LION'S LEGACY
23. Infected
Hours later, after making sure their children were secured in their rooms, away from the sickness, Robb made his way into the Great Hall accompanied by Brienne and Loras Tyrell.
Annalys was sitting on the Iron Throne while Edric and Jaime stood closest to her. However, Ser Edmyn Hightower, Ser Rickard Royce, and Ser Steffon Oakheart stood nearby as well, guarding their Queen.
After Robb took his seat next to Annalys, the woman let out a large sigh. "Here we are," She spoke up in a calm tone, causing Robb to turn to her with an uneasy, "Facing a threat we have no idea how to stop or deal with."
"We'll get through this, Annalys," Robb replied confidently, much to her dismay, "I know it. No one has been in--"
Before Robb could finish his sentence, the duo were cut off by instruments playing a mournful and somber tune from afar, which caused him to frown in concern while Annalys felt uneasy.
"What is that?" Robb asked Annalys in concern, turning to look at his wife, "Why are they playing music?"
"It's a signal," Annalys informed Robb, looking to be deeply uneasy, "To alert everyone that someone has fallen Ill. It's begun."
Annalys stood up slightly, raising her hand to alert Ser Steffon to light the braziers that had been placed in the great hall. He nodded, he, Loras, and Edmyn wasting no time lighting the braziers with torches.
"Less than half a day since we announced the threat," Robb commented, looking deeply worried, "We were careful. No one entered this castle after you, Lyanna, Edric, and Jaime. How could it have been brought in?"
Annalys sighed, shrugging her shoulders. "I don't know," She admitted, but deep down, a part of her wondered if it was possible for the four of them to carry the disease and spread it to people, yet show no symptoms or signs of infections of their own.
Was that possible? She had no clue. She presumed that if she were to tell someone of what she believed to be the cause they'd call her a fool. But did she have a point?
"More will follow," Robb pointed out, causing Annalys to sigh in response.
"The airs near us will be burned clean with the fire," Annalys informed Robb as pointed to the lit braziers, causing her husband to turn to her with a puzzled look, "I was told the High Septon did it during the last outbreak of Winter Fever and it worked."
Just then, Ser Davos and Qyburn entered the Great Hall and began to approach their king and queen, only to be stopped by the Kingsguard.
"It's alright," Annalys spoke up in a calm tone, "Let them through."
Ser Davos sighed, exchanging a look with Qyburn before stepping forward alongside him. "Who is it?" Robb asked the men in concern, "Who has fallen ill?"
"A stable boy, Your Grace," Davos informed his king and queen, "He's already showing symptoms of coughing up blood and blood sweats. He'll be dead within a day, perhaps two."
Robb sighed in defeat, feeling saddened by the news of the boy's death. Annalys looked content, however, despite pitying the boy. She knew already there would be casualties, she also knew she couldn't let herself become affected by each of the deaths either. It wasn't her fault, she had no reason to feel guilty by it.
"Thank you for informing us, Ser Davos," She managed to speak up, nodding her head slightly, "You both may go now."
Ser Davos and Qyburn bowed to their queen, just before turning on their heel and leaving the throne room.
___
Not too long later, when nightfall arrived, another man entered the Great Hall, one that happened to be Lord Glendon Redwyne, the man who had spoken to them earlier that day.
Annalys' Queensguard lined up the Great Hall and allowed the man through, knowing the king and queen were presumably not at risk due to lit braziers that blocked the man's path to them.
The man smiled at the sight of his king and queen, bowing to them. "Your Graces," He greeted them before standing back up.
"Lord Redwyne, how may I help you?" Robb spoke up, raising a brow at the man.
"Many nobles in this castle have secured themselves in their chambers," He informed them in a calm tone, "Others reside elsewhere in the Keep, drinking as a way to distract themselves from the fact that death is nearly upon us. Tell me, My Queen, My King, do you many have already died so far?"
"Fifteen," Robb spoke up before Annalys had the chance to.
