Chapter 3 – Rescue
Cersei stood atop the walls of King's Landing overlooking Blackwater Bay. The sunshine and sea breeze created a peaceful atmosphere but what was bringing her the most peace right now was the sight of Euron's Iron Fleet bringing in one of the largest and most skilled sellsword company, The Golden Company. Despite the notorious unreliability of sellswords, the Golden Company is said to have never broken a contract. With their numbers added to the Lannister army, she'll have a fighting chance once the army of the dead weakens the Dragon Queen and Ned Stark's bastard. Only when she has killed every last one of them will she be truly at peace.
It was at that moment that Jaime's face flashed in her mind. That's right, she would have to kill her stupid, traitorous twin brother as well. She didn't want to admit it, but deep within the corners of her mind, she knew she didn't want to kill him despite his betrayal. Even now, she craved his touch and presence. She wished that he would come back, bring her in a warm embrace and apologize for hurting her. For what did she have now without him? She remembered the words of Robert Baratheon when he described his love for Lyanna Stark, 'seven kingdoms could not fill the hole she left behind.'
No, she was not the same as her late husband, she still had the child that was growing in her belly right now. She would protect this one no matter the cost. It didn't matter how many innocent civilians she would have to watch burn or how many dirty pirates she would need to whore herself out to. At the end of the day, if Jaime still decides to stand against her, then she will kill him as well.
Qyburn approached her in hurried strides, "Your Grace, I'm afraid I bring terrible news. The dead have broken through the Wall."
To his surprise, rather than being concerned or terrified, the Queen responded with a single word, "Good."
In the throne room, Cersei welcomed the captain-general of the Golden Company, Harry Strickland. "Twenty thousand men, is it?"
"Yes, Your Grace."
"Horses?"
"Two thousand."
"And elephants?"
"Forty."
"That's disappointing. I expected more."
"They are excellent beasts, Your Grace. But we limited our selection to the ones that were over sixty years old as they are more disciplined. Otherwise, one dragon's roar will send them running back, trampling our own soldiers."
"In any event, you are most welcome here in King's Landing, Captain Strickland. I look forward to seeing the Golden Company on the battlefield, I have heard tales of their skills and loyalty," said Cersei, with emphasis on the last part.
"Our word is good as gold, Your Grace, and we look forward to fighting on your behalf," said the blonde commander as he gave a short bow and exited the room.
"Am I most welcomed here?" asked Euron once the captain-general left the room.
"You are a true friend of the crown and an honored guest."
"Good, as a true friend and an honored guest…" Euron made his way up the steps to the Iron Throne but stopped in his track when Ser Gregor Clegane let out a low grunt. "I was hoping we could talk in private."
"After the war. That was our agreement."
"Wars sometimes last years."
"You want a whore, buy one. You want a queen…earn her," said Cersei as she got up to leave.
"I do want a queen," said Euron as he placed a hand over his heart, "but what do I do when the queen doesn't want me? I have given her justice, an army, and the Iron Fleet yet she gives me no sign of affection. My heart is nearly broken."
"You're insolent. I've executed men for less," said Cersei venomously.
"They were lesser men."
"Oh? And pray tell, what kind of man are you?"
"A man of great ambition!" said Euron as he expanded his arms and climbed up the steps to the same level as Cersei. "I've traveled all over the known world, sailed the Smoking Sea and walked the ruins of Valyria. I came back, took the Seastone Chair, raised the Iron Fleet and became the greatest captain of the fourteen seas. But I am not done! I want to ride dragons, kill dead men…have a prince with the most beautiful woman in the world."
Euron grinned handsomely as he approached Cersei but once again, the Mountain stood in his way. For a mad moment, he felt his hand twitch for his dagger. When Ser Gregor sensed the danger and was about to draw his sword, the Queen waved off her Queensguard. Euron smile only cracked wider as he finally closed the distance between them. He leaned down and whispered in her ear, "If you are not willing, that's okay. I will just go chase something else."
Cersei looked him in the eyes, and he could see the disgust clear on her face. But he knew, as she did, that she had no real choice in this. He would get what he wants because she still needs him to fight against the Dragon Queen. As the two of them walked to her bedchambers, he felt a warmth spread within him as if he was getting drunk. When he pinned her on her back and took her every which way he wanted, the pleasure didn't come from her perfectly curved body but from her look of resignation.
Inside the Black Cells of the Red Keep, Ellaria Sand watched helplessly as the condition of her daughter, Tyene Sand, worsened. The girl was sweating profusely, and the symbolic nosebleed happened a few hours ago. The Long Farewell was a poison Tyene was familiar with, thus she had built a certain degree of resistance towards it. Furthermore, even with the expertise of a maester, one without links in the study of poison would have a hard time recreating a perfect version. But at the end of the day, death is certain. Tears rolled down the side of her face, losing Oberyn was gut-wrenching but she could not even begin imagining the loss of her daughter. It seems Doran was right all along; her blind pursuit of vengeance has led her to this point. The Lannisters should pay for the way they dishonored Dorne but not all Lannisters deserve it.
