Thank you for the reviews on the last chapter Princess Rosalind of Underland, jacobssibling, shalomdebbie, and RhaenaTargaryen
To those of you who read this back when it was on ao3, I added some dialogue in here in this chapter.
I tend not to feel too bad for Cersei but I kind of feel bad for her here, considering she's going to have to do a lot of things now that she's not accustomed to considering her former station. Yes, Cersei, former. Tywin definitely did her and Jaime (and Tyrion) a disservice by not having them taught how to cook. They're wasting too much money buying food at inns when they could go out and buy their own fruit and other supplies. A wig's a good idea, especially considering that there must be some refugees that would remember what Cersei looks like. Maybe not Jaime, but at least Cersei. It's sad that the two of them still believe the other is going to abandon them but Cersei refusing to talk about Euron is only going to to make matters worse.
Yay! I'm so glad I made you feel at least a little bad for her. I think for now it's kinda understandable they haven't bothered with cooking yet. It might seem like more, but they've only been in Pentos a day so far. This chapter end is their 2nd night sleeping in Pentos. As for the wig there will definitely be a chapter soon involving them changing their looks.
This is such a good chapter. I love it. I mean, first the roach, and then the whole when did you fuck first Euron, when did you first fuck Brienne exchange... I was dying. I especially love how she was all about how she didn't need a man to kill a bug for her and it was bad enough that she shrieked over it, but then it's like, oh well, she can't cook, better learn. These two are so out of their element. And the plot is nicely tense-who's the baby daddy, will the be recognized, and is Cersei going to have to eat every three hours for the rest of the fic, lol... it's been so long since I first started this story, but I remember why I really liked it so much. It's funny, hopeful, suspenseful, and entertaining.
Thank you so much! I'm glad you like it so much. This fic is my baby out of all my fics, the one I'm most proud of, favorite child if you will lol. And this chapter is gonna have another short exchange about the cooking issue. It didn't before but I added some dialogue.
Always happy to see an update for this story!
Thank you! :) I'm always happy to see your reviews! I get so excited to see what you have to say. I'll reply to your review in parts, is easier that way since it's long and I get scatterbrained easily.
"And a maid that will bring us fruits" so she doesn't have to peel them herself again hahah
Lol I think she probably hopes that but I don't think these maids would do that. Maybe if she tipped.
"They turned on the street and walked for a bit, the silence in the air tense and uncomfortable, the mood vastly different from earlier." You're making me sad! They were doing so well! Before the appointment with the healer...
Sorry! I love angst between them! Though it's not as easy for me to write as fluff or humor. It just all seems so much sweeter when they're super angry and then make up. There still will be sweet moments though too even before they resolve things! And next chapter after this one is gonna be very explosive but maybe not completely in a bad way!
Honestly the name "Pentos best inn" sounds like a scam haha. I'm sure many inns in the city would claim they're the best.
lol true. I wanted to kinda give it an ironic name.
"She opened the large red door as excited as the Hound chomping down on a piece of chicken." This line is perfection haha
I like that you described the inn in detail, it helps me visualise where they are
Thank you! I always have trouble describing things. I think I first wrote that scene years ago and I was only able to describe it by finding some video of a medieval inn (in some video game) and writing what I saw there.
"She started to feel the sensation of something foreign under her dress and shrieked." Oh no that's worse than ants, get out of this horrible place! I don't like bugs can you tell :/ Also I'm impressed that Jaime remembered to use her fake name in this situation.
She crushed it with her bare hands?! Disgusting!
I hate bugs too. When I see one if there's somebody else around I always ask them to kill it for me lol. Yeah, Jaime's getting better at remembering her fake name I guess. Maybe I should have had him slip up tho lol. I know gross, but I picture Cersei just being so eager to show her proof of the inn's filth, and just assuming she will quickly be given some water to wash it away.
"Vermin? You brought vermin here? I'm going to have to ask you to leave. The innkeeper said." Based on the ants and the fact she only felt it when she was inside the inn, I'm gonna say it's probably from here and they didn't bring it with them.
Definitely! Haha though I did originally toy with idea of them being the ones to bring bugs somewhere from being so filthy.
