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Cersei Lannister III
Red Keep, King's Landing, Crownlands, Year 284 AC
The knock on the door was getting deeply irritating in Cersei's mind. She had been trying to sleep but for whatever reason Jeyne and Melara kept knocking on the door and shouting her name. "Leave me alone!" The lioness shouted as she turned to the other side.
"Cersei!" Melara shouted back while knocking on the door. "Your uncle is here and wishes to speak to you! Cersei!"
Cersei gritted her teeth in anger wondering what her stupid uncle wanted now. She scoffed and stood up, covering herself with sheets before she made her way to the door which she opened. Melara and Jeyne were there, the former just as angry as she was and behind them was her uncle. "Uncle, at what do I owe the visit?" she said politely while faking a smile.
"You will learn soon enough." Her uncle said, keeping it a secret which angered her more. "You should get dressed, you are a Lady-in-Waiting and an Advisor, thus you are expected to attend the jousts which will begin in less than an hour and the road to the walls is considerable."
"Is that why you are here?" she asked, knowing full well it was not but she was determined to learn of his intentions. "You could have sent Melara or Jeyne..."
"By the looks of it, it would not work." Her uncle replied and she had to agree with him. "But that is not all, Cersei, I have to have a conversation with you. Lady Melara, Lady Jeyne get my niece dressed, please. I shall wait here a while longer until she is ready."
"At once, My Lord." Melara said and both she and Jeyne pushed Cersei inside before closing the door to hide her naked body from her uncle. No doubt she would make him lose his concentration with how beautiful she was. Yet the thought of her uncle lusting for her was disgusting.
They chose her a yellow dress which they helped her dress. Cersei felt like she should take some sort of revenge on them for bothering her sleep but she was tired and quickly lost the mood for it. It was her uncle's fault anyway. Melara then applied some makeup onto Cersei's eyes and then painted her lips with magenta paint while Jeyne place her jewels and emerald neckless. "What does my uncle want?" she ended up asking, still wishing to know what his intentions were. Could it be that fucking Stark already told him? No...he was waiting for the tourney's end...Still, I must find a way to get that entitled weakling in his place while also stopping him from getting me in trouble with my father and uncle...
"I do not know Cersei, but I did not appreciate you ignoring us just now!" Melara protested.
"Poor Melara..." Cersei murmured with a smirk. "Another one seeking attention when they get none."
Melara did not enjoy what Cersei said at all. "I don't recognize you anymore! You are turning worse with every passing day and I dislike it!"
"No, I'm not. I am as I always have been."
"That is a lie." Melara quickly said. "Yes you were always proud of yourself, mean to an extent when you could not get what you wished but ever since you arrived in the capital, you have been even meaner, aloof, drinking wine like a drunkard..."
"Drunkard?" Cersei laughed at that. "Melara, do not babble nonsense. Just because I am drinking more wine than normal does not mean I am a drunkard and I will warn you that if you even dare to call me such a thing, you will regret it."
"I regret coming here!" Melara lashed out, angrier than Cersei has ever seen her. "Jeyne and I came for your sake! We had no reason to come, but we came for you! Because we always thought you were our friend but over these past few months I have been convinced of something I feared for a long time, we are nothing but tools or servants to you! You never cared for us! You treat us like dogs and expect us to just wiggle our arses like them but I tell you what, Lady Perfect, I'm tired of your bullshit!"
Cersei's eyes bulged and her mouth gaped a little as she heard this. "How dare you speak to me like that!" The Light of the West immediately lashed at the ungrateful bitch. "You two should be happy that you were chosen to be my ladies, opening all sorts of possibilities for two minor Houses like yours!"
"Fuck you Cersei Lannister and fuck your pride!" That line left Cersei completely aghast. "You just confirmed that everything I said is true! You never considered us friends, you are just a selfish entitled bitch, swimming in a sea of pride!" Tears were forming in Melara's eyes. "I can't believe I thought of you as my best friend. I can't believe I wanted to be like you! I can't believe I ever trusted you! I'm leaving back home and I suggest you do the same Jeyne. She is not worthy of our effort."
