KINGDOM FALL
— 95. Bare
Two days later, early in the morning, Annalys woke up to have a bit of pain in her belly. Robb had called for the maester, who came to their room. He ended up telling them it was pre-labor pains, but Annalys would not give birth for another day or two and she could go on with her normal duties until then.
Once the maester left, Robb knelt next to the their bed, in front of Annalys. He placed one hand on the side of her face and the other over the hand she had placed her over her belly. "Would you like some water? Another pillow?" He asked her, causing Annalys to smile at how much he was babying her, "Shall I tell them to postpone the coronation until tomorrow?"
"No, I think I just need an hour more of rest and then I'll be fine. When I was pregnant with the twins, it became harder as the weeks went by, to remain on my feet, but I got through it," She explained to Robb truthfully, "But I truly thought having to carry only one child this time would be different, but it's the same. My stomach is so very large, my feet hurt, and I'm starving."
"Ooh! Perhaps you're having twins," Robb jokingly commented, earning an annoyed look from Annalys, "Wouldn't that be fun? Another set of twins."
"Perhaps for you, not for me," Annalys reminded them, causing Robb to playfully roll his eyes, "You're not the one who has to spend hours birthing them and several times a day feeding them at your breast."
"I understand," Robb responded, nodding his head at her, "Perhaps I should go now, so that you may have some rest. I can handle the rest of the arraignments for the coronation."
"Or you can lay with me," Annalys suggested, smiling playfully at Robb, "Today is the last day we're not officially King and Queen. Let us spend the next few hours in bed napping."
Robb chuckled softly before agreeing with Annalys. He climbed into bed with Annalys, wrapping his arms around her as his hands rested on her large belly.
Annalys smiled, beginning to close her eyes when their chamber door suddenly entered without anyone being announced. They quickly turned their heads, only to see that it was Lyanna and Eddard rushing in, Edric trying to stop them from waltzing in, but failing miserably.
Olyvar stood far behind them, holding hands with Torra, who stood with Jeyne.
"Mother!" The twins exclaimed happily, climbing on top of the bed.
They rushed over to their mother, hugging her tightly after not seeing her for so many months, "Oh, my loves," Annalys sighed in relief, hugging both of her children.
"I apologize, Your Grace. I tried to stop them," Edric told Annalys, giving his queen a deeply apologetic look.
"They're just children, I don't think it really matters," Robb commented, causing Annalys to quietly laugh.
As she hugged Lyanna and Eddard, her eyes went over to Olyvar, who practically hid behind Torra after Jeyne and Edric left.
"You can come over here, Olyvar," She suddenly called out, shocking the child.
His eyes widened and he awkwardly bowed, causing Robb to smile and shake his head at how horribly he did it.
He slowly walked toward Annalys' bed, clearly not knowing what to do or say. Once Lyanna and Eddard let go of Annalys, Annalys moved toward the edge of the bed Olyvar was standing in front of. Without a care in the world, she picked the boy up, holding him in his arms, "Look at me," She demanded, noticing how the child avoided eye contact with her as if he were scared.
Slowly, Olyvar turned to look her in the eye, looking beyond scared, "There's no need to be afraid, Olyvar," She told him softly, a smile forming on her lips, "You're safe here, in the capital. I heard how you were treated in the North and I promise you, that will not happen here. If anyone ever treats you poorly or says something to you, you tell me and I will deal with it. After today, you will become Olyvar Stark, Olyvar Rivers no longer. I will treat you as if you were my own child. I swear to you on that." She explained and finally, Olyvar no longer looked scared.
He slowly began to smile and suddenly, he hugged Annalys. Annalys was taken aback at first before she smiled, hugging him back.
Robb watched Annalys' expression, slightly surprised at how happy she looked hugging a child that was not hers. "It is good to finally meet you, Olyvar," She whispered to him softly, smiling as she hugged the boy.
"Haha, Eddard. I told you she would like him!" Lyanna suddenly snapped at her brother, earning an eye roll from Robb, who knew a fight was going to start because of her.
"Be quiet, Lyanna! No one asked you!" Eddard yelled at his sister, much to Robb's frustration.
"So much for me going to sleep," Annalys sarcastically commented, placing Olyvar down on the bed before turning toward Lyanna and Eddard, "You will start getting along, understand? You are brother and sister. Twins. And Olyvar is your brother. The three of you will always be the closest in age. You must always stick together as you grow older. You will all have a little brother in the next few days."
