It's been weeks since I left my room. I would have preferred it to be a choice, that I refuse to live the worldly life after such a betrayal, that I am ashamed. Except I'm being held captive by Queen Cersei. She wants to make sure I can't run away from the city until I marry Joffrey tomorrow.
After my father was put in prison, the Lannister guards set out to kill all the northerners present in the capital and keep me and my sisters in captivity.
Varys often comes to see me to keep me informed of what is happening in the capital. He told me that Arya had vanished and that even his "little birds" – the underprivileged children he employs – had not found her. He also explained to me that the queen was keeping Sansa under her wing and that she planned to use her very soon to convince Robb to bend his knee.
Cersei preferred to turn to Sansa rather than me because she knows that my sister is naive, impressionable, and madly in love with Joffrey. It's an easy prey. She has not come to see me once since our father was imprisoned, I imagine it is an order of the queen.
On the contrary, our new king, Joffrey, likes to visit me every day. He's very gentle with me, he even became friends with Arrow when he had spent the last few months hating her. I wouldn't complain if he didn't spend his time talking about our upcoming wedding or my father's imminent death.
Because even if a trial is set up, Ned is convicted. And all because of Petyr.... I can't believe I trusted him...
♐︎
The door of my room opens, as since the beginning of my confinement, without being announced my guest. In a sigh, I rise from my bed and turn to... Petyr. He hasn't come to see me once in three weeks and now he's coming to me a day before my wedding? Does he think I'm weak-minded?
After all, maybe I am. I have spent weeks obeying him.
"My love" he begins.
"Lady Diana" I cut him off. "You are no longer entitled to call me that."
"I understand your frustration, but you need to understand that..."
"That you betrayed me? That you betrayed my father, my house, and my mother, whom you claim to love since childhood?"
"I acted for the best. Ned Stark was going to start a war."
"Ned Stark was appointed Protector of the Realm by King Robert himself! In addition to breaking your oath, you betray your kingdom! You are..."
"Pathetic?"
"Pathetic."
I refuse to face him, it's too painful. I put all my trust and hope in him, I gave myself body and soul, I lost myself. I cannot face this reality.
"You..." I stutter. "You promised to protect us..."
"I promised to protect your sisters and I did."
"Arya is missing and Sansa is the prisoner of Cersei! It's not what I call "protecting"."
He approaches me, but I back down to the wall. If I let him touch me, it would be like saying he won.
"Tomorrow" I say. "Tomorrow I will be queen. And I can promise you that somehow you will regret what you did. In a few years, when you think you have succeeded, when you are at the height of your power, I will saw the feet of this throne on which you will stand and watch you fall."
"Diana..."
"Go away!"
In a sob, I let myself slide along the wall. On the other side of the room, Littlefinger remains motionless. I wonder what he must think of me right now. "Poor Diana, she must have gone mad."
"The Queen has the Council gathered, she intends to speak with Sansa today about your brother."
I don't know if he ever loved me, but it doesn't matter anymore. I'll have my revenge.
♐︎
I open the door of my room and come face to face with a Lannister guard.
"You cannot leave. Queen's order."
"By 24 hours, I'll be the queen."
The guard takes a little time to integrate this information but eventually deviates. I think he understood that if he refused me the passage, the twenty years that remained would turn into forty-eight hours.
I go in a straight line to the apartments of Cersei. The soldiers parked outside his door first cut me off before yielding to the same threat as their colleague: once queen, if they oppose me, they will have to say «goodbye» to their precious head.
When I enter, I find the three remaining advisors, Baelish, Varys and Pycelle, alongside Cersei. Sansa is writing on a piece of parchment what the queen dictates to her. It's a request for allegiance.
"What does this mean, Lannister?" I ask as I approach my sister.
"Diana!" exclaims Sansa. "They said they would protect us and that I could marry Joffrey! They did me no harm, I assure you!"
I hold her tight before I react. I had no doubt that she was healthy, it's just reassuring to see it with my own eyes.
