Disclaimer: I don't own Game of thrones or anything associated with the show or the books.

AN: I'm really sorry about the lengthy delay between updates, I had no idea how prolonged and tedious my WBQ was gonna be but at least its over and I can get back to my writing. So without further ado here is the new instalment I hope everyone enjoys reading ;)

Chapter five.

"Where is that deformed little bastard?" Cersei hissed between gritted teeth after dismissing her spies of either gender, she'd sent them out to find the Imp hours ago, after her eldest son had announced his intention to fight in the vanguard when the Baratheon forces attacked the City. Useless prigs that they were, they'd been unsuccessful in their simple task. Leaving her to alone with her mounting rage, her wine and The Hound.

"Your Grace..." Her blazing jade coloured eyes latched onto Sandor, standing tall in front of the oak door, his immense bulk, clad in the typical armour of the King's guard, easily eclipsed the entrance. Despite his large size, he shifted on his massive booted feet under her dark glower. Not that she blamed him, her infamous glare was the source of night-terrors for a multitude of people.

"What?..." She snapped venomously, disregarding the gem encrusted goblet on the gleaming oak desk in front of her, Cersei's elegant pale hand encircled the slim neck of a wine bottle, the stopper hand already been removed.

"Allow me to track down the Imp. It will be done with all haste" Sandor drawled in his deep baritone while Cersei lifted the wine bottle to her red lips in an unladylike manner. If her Father had been there with her, she'd likely be on the receiving end of a hard, reprimanding slap. Taking a healthy sip she slowly mulled over the advantages of sending the Hound after her devious, pompous brother.

"No. You will remain in the Keep, entertain Joffrey with tales of battles long passed..." Cersei cocked her head to the side. If anyone stalked after her interfering brother with deadly intent in their hearts and cold steel in their hands, it would be her. Harsh insults she could forget, Gods only knew she gave as good as she got during verbal sparring matches, but she refused to forgive Tyrion for his latest attack on her and the ones she loved.

"...I want you to scare Joffrey witless" Cersei looked closely at Sandor, a silent exchange of understanding passed between the Queen Regent and her loyal guard. The Hound could strike fear into the very souls of all who drew near to him, through physical means or on the extremely rare occasion a verbal effectuation. The task she set him required the latter. Talk of bloodshed, amputation and scarred memories should be all that was needed to clear her son's mind of the battlefield. Foolish boy, he lacked the training to fight alongside the few Lannister soldiers inside King's Landing.

"I will do as you command Your Grace" The Hound bowed his great head.

"Go..." She dismissed the brute of a man with a wave of her wine bottle "...The next time I see my son I want him begging me to never allow him the 'opportunity' to step foot on the field of battle" Cersei took another sip of the Dornish wine, savouring the sweet bite of alcohol as it slid down her throat and into her stomach. The Hound turned on his massive heel and exited her chamber with a silence a man his imposing size shouldn't be capable of. Setting the bottle back down on her desk next to its uselessly empty twin, she reached into the top drawer of her solid oak desk, removing the spare pieces of parchment she stored there, unceremoniously piling them on the table, before her slender fingers went in search of a barely noticeable silver pin towards the back of the storage space. With years of practised experience, she lifted the artifice bottom of the drawer, beneath, stashed in a hidden compartment was a jewel encrusted dagger contained within in an elaborate golden sheath. A slow smirk curved the right corner of her mouth upwards. The double edged, seven inch blade had been a gift from Jaime before she had married Robert, not that she'd ever had cause to use it, each of her late husbands visits to her bed had been distasteful for them both. Often ending in each of them recalling the faces and forms of previous lovers. After she had born Tommen into the world they had both eagerly agreed to turn a page on their sexual liaisons and instead focused on raising the three beautiful children their disastrous couplings had gifted them with.

