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Brandon Stark VI

Outskirts of King's Landing, Crownlands, Year 284 AC

The sound of swords and shields clashing against each other echoed in the field as dozens of warriors fought each other and the dust they made whirled around as if an army was there. Brandon had never fought in a battle or a war. All thanks to the Mad King who prevented him from helping his brother fight the Rebellion and caused him endless torment, but he imagined this would be how a battle took its natural course. Though if any army fought like this, they would be dead in a matter of minutes.

About fifty-eight fighters started the competition but only four remained, one of which was him. The seats of the crowd were half empty as melees were not as popular as the jousts but if anyone wished to see what war was like, there was no better place. The lack of competitors and spectators had, at first, disappointed the Lord of Winterfell but after struggling to beat fighters such as Ser Gilbert Farring, Ser Tybolt Crakehall, Lord Randyll Tarly and Ser Hosteen Frey and still having to conserve his stamina, Brandon was quite thankful.

While the melee at Harrenhal had been his first, it differed from this one because it had been on a horse so stamina was not an issue there but it was here where warriors were meant to fight on foot. There was no need for battle formations but wits were still of much use, especially against stronger opponents or opponents with weird fighting styles but in the end, it was one's own ability that mattered and not how well he fought in a group.

Aside from him, the other fighters left were Ser Jacaerys Velaryon, the Master of Ships, who looked fast, agile and had great technique both in the defensive and offensive which had allowed him to beat the likes of Lord Royce despite the difference in size and strength. He was one tough fighter, perhaps the one that Brandon had underestimated the most but the Valyrian's current opponent was just as tough. The only knight of the Kingsguard who entered the melee, Ser Jaime fucking Lannister.

The golden-haired fool had not been very interested in joining the melee at first, most likely because his sworn brothers also did not, but after some trash-talking between the two of them, the Lannister entered and swore he would put Brandon to the dirt. The Lord of the North would be lying if he did not consider Jaime a damned good warrior blessed with speed, agility, strength, endurance, technique, or in other words, pretty much everything one needed to win fights and put someone to the dirt though Brandon avowed he would not give him the pleasure.

And finally, the only option Brandon had for a fight currently, Prince Oberyn Martell. They had met at Harrenhal and found out they shared many interests so they were quick to befriend each other, though they did not saw each other since and they did not communicate through letters but once the Dornish Prince settled down properly, after all, he arrived just a couple days ago and half of these days, his sister had been bedridden, they could share a conversation over some Dornish red.

But Brandon was caught off-guard by the Prince's armor...

Greaves, vambraces, gorget, and spaulder were of steel but below that, it was just leather and there were even orange flowing silks tied to the armor. In the man's right hand was a spear, a long one, maybe five feet long, sharpened in the edge which was also made of steel, and in his left hand was a round steel shield with House Martell's sigil though it was not in good shape because of the beating it took. His helmet was gilded and shone bright with the sunlight which was definitely intentional, likely to use the sun of his sigil to his advantage. After seeing all this, Brandon could not stop thinking about how the Prince got so far in the competition. Had it been luck or did he have some sort of trump card up his sleeve?

"Prince Oberyn, fancy to see you again." Brandon started, his voice sounding slightly deeper than usual because of the echo his helmet made.

"Likewise, Lord Brandon. It has been a couple of years since we met." The Prince replied with a smile that Brandon could see because the mouth was not covered. "A lot has happened."

"Aye." Brandon nodded. "A few others and I are visiting a local tavern after the melee...perhaps you could join us and we can catch up, surely you had some interesting times in the Summer Isles. If you are interested of course."

"That sounds very interesting and I'm inclined to agree though I do not wish to bother my sister with my daughters' antics when she is still recovering," Oberyn replied. "I will find some way I'm sure."

"Should we start the fight then? The crowd will grow bored otherwise."

"Agreed." The Prince whirled his spear around his hand, showing Brandon that he meant business and was very proficient with his weapon. "I'm all ready to go, my friend."

Best if I keep my distance for a bit...he will not press me but the spear has a long reach so I need to be careful of that. "Let us go then!"