"Fifteen, on only the first day of outbreak," Lord Glendon responded in a calm tone, "How many will be dead when we wake tomorrow? Tell me, Your Grace, do we count the lower class as well?"
Robb's mouth gaped open, frowning at the man in confusion. He turned to look at Annalys, who simply smiled in response to his attitude. "We count every life loss, my lord," She politely replied, which concerned Robb since she was letting him speak to her in such a way.
"What is it that you want from us?" Robb spoke up, causing Lord Glendon to look away from Annalys to turn to his king.
"To add another to the pile," He suddenly admitted and Robb immediately looked shocked while Annalys looked content, as if she wasn't surprised by his response.
"I beg your pardon?" Robb questioned, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.
"My apologies for being so blunt and sudden about it, but while my enemy is accessible, I must strike," He explained to his king and queen.
"I don't understand," Robb replied when Annalys did not.
"There was someone I thought to be untouchable. I'd like him to die of the Fever," He informed them in a calm tone, "I would like for him to be placed in one of the mass holding cells. He'll be infected within no time and no one will heed his cries. He will die and I will not be blamed for it."
"You dare come here and request we murder your enemy?!" Robb exclaimed, staring at Lord Redwyne in disbelief.
He turned to Annalys, who seemed calm about the whole ordeal. From what he could tell, she was in deep thought, and a part of Robb feared she was actually thinking about agreeing to the man's terms.
"If it were a request, I wouldn't be so blunt about it," Lord Glendon retorted with an attitude, "It's more of a demand. One I have no doubt you will grant."
"And why would we do--" Robb began to ask, only to be cut off by Annalys.
"And what will you gain by this man's death?" She suddenly asked, causing Robb to stare at her in disbelief.
"Annalys," Robb warned Annalys in a low tone, but his wife simply ignored him as she kept her eyes locked on Lord Glendon.
"Vengeance," Glendon responded, causing Annalys to smile slightly since she found herself becoming interested in what he had to say, "Lord Orell Florent forced himself upon my younger sister and has dishonored her. She was due to marry a man of a noble house in the Riverlands. But because of what he has done, she is unfit to marry this other man. I needed that marriage to occur to form that alliance. And I cannot kill Lord Florent myself, for it would be an act of kinslaying due to the same blood that runs through his veins runs through mine as well. He is my cousin, Your Grace, and I cannot commit Kinslaying."
Annalys narrowed her eyes at Lord Glendon, knowing for a fact that the man was lying about parts of his story.
"What's at stake for us if we don't agree?" Annalys questioned Glendon, causing Robb to stare at her in disbelief.
"Annalys. That's enough," Robb demanded in a warning tone, "We surely can't agree with this."
"Don't you want to know the rest of the story, Robb?" Annalys asked him in an almost mocking tone, "Don't you want to know why he thinks there's a chance we'd ever agree to this?"
Robb rolled his eyes in annoyance, watching as Annalys gestured for Glendon to continue.
"As you know, my family provides the grain and numerous other crops for the Crownlands due to there being risks of famine with the Tyrells and their crops. The castle relies on my weekly deliveries, it was the reason we even proposed the marriage betrothal between my son and Princess Joanna in the first place," He explained in a calm tone, "If you agree to this, I will be more than willing to forget about the betrothal between my son and your daughter and I will make sure the weekly deliveries continue to arrive here at the castle. If you don't, this castle will starve after the recent raiding of the castle's food by the nobles and servants after they heard about the Fever. And need I remind you, we all know what happens when the people of King's Landing are left hungry."
Once Glendon had walked off, Annalys turned to Robb, smirking slightly. "Welcome to the lives of the ruler of Westeros, my king," Annalys sarcastically remarked, noticing how horrified Robb looked by the man's demand and how willing his wife looked to agree.
_____
In the room where Lyanna had been locked away with her siblings, she began to feel dizzy and thirsty, much to her concern.
