Game of Thrones: Crossroads
Chapter 8 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.
Reviews
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.
Boris Yeltsin: Thanks :)
Marina Ka-Fai: Well, maybe so, but even then, just for that, it seems kind of extreme, unless of course, he has a special reason for being mad because of it :)
Veridissima: Yeah, she does, but that doesn't mean she's stopping. Well, the truth will come out eventually; thanks, glad you enjoyed it, here you go :)
HarryPotterNut94: Yeah, that's their cruel nickname for her due to her burn scars :( She's going as fast as she can, she can't rush what she's doing, otherwise it won't work.
Now onto the story.
Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.
Chapter 8
Apart from the light rustling of the leaves in the gentle breeze, the only sound in the back garden of the Baratheon mansion was the splash as Myrcella, clad in a simple light gold bikini, dove into the pool. She swam, enjoying the way sounds carried differently and the feeling of well-being it brought her. Finally she surfaced for air and let herself float on her back on the surface. Swimming had always been an outlet for her, whenever her mind was too full with troubles she'd come out to the pool and swim for a while. Right now her mind was on the incident at the club last night.
'So, not only has Arya joined that group at school, she's hanging out with them in her free time too.' She pondered Arya's strange behaviour and sudden abandonment. 'In a way it's just like her, she never feel the need to explain herself; she always just goes off and does her own thing. But it's not like her to turn her back on her friends and hang out with a group of shallow assholes like that.'
The sudden aggressive turn of her thoughts took her by surprise and, deciding she needed more time to calm down, she turned over and resumed swimming. Finally, almost an hour later, Myrcella pulled herself out of the pool and picked up her towel. As she dried herself off she looked up at the sky; lost in thought.
Once dry she headed back inside; heading for her room to get dressed. Before she could make it however, something happened which didn't improve her mood. She nearly ran into her older brother. She fought to keep her expression neutral as Joffrey smirked. She'd always disliked her older brother; not just because he was an arrogant ass nearly all the time, but because of the way he hurt others and didn't care about it. He only cared about himself and his own happiness, unfortunately that happiness was mostly brought out by putting people down or hurting them in some way. She knew this better than most, she had to live with him; it put her on edge, but not as much as his worrying tendencies towards females; she already knew he only dated Sansa for her body, that he had cheated on her, still was cheating on her in fact. She was also worried however that he would cross certain boundaries and do something truly horrific. This worry came from the way he leered at her, she didn't miss his gaze and cursed herself for being caught by him in just her bikini.
"Well, well, what are you up to Myrcella?" He remarked.
She fought to keep a straight face. "None of your business Joffrey, now, excuse me."
She pushed past him and attempted to head to her room. She was so busy hoping Joffrey wasn't doing what she thought he was doing, she almost didn't hear what he said next.
"How does it feel, knowing that both Stark bitches have turned their backs on you?"
She froze; anger and disbelief shrouding her thoughts.
She felt her fists clenched but refused to rise to the bait; she knew Joffrey was just baiting her, wanting a reaction. So, she refused to fall for his trap; she even decided to rub his nose in that fact. She tossed her head and continued heading back to her room; she heard Joffrey growl, likely annoyed at not getting his wish. It felt oddly satisfying doing that. Given that it was late evening Myrcella decided not to bother looking out fresh clothes. So when she removed her bikini she immediately changed into her pyjamas. She tried again to calm her thoughts, Joffrey's taunts had sent them whirling again; she couldn't stop thinking about the incident at the club, particularly the effect it had on her cousins.
She sat down on her bed and rested her head on her hands. 'Poor Shireen, the way they treated her; just because of her burns. It's not like she choose to be burned, not like she wants it, but they act as if it was and treat her like dirt.'
She had been worried and so gone to see Shireen earlier today. To her surprise Shireen seemed relaxed and happier than she had been in the club. When Myrcella asked her about it she said everything was fine, she had already spoken with someone who was helping her and she felt better. Myrcella noticed that Shireen had been acting secretive, not revealing who this person was, which only piqued her curiosity more.
These issues with Arya were also badly affecting her other cousin too; she could see it plain as day in his eyes.
'Gendry might deny it, might keep lying to himself, but I know he has feelings for Arya.' She pondered deeply; worried for her cousin, well half-brother really but to avoid having to explain it to anyone, they simply referred to each other as cousins. 'This is affecting him deeper than he thinks, in the end it's all going to come out, one way or another, I just hope things don't end badly.'
Desperate to escape the bad memories, Myrcella allowed her thoughts to drift to something good that had happened last night. While at the club she had met a young man who seemed interested in her. She had danced with him, spoken with him afterwards and soon found herself rather attracted to him.
"Trystane Martell." She whispered softly to herself, enjoying the way his name rolled off her tongue.
She was glad to have met him; thinking of him now made her feel better. She also knew that he went to the same school as her and the others; so maybe he could join them, it would be nice to have somebody new in the group. Hopefully it would help pick their spirits back up a little, after how they had fallen due to Arya's departure.
Later that night, Robert was busy working; silently fuming. Cersei had noticed his black mood and recalled he had been like that not too long ago; just like then it had occurred after he left without telling anyone where he was going. He had been gone for a few hours, then came back, sulky and moody, always on occasions like that, he drank worse than usual. She knew she would have to bring up the subject delicately; or he would be like this all night.
"Is something troubling you Robert?" She asked as softly as she could.
He looked up at her with a glare and shook his head. "I don't understand it, how they could be so…ungrateful."
Cersei frowned, she had a feeling she knew where this was going; and she didn't like it one bit. 'Alyssa Waters and her brood; he's still visiting them, paying more attention to them than the children he has here.'
Sadly, despite her former efforts, Cersei's temper got the better of her and she complained about Robert's actions, just as she had thought about them. Robert's response was to leap to his feet, with surprising speed for his girth, and glare furiously at her.
"Dammit woman, they are my children, I…"
Cersei scowled. "She divorced you Robert, she took the children, none of them are you problem anymore, so just leave-"
Robert slammed his fist down on the table, but before he could reply there was a knock on the door of them room.
They immediately composed themselves as Myrcella entered the room. She was smiling but Cersei saw her eyes were guarded and she knew her daughter had heard everything. Cersei cursed inwardly, she had tried so hard to protect her children from this.
Yet Myrcella simply greeted them normally and explained her presence. "Mum, dad, Tommen's lost his homework, I think it might be in here, could I check?"
They both nodded and Myrcella looked around, quickly finding what she was looking for and leaving, Cersei left too, knowing her argument with Robert was a lost cause. Robert, his mood worse than before, simply sat back down and, grumbling to himself, got back to work.
End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.
Just a note, if you feel Joffrey came across as a creepy perverted weirdo in this chapter, good, that's what I was aiming for :)