But they did not do anything of note for a while, they simply walked around each other, measuring each other. "I do not think this is the way we should fight..." The Prince said with a hint of amusement at what was happening.

"Nay." Brandon agreed. "Make a move then."

"Oh, you are going to regret it." And with that, Prince Oberyn started striking him with his spear on multiple points. He was so fast and agile that Brandon could only block the hits with his shield which was nearly torn to pieces because of his earlier fights. If all his previous opponents fought with brute force and he used speed against them, with Prince Oberyn it was impossible because the man was quicker and his reach was too damn big. How do I get out of this one? I'm physically stronger than him and perhaps I have better endurance...his strikes are making him get far more tired than me...I see only one option...

Brandon kept blocking the Prince's strikes with his nearly nonexistent shield until Oberyn spoke angrily. "Oh come on, Lord Brandon, I expected more from the Dragonslayer! You are only blocking! This isn't fun!"

"What can I say, I'm a bit rusty, the dark cells are quite demanding on one's health." Brandon replied. It seemed more and more people were calling him Dragonslayer...it was a good thing, it would help hide the fact that he spent most of the time inside the black cells and perhaps stop those stupid rumors that he came out shouting for Rhaegar Targaryen to die like a fool.

"If this was a battle to the death, you would have been dead!"

This is it! Brandon left his defensive stance upon seeing an opening in Oberyn's stance and smashed the remaining bits of his shield onto the spear to cut some distance between them while also increasing the surprise factor. Oberyn was caught off-guard by the movement and Brandon's speed but he quickly placed himself in a defensive stance avoiding Brandon's sword swings with much difficulty. It's not enough, I need something even more unexpected...

With that in mind, he stopped swinging and instead rammed Oberyn to the ground before jumping on top of him, with the intent to disarm him and overpowered him. Once he was in Brandon's grip, Oberyn moved every inch of his body to destabilize him and dropped his weapon, as he could not use his spear in the ground because it was too large, and moved his lower half elastically to try a leg lock around Brandon's neck which forced the Lord of the North to move every inch of his body to prevent the fatal connection though his armor was of great help too because it made Oberyn's task much harder but not outright impossible. "Oh, you are one mad lad!" The Prince shouted excitedly. "I'm going all in!"

Because the leg lock did not work, Prince Oberyn changed his plan to hitting Brandon's back with his protected knees not much to hurt because of the armor but rather to disrupt his movements and perhaps stun him a little but Brandon was determined to not give in, he was like a wolf hanging on to its prey but the problem was that he could not land the fatal blow...Shit, if I continue like this, I'm going to be out of breath in no time...I need a better strategy...He thought about it for a while until he got something.

He leaned forward a little and pressed his knees against Oberyn's stomach to stun him before throwing most of his weight onto his opponent's right arm, making the man hiss a little. The Dornishman now used his left arm to jab him in the head and neck forcing Brandon to punch him in the face once and then twice which while not threatening allowed him to shorten the distance to Oberyn's neck and press his elbow against the shorter man's throat which deprived him of the much-needed air.

While Oberyn's jabs continued with more intensity at first, he grew red and then purple and his strength was decreasing until he was forced to: "Yield!" The Prince growled and Brandon immediately eased the pressure and gave his defeated opponent the ability to breathe which Oberyn certainly appreciated and needed.

Brandon then stood up and extended his arm. "Are you alright, Prince Oberyn?" he asked worriedly.

Oberyn coughed and then started laughing. "I did not know...we were...in the fighting pits of Mereen..." his panting was still a bit erratic. "Otherwise I would have not given you the chance to subdue me like this. Seven Hells, you are even more unpredictable than me."

Brandon laughed loudly as he heard that. "Says the man who brings a fucking spear to a melee. If it were a melee in the North, every single guy would be ramming you down as I did. I can picture Jon Umber, twice your size ramming you to the dirt at first sight."

"That sounds quite interesting...I may participate in one if I have the opportunity." Oberyn laughed. "Anyway, it was a nice fight, Lord Brandon. It was exciting and unpredictable, I enjoyed it very much! Let us do it again sometime!"

