-Chapter 49-
-POV MC-
I closed my account ledger upon seeing my beautiful wife already ready for the New Year's party and said:
"What is my magnificent queen doing so far from her chambers where I had ordered her to remain until I returned to find her there?"
She sidestepped my desk, one hand on her belly which I found much too large for six moons of pregnancy, and skillfully slid onto my lap.
'Though I would never dare share my observations with her, I might wake up emasculated,' I thought.
"It's... really unfortunate, but the queen doesn't care about your orders, Lord Protector."
'She loves having power over people, and she also loves subduing a man with more power than she, but I managed to transform this form of sadism into masochism.'
*Slap*
I slapped her buttocks, saying: "The Lord Protector has the prerogative."
"Ahhh... how dare you raise your hand against the queen regent? That's a crime of high treason," she said, bringing her face close to mine, so close that I could feel the minty breath from the toothpaste I had made myself caressing my cheeks.
"Do you want something from me, woman?" I asked, moving my hands.
She smiled and then said, grabbing my hands:
"I want to know what you plan to do about the usurpers who want to take my son's throne."
I kissed my magnificent lioness and then said:
"I've made sure everything is perfect for today. I want everyone to be able to move on."
Her smile faded as she saw I wasn't answering clearly, so I said: "But if you really want to know, not much."
"Are you mocking me?" she said, standing up, furious, her behavior changing completely.
I rolled my eyes and got up from my seat.
I placed my hands on her waist and said:
"The Tyrells are still too powerful, so we must ensure they are loyal to us and depend on us. That's why Balon Greyjoy is still breathing, because once he loses his throne or simply loses to Robb Stark, he will have to attack a larger target with less danger."
"The Tyrells will make short work of the Ironborn army; they can field tens, even hundreds of thousands of fully armored soldiers," she said, mocking.
'My dear, you always think you're smarter than everyone else; that's one of your biggest flaws,' I thought, observing one of Cersei's most glaring faults.
"Stop looking at me like that," she said, narrowing her eyes in anger.
"Like what?" I asked, confused, as I didn't feel my gaze had changed.
She freed herself from my embrace and said: "Like someone who knows I'm saying something foolish and pities me for being so stupid."
"I'm not mocking you, and I don't think you're stupid, but all the kingdoms can field more soldiers than the Iron Islands. The strength of their army is not what makes the Ironborn a scourge and a danger to the entire realm. What makes them the threats we all fear is that they are all pirates. They pillage, burn, rape, and then flee without asking for more," I said.
"So what?" asked Cersei, not understanding where I was going.
"Well, imagine 300 ships splitting up and attacking the entire coast. How would you protect your lands?" I said, unrolling a map of Westeros on my desk.
I sat down and then pulled her back onto my lap, trying to adopt a calm tone and reassuring demeanor so she could think without feeling judged.
She looked intently at the map and then said:
"It's too wide to protect the entire coast."
"Exactly, it's too wide. They can attack anywhere, and since they sail at sea, they are faster and more flexible. They can attack a farm, a mill, a village, a town, a city, seize a port, or even an entire island. That's what makes them strong," I said.
Finally realizing the threat they posed, Cersei narrowed her eyes, this time focused and aware that we needed to act. Then she said: "What should we do then?"
"As I told you, for now, nothing at all. I've taken over Varys' and Littlefinger's spy networks, combining them with mine, and lately, my spies have reported many bad news from across the Narrow Sea," I said, explaining why I wasn't rushing into war and taking my time.
"What kind of news?" asked Cersei.
I took a deep breath before saying:
"Daenerys Targaryen has managed to take control of Slaver's Bay in less than three moons."
"All of Slaver's Bay?!" she said, surprised.
"No, but she will face no resistance for what remains," I said, nodding.
'Of course, without my involvement in that quagmire,' I thought, my mind already beginning to formulate a plan.
"How is that even possible? She had nothing, and her dragons must not be larger than goats," she said, confused and annoyed.
"In fact, it's extremely simple. She tricked those fool slave traders of Astapor and, with about 8,000 Unsullied, she took Astapor. For now, Yunkai is resisting, but I'm not sure that will still be the case by the time we speak."
"How can you even trick 8,000 Unsullied out of their hands?" she asked.
"She sold one of her dragons, but since the dragon only listens to her, it burned the slavers once she received the rod, the symbol of authority over the Unsullied," I said.
"That's pathetic," said Cersei, disgusted by the slavers' stupidity.
I raised an eyebrow, agreeing with her, and she added: "How are we going to get rid of her?"