All of her siblings were asleep except herself. She couldn't fall asleep. She felt horrible. She had since the moment she arrived back from Casterly Rock. She didn't tell her mother that, though. She refused to scare her, not when she believed that it was just a common cold and fever she was experiencing, not the Winter fever.
But as the hours passed, she began to believe it was something else. She had no idea what to do. She was the eldest of the children in the room. She couldn't ask any of them for help and Torra wasn't even in the room with them. Annalys had allowed her to stay with Aden, knowing if she didn't allow it, Torra would have snuck off anyway.
She had the feeling she did, in fact, have Winter Fever. After all, the first person to be announced to have the infection was the stable boy, the same stable boy who had helped Lyanna climb off her horse after returning home with her mother. The spread of the sickness in the castle started with her, as far as she could tell. But why did it take her longer to actually start experiencing the symptoms?
Lyanna went to stand up from sitting on the ground, only to end up fainting. Hearing a large thud, Eddard woke up from his sleep, only to have his eyes widen at the sight of his sister lying on the ground, motionless. "Lyanna?" He called out in concern, only to get no answer, "Lyanna!"
Eddard rushed over to his unconscious sister, immediately noticing how red her pale was and how hot to the touch her skin was. "Guards!" He screamed in fear, at the top of his lungs, "Guards!"
____
In the throne room, only moments before Lyanna had fainted in her room, Robb and Annalys sat on their thrones. While Annalys was content about the conversation they had with Lord Redwyne, Robb felt quite the opposite.
"Is that how you've maintained your rule for the past five years?" Robb questioned Annalys in disbelief as he turned to look at her, "By bowing to the nobles?"
"I do not bow to anyone," Annalys retorted with an attitude as she gave Robb an annoyed look, "It's simple, my love. If one life saves more, you have your answer."
"One life matters, Annalys. Every life matters," He argued, giving Annalys a look of disbelief, "I thought you understood that. We will find grain and the other crops elsewhere."
"I don't think you understand who Glendon is, Robb," Annalys argued back in a stern tone, "He is related to numerous houses in the Reach. The Hightowers, the Tyrells, the Tarlys, and the Florents. With the Tyrells running low on crops, we need the Arbor's crops," She paused, sighing in frustration, "We are the first rulers sitting on the Iron Throne that do not have Targaryen blood coursing through our veins. Our powers come from the nobles, from the nine regions in Westeros that they control. We have order, food, and money because of their support. If we refuse Glendon, we are at risk of the Reach rebelling. The Reach has more men than the Westerlands, the Riverlands, and the North combined. If they rebel, we are fucked. For the past five years, many men have come to me with their requests. They've given me something I'm in need of in order to rule and in exchange, I've granted them certain privileges or...deaths."
Robb turned to Annalys, giving her a look of absolute disbelief. "Honestly, Annalys, how many people have you killed?!" He exclaimed, his eyes wide in horror.
"If we deny this man what he wants, we will pay a very high price," Annalys argued, ignoring his question. She did even want to think about how many people she killed. It was most likely more people than Joffrey, Jaime, and her mother had killed combined.
"I will never agree to this," Robb complained in a low, stern tone, "We are equals now. As long as I do not agree, Lord Florent will not die."
"The death could be painless, Robb," Annalys retorted in a calm tone, despite growing frustrated with her husband, "Qyburn can help with that."
"We are not killing him, Annalys!" Robb shouted at Annalys, standing up from his seat.
Annalys stood up as well, turning to face him with a furious look on her face. "The man he wants us to kill is a rapist. He deserves to die. If you can't see that--"
"We don't even know if that's true," Robb argued, glaring at Annalys.
"A favor for a favor keeps us on the throne, Robb. What can't you see that? Why can't you understand?" Annalys yelled angrily, growing even more frustrated with her husband, "I have been doing this for five years while sitting on the Iron Throne. I did it for five years before that in the Westerlands. How do think I got the alliance with Dorne and the Reach before I was queen, Robb? I killed Joffrey for the Reach and I killed the Mountain for Dorne."
