KINGDOM FALL
— 10. King Joffrey

At King's Landing, in the Hand's Chamber, Tyrion walked in to find Tywin, Cersei, Varys, and Pycelle all sitting while Joffrey paced behind his grandfather, looking to beyond excited as he widely grinned, "Killed a few puppies today?" Tyrion sarcastically asked his nephew.

"Show him," Joffrey told Pycelle enthusiastically, referring to the scroll the elder man held in his hand, "Come on, show him."

  His hand shaking, Pycelle offered scroll to Tyrion, before the man could take it, Pycelle purposely dropped it, "Oh, apologies, my lord. Old fingers." he told Tyrion apologetically, but it was clear he had done it on purpose.

Annoyed, Tyrion reached down to the floor and snatched up the scroll. He sat in the chair directly across from Tywin at the head of the table while Joffrey continued to be manic with energy.

"'Roslin caught a fine fat trout. Her brothers gave her a pair of wolf pelts for her wedding. Signed Walder Frey.'" He read the scroll aloud before turning to look over at Joffrey, who was smiling widely.

  He turned to look at his mother, leading to her forcing herself to smile back. She had to act like she was happy for him, but in truth, all she could think about was whether or not Annalys was safe and alive.

Walder Frey had demanded two million gold dragons as a ransom for Annalys. Tywin ended up agreeing, wanting Annalys back in the capital. That was for two reasons, of course. He wanted to finally shut Cersei up, but also, there was another reason: Annalys was clearly an enemy and he wanted to keep her close, for everyone's sake.

After reading the scroll, Tyrion glanced around at the group in confusion, "Is that bad poetry or is it supposed to mean something?"

"Robb Stark is dead. And his bitch mother," Joffrey enthusiastically informed Tyrion, who was immediately taken aback by the information. He watched as Joffrey turned to Grand Maester Pycella, smiling widely, "Write back to Lord Frey. Thank him for his service and command him to send Robb Stark's head. I'm going to serve it to Annalys on a platter when she returns."

The whole group was taken aback by Joffrey's plan, but Varys was the only who decided to speak up, "Your Grace, Princess Annalys is your older sister," Varys reminded Joffrey, who looked to not care in the slightest.

"A joke," Cersei immediately spoke up, a large, yet smile on her face, "Joffrey did not mean it."

Joffrey frowned, looking down at his mother with a confused look, "Yes, I did," He argued, nodding his head, "I'm going to have it served to my whore of a sister at my wedding feast."

Cersei tried her hardest not to look angered by the way Joffrey spoke of Annalys. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, Tyrion beat her to it, "No, you will not," He spoke up in a stern tone, causing Joffrey to turn to him, "Annalys just lost her husband. Give her a break. She's been through enough and she isn't yours to torment."

"Everyone is mine to torment," Joffrey snapped at Tyrion coldly as he glared at him, "You'd do well to remember that, you little monster."

"Oh, I'm a monster," Tyrion spoke up in a sarcastic tone, "Perhaps you should speak to me more softly, then. Monsters are dangerous and just now, kings are dying like flies."

The entire room fell silent after hearing Tyrion's threat toward Joffrey. The King turned his head, looking toward Tywin to see if he'd say anything, "I could have your tongue cut out for saying that." He growled at Tyrion, venom laced in his tone of voice.

Before Joffrey could attempt to do something, Cersei grabbed her son's hand, trying to calm him down, "Let him make his threats. Hmm?" She told her son, a soft smile on her face, "He's a bitter little man."

"Lord Tyrion should apologize immediately," Pycelle spoke up, clearly wanting to stir the pot, "Unacceptable, disrespectful, and in very bad taste."

Joffrey roughly snatched his hand out of his mother's grasp, "I am the king!" He shouted at Tyrion angrily, pointing a finger at him, "I will punish you."

Tywin rolled his eyes after hearing Joffrey's comment, "Any man who must say, 'I am the king' is no true king. I'll make sure you understand that when I've won your war for you."

"My father won the real war. He killed Prince Rhaegar," Joffrey snapped at his grandfather, "He took the crown while you hid under Casterly Rock!"

