KINGDOM FALL
— 17. Assassination Attempt

Since most of the Kingsguard feared her so much that they'd do anything she wanted, Annalys was able to order some of them to escort her through Flea Bottom in a carriage, "Stop the carriage!" She shouted as she found her carriage in front of one of King's Landing's orphanages.

"Halt!" She could hear the men order after hearing her command.

Once the carriage came to a stop, Annalys exited her carriage, a large smile on her face as she glanced around, "My Lady!" Lady Jeyne complained as she tried her hardest to keep up with Annalys, "We should have guards with us. The smallfolk despise your family. You're at risk."

"If you haven't realized by now, Lady Jeyne, I can handle myself quite well," Annalys reminded her handmaiden, a large smile on her face.

Not watching where she was going, Annalys ended up colliding chests with a man who was far taller than she was. Instead of looking scared, Annalys smiled, "Hello," She greeted him happily, "Pardon me."

The man remained silent, slightly nodding before moving out of the way. As she walked through the crowds, Annalys carried two large bags. One filled with gold dragons and the other with loaves of bread.

Each person she passed, she handed them a gold dragon and a loaf of bread, leading to the small folk practically crying with joy as they thanked her.

Jeyne sighed in annoyance, looking down to see the bottom of Annalys' dress drenched in mud and most likely dung, "You're ruining your dress, Annalys," She continued to complain, knowing she'd be the one that had to clean it as her handmaiden.

"You needn't worry, Jeyne," Annalys assured Jeyne, continuing to smile, "If it is beyond repairing, you'd do well to throw it out."

     Several moments later, Annalys sat on the floor of the Orphanage, spending time with the children. She learned much about them. Most of them had lost their fathers nearly two years before in the Battle of the Blackwater. Others had lost their mothers during childbirth.

Annalys felt slightly fearful, knowing there was a chance she herself would die giving birth to her children. Hearing the stories about their fathers, it made Annalys think about the first conversation she ever had with Talisa.

They were arguing after Annalys had restrained a man while Talisa had been forced to amputate him. Annalys named the man her enemy and Talisa had retorted, claiming that he had been an innocent man from Lannisport who hadn't held a spear until one was forced into his hand soon after the War of the Five Kings began.

Annalys began to think about that. All the Lannister soldiers she had killed, most were innocent and had family back in the Westerlands, praying for them to return. The men were forced into fighting in the war and had no choice in the matter. How many innocent men had Annalys killed, just because they were forced to fight on the opposing side?

"I've brought you all gifts," Annalys spoke up, holding the hands of one of the orphans, "I carved them myself."

She began to smile, watching as Jeyne walked around with a bag, handing out small soldier figurines that Annalys had carved herself, "They're soldiers, a reminder that each of you must stay strong in such hard times. I will be gifting the Septa with a thousand gold dragons. I will have fresh food from the Red Keep sent to you every week. The children of King's Landing mustn't go hungry." She explained and each person in the room looked beyond shocked, "Your fathers fought bravely in the Battle of the Blackwater just two years before. They died for the people of the Seven Kingdoms. They may not be here any longer, but I am. I will protect you," She paused, turning to look at the child who was still holding her hand, "All of you."

______

   Jaime, who had been summoned by Meryn Trant to Flea Bottom after hearing of Annalys being there, arrived at the slums of King's Landing. He found Annalys walking through the streets, holding the hands of two children while others follow close behind her.

Other people who resided in King's Landing stood around Annalys as well as she handed many of them silver stags and gold dragons as a token of her good well. Many cried happily. thankful for her generosity. It was more than any king ever showed the people of Flea Bottom.

Jaime watched in confusion as a pregnant woman walked over to Annalys, a large smile on her face.

Annalys, who noticed the mother-to-be, turned to face her, "I plan to name my child after you, Princess Annalys," The young mother who looked no older than Annalys said, "You are the city's savior. We know we will be protected with your presence in the capital."

The young woman smiled, handing Annalys a scroll. Annalys tried her hardest not to frown as she nodded her head. She forced herself to smile, watching as the lady walked away after handing her the scroll.

Annalys glanced around uneasily, making sure no one was looking before she placed the scroll in the pocket of her dress.

