Chapter 20

As each day passed by me, I found the tension that filled me slowly dissipating. As much as I attempted to keep up my vigilance, a person can only live in such an environment for so long.

After what Jaime told me, I decided to start snooping – being alike one of Varys' little birds.

Except I wasn't a slave.

Or had my tongue cut out to prevent me from spilling secrets.

Which was pretty fucked.

It was easy enough to confirm what Jaime was saying since servants still had to tend to Aerys and how said servants utterly love to gossip.

Rumors abounded throughout the keep, especially in places where the lowborns thought they were away from the eyes and ears of the highborn, thus free to speak their minds.

Of course, some were utterly outlandish but they all shared a single thread of truth.

Our king was not exactly well.

Hells, I probably didn't even need to drop eaves considering that nearly a fortnight had come and gone, yet not once had King Aerys shown his face to the court.

Our supposed king wasn't even ruling by decree from his chamber room or anything like that.

It was radio silence so I concluded one thing.

Mission failed successfully!

Sometimes life does just has a way of working out with my little act of spite seemingly removing Aerys from the board without me actually having to murder the man.

Conscience clean!

Bloodraven thwarted! The man must be seething in his tree.

Ha!

Who says plotting is hard?

See ya canon! Wouldn't wanna be yeh!

My good mood was additionally buoyed by another interesting fact that I discovered while watching Tywin as the Hand holding court in the absence of our king.

The non-existence of Varys.

As in I didn't realize I whiffed the timeline and that Varys was not yet the appointed spymaster for Aerys. Instead, it was some dull-eyed-looking dude who after I asked around, was informed his name was Lord Brune and the current master-of-whisperers.

I figured it made sense since House Brune lay in Crackclaw Point, an area that had long been close to House Targaryen even before Aegon began his conquest.

I honestly found myself caught flatfooted when one of the main antagonists that I had been long mentally preparing myself to clash against just wasn't a thing.

It also explained why the dark and hidden passages I frequented were utterly devoid of all presence that wasn't stirred up by me and my gang. I'd always kept an eye and ear out for anything else in them, even putting down little presence traps here and there such as sand piles behind doors that always found themselves undisturbed the next time I came upon them.

Turns out, I had incorrectly assumed that maybe Varys himself was still learning the ins and outs of the castle and had yet to have Illyrio import any so-called little birds until he was ready for them. There was no trace of Varys because there was no Varys.

Still, this didn't mean he was permanently gone, merely denoting that he was still on the other side of the Narrow Sea.

Would he eventually make his way here?

…

Would he have any reason to?

Shoot.

Damn, I wish I had access to Google. Or actually finished the dang books.

What's the play here? Varys' desire was to sit the false Aegon upon the Iron Throne. Yet, that was far-flung into the future, and that Aegon did not exist. Right now, if the theory held true, Serra Blackfyre was in some Lysene pillow-house where eventually Illyrio would stumble upon and marry here in time whereupon the man would sire FAegon upon her.

Yet that was all theory.

Then again, canon had no benders so who the heck knows what'll happen?

Fuck it.

I'll deal with it like I always do with stuff I don't wanna think about.

Procrastination!

Once again, this problem sure sounds like it's future Cersei's problem!

It's not like there's anything I could conceivably do now regardless so I'll savor my victory and just hope it doesn't turn to ash in my mouth.

As a side effect with the King as is, I kinda found the Red Keep kinda boring. By this point, I had already mapped most of it, both the accessible and the not-so-accessible parts of it.

I was bored. There were no feasts or jousts. No plays or dancers or any kind of entertainment going on.

The capital was meant to always be bustling and festive and while I knew fully well that it would be gauche to host any such things in the King's castle without the king, that didn't change the fact I was bored.

Mama Jo also denied my request to visit the city proper so that left me with little to do.

I hated this feeling.

Every day that passed was a day that could have been spent furthering my abilities. Jaime could freely enter the training yard but Lanna and I were crippled.

My bending training was reduced to control exercises since those could be performed safely in my room.

I wanted to throw a fireball at something.

Well, at least I found myself getting better at throwing metal around, trying to mimic even a semblance of Kuvira's fighting style.

It was one I don't believe Korra ever learned so I was once again on my own for it. While I knew I didn't need to follow Kuvira's style in true since there were many more options available to me as the Avatar, it didn't change the fact that shooting metal bands around the battlefield was quite literally, metal as fuck, and I wanted to be cool.

But of course I needed my own spin on it.

Shooting steel bands around to wrap people up like Kuvira did is efficient and effective, and a testament to Kuvira's abilities because manipulating fine steel like she did, that shit is hard since steel was a more refined metal compared to iron.

Yet you know what's more important than efficiency and effectiveness?

PRESENTATION!

So my bands would be of gold!

Gotta style on my foes yuh know?

I'll fucking throw around the GDP of entire villages and small holdfasts as a statement of power and wealth.