"Melara..." Jeyne managed to whisper in her amazement.
"Goodbye, Jeyne." And with that, the door opened and then closed with Melara fucking Hetherspoon leaving in between.
Cersei was so surprised by what just transpired that her body and mind were not reacting but after a couple of minutes, she felt anger fill her. "Ungrateful bitch! Always scheming above her station...I knew she was the wrong sort!" Then she turned at Jeyne with a lot of hate consuming her. "I bet you agree with everything she said do you not?"
"Cersei...I..."
"A coward to the end. A fat coward! Get out of my sight!" she told Jeyne. "Go back to that stupid floating rock of yours and never come back!"
"But Cersei I..."
"GET OUT MY SIGHT!" she roared and Jeyne immediately left the room running and crying. "Traitors! They are traitors! Rhaegar, father, Jaime, these bitches! Fuck them all!" she hissed while she threw a candle to the wall and ripped the pillows to shreds.
It was then her uncle entered the room in disbelief and with concern. "What in Seven Hells is happening here Cersei? Why are your maids leaving with tears in their eyes?" Then he saw the ripped pillow in her hands and the dropped candle on the floor. "What is wrong with you?"
"Leave me alone, uncle!" she hissed.
"No. I will not leave until you tell me what is happening!" he told her sternly.
"Everyone is a bloody fool! Everyone thinks I am some monster that cares not but myself but they are hypocrites because deep down, they only care about themselves and their interests that I must fulfill! Isn't life meant to be about the search for happiness?"
"Where did you get that from?" Her uncle asked surprised.
"Some book I was forced to read when younger," Cersei said. "Everyone wants something from me and calls me a bitch and a monster but no one asks me what I want! No one cares if I want to be in this shit-smelling city! No one cares if I want to marry a babe! No one cares about my intellect because I have teats! They are just hypocrites!"
Her uncle showed her a face full of pity and that only made her angrier. "I too feel like the world is full of hypocrites many times. I too did, do, and will do things I wish I did not. Does it make me angry? Often. I am a human being, I'm not perfect and neither are you. That is something you need to learn, Cersei. That you are not perfect and make mistakes."
Cersei scoffed at that. "If this pathetic excuse of advice is meant to warm me, you are not doing a good job, uncle."
"I'm not trying to warm you up. I'm trying to help you understand your faults so that you can try and fix them and fill better about it which is something you refuse to do. Your pride and confidence are at a point in which it is not a blessing but a curse. Look at the reaction you just had when I gave you this advice."
"It is stupid advice so what do you want me to say?"
"Is it? Why did your ladies just leave you, both crying? Why does Jeyne Farman cry every night?"
"She is a crybaby so what would you expect of her?"
"Sure she is of weaker mind but that is not all is it?"
"I do not know, maybe you could elucidate me, uncle, as you are expecting an answer that I cannot give and you already know the answer!" Cersei barked.
"Do you care how they feel?" Her uncle asked. "Do you care if Jeyne and Melara are happy?"
"They should be, attending the daughter of Tywin Lannister."
"That is your main problem Cersei, you never put yourself in other people's shoes. You are too deeply concerned about yourself to recognize that what makes someone else happy is not the same that makes you happy." Her uncle kept babbling. "In this world, no one can survive alone. Everyone must understand it, your father did. No matter how good he is at politics, commanding, and other things, he knows he cannot do it alone. That is why he requests my help and of others, though I do understand that his refusal to involve his children in his inner circle is problematic."
"Whatever you say." Cersei sighed impatiently. "Is that all?"
Her uncle's expression of pity was replaced by a stern one. "One day, these words will haunt you but if it is what you want, I will go straight to the business I had with you. I have noticed that you are more distracted and just yesterday during the Council Meeting, your behavior was irresponsible and ridiculous, showcasing to everyone present that you did not wish to be there and it was all a nonsense."
"But it was a nonsense."
"You have to remember that you are representing House Lannister." Of course...being a Lannister has its demands... "Just try and look more focused next time. I do not want this to reach your father but if you keep doing this irresponsible behavior, I will have no choice." Her uncle was always a good dog at the end of the day... "It is up to you now." Her uncle walked towards the door. "Your father has found it fit to appoint you a sworn shield. Sandor, come in."
