WILOW-Ch.421: Essence of Nightshade
Red Keep, King's Landing
POV of Cersei Lannister
Meanwhile, in King's Landing.
The sound of men fighting in the courtyard filled Cersei's heart with dread for what was to come.
From the moment Stannis breached the city walls and entered King's Landing, she knew this moment would come.
The armies of the Westerlands were defeated. The other kingdoms were in revolt, and Stannis was at their gates.
They had nowhere to run and no allied reinforcements to come to their aid. They were alone, and there was nothing they could do alone.
She entered Joffrey's bedroom. Her boy, her son, was sleeping soundly even as the men died all over in Red Keep.
She smiled, closed the door behind her, and sat down beside him. "Joffrey, my sweetling." She said and patted his head a few times.
He woke up with a start and gave her a confused glance.
"Mother." He said, before he heard the clash of steel all around them, and frowned even as a look of terror passed over him.
"Mother, what is happening?"
She smiled at him, "Stannis has broken through the gates of Red Keep." She said, not telling him about the traitors who opened the gates for their own lives. That would lead to one of his temper tantrums, and she didn't need that right now.
There was not enough time. She had to act quickly. Otherwise, things would end up the way they least wanted.
"Wh… what should we do?" he asked.
She didn't know.
She hadn't known what to do ever since Jamie died fighting Stannis' men.
She had been heartbroken when she heard about that. She had no idea why that was.
He had betrayed her by losing that fight against the Bolton boy and humiliated their house by losing their Valyrian Sword.
He was useless. Pathetic.
He even betrayed her by sending Tommen and Myrcella away to the little monster who lived in the North with her whore wife.
She had betrayed him for those. Casted him out of her life. She didn't love him anymore.
So why had she felt so lost when she heard about his death?
She supposed that it was because he was her twin brother and 'that' meant something even if nothing else did.
But she hoped that he was alive right now. Here. Protecting them. She would have even forgiven him for it.
But that was not possible anymore.
"Mother. Why are you crying?" Joffrey asked, and she came back to the present with a start, touching her cheek to find that tears had once again begun to flow from her eyes.
She quickly wiped them off and smiled at Joffrey.
"We need to get out of here, Joffrey. We'll go to Casterly Rock and wait for the time when we'll be able to take back your throne from the false king Stannis."
Joffrey scowled at her, "I'm the King. I'm… no… not going to run and hide like a coward." But even as he said that, the fear in his eyes gave him away.
Her sweet Joffrey.
"Of course not, my sweetling. No one is going to call you a coward. But the other Kingdoms have betrayed us. And we don't have enough men to fight Stannis for now. So, we must leave King's Landing and bide our time for now."
"I… I… if that is what you wish, mother. Then I'll accompany you."
"Of course." She said and handed him a glass of wine, "Here. Drink this to freshen yourself and get ready. We must leave as quickly as possible."
He looked at the glass with a frown, and her heart skipped a beat for a moment. But then he took the glass from her and quickly drank all of it at once.
Then he got up from his bed and reached for his wardrobe.
But…
He fell down to the ground before he could take two steps, and she felt tears fall down her cheeks once again.
This was the last thing she wanted to do, but she knew she had to do it for his son. She didn't want to watch him break at the hands of Stannis's men.
He looked around the room in confusion and blinked his eyes a few times. "Mother… I… it's… sleepy."
He blinked his eyes a few times, and she went up to him and put his head on her lap. "It's alright, sweetling. You're just going to sleep. When you wake up, we'll go to Casterly Rock and be safe forever and ever."
Joffrey blinked a few more times before his eyelids became too heavy and he reached for her cheeks. "Mother… you're… cryi…"
Then his hand dropped, and she let out a few sniffs before she heard the sound of fighting get near.
She wiped her tears and took out a half-empty vial from her pocket.
She looked at the vial for a moment before she opened it and swallowed all the liquid inside it.
They might have lost this war, but she at least had no intention of leaving their fate in the hands of the enemy.
She knew how much Stannis hated Lannisters, Joffrey, and herself.
If he captured them alive, there was no limit to what he would do. And she would rather take their lives herself than give her enemy that pleasure.
A moment later, the effects from the overdose of the Essence of Nightshade hit her, and she started feeling drowsy at once.
She looked at her child, noticing that his breathing had stopped at some time, and a strained cry left her throat.
He looked so peaceful when he was sleeping. He always did.
She wished she could… spend some more time… with him.
And at that moment, Cersei felt an emotion she had never felt before.
She was remorseful.
She was remorseful for mistreating Jaime, remorseful for having Robert killed, remorseful for mistreating Sansa Stark, remorseful for making so many enemies...
If she hadn't done those things, perhaps she would have had more time to spend with her children.
She kissed his forehead one last time before the effects of the drug took over, and she fell asleep… one last time.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.422: Seizing the Throne
Ch.423: A Week in Dorne
Ch.424: A Spar with Oberyn Martell