23 Chapter 23

The royals were to stay for two to three weeks. Ned, Joanna, Bran, Robb and Tommen would travel south with the royal party. Cersei and Arya would travel later once Jon was secured as lord of Winterfell. She had argued with Ned, she wanted to leave with him but her husband did not heed her advice. "Our son needs to find a wife and take care of Winterfell. You must make sure he is prepared for his responsibilities."

Cersei arranged things around the castle and with their impeding move she had less time to watch over all her children. As a result Arya managed to run wild and free. She met with her eldest brothers and the prince every time they trained unbeknownst to Lady Stark. She was too busy planning and sorting the household. The queen and propriety kept her busy too. Lady Sansa, Joanna, the princesses and the Queen met for needlework every day. She had not forced Arya to be with them because it was plain that the queen resented the girl. Cersei could see the hatred in her eyes. Ever since Robert called her by Lyanna's name Catelyn took an unhealthy aversion to Arya. Lady Stark did not like that look in the woman's eyes and preferred Arya occupied herself watching over Brandon or sorting things for the move. Cersei tasked the girl with chores to keep her busy. Arya, deftly delegated those chores to Jeyne Poole or the other servants. Arya had assured them all that if anyone breathed a word to Lady Stark she personally would make sure to dispense from their services in Winterfell. Lady Stark needed to attend the tedious needle sessions; she had to make sure to keep the network of friends and connections alive.

Catelyn Baratheon was a bitter woman who was disgusted by her husband. Her only joy was to see her daughters married. She was close to marrying all of them. Myrcella was dead. Anna was engaged to the Highgarden heir. Cersei thought about Jon, he needed a wife. His father had been bedded and wedded when he was ten and seven years. Alayne would be the reasonable option although Cassana was younger and prettier.

Lady Stark tested the waters once the young princesses, Lady Sansa and Joanna left to see Lady. The king and Ned had reached an agreement Joanna would marry Prince Gendry after his seventeenth name day next year. The engagement had not been properly announced yet and the parties were not supposed to know. Cersei kept her mouth shut. She remembered how aunt Genna and father promised her Rhaegar Targaryen only to be slighted when he married Elia Martell of Dorne.

"I have not been to King's Landing since before king Robert won the crown." She started.

Catelyn nodded. "It's changed quite a bit or so Jaime and Tyrion say." Lady Stark was determined to gain some of the ground she had lost. It puzzled her greatly that Catelyn acted so aloof when she had been so naïve and friendly to her.

"Court is rather dull. Same old gossip and people." The queen replied half-heartedly doing her needlework with perfection.

She quieted and continued her work. She gasped when a direwolf pup ran inside the room. It was Brandon's. She heard her son came in running. "I'm sorry mother." He said and tried to get the pup from under the table.

"Bran." She said, her boy did not mind the queen. "Come on puppy, come out, just come out. I will not bathe you anymore." Her son pleaded with his pup.

"Brandon Stark. You get up and get your direwolf out of here." She hissed to her child. Bran frowned and then looked at the queen. The boy's face would have brought a smile to his face in any other situation. "I'm sorry your Grace." He said and managed to grab his puppy and run out of the room.

Cersei smiled tightly. "He's quite a handful. Not as spirited as Robb but a handful nonetheless. He likes to climb things. I'm half afraid he'll fall one of these days.

The queen laughed, a real laugh. "You named him after Brandon. That is one thing I do not envy. Girls do not climb. They are ladies and are not as forceful as boys." Cersei laughed, she clearly had not lived with Arya Stark.

"That is true your Grace." They spoke about the girls then. Catelyn became lively once she spoke about her daughters. "Anna will be quite happy in Highgarden. Alayne's hand has been petitioned by prince Quentyn of House Martell and Cassana, well she's still fairly young as is your Joanna."

Lady Stark saw her window of opportunity. "Princess Alayne's betrothal, is it final?"

The queen shook her head. "Robert refuses to strike an offer. His bastard is rather fond of Alayne and Cassana."

There it was, the source of more bitterness. Gendry Baratheon, the first of his name. "The king dotes on his son, pays him more attention than he ever did my girls. Myrcella, my poor girl died of shame and sadness. She would have given her life for Robert to look at her with a shred of the pride he shows that bastard. She died because of that boy. It should have been him dead and not my princess." Catelyn said with a hatred Cersei never thought the woman capable of.

"The bastard can barely tolerate Robert. I have to say I take a great pleasure out of the disdain the boy shows." The queen's dam had broken and she was bursting to let all of her bitterness out.

The royals had been in her home for two weeks and this was the first time Catelyn Tully looked at her as the friend she had years ago. "You must be wondering why Robert decided to have your husband as the Hand of the King."