Okay, and it was easier to control. Gold is a pretty raw and unrefined metal so the softness of it actually makes it easier for me to manipulate.

The problem I was rapidly running into was that while the softness was beneficial in manipulating it, it also meant the metal itself wasn't very durable. Even without any kind of bending, a person can bend a chunk of gold easily enough with just their raw strength. Not to mention that the repeated bending of them slowly weakened the integrity of them, necessitating me having to heat them back up with firebending to soften and repair them.

In time, I'll probably have to carry a few steel bands but that's another thing added into the for the future pile.

For now, I'll just be dripped out in gold bands on both of my upper arms and two others hidden away under under dress wrapped around my leg.

My goal one day was to be able to kick forward, manipulate the band to unclapse itself from my body, fly forward, and time the moment by bending so that the band would wrap itself around my target.

So far my success rate was definitely above zero percent which was the best way I could frame it.

IT WAS HARD!

I remember the show where Kuvira was shooting bands left and right, making it look easy! Taking out an entire group of bandits in the span of like twenty seconds.

Damn, that girl had fucking style.

It was kinda frustrating, so many things I wanted to do and pulled in so many directions but forced to stay in place, motionless. Static.

I got up.

Where's Mama Jo? I was a child so I had every right to be petulant. It might not be me being dragged to a mall but I wanted to whine and go home regardless.

Joanna found herself in a moment of peace. Tywin was off performing his duties as Hand of the King while she had just finished speaking with the captain of her guard.

Plans had been made and preparations were underway for their soon-to-be departure from King's Landing.

It was a shame as she hoped to stay with Rhaella until her old friend had given birth, but Tywin had insisted on a hasty return to the Westerlands when she had informed him she was with child citing the safety of the burgeoning child within her stomach.

He worried too much but she acquiesced to his demand nonetheless. While she deeply enjoyed the affection and presence of Tywin, she would not miss King's Landing. The mood was stifling at times even during her days in service to Rhaella, but even now, she would be gladdened to be rid of this place.

It was only made bearable with Aerys as he was now.

The thought of his current state brought a grim smile to her lips.

Her husband had decided to keep him as is. Locked away in all but name and kept compliant with milk of the poppy.

Now, her husband ruled in the King's name and by decree with his position of Hand of the King.

He had also confided in her that with Aerys still alive, it would only increase the chances of their daughter claiming the title of Queen.

With Aerys still alive, the potential for more princes and princesses was yet possible but if he passed, it meant that Rhaegar would be the sole Targaryen of the male line depending on the gender of the babe within Rhaella's belly.

The pressure for the prince to marry quickly and sire more heirs to continue the lineage would be immense. With Cersei a decade away from majority and maturity, Tywin thought it prudent to stall the decision as long as he could.

The door to the drawing room creaked open and Joanna turned her attention from her embroidery to whomever entered.

Hair, long and golden, atop a pretty head immediately told her it was her firstborn child.

Her daughter had an uncharacteristically serious look to her visage to which Joanna couldn't help but lift a brow up.

"Hi Mama," Her daughter greeted.

"Cersei, what is the matter child?" She returned.

Her daughter drew in a breath and marched forward as if a soldier to war. "I wanna go home." Her tone was a cross of a demand and a whine.

Joanna smiled. She could long tell her daughter had grown utterly restless with her explorations of the Red Keep having sated her curiosity only temporarily and now leaving her with only boredom.

"Oh? Have you tired of the splendor of our capital?"

"I'm bored!" Cersei exclaimed. "There's nothing to do! Maybe if there were feasts and balls, tourneys and jousts or something! But nothing's going on!"

It seemed her daughter had been restraining herself for some time.

"I wanna go home!" Her daughter even stomped her little feet on the ground. "I wanna see Auntie Genna and Uncle Gerion might be back too! He promised me lots of gifts when he returned from his voyage."

Joanna laughed. "Your Uncle Gerion has not yet returned but worry not your little heart, we'll be departing soon, sometime in the next fortnight most likely." She soothed.

"Wait, really?" Her daughter perked up at her words and a wide smile crossed her face.

"Yes," Joanna confirmed. "Your father thought it best to return before winter truly sets in."

Her daughter cheered and Joanna couldn't help but feel her own spirits lift at seeing her child's joy.

"Perhaps another bit of good news. You're going to be an older sister."

Joanna was expecting awe or happiness or perhaps even questions at the news from Cersei.

What she did not expect was for her daughter to reel back from those words as if she had been physically struck.

Her daughter composed herself quickly and responded with a fake smile but Joanna wasn't blind.

"Is everything alright Cersei?" She asked, a hint of worry in her own heart.

"Yes," she very clearly lied. "I was just surprised is all. I can't wait to be a big sister! I'm going to go and tell Jaime right now!"

Her child didn't let herself get even a word in before her daughter ungracefully fled from the room.

What was that?

The news was meant to be joyous, yet her expression was a stricken one.