"Likewise and agreed but fuck you are one nimble fucker are you not?"

"That's what the light armor is for." Oberyn proclaimed. "And I assure you when I fuck I'm not as quick."

Both of them laughed at that and shook hands. "Good luck with the final match. Seems your opponent is already waiting."

"Thank you." Brandon nodded as Oberyn left the field. Given Oberyn's words, he assumed his opponent was behind him so just as he was turning in that direction, words from his next opponent came.

"So you did beat him?" It was the Lion of Lannister...Brandon had deduced it but seeing the guy standing there, arms crossed with his visor lifted, showing that Lannister smirk angered him. "That was a pretty wild battle Stark, are you so desperate to get defeated by me?"

Brandon smirked, easing his annoyance a little. "I had hoped Ser Jacaerys would have defeated you."

"He was quite close a couple of times," Jaime admitted. "He is a good swordsman but I'm still better."

"And more proud, heh?"

"A bit too much I will concede." Jaime uncrossed his arms. "So, are you ready for the final match, Stark? If you need some time to regain your breath go ahead. It would bring me no pleasure in beating a man who is too tired to fight."

"Give me a minute then," Brandon replied. "And I assure you I will make you eat dirt."

"Sure thing Stark, perhaps resting will make you less weak." Jaime nodded. "I expect you to give it your all as if this was a duel to the death, except that we do not actually kill ourselves...you get what I am saying, do you?"

"Yes, you wish to taste the ground." Brandon teased.

"Stark, you should know that I will never allow you to put me in such a position." The Lannister retorted. "Are you ready?"

"Yes," Brandon said, sword in hand. "Give me your best shot!"

"With pleasure!" Jaime closed the visor of his elm and moved swiftly towards him and started using diagonal swings with immense speed though Brandon was able to block the attacks with his sword because his shield was gone. "Come on Stark, give me a challenge!" Brandon did try but the Lannister was so fast, precise and had good endurance that it was difficult to go on the offensive. Best let him waste his breath...

After a minute, Jaime's moves were getting slower and weaker so Brandon increased his pace and swung with as much speed as he could but the Lannister did a good job of blocking it. "Did you think it would be this easy?" Jaime taunted. "Come on Brandon, give me your best shot!"

Brandon continued with his fast pace for almost a minute before he was out of breath and Jaime was once again slashing at him. They were so evenly matched that when one of them was attacking, the other was defending and neither could break the impasse. "This is going nowhere!" Brandon shouted panting.

"Fuck, you are right!" Jaime agreed. "I'm tired!"

"Me too!" Brandon confessed. "But one of us needs to win this!"

"Say no more!" And with that, Jaime blocked Brandon's slash, followed the movement of the slash and taking advantage of his power, reduced the distance between them and rammed him down before jumping on top of him, replicating the move Brandon used against Oberyn with such ease that it annoyed Brandon beyond reason. "What do you think of this one?!"

"You copycat fuck!" Brandon roared as he tried to avoid Jaime's punches. This time, the surprise factor was on Jaime's side and he was far stronger than Oberyn not to mention he was on top of Brandon punching him. I'm fucked! I need something...

"Nothing personal, my friend, but we needed to break the stalemate somehow!" Jaime shouted as he continued to punch him. "Plus, I did say we should fight as if we were fighting to the death!"

"FUCK!" Brandon roared. I need to punch him back and with my full might! And Brandon did just that, he grabbed Jaime's right arm and then his left and stopped the punches then he made a colossal effort with the help of his feet and threw Jaime to the side. "Do you like that?!"

"Love it mate!" Jaime shouted as he tried to go back to his previous position throwing a left hook at him which hurt. "How about this one?"

"Take this one then!" Brandon shouted as he punched Jaime back for the first time.

"This one will shut you up!" Jaime threw him another punch.

And so they were in another stalemate again, punching each other like fools, grabbing each other, and trying to overpower the other for what seemed an eternity. "Come on!" Brandon shouted angrily at the stalemate that never seemed to end. "What the fuck is this?!"

"You tell me!" Jaime shouted equally annoyed. "Fuck just give up already!"

