The first rays of sunlight woke Cersei. She had forgotten to draw the curtains last night and now she had to pay the sweet price. She turned to her sleeping twin brother and gently stroked his cheek. Ever since he moved in, things seemed easier and she started to feel safe again. She turned back to her side and leaned over to get her phone from the nightstand. She was about to call Gregor from downstairs to help her get dressed when Jaime woke up.
'Don't call him. Let me do it.' he moaned and kissed her bare shoulder.
'With your one hand?' Cersei said with unintended contempt in her voice.
But upon seeing his expression following her remark, she took pity on him. She let him help putting on her black lace undergarment, although they had to admit that he was much more talented at removing them.
'So I was thinking about what you had said. And I decided what I want to do.' Cersei remarked while Jaime carefully drew the stockings up her legs.
'Oh yeah? What would that be?' he asked carelessly, focusing his full attention on the stockings.
'I am going to be the President of the Seven States of Westeros.' Cersei said as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
Her twin burst out in laughter. He expected her to join him until he realized she wasn't joking.
'Shit, Cersei. You can't be serious.'
'Why not?' Cersei asked resentfully.
Jaime gave her the look their father gave her whenever she disappointed him in some way. Lannisters don't act like fools.
'First of all, you have no experience.' he began.
She immediately snapped at him. 'I have spent my last fifteen years prepping up Robert. I have plenty of experience.'
Her brother shook his head dismissively.
'Still, it is not political experience. Then you have that otherwise formidable quality of being a woman.'
His smug sneer made her so angry that she couldn't help herself and slapped him across the face.
'You don't believe in me, I get in. But think about it. With Robert gone, his supporters will need someone who can represent their interests. And I don't see better candidate than his grieving widow whose only desire is to carry on his legacy.'
Jaime seemed to consider her words. He was always easy to convince.
'You are actually good at it. If I hadn't known better, you would have totally gotten me with the grieving widow crap.' he remarked, genuinely impressed. 'Though I'm not sure the Robert Baratheon voters can guarantee you a win. Besides, he was a conservative. His supporters won't automatically vote for you.'
Cersei smiled at him.
'Well, I don't need them. Not all of them. I'll have the women votes, the disabled votes – although I have no intention of staying in this state for much longer.' she said with conviction, then she continued. 'And with your help, I can have the Army votes as well.'
Jaime slowly nodded.
'You certainly thought it through.' he remarked with a hint of surprise in his voice. 'You know what? Maybe it's not entirely impossible. Aerys Targaryen made a mess of this country.'
'The Mad President.' Cersei added with a scornful tone.
She was already in her wheelchair and now it was her turn to help Jaime with the buttons of his jeans and shirt.
'People are ready for a change. Any kind of change. I won't even have to be a conservative. I can be somewhere in the middle. If only I could get Father's support…' she remarked absently as she put the finishing touches on her twin brother's outfit.
Her renewed sense of purpose and excitement made Cersei looking into the future with a strange optimism, maybe the first time in her life since her mother's death. She was surprised how easily she could shut out her negative feelings, which freed a lot of energy. That's how she happened to find herself in the kitchen one morning, making breakfast for her family.
'I can't remember the last time you made pancakes.' Myrcella remarked with a wide smile as she poured chocolate syrup on her plate.
'Eat the fruits too.' her mother said firmly as she handed her a bowl of strawberries.
She rolled her wheelchair to her son and put the fresh pancakes from the pan to his plate.
'I can take it myself.' Tommen mumbled gloomily.
Cersei opened her mouth to scold him for his behaviour, then she decided to let it go. She put the empty pan on the counter and rolled back to her own place.
'These are really good.' her twin brother remarked with full mouth and smiled at her.
'I'm glad you still like them because my cooking skills haven't improved much in the past thirty years.' she replied laughingly.
Jaime's eyes darkened for a moment because his sister's remark had been a clear reference to their mother's death. They both remembered all too well to the confusion and chaos following the tragedy and her desperate attempts to become all of a sudden the mistress of the house.
Myrcella's voice dragged them out of their grim memories.
'You only made pancakes when Father was away.' she remarked with an absent smile.
'Then, I guess it means I have to make pancakes every day from now on.' her mother said with a knowing wink.
Myrcella chuckled. 'Only until you get married again.'
Cersei frowned. She was surprised that her daughter brought up that subject, but she wasn't that kind of mother who would scold her children just because they had strange ideas. If nothing else she was curious about their opinion. She would rather ask them questions before forcing her own views on them.
'Who would you have me marry?' she asked with genuine interest in her voice.
Her daughter bit her lips in concentration, then she came up with an answer.
'Uncle Jaime, for example. He is nice. And you love him.' she said, giggling.
Cersei could see that Jaime had almost choked on his pancake and Tommen pulled a grimace too, but she remained perfectly calm. In fact, she was more interested how far Myrcella would go to defend her argument.
'I could do worse, I suppose.' she finally remarked. 'Of course, the law is against it.'
Myrcella shrugged her shoulders.
'When you become President, you will be the law.' she said innocently as she stuffed another bit of pancake into her mouth.
Cersei noticed her twin brother's worried glance and gave him a reassuring smile. They quietly argued with their eyes, whether they should correct their daughter or not, until Tommen's voice broke the silence.
'Can I go now?' he whined in a high-pitched voice.
