Hi, Today I will not be talking about Patreon, but by thanking you for the love and company you've given to my story, it's been nine months and we've reached chapter HUNDRED.
Did you hear? Chapter ONE HUNDRED, not all stories on this platform reach this point, and I'm super proud of myself, and you know what's the best part? That the canon hasn't even started! That's crazy, that's what I call good writing without needing to be boring. But well, I digress, thank you very much, and enjoy chapter one hundred.
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~~~Cersei Lannister, Eighth Moon, 277 AC~~~
~~~Casterly Rock, Westerland~~~
"Cersei, are you ready?" Jaime's voice brought me back to the present, to the now, the moment when the guests were arriving more and more, my father would marry again, even after promising us he would not do so again, though as he proved, his word could change.
"Yes, Jaime, come in!" I replied to my soul mate, the one with whom I was the only one I could trust, open my heart to, and wait for answers since we both shared one womb, one mother, one life.
"We cannot delay any longer, Cersei, father is waiting for us in the great courtyard, the caravan from the North was sighted a few hours ago, they should be arriving by now," Jaime, always influenced by his duty and love for our father, even sometimes greater than his love for me, was anxious to go to my father as soon as possible.
Didn't he understand that father would have another woman? And that she would replace our mother? "I don't want to receive those wild men, they are beneath us". I responded with a snort not worthy of a lady, but one that made clear my displeasure with seeing those men who looked more like dirty old bears than people.
"Cersei!" Jaime, as was happening more often than not, raised his voice to me, "You cannot say such things, father will punish you, the lords of the North are here for our father's wedding, not being with him at the time of the Northmen's arrival would present a moment of humiliation to our house, and father would not forgive us for that."
I sighed, I knew that the pride of our house was paramount, but that did not take away the fact that I felt dirty just being around them. "Come on, Lady Janna is waiting for us too, together we will go down to our father," and there she was again, Lady Janna, I had conflicting emotions with her, she was a strong, determined, and brilliant woman.
I was smarter than Jaime, and I understood why Father would marry her, but that didn't mean I wasn't a little self-conscious about it, while she was very well-behaved with Jaime and me, even with Tyrion's monster, it was still strange to be a few days away from having a woman at Casterly Rock who was above me.
"Cersei!" Jaime's angry voice snapped me out of my mind again, "We have to go, we'll be late," grabbing my hand, he started pulling me towards the door, as I struggled to let go and iron my dress some more.
"Children, I didn't expect you to be long," Lady Janna met us at the grand stairs leading to the great courtyard, where I could see my father in the company of my uncles and soldiers of House Lannister, as well as the presence of Prince Rhaegar.
The king had arrived two weeks ago, in the company of the two princes, Rhaegar and Viserys, plus Queen Rhaella. The latter was safe with Prince Viserys, and the king was nowhere to be seen, and Rhaegar, as crown prince, was to be present to receive the lords of the North.
"Sorry, we ran into some inconvenience before we arrived," giving me a sidelong glance, Jaime replied, earning a small chuckle from Lady Janna, "Well, never mind, but we need to hurry, or your father will be angry, and you know what his temper is like when he does."
With no more words in between, the three of us started for the great courtyard, where my father's serious and sullen countenance already saw us. "Father," Jaime and I greeted him, receiving a nod from him.
Prince Rhaegar stood beside my father, dressed in red and black garments characteristic of his house, he was incredibly beautiful, too bad my father could not have arranged a marriage, which could have made me queen someday.
"You will be queen, Cersei, if it's the last thing I do."
My father's words followed me, he would make me queen, of that I was sure, and it was my duty to wait and obey.
We were not kept waiting long by the Northerners. For, as the men posted at outposts had said. And soon, a small retinue of men could be seen entering through the Lion's Mouth. A total of fifteen men, all on strong Northern horses, made themselves known.
In front rode a stocky, bearded man with grayish-black hair and beard, gray eyes, and a stocky body, who even for his age, showed a Knight's build, if in the barbarous North there was one.
At his side, two young men followed him, they looked older than Jaime and me, and by the direwolf baked coarsely into their colorless robes, they appeared to be sons of the frontman, who I believe was Lord Rickard.