From her tone and the furrowed brow, I could clearly detect the slight panic she felt at the mere idea of facing 8,000 Unsullied and three dragons.
"For now, I don't know yet, but I've already set my plan in motion to hinder her movements. First, I spread a rumor among the Dothraki that a bloodthirsty maegi demon with silver-gold hair and violet eyes cursed her husband, the greatest Khal, and that she was sent by demons to kill the stallion who mounts the world with her magic."
"Why?" asked Cersei, confused.
"Because she's trying to become the savior of the entire world. She lived her whole life as a prisoner of her brother and now she's trying to free herself while freeing the rest of the world. She thinks she knows better than everyone else because her dragons forge a world with their fire where she can't be wrong. She massacres while trying to pass herself off as a benevolent goddess, so I ruin her image before people even meet her. They will see her good sides, but they won't follow her blindly like little puppies intimidated by her dragons," I said, explaining my steps to my wife.
"But they will never oppose her," said Cersei.
"Indeed, they won't. That's why I hired ten pirate captains to burn all the ships and all the merchants trying to trade with Dragon Bay," I said.
"They might betray you," said Cersei.
I nodded and then asked:
"Do you want to know why they obey me?"
She nodded, and I said: "For the simple reason that I've armed each of their ships with scorpions, weapons capable of slaying dragons."
"So they'll kill them," she said, her voice joyful.
I shook my head and said: "I'm not really sure about that, but at least she won't let her dragons fly outside the walls of her city until they are big enough to fight properly, and that will take a few years."
"Perfect, in a few years we will have finished bringing all the lords of Westeros to heel," said Cersei.
"No, we mustn't focus on what's around us. We need to focus on ourselves. We need to form a central block, solid and capable of withstanding anything the world throws at us," I said, disapproving of the idea of relying on vassals to provide us with men, arms, and food.
"And who will be part of this block?" asked Cersei, curious but also intrigued.
"First, there is the block composed of the Tyrell-Lannister-Connington alliance. Then there is the Connington-Lannister alliance, and lastly, there is the core, us two and all those we love."
"The Conningtons and the Lannisters are part of the core?"
"No," I said. And seeing Cersei bristle, I raised a hand and said: "For example, Jon Connington was a Connington, which doesn't mean he was part of our block or our core. You don't love all the Lannisters, and don't say otherwise. However, all the Lannisters will be part of the Lannister-Connington block, which includes..."
"NO," she said, interrupting me before I could go further, ready to have a nervous breakdown.
"YES!" I said in a severe voice, the one I only used when giving orders to my soldiers.
"You can't force me to love him," she said in an injured tone, more docile, understanding that I was serious about this and that I would tolerate no conflict between her and her brother.
"And you can't listen to the ravings of an old madwoman and take that for divine will," I said, knowing full well why she reacted so excessively towards Tyrion.
"He will..."
"Shut up, Cersei. You aren't that stupid, are you? To believe the delusions of this madwoman to the point that you hate your little brother for no reason."
Her chest heaved quickly, and she said very softly with palpable hatred: "He killed my mother."
"Fine, I agree with you. He killed your mother. Do you know who else killed his mother? Ronald. His mother died. Should I hate him for that?" I said.
"That's different and..." she said, looking away.
"And if you died, should I mistreat our child?" I said, grabbing her chin to make her look me in the eyes.
"Don't you dare compare that monster to my child," she said, furious.
"Our child... and no, I'm not comparing them. I'm just showing you the absurdity of your words," I said before adding: "Your brother is a good person, one of the only Lannisters with a real heart of gold. And even if he's not the noble and strong lion your father wanted him to be, I'm happy our child can have an uncle as good and intelligent who will watch over him. I know you don't want to hear it, but you MUST move on. Everyone dies someday, and don't forget you have two brothers."
"Jaime would never..."
"Of the two brothers you have, it's him who threw a nine-year-old child from a tower," I said, my hatred still palpable at the mere memory of that event.
She looked down, guilty, and I lifted her head with two fingers on her chin.
"I forgave you because Ronald did the same, but I didn't forgive him and I don't trust him. So if you want this to work, we need to be united, and that includes Tyrion too."
"I won't be forced to love him," she said more as a command than a request.
"You don't even have to like him, just treat him like a human being and protect him because he's part of our family, just as I protect the interests of Tommen and Tywin because they are our family."
"Very well," she said, clearly reluctant.
My solemn expression vanished in an instant, and then I said with a big smile: "Never forget that I love you, okay?"
She nodded, then lowered her eyes with a half-shy, half-smiling look, which was very rare for her. Then she said:
"You know very well that I love you too."