"No way!" Brandon shouted as he punched Jaime once more. "You give up!"

"You. Must. Be. Joking." Jaime said as he punched Brandon multiple times following the rhythm of his words. It was enough to make Brandon start getting dizzy. "Yield!"

Brandon knew that he was near the edge and thus he had nothing to lose anymore. This will be my final attempt if I succeed I succeed and if not, I gave it my all. "Aaargh!" Brandon howled as he pressed Jaime to be below him with strength that the Lannister did not believe he still had and punched Jaime so hard in the right side of his face that the Lannister flinched for a couple of seconds which was enough for Brandon to conclude his movement. With his remaining strength, Brandon punched Jaime multiple times while roaring in rage until...

"I YIELD!" Jaime shouted and Brandon regained his senses and stopped just before his right punch landed yet again. "Fuck! What the fuck was that?!"

"I...I...don't know...shit...are you alright?" Brandon asked worriedly.

"Not really...my handsome face must be all bruised now even with a fucking helmet on..." Jaime said.

Brandon smiled. "If you can jape you are alright."

"It is not a lie." The Lannister insisted. "How the fuck did you go from being a punching bag to making me your punching bag?"

Brandon stood up. "I have no fucking idea." he extended his hand and Jaime took it so he helped his friend get up. "I just...I do not even know."

"Well...I got beaten up pretty badly..." Jaime admitted disappointed. "Last time I got a beating like this, I was eight and got rammed by Lyle."

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" Lord Tyrell shouted and with it, he got everyone's attention. "WHAT A MARVELOUS DISPLAY OF PROWESS! TRULY WONDERFUL FIGHTS BUT THESE LAST ONES WERE OUTSTANDING AND I MUST CONGRATULATE LORD BRANDON STARK FOR HIS DIFFICULT WIN!"

Cheers and claps echoed in the melee field and Brandon realized that... "Did I just win?!"

"Are you kidding me, Stark?" Jaime asked dumbfounded. "Did you forget we were the last ones standing? Perhaps it was the punches I gave you that made you a dimwit."

"I kind of forgot indeed..." Brandon admitted, leading his right hand to the back of his head and started laughing no long after. "Shit, I must have gone mad."

"AND CONGRATULATIONS TO SER JAIME LANNISTER OF THE KINGSGUARD FOR ALL THE OUTSTANDING FIGHTS!" Lord Tyrell shouted. "IT COULD HAVE GONE EITHER WAY SO AGAIN CONGRATULATIONS ON THE GOOD SHOW!"

Both of them waved at the crowds, lifting their elms to show their decently swollen faces. "I think Lord Tyrell is right, this was one heck of a battle."

"Do not get too cocky now, Stark," Jaime warned. "Next time we fight, it will be you shouting yield."

"Come and say that when you win the jousts, Lannister, then I will consider you equal." Brandon challenged.

Jaime looked at him with a smirk. "Just to make you eat those words, I will win the jousts."

"Good." Brandon nodded. "The only battle I want to win now is with sleep."

"I thought we were going to drink a couple of cups."

"Oh, you should not need to worry about that, we can sink your sorrows before I get a good night of sleep."

"You little shit." Jaime scoffed and then they both stared at each other with serious gazes for a couple of seconds before they laughed and wrapped their arms around each other.

Cersei Lannister IV

Outskirts of King's Landing, Crownlands, Year 284 AC

Tourneys were dull affairs. Idiots and fools fought each other in mock battles as dimwitted peasants cheered them...Cersei had no idea who thought this was fun, especially to watch, she hated these things just as she hated a whole deal of other things. Melees while still dull were much more entertaining because plenty of morons hitting each other with all they had and spilling blood was better than them sticking lances at each other in hopes to feel better for not sticking their members in women's parts.

She had hoped some of the Westermen to get far and to be fair, most of them did, but none had gotten into the last positions. Well, except for one...her stupid brother. As expected of a Lannister and of a prodigy swordsman, Jaime dominated all the battles he fought, and the only one who gave him some trouble was the Master of Ships and even he could not match a Lannister in battle. She was sure Jaime the Fool would win but alas it was not to be...

