Chapter 34: Deliverance, For You As Well

8th Month of 298 A.C. King's Landing

Queen Cersei Lannister

Eddard Stark was dead, he had died in the throne room, a needless death if she was being honest with herself, she might not have liked the man but he could have been useful, very useful, the north only followed a Stark, and yet the man had come charging in to the throne making all kinds of accusations and speaking all sorts of treasons. To allow him to live after such a display would have been worse than foolish, it would have been idiocy, and suicidal plain and simple. And now they were at war, her father had called the banners and marched on Riverrun, where Jaime was trapped, her twin, her other half was being held prisoner in a castle filled with traitors and there was nothing she could do, her father had probably condemned Jaime to an early grave, that was her fear, dying without Jaime at her side. The war raged on, and so there they were, a council meeting to discuss the situation and to assess how damage might be avoided. The men gathered before her were some of the least trustworthy men in the seven kingdoms, and they were the council, her son's council, her son, her eldest son who sat before her on his gilded chair, he was every inch a Baratheon in appearance, but he was a Lannister in personality, and that was what she was proud of. It gave her hope.

Her son looks at her then and she speaks. "My lords, the realm is shaking under the war being fought within the Riverlands, we would know how that war progresses."

There is a moment's silence and then Pycelle speaks, Cersei is aware that the man is most likely keeping in constant contact with her father, that both reassures her and terrifies her. "Your Graces, it seems that the fighting at Riverrun has ended, from what reports come from Lord Tywin, it appears that they have had to beat back a retreat under the threat of being outnumbered."

That surprises her, she had known the northmen would come down in force, but to outnumber her father? Surely not. Her son snorts. "And what pray tell was he running from? Last we had heard he was winning the battle. What forced him to flee?"

There is a moment of silence and then Pycelle speaks. "It appears that was something he did reluctantly Your Grace. It appears that he came very close to breaching the gates of Riverrun but at the last moment had to withdraw his troops back to a ridge."

"Why?" Cersei asks, her fear growing with every passing second.

"Because the northmen managed to get past the Twins and surprised his rear, and furthermore, it appears Riverrun threatened the hanging of his sons if he continued fighting." Pycelle replies.

The words hit Cersei like a hammer blow. "How did he allow this to happen?" she asks. "Where were his scouts, where were his reserve? How did they fail to see this?"

Pycelle seems at a loss for words, and that only serves to increase her fury. "I do not know Your Grace. But I do know that the threat of losing Ser Jaime was enough to force Lord Tywin to reconsider his plan."

Cersei's heart is still hammering away in her chest, and so she asks. "Did they harm Ser Jaime?" she has to fight hard to keep her voice calm, and is thankful that it comes out sounding calm.

"No Your Grace, from what I have been able to gather, Ser Jaime remained unharmed, and was in fact a witness to Lord Tywin's withdrawal." Pycelle responds.

Cersei takes a deep breath then, relief flooding through her, Joffrey though is not impressed. "That was foolish, he has shown weakness in front of the enemy, and now they will exploit that at any cost. He was supposed to take Riverrun, not withdraw the moment they threatened a Kingsguard."

It takes a lot of breathing for Cersei to stop from snapping at her son, he is the King now, she should not snap at him, and yet to hear him speak so callously of Jaime, that rankles her to no end. "He did what he thought was necessary Your Grace. His objective was to get Jaime back, not to take Riverrun." She says eventually.

Her son stares at her then, his eyes boring into hers. "And yet he failed in achieving that. He retreated like a whipped dog before the northmen, and now he will have to struggle to gain the advantage."

Cersei stares back at her son, wondering when he became so cold. A person's life was in danger, Jaime's life was in danger and he could be so callous as to say what he has said? She does not know what to think, but she replies all the same. "Yes, he might have failed Your Grace. But he now lives to fight another day, and that can only be good for us."

Her son snorts. "If you say so. Personally, I think he should have buggered Ser Jaime's life, and gone in for the kill. What was the situation before the northern savages turned up?"

Pycelle looks at her briefly before replying. "The Rivermen were badly damaged by the fighting Your Grace. There are rumours that Ser Edmure is dead, Lord Hoster is dying, and they are without a solid leader now. But the northmen saved them."

"Who led the northmen?" the King asks.

"Robb Stark Your Grace." Pycelle replies.

"Tell them of the full thing Pycelle." Varys insists.

"What thing?" Cersei asks then, her eyes narrowing as she stares at the eunuch.

Pycelle coughs, and Cersei shifts her focus to him. "There was something else that happened it seems Your Graces. It seems the northmen were carrying a dragon banner."

"But the dragons are dead." Cersei says then.

"Not all it would appear Your Grace." Varys says then.

"Explain." She demands.