Robert had been a good father to their children, however he hadn't been present for their births due to his uneasiness with the birthing bed. Cersei rolled her eyes fondly. For such an avid hunter and accomplished solider, her late husband's malaise at the most natural act in the world was utterly ridiculous. Trailing her long fingers over the dagger, tucked snugly into the bottom of the drawer, with a smooth flick of her wrist the moderately weighted weapon was balanced perfectly in her palm. Had Robert still been alive, it was likely he would already have Tyrion's scrawny neck trapped between his brutish hands with a dangerous glint in his dark brown eyes. Cersei smirked as she slipped the blade into the sleeve of her Lannister red dress effectively concealing the weapon from obvious view, the cold glide of heartless gold against her naked forearm made her shiver with the first tingle of adrenaline. As much as she would've relished watching her late husband drain the life out of her treacherous brother with his bare hands, the fact remained, a Stag couldn't protect his young nearly as well as a Lioness could.

Replacing the mendacious bottom of the drawer, the parchment and other writing materials. Cersei took one last swig of her wine, leaving the bottle perched on the top of her desk before she stalked towards the tall oak door that The Hound had disappeared out of just moments before. She briefly regretted drinking her way through three bottles of wine in the interval of an hour as the rich alcohol coursed through her body making her head swim. But she would not let that dissuade her from her objective. The Imp would rue the day he attempted to endanger the life of her son.


Barely an hour later, the Queen Regent was prowling through the wide halls of the Red Keep, with Ser Arys Oakheart and Ser Boros Blount flanking her on either side. She had yet to cross paths with Tyrion, despite the accounts gathered from the servants she passed claiming that the Hand was inside the Keep. With each graceful step she took she became more and more convinced that Lannister gold had painted their tongues an untrustworthy hue, which meant once she was finished with the deceitful Dwarf, she would have to retrace her steps and instigate the proper punishments delivered to those who lied to the Queen Regent. Cersei's jade coloured eyes centred on a nearby window, her mood darkened dangerously when she glimpsed the setting sun, bright pink and red streams were left in its wake, forcing the brilliant blue sky to give way so that the jet black, blanket of night may take its place. Abruptly she halted in the middle of the hall, her guards skidded to a stop beside her. Two pairs of curious eyes were aimed at her, but neither Ser Arys nor Ser Boros dared to question the Queen Regent for fear of attracting the unwanted attention of her undisguised rage.

"Ser Arys..." Despite the lingering alcohol burning through her veins neither her speech nor her movements were affected, the anger churning away in her stomach had engrossed her senses on attaining vengeance instead of falling prey to the potent wine she had recently ingested.

"Your Grace?" Ser Arys clasped his gloved hands together and awaited her further instruction. Had she ordered him to leap out of the window to their right he would have done so without a seconds thought, she enjoyed having such power over everyone she encountered.

"I want you to go and wait outside the Imp's chamber..." She would never refer to Tyrion as 'The Hand', it was a prestigious title belonging only to those who were worthy of serving directly under the King, one the Dwarf hadn't earned "...And when he returns, I want you to restrain him, take him down to the dark cells and notify me immediately. Do you understand?" Cersei tilted her head at the tall guard, speaking slowly as to prevent him from 'accidentally' failing to carry out her orders. Unlike Ser Boros, Ser Arys was well known to hold a kind heart. She wouldn't be surprised if the Imp managed to 'avoid' being treated like a common treasonous pest.

"Yes Your Grace" Ser Arys lowered his head.

"Ser Boros, I want you to find his sells-word. Do not engage in conversation or anything else, I simply want you to keep him in your sights" She was aware of the mercenary's skill, after she had come across Bronn the day he had arrived with Tyrion she had asked The Hound what his impression of the sell-sword was. While she couldn't say she'd ever seen Bronn's abilities for herself, nor to her recollection had Sandor, but she was inclined to place some stock in the Hound's opinion.

"As Your Grace commands" Ser Boros lowered his head, though he seemed disappointed that he hadn't been given the opportunity to 'deal' with the Imp.

"Are you waiting for me to write your orders down?..." She hissed venously when the two remained standing before her as though she'd hadn't spoken. The two guards blanched fearfully before they'd scurried away in the opposite direction like two mice being pursued by a hungry cat. She scowled deeply as she turned on her heel, stalking down the hall with no particular destination in mind. It took her but a moment to realise exactly where her subconscious cognition was leading her. She was fortunate no one was present to observe her vivified pace.