"Annalys," A voice spoke up, causing Annalys to turn to see Jaime, "Don't you think it's time you head back to the castle? It isn't safe out here for a princess."

"And who said that?" Annalys questioned with an attitude, "Mother?"

Jaime remained silent, giving Annalys a stern look. She knew she couldn't refuse him, unless she wanted to cause trouble.

Annalys found herself sighing in defeat, giving Jaime a slight eye roll, "Alright, alright. I'll go," She hesitantly decided, turning to face the Septa as she started to speak in a whisper, "Come to me for whatever you may need to take care of them. Whether it be clothes, food, or housing. It doesn't matter what it is, I'll be willing to help with it all."

The Septa smiled happily, nodding her head in response, "But only speak directly to me about it, alright?" Annalys asked the Septa, who nodded once more.

Annalys continued to smile, glancing around at the children. She knelt in front of the three children standing before her, giving each of them a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She quietly chuckled, promising them to return before she bid them goodbye.

Once she was done, she made her way over to Jaime, her reluctant handmaiden following soon after.

Jaime soon escorted Annalys to her carriage and once she knew she was alone, Annalys opened the scroll given to her to find a message from the Loyal Watchman.

Beware, for the False King plans to have you murdered in your sleep.

Signed,
Your Loyal Watchmen

  Annalys frowned slightly at the note, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. She knew not to disregard the letter, but she also wondered who the hell it was giving it to her. She knew for a fact the pregnant lady who had given it to her wasn't the loyal watchman, but who had been the one to write the note? Who was the Loyal Watchman and why was he helping her?

____

   That night, Annalys was asleep in her room but was soon woken when she heard faint footsteps in her chambers. She kept her eyes closed for a moment, allowing the footsteps to become louder. She knew someone was in her room at that moment, someone who wasn't supposed to be.

She grasped the dagger underneath her pillow. After a moment, she opened her eyes to find one of Joffrey's kingsguard standing in front of Annalys. He held a knife in his hand, about to stab her.

The man's eyes widened in alarm when he saw Annalys wake up. Before he could react, Annalys abruptly sat up, stabbing the man on the side of his neck.

Annalys stood up, watching as the man began to choke on his own blood before he fell to the ground. Still shocked, Annalys stared down at the man with wide eyes. He was, in fact, a kingsguard. The only one who could have ordered him to do such a thing was Joffrey.

Annalys quietly gasped as she realized what had just happened. Joffrey ordered one of his men to kill her and instead, she killed him. A man laid dead on her bedroom floor. If they didn't believe her story, Joffrey could have her executed for killing a member of his kingsguard.

Blood staining her shawl, Annalys rushed over to where her robe hung. She wrapped it around her body, making sure it covered the blood and her already growing belly, just before she exited the room. She glanced around, making sure no guards were around before she made her way to Jaime's bedroom, which was just down the hall.

Annalys was able to sneak into Jaime's room and unlike her, he wasn't woken up by the sound of someone entering his room. Annalys cautiously walked toward where he laid sound asleep in bed, an alarmed look on her face.

She stopped when she was standing at his bedside, wondering if it was wise to wake him up. She killed a member of his kingsguard, if he didn't believe what she said, she'd be in trouble. However, Jaime was the only one Annalys felt like she could trust with what had just happened.

It was the middle of the night, everyone was asleep. She had no one else to go to, "Jaime," She called out in a hushed tone, but her father still didn't wake up, "Jaime!"

Growing frustrated with the fact that Jaime wasn't waking up, Annalys roughly slapped the side of his face, causing Jaime to abruptly sit up from where he laid asleep in bed as his eyes shot open, "Good. You're awake." She stated in a calm tone.

Jaime frowned, turning his head to look out his chamber's window to see that it was still dark out. Confused, he turned to look back at Annalys, "Annalys. It's the middle of the night." He told his daughter, sounding groggy since he had just been woken up.

"I know," She replied softly and by the look on her face, Jaime knew something had happened, "I need your help. I did something. Something that will get me killed if anyone finds out. Please, help me, Jaime. You're the only one I trust."

Jaime sighed in defeat, knowing he couldn't say no to her. Tears were welled in her eyes as she looked down at him and whatever it was, despite knowing it must have been bad, Jaime knew right away he'd do anything to help her.