Robb looked uneasy at the mention of Annalys killing Joffrey. He turned to look at the Queensguard, but none of which seemed even affected by the revelation. It was clear that they already knew, but didn't care in the slightest, despite it meaning Annalys was a kinslayer.
"Do you know how I got the allegiance of the Vale? I killed Lysa Arryn and freed Robin Arryn from his mother's constant manipulation. I got rid of Petyr Baelish, who had been the one helping Lysa in the first place," She explained in a stern tone while Robb looked uneasy, "The only reason we are even in power is due to the people I've killed in order to gain allegiance from all of the kingdoms. If it took you this long to realize that then you are a fool."
Robb remained silent, glaring at Annalys at her confession. He knew she had killed many people, but he didn't know it had been this bad.
"You will not punish Lord Glendon," Annalys demanded in a stern tone as she took a step toward Robb, "We will agree to his terms and Lord Florent will be dead by the end of the night."
"I will not--" Robb began to shout at Annalys, who simply raised her voice to speak over him.
"We will--" She began to say, only to be cut off as three servants ran in alongside some Red Cloaks.
"My King! My Queen!" One of them shouted in alarm, causing Robb and Annalys to immediately turn to face them, "The Princess! Princess Lyanna has fallen ill."
"What?" Robb asked in shock while Annalys wasted no time rushing forward.
Before leaving, she turned to Jaime, a pleading look on her face, "Send word to Qyburn. Bring him to me now."
Without hesitation, Annalys ran off in the direction of her daughter's chambers, Robb following after her.
___
The couple soon arrived at Lyanna's chambers to find the young girl lying asleep in bed. One of the guards turned to her, looking saddened, "She collapsed while the rest of the children were asleep, Your Grace," He informed her in an uneasy tone, "Prince Eddard had found her and screamed for the guards. She's already endured the sweats and the facial flushings. She's experiencing fevers already and if it doesn't pass, she will soon begin coughing up blood," He paused, everyone in the room beginning to look saddened, "And you know what that means."
Annalys and Robb rushed over to their daughter's bedside, looking deeply distraught. Annalys pressed the back of her hand against Lyanna's forehead, immediately feeling how boiling how it was.
Robb watched her closely, beginning to wonder how the hell Lyanna had contracted the fever. Suddenly, he realized the only way she could have was during what happened in Lannisport. Was Lyanna the one who brought the infection into the castle in the first place?
Realizing what was the cause, Robb turned to his wife with an angry look, disregarding how distraught she looked at the sight of their firstborn daughter. "This is your fault, you know," He suddenly spoke up, not being able to control himself due to how struck he was about the whole ordeal.
His daughter was infected and she most likely wouldn't survive the next few days.
Annalys turned to Robb, giving him a look of disbelief with tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "How is this my fault?!"
"Our children hasn't been around anyone that has been infected, none but Lyanna. You decided to bring her to Casterly Rock. You brought her into Lannisport, where there was infected people. You were planning to take her to that infirmary and on those steps, a woman who had Winter Fever collapsed on both of you! Just because you are immune to whatever this disease is, it does not mean our children will have the same fate. Now, because of you, our daughter is infected and could die because of your recklessness." He explained to Annalys angrily, tears beginning to form in his eyes.
He didn't even know if he actually meant his words. He just couldn't help himself.
Annalys glared at Robb furiously, "How was I supposed to know we would run into the infected? I didn't even know Winter Fever was here yet!" She yelled at Robb, glaring at him almost hatefully.
Robb took a step forward, pointing an accusing finger at Annalys, "If she dies, this will be on your hands, Annalys." He snapped at her and Annalys couldn't even believe he had the audacity to say such a thing.
"She will not die, Robb!" She practically screamed at him, tears beginning to spill from her eyes, "Don't say that. Don't ever say that."
"What, are you going to say it's fate? It's not! Our daughter is sick because of your rash decisions and now she may not live," Robb continued to snap at Annalys and began to step toward her threateningly, a furious look on his face, "No one has survived this fever. How can you say Lyanna will? What makes her any different than the rest?"