"...Mother!" The Queen Regent was completely unprepared for the golden headed child that suddenly barrelled into her. She fell back against the solid oak door she had just closed with a soft grunt of discomfort while tiny arms did their best to encircle her waist. She instinctively knew who they belonged to and attempted to return the awkward embrace.

"You should be in bed Myrcella" Cersei breathed, running her hands through her daughter's long silken tresses that had yet to be braided for the night, she frowned, as far as schedules went, her children were extremely behind in their nightly routine.

"But Sansa hasn't finished her story" Myrcella argued without hesitation, jerking herself out of the older blonde's arms and running back to the large four-poster bed that dominated the entire chamber. Cersei regained her graceful composure as Myrcella hopped back onto the bed, scurrying back beneath the crimson coverlet quicker than a cat. Beside her, listening intently to Sansa as the younger woman recounted a tale of the North, was Tommen. Towards the foot of the bed, sprawled out on her tiny back was the sleeping form of Duchess, the pup was snoring softly and her left hind leg as twitching furiously. Cersei's chest constricted tightly, causing breathing to become difficult, as she lingered by the door, the sight before her quelled the torrent of violent emotions, once an undeniable force within her, now an after thought, with such ease one would think she hadn't been consumed in a rage mere seconds before. The door behind her seemed to be keeping the outside world at bay.

"What is this story about then?" Cersei padded across the chamber, her light footsteps did nothing to distract her from the hypnotic tones of her lover's voice. Had she not caught a glimpse of Tommen with half lidded eyes she might have felt slightly insulted that Sansa hadn't looked up at her on her approach. As it was, a slow smile curved her lips upwards as she settled on the edge of the large bed beside Myrcella, her daughter instantly moved closer to her beneath the bedsheets.

"Shh Mama" Myrcella whispered tiredly, her previous rush of energy apparently evaporating as she snuggled further into her pillow. The Queen Regent's perfectly shaped eyebrows raised quizzically for a brief moment, she crossed her arms beneath her breasts and settled for listening intently to her lover's melodious voice. Tilting her head to the side, a long sigh of contentment escaped her, she so rarely got to spend time with her children anymore, the day in the gardens none withstanding, the knowledge that Sansa was sitting a matter of inches away from her only added to the immeasurably valuable moment.

She caught Sansa's blue-grey gaze as her SheWolf continued with her story, the redhead's secret smile was just as mesmerising as her voice. Cersei soon gathered that Sansa's narration was that of a young wolf, not yet fully grown, trapped in an unknown land away from her family with all manner of dangerous creatures surrounding her. With each day that passed, a new creature would appear to test the young wolf in some way. First there was an arrogant Stag, then there was a cunning Mockingbird and so on, all of them simply waiting for the wolf to make a fatal mistake. As time went on though the young wolf discovered a pride of Lions, to which every creature owed it's allegiance.

"The wolf is very fortunate to have found the Lions" Myrcella declared. Cersei smiled down at her daughter, she could blatantly see the younger blonde fighting a losing battle to keep her eyes open.

"Why do you say that little one?" Cersei murmured, watching her lover closely as she stroked Myrcella's forehead tenderly, urging the younger blonde to cease her struggle against sleep's sweet embrace.

"Lions always protect the ones they love" Myrcella slurred quietly.

"How true my darling" Cersei whispered as Myrcella drifted into the land of dreams beside Tommen. In the silence that followed one would could easily hear the wind soaring past the closed windows. Cersei occupied herself with running her fingers through her daughter's long blonde locks while keeping a curious eye on Sansa. The redhead hadn't moved an inch, indeed it seemed as though a statue had replaced the stunningly lithe form of her lover.

