command [joffrey baratheon]

[4] dining with announcements

The dinner arrived quicker than I had expected.

The only time my chamber door had been opened was when handmaidens came in to do my hair and to bring me the dress Joffrey had sent for.

It was a beautiful, elegant dress with unique, black embroideries at the upper body part. It was broadly decorated in the colours of house Tyrell and Lannister. The blue my family was often wearing covered the area above the waist while gold and red graced the lower part.

"My lady, it's time.", my handmaiden told me when the time on that day had arrived. I still didn't know her name even though she had been helping me every day since I had arrived. She was quite small and had straight dark blonde hair braided to a single section.

She wasn't ugly, quite the contrary, if she'd do something else with her hair and wear other dresses, she would have looked like a real lady.

"What's your name, girl?", I asked her friendly. She did so much for me here and I wanted her to trust me.

"Kenly", she said smiling back shyly putting up the last piece of my hair, completing my hairdo.

"That's a beautiful name for such a beautiful girl", I added, and she blushed. I guessed barely someone ever told her that or complemented her. What a shame, I thought. If you weren't born in a rich family, you barely had a chance as a girl out there to be respected...

Kenly showed me the way to the king's dining hall where all the Lannisters had already taken a seat on the long, heavy table. I felt insecure, knowing none of the attendants for longer than a few days, wearing an expensive dress for the first time and having to break the news about my marriage in no time.

Eventually the king himself was the one who stood up and guided me to my seat. "Have a seat", he smiled at me and whispered. "My queen."

The whole situation was more than unpleasant for me, but the feeling got even worse when the rest of my family had arrived.

"Lyra! We haven't seen you in two days! Darling, how are you?", Margaery scurried over to me, after she curtsied in front of everyone.

"I was fine, I needed some time to fully arrive here. Now I feel like I have.", I explained.

She knew something was wrong. I could tell by the way she looked back at me.

But instead of asking she just sat down and smiled at Cersei, the queen mother.

"Your dress is beautiful. It reminds me of the roses in Highgarden, the fabric has a lovely colour.", she complemented Joffrey's mother and smiled at her brightly.

", she complemented Joffrey's mother and smiled at her brightly.

Cersei had to force herself to smile at least a bit. "I could only tell you the same about yours. You look wonderful."

I looked at Joffrey, who was clearly bored by this conversation. He coughed and spoke up:

"So, dear guests of houses Tyrell and Lannister. I, the king, have something to announce. I'm aware of the fact that I took a holy vow when I agreed to marry Lady Margaery. But in the name of the gods, the king can please whatever he wants to. Lady Margaery, ...", he stopped for a second and smiled at her, her looking paler than usual, "I am sorry to tell you that, but I am not going to take you as my wife."

Loras jumped of his chair and threw his fists onto the table. "With all respect your grace, WE MADE A DEAL!"

"How dare you to speak to the king like that? Don't you learn how to approach people in higher echelons than yourself in Highgarden.", Cersei interrupted him with a weirdly calm voice.