A/N: I put off posting this as I have struck difficulty figuring out how to lay out the next bit. I think I'm getting there, I have an idea of what I want to do but writing it is not so easy as I'd like. This is a shorter chapter, partially catch up and partially set up for events to come.

Chapter 59: Cersei

Cersei sat in her solar breaking her fast. Her day had not started off well. Myrcella did not have the same meekness Tommen had. Myrcella wanted to attend small council meetings. Myrcella wanted to read all orders before she signed them. Myrcella asked questions and if she did not like the answer she challenged Cersei. She was not as wilful as Joffrey but she most certainly was not as meek as Tommen. Cersei usually managed to cow her but it was not so easy as it was when her daughter was younger. It was most vexing.

She spent too long in Dorne.

Cersei still ruled as Regent but she was surrounded by fools who wanted to undermine her. They influenced Myrcella, Cersei was sure of it. Her daughter had been very difficult in the case of Arya Stark. Myrcella remembered Sansa with some fondness and at first would not see the threat the other Stark girl posed. It took some effort to convince her to sign the order.

Myrcella wanted Trystane Martell brought to King's Landing. They argued about it. Myrcella was very courteous in all things but she argued all the same. Doran Martell had ended the betrothal after hearing of the attempt to match Myrcella with Aegon Targaryen. Myrcella did not understand.

"Trystane was my friend."

"Now he is not." He never was.

"He was supposed to come with me when I travelled from Dorne. We were going to marry."

Mycella's green eyes filled with tears. Cersei still found her hard to look at. Myrcella had been so beautiful. Ser Gerold Dayne had ended that when he maimed her. Cersei knew all about disappointed hopes where marriage was concerned but she could not feel sympathy. They would not survive if they spent their time wallowing.

"What have I told you?" she said sharply.

Myrcella sniffled a little. "Queens do not cry."

Lannister queens do not cry. Cersei resisted the urge to snap at her.

"You will still marry. You will have a better match."

Myrcella was no longer teary and the look she gave Cersei was almost suspicious. Offers came but Cersei refused them. They were not suitable and there was a risk that a consort would take the rule. The rule was hers. Cersei did not mean to give it up until Myrcella came of age and that would be soon enough. That assumed though that they lived that long. She reached out and tidied some stray hairs which had come loose from Myrcella's hairnet.

"We can only trust each other"

"Yes mother" Myrcella replied, her tone as meek as it ever could be these days. There was a glint of something Cersei did not like in those green eyes. Myrcella left and Cersei hoped for some peace. She finished eating and called her handmaid in to get dressed. The gown she chose was Lannister crimson trimmed in gold.

I will mourn no more. I must remind them I am a lioness.

There was a small council meeting to attend but Cersei had a little time before that. Later she would sup with Taena Merryweather. That always cheered her. The Myrish woman was one of the few people Cersei enjoyed.

Her train of thought was interrupted by a knock at the door. Lord Qyburn was announced and Cersei swallowed down her irritation. A queen has no rest.

"If it please Your Grace I have reports."

At least he knows to come to me. Others had chosen to go directly to Myrcella. Cersei smiled for him and bade for him to sit with her in her solar.

"Tell me."

"The Poor Fellows have become most unruly. They have-"

"I know about this" Cersei said impatiently. "Have the gold cloaks deal with them. It should have been done long ago." The High Septon had caused Cersei nothing but trouble. Even after the trial he continued to baulk her in every way he could. The latest was his refusal to anoint Myrcella as Queen. With Tommen she had been able to coerce him by agreeing to restore the faith militant. She did not have a bargaining chip this time.

He believes Myrcella is Jaime's despite me being found innocent. Cersei knew that she could not convince him otherwise. I will have to find a catspaw.

Qyburn nodded. "It will be done. There has also been more talk of dragons in the East."

Cersei waved her hand dismissively. "There has also been talk of krakens and giants. People will tell tales. I do not care about the East. Is there anything more?"

Qyburn hesitated. "There is Your Grace. It is about the orders against Arya Stark."

She leaned forward eagerly. "Yes. Is she dead?" Cersei had been certain that somebody would have turned on the girl. Despite Tyrion still evading her, she had spread the news that the same reward would be given for the Stark girl's head. A lordship was a small price to pay. She realised instantly from Qyburn's expression that it was not to be good news. A flicker of something that almost looked like fear crossed his face. "What is it?"

"The Northmen were reportedly incensed when they read the orders. They proclaimed her Queen in the North."

Queen you shall be . . . until there comes another... Cersei began to find it hard to breathe.