"But then love is a very elusive emotion or so I am told" Cersei swallowed at the raw confusion that suddenly burned in Sansa's pale wolf eyes, so akin to the disorder churning away in her stomach. Before she had taken Sansa to her bed, every aspect of her life was arranged in a strict order, she was in control of every emotion, every action, every thought and decision. But now she felt as though it were all falling apart, only to steadily rebuild to include Sansa. She never seemed to be able to make a decision that didn't include her lover's welfare and happiness, each thought always held the shadowy form of her lover, before she had encountered Sansa for the first time in Winterfell she couldn't boast any true emotions, protectiveness and maternal instinct were the only two feelings she had known, now she held a vast sea of unknown sensations. This loss of control was both something she was wary of and something she longed to explore. But it would have to wait until the volatile storm, heading towards King's Landing with all haste, had passed. Once she had subjected the Baratheon and Stark forces to Lannister rule. Only then could she entertain thoughts of keeping Sansa.

"Let us to bed my little SheWolf" Cersei stood up gracefully. The Queen Regent watched with an unreadable expression as Sansa jerked herself out of her own thoughts, leaving a languid smile painted across the redhead's beautiful face. She refused herself the luxury of making assumptions of what Sansa's look meant, heedless of her instant longing.

"Shouldn't I..." Sansa stood up, lingering by the bedside of Tommen and Myrcella, and granting the Queen Regent a clear view of her lover's perfectly shaped form encased in red silk, Cersei licked her lips slowly. She had always found Sansa to hold breath taking beauty, however, the sight of her lover wearing Lannister colours caused waves of pure possessiveness to pour through her veins.

"Let them sleep..." Cersei whispered, the soft tone did nothing to hide her easy authority, catching Sansa's meaning when her SheWolf continued to stare at the sleeping forms of her children, the redhead nibbled on her succulent lower lip nervously "...They are but children and cannot attract the attention of the vultures just yet" Cersei murmured. She feared the day that her youngest children would become objects of constant scrutiny, she didn't want them to harden in defence against the harsh rumours that would someday enclose them, and she certainly didn't want them learning to lash out at those around them with the same destructive ferocity that she did.

"Come with me Sansa, the night is still young and I want to utilise that" With lust darkened eyes, Cersei watched as her predatory smirk prompted a titillated blush to stain Sansa's aristocratic high cheekbones.


Gentleness. It wasn't a trait Cersei showed often, having been taught since childhood that softness was simply another word for weakness, she was only gentle with her children and on most occasions she was gentle with Sansa. But not while they were in bed together. Never then. When it came to giving pleasure, she was wild, passionate, attentive, adept and extremely thorough. Her hunger for her younger lover was only heightened by Sansa's response to her touches, hot, desperate writhing and wanton screams. It was enough to drive her towards the precipice of ecstasy without her SheWolf's shy, far less experienced exploration that she enjoyed far more than the experient caresses of past lovers. Soon she found herself being soaring into the abyss of rapture with a strangled moan, an arch of her back and a twist of her hips against the disarrayed bedsheets beneath their, naked, perspiration dotted bodies.

"Ask me about it only if you truly wish to hear the answer" She purred into Sansa's delicate ear afterwards. The Queen Regent was curled on her side, arms wrapped tightly around the younger woman, her breasts, upper chest, flat stomach and her slender hips were pressed into the smooth contours of sated lover's back, their long legs were entwined also. Not a single inch of their bodies was left detached. Nuzzling her face into the crook of her SheWolf's neck, Cersei waited patiently as Sansa mulled over why the Queen Regent would carry a concealed dagger inside her dress sleeve. The elaborate weapon sat undisturbed and uncaring atop the small table on the left side of the four poster bed the two lovers lazed in, directly in Sansa's line of sight.

"Would your answer be truthful if I did?" Sansa whispered, physical exertion coloured her melodious tone, their close proximately was the only reason that the Queen Regent was able to hear her lover's words.

"Yes" Cersei stated bluntly. She didn't like the thought of revealing her deadly intentions, much earlier in the night, to her innocent lover for fear that Sansa would withdraw back into her isolated shell, away from her, but she wouldn't blatantly lie to her SheWolf. She felt ill at the prospect of telling an untruth to her lover, another sensation she was inexperienced with. Concocting fabrications, withholding information and manipulating the truth to gain what she wanted was commonplace to her, it always had been, until now. She found her arms tightening around Sansa of their own accord, the action didn't shock her, no matter how out of place it was for her. She had never willingly lingered in bed with a lover before Sansa, she had never enjoyed bodily contact once she had gained her gratification and her release, but then neither had she taken a lover in her own bed.

