Loren hadn't known what was happening when the bells had jarred him and his wife awake in the early hours. He had barely pulled on his white linen shirt and breeches when guards came hammering on his door calling him to the king's rooms. What has Joffrey done? He had thought as he commanded Lelia and Alysanne to remain in the rooms and followed the guards. The wind and morning rain cut through his thin shirt as he crossed the drawbridge, his squire following close behind him he feared that Joff's violent nature had overcome him and he would find Margaery covered in blood.
She was, but it wasn't hers.
"Fuck!" He gasped as he stepped into the royal bedchamber. Margaery was sitting in front of the fire, half her face was covered in blood, her eye gummed shut and her hair matted, while the other half was ice-white. Two of her ladies were knelt beside her muttering soft words of encouragement. All of the Kingsguard were there, with the Hound keeping servants from the room.
He turned his eyes to the bed and his breath caught. Joff was dead, his hands and wrists tied to the bed with silken ribbons, covered in thin cuts leaving the king and his bed covered in blood, and his throat had been opened, leaving a great maw of congealed blood in the gash and the sheets and pillows drenched, a pool was expanding beneath the bed with a steady drip drip drip from the sheets.
Cersei had been summoned before him and was on the bed too, her skin white as chalk and her shoulder shaking as she clutched her son's corpse to her chest. He had never seen Cersei like this and didn't know what to do to help her and so instead turned to Jaime. "What happened?"
"Are you blind?"
"When did it happen?"
"We don't know, Margaery woke up screaming, Ser Loras and Sandor were on the door and came in to find," he gestured at the bed. "Sandor checked his body, he was already cold."
So he was dead for some time.
"Cersei," he said, taking her gently by the shoulder. "Unhand him, he's gone, you have to let him go now." She didn't listen or didn't hear and it took two of the Kingsguard to pry her off Joffrey so his body could fall stiff to the bed.
She began to sob.
"Cersei," he began. Her eyes flashed to him, red and she seemed to at last see the rest of the room.
"You." She hissed, looking over towards the fire where Margaery was still being comforted. "You did this!" she suddenly shrieked, launching herself towards Margaery with her hands extended like claws.
The movement was so sudden that Loren didn't have time to react and Jaime had to catch her around the middle before she could start tearing Margaery's eyes out. "You murdered my son!" She shrieked.
Margaery recoiled in horror but no words came from her.
"Cersei, no," Loren said, quickly standing between them.
"She was the only one in here, her own brother says no one else entered, it must have been her!"
"Cersei, Margaery is not so foolish as to tie Joffrey up, cut his throat and then go back to sleep in the same bed."
"Then explain this Loren, explain it!"
"What is happening here?" Lord Sebaston stepped through the door in a dark tunic, the badge of Hand of the King on his breast. "Father above! When did this happen?"
"We don't know for certain, my lord," Ser Balon said.
Lord Sebaston made to investigate the body and Loren turned back to Margaery. "My lady, what do you remember?"
Margaery began her sentence three times before she gave up. One of her ladies explained that she was in no state to talk right now. "I will take her to her chambers, get her cleaned up." Loras said and reached out to take his sister's arm.
"Hold a moment, ser Loras," Lord Sebaston said. He was examining one of Joffrey's arms carefully then stood up tall. "Who was on the King's doors last night?" Jaime told him. "Then ser Loras, Sandor, you will remain here. Ser Jaime, have one of your men escort… Margaery to her chambers, one of the men uninvolved in what happened here last night, and have another escort Queen Cersei back to her rooms."
"No, I'm not leaving."
It took them a long time to persuade Cersei to leave, but in the end, Ser Arys escorted her from the room while Ser Balon took Margaery and her ladies away, with orders that no others join them. Good, don't give the Tyrells time to conspire together if they did have something to do with this. "Right now the Kingsguard is failing in its duties, ser Mandon, you will go to Tommen's chambers, safeguard him, only members of the council are to enter his rooms." Lord Sebaston commanded.
