Guest Room, High Garden - The Reach, Westeros
The day of the wedding was approaching, almost all preparations had been finished and everything had been dealt with. With the day being so close, the mood of Cersei worsened.
She had tried to play along and pretend, especially after the shouting and arguing she had with her father; which resulted in her leaving defeated and forced to obey once again. However, there was nothing for her there to help with her mood.
The place was all too boring, too strange. She had Trystan, Visenya and Tommen but everyone was busy socializing and she also knew that after the wedding, they would leave and she would be all alone with those stuck-up roses.
Loras had barely talked to her, too busy flirting with squires and spending time with Trystan; as if trying to get him into his pants as well.
That was the only thought that amused her.
For the precious golden boy of their Father to end up being like Loras, uninterested in women. If that were to happen, she knew their Father would have a fit and Trystan would no longer be the perfect son in his eyes.
It would be about time for him to also suffer like the rest of us, she thought and wished she could be present when all would happen.
With the wedding approaching, though, even such thoughts did not seem to help. Even the night she spent with Jaime before her departure seemed to have been unable to make her mood any better.
Of course, as if she had sensed it, her perfect in everything good-mother of hers had visited her.
Cersei was sitting by the window, overlooking the green maze at the back of the castle.
Honestly, how can someone see so much green every day and not get bored of that damn colour?
She was already getting sick of it and it had only been a few days.
She had her back turned on the Dragoness, clearly not in the mood to give her any attention or even the basic respect and face her. The older woman had been trying to talk with her but the Lioness was stubborn and this time she was not going to give up as easily as the other times.
Because at the end of the day, it is her fault that I am stuck in another marriage and have to ruin my body by birthing babies while she gets to live her lie however she pleases.
"You do know you will be able to visit us, right? You visited Casterly Rock more than once while married to Robert and it was further away than Highgarden," Visenya said, standing in the middle of the room.
She did not mind that Cersei was keeping her back turned, nor did she force her to look at her. She was trying to have some talk with her, perhaps somehow offer her some advice or help her.
The Dragoness was not happy that this had to happen, mostly keeping Cersei isolated from the rest of her family but there was no other choice.
Tommen needed to be free of her influence and she was complicating some of the plans in King's Landing.
At the same time, they needed to strengthen their ties with the Tyrells, especially since Stannis had yet to make a move on them.
Cersei scoffed.
"And how often do you think my caring Father will allow me to visit, huh?" she asked, glaring at some girls passing through the maze and they were picking up flowers. "Unless I am with baby, he will not even look at me."
Visenya let out a sigh.
"Forget your Father; we will want you to visit. Think of Jaime and Trystan and even Tommen. He is your son and he will want to see his mother."
The Lioness could almost see her own scowling reflection on the glass window, her gaze darkening with grief and anger as she thought of her boy, her very first son and how she lost him; figuratively and literally.
"Not for long. Soon, he will be all over that fake smiling whore of his that the world now calls Queen," she spat, her nails trying to dig into the stone frame of the window but to no avail. "Joffrey used to wish to see me and be around me and then that whore changed that and then I lost him," her voice cracked, her mind trying not to bring up that haunting memory of that cursed wedding where she lost him.
Her good-mother left a heavy sigh, her gaze softening upon hearing her voice cracking like that. She was not surprised that Cersei was not over Joffrey's death and she did not expect it, either.
It was never easy, losing a child, especially in such a way.
The Dragoness did feel a little bit guilty for what she helped happen with the poisoning but most of the guilt was because she saw the mess Cersei had become and how deeply it had affected her.
She might not have been that close to her stepdaughter but she still cared for her, even though Cersei wanted nothing to do with her. Seeing her all hurt and not being able to even know the truth, was not always the easiest burden to carry.
"I should have acted sooner," she heard Cersei mumble, talking mostly to herself but Visenya could still hear her. "I should have sent that guard to kill him early at night."
"What did you say, Cersei?" she exclaimed and took a few steps forward, wanting to confirm that she had heard correctly.
A small mocking laugh escaped her lips.
"I said I should have planned for the guard to kill him sooner," she scoffed at herself. "I was stupid to give him so much time, letting that little... monster escape after what he did to my son."
"Cersei, Tyrion did not kill Joffrey. Even the combat proved it," Visenya argued.
But the Lioness was not so quick to believe her.
"Oh please, the combat and the will of the gods." Another scoff came from her lips. "A bunch of superstitious ideas that were made by desperate men, who hoped they would be saved. There was no godly interference in that combat. Tyrion should have just been killed and paid for his crimes," she said, finally turning her head to look at her good-mother, not hiding the anger and hatred she had for her dwarf brother.
Visenya looked at her and she could see that Cersei was not going to drop it anytime soon. She was stuck at the idea that Tyrion did it to the point that she believed it to be true; even when evidence could easily be presented and prove her otherwise.
The Dragoness thought to continue this discussion but quickly stopped herself, realizing that it would get them nowhere. The only thing she would achieve would be angering Cersei more and eventually the Lioness would turn the topic against her like it had happened during that family meeting.
She was already in a bad mood and unfortunately this time, her good-mother could not do much to change it.
Cersei wanted to alienate herself from her stupid influence; she wanted to be with Jaime and Jaime alone. She was tired of being the one suffering the most amongst everyone in that stupid family, being seen as nothing but a pawn to be used for their selfish father and his stupid legacy.
She took notice of the silent look Visenya was giving her and Cersei shook her head, disappointed.
