"There's a beast in every man and it stirs when you put a sword in his hand."
Charlotte's POV
Per usual, time was spent tarrying around Winterfell, passing the time until the darkness of the night called for slumber. Today was no exception. I was meddling around the courtyard, playing with the collies. They seemed to be my only companions as of lately.
To my family, I did not want to appear weak. Bran had fallen from the broken tower, and as a Baratheon.. I could offer my condolences, but nothing else. I could not mourn, and that was taking a toll on my heart. On the inside, I wanted to fall to a million pieces. On the outside, I appeared to be strong and endearing.
Endearing of the strength embedded within my name.
*~* Third Person POV *~*
Joffrey approaches his sister, watching her play with the collies. She was the embodiment of free spirit and contentment, bearing resemblance to the mother they both shared. Charlotte did things as she pleased and no one told her otherwise. It infuriated him.
"Charlotte."
The alarmed girl turned around, her blond waves blowing in wind. "Joffrey." Her voice light and refined with grace. "What are you doing here, dear brother?"
"I can't visit with my little sister?"
Charlotte stands up, nonchalantly checking the knife hidden deep within her pocket. Joffrey's erratic behavior was the center of slander in the North. She knew not of his physical behavior, but she was not taking any chances. "No... It's perfectly fine. I was just passing my time with the collies until dinner."
He replies curtly. "Oh."
She wanted to open her feelings to her brother, her twin. They should be as thick as thieves. However, Charlotte felt not a speck of trust towards him. "We can go riding after dinner. I'm sure the Queen won't mind."
Joffrey spoke deeply, narrowing his eyes at Charlotte. "Just to clarify .... You will never be a part of our family. We may share the same parents, but you will always be a bloody Stark."
Things never work in the favor of those who speak against others. "Joffrey." A commanding voice that instills fear in the insolent boy. Cersei walks from behind Charlotte, putting her hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Apologize. Charlotte is your sister, and currently the only one amongst you that carries my good graces. If she was not present to keep me civil, I would leave the lot of you in Winterfell."
Charlotte turns to Cersei, an overwhelming admiration lit in her eyes. Her trust was growing towards the woman, wanting to build such a bond that would tether her to the childhood she was meant to live.
Joffrey begins to back away. "Sorry Charlotte... We can go riding after dinner. Father has another horse for you.... since yours is still missing." His stuttering created a happy tingle in Charlotte's stomach.
Cersei smiles at the two of her children. "Wonderful. Jaime will accompany you two. I cannot lose my children in the middle of the Winterfell woods." She turns to Charlotte, giving her a soft kiss on her forehead. "Attend dinner tonight, my dear. I wish to sit and discuss King's Landing with you. Your father and I have decided that our departure will be in a days time."
"Yes ma'am."
The two depart, Joffrey following after Cersei as a lost puppy. The scolding left him standing on a thin line. Charlotte could only imagine how he would act as King.
*~* Charlotte's POV *~*
I strode into the guest banquet hall wearing a pale green dress that was given to me by the Queen. "Charlotte, love." The Queen walks from behind the door, and towards me. She grabs my hands tightly, leading me to the head of the table. "I've missed you greatly these past few days."
It's only been three since Bran's accident. Nonetheless, I've been avoiding everyone at all cost.
I sat alongside my siblings, Myrcella to my right and Tommen across the table. The King was sitting opposite the Queen, drinking wine by the barrel. Where is Joffrey? I smiled softly at Myrcella, giving her a side hug.
As the Queen began to talk of King's Landing, I was hanging onto every word that came from her mouth. To see the southern knights and their painted armors. The alluring waves of Blackwater Bay. To walk the halls of the Red Keep, where I was born. I barely touch my food, absentmindedly playing with it from time to time. It wasn't until she regarded my full plate, did I attempt to shove food in my mouth.
"Fill you belly, love. Food is essential for life." I eat as a proper Princess, listening to the conversation carrying on between Myrcella and her. "Will Charlotte stay in the eastern or western part of the Red Keep?" Myrcella was eager for answers.
The Queen blushes softly. "I want to keep my eldest daughter close for the moment. Sleeping arrangements will be determined when we arrive." I will forever be stuck in her hindsight.
