𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕔𝕦𝕓𝕤 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕥𝕙 𝕥𝕠𝕠 ; (ℂ𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕚 𝕩 𝕆ℂ🐺🦁)

𝟛 - 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕃𝕚𝕠𝕟'𝕤 𝕕𝕖𝕟

𝕀𝕥 was the day of our departure to King's Landing. A servant I did not know, evidently one of the queen's, came running up to me just as I was about to mount my horse. "My Lady! My Lady! Stop", she panted. "Stop, don't- mount-" "Catch your breath, dear. Does the queen always hurry you like this? What is it?" "The queen has requested you to accompany her in the wheelhouse." Not requested, I thought, demanded. "Alright, alright, of course. That's what she made you run all the way here for?", I asked, raising an eyebrow. "She made it sound very urgent", the servant replied quietly. Of course she would. She had said as much that night in her chambers, I would be strictly surveilled from now on. I gave my horse's reins to the stableboy and followed the servant, making a point of walking slowly to show Cersei what I thought of her excessive paranoia. It had the desired effect. "It wouldn't kill you to walk faster than a snail, you know", she greeted me when I stopped before the wooden build. "Good morrow to you too, Your Grace", I replied sweetly while climbing inside and taking a seat across from her. She looked back at me unfaltering. "Are you sure you want to sit on that side?", she asked as she rapped on the door twice for the coachman to depart. The carriage jerked to a start, and I was flung off my seat, falling right onto Cersei. I looked up at her in a death stare, but said nothing as I gathered myself off the floor and her lap and sat beside her, keeping a good distance. Neither of us talked. After a bit, Cersei broke the silence. "So, do you think you will like it in King's Landing?" I didn't answer. "I asked you a question." Still, I said nothing, fearing that if I opened my mouth, a whole lot of words best not addressed to a royal would come pouring out. Neither did I dare to look at her, apprehending the opposite: that I would forget my caution as I always did when I beheld her face. How had I let her gain such control over me? It hadn't been a conscious decision on either of our parts, I felt like. Cersei suddenly grabbed my wrist. "Sulk all you want when you're alone if you enjoy it so much, but right now the queen is talking to you and I expect you to at least have the decency to reply when spoken to." The edge in her voice told me that this was no time for powerplay, so I finally answered her question, though still not turning my head. "I hope so. Although I hardly know a thing about the place, really." She didn't let go of my wrist, but her grip loosened, her hand just resting on my skin. "Do you want to?", she asked, sounding neither excited nor reluctant to tell me, more disinterested. "I guess", I replied in the same tone. She cleared her throat, her hand still unmoving. "It's much warmer down south. You won't be needing all of these-" Her other hand twisted a strand of the fur on my cloak. "- and I think you'll want new dresses, too, your Northern ones are too thick. I'll see to it. The city smells like shit and rot, to be honest, but you don't notice any of that in the Red Keep, it's high enough up to be out of reach of the scent. The food-" Was she rambling? Gods, she really was desperate to make conversation. It was too awkward for me to let her go on. "Do you have pomegranates in the capital?", I picked up on the subject she had opened. I loved pomegranates, those would be at least one good thing out of this shithole of a city. "We do", Cersei said, seeming relieved I was finally engaging in the conversation. I nodded, continuously staring at the closed shutters. I couldn't look at her, not when I was just barely able to talk to her without wanting to hit her for once- I stopped myself at the thought: no, I didn't mean that. I didn't want to hit her. Robert was hitting her, I knew. I had seen the bruises through the lace of her dress, some old and faded, some new and purple against her ivory skin. It had bothered me to see that, even though I didn't care about her. Yes, she was horrible, but that was no justification for how he was treating her. Again, my own thoughts gave me pause to consider. All those things I had heard about her had painted a picture of a nightmarish villain in my head, a remorseless monster whose sadism knew no limits, but what had she actually done so far that was so bad? What harm had she ever done me? I had been angered by the way she spoke to me multiple times, but she was the queen after all, she didn't owe anyone courtesy, and even my own brothers and sisters got me worked up sometimes. Had I just been convinced to see the beast I had expected, even though it didn't exist?