CHAPTER 4: You'll Die When You Know Who It Is

Cerenna Lannister took a warm bath with her scented oils of jasmine blossoms. She was pampered and massaged from the top of her golden scalp to her manicured rose-colored tippy toes. Her hair was brushed and braided for her and she was dressed in her finest gown while she drank her fill of exotic wines. It was a vibrant red that rivaled the sparkle of rubies.

"My lady…"

"Be. Quiet."

Cerenna filled her glass again and drank. She pondered if maybe she should hire a musician to play sweet songs for her each day. It would certainly keep her maids silent and give her some much-needed inner peace.

"He is your husband. The sooner you accept-"

"Ugh!" Cerenna threw her glass at her, barely missing when she flinched away, "He is not my husband! He's a criminal! He kidnapped me under my own home!"

"It's wrong, and you should think about releasing him before others hear-"

"Get her out of my sight!"

Guards stormed into her bedroom, but the accused interrupted, "No need. I will leave of my own accord. I apologize for my insubordination, my lady, and will wait for your punishment in my chambers. Excuse me."

Cerenna sighed and watched her leave. She tried to drink again, but it had lost its appeal. The other ladies kept her eyes away from her and their mouths wisely sealed, but Cerenna knew they thought the same as the one she'd dismissed. They always had one person speak for the rest and suffer the consequences. She had to commend their sacrifice and bravery, and their actions made her want to be more proactive.

"Has the prisoner had its dinner yet?"

Her men dragged his sorry ass down into the dungeons. It wasn't as empty as he thought a place run by a woman should be. He'd thought she'd be merciful, but there weren't just men in the cells. Some had women in there. Who was this Cerenna Lannister? Was she just like her uncle, the ruthless Tywin Lannister?

"In you go, your grace." One of the guards announced, and he honestly had no idea if it was meant as respect or mockery, but the next thing he knew he was being shoved inside a large dark cell. His wrists were tied together by a thick rope and then raised above his head. His ankles were shackled to the floor, "Consider this your new marriage bed." They hooked his arms up to heavy iron chains. One of the men worked some pulleys and raised him to the tip of his toes. Every inch of his body was stretched uncomfortably and he groaned in displeasure while they laughed and left him there. He passed out a couple of times and when he came to, his wife was there, looking good enough to kill.

He almost thought she was a trick of the exhaustion except, he could never imagine someone to look like she did. Her hair was full of blonde curls around her, cascading down her hips like gold around her ruby-red dress. She sparkled effortlessly against the dark and gloomy dungeon.

"Hungry?" She reached into the gold platter she had graciously brought with her and placed it on the small table in front of her. It was overfilled with delicious assortments of grapes, apple slices, almonds, cashews, ripe cheddar cheese pieces, cut hams and pork slices, and toasted bread slices, and it was all covered in a drizzle of sweet amber honey.

'Fuck yes' he thought while digging his nails into the rope for support, but he wasn't entirely sure he was hungry for food, or his infuriatingly delusional wife. "It would be wise of you to release me before I take offense." he tried to sound menacing, but she popped a honey-covered cheese cube into her mouth. The thought of her drizzling honey all over that platter and, somehow her naked breasts, made him absolutely feral. He wanted to eat off her and bite her. Hard.

It was hard to feel bad for Cerenna Lannister when she had everything and still managed to do the worst with it. She smiled, feeling quite pleased with herself, and took a small honeycomb next, licking her lips clean off the sticky nectar. Rhaemon felt his throat dry as he watched her eat and wondered if she would take pity on him and feed him, but thought better of it. A highborn lady of her caliber would never concern herself with the welfare of others. "Take all the offense you want from your chains, your Grace. I have a great appetite and don't mind one sliver having my dinner while you hang there."

He huffed, and it took everything in him not to lose his balance and further break his arms, "I'd rather you call me, 'My husband'," his breath was labored and strenuous, "You keep forgetting how songs are spread swiftly, and very soon everyone will know of our nuptials," she had been arranging some meats and cheeses atop her small toasted bread, stopping from drizzling more blessed honey, "It won't be me the only one who will take offense over this."

"I assure you, your grace, no one misses you. You could spend the rest of your days rotting in this tiny cell and no one will bat an eyelash over it."

His lilac eyes narrowed, "I wonder if they'll hang you or execute you for this," he tried to shrug, almost tripping and hurting his arm further, "maybe they'll let me keep your head as a paperweight, and your letter I'll shove inside your lying mouth".

"That fucking letter,-" Screams of a woman being dragged down echoed throughout the dungeons. Cerenna sighed and Rhameon could only watch as one of her maids was dragged into his cell, "Explain what you did Alehma."

