THE NIGHT | arthur dayne

Chapter 8

A few years had passed and all of Tywin's children remained un-betrothed. Prince Rhaegar also remained un-betrothed, which is why Cersei packed up to move with her father to King's Landing, Jorelle tagging along because she had nothing better to do and wanted to make herself helpful.

Jorelle and Tywin both knew that Cersei was going to have to get the prince himself to decide he wanted to marry her–since the king could not be convinced–which was going to be a difficult feat. Cersei was smart and cunning, but wasn't quite at the same level as Jorelle and Tywin. It was a different kind. Cersei had too much love, too much optimism, too much loyalty. Jorelle would probably turn against her own family if it worked in her favor and she knew her father wouldn't blame her.

So, Jorelle was there to help her sister strategize. Rhaegar has taken quite a liking towards Jorelle and the girl was hoping she could shift that over to Cersei. She was also just excited to see Rhaegar and Arthur again as it had been so long.

"How much longer until we're there?" Cersei asked, shutting the curtain on the window of the carriage.

"Does it matter?" Jorelle replied. "Asking won't make us get there any sooner."

"I'm just excited," Cersei said. "No need to be so mean."

"I wouldn't be mean if you weren't so annoying."

"Girls," Septa Saranella scolded. "You must not behave like this anymore. Especially not once we arrive."

Both Jorelle and Cersei stayed quiet the rest of the ride.

When they arrived at Kings Landing, neither girl needed to be told. As they approached the wall and rode through the big gate, both of them knew exactly where they were. It was exactly as they had heard it described.

Jorelle leaned her head towards the carriage window to see more clearly as they passed crowds of people. She had only ever seen this many people in one place when there were tournaments at Casterly Rock. Kings Landing was like this every day.

"It's amazing," Jorelle said, mostly to herself. Cersei shifted confidently in her seat as she thinks about her new home.

The carriage arrived at the castle and came to a sudden stop. Cersei stepped out first, a knight helping her down the steps. Jorelle followed with no one to help her.

Tywin walked over to the two girls as Jaime dismounted from his horse and lined up with them to be greeted by the royal family.

"Welcome to King's Landing," King Aerys boomed. He raised his arms to signal towards the great city surrounding them.

"It's a pleasure to see you again, your grace," Cersei replied with a curtsy.

Jorelle was already tired of all the pleasantries and just wanted to be brought to her quarters where she could rest, but there was so much to do before then.

Aerys made some unnecessarily long speech about how he's waited to greet the Lannister children at his home as they have greeted him at theirs. Jorelle thought it ironic considering Aerys had left so angrily during his last visit.

Then Queen Rhaella mumbled about how wonderful it was to have guests. She was always known to be a woman of few words.

After the pleasantries, Aerys went off with Tywin to discuss the latest news of the kingdom and went to tend to young Viserys, which she spent most of her time doing. Cersei and Jorelle were left with Rhaegar to receive a tour. Cersei was eager but Jorelle would much rather explore the castle herself.