And so it turned out to be, as the man got off his horse and stood before Prince Rhaegar, then knelt, as did his two...sons and men, "my prince."
The prince, in his humility and light, accepted the greeting of the Northern Lord and then urged his host to rise, much to my chagrin, wanting to continue to see them with their knees on the earthenware floor, something of Lady Janna's doing, as she changed the floor.
"Lord Lannister, it is a pleasure to be at Casterly Rock just days before your wedding," Lord Rickard then addressed my father, his tone respectful as it should be, then glancing sideways between Jaime and me, though his gaze lingered longer on me than on Jaime.
"Lord Rickard, I hope the journey has been to your liking," my father began to engage Lord Rickard in idle small talk until it was time for introductions, "may I present my future wife, Lady Janna of Xandar."
Lady Janna, who had so far been silent and still, stepped forward and faced Lord Rickard, being of equal stature, being an impressive sight, Lord Rickard, dressed in fine but dark garments and a large strong body, next to Lady Janna dressed in garments far more expensive than all my dresses put together, along with her unattainable beauty and slender body.
"We had not had the opportunity to meet, Lady Janna, when I wanted to arrive at White Harbor, you had already left town," Lord Rickard greeted Lady Janna warmly, something that surprised me, especially because of his tone that had been cold and distant when he spoke to my father.
"I am a busy woman, Lord Rickard, and while I would have wished to speak with Lord Paramount himself and thus form better relations, I am afraid I did not have enough time to wait."
"Well, the roads delayed us a little, but it passed," Lord Rickard then urged the two young men to come to his side, who walked a little rough and stiff due to the attention, "these are my sons, Brandon and Eddard, unfortunately, my lady could not come with us, as well as my son Benjen and my daughter Lyanna."
"It is a pleasure to meet you, my lords," Lady Janna received them both with a smile befitting a lady and then looked at Jaime and me, to which I replied taking a few steps with Jaime towards her, "and these are Cersei and Jaime Lannister, they will lead you to your respective resting places."
I only smiled modestly, though inside I was furious, how was it possible that we were being forced to be a guide for these savage Northerners? However, my father did not care that Lady Janna had said so, nor did he react, so I would gain nothing by complaining.
Thus leaving my father, Lady Janna, and the Northern lords behind, I set out to walk along with Jaime in the company of the two Northerners, eager to leave them in their chambers and lose sight of them.
"And tell me Lady Cersei, what is there to distract you in this place?" but the gods were against me, and my tranquility was being measured, "there are the gardens, the slides, the galleries, or if you prefer, you might find the training grounds, barracks or armories attractive."
Brandon was captivated by the mention of the latter places, as for his brother Eddard, he only deigned to remain deathly silent, which was a more appealing aspect to me than his brother's talkative and noisy one.
"How about you, Eddard, do you like anything in particular?" Jaime, as clever as ever, encouraged the one silent person to speak, which earned him a hard look from me. Eddard didn't want to speak, but his brother's short look urged him on, "The training grounds are to my liking as well." He answered at last.
Jaime smiled, with that goofy grin he put on every time he found training partners, swords and combat were the only things that attracted him, and not the letters and books he would one day have to use when he became Lord of Casterly Rock.
"That's perfect, we can go to one after they settle in, and you could even visit the cages of the..." Whatever Jaime was about to say was silenced as the bells located in the watchtower atop the hill began to ring, to which Jaime and I went out to one of the nearest giant battlements, being followed by Brandon and Eddard, who didn't know what was going on.
"Attack of the Iron Men?" Brandon asked, with a certain gleam in his eye, "no, it's better than that," Jaime replied, not taking his eyes off the sky.
"Better?" Eddard perked up to speak, but we were more occupied with something else than talking further this time.
"ROOOAAGH!"
"RIAAAGH!"
"REEEEAGH!"
Several roars filled the air, chasing away the birds and bringing a stony silence to the Rock as a whole. Soon, several giant shadows passed over us, as we witnessed huge flying structures, being pulled and held aloft by huge, giant wyverns, how Lady Janna had explained to us.
"The airships have arrived," Jaime said excitedly, as he watched eight airships fly into a secluded part of the Rock, where a waiting camp had been laid out for the structures and the beasts that moved them. That means the Xandarian king was just a few days away from arriving.