Annalys stood in place, on the verge of crying as he approached her. She didn't even seem to react to his threatening posture, knowing he'd never actually do anything to her. Despite that being the truth, when they saw Robb approaching their Queen threateningly, Edric, Edmyn, Ser Rickard, Ser Steffon, and Jaime placed their hands on the hilts of their swords. They half drew them, which was their way of warning Robb to take a step back and away from the king.
However, on Robb's side stood Brienne and Loras, who got themselves in a readied stance as well to protect their king. It was clear even with the loyalty he had from Brienne and Loras, Robb was not safe with the knights who stood alongside Annalys. Edric and Jaime would die to protect Annalys and even if many did not know it, Edmyn, Ser Rickard, and Ser Steffon were lethal fighters and were far better than Brienne and Loras combined.
Despite not being as well known as Edric and Jaime, they were considered some of the best swordsmen in Westeros. Annalys didn't choose them to be on her Queensguard for the hell of it, that was for sure.
Annalys glared at Robb, tears welled in her green eyes. "Leave. I don't want you here. I will stay with my daughter and make sure she survives this because clearly, you have no faith in her recovery." She snapped at her in a stern tone, much to Robb's shock.
"Annalys--" He began to say, about to take a step toward her when he was cut off by the five knights surrounding his wife unsheathing their swords and pointing them outwards, directly at Robb.
"I said, get out," She ordered in a stern tone, trying her hardest not to cry as she glared at her husband, "I command you to get out. We may be considered equals, but I am still the sovereign. You may have two members of the Queensguard loyal to you, but I have five. Five of the deadliest knights living in the Seven Kingdoms. This is not a fight you will win. Either you leave here willingly, Robb, or my men will kill yours and drag you out of here forcibly."
Robb stared at Annalys sadly, noticing the tears threatening to spill from her eyes. As they began to fall, she quickly wiped them before turning away from him. He sighed in defeat, turning away from Annalys as well before leaving. He deserved being kicked out, he knew that.
He took his anger out on her and tried to blame her for their daughter catching the sickness. He tried to say that Lyanna wouldn't survive and that was something Annalys would not stand for. For that, he feared Annalys would never forgive him.
Once Robb was out of the room, Annalys let out a large, shaky breath before turning toward Lyanna. She immediately rushed over to her unconscious daughter and knelt at her bedside. She turned to her guards, gesturing for them to leave. They nodded, sheathing their drawn swords before exiting the room to allow their queen to be alone with her daughter.
Soon after they had left, Annalys held one of Lyanna's small hands in her own while she used her free hand to stroke her daughter's hair as she spoke to her. "You will get through this, my love," She whispered to her firstborn softly, tears welled in her eyes as she tried her hardest not to break down, "You are the daughter of Queen Annalys Lannister and King Robb Stark, the granddaughter of the infamous Jaime Lannister and the honorable Ned Stark. You are the great-granddaughter of the mighty Tywin Lannister. You are the heir to the Iron Throne. You are more than anyone in Westeros will ever be. You are far too strong to have your life taken by some foolish fever. You will survive this and after you wake up, I will never let anything like this happen again. I promise."
Annalys paused, a shaky breath escaping her parted lips as she forced herself not break down and start sobbing. "You must get through this, Lyanna," She pleaded, on the verge of crying, "You are my daughter, my firstborn. I cannot lose you. You mean far too much to me. I refuse to lose you. Not like this. You are far too strong to die like this, Lyanna."
Outside of Lyanna's chambers, after exiting the room, Robb tried his best to contain his anger. He took a deep breath before turning to Brienne. "Send word to Lord Glendon Redwyne. Tell him that the king has considered his request and it's been denied." He instructed and Brienne nodded, just before walking off to obey his command.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Oh shit! Lyanna is infected now and Annalys really just did that to Robb with her Queensguard 😬
Question: Who's side are you going on in the whole Glendon Redwyne ordeal?
Do you think Robb is right or is Annalys right?