"What? Aren't you going to try and change my mind? Or play it a good mother and comfort me with some hugs and words before you turn your back on me and abandon me here?" she asked rhetorically, already starting to direct her frustration and anger towards her; since she had no one else.
"Will it change anything if I try?" Visenya asked, unaffected by her tone or her quick accusations.
"It won't. So you just take your fake sympathy and get out before I order the guards to do so," she threatened, although both women knew it would never happen.
Lannister men or not, their allegiance and loyalty were to Visenya as she was the Lady of Casterly Rock. Cersei could be the former Queen Regent, she could be the daughter of Tywin but even the soldiers seemed to prefer a foreigner over the pure-born Lion they had once served.
"If you wish, I will not pressure you," the Dragoness said, knowing when it was time to just take a step back.
She turned her back and walked out of the room, her chin always held high. Unlike all the other times, this time Cersei did not ask her to stop or turn back. This time, Cersei actually let her walk out of the room and did not wish to see her; again.
King's Landing, Crownlands, Westeros - Around the Same Time
Half of the Royal Family, including the King and Queen, had been gone for days now. The trip was long on its own and if one would also count their stay and then the returning trip, one expected them to be gone for more than a full moon rotation.
It seemed that with their absence, things started to change and new troubles started to arise beneath the noses of those left to take care of things in King's Landing. One was the fact that Tyrion and Varys had yet to be sighted and not even Olenna's latest spies seemed capable of finding them.
If that was not one thing that created a migraine for Tywin, there was another issue that seemed to be slowly growing bigger.
A man by the name of High Sparrow had appeared, seemingly out of thin air. He was the newly elected leader of the Sparrows, the poorest of those sworn to the Faith of the Seven. Because of the war, many men, women and children were killed as faiths collided, food became sacred and poverty increased.
This left many of the people riled up, demanding more. Joffrey had tortured them enough, the royals had starved them for decades now with one king worse than the other. They had never truly rebelled until that one time when they tried to go after Joffrey but failed.
Now, they were more organized than just a random big group of hungry civilians. Now, they were growing in numbers as a big family with a common goal. Their leader was a man whose name was unknown but everyone called him the High Sparrow and was like a High Septon to them.
This... mysterious man had made no direct move against the royalty living behind the tall walls of the Red Keep. What he had done was spend days on end giving speeches, talking about the true faith of the Seven.
He talked of confessing your sins so the Seven would forgive you, or each of the Seven gods would depending on what kind of sin you had committed. He talked of how material things were not needed and how everyone was equal in the eyes of the Seven.
His words seemed to almost enchant the common folk and the number of attendees only seemed to grow each day, with more and more believing in the High Sparrow and being motivated by his words.
This had started to become alarming to those in the Red Keep, who knew too well that if the common folk were to fully unite; they would outnumber them by a lot because of the difference in numbers.
No one could forget how the Faith Militant and its uprising came to be no more than one hundred and fifty years ago.
Small Council Chambers, Tower of the Hand, Red Keep – King's Landing, Crownlands – Westeros
Tywin was standing with his hands behind his back and had his body facing sideways at the Small Council, or at least the members present; Jaime, Olenna and Qyburn. He was hearing the latest reports from the Queen of Thorns and her latest "spies" that had been spread across the capital.
"I am telling you that this High Sparrow, whomever he truly is, is gaining more followers than we can get enemies in this ongoing war," she commented after explaining the latest public speech where the number of common folk present could even surpass a thousand.
"I say we move the soldiers and stop him next time he tries to give a speech," Jaime suggested, sitting across from Olenna.
The woman scoffed.
"You can't take free speech away, boy. If we try to stop him using force, we will be the tyrants in the eyes of the people and they will come after our heads much faster."
"And what do you suggest we do? We can't just sit here while he talks like that about us. People believe him more and more with each passing day. Who is to say he will not turn them against us one of those days?" Jaime asked, worried that there would be troubles by the time Tommen and the others returned from Highgarden.
"No one," Tywin commented, placing one hand on the back of his chair as he was done listening to them arguing. "No one can assure us that he will not turn them against us," he said, making Jaime look at Olenna as if he had won the argument. "However, we simply cannot use force to stop him without risking turning the whole city against us," he continued, making Jaime drop his smug expression.
"Father, you always said that sometimes force is necessary and so is fear," Jaime argued but immediately regretted it when Tywin sent him a sharp look.
"When it is necessary and when it is wise to do so. Tell me, Jaime. We follow your plan and we use the soldiers to suppress those fanatics. When the whole capital turns against us, when we will be outnumbered thousands to hundreds, what will we do then? Hmm?" he asked rhetorically.
The younger Lion did not answer and looked away from the sharp and hard gaze of his father. He knew his father was right and he could already see where this scenario would lead them, to a very bad, violent and quick ending.
When Jaime did not reply, Tywin turned to face the Small Council fully; his hand still at the top of the chair.
"This is a tricky situation. For now, all we can do is wait and try to appease the villagers' hatred against us to reduce the number of those who choose to follow this... High Sparrow, as he calls himself."
An idea came into Olenna's mind.
"We still have a lot of provisions left from the Reach. Maybe try some places where basic resources and supplies can be given for free. The people are hungry, let us help them. This way we can prove to be the good guys in this story."
This made Tywin think for a moment, his fingers faintly drumming against the wooden frame of the chair.
"Very well. We will try that for now. I presume you can handle this without ending up starving us," he said with a passive rhetorical question and looked at the older woman.
"Oh please, you think I am some inexperienced maiden? I will handle them just fine," she said and waved her hand dismissively, none truly aware of how her plan would eventually backfire and would threaten them all.