The woman was kicked forward. She had a cut on her lip and blood salivated to the floor and on her gown, "I- I'm so sorry mistress, please, please I beg you to forgive me. I had only the best of intent-"

A guard came forward and elbowed her stomach. She fell to her knees out of breath and went red in the face holding her stomach in agony.

"That is not what I want to hear," Cerenna stated impatiently, although she avoided looking at Rhaemon, or her lady.

"I was the one who sent your letter to his friend, but I only meant to help. We-we-I-I thought you wanted it sent. I wanted you to have-"

"Take her. She might benefit from new bed arrangements."

"No! No! Please! My lady! I'm sorry! I will never do it again! I swear it on the old gods and the new! Please, your grace!" She screamed until Rhaemon wished he could cover his ears.

Cerenna simply demanded wine to be brought to her and continued playing with the food. He had a feeling she didn't eat much but wanted to keep eating to torture him. His nails kept scratching the rope. If she started drinking, she could end up killing him in cold blood. It was clear he had wed a madwoman.

"She might have sent the letter but," he dared ask, "who wrote the letter?"

The question seemed to have struck for she winced and turned away from him. He struggled against his bonds and she turned to face him, her cheeks now red, "I wrote the letter." she mumbled.

But he'd already known this. "Why?" He asked, almost tenderly, his eyes intense but giving nothing away.

"It was… a spontaneous assignment." She stuttered to explain, almost turning around, "Why does it matter? I never meant to send it."

"Why me? You addressed your 'spontaneous assignment' to my name. I'm the first of my name." His cocky smile put her less at ease.

Cerenna did not like his arrogance, and why in the seven hells was he questioning her? She brushed her long blonde hair to one side and then the other. Where the fuck was her wine?

"I've been in your chambers, princess, you have countless letters, and all of them seem to be properly addressed, even if the message is not always clear. Even if you did not mean to send it, you meant to write it, so why did you address it to me? Is it because you bear romantic affection for me? If you do have… intimate sort of feelings towards me, incarcerating me and torturing me is the wrong way to show it-"

"You proposed to me first!" She screamed, pacing back and forth. She'd wanted to quiet him, to stop him. She could also hear Alehma's screams in the next room and the chilling sounds of the whip slicing through flesh right before, "You're the one that arrived here like a thief in the night with no warning and robbed me!" She'd gotten her finger on his face, fuming in outrage.

"I did not. I haven't taken anything from you!" Rhaemon saw the men who had taken Cerenna's maid leave after locking the neighboring cell. "I replied to your invitation. Now, I apologize if I might have been a bit… aggressive, but-"

"You took me! You took my wedding from me! You never gave notice or proper courtship. I wasn't able to invite my family. You know how large my family is! You-Ah-!"

One of the ropes came undone and his hand quickly tightened around her neck hard enough that she could not scream or make any sound except for strangled hoarse gasps. He pulled her close, her back pressing against his chest. He lowered his mouth to her ear and gave her shivers, "Untie my other hand, wife."

He wouldn't let her move, and her arm wasn't long enough to reach his wrist. She sighed and shook her head between strangled sobs. How did things go south so fast? She hadn't had her wine yet.

"Do you have a knife on you or anything sharp? Any weapon?"

Cerenna shook her head, growing dizzy from his grip. When he released his other hand, with no help from her. His grip on her neck relaxed slightly and she dared take a breath when he pulled her in tighter, putting his newly free arm across her stomach, to rest at her hip.

"Not another sound out of that mouth, princess." He warned before pushing her forward, "Get down on the floor. Spread your legs."

"What?"

"I have to make sure you don't have a weapon on you." He lightly kicked her ankles apart under her skirt, and then inched his foot forward, gathering her skirt up to her thighs. She had a lot of layers under the red gown.

"I-I al-already told y-you-" She coughed out.

"Like I am going to trust the woman that put me in this hole, "Her legs shook and he laid down on top of her, "Don't scream." but he'd already covered her mouth with his hand. He knew she would scream. He ripped pieces of cloth from the underskirts of her gown and she screamed angrily into his palm.

"My apologies." He took the ripped piece and tied it tight around her mouth to keep her quiet, and took another to tie her wrists behind her back and her ankles together. She screamed, but he figured the guards would think it was the maid they tortured and not their precious lady, and the gag made her sounds less loud and less prone to echo through the halls.

He wasn't pleased, still harboring resentment for what she had put him through, and also tied her knees together, leaving her unable to move except for her pleasant squirming around and whining. He put his foot on the small of her back lightly to keep her still and eyed the table of goodies she had brought. She had tasted a bit of everything so he knew it wasn't poisoned.

Her muffled whines did not deter him from the feast. He enjoyed each piece and then arranged them in the way she had done when she had teased him. It was delicious indeed. Only when the gold plate was almost empty did he turn his attention back to Cerenna?