Brandon fucking Stark, that dimwitted, irritating, cockless coward who enjoyed reminding her that she apparently had, as of now, four days to apologize to him because she wounded his pitiful and stupid pride had somehow, someway, overpowered everyone he fought with, including her foolish brother. For a moment she had even got tense when the two of them ended up rolling on the floor and punching each other for almost five minutes and especially when Stark started roaring and punching Jaime harder, without mercy as those Northern barbarians certainly do in their frozen lands, almost killing a Lannister but luckily for him, Jaime was fine because there would be a whole deal of great consequences if he got her brother killed.

But she was surprised by that barbarian Stark. Cersei had expected him to drop like a fly just as quickly as he did in the jousts but he ended up winning the whole thing. Certainly, that would boost that stupid pride of his and get him to press her even further and she was not looking forward to that. Despite him being a dimwitted, irritating, cockless coward, he was also treacherous, so now, for the first time since he warned her, Cersei was starting to get a bit worried about what he could do...she had to think of something to counter him and soon...

"Lady Cersei." Her grim thoughts were interrupted by the little Princess calling her. The girl had no fear in her, some of the other ladies and the servants kept their distance from Cersei and she did her share to make it so but the girl could not care less if Cersei was angry with the whole world or not. "Why are you always angry? You should smile more!" Then she started making funny faces in an attempt to make Cersei smile. "Smile, smile!"

"Rhaenys!" Princess Elia, the girl's mother, called worriedly. "Leave Lady Cersei be. Surely she has enough to worry about." Indeed I do...

After two days of resting, the Dornishwoman was far better from whatever ill she had caught even if a Lady-in-Waiting had to help her walk, and thankfully not her, for the time being, that is. Everyone except probably Lady Selyse the Big-Eared Mustache Florent, who seemed to hold an even bigger grudge at Dornish people than Cersei, was happy with the recovery. In Cersei's case, she could care less. Once she might have jumped with joy at the Princess's death because it would have meant that Rhaegar was finally free to marry her but now that he was gone, she really did not care about Elia Martell.

But if the rumors about poisoning were true, and Elia Martell herself was dismissing this and instead was blaming it on her frailness, another thing which made Cersei wonder why the woman was chosen to be Rhaegar's wife in the first place, who would be the person behind it? If they wished to weaken the Crown further then they would need to get rid of both Elia Martell and the Queen but the latter was healthy, even better than when the Mad King ruled. She thought maybe someone with a grudge against Dornish or just Martells in particular...but who? Selyse the Big-Eared Mustache Florent?

"No!" The little Princess protested, once more interrupting Cersei's thoughts. "She needs to smile!" And she kept making funny faces without a hint of giving up.

"Rhaenys!" Elia Martell called once more this time both annoyed and worried.

"I will get her." The Queen proclaimed as she stood up from her chair. "Do not stress out, dear, you are still recovering from last time, I will get my talanna (granddaughter)." And thus the Queen approached Princess Rhaenys and placed a hand on the girl's right shoulder. "Rhaenys muñāzma imazumbiās (Rhaenys, join your grandmother)." But the little girl paid no mind to her grandmother or perhaps knew even less of High Valyrian than Cersei, understandable given that she was four, and continued to make funny faces at Cersei and even if Cersei tried to remain serious she lost composure and started chuckling at the girl messing with her own cheeks with her tiny hands, something that got all eyes on her.

"Yes!" Rhaenys beamed upon succeeding in making Cersei chuckle. "Lady Cersei smiled! Lady Cersei smiled!"

"I did," Cersei admitted trying to compose herself. "But why must you try and make me smile? Surely you have something better to do like play with your cousins and be with your mother."

"Because I know you are sad, angry and lonely." Princess Rhaenys proclaimed without any hint of hesitation. "I hate sadness, angriness and loneliness, Lady Cersei."

"So does everyone else and yet we still get sad and angry and so will you." Cersei bluntly said. "No matter how hard you try, little Princess, I'm deeply sorry to disappoint you but it is how it is."