"I wouldn't have thought you would required such a thing when you always have guards around you" Sansa murmured in the darkness of the Queen Regent's bedchamber.

"I don't carry it often..." Cersei admitted, whispering intimately into her lover's dainty ear, savouring Sansa's soft shivers of awareness as she began drawing gentle patterns on the younger woman's flat stomach with her short fingernails "...Only when I deem it necessary and in this instant it was"

"Did you..." The words died in the younger woman's throat.

"No" Cersei purred immediately when she felt Sansa stiffen in her arms.

"But you would have" Sansa pressed, relaxing somewhat in the Queen Regent's embrace.

"Without hesitation" She tried to keep the cold edge out of her voice with no avail. She mentally cursed herself when her SheWolf shifted, pulling herself out of the Queen Regent's lithe arms and sitting up beside the older woman, drawing her knees to her chest. Cersei clenched her jaw tightly to prevent herself from jerking her lover back into her arms, instead she remained laying on her side, resting one elegant hand on the slender curve of her bare hip and supporting her head with the other. In the silence that followed, Cersei trailed her jade coloured eyes over her lover's delectable form, attempting to read Sansa's emotions from the tension she could detect lining the redhead's breath taking body.

"And I may still have the pleasure of seeing the life drain from Tyrion's eyes tonight" Cersei drawled with a smirk. Sansa's head whipped to the side, the shock reflected in her lover's wolf eyes made her flinch inwardly, but there was no fear. Cersei concealed her satisfied grin behind her majestic exterior. Sansa knew and finally recognised that she would never hurt the younger woman.

"But he is your brother" Sansa whispered as through fratricide was unheard of and perhaps in the North it was. But not in the South. Sibling murdered sibling for far less than her justified reasons.

"No. He was born of my mother and in doing so he murdered her and now he is trying to get my son killed. Those actions forfeit his right to be called my brother. His crimes against me and mine span over thirty years and I will sooner cut my own throat before I see him continue" Cersei's former anger once again blossomed in the pit of her stomach, depleting any remorse she would feel from her lover's confused and innocent looks.

"Your mother wouldn't want to see you hurt him" Sansa murmured quietly, avoiding the unspoken fact that it was Joffrey's life in danger. Hesitant but determined wolf eyes met those of a angered lioness. For a brief moment Cersei entertained the truth of her lover's statement. Her mother would condemn both their actions, her slow, signature smirk curved the right corner of her full lips upwards. She knew what her mother would have done had she been alive, likely she would lock them both in a chamber, refusing to let them out until they solved the riddles of their argument regardless of their need for sustenance.

"My mother is dead and my compassion for that thing along with her..." Cersei stated with a lethal tranquillity, she tilted her head slowly, the long strands of her waist length blonde hair fell over her shoulder.

"...Lions protect those they love Sansa. I love my children unconditionally and I will protect them even against one who should, by principle, do the same" Cersei assured her lover coldly. Her glacial posture thawed the instant she saw the brightness of her SheWolf's eyes. She was on her knees beside her lover instantaneously, so swiftly that she hardly noticed she was moving, she pulled the younger woman into her arms. She didn't quite understand Sansa's unshed tears but she would cut her own arm off to stop them from falling.

"Don't cry little SheWolf-" Cersei whispered, drawing Sansa against her body, their lack of clothing didn't register with the Queen Regent at all. She nuzzled the top of her lover's head tenderly, each of Sansa's strangled sobs raked viciously at her heart and soul. Helplessness wasn't something she was accustomed to feeling, and she certainly didn't like it, but there was no doubt in her mind that was the emotion bubbling away inside of her, driving her former anger back into it's cage. After the lose of her mother when she was four years old she had prayed and prayed to the Gods to reunite them, only to have her father tell her that the Gods didn't listen to their playthings, that they enjoyed watching the suffering of humans because they couldn't feel misery themselves. But she would readily drop onto her knees and beg the deities that didn't listen to stop Sansa's tears even if she couldn't grasp what had provoked such a response in her lover.

