Disclaimer: I do not own Game of Thrones or anything related. It belongs to George R.R. Martin, the creator of this wonderful universe and David Benioff and D. B. Weiss who created the show.
Face Claim for Queen Sanira: Caitlin Stasey.
Chapter Thirty-Six: The Great Sept of Baelor.
Lancel and a group of Faith Militant usher Loras into the sept and down the steps, his hair has been shorn away and Margaery barely recognised her brother since the last time that she had been allowed to see him. The Faith Militant lead him to the centre of the room and move away as the High Sparrow stands from his seat, the gathering for the trial is large and since King Tommen had done away with trial by combat there was a lot to get through this day.
"Ser Loras Tyrell. Are you prepared to stand trial and profess your guilt or innocence before the Seven?" the High Sparrow asked looking down at Loras who cowered before him. The man had been broken down during his weeks under the care of the Sparrows, no one who knew Loras Tyrell would have guessed that it was he who stood before them now.
"There'll be no need for a trial. I confess before the Seven and freely admit to my crimes," Loras said quietly, his eyes looking directly at the floor as his arms curled into his chest as if to protect himself. He was dirty and smelled, having been denied the basic necessities during his stay with the Sparrows; his eyes squinted still not used to light after so long in the dark.
"To which crimes will you be confessing?" the High Sparrow asked staring down his nose at Loras, he seemed to take great joy in how pitiful Loras looked stood before him. Gone was the armour that made him a renowned warrior, the arrogance stripped away leaving behind the man that the Gods could judge.
"All of them. I lay with other men including the traitor Renly Baratheon," Loras stated, his voice carrying over the quiet crowd who murmured at his admission and he couldn't bring himself to look towards his family. His father, his mother and his sister all gathered to see him confess to his crimes; it turned his stomach knowing his brothers and grandmother were not here to support him.
"I perjured myself before the gods. I am guilty of depravity... dishonesty, profligacy, and arrogance. I see that now. I humble myself before the Seven and accept whatever punishment the gods deem just," Loras continued on ignoring the whispers of the crowd. His eyes still lowered as he wondered if he would ever see his brothers again, they had been smart not coming here to King's Landing; Willas had even warned him about his actions but he thought that he knew better.
"The gods' judgment is fierce, but also fair. The Warrior punishes those who believe themselves beyond the reach of justice. But the Mother shows her mercy to those who kneel before her," the High Sparrow commended him, he smiled down like he was proud that he could admit his own faults before the gods. Loras knelt before the High Sparrow, gone was the man that had been a slave to his own desires; they had shown him the true way.
"I take full responsibility for my many sins and unburden myself of my desires. My only remaining wish is to devote my life to the Seven. May I be a living example of their grace for others to witness," Loras stated like he had been told, his eyes filling with tears knowing that he would never return home. His life belonged to the faith and they would decide what was best for him, he would never see his family nor would he be free to do as he desired again.
"You understand fully what this means?" the High Sparrow asked of him, of course he knew what this meant as it had been fully explained to him; it was the only way that he would escape the cell where he had been kept. Loras nodded his head, a lump in his throat as he prepared to say the words as he prepared to do the one thing that he never thought he'd have to do.
"I do. I will abandon the Tyrell name and all that goes with it. I will renounce my lordship and my claims on Highgarden. I will never marry and I will never father children," Loras said, it wasn't a great loss to his house as he was a third son but it would sting if it proven that Willas due to his injury could never have children. The pressure of securing the future of House Tyrell would fall to Garlan who would be furious with Loras for what he had done to their house's reputation for his own selfish needs.
"Brother Loras. I ask you to dedicate your life to the seven gods," the High Sparrow asked of him, another son from another great house bound to their cause and it would boast the spread of their word. The High Sparrow moved forward and touches Loras' face making the young man look up at him from the position where he was knelt in.
"Will you fight to defend your faith against heretics and apostates?" the High Sparrow asked him, his eyes staring directly into Loras' so that he could not look away from him. It was all within his reach, everything that he had ever wanted and he was so close to having it all; he could almost taste the power that was within his grasp.
"I will," Loras agreed before the High Sparrow nodded to him, he stepped back as two of the Faith Militant approach Loras and take him by the arms. A third approached him from behind, drawing a knife and began to carve the mark of the Seven into Loras' forehead.
Mace makes a move to stop them only to be stopped by Margaery who shakes her head knowing that they can't intercede; it would undo her hard work to get her brother free. The Faith Militant finishes carving Loras' forehead, the crowd watching in horror at the actions being taken by the Sparrows; Margaery made her way to the floor in front of the High Sparrow.
"You mutilated him. You gave me your word," Margaery said shaking her head, this was not what she had agreed to when she had negotiated the freedom of her brother. It made her stomach turn watching them do that to Loras, she had never thought that they'd do that to Loras as he was the Queen's brother.
"I've kept my word. Once the queen mother's trial is concluded, Brother Loras is free to leave," the High Sparrow said dismissively, there was not much left to deal with now with Loras. There was a greater cause to deal with, bringing down Cersei was his task now and it appeared that the Queen Mother had not arrived for her trial.
"It appears the queen mother doesn't wish to attend her own trial," the High Sparrow stated when Lancel told him that the Queen's carriage hadn't left the Red Keep that morning with the trial had started.
"Go to the Red Keep and show her the way," the High Sparrow instructed to Lancel, there could be no further delays in the trial; they had much to get through when it came to dispensing justice. Lancel nodded his head and exited the sept with several Faith Militant on his heel, they would bring his cousin to her trial or they would die trying.
