Cleopatra ───── J. Baratheon

LXVIII

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐘-𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 | Cherry Tarts

{ Lyra }

✧✦✧

𝕷yra watched on as Joffrey and Mikael stood at the edge of the pavilion, watching the sea and ships beneath them with interest. 

"Dornish ship." Joffrey pointed out, as Mikael tried his best to copy his father.

"Doorish ship."

"Close enough," Joffrey chuckled, before pulling the boy closer as they moved onto the next ship.

There was a definite bite in the air now as the end of summer drew nearer. However, the morning sun was still warm enough that they could sit outside. It reminded Lyra of hot days in Winterfell, and that had been the cause for her to pull some of her old dresses from the bottom of her chest.

Despite it having been years since she wore them, some of her clothes from Winterfell still fit, though they were now rather tight.

Elia yawned next to Lyra, shifting her head so that it fell on the woman's knee as Lyra looked down at the large wolf. Elia was growing close to eight years old now, and had only just stopped growing, though her fur had not lost the same colour that the wolf had as a puppy and her golden eyes were just as intelligent.

Reaching over, Lyra grabbed some food from the tray ahead of her, handing the meat to Elia and chewing on a piece of fruit as her small family relaxed before the storm of the Dragon Queen hit. They had a meeting that very afternoon to discuss where to hold the peace treaty talks, which were fast approaching.

Lyra shook her head, turning back to her husband and son. It was obvious, looking at the pair from where she sat, that Mikael was going to take after his father in terms of look. They shared the same smile, eyes and blond hair and the similarities grew as Mikael did, though Lyra prayed that Mikael inherited her Northern temper. Lyra could only hope that the next one would look more like her, than her husband.

"What are you looking at, my Love?" Lyra smiled over at her husband, who was watching her with a cocked eyebrow.

"My incredibly handsome son." Mikael giggled at his mother's words, wriggling out of Joffrey's grip so that he could clamber into her arms. "You're getting so big, pup."

"I'll be as big as Da soon!" Mikael nodded. "Or Tylar!"

"Bigger." Lyra nodded. "Then you can wrestle Elia and win."

Joffrey chuckled at his wife and son, before throwing Elia a piece of meat as he leant back in his chair and let the sun continue to beat down on his skin. A content smile spread across his face, as he listened to the sound of Lyra talking to Mikael, before his eyes snapped open.

"Wait..." Lyra sent him a mischievous smirk, her eyes dancing with mirth, as Joffrey sat up straight to stare at the woman across from him. He thought, for a mere moment, that he had misheard her. "What did you just say?"

"Did I say something?" Lyra smiled innocent, watching as Joffrey struggled to process what she had just said, eyes wide. "Mikael, I think your father is broken."

"Repeat the sentence, Lyra. I'm serious." Joffrey managed to stutter out, watching his wife as Lyra finally stopped joking and leant forward to look her husband in the eyes.

"I'm late so the Grand Maester thinks that Mikael might soon have a sibling." Lyra began to smile. "I'm pregnant again, Joff."

Joffrey went pale, before a broad grin appeared on his face as he leapt from his seat and wrapped his arms around his wife and son, pulling them both up. Lyra laughed, clutching onto her husband tightly as he swung her around in a circle.

Pulling away slightly, Joffrey pressed a kiss to her lips, trying to tell her everything he felt, from the fear to the pure happiness at the thought of having another child. Lyra smiled, before Joffrey pulled away.

"Have I told you how much I love you?" He whispered, smiling down at Lyra and Mikael.

"Not recently." Lyra pulled Mikael closer to her chest, as Joffrey placed another kiss to her lips, and then pressing a light kiss to Mikael's head.

"Well, I love you, Lyra Baratheon, more than anything in the world." Lyra giggled slightly, before replying as Joffrey wrapped her into a tight hug.

"And I love you just as much."

✧✦✧

"So, the meeting is in two weeks time." Joffrey said, looking around at the rest of his advisors, who were all perching on chairs, or leaning by the walls. "What are we going to do?"

Normally, this would be a conversation to be had with the Small Council. But, considering Joffrey didn't trust either of the other two members of the Small Council, he decided that he and his close advisors would deal with this instead. They were a lot more reliable that Euron and Qyburn, both of whom were still closely connected to Cersei.

"We'll hold the meeting in the dragon pits," Tylar said, pointing it out on the map before he folded his arms. "It's far enough away from the Red Keep that it's safe for us and it's large enough to hold all of the dragons, if they come. It also provides multiple entrance and exit points, like we were asked to provide."

"We'll have guards around the perimeter and we'll set the tents so that you're all separate from each other," Jaime continued, listing off the points as he watched his son.

"That's good." Joffrey commented, nodding to show that he understood. "What do we expect from this meeting?"

"They will most likely ask us to help fight in the North and then tell us to surrender the throne." Lyra commented, her legs tucked beneath her and Mikael continued to giggle quietly beside her as he wrestled with Elia. "Which is not going to happen. I'm not sure if they yet know of the alliance between us and the North though."

"That'll be a good card to hold onto then." Joffrey said, before looking around the room at his advisors. "You're all going to be there?"

"Of course, as is Qyburn and Euron, who insisted as he's part of the Small Council." Arah said, before sighing and rolling her eyes. "Which also means that Cersei will be there as Lady Greyjoy, due to formality reasons."

Joffrey pursed his lips, sharing a glance with Lyra. The woman shrugged, as if to say that it was up to him.

"Fine, but if they don't listen and ignore what we have to say, then I will be ordering them to leave. I hope we have no complaints with that." The advisors all shook their heads, before Joffrey asked the final question of the meeting. "How likely is it that Daenerys might burn us where we sit?"

The room shared a look, before Tylar began to speak with a grim expression.

"I won't lie to you, Your Grace, that's quite a high possibility." 

The air grew more tense, as everyone began to think of the up coming meeting.

Hiya,

It's soft Lyrey hours. Lyra's pregnant again so that should be fun. Also, next chapter is the dragon pits one so we get a reunion between Lyra and Jon which is gonna be super adorable, so stay tuned :). Also, we're actually so close to moving onto the final part of this book (which is actually super sad) so Gloria and Angela will start having updates once more, so be on the lookout for those.

Let me know what you think will happen at the meeting,

Love Li xx