𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐘-𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑 | Snake bites

{ Lyra }

✧✦✧

𝕯espite being the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, Lyra had discovered that she had an unfortunate habit of overhearing things that she really did not want to her. It would explain her current state, as she hovered outside the Queen Mother's chambers, where Cersei was raging to who Lyra assumed was Jaime.

She had been heading back to the royal chambers to meet with Joffrey, and rest from the afternoon sun, when she had heard the shouting and Lyra couldn't help but listen in.

"Our eldest child married the Stark bitch and knocked her up! Our only daughter shipped off to Dorne. Our baby boy set to marry that smirking whore from Highgarden," Lyra ran a hand over her bump, soothing the babe as she fought the urge to slap Cersei from speaking of her child that way.

"I'll make things better." Jaime pleaded.

"You never made anything better!" Cersei howled in frustration.

"I'll go to Dorne. I'll bring our daughter home," Jaime offered, causing Lyra to hurry away from the door and back to her own chambers as fast as her swollen ankles would let her. The guards opened the doors as soon as they saw the pregnant queen, allowing her to waddle into the room.

"My Love, you should not be hurrying as much," Joffrey looked up, worry clear on his face as he rushed to her side, abandoning the papers in the process. Gently, he placed a hand on her back to help her into a chair, his eyebrows furrowing at the sight of her flushed face. "Are you alright? Do you need me to call the Maester?"

"Joff, I'm alright. It's just the heat," Lyra smiled, pressing a kiss to his cheek as he crouched by her side. "Plus, I overheard something that you might want to hear."

"It seems like I do not need to replace Varys with you around," He joked quietly, pressing a kiss to her hand, though worry was still plastered on his face.

"Jaime and Cersei want to try and get Myrcella back from Dorne,"

"What?"

"Cersei's annoyed that you've married me and that Tommen is all set to marry Margaery, so she wants her daughter back,"

"She can not break a marriage pact and start another war," Joffrey's glare turned dark. "I won't allow her to drag the Lannister family name through the mud any further."

Lyra nodded, before hissing as the little lion in her belly aimed a particularly harsh kick at her stomach.

"Are you alright?" Joffrey stopped brooding in an instant, eyes going wide with panic.

"I am fine. The little lion was just agreeing with their father, that's all," Lyra smiled, rubbing the top of her stomach as Joffrey hovered, unsure of what to do. "Joff, I'm alright. I promise."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," Joffrey nodded, albeit reluctantly as he sat down beside her. "Now, what's going to happen with Myrcella?"

"I'll command Jaime to stay in Kings Landing until after the wedding, say that Tommen wants him," Lyra nodded, running her thumb over the back of Joffrey's hand as she waited for him to continue. "Then, send a letter to Dorne I suppose. That is the best of option."

"Sending a letter. Will that make them understand?" Joffrey shrugged, running his hands through his hair. 

"It's the best idea at the moment,"

"Why don't we send Tylar?" Lyra suggested, playing with the ring on her finger. "They should trust him more, for they know him to be truly loyal to me and there isn't as much as a chance that they'll read between the lines and make false assumptions as they might with a letter."

"I don't want to really leave you without a guard," Joffrey argued, running his fingers over Lyra's hand.

"There are Lannister guards?"

"I don't want to leave you with a guard that can be bribed by my mother," Joffrey corrected as Lyra nodded.

"Well, I'll just stay by your side for the time until Tylar gets back," Joffrey cocked an eyebrow, as Lyra pressed a light kiss to his hand. "Plus, Elia can't truly be bribed by Cersei so I shall have her by my side."

"We'll talk about it later. What's your plan for Myrcella?" Lyra hummed, before licking her lips.

"We both agree that she can't come back to King's Landing?" Her husband nodded. "What I'm thinking is that she can stay in Dorne and be fostered by the Martell family. Tylar can hash out the details, he knows what both of our interests are, and thus, Myrcella's not brought back to a dangerous place."

Joffrey hummed, before pulling on a cord behind his desk. A few moments later, Rolan appeared from the service corridor, bowing to the two rulers and Lyra took this as a sign that he agreed with her plan.