The Gods have to be kidding...the man who entered was huge but his face, half-burnt beyond repair, was of a man-child, still not sixteen of age. She knew who it was, the younger brother of the famous Mountain, and boy if the Mountain was ugly, this one was even worse. The burned half of his face was particularly nasty and puke-inducing and his futile attempts to hide it with his rather long hair did not serve him well. "So father saw fit to make a man child be my sworn shield?"
"Sandor is loyal and reliable, perhaps even more so than his brother. Sure he is young but I think many will be afraid of him." Perhaps, you are too, uncle...
"Am I supposed to thank my father for this...gift?" she asked bitterly, arms crossed.
"No. I will handle that for you." Her uncle assured. "What I request of you now is that you compose yourself, restrain your emotions and think of what you really want to do and if what is expected of you is not what you wish...I will see what I can do about it. But please, do not embarrass our House or things will get more difficult for you and your wishes." After saying this, her uncle left her room, leaving her alone, well, not alone, she had Clegane there.
"As if any of that will do me any good," she whispered bitterly before she turned to her new sworn shield. "Are you as good as your brother?"
"Will be. One day I will kill him." he replied.
Cersei shrugged unimpressed. Sure this kid was taller than even her uncle by now but the Mountain was something else. Few could match him and she wondered if those stupid eunuchs in white could best him. "Do you talk much?"
"Nay. I'm not much of a talker, My Lady. Besides your Lord Father did not send me here to talk with you but protect you."
That was a good start. "Very well." she sighed, trying to compose herself from everything that just transpired. "You shall not enter my room unless I scream in despair or call you. You keep a distance of exactly a foot and half from me when I'm not surrounded by people and when I do am surrounded by people you keep just enough distance to not touch each other. You do not talk unless I or someone else addresses you. Understood?"
"Yes. Sounds perfect for me."
"I'm glad we have an agreement." Sandor seemed to have noticed something in Cersei's face but said nothing about it as she told him.
Elia Martell V
Outskirts of King's Landing, Crownlands, Year 284 AC
The Royal stands towering above the other stands were full of people. Every Targaryen except for baby Daenerys was present and so were the Ladies-in-Waiting, the Tyrells, of course, and Elia's nieces who she invited to provide Rhaenys and Aegon with company, though her son was sleeping in Nysah's hold. Lady Catelyn was not present, she was spending time with her soon-to-be husband, Lord Stannis.
One could say that the traditional Reachner-Dornish rivalry was lingering in the air because even though these Reachners seemed to tolerate Elia, her nieces were a different matter. After all, there stood the next Princess of Dorne an olive-skinned, pudgy girl surrounded by bastards.
The preliminary rounds were happening down below in the jousting fields. Because there were more than a hundred competitors, Lord Tyrell had created thirty-two groups of between four to five jousters and from each group, two jousters would go for the first round which Lord Tyrell had branded as the Round of Sixty-Four.
There were so many jousters in the fields at the same time that Elia just had to pick those she wanted to see the most. She chose her brother, of course, Arthur, Ser Baelor, and every Dornishman because these were the most important to her though if she had the chance she would gladly watch the other Kingsguard knights too.
The Dornishmen unfortunately were not having an easy life...Oberyn and Ser Aron Santagar were the only ones not struggling much, Ser Symon Santagar however, had been unhorsed thrice meaning he had little chance of passing and the same happened to Ser Ryon, Emy's husband, but also to Ser Medrick Drinkwater, to Lord Franklyn Fowler who despite jousting well had the unfortunate luck of ending up with Ser Barristan and Lord Brandon and Ser Tremond Gargalen, Nysah's brother who had been unhorsed thrice as well. The Manwoody brothers did not better and Ser Daeron Vaith, Jasline's brother, was trying his best to pass and honestly, he still had a chance, should he defeat his opponent Ser Aemon Estermont because he could not beat Ser Addam Marbrand.
