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

𝟚𝟝 - 𝔸 𝕕𝕚𝕤𝕙 𝕓𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕤𝕖𝕣𝕧𝕖𝕕 𝕔𝕠𝕝𝕕

𝕋𝕙𝕖 door of the cell fell closed behind us as, for the second time now, I found myself standing in the gloomy dungeons beneath the Red Keep as Cersei's torture accomplice. Ellaria Sand and her daughter Tyene were shackled to the walls opposite each other, their chains allowing them some freedom but keeping them just out of reach of one another. While Tyene did nothing to hide her fear, Ellaria stared at Cersei defiantly. "I want you to know I understand", the latter said to her, pacing around the cell. "Even though we're enemies, you and I, I understand the fury that drives you." She looked at the Dornish woman intently. "I was there that day when Ser Gregor crushed your lover's head." There were tears welling up in Ellaria's eyes, but she would not give Cersei the satisfaction of looking away. A mistake, I knew - her defiance did nothing to vex Cersei, at most, it would only encourage her to make her punishment more cruel, to watch that sweet resistance crumble away brick by brick and prove to yet another enemy that they could not stand against her. "I close my eyes-" - Cersei demonstrated - "-I can hear the sound of Oberyn's skull breaking. The sound of your scream. I've never heard a sound like that, I thought: that's true love." A part of me could not help but feel uncomfortable at this - after all, it was my own lover speaking these words, and the idea of her relishing the death of such love did not sit right with me. But I pushed the thought down; this was a justified revenge, and I wanted it to be as torturous as possible for her. My discomfort only proved that it was a brilliant punishment. This was the woman who had murdered my love's daughter in cold blood, the daughter she had fostered among her own for years, who had done nothing at all to her, or anyone. She deserved all the pain we had to offer. Ellaria tugged on her chains, breathing heavily, as Cersei continued. "Oberyn looked beautiful that day, he really did. No one moved like him, no one had such skill with a spear. Even Ser Gregor couldn't stop him." She looked over at the Mountain with a sneer, standing vigilantly by the wall between the prisoners. "If only he hadn't taunted him... he could've walked away and left poor Ser Gregor to die. But that wasn't your lover's way, was it? And now he's buried somewhere, and here's Ser Gregor, stronger than ever. That must be difficult for you." Ellaria was writhing as if trying to shut out Cersei's voice, though still not taking her eyes off her. The smirk disappeared from Cersei's face now, leaving only stone cold resentment. "When my daughter was taken from me, my only daughter, well, you can't imagine how that feels unless you lost a child." She could not keep the emotion from her voice, but it only made her that much more fearsome - a grieving mother's burning hatred. "I fed her at my own breast, even though they told me to give her to the wet nurse. I couldn't bear to see her in another woman's arms. I never got to have a mother, but Myrcella did. She was mine, and you took her from me", she spat, her voice breaking with building tears, "why did you do that?" Ellaria made no move to reply, and Cersei lowered her voice again, staring at the ground and trying to get her emotions under control. "Doesn't matter now." 

She turned to Tyene, smiling again with full composure. "Your daughter is a beauty, too. Those brown eyes, those lips - perfect Dornish beauty." Don't make me jealous now, I thought wryly, watching Cersei's plan unfold with a smirk of my own. "I imagine she's your favorite. I know, I know, we're not supposed to have favorites, but still, we're only human. We love whom we love." I didn't know if Ellaria noticed the soft glance Cersei directed at me accompanying those words, but in any case it felt good to not have to worry about people seeing anymore. Not because she was a prisoner, after all, Qyburn and the Mountain were here too, but simply because we had nothing to hide anymore. No one could touch us. They could whisper, they could make their jokes and call me a whore, but ultimately, we were free to do as we pleased. Ellaria started whimpering and mumbling around the rag in her mouth. "I'm sorry, I can't understand you", Cersei said with feigned pity, "the gag makes it impossible to understand what you're saying. It must be frustrating." She stared at her, serious once more. "We all make our choices. You chose to murder my daughter. You must have felt powerful after you made that choice." Ellaria lunged for her, but Cersei kept advancing without a flinch. "Do you feel powerful now?", she asked. They faced each other for a few more seconds, rubbing in the helplessness of Ellaria's position, before Cersei started pacing again. "I don't sleep very well. Not at all, really." I knew this wasn't true, she slept very well when she spent the night with me, but it served the dramatic purpose nicely. "I lie in bed and I stare at the canopy and imagine ways of killing my enemies. How to destroy Ellaria Sand, the woman who murdered my only daughter? I thought about having Ser Gregor crush your skull the way he did Oberyn's - would be poetic, I suppose, but fast, too fast. I thought about having him crush your daughter's skull." She grabbed Tyene's jaw. "She's so beautiful, the thought of this lovely face cracking open like a duck egg, no, it's just not right."