"Rolan, find Jaime Lannister and send him here," Rolan nodded, hurrying out of the royal chambers as Tylar cocked an eyebrow at the manservant, before stepping into the room. "I need you to take a trip to Dorne to speak to Ellaria Sand about the prospect of fostering Myrcella. Give me a day to make the arrangements for you, but you'll leave before the wedding of my brother."

"Of course, Your Grace. Can I ask the reason?" Tylar looked at Lyra, his eyebrows furrowing.

"To stop a plan that Cersei is hatching," Lyra replied, as both Northerners rolled their eyes.

"Ah, then of course I will go. Anything to prevent a badly formed plan," Tylar beamed. "I'll tell you all about the Water Gardens of Dorne, Your Grace."

"I would love that," Lyra grinned again, before Jaime appeared in the doorway.

"You called to see me, Your Grace?" Tylar pulled a face, before stepping out of the room and leaving the trio to talk.

"Yes, Uncle," Joffrey motioned for the man to step into the room. "Uncle, I need you in the city after Tommen's wedding. Tylar is having to travel and I do not wish to leave my wife and unborn child in the care of someone that I do not trust."

"Your Grace, I needed to arrange a trip to Dorne to see how your sister was getting on, by the request of the Queen Mother," Jaime broached the subject cautiously, knowing that Cersei and Joffrey had a strained relationship at the best of times.

"Go after Tylar gets back," Joffrey sighed, grabbing some papers from the desk to read through before the Small Council meeting. Lyra looked between them, before reaching for her water, hoping that an argument wasn't going to start out. 

"That's not feasible,"

"Myrcella will surely survive another few days without you there, or are you refusing your king?"

"Of course not, Your Grace, but..."

"Then it will be done and you will stay in King's Landing until Tylar gets back," Jaime looked like he was going to say something else, but thought better of it. "That is all, Uncle."

"Yes, Your Grace," Jaime left the room, the door slamming closed behind him as Lyra looked over at her husband, to see what his emotions were, but his face was guarded as he thought.

"There's a Small Council meeting now," Joffrey reminded his wife gently and Lyra nodded. "You stay here and rest, and I'll tell you all about it when I get back."

"You know I dislike being bed ridden," Lyra muttered, as Joffrey smoothed her hair away from her face and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. 

"Think of the baby, My Love,"

"Fine. Only for the baby and your peace of mind," Joffrey smiled at the statement, grabbing his crown from the top of the dresser. "I love you."

"I love you too," Joffrey pressed another kiss to her forehead, before he left Lyra in a contemplative state as she tried to work out how best to phrase the request for Ellaria Sand to foster Myrcella and what her husband was feeling. He had been off since she had entered the room and told him what his mother had said and now she was worried.

Joffrey had been quiet since the reveal of the pregnancy, and ever since then, he had been cautious around her as if she would break like pottery on stone. Lyra wasn't sure what to do, especially with the baby's due date so soon.

✧✦✧

Lyra sighed as she lay back against the propped up pillows, rubbing her stomach as she watched Joffrey prepare for bed, still wondering how to broach the subject of his silence. He had told her about the Small Council meeting, about his Uncle Kevin putting Cersei in her place, but there was just something in the way that he held himself. Candle light flickered against his skin, illuminating the pale scars that stretched and twisted across his skin, as his muscles tensed. She smiled to cover up her worry, before catching her husband's eyes over his shoulder.

"What's the matter?" He cocked an eyebrow as Lyra ran her hand over her stomach again, shaking her head and trying to talk about the subject carefully. She knew that Joffrey had never been taught to talk about his emotions, so getting him to was a hard task and she didn't want him to become defensive and close in on himself.

"When I give birth, where will you be?" Joffrey tensed, before spinning to look at her.

"What?"

"When I give birth to our child, where will you be?" He thought for a moment, before shrugging his shoulders. "I was just thinking of a conversation I had with your mother years ago, where she said that Robert was always off hunting in the woods and we're getting closer and closer to the time when I bring a babe into the world. I just wanted to know before hand."

"I don't know," He stammered out, running a hand through his hair as Lyra paused. She was sure that this was what had been stressing her husband out.

