It was barely sunrise when a party arrived in King's Landing, bearing the Hightower colors and banners. Shona was then roused from her sleep and joined in her chambers by her parents and brothers. They spoke of their journey from The Reach, and asked a number of questions involving life in the capital. She was almost overwhelmed until her mother led her sons forth from her daughter's chambers to let her sleep. She was unable to remain asleep much longer for Cersei had scheduled a luncheon that morning following Sansa and Tyrion's solemn wedding celebration. The couple were dismayed by the event, but offered no complaints. The former queen had invited all the noble born ladies of court. including Shona's mother, Lady Rhonda, who was formerly of House Rowan. The only attendant not of noble birth was the paramour of Oberyn Martell, the younger brother of Prince Doran of Dorne. Cersei had invited the bastard woman in an attempt to make amends with the prince, but could not help mocking the baseborn woman after drinking heavily throughout the meal.
Shona sat through the luncheon with gritted teeth, and at one point asked Sansa if their leave would go unnoticed. She had her doubts and remained silent beside the calm redhead. Cersei knew how to plan a meal, though. It was one thing Shona often took notice of in King's Landing. At luncheon she had served a whole goat which had been roasted with herbs and garlic. Juices dribbled from the meat as servers cut slabs and delivered them to the tables. She could have been full on goat alone, but decided to sample the other courses brought before her; crispy skinned fish with lemon, a thick leek soup which tasted deliciously of butter and cream, and lastly a piece of pie made with fresh picked wild berries. She was full and fighting the urge to lick her fingers clean when Cersei made a comment that made Shona's spine go rigid abruptly. It was hard to miss the joke when Sansa had gone blood red beside her.
"I heard your wedding night went splendidly, Little Dove. Apparently your foreign handmaiden was gossiping with the laundress about how much of a mess you and my beloved brother made upon the bed linens. Maybe he even squirted a little monster baby into your belly. Would that not be delightful? Little Tyrions running around Winterfell one day." Cersei was positively amused with her comment. Malicious humor shone brightly in her intoxicated eyes and Shona could bite her tongue no longer, "I do believe it is crude to discuss the personal aspects of Sansa's wedding night in front of such a noble assortment of ladies. In fact, the topic is rather repulsive for the ears of ladies. Your Grace."
She could feel every eye in the room on her and Cersei looked almost taken aback. She and the former queen kept eye contact for a long moment before Cersei smiled with as much grace as ever, "Of course. I forgot we had several maids in the room." The comment was mostly spoken towards a blushing Margaery, who had been the subject of several court rumors involving various men all of which she denied in horror. Shona never doubted the chastity of her cousin, for she was a true lady. The sight of her vivid blush verified that thought in her mind once more.
With that the luncheon ended. Lady Rhonda was pleased by her usually quiet daughter's well worded defense of Sansa. The trio of women walked the stone steps to Maegor's Holdfast together and parted ways on the same stretch of hallway. Sansa would sit with her new husband until supper was served. She had complained earlier of boredom because of Tyrion's reading habits, "All he does is read all day long. He must be the dullest person I have ever met." Shona disagreed with her friend on this one thing alone. She found Tyrion Lannister incredibly interesting, and especially liked that he was studious. His intelligence set him apart from many other men in King's Landing. They all knew how to wield a sword, but had minds like soft cheese. Shona could never marry a knight, not that her father would agree to that match. She was too high born to wed a knight. No, she would wed a future lord, much like Sansa.
Tommen would be a good match if he were not so much younger than she. He had come flying through her doors as she practiced her harp, beckoning her to the stables where Shai was kept. At first, she had been worried about her horse, but after a quick climb up a hay ladder she immediately saw what had Tommen so filled with excitement. Five kittens of various colors jostled around in the hay filled loft.
"Where did you find them?" she asked, picking up the only black kitten in the litter. She giggled at the playful swat she received to her upturned nose, "What a little rascal!"
"One of the barn cats had them in an empty stall. Joff threatened to drown them, but I snuck them up here one night. He had killed the mother cat," Tommen shifted his teary eyes to the pile of kittens attacking their legs. "I could not let him hurt her babies. I had to feed them milk from a rag when they were littler. Now they eat meat scraps."
"They are very cute, Tommen." Shona had fallen on her knees in the soft hay to scratch an upturned belly, only to receive a bitten wrist in return. Amongst the frisky kittens was a small white fluffball who Tommen claimed was the runt. He was sweeter and less rambunctious than his siblings. The white kitten immediately made himself comfortable in Shona's lap.
"I was going to keep them all, but I think mother would say no. You can have one if you would like!" Tommen was all smiles as he let the kittens prance over his giggling chest. Shona smiled at the sight and looked over the kittens, only to have her eyes linger a moment longer on the white runt on her lap. His eyes opened ever so slightly revealing midnight blue irises swimming with gold and green, "I think I will take him."
Tommen and Shona left the hay loft to explore after an hour of playing with the kittens. She had wanted to bring her new friend along, but apparently naptime had taken over as all five of the babies had fallen sleepily into the hay, snuggled together for warmth. While they napped, Tommen showed her the library, which housed more books than she had ever seen, as well as the kitchens, where he sweet talked a serving girl into handing over a tray of fresh lemon cakes. Tommen had placed the cakes gently inside a rucksack and led the way to the dungeons, where nineteen Targaryen dragon skulls were stored. The sight of them all cluttering one hall took Shona's breath away. She stood before one glimmering onyx skull, counting the massive teeth lining its jaws. Each tooth was almost the length of a long sword. As they walked down the line of skulls, they seemed to get smaller and smaller until Tommen was able to show her the last by holding it in his upturned palm.
"It is so small!" she gasped in wonder, fingering the onyx colored bone. It was smooth as glass under her fingertips, but almost felt warm to the touch. She shivered and urged Tommen to put it down before it was broken. The pair made their way back upstairs to the keep where she said her goodbyes. They made a deal to meet the next afternoon to play with the kittens once more, and Shona returned to her chambers smiling brightly. Tommen reminded her so much of her brother Cadlan. He was older than she, but had always been sweet to her as a child. They had stolen sweets from the kitchens, run down the long hallways of the High Tower playing childish games of tag, and even jumped from the cliffs of Battle Island to the churning river waters below. Tommen had never experienced that sort of joy and it made her heart ache. She wished to whisk him away to Oldtown and let him experience the freedom of soaring through the air before tumbling down to the warm water below. Cersei's claws were so deep in her youngest son that Shona feared he would never leave King's Landing.
"My son seems particularly fond of you," Cersei noted at supper. Shona had joined the high table by request of the former queen and her son. Tommen had been overjoyed, and begged to be seated by her side. She was flanked by Tommen and Cersei, feeling almost smothered between their golden heads and wide grins.
"I am fond of him too, your grace. He is a sweet boy," she teased Tommen with an elbow to his ribs. The younger boy blushed under his mother's gaze before stuffing his plump cheeks with pie. Cersei reached a hand out to smooth the curls that ran down the length of Shona's back, "I wanted to thank you."
Shona was surprised by the maternal gesture Cersei had just made by smoothing her hair, and was equally astounded by her words, "Whatever have I done to deserve this gratitude, your grace?"
Cersei looked to her son who was smiling for the first time since his sister had left King's Landing for Dorne. Looking at Cersei then, Shona could see the love radiating from her gaze. She loved her children and that was evident. Cersei smiled genuinely and cupped Shona's clasped hands giving them a squeeze, "Gotten him to smile again."