A Gentle Breeze | Jon Snow | Game of Thrones

Chapter Six

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Zephyr Baratheon had finally arrived at King's Landing and she wasted no time on unpacking her things in her room. Sure, her Lady's Maids could have done it for her, but she needed to distract herself before she lost all sense of her nerves and decided to pull Joffery's hair like Arya did Sansa's.

He would not stop complaining over how much his arm hurt, how ugly the scar is and complain even more over the pain.

Over the trip she did spend some more quality time with Sansa and Arya though and she quickly grew fond over the girls. She knew Sansa already felt miserable and helpless and she wasn't even wed to Joffery yet, but she assured the Stark girl, that she'd help to make her time in King's Landing somewhat easier. 

With Arya, she gave the girl some lessons on the basics of sword fighting. Each time they'd set up camp to rest, Arya would get the hang of it more and more, but not quite yet. 

And now, there she was. Home. Joffery was in his chambers with their mother so that she could take care of his scars and she supposed she should check up on him. He was her brother after all, no matter how unbearable the boy could be.

She was just outside of Cersei's doors when she heard them talking.

"It's Ugly." Joffery told his mother, looking down at the scar.

"A King should have scars." Cersei encouraged. "You fought off a direwolf. You're a warrior, just like your father."

"I'm not like him. I didn't fight off anything. It bit me and all I did was scream. And the two Stark girls saw it, both of them." Joff explained. He could be honest, just not when his ego was freshly bruised.

"That's not true. You killed the beast." Cersei said. "You only spared the girl because of the love your father bears her father."

"I didn't, I..-" Joffery started but was cut off, "When Aerys Targaryen sat on the iron throne, your father was a rebel and a traitor. Someday, you'll sit on the throne and the truth will be what you make it."

After a moment of silence Joffery glanced at Cersei, "Do I have to marry her?"

"Yes. She's very beautiful and young. If you don't like her, you only have to see her on formal occasions and when the time comes to make little princes and princesses." Cersei told him in a sweet tone, "And if you'd rather fuck painted whores, you'll fuck painted whores. And if you'd rather lie with noble virgins, so be it. You are my darling boy and the world will be exactly as you want it to be."

"What if Zeph were to rule instead of me?" Joffery questioned, "She's more fit for it and has the logical sense to do so.."

"Zephyr.. She's a curious one, and her curiosity will get her killed one day. The most she will be is your hand when you're king. She's already doing that job for both Ned Stark and your father, so really that wont change." Cersei sighed. "Do something nice for the Stark girl."

I don't want to." Joffery immediately said.

"No, but you will." Cersei told him. "The occasional kindness will spare you some trouble down the road."

"We allow the northerners too much power. They consider themselves as our equals." Joffery began as he stood up and paced a little before turning back to face his mother.

"How would you handle them?" Cersei questioned.

"I'd double their taxes and command them to supply 10,000 men to the royal army." He answered.

"A royal army?" The queen asked.

"Why should every Lord command his own men? It's primitive, no better than the Hill Tribes. We should have a standing army of men loyal to the Crown, trained by experienced soldiers, instead of a mob of peasants who've never held pikes in their lives." Joffery went on and on, not realizing how stupid it would be.