Hearing Joffrey's outburst, the entire group fell silent once more. Everyone knew Joffrey made a mistake by talking to Tywin like that, they just wondered how he would react. Tyrion shifted uncomfortably in his seat while Cersei stared up at her eldest son uneasily.

Tywin remained silent for a long moment, staring intently at his grandson. Joffrey stared back at him, finding himself beginning to feel uneasy with the silence, "The king is tired. See him to his chambers." Tywin spoke up in a stern tone.

Cersei wasted no time standing up, trying her best to lead Joffrey away before it was too late, "Come along." She quickly told her son, trying her best to get him away before it was too late.

"I'm not tired." Joffrey told his mother, beginning to calm down.

"We have so much to celebrate," Cersei tried to convince Joffrey, feeling uneasy, "A wedding to plan. You must rest."

As Cersei pulled Joffrey toward the door, Tywin spoke up, "Grand Maester, perhaps some essence of nightshade to help him sleep." He ordered and Joffrey continued to complain about not being tired as Cersei pulled him away.

____

    More than a fortnight later, Annalys opened her eyes when she heard a man yell to open the gates. She immediately knew she was in King's Landing. She had slept nearly the entire ride to King's Landing, which had lasted several days. The men delivering her to the capital stopped every now and then at Inns. They allowed her to properly eat, seeing as though they were actually her men disguised as Frey men.

  Annalys continued to listen and hear many people talk about her in the streets, most of them peasants. Some called her a whore while others were talking about how the wished the former Queen in the North would be ruler of Westeros instead of her mad brother.

Heh, liked that'd happen, she thought to herself.

Just then, the carriage came to a halt and soon after, the door to the carriage opened and Annalys found her mother standing before her. Oddly enough, it was relieving to see her mother and not Joffrey. Cersei, Jaime, and Tyrion were the only people in King's Landing she knew for a fact didn't want her dead. Them, and Tommen, of course, but he didn't really count. He was but a child.

    Cersei's eyes scanned Annalys' body, finding it to be covered in dirt. The ride was difficult, that was for sure. Dirt covered most of Annalys' body, seeing as though she hadn't bathed in nearly a month. She had a cut across her face, which she had forced Robb to give to her to make it look like there had been a struggle. Cersei also noticed that the skirt of her dress was ripped. Not to mention, the visible wound on her shoulder.

  Her mother sighed, looking saddened by Annalys' state. She hadn't seen her daughter in almost three years and this was how she came home?

  However, that was exactly what Annalys wanted to happen. She wanted pity and that was what she was getting.

   "You said she wouldn't be harmed. My father paid you good money so that she would remain unharmed," She told the driver, venom laced in her tone of voice as she spoke up. She was clearly furious, even if she tried her hardest not to show it. After all, Tywin had gifted whom he thought to be the Freys two million Gold Dragons for Annalys' safe return.

"She killed three of the Frey men, Your Grace," The man secretly loyal to the Starks told Cersei in a calm tone, "Another one when we attempted to get her in the carriage. We believed it would weaken her and slow her down, but in all honesty, it didn't. She's a fighter, that's for sure."

Cersei turned to the man Annalys knew was actually one of her men and almost glared at his attempt to speak positively about the whole ordeal. The man sighed, looking down ashamed before walking away.

    Cersei turned back to Annalys, holding out her hand for her daughter to take, "Come, child," She attempted to speak to Annalys in a soothing tone, "You're home now."

"My home's the North," Annalys replied without hesitation, not looking her mother in the eyes since she knew the woman would be taken aback by what she said, "My home was with my husband and you all killed him."

Her tone was monotonous, which horrified Cersei a bit, "It was not like that, Annalys," Cersei tried to tell her daughter, but it was clear Annalys did not believe what she was saying one bit.

  Annalys wanted to smirk, noticing just how much her statement affected Cersei.

"The King demands her at this instant," The familiar voice of Meryn Trant spoke up, causing Annalys to finally turn to her mother with wide eyes.

  At that moment, she became alarmed. She would have thought the child-beater named Meryn Trant would either be dead or no longer in the Kingsguard by now. Him being there put a large kink in her plans. But hey, at least she could fulfill her promise to Arya to bring her back Ser Meryn's head.

