Everything in A song of Ice and Fire belongs to George R. R. Martin.
Myrcella Baratheon: Bride of a Northern Savage
Chapter 04
Tyrion Lannister
On this day, Tyrion was spending most of his time within the library of Winterfell. The Lannister imp was grateful of Maester Luwin in finding the books Tyrion was looking for to read. He was sitting at one of the library's desks, which was filled with numerous tomes and candles, with a goblet of fine wine from the Reach was in his grasp, when his sweet nephew Tommen Baratheon basically stormed into the library, with despair and sadness on his face.
"Uncle! I need your help!" Tommen immediately told him.
"What troubles you?" the imp asked in concern.
"It's Myrcella! She's in the Godswood, crying. It's all because of father…" Tommen began explaining, but was immediately interrupted by Tyrion, jumping from his chair and with his small legs began heading towards the exit, asking the 13-year-old prince to explain on the way. From what the boy told him surprised Tyrion. Myrcella, a princess, was betrothed to Stark's second son. He immediately understood the reason of Myrcella's reaction, and he definitely knew his sister's reaction, for he knew Cersei very well. There was bad blood between the two siblings; Cersei shared their father's hatred of him due to him being a dwarf, and most importantly, that their mother, the late Lady Joanna Lannister, died in childbirth. Still, Tyrion had to give credit to Cersei that she dearly loved her children, which was one of the few, if not the only, good quality she had. However, while she loved Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen, Tyrion knew that his sister had a possession over them. She wanted to control them, especially her eldest, Joffrey, since he was the crown prince and heir to the Iron Throne. Though Tyrion would have preferred the boy who was following him now as the next king then the brat Cersei pampered.
"I was thinking of getting Uncle Jaime, but I couldn't find him anywhere…" Tommen was telling him.
"It's alright, Tommen. You did the right to call me for help. Go back to your guest chambers and fetch some water for your sister." Tyrion assured his nephew. He too did not know where exactly his beloved brother was, but he guessed what he was doing now. With Cersei raging, Jaime would possibly be trying to calm her down, which could possibly lead to some intense and incest. It was about four or five years ago that Tyrion discovered that his older siblings, who were twins, were in an incestuous relationship and that the three royal children are nothing, but bastards of incest.
Tyrion wasn't just shocked from this discovery, he was disgusted. He knew that incest brought terrible and deadly consequences. The madness that flowed through the bloodline of the Targaryen dynasty was a result of the constant incest the members of the House of the Dragon committed. King Aerys II Targaryen, better known as the Mad King, was a great example of it, and now, Joffrey was basically the Mad King reborn, even if he still does not have the power of a king, thank the Gods, for now. Still there were Myrcella and Tommen, who have inherited the looks of Cersei and Jaime, respectively, but none of their mother's nature.
Tyrion entered the grand Godswood of Winterfell and found Myrcella right where Tommen left her, at the Weirwood Tree, in tears. Her eyes were already red from crying. Gently stroking her beautiful blonde hair, Tyrion offered his niece to take her back to the warm guest chambers. Without a word, she nodded, and allowed her dwarf uncle to lead the way. As they crossed the courtyard, reaching towards the doorway into the keep, Tyrion saw a glimpse of Myrcella's future husband crossing the yard, heading towards the kennels, where the direwolves of the Stark children were. Tyrion heard of the direwolves and that they dwelled in the North of the Wall, so, hearing that they have reached to the lands of House Stark amazed him. He already managed to see them personally in the morning, impressed by their size. He even feared of facing one alone.
However, the direwolves weren't the main concern for Tyrion right now, it was the wellbeing of his niece. Tyrion brought the poor girl to her chambers, where Septa Eglantine was already waiting for her. Ignoring the septa's demands of answering what was going on, Tyrion helped Myrcella to sit on her bed. Coincidently, his dear brother finally joined them along with Tommen, who brought water.
Myrcella Baratheon
When Myrcella was brought back to her temperate chambers, she was still agitated. Her dear Uncle Tyrion sat beside her, just as both Tommen and Uncle Jaime came, with her brother bringing some water, which Tyrion took from him.
"Myrcella, dear, drink some water," she heard her dwarf uncle speaking to her as he offered it. The 14-year-old girl did as she was told, taking a large gulp. Uncle Jaime joined them by sitting to the other side of her bed, gently stroking her hair. Although Myrcella adored Septa Eglantine, however, she wasn't helping at all.
"Can someone please explain me what is going on?" she demanded, and Uncle Tyrion finally told the septa of the betrothal. Just like her mother, Eglantine was not pleased with these news.
"Shouldn't a princess be worthy of a lord who follows the true faith?" the septa asked in a displeased tone. Myrcella felt that she was about to break down into tears once again. Everyone was worried about the Gods damn betrothal, but not about her. No one was interested of her thoughts and fears about it.
"I'm afraid the king has already made his decision, septa, nor that he really cares about your opinion, please forgive me." Tyrion replied as he continued to hold the mug of water in his left hand, while his right arm was wrapped around the girl. Myrcella really wanted to scream. She had various emotions running through her mind. There was sadness, despair, fear of her unknown future, her future husband, the direwolves, the Stark family, loneliness and living as a ward of Lord Stark, away from her own family, and last but not least, hatred.