"We don't wish to stay in this vermin-infested hellhole anyway!" Yes good for them, they should leave this gross inn!
"That's no way to treat a lady. Jaime said to the innkeeper before hurrying after her." I find it rather sweet he still felt the need to defend her against this stupid innkeeper even though they're fighting :)
I thought the chapter needed at least some sweetness! :)
"I am not some helpless woman who waits for a man to kill a stupid little bug! It was bad enough I shrieked." Good for her, I would've cried. You know that Bo burnham song where he goes 'everyone's a feminist until there is a spider around'? Well that's me! But not Cersei cause she's a girlboss. Again, good for her.
I probably would have cried too. I once had a really terrible day, well week really, and the terrible icing on the rotton cake was renting a motel, only to find it had a bunch of stuff wrong with it.
"And I doubt word of my... my unfortunate injury has even reached Essos." I don't know.. from what we saw in the show with Arya in Bravos they do seem to be somewhat interested in Westerosi politics and such here in Essos. The Kingslayer losing a hand might be big enough news to make it to Essos, never thought of it before.
That could be true. Probably is. Though I think there probably are a lot more one handed men in this time period than ours so maybe it's not quite such a giveaway. Though have no idea if asoiaf world is like our or not where they used to chop off your hand for stealing.
I kinda forgot about his ankle hahah but he's right they shouldn't travel too much while he's injured. The healer mentioned he needed to rest, right?
Oh she's gonna buy a wig? That's interesting, hadn't thought of that possibility. Thought maybe she'd dye her own hair or something but a wig is a great idea actually, if she finds a good one.
I actually can't recall what I wrote for this lol but I think there are both wigs and hair dye in this.
"A girl of your station need not cook, there are servants for such things." That sounds about right. Tywin would be like that. But it's unfortunate that neither of them knows how to cook or anything.
Yeah, there will eventually be a vary humorous chapter though where they attempt to learn.
"When did you first fuck Euron? He interrupted." "When did you first fuck Brienne? She countered." Painnn
Sorry lol.
So sadd, they should hold hands again! It was so cute! I hope things are gonna get a bit better for them soon but I doubt it. Suppose we might have to wait for the baby(s?) to be born before finding out who the father is and how far along she is here.
I don't know if it will be that long, but it will be several chapters more till they really start to talk things through.
The chapter might not move the plot along much but I'd say it's still important to have chapters like this to make it a well rounded story. I really enjoyed it :)
Thank you! Hope you'll like this chapter too, it also doesn't move things along much.
Cersei let out a sigh of relief as they entered the familiar inn from the previous night. Its bare wood floors and lack of decoration on the walls were a welcome sight after their earlier experience.
Once they made their way to the innkeeper Jaime inquired as to whether there was any discount for paying for multiple nights. It turned out that unless they stayed for a whole seven nights, there was no discount. Despite her tolerance for this inn, she did not want to spend a whole week in Pentos, so she interrupted, telling the innkeeper to book them for two nights. While Jaime tried to reason with her as the innkeeper observed in amusement, she proceeded to ask for the largest room available.
Once Jaime secured the lock on their door, they spent a few moments in silence, taking in their new surroundings while getting ready for bed. Cersei couldn't help but feel disappointed in Jaime, for his lack of faith in Qyburn's abilities, and their lackluster surroundings did nothing to improve her mood. Was this truly the best the inn had to offer? The room didn't appear to be much bigger than the one they had stayed in last night. It had cost only a few coppers more, so she supposed she shouldn't complain, but she had hoped for better. Letting out a sigh, she pulled back the covers and examined the sheets. That was certainly something she'd never had to do when she was Queen, nor when she lived at Casterly Rock. Luckily she didn't spot any obvious signs of bodily fluids, but who knew if these sheets were even cleaned after each guest. Perhaps she should order Jaime to find some help and acquire new sheets.
It was just then, that Jaime sat down on the bed. He looked up at her, snapping her out of her thoughts, and she could sense the intensity in his gaze. "I don't want to argue, just give me an answer," he demanded.