  Cersei hesitantly stepped out of the way, revealing Meryn Trant to be standing before her. He reached his hands out, roughly grabbing ahold of Annalys, no matter how much she tried to fight him, "Let go of me!" She shouted out, attempting to strike him but it was hard to do so as he tightly gripped onto her already tied up wrists.

As he roughly pulled her out of the carriage, Annalys locked eyes with the two men who brought her to King's Landing. She stopped fighting for a brief moment, giving them a nod in encouragement. The two men sighed in defeat, knowing that meant she wanted them to leave. It was her way of telling them that she'd be okay, that she'd take care of herself and that they could tell their king the queen was safe. In truth, she wasn't. She was far from it.

  They all knew that, but wouldn't dare tell Robb that. It was already taking everything within Robb not to head south for Annalys. The two men knew Annalys and they knew if anyone could survive in a city full of enemies, it was Queen Annalys.

    Annalys continued to fight all the way to the Throne Room, Ser Meryn dragging her the entire way there. She kicked and screamed, but didn't make an actual attempt to fight back. She needed to cause a scene and that was what she did.

   Cersei was forced to follow them, looking beyond distraught at her daughter's state. She should have known all of which that was happening was expected. What she didn't know was that it was all a trick.

    Annalys stopped fighting back as Meryn pushed her forward, causing her to fall forward since she didn't have time to steady herself. She pushed herself up with her hands, now in a kneeling position. She looked forward, only to see Joffrey smirking as he sat on the Iron Throne. She glared at him, wanting nothing more than to kill him right then and there.

She couldn't, though. She needed to wait for the perfect time.

She glanced around, finding Tywin, who was her brother's Hand, standing beside him. She continued to look around, finding Jaime standing nearby as well. He must have been promoted to Lord Commander of the Kingsguard.

As Jaime locked eyes with his daughter, his expression became full of sadness at the sight of her state. He had changed himself, but at that moment, Annalys looked nothing like she did the last time he saw her.

Annalys' eyes scanned her father, her eyes immediately locking on his right hand, which was now a golden one. The letter was right. Jaime did, in fact, lose his hand.

"Well, well. Look at this. My darling sister is back!" Joffrey announced loudly, glancing around at everyone in the room, including the lords and ladies who were also there to see what would happen to Annalys, "What shall we do with this treacherous whore?"

Annalys maintained the same look on her face. The one that no could quite figure out. Her eyes told them she was sad, but the way she stood and the rest of her expression said something else. If only they knew.

"Joffrey," Cersei spoke up, speaking in a stern tone, "We talked about this."

Joffrey rolled his eyes at his mother's order, turning to look at Annalys once more, "Kneel to your king, sister, and I'll forget the treason you've committed."

Annalys remained silent, staying in her same position, which angered Joffrey, "I'll repeat myself one last time," Joffrey told his sister in a threatening tone, "Kneel before your king or face the consequences."

Cersei walked closer to Annalys, beginning to speak to her eldest daughter in a hushed tone, "Please, do as he says," She whispered to her daughter in a pleading tone.

    Annalys turned to look at Cersei, her eyes softening at the look on the woman's face. Cersei looked almost fearful. She truly feared what would happen to Annalys if she continued to defy Joffrey. Cersei truly cared for her daughter. Her eldest. Her favorite. It was clear she did not want harm to come to her daughter, but had no choice in the matter if Annalys kept doing what she was doing.

   Annalys sighed in defeat, slowly looking up at her younger brother, "I'm already kneeling, Your Grace," She finally spoke up, but instead of acknowledging her sarcastic tone when mentioning kneeling, Joffrey paid more attention to the fact she called him, 'Your Grace'.

"Fantastic," Joffrey smirked evilly, turning toward a few female servants, "Escort my sister to her old chambers."

  Three female servants walked over to Annalys. They grabbed her by the arms, assisting her in standing up before beginning to lead her away.

Jaime sighed, exchanging a look with Cersei, who looked almost distraught by their daughter's state, just as Jaime did. Cersei gave Jaime a certain look, a look that told him that she wanted him to follow them.

Jaime remained silent, nodding his head before beginning to head in the direction that the servants had taken Annalys.