Game of Thrones: Life on Canvas

Chapter 7 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

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Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks, glad you like it :)
Boris Yeltsin: Thanks; they sure are.
Veridissima: Thanks, glad you liked him, yeah, the dinner should be good ; yeah, she's got a chance now.
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)
pinke289: Thanks; well, here it is :)

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

Chapter 7

There was some rapid activity in the Baratheon household. Cersei observed closely, making sure the table was properly set up. The cooks had assured her that all the food would be ready on time. It seemed like everything was in order; she smoothed down her dress and left the dining room. She headed through to the living room where Robert and Joffrey, dressed in fine suits, were talking with Stannis, Renly, Selyse and Shireen. Cersei pondered what Tommen had told her and wondered, hoped even, that he was right.

'Myrcella, she's, she's coming home.' She thought hopefully. 'Even if just for dinner; we'll see her again, the whole family will be together.'

She heard the steps on the stairs and turned. She smiled as her youngest son came downstairs, dressed up his best, like everyone else.

Tommen grinned. "Hey mum; sorry I took so long."

She shook her head. "It' fine Tommen, we should go and join the others."

She paused briefly as Tommen walked past her. Before he entered the living room she called out.

"Tommen; you're absolutely sure Myrcella is coming?" She asked; her concern obvious.

Tommen nodded. "She said she'd be here mum, I believe her."

Cersei nodded; clearly still concerned. Tommen bit his lip; he had promised Myrcella, and kept that promise, not to tell the family about her living arrangements. But that still didn't mean he liked it. Together they headed into the living room to join the others.

Tommen smiled lightly as he listened to his dad, telling one of his stories. He had heard many of the stories before, but he was too polite to mention it. His uncle Renly was the same; he noted his uncle's expression and guessed he had the same one. Renly caught his eye and smiled, Tommen smiled back; both of them all too aware what the other was doing.

He looked around the rest of the family; His uncle Stannis was sitting, silent and morose as usual. Selyse seemed annoyed by Robert's almost constant talking; but was saying nothing. Shireen was sitting awkwardly; her face hidden by her hair, as usual. Joffrey was smirking casually while their mother sat, occasionally glanced out of the door, a hopeful expression on her face. Finally, during a lull in conversation, Shireen shyly looked up and spoke.

"I…I heard that Myrcella might be coming to join us."

Joffrey sneered. "Yeah right; she's run off doing who knows what. She's not coming back."

Tommen shook his head. "That's not true Joffrey, I spoke to her and she promised she'd come."

"Oh really, you believed her?" Joffrey replied. "You can keep hoping Tommen, but…"

Joffrey was cut off them however, by a knock at the door. Cersei immediately hurried to answer it.

Myrcella smiled nervously as she knocked on the door. She looked up at her old home; it hadn't changed since she had last seen it. She was wondering just what sort of welcome she would receive. That wasn't all that was on her mind; a small simple painting she had done, to deal with the nerves, had been bought.

The buyer was anonymous and had insisted on postal delivery; the deal had gone perfectly and the payment had also been delivered by post. All the same she was confused and curious as to who this person was. One thing she knew, it wasn't her Uncle Jaime, marking an interesting change.

Finally the door opened and she swallowed nervously, her mother stood there; eyes wide with disbelief.

"Cella." She gasped.

Myrcella smiled awkwardly. "Hi mum."

There was a brief, awkward pause, then Cersei immediately embraced her daughter. Myrcella smiled and returned the embrace.

"I'm so glad you came." Cersei said at last. "Oh, I've missed you."

Myrcella stepped back, her smile widened. "I've missed you all too."

She allowed her mother to guide her into the house; closing the door behind them. They headed through to the living room, where shocked silence reigned as everyone saw her. Out of all of them, Joffrey seemed the most surprised. Tommen smiled widely as he stood up and walked over to hug her.

"Hey Cella; glad you made it."

She grinned and returned the hug and soon she was being welcomed by the rest of the family. Joffrey stilled seemed too shocked to say anything; but the rest of her immediate family and Uncle Renly were overjoyed to see her.

Sometime later she was smiling; enjoying herself. She was seated at the dinner table, having had a great meal; talking with Tommen and Shireen. She exchanged conversation with some of the others too; things went quite well, however there was still some obvious tension there.

She pondered happily. 'This has actually gone well; I…I truly did miss them all.'

She knew that she wasn't here to stay; just for dinner. But it was nice to see her family again. Tommen was right; just because she wanted her own life, didn't mean she had to cut herself off from the family.

"So Cella; have you finally decided to come back." Joffrey asked.

Myrcella shook her head. "No, I'm only here for dinner. I explained all this before; remember."

Joffrey shook his head. "I don't understand you at all; what is wrong with you? You could have a happy life; what do you do, you run off to be miserable. Chasing some stupid unattainable dream."

"That's not true Joffrey; my dream is important to me." She snapped back. "Of course you don't understand. You don't know what it means to earn your living, the joy of earning something and deserving it."

"You'll never get anywhere with this; you're gonna wind up an old maid with nothing but cats for company." Joffrey shot back.

Myrcella shook her head and was about to retort.

Cersei cut across them however. "Enough, both of you. This is supposed to be a happy occasion, don't spoil it."

They both quietened down after that.

Cersei let out a quiet breath; the dinner was over now and apart from Robert, Joffrey and Tommen, everybody had left, returning home. It had been nice to see Myrcella again; she just wished her daughter would come back home. It was then she spotted something; she had been passing Joffrey's room. The door was ajar and she spotted Joffrey hiding something in his wardrobe. She knocked on the door and entered as he spun around.

"Mum I…"

She immediately asked. "What was that you were hiding Joffrey?"

He blushed and shook his head; but before he could say anything, she opened his wardrobe and found the object. It turned out to be a painting; a remarkably well done painting, Cersei was impressed by the work.

"Where did you get this?"

Joffrey sighed and then admitted. "I bought it…it…it's Cella's work."

Cersei's eyes widened at that; she knew her daughter had left to become an artist. This was her first time seeing Myrcella's work however; she was impressed.

"You bought one of Myrcella's paintings…but, what you said to her…"

Joffrey shook his head. "She's my sister; even if she's making a mistake, I'm not just gonna let her starve. She needs money for food after all."

Cersei merely smiled and put the painting back, leaving Joffrey's room. She was quite impressed and now, more than ever, wished things could be resolved with Myrcella; that they could patch up this misunderstanding.

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.