As Ser Mandon left, Loren felt a sudden lurch of shame that he hadn't even thought of his nephew. "What do we do now, lord Hand?"
"We search, there must be some evidence here of a killer's passing."
They searched and while they did, Sebastian questioned Loras and Sandor about exactly what had happened the previous night.
Loren investigated the pooling blood, looking for a footprint, but there was nothing and then turned his attention to his dead nephew. Gods, he was terrified. Joffrey's face was pulled in a rictus of terror, his eyes wide and mouth agape, the front of his nightshirt dark with urine with the silk strip tied into it. Loren often struggled to remember that he was still just a boy. He touched Joff's cold cheek just next to a bloody tear mark. "So they struck again?" He thought back to what he had been told of the other killings. A knight of the Kingsguard, one of Cersei's knights, whose brothers were now the master-at-arms and captain of the guards of the Red Keep, the High Septon, and now the King himself. Margaery was the first to find ser Osney as well. Was he wrong about her? He still didn't believe her to be so stupid, but perhaps there was a cruelty to her. Maybe that was how she had been so able to corral Joffrey for the council, was she a monster at heart?
He examined the cuts on Joff's arms and legs. Whether delivered before or after death, this is a mark of hatred. He couldn't think of any reason for Margaery to hate Joffrey. Had she truly loved Renly and couldn't bear being anyone else's queen? No, she was so intent on being the queen and wouldn't have thrown that away for revenge for a man years dead. She was ready to restart war with the Starks to become the only queen in Westeros.
"My lords, out here!" Loras called from the balcony.
They hurried out to see Loras hauling up a rope tied to a balustrade. "Is that how the killer got in?"
"Let's see," Loren said. They examined the rope to see if it was secure and Loren climbed over the balcony, lowering himself on the rope until it was at its limit. "No," he said when they'd hauled him back up. "They may have gotten out that way, but not in, you couldn't reach it from the base of the moat." Besides, if you could sneak in to attach the rope, why would you leave only to climb in later? Lord Sebaston sent men to examine the outer line of the moat, reasoning that if they got into the moat from the bedchamber, they would need to get out again.
No more evidence emerged in their search and they gathered to assess their evidence. "The rope wasn't there yesterday morning, which means it was brought in by the killer." Loren said.
"And the killer must have come in before the bedding ceremony and waited," Jaime said. There were a few places they could have hidden, under the bed, in one of the wardrobes, or even out on the balcony, since none of them could remember if anyone went out there during the bedding ceremony itself. Jaime would work with ser Kevan to interrogate all of the servants and the guests from the wedding and find who could have the opportunity to murder the king. It was unspoken but understood that looking for motives would hardly lower the suspect pool. Whether they wanted to kill Joffrey personally or harm someone related to him, or deny Margaery the crown, much of the guest list would have motives.
"Whoever it was clearly hated the king." Sebaston said.
"Or wanted to send a message?" Ser Loras said.
"That's unlikely, whoever did this took the risk to either torture Joffrey while he lived or to cut up his body when he was dead, either way, they risked waking Margaery and one scream would have had the Kingsguard in here. Besides, it's not like the whole court was going to see this. If it is a message, it's a private one for his family and inner circle."
They ran through what else they had before Jaime was sent to continue their investigations, while Sandor and Loras were sent to the Tower of the Hand, where he could interrogate them himself, leaving Loren and Sebaston alone with the body of their king.
Sebaston leant back on Joffrey's desk, running his fingers down his face. "We need to summon the council, there is much that needs to be discussed. I fear the crown is in great danger. We need that acting High Septon summoned to the castle this afternoon. While we have the great and the good of the realm present we must have Tommen crowned and oaths of allegiance extracted."
"Is that how we proceed my lord?"
"You disagree?"
"Joffrey and Margaery consummate their marriage, there were witnesses."