"-Please..." The soft plea shocked her, sending icy shivers up her spine, the single word she whispered felt foreign on her tongue. A tight bitter smile spread across the Queen Regent's face. Cersei breathed a sigh of utter relief when she heard her lover's sobs trail off into tiny hiccups and felt the her SheWolf snuggle closer into the warmth of her naked body. The fist clenching around the jaded organ in her chest released it's excruciating hold.

"Why the tears Sansa?" She had to know what had upset her lover, the urge went past a simple desire to uncover the reason and into that uncharted part of her being where her emotions concerning her younger lover resided. She slowly drew random patterns on the smooth expanse of Sansa's upper left arm and her upper back. She hoped that Sansa enjoyed the comforting touch as much as she did. She was jerked roughly out of her thoughts as Sansa shook her head and continued to cling to her desperately.

"Tell me..." Cersei instructed gently. It wasn't a request, such a thing would imply that her lover had a choice in whether or not the younger woman revealed what had caused her distress when she didn't. Cersei would discover her answer as surely as the moon would give way to sun on the morrow. Lifting her own head before she tilted her SheWolf's head towards her, in the darkness of the room she could only just define the beautiful contours of Sansa's face. No matter. She didn't need her eyes to see what her mind had memorised.

"Tell me..." Cersei repeated insistently, cupping Sansa's oval shaped jaw in her hand while she continued tracing soft soothing patterns on her lover's slender shoulder with the other.

"I..." An amorous glimmer suddenly sparked to life in Sansa's blue-grey eyes, burning brightly even in the darkness, it called to that unknown part of the Queen Regent. A clutter of words were abruptly settling on the tip of her tongue as she stared back at her SheWolf with a longing she couldn't quite define. Tenderhearted words. Forbidden words.

"...Its nothing Cersei" Sansa sighed, attempting to break their identical gaze which the Queen Regent prevented with soft tightening of her hold on her lover's perfectly delicate jaw.

"I told you the truth when asked. You should return the favour" Cersei pressed, with no intention of relenting until she had Sansa smiling again. She wasn't above using underhanded tactics when it came to discovering what had upset the redhead.

"Cersei..." The soft plea was almost enough to deter her from her objective. Almost. Until she recalled the acute pain in her chest as she held her weeping lover.

"If a request from a lover is not enough to loosen your tongue then perhaps an order from the Queen Regent will suffice"She secretly despised herself for using her high station to her advantage, but how else could she gain the knowledge needed to make her lover feel content once more?. However her worries of upsetting Sansa further still were unfounded. The tender gleam in Sansa's mesmerising eyes burned even brighter than before.

"I..." A slow smile began to make its long awaited presence as Sansa began to speak, Cersei braced herself for what was to come only to growl irritably in the back of her throat when a thunderous knock on her locked chamber door echoed through the room. Ignoring it with surprising ease, she remained centred of the woman in her arms.

"Out with it Sansa" Cersei pressed anxiously as there was another loud knock on the chamber door, this time accompanied with The Hound's deep rumbling voice:

"Ser Arys to see you Your Grace" Sandor reported, even through the thick oak door she could hear him clearly. She reluctantly glanced away from her lover, she had yet to slide the heavy screen, that separated the receiving and quiescency areas of her chamber, closed. The soft autumn breeze drifted in through a partially opened window, beneath that window was a small squad of guards, fortunately her chambers were located high above the ground so that no sentry would be able to catch the sounds of rapture that echoed through the room each night.

"Tyrion..." Cersei whispered with a blood thirsty glint in her jade coloured eyes, finally she would see the Imp beg for mercy, a clemency he would not receive. She smirked, before she returned her attention to her lover, her gaze softened instantly.

"I'm waiting" She murmured quietly.

"I will tell you...but only if you stay with me tonight" Sansa whispered, biting her lover lip nervously.

"Your negotiations are all for naught...Once the Imp is dead and I have washed his blood from my hands I will return to you" Cersei said, surely Sansa had already known that. The only reason she would refrain from drawing out Tyrion's death into the next day was so that she could return to her SheWolf. She enjoyed holding Sansa through the night. Listening to the redhead's breathing, feeling the warmth of her lover's body beside hers, but mostly she relished waking to find her SheWolf in her embrace more than she savoured the thought of driving her blade through Tyrion's chest and watching with a smirk on her face as the life drained from his beady eyes.