The lady of the house felt uncomfortable. This was dangerous territory. Long forgotten was her desire to have princess Alayne or Cassana as Jon's wife. This was part of game she had not properly played in almost two decades. "I don't presume to understand such things your grace." The blond said with a meek tone.

The Tully woman looked at her as if evaluating the veracity of the declaration. She passed the test, "Robert despises Stannis." She laughed bitterly. "Our king suffers because his bastard son loves the uncle better than the father."

Cersei gasped accordingly. "I remember when that awful wretch arrived to the castle. I was insulted as should be any proper lady. I failed in my duty and the gods decided to punish me so. Robert brought his bastard for me to take care of. I refused of course but the King needed an heir and Stannis was not fit to be king or so Robert said. Jon Arryn brought that brute to my home. Robert took a liking to the boy. He resembles him quite a lot. Renly and Stannis love the bastard too. My girls are trueborn and their uncles have never taken any interest in them. The bastard spent most of his time with Stannis and his scarred little daughter. Robert despises the fact that the wretch loves Stannis better and banished his brother to Dragon Stone."

She nodded, a long time ago Cersei Stark railed and threatened Ned Stark to leave for Casterly Rock and cause an outrage if he kept young Jon Snow in her legitimate household. It was so long ago. "To add salt to my wounds this callous, unrefined boy became Robert's main concern. I saw as my Myrcella suffered because the little attention her father gave her vanished."

"Gentry Baratheon, first of his name." Catelyn intoned with a mocking voice. "He is nothing more than a bastard, bad blood, born out of lust and broken promises." The Queen stated with undiluted hatred. Catelyn was gone, replaced by a hard woman. A woman who resented her husband and could not stand the sight of him.

Cersei reached for her hands, "we must make the best of our circumstances."

The queen stiffly patted her hands. "As always correct lady Stark. You will enjoy the south and its diversions I'm sure. I am truly sorry for your Joanna."

Cersei frowned briefly, sensing a bit of a threat. Catelyn must have sensed her trepidation. "She will have to endure a Baratheon man. Be it Robert, Stannis, Renly or that wretched bastard. They are not worthy of you daughter's beauty and her innocence." The red headed monarch intoned.

The queen knew about the engagement. She was not pleased in the slightest. "Do you remember when the children were little and we wished to join our houses?" Catelyn offered.

Cersei nodded. "How ironic? Your daughter and the bastard will join Baratheon and Stark. I wished the king would make an engagement contract for one of our daughters but he decided the Starks would do better with a queen. My princesses are not for the likes of his best and most trusted friend. They will be sold like cattle for alliances as we once were." The queen dispelled all queries then.

She dared speak her name once more and offer friendship words again. "Catelyn. My Ned had nothing to do with your husband's decisions." She offered with the most conciliating tone she could muster.

"Of course he did not. Eddard's mistake was not to refuse when he could." The queen said coldly. It was a threat. Cersei politely ordered refreshments. They drank lemon water and continued their labor in silence. The lady of the house had much to think about that night.

She waited for her husband in their quarters, thinking about King's Landing and all the threats. She did not hear him come in and only noticed his presence when he held her. "Your father threatened me." Cersei stiffened. "What did he say?"

Her husband ran his fingers over her barely cladded belly. "Lord Lannister remarked on my lack of experience and the fact that there had been better and more assured candidates for such honorable position."

"Maybe you should not have accepted." She said turning to him. "Catelyn Baratheon hates the prince. She is resentful and blames the boy and Robert's lack of love for her daughters as the reason for princess's Myrcella's death."

"Robert is my friend. He needs my help. Jon Arryn's death was not of old age." He mused. "We have discussed this time and time again. I will not be swayed lioness." He stated. "Jon Arryn was murdered."

"You do dot know that for an absolute fact." She fetched for clues in his words.

"I do not but I trust my instincts and they tell me Tyrion did not lie." Her husband trusted the Imp. Tyrion had spent the majority of his visit with Ned and Robb. Her brother and her son's visits to the brothel did not amuse her. Jon thankfully was more reserved. Her eldest was busy taking over the estate and its obligations.

Cersei looked into his grey eyes. "You should not go alone." Her husband frowned. "I can take care of myself and our children." Ned stated while kissing her cheek. "You have to stay with Jon. I should have taught him more. He's not ready lioness."

She kissed his chest. "You were not ready either."

He sighed and massaged her shoulders. "I had you," his tone simple and honest.

Cersei felt the usual butterflies in her stomach when he reminded her she was needed. She kissed him slowly. "We'll have to find him another wife." She played with his chest hair.

