command [joffrey baratheon]

[4] dining with announcements

Scared of what would follow next, I glazed at Margaery, whose smile had disappeared.

"Your...Your grace, did I do something wrong?", she asked curiously but visibly tense.

"No.", Joffrey replied while ignoring Loras, "I've just changed my mind. I guess it doesn't matter who is marrying who. And as you're not the only girl, House Tyrell begots...." He looked over at me. "Lady Lyra. Come here."

Everyone stared at me. I could feel it.

I walked over to Joffrey, feeling like I'd be breaking down every second.

And there we were, him standing next to me, in front of both our families, holding my hand.

"Ser Loras, our contract is still valid. I just chose between your sisters, as you didn't let me choose earlier. Your beautiful older sister will be married to my little brother Tommen, I simply replaced the names on the contract. No one loses." he proudly announced his plan.

When nobody responded he proceeded. "Westeros is lucky having a smart king like me."

He looked at me grinning, obviously expecting me to say something.

I swallowed before I talked.

"I am thankful for everything the king says and does for our family. I am loyal to my beloved Joffrey.", I said, and I actually didn't lie about it. I was going to be loyal and I wasn't exactly unhappy. I was only afraid of my family's reaction in the first place.

So, I hid my happiness.

"Well, I suppose the king has spoken.", I heard my grandma, lady Olenna talking first after the long silence. "Is there anything nice for pudding?"

After Joffrey kissed my hand again, I went back to my seat. We dined and I had to admit that I loved all the different kind of dishes there were. I enjoyed the food so much, I even forgot I was sitting next to my sister, who wasn't eating but staring onto the table.

After we had finished, grandmother Olenna and Lord Tywin Lannister, Joffrey's uncle, had a talk and it felt like ages until they had covered all possible political topics.

Before I was going to leave, Joffrey took me aside.

"Sleep well, my queen. This dress suits you incredibly well by the way.", Joffrey said unexpectedly soft to me and smiled.

"Thank you. I wish you pleasant dreams today, my king.", I replied and was brave enough to place a kiss onto his cheek.

First, he stared at me, as if he didn't know how to handle it, but then he smiled brighter than before.

And then, when everything seemed perfect, he ruined everything with one single sentence.

"Don't worry about Lady Margaery too much. I guess after all it doesn't matter which Lannister puts the baby into which Tyrell.", he started as if it was the most casual thing to bring up. "Your sister will give birth to a Lannister baby of the king's family, she should be grateful."

"She probably is, believe me. Overall, all of us are thankful for everything your grace does for our family."

"One last thing", he hissed.

"I know, all these formal things do sound nice, but I want you to call my by my name, your grace is too...distanced. Every peasant says that, I don't think married people should call themselves that. I can't stand it."

"I'll be thinking about appropriate notations tonight then."

"M'lady", he bowed I felt his gaze on my turned back until I disappeared around the corner.

Maybe my life wouldn't be as bad as I expected, Joffrey seemed nice, everyone had their temper sometimes, right?, I argued with myself in my head.

I saw Margaery and Loras standing downstairs carrying a candle to find their way back through the night and to their dorms. I overheard them arguing about something. About me.

"YOU.", my sister's normally lovely voice had turned into pure rage the second she noticed me.

"Who do you think you are? I was supposed to be the queen. We've been talking about this so many times. How dare you just get here and spoil everything? Why did you do that? It all made sense, youngest Tyrell marries youngest Lannister, and the older siblings of both houses marry as well. It was perfect. What have you done?", she blamed me.

"I didn't do anything, he suddenly called me to his chambers and -"

A stroke hit my face and left a burning spot on my cheek. "You went to my fiancé's chambers? Why would my own sister turn out to be a whore?"

My own sister had just hit me right in the face. And as the pain eased leaving a pounding on that sot, I made myself the promise that when I was the queen, things like that should never go unpunished.