Myrcella did not deserve it. She understood this too late and now her daughter will pay for her mistake. She had hoped that Daenerys Targaryen would have stormed the city with her three dragons, but the girl is too soft-hearted for this war. She wishes to win with no bloodshed but that just meant no rescue is coming anytime soon. Tyene opened her eyes and looked at her, the bright and cheerful light that's usually there is no more. She knew how much pain her daughter must be in right now and she wondered if she blamed her mother for it all. She would deserve it.
Suddenly, the door to their cell burst open and despite her prayers, it was just the prison guards. They were changing the candles as they've been commanded by the Queen but after completing their task, rather than leave the two guards stayed in the cell. One of the guards whistled as he looked at Tyene, "Still alive, eh?"
Ellaria's heart rate began to speed up, she could see the hunger in the eyes of the men that were looking at her and her daughter. She begged all the gods for them to take her daughter away so that she didn't need to suffer through this. But her prayers were muffled by the cloth gag that was in her mouth. "I'll take this one and you can have the mother, then we can switch."
Tyene tried to fight off the man as he undressed and groped her but even at her best, her arms were chained to the wall. Ellaria could only close her eyes and give muffled apologies to her and to Oberyn who was in heaven for failing to protect her. "By the Seven, would you look at these ti-"
Before the man could finish, he collapsed on the ground in a pool of blood and brain matter from the crossbow shot through his eye. His companion tried to bring up his breeches and draw his weapon, but before he could get it halfway up his knee, his throat was slit with a long dirk. Ellaria thought that it would be the Dragon Queen's men but instead, it was a man in black ringmail over boiled leather armor. He looked like a common sellsword, but he moved like a trained rogue. Ellaria recognized this person as the man who was with Jaime Lannister when they visited Dorne, Ser Bronn of the Blackwater.
The man moved faster than her thoughts as he ungagged her daughter and pressed a small vial up to her mouth. Her constitution improved almost immediately as her pale face began to color again and her breathing became less ragged. "Hello handsome," said Tyene with a smile. Bronn then moved on to unchaining them and once the gag was out of Ellaria's mouth she asked, "Why are you helping us?"
"Less talking, more moving."
The three of them moved silently toward the staircase, but rather than move up, Bronn began to lead them down to the lower level that's known for torture. "Where are you taking us," asked Ellaria as she stopped in her tracks.
"You can follow me, or you can go back to your little cell, not my problem," said Bronn as he grabbed a torch from one of the stands and began going down. After going through a few winding tunnels, the three emerged in the chamber of the dragon mosaic and behind one of the dragon skulls was a cave that led out to Blackwater Rush.
"Isn't the Iron Fleet going to spot us?" asked Ellaria as they got onto the small rowboat that Bronn prepared ahead of time.
"They seemed to be busy with chasing another rescue team," answered Bronn as he untied the boat.
All of a sudden, voices of soldiers echoed from behind them followed by the sound of footsteps. "I think they went over there!"
"Shit!" Bronn cursed as he prepared to draw his sword, but Ellaria stopped him.
"Mama?" asked Tyene but she knew from the look her mother gave her what was about to happen. "Mama don't do this."
"Shush now child and do not cry, your father raised you as a warrior. Go now and you may still have a chance to escape."
"Are you sure you can handle them?" asked Bronn.
"I was the paramour of Prince Oberyn Martell, the Red Viper. I raised the Sand Snakes. I can handle them," said Ellaria confidently. Bronn nodded and tossed her his long dirk. The mother and daughter hugged for a final time before Bronn pushed the boat out into the water.
Moments after, three soldiers came out of the cavern's mouth. "They must have sailed away. We must inform the Queen about this." As they turned back, Ellaria Sand leaped out from the shadows like a snake from the grass. Her blade slithered past the throats of the first two men, slashing open their arteries and ending their life instantly. The last one had enough time to react and he buried his longsword into the woman's stomach but not before she was able to plunge her blade into his heart. The two people left standing fell to the ground in unison and as Ellaria's consciousness faded, she smiled.
'I'm coming to join you, Oberyn.'
*Author's Note: I completely understand why the show didn't include elephants and I'm not angry about it whatsoever but since the world of fanfiction is not restricted by budget, I felt like adding elephants!
I know book Euron is incredibly mysterious and is set up to be another huge villain but with the state of the story in season 8, I honestly have no idea how I would fit him in, so he'll have a lesser role in this one. At the very least, I thought I'd give him some character motivation as a glory hound apart from "I want to fuck the queen."
Bronn deciding to go assassinate the two Lannister brothers made no sense to me. Bronn may be self-interested and a pragmatist, but we've seen time and time again that he does care for these two. So, rather than have Bronn do something that's completely out of character, I decided to change it up so that we could have a little bit of payoff from the shit Dorne plotline.
Ghostie1701: Thank you for your support and hope you enjoyed this chapter!
patrickthenobleman: I'm happy you enjoyed the Sansa/Tyrion interaction and I agree that GRRM definitely has the setup for Dany to turn mad. The season just made it way too rushed, if we had a couple of episodes to see her spiral down the abyss then I would have happily accepted it but instead, it just looks like a sudden 180 from her Mhysa persona. Your reviews are really interesting to read and I hope to see it again this chapter!