"That is irrelevant, my lord. We cannot afford to wait three months to find out if Margaery is pregnant, and another six after that to see if the child will be a boy. Tommen may be a child, but we need a king, not a foetus, to sit the throne in opposition to Shireen Baratheon's claim."
"And if Margaery is pregnant with a boy?"
"We'll deal with that matter if and when we must. I never thought I would be praying that a royal marriage did not result in a child, but for the stability of the realm, we must."
What is left of the stability of the realm. "The stability of the realm is built upon the alliance between houses Lannister and Tyrell, my lord, and that alliance was built on the marriage of Margaery and Joffrey." He looked down at the boy. Despite all the harms he had done to the realm in life, the execution of Ned Stark, the neglect of the people of King's Landing, how was it that in death, Joff may have done more harm than ever. "Margaery cannot now marry Tommen, that marriage would be legally incestuous." The last thing we need is more rumours about incest in the bed of kings.
"We could get a dispensation from the next High Septon to allow such a wedding." That would be possible, with hefty bribes or strongarming, but Loren didn't like it. And if Margaery was pregnant then this would be a discussion for the halls of the citadel. "And if she is not pregnant well… we can say that his grace was unable to perform on his wedding night."
Another lie, even if it's necessary. And the smallfolk would love nothing more of their tyrant-boy-king than to think he was unable to bed his new, beautiful wife. "Perhaps… moon tea?" The thought left a foul taste in his mouth.
But the Hand of the King shook his head. "No. My aunt took moon tea after her first husband was killed in Robert's Rebellion. In her second marriage of ten years she never conceived again. The royal bloodline is thin already we cannot risk it further by damaging Margaery's fertility."
Loren had heard of such aftereffects of moon tea, and he was right, It would be many years before Tommen could father children and until then only he and Myrcella remained, and if they died, the throne passed to Shireen Baratheon. Like as not, they would both need guards inside their rooms when they slept now. Door wards were not sufficient. And Myrcella's hand had just become far more valuable now that only a boy not yet ten stood between her and a crown.
"So we're going to proceed with the coronation of Tommen, regardless of whether Margaery is pregnant?" The Hand nodded.
"Lord Mace will need to be placated."
"Somehow, yes."
"Do you know how?"
"I can only think of the Princess' hand for his eldest son, though I have no wish to put her in his power."
"If you think it helpful, I could also offer my own son for Margaery, if we cannot get dispensation for her to wed Tommen." Tion was around Tommen's age, and he didn't like the idea of him wedding someone so much older than him, but if the realm needed it.
"That would be most helpful, my lord. But for now I think we must assure him that we will do all in our power to get the new High Septon, whoever that may be, to grant the marriage dispensation."
"We should also look into what our lega l case is. Tyland!" His squire appeared in the doorway. "You've been listening? I need you to go to the rookery, find a raven to the citadel. Ask the archmaesters for examples of kings dying while their wives are pregnant and whether a brother succeeds or a son."
"No," Sebaston said firmly. "Ask them to provide precedents for the brother succeeding before the son, and then tell the Grand Maester to look in his library here."
"I should send the raven first?" Tyland asked.
"Yes," Loren and Sebaston said together.
"I fear there is so much more to come of this." Loren said when Tyland was gone.
"There is. I will need to inform the council, and the court."
"Will you do that now?"
"Yes, I will call the council to the Tower of the Hand and inform them of what is happening. I will inform lord Mace separately. I will do that myself, in the meantime I need you to go to the Most Devout and bring Septon Talman back to perform Tommen's coronation."
"The rest of the council may have thoughts about the succession."
"It matters not, I am the Hand of the King, they will accept my decision." He has certainly stepped into the role. Sebaston may be Cersei's Hand, but he is more than a mouthpiece. "And we must move quickly. No doubt word is already spreading, and I would have the Most Devout hear of this from your mouth rather than a street rumour."
Loren nodded. "I'll go and change immediately, my lord."