The crowd murmured about the delay as the minutes ticked by and there was no sign of the Sparrows returning with Cersei; Margaery looked around at them, she looked at Loras who had his head handing down and his eyes were downcast. Margaery moved away from her brother, she hurried over to the High Sparrow knowing that something wasn't right.
"There's something wrong," Margaery told him, there was something very wrong here and she couldn't shake the feeling that everything was about to go very, very wrong here.
"You have nothing to fear, Your Grace. The trial will begin shortly," the High Sparrow dismissed her concerns, he turned his back on her and attempted to make his way back to his seat. No doubt Lancel and the others would be back shortly with Cersei in tow, there was no escaping the Gods justice afterall.
"Cersei is not here. Tommen is not here. Why do you think they are not here?" Margaery pointed out, Cersei had to have planned something and kept Tommen away; she didn't believe for a moment that he would have stayed away of his own volition. Things might have been strained since her release but Margaery believed that her husband was still besotted with her; that he would wish to be here to show support for her brother.
"If the accused is not here, she will be tried regardless. We cannot escape the justice of the gods..." the High Sparrow prattled on, there was nothing that Cersei could do avoid the justice that would be served this day. Margaery clutched at her skirts and moved up the steps, she reached the High Sparrow's side and stopped him from moving further away from her.
"Forget about the bloody gods and listen to what I'm telling you. Cersei understands the consequences of her absence and she is absent anyway, which means she does not intend to suffer those consequences. The trial can wait. We all need to leave," Margaery insisted knowing that they were all in terrible danger. There was no way that Cersei thought that she could get away with not showing up, she had a plan and they needed to get out of this sept before there was no way that they could stay here. The High Sparrow scoffed at her words and shook his head, they were completely safe here in the Great Sept of Baelor.
"We all need to leave now!" Margaery ordered turning away from the High Sparrow in disbelief and hurried back over to Loras, the crowd beginning to stir as she took Loras' chin and lifted his face so that his eyes could meet her own. The crowds slowly started to disperse, her father linking arms with her mother as they all started to make their way towards the exits with the High Sparrow watching on.
"Loras. Stay with me," Margaery pleaded with her brother, she ushered him up the steps and hurried towards the exit with Loras; the crowd beginning to panic and also during the same. Two Faith Militant block Margaery's path to the exit, they boxed the crowds in as the High Sparrow watched the scene play out before him.
"Let me through. Let me through. Get out of my way," Margaery demanded pushing against the guards, she couldn't believe that they didn't see that they had all walked right into Cersei's trap. All her enemies in one place where she could dispose of them with one swift action.
"Let us through! I am the Queen! Let us through." Margaery shouted trying to force her way, Loras all but clinging to her as she tried to make their exit; she looked back over her shoulder at the High Sparrow. The two of them staring at one another, the power madness in his eyes making her feel uneasy as the ground began to rubble around them.
The crowd falling silent for one second as the rumbling got louder and the room started to shake, Margaery grasped onto Loras as a green flame erupted from the centre of the floor of the sept incinerating the High Sparrow in one move. From there it engulfed the entire sept, killing everyone inside of it; the sept crumbing from the force of the explosion which threw the bell from it's tower into the city and crushing an innocent bystander, the flames rush out from the sept.
Standing on her balcony in the Red Keep, Cersei watched the explosion with a smile on her face knowing that all her enemies and those that had betrayed her had been defeated in one move and she had been left the victor. She lifted her goblet of wine in cheers before she smiled and sipped on her drink, her back turning on the destruction that she had caused without so much of a second thought.
With the Sparrows gone, now she could turn her attentions to dealing with Stannis; Qyburn had been very helpful in securing her victory today and she was prepared for what would come when Stannis showed up in the city. Cersei smirked knowing that her former brother-in-law would not know what hit him when he returned to the city; this time she would not cower away with the women when he came knocking on her door.
In his chambers not far from his mother's, Tommen stared out of the window at the explosion with his mouth hanging open as he tried to take in what had just happened. His hands resting on the rail of his balcony as his uncle Jaime stood behind him; he had been sent that morning by Cersei to stop Tommen from attending the trial.
Neither of them could have predicted that this was what Cersei had planned, the smoke rising from the sept could still be seen and no doubt the entire city would know what had occurred this day. Jaime turned on his heel and stormed out of the chambers, he walked down the hall to where Cersei was waiting with a smug look upon her face.
It was at this moment that he realised that he didn't know who this woman was anymore, he couldn't believe that she would do such a thing that resulted in the deaths of most of Tommen's court. The Tyrells would not forgive them for this, the alliance had been the only thing keeping Stannis from the door and now they had no reason to stay with the Lannisters.
Back in his chambers, Tommen removed the crown from his head with shaking hands as he tried to wrap his head around what had just happened as he set down the crown. The shaking in his hands seemed to get stronger as he sat down in his chair, Tommen's mind raced as he realised what all this meant; his mother had seized control of his court.
His own power undermined and Tommen knew that she would never let him go, she would never see him as his own person but an extension of himself. His eyes drifted over to the balcony knowing that it would be so easy to put an end to all of this, but he wasn't going to give in that easily.
There was a plan to get him out of here and he was going to stick to that plan, he believed that Sanira would help him get away from his mother.
This marks the end of Season 6 of the show.
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