometimes she could cover up her true feelings with a smile, but today her mask was transparent.
"Where were you?"
Joanna's eyes flickered to Ser Arys. How lucky was she feeling? She decided to test her luck – she was going to be in trouble either way, she was sure.
"I went to go find Desmera," she said, spouting the first lie that came to her. "I missed her so much, I didn't want to wait."
"Is that so?" Joanna felt her stomach sink and her palms grow sweaty as her mother spoke. "Ser Arys just told me that you told him you were going to speak with Lord Stark. Why would you do that?"
Perhaps it was because she no longer felt lucky, or perhaps it was because she didn't have it in her to speak, but Joanna did not reply – only swallowed thickly and clenched her hands. Cersei didn't need her to reply.
"Catelyn Stark arrests your uncle and the first person you run to is her husband?" she asked, eyes narrowing. "Did it not occur to you that the Starks are now our enemy?"
Joanna wanted to defend herself, to explain, but her mouth was dry. When she opened it to speak, she couldn't find words to say. What could she say to make her mother understand? She had already made up her mind.
"Of course it didn't," she continued, venomous. "You're a child. Your father was foolish for allowing you to go off with your uncle. If you'd have stayed with me, this would never have happened."
"What will happen now?" Joanna asked, finally managing to find her voice. Her mother's lips rose in a tiny smile that chilled her blood.
"Your Uncle Jaime has already gone to speak with him," she said. "No thanks to you."
"I'm sorry." The mumble fell from her lips before she could stop it. She wasn't sure if she was sorry for not telling her mother or sorry for being sloppy about telling Lord Stark. Her eyes were cast at the ground in front of her. She couldn't bring herself to meet her mother's icy gaze. Cersei didn't say anything. She regarded Joanna with a strange look. And then finally, her face softened. She opened her arms.
"Come here," she said softly. Joanna shuffled forward into her mother's embrace. Cersei wrapped her arms around her eldest daughter, running a gentle hand through her hair. Joanna hid her face in her mother's shoulder, eyes peering out. Cersei's mouth was just by her ear, and she spoke just softly enough for her to hear. "Never lie to me again."
And then she released her. Joanna stood stock still as Cersei trailed out of the room, Ser Arys at her tail. She didn't move until she heard the door thump shut. When she was sure she was alone, she let out a long, shaking breath, releasing with it a flood of tears that had been waiting just below the surface. She should have been cleverer. She should have known that the first thing Arys was going to do was go straight to her mother. If anything happened to Lord or Lady Stark, it was her fault.
She sank to her bed, hopeless. Of all the ways things could have gone wrong, she never considered this.
A knock came at her door. To her relief, it was Desmera who announced herself. Called inside, she trailed in with two of Joanna's other handmaidens in tow. Rising from the bed, Joanna hurried over to Desmera and buried her in a hug. Desmera responded just as fervently, wrapping her arms around her tightly.
"I've missed you, my lady," she said, then she pulled away and motioned to the others. "We all have."
Joanna smiled. Though not as close to her other handmaidens as she was to Desmera, it was still nice to see them again. She supposed she missed them always trailing one step behind her. It was nice, never being alone. She approached each one in turn; Cerenna and Myrielle Lannister, her cousins, and Rhea Royce, who had been at court for nearly a year now. Her cousins had decided to remain in King's Landing rather than travel to the North, while Rhea had travelled with them along the Kingsroad before turning to the Vale to visit her family. To each of her handmaidens, she granted a kiss on the cheek.
"Could you call Dorcas, have her and the others bring water for a bath."
Rhea, dutiful as ever, ducked in a curtsy and left to find Joanna's chief serving woman and the other servants who waited on her. Cerenna and Myrielle helped Desmera unclothe Joanna.
"This dress is filthy!" said Myrielle, a pinched look on her face. "I can't believe you had to travel in this!"
"There's no one to impress on the Kingsroad," Joanna said. "Most of the people we passed didn't know who I was."
"I'm sure the Imp gave you away," snickered Cerenna. "Where is he anyway, I wonder? Did he get stopped over in the brothels on your way through the city?"
"That sounds like him, doesn't it," said Joanna quietly. Typically she enjoyed Cerenna and Myrielle's chatter, but now she had other things on her mind. "It's a long story, one I'm sure you'll hear elsewhere before too long."
"Would it have to do with why I saw your mother leaving here?" Desmera asked.
"Indeed," Joanna sighed. "Once I'm bathed, I'm going straight to bed."
"Well we can stay, can't we?" Cerenna asked. "We did miss you so, we've all spent days talking about what stories you might bring."
That made Joanna smile, and cheered her mood slightly.
"Of course you can. Though with as much riding I've done, I can't promise I'll be awake for long."
"We'll take what we can get," said Desmera. She and Joanna shared a smile. Now down to only her shift, she sat and waited for the servants to bring the water and tub for her bath.
"Cerenna, Myrielle, go find someone to bring a pitcher of wine," she said with a long sigh. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back on the edge of the chair, slumped down. "Or two, perhaps. Gods know, I'll need it tonight."
A/N: Check me out! It didn't take me a month to get this chapter out! Quick note before the rest, Rhea Royce is only sort of mine - Yohn Royce supposedly has another, unnamed daughter. I can't technically claim ownership of her existence, but her name and personality come from me. Myriella and Cerenna Lannister are creations of GRRM, and I can only claim ownership over their personalities.
I'd like to thank BrittStar1199, HPuni101, xenocanaan, bellaphant, Raging Raven, ZabuzasGirl, Crystal-Wolf-Guardian-967, Lt-Spork89, Kathleencade17 for the reviews! Some of you are first-time reviewers and I'm absolutely thrilled to see new faces! Every single review that all of you, old or new reviewers, leave me is so meaningful, and I really appreciate the time you guys put into leaving me a comment. It really means a lot and it really helps get new chapters out quicker. Additional thanks to all of you readers out there who have added this story to your faves and follows! I'm so glad that you guys are enjoying this story.
I managed to smash this one out in about a night and a half. I'm suuuuuper excited that Joanna's back in King's Landing, and I hope that you are too! I'm very excited to see you guys react to what's in store for Joanna in King's Landing, and I'm very excited to write her story. As you all know, there's some dark stuff looming on the horizon. As I said in last chapter's note, romance isn't going to be a priority for a bit, but there's lots of other interactions with different characters that I'm looking forward to.
(Season 7 spoilers ahoy, just in case anyone hasn't seen it yet.)
Also, let me know what you guys thought of the Season 7 finale! It was so crazy, I'm so psyched for season 8! Hopefully I can keep you guys entertained with more chapters during the long wait. It's gonna be rough, but (Ned Stark voice) the fanfiction readers endure. Also...Jon and Dany, yay/nay? I know there's a lot of mixed feelings out there and I'm very interested in what you guys have to think! I think I've made my feelings known about Littlefinger, so I'm sure it comes at no surprise that I was very pleased with the outcome of the episode. I was unsure about the Winterfell plotline in general but I think they wrapped it up nicely. And, Sam and Bran's big reveal! It was so incredible! Now if only season 8 could come a little bit sooner...
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I'll try my best to get another one out to you soon. University is keeping me very busy but I also love to procrastinate, so maybe some writing will get done. Hope everyone had a great summer, and if you're in school, I hope you have a great semester.
Until next time!
Rex