She had stopped her squirming and was now lying quietly with her cheek against the dusty floor. No doubt her entire gown was ruined now, "So, Cerenna Lannister," she startled and began squirming again when he grabbed her by the waist and lifted her back on the stool she had been eating at before. She avoided his gaze and tried to get comfortable, which was nearly impossible now that her hands were tied behind her back. Her back was pushed forward and her ass was at the very edge of the stool.

He gently took her chin and their eyes met "If you wanted to be courted so badly, all you had to do was say so," He popped a grape into his mouth and bit into it, enjoying the way she stilled under his gaze and her blush deepened with every breath, "These are times of war, I didn't have much time to do things the right way. Not that I have much experience with doing things right, but you have gone too far."

She had the gall to look appalled and scoff at his remark. She looked up at him, struggling in her position, but still managing to look pissed.

He raised his brow, "Have you ever been spanked, Lady Cerenna?" Her eyes went wide with panic and she shook her head wildly, her sounds becoming more frantic and uneasy, "I have a feeling you haven't been reprimanded or punished in a very long time and that is why you are so insufferable."

She screamed when he took her under her arms and sat on her stool. He placed her on his lap face down and she froze. "You can't ever tie me up, unless I agree to it, sweet cheeks,-" She gasped when he lifted her skirt to her thighs and fought against him. She'd rather fall to the floor and break her nose and teeth than be subjected to this humiliation, "Be still, woman. You swiftly send others to be tortured and can't handle a light spanking?"

Cerenna closed her eyes. Bracing herself, she heard someone approaching and Rhaemon cursed his bad fortune before rearranging her skirt back down her legs and she was moved to sit on his lap. "Stop. Moving." He whispered against her neck in a low growl. She stilled her squirming, noting something had moved underneath her. It rubbed against her ass and startled her, "Good girl." He told her while his hands stayed on the side of her thighs, "Now, tell them to go away and not fucking interrupt our honeymoon."

Cerenna was shivering, but it wasn't from the cold. She felt hot all over, and she felt like there wasn't enough air. It was him. The thief was also stealing her air. She didn't know if she had any sounds left in her to make a coherent order.

"I hear anything else from you, and it will be the shortest marriage in the seven kingdoms, do you understand me?"

She nodded and he quickly undid the knots at her ankles, knees, and around her mouth. She could tell he was desperate because the steps were getting closer. He didn't have weapons, but he could threaten to kill her with his bare hands, and her men would have no choice but to accept whatever shit he spewed.

When she didn't utter a single sound, he made her. His hand went up to her breast and she gasped but his hand didn't move past the fabric of her dress. It was a warning, "Alright. Don't say anything and they will bear witness to this..."

His mouth bit her neck and she screamed, "Do not interrupt our honeymoon!" He moaned and his lips closed on her neck and gently nibbled. "G-Go away, please…" Her skin shivered, and she closed her eyes, feeling his hands move down to her sides and gather her skirts up her trembling legs,-

"What kind of game is this, cousin? It seems quite fun. Ah-!" A curious little boy with bright golden hair looked through the door hole and fell just as quickly, the sounds of various materials clattering on the floor. The little boy cursed and accidentally kicked the cell door open. His short legs jumped back up and pudgy arms brushed his rather nice attire clean from the dusty floor.

"Is that…?" Rhaemon asked, still holding Cerenna's skirt to her waist.

"Tyrion!" She screamed excitedly, almost forgetting her predicament and smiling. She hadn't been able to see him more than once when he was born because of Aunt Joanna's passing, "You've gotten so big, cousin!"

The little boy's brows raised. He didn't remember her, but still knew enough to deduce she was family, "I had snuck away to bring you our family's best vintage as a wedding gift before the others arrived but, uhm…" He looked back at the mess behind him sheepishly, "Our finest has spilled."

Cerenna felt Rhaemon's hands untie her wrists quietly behind her, and sighed with relief, before she heard someone else appear from the shadows, "Indeed she has," a young girl with long blonde hair and dark pink finery stomped on the fallen wine and watched her older cousin's exposed bare legs. She watched the way she was sitting on the large Targagaryen's lap with his large deft hands at her waist and his mouth inches from her neck where a light bruise grew with intrigue and envy, "like a common whore."

Rhaemon watched her with contempt, "And this must be…"

"Cersei," Cerenna whispered, almost afraid to ask the reason for their unannounced visit.

Cersei took the pleasure of exposing her fears, as it was her nature, "My father, Tywin Lannister, is waiting for you in your parent's study," She eyed Rhaemon, "and I guess, you too. I suggest you don't keep him waiting."