"Lady Diana" Cersei tells me. "You should rest, tomorrow is a great day."
"I've been resting for weeks, and you've been using it to manipulate my sister and... she's done..."
I grab the piece of paper on the table and read carefully what Sansa wrote. She indeed asks Robb to come to the capital to swear allegiance to Joffrey.
You must be a complete idiot to believe that this plan will work. As soon as Robb receives this letter, he will raise an army. I know him, we were raised together, and to be honest, I would have done that as well.
"The North will not bend its knee" I say. "Much less if my father is locked up in a seedy dungeon for a crime he did not commit!"
"Your father is a traitor, my lady" replies Varys. "I'm sorry. Unfortunately, it's undeniable."
"He tried to overthrow King Joffrey" says the Grand Maester as if he were teaching me. "He further argued that the king was illegitimate to the Iron Throne."
"Because you say otherwise?" I ask him, a little smile on my face.
Cersei, with her cheeks red with anger, stands up to face me. She would like to place Sansa in my place because my sister is easily controllable. Unfortunately for her, Joffrey wants to marry me, and this is the only point on which she will not change his mind.
"If I were you" she threatens me. "I wouldn't go down that slippery slope."
"If I were you, I answer, I would avoid making a thirteen-year-old believe that she can become queen magically while the king's wedding is scheduled for tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" wonders Sansa.
"Go back to your room, it's an order."
"Diana! What are you saying?"
"In your room, Sansa!"
"But..."
"Now."
I'm waiting for my sister to leave the room to talk again. I know anything that happens from now on will break her heart. By forbidding her to attend this, I protect her more than anything else, she will understand it later.
"Send the letter" I say to Cersei. "I won't stop you... Only if you don't torment Sansa by telling her about Joffrey. By tomorrow, we'll be married, and I don't want her to suffer more than she already does."
"Good."
Cersei takes the piece of paper and gives it to the Maester so that he sends it to the North.
"And I want to see my dad."
"It's impossible" the queen answers.
"Nothing is. You all know as well as I do that Ned was in his right. You can pretend that he acted out of sheer wickedness, out of greed for power. Maybe the little people will believe you, but you can't lie to yourself."
"Lady Diana" Varys tells me. "You must understand that the situation is very serious. Ned Stark tried to remove King Joffrey."
"I want to see him."
♐︎
It is Varys who accompanies me in the dark corridors of the basement of the Red Keep. Barely lit by a torch, we enter the cell where my father has been held for three weeks now.
At first dazzled, he does not recognize us right away but when I get closer, he repeats my name several times until I give him a gourd of water.
"I'll wait for you outside" informs Varys before leaving.
I kneel next to Ned and smile tenderly. I can't believe everything that has happened to us since King Robert entered the course of Winterfell several months ago now. Just a few weeks ago, Robert was well. He is now dead and buried, and my father may also be buried sooner than we expected.
"How are you?" he asks me when he's done drinking.
"I'm fine. I spent the last few weeks locked up in my room, Cersei didn't want me to interfere with her business."
"What business?"
"My marriage..."
"She still wants to unite you with Joffrey even though she locked me in here?"
"They want to make sure they have control of the North."
I sit on the floor and take his hand. I need to be reassured.
"The ceremony is tomorrow" I explain. "I hope I can get you out once I become queen."
"I'm afraid you can't count on that..."
He puts his hand on my cheek and observes me. He details every little stroke of my face, as if to make sure everything is still there.
"How is Sansa?"
"Cersei keeps her close... She uses her to persuade Robb to swear allegiance to Joffrey. She had him write a letter asking him to come to King's Landing..."
"Your brother will not come here. He must not do it..."
"I'll make sure, don't worry. Nothing will happen to our family..."
"And Arya?" he asks.
"Still nothing."
I wonder where she might be. She is discreet and can easily go unnoticed but King's Landing is a dangerous place, even more so when you are the daughter of a traitor to the crown.