"We will?!" Eddard gasped, his eyes lighting up in surprise at the thought of his mother having a boy.
"Good," Lyanna commented, crossing her arms over her chest, "I don't want a sister."
"I want a sister," Olyvar complained, surprisingly disagreeing with Lyanna for once, "One that doesn't hit me with sticks like Lyanna does."
Eddard giggled at Olyvar's comment, only to get cut off by being hit in the back of the head by Lyanna. "Lyanna!" He complained, causing Annalys to sigh and shake her head.
"Why do you always hit people?" Torra suddenly spoke up as she moved closer to the group.
"Says you!" Lyanna complained loudly, glaring at Torra.
Torra glared back at her, causing Lyanna to sink back in her seat. "Sorry," She apologized quietly, causing Robb and Annalys to exchange a look at the same time.
How the hell was Torra able to get Lyanna to listen when even they couldn't? They needed to know so they could do it themselves. The girl was wild.
____
Just hours before her coronation, Annalys sat on the loveseat in her chambers, alone. She was crying, feeling overwhelmed by the coronation that was about to start soon. She'd officially be Queen of the Seven Kingdoms and despite fighting so hard to have it, she honestly didn't know how she'd rule over seven kingdoms. If she did this, she'd never be free again. She'd never find the happiness she felt being free beyond the wall ever again.
"Are you okay, Your Grace?" A voice suddenly spoke up, causing Annalys to jolt up.
She straightened her back up, wiping her tears before turned to see Olyvar standing before her. He stared at her intently, looking to be concerned by the fact that she was crying. "Lady Catelyn says it isn't nice to cry, that it doesn't make things better," He innocently informed her, which caused Annalys to feel a slight pang in her chest.
"Why do you cry?" Annalys asked the young boy politely as he moved closer to her.
"When people say mean things about me when they think I can't hear them," Olyvar confessed softly, causing Annalys to give him a sad look.
"What do they say?" She asked Olyvar, both of them looking saddened.
"They say that I'm the reason the first war started. They think all those people died in battle because of me," He explained, looking down at the ground in shame, "That makes me sad. I don't want people to die." He paused and as Annalys opened her mouth to speak, he ended up beating her to it, "Are you crying because people said mean things about you?"
"No, Olyvar," Annalys smiled softly, shaking her head at the question.
"Then, why are you crying?" Olyvar found himself asking, a deeply concerned look on his face.
"I miss my old life, where I wasn't Queen of the Seven Kingdoms." Annalys truthfully admitted, tears welled in her eyes as she thought about her old life, "Or even the Lady of Casterly Rock."
She had been so happy, so free. Now, what was she?
"Well, when I am sad and I'm told that I shouldn't cry, I make this face," He informed Annalys, sticking out his tongue and outstretching his hands on both sides of his face to make a funny face, one that caused Annalys to genuinely laugh, "See! It makes you feel better, doesn't it?"
Annalys smiled, nodding her head in response, "It does."
"Now you try it!" Olyvar exclaimed happily, a bright smile on his face.
"Me?" Annalys questioned, giving the young boy a puzzled look.
"Try it," Olyvar encouraged Annalys, nodding his head slightly.
"Alright, alright," Annalys told him, quietly chuckling as she got ready to try it.
"Shut your eyes tightly and stick out your tongue as far as it can go. Put your hands near your ears and hold them out," He instructed Annalys, who smiled at him.
"Like this?" She questioned as she followed his directions.
Olyvar smiled innocently, nodding his head, "Yes. You did it! You did it!" He exclaimed happily, causing them both to laugh, "Feel better, Your Grace?"
Annalys continued to laugh as she nodded her head in confirmation. "Why aren't you with the others, Olyvar?" She found herself asking, noticing that he was all alone, which was a first.
Usually, Lyanna was with him.
"Lyanna doesn't want to play with me today. She wants to be with Torra," Olyvar confessed, earning an eye roll from Annalys.
"Lyanna is controlling," Annalys admitted bluntly, causing Olyvar to smile.
"I like Lyanna. She's my favorite," Olyvar admitted, smiling sheepishly, "I love her the most."
Annalys quietly laughed at his comment, "And what about Eddard?"
