Chapter Fourteen

A/N: Thank you to magnus374, EndlessReign and Guest for reviewing the last chapter.

Rhaegar left early on the morrow, summoned away from his bedchamber by his royal father. Aerys, after all, would never be lenient with the prince, especially when the young man had disobeyed him so publicly. And so the Lady Cersei- Princess Cersei, she supposed- woke for the first time as a married woman, in an empty bed.

As she rolled to the door, pulling the covers more securely above her shoulders, the girl tried to ignore the dull ache between her thighs. It was easier to pretend that the previous night had not happened at all. Of course, Rhaegar had been nothing but kind and gentle with her, and the pain could not have been helped, but she could not help but wonder if the small smear of blood marring her sheets was a sign of the life to come. An ominous voice spoke inside her head. 'I am a girl no longer.'

She languished in her chamber as long as she could go unnoticed, allowing the waves of activity around the city to hide her from their view. Now that the wedding had been and gone, King's Landing had returned to their lives, silently milling through the mundane until the day came for another celebration. Cersei shuddered to think at what the next celebration would be.

Since she was a girl, she had dreamt of becoming a mother, but the loss of her own had shocked fear into her heart. She still recalled the smell of the blood, the bustle of servants running to and from the chamber. Jaime had sat by her side, the two of them huddled beside the doorway, waiting for their mother to come and comfort them. She never did.

A knock at the door pulled Cersei from her morbid thoughts, and she took a moment to arrange the blankets around her, trying to imagine how a princess might receive an intruder to her bedchamber.

She need not have bothered herself, for the door was pushed open to reveal the concerned face of her twin brother. The boy hovered, a little uncertain, in the doorway, until she beckoned him over to her bedside.

Jaime crossed the room in barely five strides, seating himself on the edge of the mattress and clutching both his sister's hands in his. "I finally managed to get away from Father; he thought it would be a little… inconvenient for me to see you this morning. I think he worried the prince would still be abed."

"Rhaegar left before dawn." Cersei answered, unable to conceal her upset. Jaime, who had been studying her face intently, noticed in a heartbeat.

"Did he hurt you?" The boy's words were blunt, and almost a blow to his sister. The prince was a kind man, a good man… but she could not quite make herself say no. After a few moments' pause, Jaime rose from the mattress, his fists clenching. "He did hurt you. I'll kill him."

"Jaime, no." the new princess responded. She reached out for her brother's hand again. He did not accept the gesture, but it was enough to seat him beside her again. "The marriage had to be consummated. It was the only way to be certain the alliance between Father and the king would stand. He was as gentle as he could be, I could never have asked more than that."

Cersei's eyes lifted from the bedcovers to her brother's face. He was as pale as the plaster on the walls, his breaths heavy, as if he were preparing himself to run; the way his eyes flitted from side to side, she would not have been surprised if he did.

"Jaime…" The girl's voice was so quiet, it could barely be heard. "I know something's wrong. What is it?"

Mayhaps it was a last grasp at childish innocence, her forcing the topic into her brother's hands instead, for they both knew exactly what the problem was. It was the only thing that had changed, from the last morn to this one, even if that one thing had changed everything.

"You'll never return to the Rock now, will you?" Jaime asked, his tone resigned enough to suggest he already knew the answer.

Cersei sighed gently. "My life is here now, with my husband. I suppose there is no reason to go back anymore."

The young man coughed, as if he were choking on his own tears. The sound hurt Cersei's hurt; she had never wanted to see her brother, her other half, in pain… but the truth was, he was no longer her other half.

"Jaime, please…" For all that she was a woman now, Cersei felt no more than a child. "I wish it could be different…"

"Do you?" The sharpness in his voice made his sister shudder. Jaime had never spoken to her in that way. Mayhaps more had changed than she had ever imagined. "You have everything you ever wanted here. Your crown, your prince, the sparkling nights of the capital to entertain you. Nothing could possibly be important enough to warrant a visit to the house that raised you. Or the brother that loved you. I wish you a pleasant life, sister."

Cersei threw the covers off her legs, but by the time she was on her feet the door had already slammed shut, the tremors moving through the room and tingling against her feet. Dejected, the young woman was seated again, her eyes still fixed on the door. In the few times they had ever fought, Jaime had returned by nightfall, curling up beside her and promising to never leave her side again. Sleep had always eluded the girl when she was alone, and so she would wait, watching the door, until her brother was with her again.

The princess waited long into the night, but to no avail. Jaime did not return to her, did not profess his loyalty or promise to love her, and nor did her royal husband. By the time the sun peeked over the horizon, the lead weights atop her eyelids were too heavy to fight any longer, and Cersei succumbed to the blissful darkness of sleep.

Come morning, she would wake the same way she had always dreaded, the way that the gods had seen fit to punish her with, mayhaps for the rest of her days. Alone.

A/N: Not the most uplifting chapter, but I felt like Jaime had been ignored for long enough. I'm quite interested in what would have happened to the twins' relationship, had Cersei been in love with someone else, and so it will be explored a bit more. Hope you enjoyed, please review!