Pushing her concern over the sheets to the back of her mind, she walked to the other side of the bed and laid down. She pretended not to understand. "An answer to what? Do I want to sleep now? Well, yes, I certainly would. Being pregnant, I—"
"You know damn well what I mean!" He interrupted, his brow furrowing.
"I'm tired."
"As am I. But it's only early evening. We have plenty of time to sleep and not wake up as late as we did last time. It wouldn't even matter if we did since we've paid for both tonight and tomorrow."
"Well, there's nothing to discuss. The maester, or healer as they call him, was wrong."
"Then we'll see another one tomorrow," he responded.
"Perhaps," she replied dismissively. Thankfully, Jaime seemed to drop the topic. She moved to undress, then realized she had forgotten to buy anything suitable to sleep in. It seemed she would have to sleep in her new dress, her only dress, unless she counted the raggedy, stinking dress she had traveled across the sea in. She cursed herself for not buying more. Tomorrow they would buy everything they needed so that they could put Pentos behind them the day after that.
She had also neglected to purchase a comb or brush. If her hair hadn't been so short, she wondered whether it would be tangled. She was certainly not accustomed to these trivial responsibilities; it was all so overwhelming. She wondered if Jaime shared similar concerns, but at this moment, he felt distant, despite being only a few feet away. She could make out his faint figure in the moonlight that filtered through the window. He remained seated on the bed's edge, lost in deep thought, appearing far from content. She knew he was thinking about her, and from his words a few moments prior, she knew it likely wasn't good thoughts.
He caught her gaze and pulled back the covers, preparing to lie down. "We'll leave first thing tomorrow to visit the healers."
"No. We should disguise ourselves first. We need to come up with something to hide this," she said, reaching over and placing her hand upon his stump.
He sat back up and yanked his arm back as though he'd been burned. "And how do you propose we do that? We can hardly afford to commission another golden hand!"
"Tyrion should have found another way to pay," she said. "That hand was ours...yours," she corrected.
"To be honest, I'm somewhat relieved," he confessed, standing over her.
"Relieved? Why in the seven hells would you feel relieved?" She asked, taken aback.
A moment passed in silence, and Cersei thought he was just going to ignore her question when he let out a heavy sigh and pulled back the covers once again. He laid down and turned to face her. "I just always found it uncomfortable."
"Uncomfortable! I had it specially crafted and designed for you!" How could he not have liked it?
"For me? Or for you?" He questioned.
"What are you implying?" She asked, unable to hide the annoyance in her voice.
He let out a sigh, seemingly uninterested in another argument. "Nothing. It's just that, whether specially designed or not, the fact remains that the hand was quite uncomfortable."
"You never mentioned it," she said.
"You never asked, and I didn't think you cared about my comfort. It seemed you only wanted to replace it with something fancy," he countered.
"That's not true!" She protested, leaving the bed in frustration.
"Wasn't it obvious that I wore it for your sake? How could you think that attaching such a heavy object to me would be comfortable?"
She paced back and forth in a hurried fashion. "I want you to know that I did care about your comfort. I could have made the hand solid gold. That was my initial plan, until Qyburn persuaded me that, given your strength, while you could handle its weight, it would still be very uncomfortable for you."
"Did you even try on the hand?" he inquired, sounding genuinely curious, before adding, "Even though it was only gold-plated, it was still rather uncomfortable."
She stopped her pacing and glared down at him. "I actually did try it. It was a bit heavy, but I assumed that being a man and much stronger than me, you could manage it just fine."
"I could handle it. I just didn't like to. I'm glad to know that at least you considered my comfort more than I thought."
"Well, I suppose you might also be pleased to learn that we can't afford such a hand anymore," she remarked bitterly, taking a seat on the bed.
He smirked. "It's one positive outcome of no longer having boundless riches."
"I'm glad you find our situation so amusing. You won't be when you're having to cook all of our meals," she retorted, glaring at him.
"You have two hands," he pointed out.
"And you don't. But what does that have to do with cooking? Surely, whatever they mix or put in the oven can't require two hands," she said, beginning to fluff her far too small pillow in frustration.