Minutes later, Jaime runs into the banquet hall, blood covering his tunic. Cersei immediately stands, gasping loudly. "Joffrey... no...." Something happened to the prick head? Jaime meets me eyes and mouths silently. "I'm sorry."
To the family's surprise, mine included- Joffrey walks in soaking and dripping with blood; an arid stench filling the air.
The smell of death.
"The Stark brat's horse is dead, drowned in its own pool of blood."
Blood rushes to my head as I stand. "Ayanna? She ran away..." Doubt was sinking to the very core of my existence. Ayanna has to be in the forest. Joffrey couldn't have possibly killed her. But... if Ayanna was alive, than whose blood covered Joffrey and Jaime?
Jaime speaks, approaching my trembling figure. "Lord Stark and I found your horse while hunting in the woods. We brought her back earlier today, hoping to surprise you."
Anger boils in the pit of my stomach, easily changing the tone of my voice. "How did you manage to kill her? You hateful little bastard..." Joffrey stumbles around, unable to meet my flaming eyes. "Easy really. I slit her throat, and she fell to the ground. You know, after shooting an arrow through her heart."
I pull myself from the table bench, my eyes never leaving Joffrey's drunken movements. The Queen manages to grab my shoulders, attempting to pull me towards her. "Charlotte... no... You're better than this." Her words, nor her presence even momentarily persuade me to sit down.
I force myself from her grasps, stumbling forward out of her reach. Jaime comes to stand in front of me as I tried to make a run towards Joffrey, hatred ever growing within my heart towards the contemptuous crowned prince. I fail to notice the King approaching. My mind was contemplating a killing scheme. Suffering and long lasting.
The King grabs me from behind, my arms unable to move. It was then that I could no longer hold the exploding anger in my shielded heart; the anger erupting from my throat in screams. Heart-wrenching, painful screams. My throat was becoming numb, the screams loud enough to echo through the huge banquet hall.
Hear me roar.
The lioness within was finally making her presence known.
Joffrey began laughing hideously from deep within his diaphragm. I pulled against my father's arms, willing him to let me go. I twisted and turned, but to no avail, he still held me tightly. "Calm down, Charlotte. We will get you a new horse." A new horse? I wanted my old horse.
My screams turned into high shrills as I slowly pull the King behind me as I tread across the floor. Jaime continues to stand between my sibling and I. The Queen shouts loudly, "Jaime, stop her! She's hurting herself!"
Jaime stares into the window's of my soul, begging and pleading with me to step.
"How does it feel now? To finally have something you love taken from you." His words come out in choked breaths, laughing with no breath. A squeaking noise, apparent to his drunken state.
I spit in his face "I hope you die..."
The cold of the blade rubs against my leg. I jump up quickly, momentarily escaping the King's stronghold. It was enough time for me to grab my knife, and aim it towards Joffrey's blonde head.
I fall back down on the stone floor, feeling the tendons in my shoulders painfully pop.
The knife sails through the air, hitting the wood an inch about Joffrey's head. "Next time, I won't miss." The want to kill was overwhelming, but he was wasn't worthy of losing my family over.
The pain came. My shoulder begins pounding underneath the sleeve of my dress. I tightly hold onto it with both hands, rocking back and forth on the floor. Jaime runs over to me, picking my frail body up as I was a child yelling out in pain. The King followed behind as they carry me out of the banquet hall, and towards darkness.
My eyelids close, welcoming me into the unmiserable afterlife.
*~* Third Person POV *~*
The Queen was still, frozen as she stares between her two children fighting to the death. She was sure, that as the knife went through the air, that Joffrey was dead. However, Joffrey was leaning against the stone wall, drunk as ever on wine. The events from moments before barely inducing fear, or even a mere warning to never mess with his sister again.
Cersei runs after Jaime, who was carrying her treasured daughter away from her. "Take her to my bedchambers!" She turns back to the banquet hall before exiting the doors. "Myrcella, find Maester Luwin. We need him as quick as possible!" Myrcella runs out of the doors, her legs carrying her quickly through the hold of Winterfell in search of the Maester.