Chapter One

Cersei Lannister looked up as the bell over the entrance tinkled, and smiled at the newest visitor to Palais de la Passion.

'Lord Baelish, a pleasure to see you, as always.'

Cersei swept around the counter, swishing her long skirt behind her and moved forward to greet her visitor. She placed a kiss on his cheeks and took his hand, her warm, bejewelled fingers twining with sinuous intimacy about his own frigid and pale ones.

'Good evening, I trust you are well madam.' The careful removal of his hat and the almost feminine way he plucked off his gloves made Cersei's eyebrows raise ever so slightly. Such a strange man, he affected an air of humility and grace, but that was all it was, an affectation.

Cersei watched as Lord Baelish cast his eyes around the room, as though it was his first visit, though he had spent many hours inside these walls and knew the house more intimately than his own.

'It's been a while since your last visit. Sansa will be thrilled to see you, she really does miss you when you have to go away for long periods.' She helped relieve him of his coat and moved to hang it on a nearby rack.

Cersei saw Lord Baelish try to suppress a smile, but not quite pull it off.

'I'm sure she has plenty to keep her occupied when I am not about.' Of course she did, or else how would Cersei make any money out of this place. However her role as the Hostess required discretion and tact, which she took very seriously, so she simply smiled and shook her head.

'You're the one she waits for, you must know that by now my Lord.' His smug smile made her grin, though not for the same reason as him, of course.

'I am not so attached to Sansa that I would overlook any of the other beautiful women you have here.' Liar. Actions spoke louder than words and his actions up to this point made his preferences very clear.

'Well, why don't you take a seat and I'll have Missandei bring you a drink while we talk, after all, there's no hurry is there?' Cersei nodded towards a sumptuous red sofa and clicked a finger, which produced the muted sounds of activity in an adjoining room akin to that of ice being dropped into a glass.

In no time, a dark haired beauty of exotic lineage entered the salon from the adjoining room, with a silver tray bearing a glass of exquisitely cut crystal, the warm amber glow of whiskey visible in the lower third of the glass.

Lord Baelish smiled and accepted his drink. His admiration of the dark skinned beauty who served him was frankly appraising, and the girl, for she was barely more than that, paused briefly to let his eyes drink in her beauty before moving away, giving her hips a playful swish as she passed by. Cersei missed nothing but she wasn't fooled by this apparent interest. Lord Baelish was obsessively devoted to Sansa, though it was obvious to most others that his feelings were not reciprocated. Despite that, Cersei had never seen Lord Baelish with another woman in the months he had been visiting Palais de la Passion.

'So am I to understand that tonight will be one of new beginnings, Lord Baelish?'

Lord Baelish nodded and sighed contentedly as he took a sip of his drink. He closed his eyes briefly, apparently blissfully at peace after only one sip. Cersei knew the whiskey she served was unsurpassed in quality, and price, so his reaction was not unexpected. Of course the services on offer at Palais de la Passion were all so highly sought after, but they came with an eye watering price tag, one which had thus far, never been disputed or quibbled over.

'Perhaps I could be persuaded.'

'Let me think,' Cersei tapped her lip with her finger and set her mind to the task. 'Well, I've seen the way that you look up to Brienne, she's a challenge for any man, but well worth conquering, or so I'm told.' Cersei smiled at her little joke. The truth was that Brienne was an innocent, though her facade said otherwise. The unsmiling, dominating and fierce persona she adopted in public masked her fear of true intimacy. She was a complicated and tough nut to crack, though she knew of one man who might be up to the challenge. Perhaps she should offer him that challenge, it might be fun to see who or what emerged from such an encounter.

Lord Baelish shook his head and shuddered. Cersei wasn't really surprised, Brienne would most likely crush the much smaller man physically and no doubt, psychologically. No, that pairing couldn't happen, but then who?

Ygritte? She was a wild romp, if that was what a man was looking for, and a lot were. Men were never unhappy after spending a night with the fiery redhead, in fact most looked ready for a short spell of recuperation in the nearest hospital, though they all wore beatific smiles as they stumbled out the door. She regarded Lord Baelish's slight frame and shook her head. No - again, not her either.

'We have a new girl, her name is Gilly. She has a most agreeable disposition,' which only meant she'd do whatever you wanted her to do, so long as you treated her with a measure of respect and didn't mention the fact that her top teeth protruded over her lower one's - a little - she was desperately self aware of that unfortunate blemish on an otherwise lovely face.

Lord Baelish appeared to consider the new girl, but Cersei was very sure that she would eventually end up discarded along with every other suggestion. Which was why she was surprised by his next words.

'Perhaps she could keep me company while I finish my drink.' He held up his glass which she could see was almost empty. Cersei clicked her fingers again and before she knew it, Missandei entered with a fresh drink on a silver tray. The girl really was an invaluable asset, the number of complimentary comments about her from paying guests were becoming more and more frequent.

Cersei thought that maybe it was time for a new barperson. Except, currently there were no spare rooms left upstairs, and somebody would need to make way for the new girl. It wouldn't be an easy choice, but Cersei didn't shy away from difficult decisions, she ran to meet them head on, as was the way of all Lannisters.

'Of course, I'll send for her, she won't be long. In the meantime, would you care for a cigar? We have a new shipment of Cubans, only the best here at Palais de la Passion.'

Lord Baelish nodded. 'Why not, as you say, there's no rush, the night is young.'

Cersei smiled, but inwardly she cringed. The night may be young but he most definitely was not. Still she had a plan and Lord Baelish held a position with the Baratheon-King Corporation that would make him invaluable if her plans were to come to fruition. She had to remember there was a long game at play and she would need to bide her time.

Cersei moved to the counter which housed an array of accoutrements for the modern madam, a lined appointment diary bound in black leather most prominent among those. Many felt she should make use of the modern technology on offer, buy a computer and store all her information inside that, but she could never. Such devices were open to attack, no matter what anybody said, there was always a way to defeat whatever security systems one chose to employ and in fact, if she was to succeed in her plans, she was counting on that being true. But still, she did not wish to risk the exposure of her clientele to any unsavoury elements. That would not do at all.

She ignored the discretely worded business cards with a cellphone number beneath an embossed red flame and a box containing prophylactics, pills and a few other 'toys' for those special customers. There were a number of buttons located beneath the counter top. These were a secret between her and the girls who worked in the establishment, for the purposes of ensuring things went smoothly if trouble were to occur, which it wouldn't, but Cersei's natural instinct always made her err on the side of caution.

Cersei opened a drawer beneath the counter top and withdrew one of the promised cigars from inside plus a punch cutter and a gold lighter. She got busy, stripped off the label, and expertly removed the cap. She looked up once at Lord Baelish, who was still in raptures over his drink. Cersei couldn't help but notice how the man seemed somehow diminished, shrunk even since he'd removed his coat, not that he was particularly large to begin with. Lord Baelish was slight, not as tall as she, though she was barely five-foot-seven. If she was being unkind, she might even describe him as puny, not at all to her taste, but then her taste in men was unique and undoubtedly complicated.

The door bell tinkled again and Cersei, though surprised, smiled at the man who entered the room. He was large, lean but at the same time imposing, his eyes were glacial, though Cersei imagined a fire crackled beneath them, his hair was dirty blonde and shaggy, which suited him well. He was dressed impeccably, a tailored suit that added another layer to his already abundant charms. Then another man staggered into view and Cersei could barely contain the look of disgust that immediately flooded her face. What the hell was he doing here?