"Joffrey is still alive Cersei, whatever foolish plan that Tyrion intends to act out can still be foiled without violence" Sansa looked back at her, blessedly without fear, just determination. Cersei smiled inwardly despite the shadow of frustration she could feel beginning to appear inside of her, she had never seen this side of her lover but she delighted in its uncovering.

"It would please you if I did this?" Cersei tilted her head as their eyes locked together. Her lover was correct. She could thwart the Imp's plan, by doing so without violence would humiliate him, perchance to the extent that he would halt in his endeavours to ruin her. And if it didn't, there were other methods in which she could hurt him dearly, she knew the dwarf was bedding someone at the Keep, she simply had to find who it was.

"Yes..." Sansa blushed.

"Then it will be done" Cersei leaned forward and kissed her lover gently, tenderly brushing their lips together before she pulled back reluctantly ignoring Sansa's soft sigh of disappointment, she would have reclaimed the softness of her lover's lips once more with the intention of deepening their kiss, but she rationalised that the sooner she sent Ser Arys on his way the sooner she could return to her lover's welcoming embrace. After standing up from her bed and blindly reaching for her revealing night gown, still folded neatly atop a small table in the corner, she slipped the red silk over her head and ran her hands over her long blonde mane, ensuring she looked somewhat presentable. She caught Sansa smiling in pure wonderment, a half smile of her own made a brief appearance in response as she pulled the heavy Lannister red drape into place, hiding her lover from immediate view. Stalking towards the door to her large chamber, she turned the small golden key in its lock, hearing the strong bolt come undone.

"It has been been done?" She demanded after she flung the door open. The imposing presence of The Hound to her right and the comparatively minuscule form of Ser Arys directly in front of her with his head inclined.

"It has Your Grace" Ser Arys lowered his head further still as he mumbled his concord.

"He can rot in his cell for the night..." She may have promised Sansa that she wouldn't kill Tyrion however she hadn't said she would make the Imp comfortable "...You're dismissed Ser Arys" She said icily.

"Your Grace" Ser Arys retreated down the wide corridor. The stone walls furnished with tapestries proudly displaying the Lannister sigil.

"Sandor..." She felt compelled to acknowledge The Hound before she returned to Sansa. True to form, Sandor remained silent as he tilted his head forward respectfully. She cast one last glance down the hall, she didn't know what she was searching for but the urge was there. Nothing but muteness greeted her query. Turning on her bare heel she closed the door and locked it before she stalked across her chamber, the cold marble beneath the soles of her feet sped her pace. Within moments she was parting the heavy screen and sliding back into her bed, retaining her red silk night gown to discuss Sansa's worries seemed practical. Her SheWolf had pulled the light coverlet up to her slender neck in her absence.

"You were saying?" Cersei prompted, masking her eagerness behind a lazy drawl, studying her lover's anxious expressions and tensed shoulders.

"I miss my family" Sansa whispered, avoiding the Queen Regent's penetrating gaze and toying with the corner of the bedsheets with her slender fingers. Pain and something else flared in Cersei's chest, so sharply she couldn't even muster a single comforting word. Swallowing the hard lump in her throat she shifted closer to her lover, she wasn't too certain about how the redhead would receive her sentiment. She carefully pulled her SheWolf into her arms, savouring the warmth of the younger woman's body against hers and the soft weight of Sansa's head resting on her shoulder.

"You will see them again" Cersei muttered. When every Northerner bent the knee and swore allegiance to Joffrey, accepting her son's authority as the Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the realm. A frown tugged itself into place across the Queen Regent's face. Even when Robb Stark and his House declared their loyalty, and she would have their utter compliance.

Would she actually let them take Sansa away from her?.

The instinctive tightening of her lithe arms around her SheWolf's relaxed form and the instant rejection raging at the very core of her being gave her the answer:

No

TBC. . .

AN: I'll be back with the next Chapter just as soon as I update my other fics, in mean time though...Penny for your thoughts? ;D