Arthur had just unhorsed his fifth opponent, being unbeatable and rarely needing more than three tilts to win. Ser Baelor had gotten a similar result but with more tilts and so did Ser Barristan, Jaime Lannister, and Ser Oswell. Ser Gerold lost once to Lord Royce Coldwater. Brandon Stark had just lost against Ser Barristan and usually won with just two or three tilts.
"Father is jousting now!" Nymeria proclaimed merrily. "Come watch, come watch!" she pleaded to her sisters and cousins who surrounded her by the small wooden fence in front of them.
Oberyn approached the field, riding a black sand steed, donning an orange cloak with the Martell sigil, just like his horse. Oberyn and shields did not mix well but in a joust, it was needed. His opponent was Ser Lyle Crakehall, a huge man, donning a brown cloak on top of his armor with a boar. They were given the order to start and their first clash ended with both lances breaking. "Come on, father, you can do it!" Tyene shouted.
"Go, uncle Oberyn!" Arianne shouted after. "Throw him to the ground!"
"Friendly friends!" Rhaenys shouted afterward, dancing and making all the adults around her laugh.
"The poor girl does not understand what she is watching and why her cousins are cheering for Prince Oberyn..." Rhaella proposed.
"So she just shouted what she knows best..." Elia completed, proud of her baby girl.
"I love that girl." Lady Felicia confessed.
"Me too."
"Me too." The Ladies-in-Waiting except for Lady Cersei and Lady Selyse all repeated, much to everyone's amusement. Her daughter had already won the hearts of many.
Oberyn was thrown off the horse after the fifth tilt, he had tried to hit Ser Lyle at a different angle but it did not work out well for him and the other man's raw force sent him flying to the ground. Elia and her nieces gasped in worry until Oberyn stood up and laughed at the whole ordeal, meaning he was perfectly well.
Elia sighed in relief. "He is fine."
"It is such terror when you see someone you hold dear putting themselves at risk in this stupidity." The Queen confessed. "It is a good thing, Lord Stannis is not partaking in those. Lady Catelyn should be a little more at ease."
"Her uncle is still competing." Jasline told them.
"True...has any woman here without someone dear risking their life?" The Queen questioned.
"Me!" Lady Lollys said happily. "Me! I have no someone dear in this game!"
"Oh, that is true. Lady Lollys is the only lucky one in this." Lady Felicia concluded. "I have three sons partaking...and none of them even said they were coming..."
There was sadness in Lady Felicia's tone. She was such a warm person, nice to everyone, always willing to try and get smiles from people, to some extent she reminded Elia of Ashara, but her sons were not that good people...Elia knew her children, especially Rhaenys were not going to be like the Corbray siblings but there was always the chance it could happen...it sucked when a mother put so much effort into her kids to turn them into respectful human beings only for them to reward her like this.
"Mother, why can't women partake in the joust?" Rhaenys questioned curiously after coming to her side. "I see only men."
"Because jousting is a man's sport." Elia replied.
"Why?"
"Because men are dumb." Arianne said, earning nods from her cousins.
"I can beat half the boys in the Water Gardens and give a fight to the older boys. When I'm older I will beat all these in the joust." Obara, the eldest of Oberyn's girls proclaimed pointing at the lists down below.
"That will be a sight to be seen, My Lady." One of the Tyrell boys said, with a happy smile that showed that he meant no harm but the girls did not see it that way...they saw it as an insult.
"What you mean?" Obara questioned as she and the girls except for Rhaenys circled the Tyrell boy. "You have a problem with it?"
"Do you think, we are bad at it?" Nymeria asked. "Because we are girls?"
"Do you have a problem with girls?" Arianne asked too.
"Garlan...leave them alone." The eldest Tyrell boy demanded worriedly and Elia and a few other ladies were already preparing to intervene because no one liked the way this was going.
"No, I actually want to see it, My Lady. You look like you have trained a lot from the size of your arms and you will certainly pose them a challenge." The Tyrell boy insisted. "I have started training this year and although I'm new, Ser Vortimer Crane says I have much potential, so when I grow a bit bigger I would challenge you to a spar."
Obara smirked. "Do you really want to fight, kid?"
"Why not?"
"Garlan..." The older Tyrell called. "Everyone is looking at us..."
