𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕔𝕦𝕓𝕤 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕥𝕙 𝕥𝕠𝕠 ; (ℂ𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕚 𝕩 𝕆ℂ🐺🦁)

𝟙𝟙 - 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖, 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕣

𝔼𝕪𝕖𝕤 of green steel greeted me when I returned to my chambers late the next day. "Has something happened?", I asked, concerned to find Cersei in this place at such an hour with a grim expression on her face. "Should I answer that question honestly or lie as you did?", Cersei returned, her voice cold. Taken aback, I waited for her to elaborate, although I already sensed where this was going. Upon seeing that I wasn't going to reply, Cersei let out an annoyed sigh and continued in that icy tone she usually only took on at court. "You see, Varys has just told me the most interesting thing... one of his little birds happens to be Loras Tyrell's lover, and Loras had quite a story to tell him yesterday. Apparently, he is to be a man married soon. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" I swallowed hard. "Cersei..." She raised a hand to stop me and continued. "At first, I thought maybe your sister told you, and maybe she only told you today, so you would have talked to me about it when we saw each other again. But then I remembered your face yesterday, before you told me you heard nothing of interest. Before you lied to me." She got up from the chair she had been sitting in and walked over to me. "You saw it, didn't you? When they plotted it? You saw it and then you lied to my face about it without a moment of consideration." Her face softened, unable to uphold her anger anymore. Beneath it was only disappointment, and that hurt me much more than any of her blade-like wrath ever could. "We need to be able to trust each other, Vallery. You yourself asked me to be honest with you, and the first chance you get, you break that promise. I don't ask that you hold yourself to that vow if it pains you, but you have to understand that I do not forgive easily, and even to you, I will not give infinite chances. You can now explain why you lied to me, and I hope you will at least be sincere about your reasons, or tell me to leave." I knew she didn't just mean leave for the night. "I love you, Cersei", I began. "And I know that I'm a hypocrite for withholding such information when I judged you for the same thing, and I couldn't be more sorry about that. It didn't feel good, it didn't feel right, and I did contemplate it, but... Sansa is my family, and she's miserable here, you know she is, and this might have been her one chance of getting away without significant insult to you, to your family. I couldn't betray her. I'm sorry." "But why did you think telling me would mean a betrayal to her? Why didn't you just explain to me then what you just told me? Did you really think I would run to my father and sell her out, or stop her myself, or do anything at all about it? I don't care about keeping her here, that's all Father, ever in need of hostages. You could have trusted me with this. Why didn't you?" Cersei's voice was almost sad now, and it broke my heart. "I'm sorry", I repeated. "I just wanted to protect my family, and I couldn't take any risks in that. Realistically, I know you would never have done anything to harm her. But with your, albeit involuntary, connection to Tywin, I was scared it would get out somehow." Cersei cupped my cheek. "I understand. I may not be on the greatest terms with most of my family, but I truly understand your wanting to protect your kin. Anyone would. Still, we are in an engagement that notoriously goes against all our relatives' wishes, so I have to warn you: there may come a day when you have to choose. It's a terrible choice, but not an unlikely one for us to have to make, and our consensus on it could very well be crucial to our survival when that day is here. I have made my choice, can you make yours?"

She didn't wait for me to answer, perhaps didn't expect an answer just yet. Walking over to the dresser, she poured two glasses of wine, handing me one when I followed after her - an offering of peace. "Here. You'll need this for the second part of what I came to say." What could be worse than the argument we had just had? "Tell me", I said, fidgeting nervously with the glass as we both sat down. "As you can imagine, Varys didn't just tell me what he had learned, he told the entire Small Council. And, as you correctly predicted, my father didn't exactly rejoice to hear of the young lovers." She laughed bitterly. "I won't bore you with the details. Point is: he held me back after the meeting and called my brother in to relate to us both his plan of action. Sansa will not be marrying Loras... I will." I choked on my wine. "She will be wed to Tyrion." Splatters of wine landed on the carpet as I coughed, forming little stains stark as blood against the white fabric. "What?", I exclaimed when I had regained my breath. Cersei nodded, sharing my appalment. "Apparently, it has come to the people's attention how much time we spend together, and the people talk. My dear father means to put an end to certain rumors about us by seeing me married off to someone with an equal stain on his reputation and, what's probably more important to him, a considerable amount of lands that would pass to my sons after his death." Dread filled me, not only at the thought of Cersei marrying and bearing children for Margaery's brother, but also at the rumors she had mentioned. "How come we haven't heard any of this talk about us?" "Rumors rarely reach their subject quickly", Cersei remarked. "But from the way Father made it out to be, half the country and their dogs have heard at least some little thing about the Queen Mother and her new favorite companion." I leaned back in my chair, staring into the wine that I was absent-mindedly swirling around. "Shit." "Precisely", Cersei replied. "Why Sansa?", I said after a while, lifting my head. Cersei looked at me in confusion. "Why marry her to Tyrion and not me?", I explained. "Do you want to be married to that lecherous little stump?", Cersei sneered. "No, I mean that your father would surely have arranged for this marriage to secure the North. But I am the key to the North after Robb, not Sansa. So why did he betroth her to your brother?" Cersei studied the wall opposite her. "My father's exact words on that matter are a detail I would have liked to book under 'irrelevant to the problem at hand', but since you ask so directly... I believe his literal wording was "The girl is easier to manipulate. We'll get rid of the older one somehow soon enough, once she's no more use as a hostage." I guess he intends to marry you off to some lesser lordling or send you to the septas or something after Tyrion has laid claim to the North through your sister so you'll no longer be a threat." I misliked the sound of everything Cersei had just said. "Why would I be no more use as a hostage, though? My brother Robb might still treat with him, and as long as he's alive, the North is his, anyways, not Sansa's or mine." Cersei shrugged, a defeated gesture. "I don't understand his plan, either, but when has my father ever been transparent about his work? I feel like he relies entirely on your brother to lose the war very soon and on you not to lay claim to his kingdom, but he isn't a man to put all his faith in chance. Whatever he has planned, he does not trust his own children to know about it, so it must be truly ingenius", she mocked. I wasn't entirely convinced, but I knew Cersei couldn't be swayed in her self-righteous confidence that nothing bad could ever happen to her, and I didn't want to risk picking another fight. "So what happens when you marry Loras?", I asked quietly. Her silence was audible. "I suppose I'll go to Highgarden", she finally replied. "I doubt I'll be allowed to go with you, will I?", I probed. Cersei laughed. "That would serve Father right, wouldn't it? He sells me off to stop people from assuming we're together and you just go and accompany me. Technically, no one could stop you from going - you aren't officially a hostage here, and I don't think my son has any reason to forbid you from staying with me, unless of course his grandfather whispers in his ear. If you were to ask Joffrey alone, it might actually work out. Father will be furious, of course, but I don't much mind that. As I said, I've made my choice."