"Nothing. Just pointing out you can cook too. Unless it's too difficult for you to learn."
"Difficult? For me? I seem to recall you being the one who needed our father to give you extra lessons because you couldn't figure out your letters," she spat back as she begrudgingly got into the bed next to him.
"Really then? Well, how do you make the eggs you so often ate for breakfast?"
"Obviously by frying them, hence the name fried eggs," she said, sighing, as she bit back a remark about how stupid the question was.
"Fair enough. Here's a more difficult one. How do you tell when a pie is done baking?"
"By when it starts to smell good. Now can we drop this insignificant matter and get back to discussing what really matters?" She asked, pulling the covers up over herself.
"And what is that?" He asked with a hint of annoyance, turning on his side to face her.
"That," she said, pointing to his stump. "Perhaps we could buy a mitten and some wood wool to conceal it."
He chuckled at the idea. "A glove and wood wool? Am I supposed to be a children's stuffed toy?"
"Do you have a better suggestion?" She asked.
"I do. My suggestion is leaving it as it is."
"Do you want—"
"Nobody will suspect that I'm Jaime fucking Lannister. Even in the unlikely event that someone knows about my hand, most still believe we're dead."
"Anyone who is from Essos, perhaps. But you said yourself there are refugees from King's Landing coming here. So we'll buy a glove or gloves and some padding to hide it before we go anywhere."
"Fine. Although I don't see the necessity, I suppose there's a slim chance someone from Westeros might piece things together."
"Do you think Daenerys knows or suspects that we're alive?" She asked after another moment of silence.
"No more than she did the last time you asked. Tyrion is clever. He probably found some badly burned bodies to claim as ours. I doubt she has any clue. And after what she did, Tyrion or Jon will likely ensure she doesn't survive, let alone rule."
"Well, I hope she dies in agony," she said bitterly.
"I share that sentiment," Jaime agreed.
Jaime got up to relieve himself. Cersei had gone earlier, while he secured the door. That was another new experience for her. They had always avoided such acts in each other's presence. She had a chamber pot in her quarters, but it was kept in the adjoining room where she had her bath. Why didn't this inn provide similar arrangements? The innkeeper had claimed it to be the inn's best room, but though it had everything they needed, the lack of privacy was bothersome. She was at least relieved that the inn's staff handled emptying such facilities.
At least they now had a larger bed, spacious enough for both of them and more. However, as Jaime returned from his trip to the chamber pot and lay down on the opposite side, not touching her at all, she almost regretted insisting on this room. She quickly reminded herself that the previous night, Jaime had chosen to sleep on the floor rather than beside her, claiming concern that she would not have enough space. So she might as well appreciate the larger bed. It was surprising, and slightly disappointing, that it was even bigger than the one she had in King's Landing. She had never favored overly large beds, and a medium-sized bed had suited her well—neither too big nor too small.
After her marriage to Robert, the chambers he had provided her had a brand-new bed, a wedding gift from her father. It was a medium-sized bed, perfect for her. Of course, she could have asked for a larger one later. Robert likely wouldn't have refused; he possessed many flaws, but being stingy or lacking in extravagance wasn't among them. However, she chose not to make the request. She never enjoyed sleeping alone, and in truth, a larger bed would only have made her feel more isolated. But now, with Jaime's back turned to her and him sleeping as far away as possible, she might as well have been alone.
As the soft sound of Jaime's breathing filled the room, she found herself consumed by thoughts and worries about the life within her. Qyburn wouldn't make such a mistake. She must be six months along in her pregnancy. It had to be that way. But anxiety crept in. What if Qyburn had been wrong? She must be around six months pregnant. She had been with Jaime only two days before he left for the North. If she had conceived on that day or before, then only Jaime could be the father. When had she first lain with Euron? Jaime had departed on a Monday, and Euron had found his way into her bed on the first Saturday after Jaime's departure. Five days. So if she had conceived during that week, then, as the healer had suggested, she would be four months pregnant, not six. It was possible that either of them could be the father. She prayed to the gods that the healer had erred. They had to have.
And so concludes their first day in Pentos! Sorry for the slow pacing!