"Rhaenys refuses!" The girl said with a defiant face. "Rhaenys will make everyone smile no matter how sad or angry they are!"

"Talanna (granddaughter), you made your point now go and give a kiss to your mother, she needs it."

"Ok." Princess Rhaenys looked at Cersei one more time before leaving to go do exactly what the Queen told her to.

"Please forgive my daughter's intromission, Lady Cersei." Elia Martell said, a worried expression on her face.

I did enjoy the lighter mood a little bit, it ease some of my worries but I shall not say this loudly lest I have the girl on my heels more often and everyone sanctioning her. "It was nothing, My Princess. Princess Rhaenys was just trying to be nice and best we allow her to take advantage of her child's innocence before the harshness of the world changes her..."

While Cersei said this with a fake smile, everyone seemed to have gotten grimmer with her response. Everyone but one person whose name everyone knew...

"Lady Cersei, could we have a word in private before we leave for the Red Keep?" It was the Queen who spoke so Cersei was slightly worried about what subject would be brought on.

"Of course, My Queen."

The Queen gestured for everyone to walk along. Princess Elia was walking slowly and with one of the Dornish Ladies-in-Waiting, Nysah, if Cersei remembered it right, by her side, arm entangled in the Princess' to help her walk. The other ladies surrounded her and the children who walked in front of her and the Kingsguard knights were a couple of feet away. Ser Oswell Whent stood behind to guard the Queen and the younger Clegane stood to guard her.

After the Tyrells and Redwynes and Hightowers and all those pompous Reachners exited, the Queen spoke again. "I see even you could stand the excess of positivity that my granddaughter exudes."

"Well...in my defense, she made a bunch of...foolish expressions and hardly anyone could resist it." Cersei could have said the expressions were stupid hence why she found them funny enough to chuckle but that could offend the Queen and she did not want that. Jaime, Melara, Jeyne and that stupid Stark were enough trouble already.

"There is no need to defend yourself." The Queen avowed. "Everyone has seen that something has been troubling you for quite a while and so we avoid bothering you but Rhaenys knows no bounds so I'm glad that she could warm your spirit a little bit."

"Thank you for the concern, My Queen."

"You can talk freely with me, Lady Cersei."

"Pardon?" she asked confused by the Queen's words.

"Your mother was my best friend and your fake pleasantries are as good as hers." The Queen said, surprising Cersei. "I can see through your fake smiles so rather than trying to fool me just be open about it. I am quite...sensitive but I will hardly understand what troubles you if you just try to fool me."

Cersei was still a bit surprised by this conversation but decided that it was not a bad idea to lift the mask for a bit, after all, it was hard to keep it. "My Queen, I should not be so honest with you, apparently people dislike my honesty and deem it abuse."

"I figured as much." The Queen said. "There is a lot of your father in you." This made Cersei quite proud even if she did not wish to show it. "But even your father learned that he could not succeed alone in life, he needed someone else. Your mother was that someone else and your eldest uncle and aunt were the others if I remember some of your mother's conversation right. Your mother had me, Elia's mother, the mother of the current Baratheons and Lady Felicia. Who do you have, dear?"

"I do not need anyone," Cersei replied immediately. "I'm perfectly capable of succeeding in life by myself."

"And yet even a child of four saw that you are unhappy..."

"Why are you bringing this up?!" Cersei asked, anger rising through her veins though she was trying to contain herself. "My Queen..."

"I almost died when I gave birth to my daughter Daenerys...I had a weird dream and you might think me mad and I will not hold it against you if you do but I saw your mother." Definitely mad...Cersei thought grimly. Are all Targaryens mad? "She was just as I remembered and did not seem to have aged at all, she said she was proud of all of you, her children, but that she was also worried about you and pleaded to have me watch you and help should you need...I accepted and did just that."

"So My Queen is saying that I was nominated a Lady-in-Waiting because in a dream my mother asked My Queen to...watch over me?"

"Yes..." The Queen admitted. "We needed a lady from the Westerlands and I pushed your name forward...Elia did not oppose it."

