I apologize for taking so long! Had a lot of stuff going on in real life!
I know I asked if you guys wanted a Cersei POV or a Jaime POV next, but I decided to do a Qyburn one instead. While this rewrite will still have mostly Cersei and Jaime POV's I decided that occasionally other characters will get a POV. Since it's a Qyburn chapter, though, of course, Cersei is in it as I know you were all hoping to find out how she was faring!
Thank you to Sharshenka, IceGirl2772, RhaenaTargaryen, SillyWoman01, Prince of Petersburg, shalomdebbie, garcianoah650, and Princess Rosalind of Underland for reviewing the previous chapter and thank you to everyone who has reviewed earlier chapters! I love to know your thoughts, etc. I hope this rewrite is coming out as well as I'm trying to make it.
"I'd love to see a Cersei chapter next. I hope she's ok. Jaime's making some stupid choices, but at least he'll probably come back in the end. We all know who he loves."
I shouldn't spoil lol, but he definitely will choose Cersei in the end. The only question is, by the time he makes that choice, will Cersei still be willing? Will she still even be around? You'll have to wait and see! :P
"Oof Jamie is now a jewelry thief now… I wonder what's going to happen to him now and how is Cersei feeling after all this…"
TBF he doesn't have much of a choice lol. Inns and Taverns aren't gonna let him get a meal just on his good looks. Though that could be an interesting story all on its own.
"I'm enjoying Jaime's POV so much-you write him so well, but I say we're overdue a Cersei POV to find out more about her true feelings about the baby, etc. is terrible about notifications so I will have to keep checking back on this one-it's really good, gripping, a real page-turner!"
Thank you so much! You have no idea how happy it made me when I saw you were commenting on this one! I only hope I didn't take so long to update that you forgot everything that happened in it!
"I don't think he's a helping type but Bronn sure did helped a lot of people in search canon and good to know he still help Jaime here. Well done as always!"
Lol yeah he did. He saved Jaime from Drogon's dragonfire too. So he actually does care I think, even if he claims its all for the castle and gold.
I found this chapter interesting in Jaimies point of view. There were moments that he seemed like a complete Scoundrel who cared only of his self . Then you get to the scene in Cerceis bedroom and you realize how torn he was about stealing anything sentimental to her and to him as well because they reminded him of their relationship together. The ending with them at the brothel and him being stitched up were exciting. I would suggest a Ceceis POV next chapter.
I'm glad he came across the same as his canon character does and glad you liked the ending.
"It's amazing how good you write the Kettleblack brothers lol. They really are stupid. I was surprised by both the pimple faced Queensguard and the older one. I figure Cersei would only allow the very best to be part of her Queensguard. It's so sweet of Cersei to keep all of her treasures in a separate box away from the other, more "mundane" gifts, and even sweeter that Jaime wouldn't take those from her even though she stabbed him. I wonder what Bronn thinks he's actually going to get out of this badly planned out situation lol."
Cersei would like that, but the reality is the pickings are slim. Most able-bodied men have turned tail and got the hell out of Cersei's path, or ran to the North to help fight the white walkers. I made people a bit less hateful towards Daenerys in this one since all the hate in canon didn't make sense to me, though there still are plenty of small folk, and houses that don't like her either and many that don't like her or Cersei too.
"I knew Jaime's injuries were more serious. At least serious enough to stay in place for at least one night. I know he's been through a lot, but I didn't think he'd be able to walk that off straightaway.
I think I'd like to see at least one more Jaime POV chapter before we move on to Cersei's POV. At least one where we know Jaime is safely on his way to the North before we find out about Cersei and if she did indeed lose the baby.
Nice touch with Jaime having to explain the purse.
Excellent story. Can't wait to see where you take it."
The next chapter might be a Jaime chapter. I haven't decided yet. And yeah, I didn't think it would be realistic to have him be completely unharmed from the stab wound. I kinda felt his doing as much as he did with it was a bit of a stretch.
Jamie and Bronn adventures! Can't wait.
Funny how Jamie objects to Bronn killing a kid, when Jamie's done the same. Oh well.
I'd love a Circe chapter. I feel like she has if not good, then in-character reasons for what she's doing, but Jamie has his head up his butt a bit and doesn't seem willing to see them. I'd love to get her perspective, and see if she outwits this escape attempt, and what she does about it.
It may be a while before we see Cersei's reasoning, but you will find out about the escape attempt soon!
Qyburn took in the sight before him with melancholic eyes. His unconscious Queen lay sprawled out on the bed, having just been moved there ever so gently and carefully by him. He could not risk any guards finding out what had happened; not before he himself knew what had happened.