"Let him manage the estate first. He will have time for wives once he's settled as Lord Stark." Ned pointed out reasonably.

She let her husband play with her hair and then kiss her neck. He was done talking. The woman laughed when he nipped at her collarbones and tried to rip her nightgown. "Why must you insist in wearing these in bed?" He asked annoyed at the lack of skin contact.

"It is chilly in the North my lord husband." She said with an innocent voice. Eddard loved it when she acted coy. He growled and attacked her. She kept her moans and whimpers low, lest anyone in the castle heard them. It was a big estate but it was not proper to have such interaction when they had Winterfell full of Kingsmen and the Royals.

The next morning Cersei did not expect her lord father to ask her to his solar. Lord Tywin Lannister as was his custom commandeered from his quarters. He disposed and ruled from his rooms in Winterfell. Ned hated the entitlement the eldest Lannister showed. Cersei of course served as buffer. Tyrion would only antagonize and Jaime. Well, Jaime did not care to speak with his brother in law at all. Her father did not dine with them or spend any time with her progeny. She was glad; it had been enough that first night after the feast when she had to suffer through his silences. Her children tried to know their grandfather. Jon attempted to engage him but Tywin did not answer any questions. She had fisted her utensils; it was a blessing when he ignored Robb and Tommen too. Bran was too scared to even look at the older man in the eyes. Arya frowned all the time and Joanna only looked at her plate that night.

"Father." She said as greeting and only moved when her lord father motioned to the chair in front of him. He was writing something or other and made her wait half an hour before addressing her. Cersei was uncomfortable enough because she had not forgotten the rules when it came to interacting with Tywin. Lord Lannister did not care for anyone's time but his own. He existed in an arrogant sphere in which he was privileged. She waited with repressed anger because she had not felt so despondent in years.

Finally Lord Lannister looked up from his papers and looked at her with disappointment. "I thought I had taught you better. I see the bastard is still alive. He's older, stronger, not easily murdered." He said with that calm tone of his.

She remained passive, for once because he hated when his children did not answer and because she was scared. Her father was ruthless. He was infallible. The man had his eyes on her son.

"You are weak Cersei. We are lions, we do not adopt wolflings but you defied nature. Do not fret; the bastard is safe. He poses no threat for me as Westeros believes him to be my kin. He might be useful yet." The man said calculatingly.

"I have called you for another matter." He coldly looked at her. "I hear Joanna will be queen."

Cersei nodded. "Eddard and the king have reached an agreement on the matter."

"She is beautiful. You have produced capable children it seems. Smart, willful, the lot of them; Joanna and Arya could cement our legacy in Dorne and the Crownlands." He remarked. She looked down at her feet once more. Arya would never set a foot in Dorne if she had any say in the matter. She would stay North with her and Jon.

"Lord Stark will not last as Hand of the King." The man's eyes glinted. Her father had abandoned his previous musings and reached the purpose of her visit.

"Is that a threat father?" Cersei's voice was fierce.

"It is a fact." The man did not break their stare.

"Ned is the King's eldest and best friend." She said with the same calculating voice her father used.

"Precisely why he will not last as Hand of the King." The man offered.

Cersei grew weary of the conversation. "I don't understand the purpose of our discussion."

"Your brother refuses to leave the Kingsguard. I have no heirs. It is his duty to our family to produce me an heir and continue the Lannister name. You have a strange hold on your brother Jaime. Make him leave that useless guard and I will protect your Northerman." The man said as explanation.

She smirked, for the first time she had defeated lord Tywin in something. She had Jaime's protection. There was nothing this man could offer compared to that. Jaime had given his word to her that he would protect Ned. "You have an heir, Tyrion."

"Do as I say Cersei." Her father was used to giving orders and people following them.

Cersei was drunk with her assumed advantage and victory and relished the words that came out of her mouth. "No." A simple monosyllabic word that expressed everything she had wanted to say to this man for years.

Her father shifted his face to an unmovable mask of ice. "You will do as I say. I am your father and you will do your duty to our family."

She remained impassive, "Father, you must not understand your words. You sold me to Eddard Stark. I bore him heirs; I am part of the North. My duty is to my husband and sons, all four of them. I am Lady Cersei Stark of Winterfell." She said with a smile. "By the rules of our kingdoms I am no longer yours to order. My husband became my owner the moment you sold me like a brood mare to the North seven and ten years ago." Cersei used the rhetoric Westerosi septons fed Westerosi women.

The lady of the castle left the solar with a radiant smile on her face. Father did not call after her. She left with a triumphant feeling in her belly. Tywin Lannister offered her a protection that Jaime had willingly given. Her twin brother would aid her. Jaime could not break promises to her. He would keep his oath.