"Joff, I-I didn't mean to stress you out," Lyra sent him a soft smile, still running her hand along her belly. "I just know how stressful a baby being birthed can be, and how chaotic it is, and I just wanted to sort it out beforehand."

"You don't want me in there,"

"Why ever not, Joff?"

"I-" He trailed off, his words losing themselves in his throat, before he ran a tired hand down his face and turned back away from her.

Lyra grew worried, sitting up more as she watched him. Joffrey sighed again, before blowing the candles out and padding over to the bed. Lyra watched him carefully, waiting for him to say something else to calm the worry that had risen up inside of her.

"Don't worry about it,"

"No, I am worried," Lyra placed a hand on his shoulder, feeling his muscles tense beneath his skin as he lay down beside her. "Joff, why would I not want you there?"

"It's stupid,"

"It's not stupid if you're upset about it," Joffrey shook his head, before finally turning to look at her. 

"Look, I just have bad memories associated with child birth, that's all," He muttered, before shaking his head again and spinning away.

"Does this have something to do with why you believe you won't be a great father?" Joffrey tensed up, as Lyra realized she'd hit a nerve. "Joff, your parents don't define you. You are not Cersei, or Jaime, or Robert."

"Not yet,"

"Not ever," Lyra corrected. "What could you do that would be similar to them?"

"I don't know but I don't want to find out," Joffrey muttered. "I don't want to run the possibility of harming our child, ever."

"That's how I know you won't. You'd never harm out child, Joff, because you are so fearful that you might," Lyra soothed, pressing a light kiss to his neck as Joffrey's muscles slowly un-tensed. "Now, what's this about? What happened?"

"Mother was pregnant with Tommen, and I was eight," Joffrey muttered. "I heard Jaime talking about her giving birth, so I wanted to help out. I found a pregnant cat and cut it open and presented the babies to Robert, thinking that it would show I could help with Mother..."

"Joff..."

"He punched all of my teeth out," Lyra froze, turning to look at her husband. She had her suspicions about Joffrey's relationship with his parents, but he had never told her about anything explicitly. "In front of Stannis. Told me that what I did was disgusting and disturbing and yelled at me to get out of his sight."

Lyra felt tears well up in her eyes as she thought of how scared he must have been, burrowing under her husband's arms until she could lie with her head across his chest. Methodically, she ran her fingers in circles across his skin as he clutched onto her.

"My mother is a manipulative alcoholic, Robert was an abusive drunkard who fathered bastards and despised me and Jaime was absent," A silver tear trailed down Joffrey's cheek as he finally told her of everything. He blew the air out of his cheeks, shaking his head before he spoke again. "But it had to be me. I couldn't let them hurt Myrcella, or Tommen. Neither of them would have been able to cope."

"You shouldn't have to had to cope, Joff," Lyra murmured. "You were a child."

"Better me than them," Joffrey took a deep breath. "I don't want my child to have to think like I did. I don't want them to see their father hitting their mother, I don't want them to live in fear that their father might break their arm for not training well enough in sword fighting and I don't want you to fear me."

"I could never fear you," Lyra smiled, pressing a light kiss to his jaw. "Never, and nor will our child."

She sent him a warm grin, as Elia appeared on the bed, flopping at their feet. Lyra watched her for a moment, before leaning back to her husband.

"Is there a possibility that you will let me set Elia on Cersei and Jaime?" That drew a small laugh from Joffrey's lips. "I'm serious!"

"Maybe later, but I need them alive for the time being," The couple chuckled, before settling down to go to sleep. Lyra kept a tight hold of her husband, wanting to remind him that she would be by his side through everything. "I just don't want Cersei to dig their claws into Myrcella, just as she did with Tommen and it's killing me that she's all the way in Dorne and I can't protect her."

"Joff, you are protecting her," Lyra replied, her eyes fluttering closed. "Fostering her with the Martell family will keep her safe and out of Cersei's clutches. She'll be okay."

Hiya,

Lyra and Joff are plotting and we're going a bit more into Joff's backstory now, so poor bby didn't have fun. Also, don't know about this chapter but we're rolling with it, I had to rewrite it like five times and this is the best you're gonna get at the moment.

Let me know what you think and we're also about halfway through the book which is amazing!!

Love Li xx