She had hatred for her father, though she began to doubt that King Robert Baratheon, first of his name, was her father at all. Myrcella did not want this to happen, but she had already began losing any respect for her father. He was figuratively nothing, but a drunk fool and a pathetic excuse of a king. Seven Hells, he was even a poor excuse of a lord, or a warrior. The stories of him being a strong and mighty warrior during his rebellion against House Targaryen sounded like a lie, a mere fantasy. She hated Robert for treating her like this. She hated Robert for his foolish mind and antics. She hated Robert for his immodest behaviour. She hated Robert for his rotten habit of drinking and whoring right in front of all Seven Kingdoms, if not the whole world, shaming and humiliating his family. She hated Robert for the way he treated her mother. He constantly abused her, humiliated her, shamed her, hit her. When it came to hitting, sometimes Myrcella thought of standing up for mother. Robert Baratheon was nothing, but a fat, stupid, idiotic, arrogant, disgusting and selfish pig, and his sigil should have been one, not a black stag.
'Oh Gods,' Myrcella thought. 'How? How come I became the daughter of that fat animal?'
Myrcella spent the rest of the day within her chambers, calming down. When she finally did, it was already evening as the sun was setting down. It was getting darker as time went on. Putting on one of her beautiful dresses, the princess was led by Ser Meryn Trant. Myrcella would have preferred her uncle as she felt uncomfortable from the knight in shining armour and white cloak constantly stared at her with a look that disturbed her. She remembered that old Walder Frey, whose new wife was two years younger than the 14-year-old princess, looked at her the same way when they were crossing the Twins. Sometime later, Myrcella would learn with disgust that this was the look displayed the lust of a pervert and a paedophile.
Just like last night, Myrcella, before entering the Great Hall, was joined by Bran Stark to walk down the hall towards the high table. Myrcella did not want to do that at all. For now, she desperately wanted to avoid her betrothed as long as possible. Of course, never seeing him again would have been a great gift from the Gods, but she knew that this would never happen. Trying to keep herself calm, Myrcella coldly offered her hand to the second son of Lord Eddard, which he took reluctantly. Myrcella assumed that Bran was not happy about their union either. Not saying a word nor sharing a look, the two fourteen-year-olds walked down the hall before Bran left her with her family. The feast haven't even began, and he was already drunk, harassing women. Joffrey was no better too. He sat with his mother and uncles, already becoming drunk as he too was enjoying too much wine and ale, with his personal bodyguard, who was not a member of the Kingsguard, Sandor Clegane, whom everyone referred to as the Hound, towering above the crown prince. Tommen looked up and nodded to Myrcella. She could feel the tension between them present. Myrcella knew that it was because of her outburst on him, and felt guilty of yelling at him. Absentmindedly, Myrcella began eating, though she didn't have an appetite really. All she wanted to do now was to go to sleep and wake up at home in King's Landing as if all of this was a nightmare and nothing more. She looked at her mother. The queen, who did not come to comfort her, was looking at the Stark children, particularly Bran, with an icy stare.
Just then, Robert finally joined his family, holding a mug of mead. Myrcella mentally groaned in frustration as the obese drunk king barely managed to clamper up to the high table. He tapped a fork against his mug in order to get attention, but the bannermen feasting did not hear as they continued to drink, talk, and sing while the music continued to play. Groaning, Robert boldly snatched his wife's cup of Dornish wine and smashed it against the stone floor of the hall.
"Listen here, everyone!" Robert roared across the whole hall. "I am proud to announce the betrothal between Ned's son, young Bran Stark, and my sweet, pretty girl Myrcella! Let us celebrate this union with wine to drink and tits to stare at!"
Some of the Baratheon and Lannister bannermen laughed at the last sentence. Myrcella looked and saw her mother on the verge of raging out again. Thankfully, Uncle Jaime began whispering something into her ear. Joffrey, who was already drunk, approached her. Great, the least thing what she needed now was another reason for him to bully her.
"Well, well. It may seem my sister shall become a wolf's bitch!" Joffrey chuckled, with the Hound standing behind him. Sneering, her older brother imitated as if his was smelling something in the air. "And I can sense that you're already wet for him. Do you sense it, Hound?"
Sandor Clegane just stood there, remaining silent. Joffrey decided to ignore him. Myrcella could smell wine coming from him. "If you need help, I can do a favour, sister. Well, you know, show you where I put my cock inside you, all that…"
That was just too much for Myrcella. She already got used to him hitting her, teasing her, but with making inappropriate jokes about her current situation and offering to commit incest with her, her brother has gone too far. Hearing this, Tommen immediately stood up for her.
"Shut up, Joffrey. Leave our sister alone! She's already not feeling well!" he demanded. Myrcella whimpered when Joffrey's smile faded. She knew what would happen next. "At least she's marrying someone who can truly be considered a man, apart from someone." Tommen added, obviously comparing Joffrey to Bran.
"Ya fucking cunt!" Joffrey yelled, ready to punch her brother, only for Sandor grab his hand. Joffrey looked at Clegane with rage. "Let me go, dog!" he demanded, only for the Hound to pull him away from his siblings. Tyrion approached, holding a goblet of wine. Myrcella saw her uncle looking at her brother with anger and disgust.
"The prince is tired, he shall retire to his chambers," he told the Hound, who firmly nodded before taking a protesting Joffrey away from the hall. Finishing her meal, Myrcella told her parents that she wanted to retire. Still holding an icy look, Cersei allowed her, saying with no emotion. Her mother's reaction really saddened the princess as she walked away with Uncle Jaime escorting her back to the guest chambers. She knew that mother cared about Joffrey more, but she thought that she at least had some place in her heart for her and Tommen. It may seemed to be she was wrong.
Changing into her thin nightgown, Myrcella plunged onto her bed, desperately wrapping herself with furs to keep herself warm in this frozen wasteland and the grey castle the Starks called home. Shivering from the cold, despite the fire radiating heat from her fireplace within the chambers, Myrcella tried to fall asleep as soon as possible.