"You look a bit big-boned to be a good fighter..." Arianne told Garlan but she was not so different from him...
"So do you." Garlan retorted, making the heiress of Dorne narrow her eyes but she had it coming in Elia's mind. "But I do not care, My Lady, and neither should you."
"Friendly friends!" Rhaenys exclaimed as she hugged Garlan and then the older Tyrell much to their surprise. "Nice to meet you! I'm Rhaenys! Will you play with us?"
"Right now, I was watching the jousts, little Princess but once they are done and if you wish for us to play, I shall." he assured with a warm smile.
"Really?" Rhaenys said beaming with the prospect.
"Yes."
"What is your deal?" Nymeria asked confused. "Why are you so..."
"Weird..." Tyene concluded.
"I'm not following..." Garlan admitted, confused.
"You do not have to follow it, Garlan." Olenna Tyrell arrived at the scene.
"Grandmother?"
"Come along. Let the Royal Party be at ease. Willas is waiting."
"Ok..." Garlan said before he nodded to the girls. "Nice to meet you all." And he left with his older brother and grandmother to the seats on the right end of the stands which were occupied by the many Tyrells.
"Girls come here, please," Elia demanded. "You too Rhaenys."
"What is the matter, Aunt Elia?" Arianne asked.
"I would appreciate it if you would not cause a scene like this one again. Not here and not in Dorne."
"Why?" Nymeria asked back.
"Because all of you, even if you are trained in the lance, are girls, meaning ladies and there are certain rules you have to follow and I'm sure you were thought."
"But we are Dornishwoman, Aunt, and people, especially those from the Reach do not like us." Arianne countered. "Everyone knows that."
"Tyene, dear, tell me from where your mother is." Elia demanded.
"From the Reach..." The blonde Dornishwoman replied shyly.
"And from where is your father?"
"From Dorne."
"See? While a lot of people will dislike you because you are from Dorne, not all will. That kid certainly did not care at all."
"He was weird..." Nymeria said.
"He was way too...nice..." Arianne added.
Elia smiled. "Of course, there are people like him all over the place, from the North to Dorne. You surrounding him as if you wanted to beat him was not nice and only gave reason to those who dislike our people and that is why I'm asking you to not do it again. Do not forget you all, especially you Arianne, are representing Dorne in this tourney, anything you do and say will be judged, so do a good job, for Dorne and yourselves."
The four girls looked at each other a couple of times as they nodded. "Ok, aunt," Arianne concluded. "We are sorry."
"Now, after the jousts end, I want you all, except Rhaenys, to go apologize to Garlan Tyrell."
"Why?" Arianne questioned.
"And why not, Rhaenys?" Nymeria inquired.
"Because he was nice and meant no harm. And Rhaenys was also nice and meant no harm to him, proving it by hugging him."
"Do we have to hug him too?" Obara said disgustedly.
"No, but you have to apologize," Elia said as she noticed that she was sweating a bit too much. "Now, I suggest you all watch those jousters, I see some interesting people there."
"Let's watch, girls!" Tyene said excitedly.
"Yes!" And the girls picked Rhaenys' hands and returned to the wooded fence to watch the remaining jousts.
"You did well, Elia," Rhaella whispered in her ear. "I was to help you but you showed that you had everything controlled right from the start. I could not have done it better."
"Thank you, My Queen, it means a lot."
"When will you cease to call me My Queen in informal conversations?" Rhaella questioned. "It is Rhaella for you."
"I..."
"You are sweating a bit are you not Elia?" Lady Felicia noticed what Elia already had. All the ladies were now glancing at her.
"Are you alright?" Rhaella asked upon noticing the same.
"I think so..."
"My Queen, My Princess, there is someone here requesting an audience." Ser Barristan announced.
"The protocol demands that the Queen and the Princess are not to be disturbed now." Lady Selyse proclaimed. If they ever forgot the protocol they had a quick way to refresh their memory thanks to the Reachner.
"Should I send the lady away then?" Ser Barristan asked.
A woman? But who could it be? "No, no, let her come Ser Barristan." Elia demanded while waving her hands towards herself.
