Chapter Two
A/N: Thank you to Guest and magnus374 for being my first reviewers.
The music echoed loudly through the great hall of the keep. Everywhere one could look, they would see highborn lords and ladies eating and drinking, laughing and dancing, having the time of their lives. The Rock had never been so joyful, not since Lady Joanna had passed away.
At the top table, Cersei was trying her utmost not to appear too childishly thrilled. In a deliberate ploy from her father, she had been placed beside the prince on the dais, instead of beside Tyrion, where she ought to have been. Jaime had not been pleased by this arrangement, even voicing his displeasure at not having his sister to speak to, but Cersei could not say that she minded at all.
For the feast that evening, she had selected a sky blue gown with dagged sleeves of silver cloth. There was Myrish lace edging the bodice and cuffs and in the centre of an embroidered silver flower was set an opal, to match the one hanging from the delicate silver chain around her neck. Her hair had been pulled back in the latest King's Landing fashion, a series of intricate braids twisted around her head. Of course, the corset was restrictive, the jewellery was heavy and the hairstyle caused her head to ache, but Cersei knew better than to complain. Tywin Lannister had spared no expense in ensuring his daughter was dressed in a manner fitting for the occasion; she could not be seen to be ungrateful, not when he had paid so much attention specifically to her.
That said, the ploy had seemed to be effective. All through the evening, Rhaegar restrained himself from going down to speak to the men he knew on the other tables, instead spending all his time speaking to Cersei. At first, the conversation had been very forced, the result of two people that had never met being forced to spend time together, but after a while, they found they had a common love for history.
Eventually, Lord Tywin stood, bringing silence to the room and cutting short a debate between the two about the Dance of Dragons.
"My prince," he began, his voice showing no hint of the existence of the festivities surrounding him. "You are famed throughout the Kingdoms for your skills with a harp, yet few here have ever heard you play. Would you do us the honour of playing a song?"
Lord Tywin's voice did not reflect that this was an honour, nor did his face, but Rhaegar accepted the request with as good a grace as any man Cersei had seen.
"It would be my honour, Lord Tywin, to entertain the good people of this hall." the prince replied, bowing his head towards the top table as he left them to take a seat below the dais, where a harp had already been carried in by a number of servants.
Cersei leaned forwards in her chair as Rhaegar reached for the instrument. She too had heard of the prince's musicality, though her brother had condemned it as being girlish for a man to play music; she had not spoken to him for a week after that. However, the moment that Rhaegar sung the first note, she leant back against the wood of the seat, allowing the pleasure of his voice to fill her ears.
The song was a sad one, the tale of a man lamenting the loss of his love. It could have been 'Autumn of my Days', or perhaps 'Jenny's Song', but Cersei could not have cared any less. All she cared was that the prince carried on singing, for his voice was like nothing she had ever heard before.
By the time the song was ended, the young girl had tears in her eyes and many more had spilled over across her cheeks. Quickly, she wiped them away, fearing that her father would see. We are lions, he would always tell his children, and lions cannot be seen to be weak.
She may have prevented her father from seeing her emotions, but Rhaegar was not so easily fooled. He dashed up to the top table once more, having accepted the applause from the crowd with a humble bow of his head.
"Are you well, my lady?" the prince asked, conscious enough of her troubles to keep his voice low, so that her father did not hear.
"I am very well, my prince." Cersei replied, her heart growing so light in her chest that she could feel it flutter, like a bird first taking flight. "In fact, I cannot remember a time when I've felt better."
Rhaegar chuckled at that, dismissing her profession as little more than a young girl's childish comments. Cersei did not object; had Rhaegar seen her statement for what it was, it would only have been embarrassing for the both of them.
"Would you like to dance, my lady?" the prince asked, as the band struck up the music once again. Cersei's eyes turned downward; she had been hoping he would not ask her.
"I would rather not, my prince, if you would not mind." she answered, searching her mind for an appropriate excuse. Having not found anything, she resorted instead to a paltry phrase he would surely never believe. "I do not feel quite in the mood to dance."
Cersei breathed heavily, cursing herself for not granting his request. Now, he would go off and dance with another woman, with a score of other women, and she would be utterly forgotten in the crowd of names and faces.
Contrary to her fears, Rhaegar did not flounce off to take the arm of another lady, though there were plenty around the room who seemed to be waiting for him to do exactly that. Instead, he sat back further in his chair.
"Then I shall stay here, my lady, with you. It would not be princely of me to leave you all alone now, would it?"
And so they resumed their conversation from earlier in the night, Cersei arguing so passionately on Queen Rhaenyra's behalf that her father looked over to her once or twice, his piercing glare prompting her to amend her behaviour to something more befitting a lady of standing. Rhaegar, on the other hand, seemed to find her behaviour amusing, chuckling at many a point throughout the debate.
But behind his smile, his beautiful smile, there was a sadness in his eyes. Cersei could not quite put her finger on it, but she knew there was something wrong. She tried to ignore it, to focus on enjoying the celebrations, but the more time she spent with Rhaegar, the more she wondered the cause of the film of tears that covered his violet eyes when he thought she was looking the other way.
A/N: Chapter 2! Please review!