Cersei looked at her son and his nearly full plate.
'You have barely eaten anything.'
Tommen was already standing, ready to leave. 'I'm not hungry.'
His mother gave him a worried look and took his arm to pull him closer. She touched his forehead to check his temperature, then stroked his cheek.
'You are not sick. So what is it?' she sighed. 'Is this still about the stupid cat? I'll get you another one.'
Her son instantly backed away from her and shook his head.
'But I want Rosie. Why can't I go to Margaery?'
'Because I don't want her anywhere near you.' Cersei hissed angrily. 'She doesn't want what is best for you. She is a liar. You have to trust me on this.'
Ever since the children were back home, it was all about Margaery for Tommen. Cersei could have strangled the woman because she managed to seduce her son in less than eight weeks after she has been his mother for eight years. It was hard for her to forgive Tommen's betrayal too, but when she saw the tears welled up in his eyes, she couldn't help herself. She sat him in her lap and gently kissed his head.
'I'll call her, all right? But just because of the cat, nothing else.' she said in a firm voice.
Tommen's face immediately lit up.
'Will you call her now?' he asked with pleading eyes.
Cersei had of course no intention of calling the little gold digger, but she knew there was no way out. Tommen ran upstairs and returned with her phone in a minute.
You have reached Margaery. Please, leave a message or leave me alone.
'Leave a message.' Tommen demanded, standing behind her chair.
Cersei rolled her eyes and let out a frustrated sigh.
'Hi Margaery, it's Cersei. I'm calling about Tommen's cat. I know you are very busy spending my father's money, but please text me when you are home so I could send someone to get it.'
Tommen wasn't entirely happy with the tone of the message, but at least he was willing to finish his breakfast. Cersei looked at him with a satisfied smile when her phone started buzzing.
'Is it her?' her son jumped up immediately.
'No, it's the doorman.'
'Good morning, Mrs. Baratheron.' Cersei heard the familiar voice from the other side of the line. 'The police are here. Can I let them up? They have a warrant.'
Cersei glanced at her brother who was just as clueless as her.
'Yes, of course. Let them up.' she replied in mock ease.
Jaime stood up and went to the hall to greet the two detectives.
'Good morning, Sir!' the older one began. 'King's Landing PD Homicide. We would like to speak to Cersei Baratheon.'
'Come on in. My sister is in the dining room.' Jaime showed the way for the two men.
The detectives extended their hands to Cersei and the younger one handed her a piece of paper.
'Morning, Ma'am! We have a warrant to search the apartment.'
Cersei skimmed through the document, then looked up to the men in confusion.
'If I understand correctly, you are here because of my husband's death. I thought it was a closed case. I had already told your colleagues everything about the accident.'
She sounded so innocent, her voice even cracked when she said out the last word. She could see that the two detectives were pitying her.
'New evidences came up. We are obligated to reinvestigate the case to rule out murder.' the older man said while the younger lowered his eyes to avoid meeting hers.
He was the weakest link.
'Murder?' Cersei asked in shock, addressing her question directly to him.
'We have found your fingerprints on the piece of glass that was stuck in your husband's throat.' he explained in a low voice.
His colleague gave him a reproachful look. It was obvious he shouldn't have shared that sensitive information with her.
Cersei shot her children a worried glance since they didn't have such a detailed knowledge of their father's death. Jaime must have felt her discomfort because he quickly whispered something to Tommen and Myrcella who then left without any hesitation.
'Yes, my fingerprints are probably all over that piece of glass.' Cersei remarked in a soft, distant voice. 'I… I tried to remove it. One just can't think straight in a moment like that. Then, I heard my son crying for help. So I climbed over to him.'
She held the young detective's gaze, so suggestively, he was not able to look away. His colleague went upstairs to take a look around, but he decided to stay with her for a moment before he followed him.
'The order came from up. We had no choice, but it's just a formality, really. I'm sorry we have to put you through this.' he mumbled in a hoarse voice.
Cersei gave him a reassuring smile.
'Don't worry, Detective. I have a feeling where your order came from. Please, tell my brother-in-law that if this is about the money, he doesn't have to worry. I will continue to pay his daughter's medical treatment just as we did with Robert when he was still alive.'
The young man gave her an empathic nod. He opened his mouth to say something, but his colleague's voice stopped him.
'Mrs. Baratheon? There is a locked door here. Can you give me the passcode?'
Shit. The Dungeon.
'L-Y-A-N-N-A.' Cersei said with a hidden frown to the young detective who acknowledged it with a nod.
He was ready to go upstairs with the info when Cersei continued.
'It was our play room. My husband and I liked to experiment, in case you are wondering about the things you will find there. I locked it because I didn't think I would use that room ever again.'
After the detective left to join his colleague, Cersei looked for her twin brother's gaze.
'Nice act.' Jaime remarked with a smirk as he leaned against the dining table. 'I wish you would have told me sooner that you were into bondage.'
Cersei rolled her eyes.
'Shut up. You know what's in that room. I had to improvise.' she sighed. 'I'm so close to get everything. I just hope Stannis won't ruin it.'
'You worry too much.' her brother brushed aside her fears. 'The guy just admitted they wouldn't take it seriously. They have nothing against you.'
He cupped her chin, running through his finger on her lips and pressed a reassuring kiss on them.
