Silver Stag

Announcements

[King's Landing - Red Keep, Throne Room]

A crowd of nobles fills the throne room.

Cersei entered, followed by Qyburn and Gregor. The crowd stared at them and parted to let them pass as they approached the throne.

Tommen, Kevan, and Maestar Pycelle stood atop the steps to the throne.

Kevan walked down the steps to confront his niece.

"There's to be a royal announcement?" Cersei asked.

"There is."

"Why wasn't I informed?"

"There is to be a royal announcement in the throne room at this very moment."

Cersei started up the steps but Kevan blocked her with his arm.

"Where are you going?"

"To stand by my son."

"Your place is in the gallery with the other ladies of the court."

Cersei stared at Tommen who looked away and Maestar Pycelle whispered to him.

She, Qyburn, and Gregor moved to one of the nearby balconies.

Tommen sat on the Iron Throne and addressed the crowd. "Lords and ladies, the Faith and the Crown are the two pillars that hold up this world. One collapses, so does the other. The Father judges us all. If you break his laws...you will be punished. After conferring with His Holiness the High Septon, we have determined that Loras Tyrell and Cersei Lannister's trial will be held in the Great Sept of Baelor on the first day of the Festival of the Mother."

Members of the crowd murmured to one another.

"Furthermore, after much prayer and reflection, the Crown has decided that from this dat forward, trial by combat will be forbidden throughout the Seven Kingdoms. The tradition is a brutish one, a scheme devised by corrupt rulers in order to avoid true judgment from the gods. Cersei Lannister and Loras Tyrell will stand trial before seven septons as it was in the earliest dais of the Faith. Seven blessings to all."

"Seven blessings." The crowd chanted.

Tommen stood and made his way out of the hall, accompanied by the goldcloaks.

Cersei watched him leave.

Qyburn walked up beside her, whispering to her. "Your Grace... that old rumour you told me about. My little birds investigated."

"And? Was it just a rumour or something more?"

"More. Much more."

They thought by outlawing trial by combat, it would be impossible for her to outwit them. However, what they didn't realize was they had simply forced her to get creative.

She had no intention of standing trial, or leaving the High Sparrow alive.

He had meddled in her family matters too many times. Including imprisoning her pregnant daughter, and refusing to allow her to visit.

When one had nothing left to lose, it made them extremely dangerous.

Cersei was losing the thing she cared most about.

Tommen had been brought into the Faith by that little she-devil of a wife.

Myrcella had grown accustomed to Dornish traditions and rarely gave her any attention, choosing instead to spend time with her betrothed.

Lastly, Aelinor, her first born. Pregnant and sitting in a cell. Her son missing.

Not only was this zealot messing with her family, he was also attacking her grandchildren.

Lady Nymeria, who had also been in attendance, stood glaring at their backs as they exited.

She had been in her chambers, reading a letter from her Uncle, when her sister burst into her room.

"Tyene? What are you doing here? Uncle said to be discreet. No one can know who you truly are."

"Don't worry. They won't. Besides, the guards here are terrible. But, that's not why I came here."

"What is it? I was in the middle of something." She held up the letter.

"Is that from Uncle Doran? What does it say?"

"Father has awoken."

"That's wonderful news. Which you could use before I tell you what I discovered."

"Well, get on with it."

"You were right. The Mountain is alive. He serves as Cersei's bodyguard, under a new name. Robert Strong."

"I knew it."

"Father did kill him, but it appears Cersei's new disgraced maestar friend managed to resurrect him."

"We need to kill him, for good."

"Hold on. We need a plan. Aggression without a purpose is an accident waiting to happen. We must first devise a strategy. He is all brawn and no brains. We cannot overpower him, but we can outthink him."

Nymeria knew her sister was right.

They had to be patient if they wished to topple The Mountain.

If they acted now, they would surely be killed, only adding to the list of Martell family members who perished in King's Landing.

No, they would wait for him to be at his most vulnerable.