Silver Stag

Death Of A King

[King's Landing - Red Keep, Balcony]

Margaery Tyrell sat at the table with her grandmother, Olenna Tyrell.

"So am I the queen?" Margaery asked.

"More than you were with Renly. Less than you would have been if Joffrey had done you the courtesy of consummating the marriage before dying. In any case, this would not be an opportune moment to press the issue."

"Clawing at his own throat, looking to his mother to make it stop... it was horrible."

"The world is overflowing with horrible things. But they're all a tray of cakes next to death. They brought me your grandfather's body when he died, you know? Made me look at it."

"What was it like?"

"They took me to the Great Hall and there he was. The man I'd married and suffered to father my children. A great doughy lump I'd sat next to at endless dinners and tedious gatherings. There he was... lying on a table."

"One of my husbands preferred the company of men and was stabbed through the heart. Another was happiest torturing animals and was poisoned at our wedding feast... I must be cursed."

"Nonsense. Your circumstances have improved markedly. You may not have enjoyed watching him die, but you enjoyed it more than you would have enjoyed being married to him, I can promise you that."

"But I would have been the queen."

"Our alliance with the Lannisters remains every bit as necessary to them as it is unpleasant for us. You did wonderful work on Joffrey. The next one should be easier."

What they failed to realize was one of the palace handmaidens, loyal to Aelinor had overheard them.

[Great Sept Of Baelor]

Joffrey's body was laid on a table in the center on the room, his eyes covered with stones that had green eyes painted on them. Cersei, Aelinor, Tommen and Tywin and stood around him.

Tywin turned to Tommen. "Your brother is dead. Do you know what that means?"

Tommen remained quiet.

Aelinor, looked at her grandfather shaking her head. She may not have liked Joffrey, but did her grandfather have to speak of Tommen becoming king while they stood in front of the recently deceased one?

"I'm not trying to trick you."

"It means I'll become king."

"Yes, you will become king. What kind of king do you think you'll be?"

"A good king?" Tommen sounded unsure.

He didn't expect to become King. That title he knew would go to his older brother.

"Mm, I think so as well. You've got the right temperament for it. But what makes a good king? Hmm? What is a good king's single most important quality?"

"This is hardly the place or the time." Cersei interjected.

"Holiness?" Tommen guessed.

"Hmm. Baelor the Blessed was holy. And pious. He built this sept. He also named a six-year-old boy high septon because he thought the boy could work miracles. He ended up fasting himself into an early grave because food was of this world and this world was sinful."

"Justice."

"Yeah. A good king must be just. Orys I was just. Everyone applauded his reforms. Nobles and commoners alike. But he wasn't just for long. He was murdered in his sleep after less than a year by his own brother. Was that truly just of him? To abandon his subjects to an evil that he was too gullible to recognize?"