The two of them left the royal bedchamber, the matter of what to do with the body could be left for now.
He barged the door to his chambers open. "Both of you get dressed," he commanded as he kicked it shut again behind him.
"What's going on father? Where's Tyland?"
"The King was murdered last night." Loren started rifling through the wardrobe as his wife gasped and his daughter put her hand to her mouth.
"Murdered?" Lelia whispered.
"Yes, an investigation is ongoing, is this yours?" He held up a green samite dress.
"That's mine," Alysanne said and Loren tossed it to her, grabbing another one and passing that to Lelia. "Get changed both of you."
"Are we leaving?" Lelia asked.
"No. We're going to see the new king." He tossed his shirt away and pulled out a fresh doublet. "Get changed, now!" They had to be quick if they were going to be the first to see the new king.
Lelia started to ask questions but he waved her into the corner to change.
"You say murdered, was it Margaery?" Alysanne asked as she pulled her slip over her head.
"That seems unlikely, an investigation will begin shortly, but I doubt it will be her."
She began asking more questions, but he silenced her, saying that they would speak again later. After mother and daughter had helped each other into their dresses and Loren had grabbed a cloak to shield him from the rain when he rode for the Great Sept, they hurried to Tommen's rooms.
Ser Mandon stood vigil outside and informed Loren that Tommen and Myrcella were both inside, but that neither of them had been told as yet. He seemed reluctant to let Loren in, but finally acceded when Loren handed over his dagger.
Tommen and Myrcella, both still in their nightwear jumped up from the carpet, where they were playing with some kittens when the door opened and Loren, Alysanne and Lelia entered.
"Uncle Loren, what's going on?" Myrcella asked. "Ser Mandon said we couldn't leave for breakfast."
"We will have breakfast brought for you," Loren promised. "But right now we need to keep you here, keep you safe."
"Safe?" Tommen asked. "Why wouldn't we be safe in the castle?"
Loren took a breath and then knelt before the pair of them, Alysanne and Lelia following suit. "I'm so sorry to have to tell you this, your grace, but last night your brother, King Joffrey, was murdered in his sleep." He had considered simply telling them that he had died, but Tommen was the king now, and one should not lie to a king. So calmly, he explained what he could, keeping the darkest details back, but never lying. "So… I am king?" Tommen asked at last.
"You are, your grace."
"What do I do?"
"That is a big question your grace, and I understand this will be a lot to take in. The Hand of the King is informing the council now, no doubt they will be here shortly to swear their own oaths of allegiance and the Hand will explain how this day will proceed."
"But what about tomorrow?"
"Your Grace for now, keep your focus on this day before you. Tomorrow we can take as it comes, and your council is here to guide you every step of the way, as am I."
Tommen swallowed and nodded. "I'm scared, uncle."
"Really, I thought you were Tommen?"
Myrcella giggled and Tommen seemed to relax a little. "In truth, your grace, being scared is natural."
"Joffrey said Kings don't get scared."
"I think your brother was more oft scared than he let show. But he had no one whom he could be scared with. You do. Do you understand?"
"I can be scared with people I'm close to."
Loren nodded. "Now, I'm afraid I must leave you for now, the Hand of the King has instructed me to inform the Most Devout of your brother's passing, and then I must meet with the council. But I will check in on you again as soon as I am able, and, if you would permit it, Alysanne and Lelia will remain with you, would you like that?"
He had told Aly and Lelia that he was hoping to keep them together with the king on the way over. Alysanne could be the adult while Lelia could assist Myrcella in keeping him from thinking too much on his brother's death.
Tommen agreed, so he stood to leave. As he did, Lelia wrapped Tommen in a big hug and sat down with him and Myrcella to play with the kittens and Aly escorted him to the door. "Watch over him, won't you?"
"Of course."
He reached out for the door, but she put her hand on his before he could grasp the brass handle. "My lord, what happens now?"
Loren shook his head. "I don't know."