Cleopatra ───── J. Baratheon

LXVII

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐘-𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 | An Old Friend

{ Lyra }

✧✦✧

𝕸ikael ran around Lyra's feet as she walked up to Joffrey's solar, her hand resting on her belly. The gold had arrived back in the capital, and Tycho had already sailed away with well over half of it. Yet Jaime had only just arrived back, meaning that something had gone terribly wrong.

Entering the room, Lyra caught hold of Mikael and ushered him to sit on the carpet and play with his toys as she turned to look back at Joffrey and Jaime. Her husband had his head in his hands and Jaime's armour was muddy and discoloured.

"What has happened?" She asked softly, as Mikael pulled toy soldiers out to play with behind them.

"I've never seen anything like it," Jaime shook his head. "The Dothraki, they fight for fun. We couldn't defend against them and the dragons. There were two of them, each burning large stretches of our army with no problem. Nothing could stop them and she has four!"

"Fuck." Joffrey hissed quietly, as Lyra sighed, thinking of the poor families who had lost their husbands or sons due to this.

"How many men did we lose?" She asked pragmatically.

"We haven't done a full count yet, but too many is the answer." Tylar spoke this time, looking at the map. "This wasn't good at all. We needed to have won this battle, to make her nervous."

Drew scuffed his foot, before licking his lips and stepping towards the two rulers.

"Couldn't we ask your brothers to help?" He spoke softly, as Lyra shook her head.

"That'll put them in a difficult position. If we call on them for help, and they do, who knows what would happen to Jon and Aoife, who are still at Dragonstone as far as I know." Lyra sighed, before something occurred to her. "Olenna? This was near Highgarden, was it not? Is she alright?"

Jaime sent her a sorrowful look and Lyra sank into a seat by her husband, her hands trembling. She almost knew the next words before they came out of Jaime's mouth.

"She died during the night, whilst we were there." Jaime shook his head, looking downtrodden. "I'm sorry."

Lyra took another deep breath, clutching her hands together in her lap as she tried not to cry. She couldn't do that with her son sitting so close, otherwise she'd upset him and she couldn't have that.

Joffrey squeezed her hand gently, sending her a sorrowful look as Lyra chewed on her lips.

"There's one other thing." Jaime said, producing a letter that he was given when he arrived. Joffrey took it cautiously, opening it and skimming through the contents before throwing it onto the table and kissing his teeth.

"What is it?"

"Tyrion wants to meet to discuss the possibility of arranging talks about the upcoming wars with Daenerys." He muttered, as Lyra cocked an eyebrow. "This is your brother's doing, isn't it?"

"Aye, this sounds like Jon trying to keep things as peaceful as possible. He always was the calmest out of the three of us." Lyra's voice was quiet in the room, as Joffrey squeezed her hand once more. "I'll go. I'll take Elia to talk to him."

"Are you sure? I can go." Joffrey offered. "Or Jaime or even Tylar."

"No, I should go." Lyra confirmed. "Tell me when I'm supposed to meet him, and I'll go."

✧✦✧

The basement of the Red Keep was filled with dragon skulls that seemed to watch Lyra with large, dark eyes as she walked through the halls. Elia stuck close to her side, though she seemed particularly interested in the large bones, looking for something to chew on. 

"Maybe later, Elia." Lyra caught the wolf by the scruff of her neck, giving the large animal a gentle push in the other direction. The wolf huffed but obliged, shaking her fur out.

Turning the next corner, Lyra straightened her back as Tyrion came into view. The older man was looking at the skulls, his hands behind his back, though he turned as he heard Elia snort.

"Lord Tyrion." Lyra smiled, following after her wolf as Tyrion bowed his head.

"Queen Lyra. I see my sister hasn't killed you yet." Lyra shrugged her shoulders.

"Not for lack of trying." Elia came trotting back over, curling around Lyra's waist. "I was told you wished to speak with us."

Tyrion nodded, as Lyra continued to walk forward. The older Lannister walked beside her, his hands going back behind him as he seemed to work out what to say.

"Daenerys will win this war."

"She can try." Lyra scowled. This was not a great start to the conversation. "Then she will fail."

"She has four grown dragons, a Dothraki hoard, an army of Unsullied and a solid claim to the throne."

"She has no claim to the throne." Lyra shook her head. "Her father was usurped, Robert came into power, the claim passed to his eldest son and now the title will pass onto his son."

"Joffrey is not Robert's child, you know that." 

"Do I know that?" Lyra questioned, cocking an eyebrow. "Joff is a Baratheon, not a Lannister. He's the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, and our son will follow. Those are the rules of succession."

"This will get us no where. I'm sure we can argue over this all at a later date." Tyrion murmured. "Daenerys is willing to suspend hostilities if you and Joffrey agree to certain terms."

"We're not going to bend the knee." Lyra shook her head. "None of us will."

"Daenerys doesn't want that. Not right now anyway." Tyrion shook his head as they reached the same opening that they had met in. "She has a more important request."

Lyra paused, cocking her eyebrow as Elia raced off after a rat. The younger queen tilted her head, before motioning for Tyrion to continue.

"We'd like to arrange a meeting, between Joffrey, Daenerys and Jon Snow. You can choose the place, but it has to be somewhere that is accessible to all of us and has multiple entrances and exits." Tyrion listed off. "But we must meet sooner rather than later."

"We'll find somewhere then." Lyra nodded. "Give us a week, maybe a few days more and then, yes, we can have that meeting."

"Joffrey will be alright with this?"

"Joffrey will agree, yes." Lyra confirmed as Elia came back over with a large rat hanging from her mouth. "It's something we discussed before I came to speak with you. Our advisors think that it's a good idea."

"Thank you for this." Tyrion said, bowing his head, before stepping away from her. "We will see you soon."

Lyra nodded, watching him leave with Elia by her side, before turning and sweeping back towards the royal chambers. They had a lot to prepare now.

Hiya,

Here's another chapter for you and in two parts time, we're going to be getting the whole gang together (apart from Robb and Eliza). Lyra's just generally not having a good time at the moment, with Olenna dead, and Mikael is a sweetheart. If you have any questions about the books, or the characters, let me know.

Let me know what you think and you'll have another double update on Monday. Quick reminder that Gloria and Angela both have chapters out and will soon have updates (as this book slowly winds down).

Love Li xx