"He doesn't like me," Olyvar confessed, much to Annalys' confusion.
"What's there not to like?" Annalys frowned, looking down at Eddard with a concerned look on her face.
"That I'm not your son," He suddenly responded, causing Annalys to look taken aback, clearly not expecting him to say such a thing, "People told him that because you're not my mother, I'm not his brother. He believed them."
Annalys sighed in defeat. She looked saddened as she shook her head in response. "Eddard will always be your brother. It doesn't matter if you both have different mothers." She reminded the young child in a calm tone.
Hearing Annalys' words, Olyvar looked down at the ground sadly, "I wish I had a mother," He confessed softly, much to Annalys' horror.
She began to look distraught after hearing his confession. A deeply saddened look on his face, Annalys lightly grabbed Olyvar by the arm, causing him to look up at her, looking to be on the verge of crying.
"It's okay. There's no need to be sad..." She trailed off, trying to think of something to make the young boy feel better, "I...I can be your mother." She suddenly found herself saying, much to both of their shocks.
Olyvar slowly looked back up at Annalys, tears welled in his eyes. "You can call me Mother, too. No more 'Your Grace'. You will call me Mother." She continued on and after she finished, Olyvar began to cry.
Feeling bad, Annalys wasted no time hugging the boy and holding him close. He cried in her arms and Annalys continued to hug him, whispering assuring comments into his ear to try to make him feel better.
A part of her long ago wanted to hate the boy, but she knew she couldn't. He was innocent. So innocent. Olyvar had it worse than Jon Snow ever did. The only one who ever truly treated Jon poorly was Catelyn herself. For Olyvar, it was opposite. Everyone seemed to hate him, even his own grandmother.
Annalys couldn't understand it, though. If the person who should have been most affected by his presence was fine with him, why should anyone else ever treat him poorly?
She couldn't understand how they could blame an innocent child for something he had no control over. It broke her heart to think about all that he must have been gone through when Robb wasn't in Winterfell to protect him from Catelyn and others who wanted the boy gone.
_____
Robb entered his shared chambers with Annalys. He smiled, finding her sitting at her vanity as she checked over herself to make sure what she wore was presently. He wanted to laugh when he saw no handmaidens in sight, not even Lady Jeyne.
It was clear she had dismissed them all to get ready on her own. "Who's this fine lady?" He jokingly asked and Annalys turned to him, playfully rolling her eyes, "And what in the seven hells has she done with my wife?"
Annalys scoffed, turning back to look at herself in the mirror once more, "Oh, shut up." She jokingly snapped at him, causing Robb to smile in amusement.
"Ah, there she is," He smiled at her snappy attitude, moving closer to her while her back faced him, "For a moment, I was starting to think I'd lost her."
"Why's that?" She questioned, raising a brow at her.
"Many reasons..." He trailed off as he placed his hands on her shoulders while standing in back of her, "This dress...I've never seen something so silky and elegant in my life. I never thought I'd see you willing wear something like this," He explained, causing them both to laugh at how accurate he was, "And your hair, so short, yet still so beautiful."
Running his fingers through her now-shoulder length hair, Robb placed a kiss to the top of her head. He stopped, immediately noticing how saddened Annalys looked at the thought of her hair. It shouldn't have mattered to her, but it did. Having her hair chopped off felt as though as apart of herself was taken from her.
After all, the infamous Annalys Lannister was always able to be spotted in a crowded room solely due to Lady's Wrath sheathed at her waist and her waist-length golden blonde hair. Now, she was unable to carry Lady's Wrath due to wearing a dress and her hair was now chopped off. She felt bare.
"It'll grow back, you know," Robb reminded her in a calm tone, noticing her sadness.
"Not overnight," Annalys admitted, looking as though she was about to tear up at the thought.
"Aye, but it'll still grow back within no time," He paused, placing a kiss to her cheek, "But short hair or long hair, you're still beautiful nonetheless, remember that," He reminded her, causing Annalys to smile as he kissed the crook of her neck and then her cheek, "Now, it seems we have a coronation to get to."
Robb took a step away from Annalys, holding his hand out to her. Annalys smiled, taking Robb's hand before she rose from her seat.
With that, they left the room, heading for the Great Hall for Annalys' coronation.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Only 2-3 more chapters left of this book until the second one!
Honestly Olyvar and Annalys are so cute!