-Chapter 9-

-Chapter 9-

The royal palace gardens were magnificent, but as always, they were tainted by the smell of shit, even if it was much lighter than that of the city's outskirts.

On my arm, the magnificent 32-year-old queen, with a mane of blonde hair and a pair of emeralds for eyes, clung to my arm. We were followed by her servants, which annoyed me, and she noticed it because she said:

"Everyone has noticed the way you look at me."

"In what way?" I said in a tone of feigned confusion with a small smile.

"Lord Connington, are you mocking your queen?" she said, frowning.

My smile narrowed, and then I said, "I am not..."

Cersei cut me off and handed me a small piece of parchment, saying, "Here is the restoration of your House's titles, from now on House Connington has been reinstated to the rank of Lord."

"I suppose I owe this little miracle to you, my queen," I said, donning a broad smile in a deeper, almost seductive tone.

She laughed, and then she said seriously, "I asked you to come to the capital because I feel my enemies gathering and trying to depose me. Jaime is still by Robert's side, and with the death of the former Hand of the King, I feel all these accusing glances pointed at me, even Robert thinks we had something to do with it."

"And was that not the case?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

She glared at me and said, "NO, we had our differences, but I would never have killed him under any circumstances, especially because of Robert's nearly sick affection."

"I am not accusing you; I am simply seeking the truth, or at least a truth that could help us," I said, looking at an old woman I knew to be a spy for Littlefinger.

"The position of Hand of the King is vacant, and the king has decided to head North to offer the position to his brother Stark," she said in a disdainful tone.

"Do not despise him; he has far more influence over the king than anyone else in this kingdom, especially..." I stopped there, but she continued, saying, "Especially because of that northern bitch."

I warned her with a look, but she ignored me and said, "Even after 17 years, he has not forgotten that bitch."

"And that's a reason not to call her that when the servants of this castle, who are all incidentally spies paid by the one with the deepest pockets, are listening to us," I said, pointing at the old woman who was eavesdropping.

She sniffed but added nothing to that. I changed the subject and asked, "How is Joffrey doing these days?"

She frowned even more and said, "He has stopped training for a few moons, he is annoyed to train with people who let him win or who are too weak, in his own words."

I raised an eyebrow at that and said, "So he is still lazy, but he has improved. Honestly, I never hoped he would become an elite fighter, but at least now on a battlefield and even in a siege or facing assassins he will not be defenseless."

She nodded, and I continued to look at her insistently; she frowned in confusion, a bad habit, and then placed a hand on her chest, saying astonished:

"Oh...me?!"

I thought she was going to scold me, but instead, she burst into laughter and said, "I must admit you got me there. I thought...wait, are you really serious?"

I laughed and then said, "Of course, unless you are not a true lioness."

"Your methods of provocation are not at all refined, Lord Connington," she said, but I could still detect a hint of envy in her tone.

I placed a hand on my heart and said, pretending to be sad, "And here I thought I had learned everything from the best."

"Maybe you're just a bad student."

We burst into laughter, and once we had calmed down, she said in a threatening tone, "I may never have told you, but apart from you in this city, I have no friends, and that's why I wouldn't want you to betray me because if you do, my revenge will be terrible."

I took her words lightly and said, rolling my eyes slightly, "And there you go again, you don't know how to make a compliment, you always have to spoil a nice comment with a threat or with another unpleasant comment."

She glared at me, and I said this time in a serious tone, "I told you I would not betray you, and I do not intend to do so. Honestly, upon arriving in the capital, I wasn't looking for the excellent relationship we share, but you have taken an important place in my heart, and I consider you a...sister of sorts."

She gave me an incredulous look and said in a low voice, "None of my brothers has ever looked at me that way."

I almost retorted with an 'oh yeah, are you sure about that?' but I held back and opted for a strategic retreat by rolling my eyes.

We continued to chat playfully until we arrived at a section of the gardens exclusively reserved for her, sitting on a bench chatting were Ronald and Tommen.

I smiled upon seeing my son, whom I hadn't seen for 2 years, and said, "Thank you for allowing him to stay; he has no friends at Griffin Roost because there are very few children his age."

"I heard the contrary, they say that Griffin City, Griffin's Den, Griffin Rock, and Griffin Cave now house a population close to 150,000 people."

"Yes, I built Griffin to accommodate several million inhabitants once completely finished, but for now only 100,000 people can live there. I had many houses, farms, and villages built in the surroundings to properly rehouse the populace," I said with a small smile of pride.

"Sometimes I don't understand you," she said, watching our two boys play together.

I laughed and said, "Why?"

"Don't play the fool; we both know you're not a tender soul. You've killed thousands of people with your own hands, so why pretend to care about your subjects?" she said, frowning, confused by my actions incompatible with my reputation.

"I'm not pretending; yes, I am cruel, but I take no joy in the suffering of my people. Your father governs by fear, but the day people no longer fear him, he will simply become the man to be killed. A good dose of fear is fine, but a good dose of love is even better, and if you can have both, why deprive yourself of it?" I said.

She looked at me for a few seconds without saying anything, scrutinizing me before turning her attention back to our children and nodding.