There was so much blood between her legs that it was obvious what had happened there. But there was bruising around her neck, and from her stillness, he feared the worst. A guard, the same one who'd woken him and informed him of the Queen's state, stood outside the door, ready to attack if whoever had attacked the Queen returned.
He would worry about finding who her attacker was once he made sure she was out of danger. The first thing to do was to examine her to determine if she was still bleeding. In all likelihood she wasn't - but he had to make sure.
Having brought some supplies from his chambers he took care to clean her himself, as he had no time to call for a servant. He grew ever more worried as she remained unmoving and unaware of the world around her. Qyburn wasn't a man who believed in god, but he found himself praying that she would wake up.
There was blood. Lots of blood. Most of it dried, some not. He took care to ensure that she wasn't still bleeding; a rather unpleasant task for him, as Queen or not he had no desire to touch anybody down there.
She would certainly be feeling quite weak for some time, but if she awoke, and that was a big if, she would live. He would be lucky, however, if she didn't fling herself from the Red Keep after finding out she had lost her baby. He had to think fast.
The baby was dead, its tiny body so small it fit in the palm of his hand. He wrapped the little buddle in a cloth with the rest of the rags he'd used to clean his Queen and tried to determine the best course of action going forward.
If he told her what had happened there was a chance she would mourn, but that revenge would keep her going. But he didn't know for sure that revenge would be enough to live on. A person needed ambitions. His was his research. Hers was always her children, more so than even the Throne he would say. Others wouldn't agree, but he knew her best.
If she did kill herself, who would take the throne? Himself? He had no claim and the people would accept him even less than they accepted her. Likely the Dragon Queen would quickly lay claim, and she may not take so kindly to his type of work.
But what else could he do but tell his Queen the truth when she awoke? He didn't know if he had the means or not to come up with some way to fake this pregnancy. He had been working on various mind experiments, but nothing quite this scale. And if she found out - well as fond as she was of him, that betrayal would certainly not go unpunished.
As he pondered this the weak voice of his Queen tried to communicate with him. She was awake!
Unfortunately, her voice was too weak, her throat likely too dry and bruised from the strangulation for her to speak.
He glanced around in a vain attempt to find something to parch her sore throat. "You need water, My Queen. And food to help with the lost blood. I already informed Bernadette of both."
He glanced at Cersei's panicked face, He was not an emotional man, but he felt a need to protect her from the horrible truth. He knew her well enough to know the thoughts and fears swimming through her head right now. The only person who knew her better than he did, was her lover and twin, Jaime Lannister. And where was Jaime? In the state she was in, the Queen would surely want him by her side, he cursed himself for not thinking of that sooner. When the maid returned with the water he would be sure to have them call upon Jaime.
Before he could attempt to calm her down, a maid entered the open door.
"I have the water you called for, and Bernadette is on her way to the cooks. I told her to make sure they serve soft food, just as you instructed."
"Thank you. You may give that to me, and I'll see to it that she drinks. And would you call upon Ser Jaime? I'm sure the Queen would want him by her side."
At that, a soft knock was heard, followed by another. Qyburn turned to see Cersei, now sitting up, feebly slamming her fist on the nearby table.
She opened her mouth, and a panicked looked crossed her face when words failed to come out.
"Your Grace, do you not wish to see Ser Jaime?" Qyburn asked.
Instead of answering, she eyed the glass of water Qyburn was now holding.
"Of course, this first," he agreed..
The maid wisely remained silent as he knelt beside his Queen and gently helped her take slow sips.
Finally, Cersei held out her hand, signaling for Qyburn to stop. She spoke slowly, in a low, raspy voice. "Find Jaime and bring him to the dungeons."
The request confused Qyburn, but he stood. "I'll go inform-"
Cersei grabbed his wrist, a worried look in her eyes. "The baby," she said so softly that only he could hear.
With the maid near. he didn't want to arouse suspicion - Cersei had not yet formally announced her pregnancy.
He turned towards the maid. "Tayla. Go and inform the guards to sound the alert. Tell them Ser Jaime is to be captured."
He turned back to Cersei once Tayla left and a horrifying thought occurred to him - Ser Jaime must be responsible for what happened to his Queen. Otherwise, Cersei would not be asking for him to be captured and brought to the dungeon. "I'll need to call a meeting in the Throne room shortly, in case Ser Jaime has already left the Red Keep, which I suspect he may have. Would that be fine, My Queen?"
"Baby," repeated Cersei, nodding.
"I…I am not sure," he lied. "Let me retrieve something from my chambers and then I may take a closer look." He hoped that during the walk to his chambers, he could figure out a course of action. "I'll discard these soiled rags and sheets, too," he added. He grabbed the dirty linens, being ever so careful to keep the small fetus carefully hidden in them. "On my way, I will call for a maid to return with some clothes, too."