"It sounds...a little...out of this world." Cersei proclaimed while trying to not outright call the woman mad.

"I believe it does but was I not surprised when I saw you brooding by yourself? The sudden departure of your maids...your uncle even more pensive than usual...there is definitely a connection there..." The Queen thought aloud. "But even if there is, the problem remains, you are alone and depressed and you put on the same fake mask your mother did when she was consumed by negative feelings. I know you do not trust me much and that you are worried about angering me to the point I somehow punish you and that pushes your father to do the same but worse but I'm here for you, should you need someone to talk with."

"You could end up shouting in anger at me if I'm truly honest with you. Everyone does." Cersei insisted, trying to get the Queen to back off.

"Whatever you do, it will not be as bad as what your mother once did to me."

"And yet she is still your best friend? That's quite foolish if I'm to be honest."

"Our friendship was strong, dear, the experience tested us behind measure but your mother, who did the deed, grew as a person, changed for the better and apologized from the bottom of her heart and I knew I could forgive her from the bottom of my own heart too." The Queen explained, conveying some sort of emotion from inside that somehow was leaving Cersei confused and worried because she could not understand it. "I'm so sorry you cannot understand what friendship means dear but for you to grow, you must do just that. Otherwise, you could very well die alone. Abandoned...forgotten...I wish to help you but you must help yourself first so deliberate on the matter and when you feel you have a response to give me, positive or not, tell me. I will be waiting." The Queen moved to exit the Royal Stands and turned to her sworn shield. "Ser Oswell, please come along, the ladies will be waiting."

"Yes, My Queen." The knight replied as he moved to follow her.

Cersei stood there, absorbing everything and trying to make some sense of what just happened. She must be mad. Truly mad. I do not need friends, I need power. Power is power and power rules the world. Once I stand at the top, no one will abandon me, everyone will seek my favor so I will never die alone or abandoned or whatever nonsense the woman was speaking about.

Then why are you alone now?

Cersei looked around to see who had spoken. The voice lied, Clegane was still there, his back against the wooded wall waiting for her to give a command but he was not the one who spoke, the voice had been of a female. Might be that the Queen's madness has gotten into me and I'm hearing things now...

"My Lady," Clegane spoke, his rough voice in the making showing a bit of worry if she had read him correctly. "I did not wish to disrespect your command to not speak unless you command me to, but I think you might stay behind if you do not hurry the rest of them."

He was right. Even if she did not wish to hear the nonsense the other Ladies-in-Waiting usually talked about and she was deeply confused with the conversation she just had with the Queen. Walking from the outskirts of the city to the Red Keep would be far worse than the stupid gossip. "You are right, Clegane. I cannot stay here even if I must return tomorrow for another day of nonsense." Cersei proclaimed as she started walking towards the stairs of the Royal Stands. "Come along, the ride will be long and boring."

"Indeed it will." Clegane replied.

"You said something?"

"Nothing, My Lady."

Jebest4781: Thank you. Glad you still enjoy the story.

Radomir's Renegades: In the Appendix I made her be born in 272 AC like Lynesse but I think I will make her a couple of years younger to better fit the plot. Renly is indeed a good option for her marriage but they are still young so it's a priority right now. I do have plans for the Cleganes. Thank you for the review.

So at the first, I wanted to write more battles but as in the cases of the jousts, too many and all nearly the same just get boring so I just cut a bunch of them. I hope the fights shown were decently written and believable. I know Jaime and Oberyn are considered legendary fighters but I did buff the Starks a little in my stories so...

Then we have Cersei being Cersei. She is still a proud narcissistic alpha bitch but not even she can stand Rhaenys the Fearless's power. Finally got to write an interaction between Cersei and Rhaella, it didn't work well for either but maybe the next one will be better?

I'm also trying to add High Valyrian and perhaps some made-up languages to add some flavor to the story. I'm not an expert on High Valyrian so even if some High Valyrian Guru notices a sacrilege please do point it out. This means I'm making a few changes in previous chapters (when I have time, of course) to accommodate these changes.

Anyway, thank you for sparing time reading and I hope everyone has a nice day and stays safe.