The eunuch takes a moment and then he responds. "It appears that the bastard of Winterfell, is the last surviving male member of House Targaryen alive. It seems he is Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark's child."

Cersei is silent for a moment as she allows the words to wash over her, then she bursts into laughter. "This is absurd. It is clearly some horse shit that the Starks are coming up with to justify rebelling against their rightful King." She sees the serious expression on both Pycelle and Varys's faces and she then asks. "You cannot seriously believe this nonsense?"

There is a deafening silence that follows her question, and Cersei feels her unease grow some more, she is not sure why, but she can hear the voice of that old crone whispering in her ear now, and she does not like what it is saying. Her son breaks the silence. "My mother asked you a question. Answer it."

Pycelle speaks then. "Your Graces, in his report, Lord Tywin mentioned some disturbing things when speaking of the northern host." The man trails off and Cersei feels her patience fraying.

"What things?" she demands.

"Dragons, three of them, flying in the sky with the northern host." Pycelle responds.

Cersei hears the words, but she is not sure whether she believes them, dragons? Dragons died out hundreds of years ago, how is that possible? Whilst she is mulling this over, her son speaks. "So he fled because there were three dead things coming towards him? What is this? What nonsense is this?"

Cersei looks at her son and says softly. "Father would not lie Your Grace."

The King looks at her then, not her son, for her son would not glare at her so. Just as she thinks he is going to give her a tongue lashing he changes the topic. "Whatever happened there is irrelevant, he will go into the field once more and fight. That much is certain. Now tell me, what have your birds found out about the location of my betrothed and her brother?"

The eunuch speaks then. "It appears that they have successfully escaped from King's Landing and the Crownlands Your Grace."

"Well yes I knew that, where have they gone?" her son asks.

"It seems that they are heading toward Harrenhal Your Grace." The eunuch responds.

"Harrenhal?" Cersei asks then, memories of a long ago time filtering through her mind then, alongside worries of old. "Lady Whent is Lady Catelyn's cousin I believe. That's why they are going there, once they are there it will be hard to get to them."

Her son looks at her, and she can tell that his mind is whirring with thoughts and plots, she feels proud of that, proud that her son is more like her than his fool of a father. "We must find out what Lady Whent would offer in return for those two. Perhaps the boy, not the girl. The boy will be useful in dealing with the northmen."

"And the girl Your Grace?" Baelish asks then.

"She is not needed, I will not marry a traitor." Her son responds. He looks at her then and says. "I want my betrothal to her made null and void as of this point, I will not wed a traitor's daughter." Her son pauses and then continues. "Now what of the Tyrells and my fool of an uncle?"

"Lord Renly has disappeared from the map Your Grace." The eunuch says. "It would not be too hard to guess that he has gone to Storm's End and from there is planning on going to Highgarden."

"To claim the throne or to rebel? Why would he flee when we would not remove him from the council?" her son asks, voicing the one thing they had disagreed on, she had wanted Renly removed and gone from the council, knowing that the flowers would creep in if he stayed, and her son had wanted one of his uncles on the council to balance the others.

She speaks then. "The Tyrells are vipers in waiting Your Grace, they will sweet talk their way into some form of power some way or the other. And Lord Renly will be the tool they use."

"Regardless of that, if we can tempt him back to court, and away from any stupid thought he might be thinking, then that will be a victory I will take. I do not want him rallying against me." Her son responds.

Cersei bites her lip, unsure of just what to say in response, she wonders if her son would really want to work with Renly, if he knew the truth about the man, but she thinks that he might want to regardless, for her son craves some connection to his father, a father who was very absent, like hers. She pushes that thought down and asks. "What do you want done Your Grace?"

Her son is silent for a moment, and then responds. "I want a raven sent to him, reminding him of his duties to our house and to the throne. Furthermore, I want a raven sent to Highgarden, inviting the Tyrells to King's Landing to assume positions within court."

Cersei looks at her son and says. "Are you sure that is wise Your Grace?"

Her son looks right back at her and responds. "Yes. They are a powerful house, and they call the most number of men within the Kingdoms. I would be a fool to leave them out in the cold. Pycelle send the ravens and be done with it." Cersei sees the man bow his head, and she feels a sense of anger grow within her, she is not in control of this meeting, and she realises now she is not in control of her son, her dreams of power seem to be slipping slightly.

Before anyone can speak though, the door opens and Ser Aurane Waters walks in, dripping wet and covered in dirt. He bows before her son and says. "Your pardons Your Grace, but I have come straight from the docks and what I have to report is something you will want to hear."

By the unfazed look on her son's face, she knows that he had been expecting this. "What is it Aurane?" her son asks.

"Stannis Baratheon and the royal fleet are closing in on King's Landing." The man responds.