"How?" she choked out. "She is not Robb Stark's heir." A pleasing thought crossed her mind as she fought to compose herself. "The Targaryen will see her as rebelling against his claim."

Qyburn looked sympathetic and Cersei wanted to hurt him for it. "Aegon Targaryen is said to have given her the crown she now wears. He gave his blessing. The Northmen joined the Targaryen army and are marching through the Riverlands"

Cersei once tried to tell Sansa Stark of a woman's weapons. The girl had looked horrified at the mere thought of using seduction as a weapon. It seemed her sister had learned the lesson exceedingly well. Cersei looked down and saw her fingernails had gouged her palms.

The Tyrell army was all but gone. The only reason they had not openly turned their cloaks was because the Lady Margaery remained a guest in the Red Keep. Mace Tyrell kept requesting that she return to Highgarden but Cersei managed to put him off. The Redwyne fleet still battled the Ironborn otherwise Cersei had no doubt they would have been looking to betray Myrcella too.

The forces from the Westerlands guarded King's Landing in case of an attack. Cersei knew it was no longer just a possibility. It was a certainty. The Boltons and Freys had fallen and their other allies betrayed them at every turn. There were almost as many enemies within the walls of the Red Keep as there were outside it. Even if Myrcella married to form a new alliance it would not save us now. The threat now made Stannis seem like a distant memory.

"What will you do if the city falls?"

Cersei looked at him sharply. His expression seemed innocent, curious even. Qyburn had his whisperers. Cersei knew he must suspect her plans.

"It must not come to that. Is he back?"

Qyburn smiled. "It will be any day now."

That girl will not take everything. I will not let her.

"Tell me when he returns."

Cersei suffered through the small council meeting. The Grand Maester was a lickspittle, agreeing with everything she said. He was an improvement on Pycelle though he always had an offensive odour about him. Nymeria Sand looked as much a viper as her father was. Everything she said sounded like it was laced with poison even when she uttered it in such a sweet tone. Qyburn made himself useful while Orton Merryweather was useless but did not challenge her.

Myrcella arrived late to the meeting but her arrival signalled less difficulty than usual. The council members who were prone to undermine Cersei when Myrcella was present were too anxious to cause too much trouble. They all knew that an army would march on King's Landing sooner rather than later. The impending attack was all they could talk about. Nymeria Sand looked altogether too pleased. That one will be the first to die if I think the castle will fall. Cersei already would have disposed of her if she did not think it might cause Dorne to unite with the Targaryen.

She quickly grew impatient with them.

"Is there anything else to speak of other than this attack which has not happened yet?"

That signalled a change of subject to the lack of gold and the scarcity of food in the city. The Iron Bank of Braavos would not treat with them. They had raised taxes recently but no coin from the increase had been seen yet and they did not have the means to send men out to forcibly collect it. Cersei began to wish she had not diverted their attention. She felt worn out by their incompetence when the meeting finally drew to a close.

The prospect of seeing Taena Merryweather no longer held the same charm it had at the start of the day. Cersei joined the Myrish woman and Taena attempted to comfort her but Cersei was not in the mood. Her mood was even worse when Nymeria Sand disappeared two days later. Cersei questioned the servants sharply and Qyburn put his spies to work but there was no trace of the Dornishwoman. She hoped that the viper's daughter had met with foul play but she feared it was worse than that.

The sight of Ser Robert Strong however raised Cersei's spirits. Qyburn came to her only a few days after Nymeria Sand vanished to say Ser Robert had returned. Would that he had been here sooner. His white armour gleamed and he looked as formidable as he had that first day Cersei laid eyes on him on that terrible day at the end of her walk from the Great Sept. He stood before her, silent as always and awaiting her command.

"Ser Robert" she said, softly and sweetly.

The knight took a knee before her and Cersei felt the same triumph she always felt at the sight. He obeys me and only me.

"You must go to the Riverlands" Cersei said. "You must kill Aegon Targaryen and Arya Stark. Do not return until they are dead."

The knight remained silent but Cersei did not doubt his acceptance. He rose and turned on his heel, his snowy white cloak billowing behind him as he began to take long strides. He was clearly bent on his task already. She suddenly realised she had missed something and called after him.

"Bring me their heads."

It was reported later that Ser Robert had taken one of the fastest horses from the stables and ridden out through the gates on his own. He had not taken any supplies. Cersei met with Taena Merryweather in much higher spirits this time. When the Myrish woman asked her about her good mood she simply smiled enigmatically.

An army did not stop him before. He will not fail me now.

The Stark girl and the Targaryen prince were as good as dead. They just did not know it yet.