"Very well." The knight nodded as he left.
"Who could it be?" Jasline inquired aloud.
"I went through the audience requests and there was no request..."
"You went through all of them Licia?" The Queen asked aghast. "They are to be divided by the seven Regents not just by us..."
"Oh...I did not know about that..." And right after that, she began laughing. "Seven take me but the aging is...painful..."
"It sure is." Rhaella laughed too and soon everyone but Lady Cersei and Lady Selyse joined in. Elia wondered if the Lannister and the Florent were competing to see who could keep a serious look the longest.
Ser Barristan returned escorting a tall and brown-haired woman. Her eyes were brown and she was wearing a very beautiful but simple purple and white dress. "Your Graces, Lady Annara Farring." The knight announced.
"Your Graces." The woman bowed to them.
"What is the matter, My Lady?" The Queen asked the question everyone there in the Royal Party had. The Tyrells were, by the looks of it, interested in what was happening but they remained in their place.
"I desperately need help...my father, Lord Alan Farring...he wishes for me to marry Lord Walder Frey but I do not want it...he is very old and everyone told me he is mean and abusive...please...I do not want to marry him..."
Everyone looked at each other as if they were waiting for someone to reply to that but everyone was worried about her request. Basically, Lady Annara was telling them to stop a marriage from happening which in itself was something very hard to do, especially because they were women.
Elia gave it some thought and even though Lady Annara Faring seemed quite selfish, the line between selfishness and worry about an abusive husband was tenuous and when their prospective husband was seven times your age and seven times widowed if she remembered it right, it was even harder to discern. But what could they do? Surely the marriage had already been agreed upon...perhaps if... "We could...nominate her a Lady-in-Waiting and thus prevent her from...getting married..." Elia proposed by touching her forehead. Is...my head hurting?
"It would have worked if the marriage was not already settled, right?" The Queen confirmed Elia's suspicions.
"It is...I'm to marry him in a fortnight..." Lady Annara replied as tears formed in the corner of her eyes. "There must be something else...please..."
"We could potentially use the Charter of the Rebellion and Lord Stannis' laws to protect women's rights in this case." The Queen suggested. "Granted that even then it might not be enough..."
That was true, Elia knew it. The only way they could get this one out of the way was to convince at least the Regency to use the Monarch's powers to intervene in marriages in Lady Annara's favor but even then it could not work...The only effective way was to convince everyone in the Great Council in stopping the marriage because it would give the decision strong backing. But the next meeting would be a few months so...how would they prevent the marriage in the meantime? "We will nominate her a Lady-in-Waiting, demand her presence here, and prevent her as best as we can from...going to marry and...in...the...meantime...we ought to..." Why was she struggling to talk so much...was she having one of her faints? It had been so long since she had one of those... "Convince the...Regents and the...Council members and..."
"Elia?" she heard the Queen called worriedly. "Are you alright?"
Jasline stood up immediately. "She is going to faint!" And so she did...hearing everyone panic while she fell off her chair...
Thank you for all the reviews, now to answer some of them:
Prince of Petersburg: Just having his mother and kin without having to go from Free City to Free City will make Viserys a better person but some of his faults will still exist.
Radomir's Renegades: Your ideas about canals are interesting and I might pick a few but one of my plans is to improve the existing roads, especially the Kingsroad and then build new ones all over, especially in the North, Stormlands and Dorne. Honestly, I'm not sure which is cheaper, the canals or roads but some of your canals seem very expensive. I do agree with you that Martin could have focused more on the economy and demography and have far more settlements of people, especially in a continent as large as Westeros and I'm not bringing Essos to the table which is a problem on its own.
Edmure is too young for any of Elia's ladies, Lynesse, Arianne, Myranda Royce and Dacey are better options because they are closer in age to him. Of these Lynesse is obviously the best, Arianne is the heiress to Dorne so she will likely have to marry a second son or someone of lower status.
I already have the jousts planned, right now as they are so many competitors I chose to just focus on a dozen of them but as the number of competitors gets smaller, I will give a more detailed description. I don't think I have much more to say so:
Thank you for sparing time reading and I hope everyone has a nice day and stays safe.