She nodded her approval just as Bernadette returned with a platter containing what looked to be a bowl of soup and two fried eggs. The delicious aroma reminded him that he'd not yet eaten today, but he would have to wait.
As he made his way back to his chambers, he pondered what to do. He knew her well enough to know that the loss would devastate her. Of course, any woman would be devastated to lose her baby like this, but for her especially, at her age and having lost three, no four children, if he counted the black-haired son she'd lost before his Nameday. The loss would be earth-shattering to her. Emotionally, he feared she might never recover.
By the time he'd arrived at his chambers, he still had no answer. He eyed his arsenal closely, hoping to find something there that may help him.
Potions and various other devices lay before his eyes. He gave each one a quick look before ruling them out.
Briefly, he considered the memory potion, before quickly concluding that it would be of no use - it wouldn't last long enough, and giving them repeatedly could, he feared, cause memory loss.
After ruling a few more out, he came across a potion that stopped a woman's moonblood. Now that could be useful, but then what to do when her womb failed to quicken and labor never came? He supposed he could cross that bridge later, if they even were still alive months from now.
He grabbed the potion and was about to leave when he spotted something else, something that he'd used once before on her. It was a device he'd designed himself to detect fetal heartbeats. He grabbed that as well, as he worried that if he didn't she might grow suspicious as to why he hadn't.
He also took some milk of the poppy, just in case she was in any pain. He also grabbed a harmless potion that acted as a mood stabilizer and calmed one down. He would tell her this potion had saved her baby. It couldn't hurt any to endure her even more to him and his work.
—-
When he came back Cersei was sitting on the sofa, eating some split pea soup, and the eggs were already gone. She must have been famished, because he hadn't been gone that long and she was nearly done with the meal.
When she saw him, she put the bowl down, eager to get on with finding out if her baby was alright.
Qyburn quickly handed the mood-stabilizing potion to Cersei. He'd wait on the other potion until after his exam, as she'd be calmer then.
"Drink this potion quickly, then I have some milk of the poppy for you if you are in any pain, my Queen," he said handing her the potion.
Trusting completely in him. Cersei quickly guzzled all of the potion down.
When she finished it she spoke, her voice still low and raspy, clearly damaged from what he suspected to be strangulation. " How long until-?"
"The potion only takes a few moments to work, if it does work that is. I am sorry, I have not had very many opportunities to test it. I do believe, however, that if the baby is in any distress it can help," he lied.
Cersei let out an audible sigh of relief as she leaned back.
"I also have the instrument to detect fetal heartbeats, I can use it on you in a few moments, to check if the baby's heart rate is steady and strong. I also brought milk of the poppy for if you are in any pain."
"Heartbeat yes, poppy no," she replied.
"Very well then, Your Grace."
"How long?" She asked.
"It shouldn't take long at all, your grace," he replied, thinking she was talking again about his examination.
"No I mean, how long was I-?"
"It's nearly morning I believe, your grace. The sun should be coming up soon, I believe."
Cersei's face registered first shock, then panic, but she formed no words.
"If it hurts too much to talk, I can call for someone to bring ink and pen when we finish here. Would you like that?"
She nodded her approval, and Qyburn set to work.
"If you could lie down, and unbutton the buttons over your stomach, please," he said.
Her only response was to do as he requested.
Qyburn put the device on his ears and positioned the listening part over her stomach. He listened. As he expected, he heard nothing. He recalled that he hadn't heard anything the first time either, it had taken a few tries before finding the right spot. So for show, he moved the device around a few more times, listening in different areas.
"Can you hear anything?" asked Cersei, worriedly.
"Sometimes it takes a while to find the right spot. No need to worry yet."
Just when he'd nearly decided he'd done enough, he heard something.
Could it be?! But how?
He continued to listen, making sure that he wasn't hearing things.
It was a heartbeat. Steady and strong. By some miracle, she must have been carrying twins. One was gone, but the other was still with her. If Qyburn had believed in the gods, he would have silently said a thank you to them, right here and now.
"Your grace. Your baby is alright. More than alright. The heartbeat is steady and strong."
"Thank you." Cersei rasped out, the gratitude and joy on her face radiating off of her.
Cersei Lannister would never know that she had been pregnant with twins. She would never know that she had lost yet another son that night. She would never know that the life had been choked from her by her very own beloved twin.
Please review! This is a very important chapter for the fic and I'd love to know what you all think. Did the ending surprise any of you? What do you think of having the valonqar be someone who instead of killing her, chokes her causing a partial miscarriage? I think that can definitely fit this, "And when your tears have drowned you, the valonqar shall wrap his hands about your pale white throat and choke the life from you." don't you?