"Alright, alright," Jaime responded, standing up from his bed, "I'll help you. Just let me get a shirt."

"Thank you," Annalys whispered softly, relieved that Jaime had agreed to help her without even asking her what had happened.

   Several moments later, Annalys and Jaime stood in her chambers, looking down at the member of the Kingsguard who laid dead on the ground. Jaime sighed in frustration at the sight, despite knowing someone must have been dead for Annalys to wake him in the middle of the night.

   However, Jaime didn't expect it to be a member of the kingsguard dead. After all, he was Lord Commander. He was expected to report the dead, but of course, he wouldn't. Not when Annalys was at risk of being harmed.

"What happened?" Jaime asked quietly, turning to look Annalys in the eye with a concerned look on his face.

"I heard footsteps in my sleep," She informed Jaime, who gave her a weird look at the fact that she was able to hear footsteps in her sleep, "I'm a light sleeper."

"And what happened when you woke up?" Jaime questioned Annalys curiously, clearly wanting to know the whole story before he helped her get rid of the body.

"He had his knife pointed at me, he was going to kill me," Annalys explained in a calm tone, "I had a dagger hidden under my pillow and I killed him first."

Jaime looked down at the body, eying the stab wound on the man's neck and Annalys' dagger that laid next to him. He turned his head at look back at Annalys, whose hands were stained with blood, but her shift was covered with a robe so he could not see the rest of the blood that covered her.

"It was self-defense, then." Jaime pointed out, but Annalys was quick to argue.

"Yes, but that doesn't change the fact that he was sent by Joffrey," Annalys began to explain to Jaime, who frowned at the fact that Annalys was trying to blame it on Joffrey, "Joffrey could use this against me, Jaime. He could have me beheaded for murdering a member of the kingsguard."

"Why would Joffrey send someone to kill you in your sleep?" Jaime asked, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion. It was a stupid question, though. It wasn't a secret that Joffrey wanted his elder sister dead.

"Why wouldn't he? He wants me dead!" She practically shouted at Jaime, just before becoming quieter in fear of someone hearing them, "Are you going to keep pestering me with questions or are you going to help me?"

Jaime sighed in defeat, immediately nodding his head.

Later on, Annalys and Jaime knelt on the ground where the body of the unknown man formerly laid. A bucket of soapy water laid next to them as they held sponges in their hands.

Jaime had a disgusted look on his face as he and Annalys were forced to scrub the blood off the floor. The man's dead body laid on a carpet off to the side, which the only place they could think of to put him while they scrubbed the blood off the floor.

"It's leaving a stain," Annalys informed Jaime in an annoyed tone, looking down to see that even after scrubbing for nearly ten minutes, blood was still staining the floor of Annalys' chambers.

"Why is this so difficult?" Jaime complained, growing frustrated and annoyed with their failure, "Here, we send our clothes to the servants dirty and they come back clean, how do they do it?"

"I don't know," Annalys admitted, looking each other in the eye, "They take them and they..." She trailed off as she tried to think of the answer, "They dip them in something."

"Very helpful of you, Annalys," Jaime sarcastically commented, earning a glare from Annalys before he sighed in frustration, "If we're lucky, this will all look like spilled wine."

Jaime dropped his blood-stained sponge into the bucket of water before standing up. He walked over to where they placed the body on the carpet and Annalys was quickly follow him over to it, "Roll it forward," He demanded in a stern tone.

Annalys sighed in defeat, both she and Jaime bending forward as they rolled the carpet around the man's body. After much struggle, they finally ended up succeeding.

Annalys stood up, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand before she looked down at the body rolled up in a carpet, "Now, all we have to do is find a way to get it out of the Castle without anyone seeing. It won't be hard. It's the middle of the night." She explained, only to turn to see the look Jaime was giving her, "Don't give me that look. We can do this, Jaime. It can't be that hard."

"Says you," Jaime snapped at Annalys, "Every person you've killed has either been in battle or we made it look like an accident. This..." He trailed off, pointing down toward the body, "This, we can't make it look like an accident. You stabbed him in the throat."

"It was instinct," Annalys argued with Jaime angrily, "What else was I supposed to do? He was going to kill me. I had to stab him somewhere that would kill him and wouldn't give him time to yell out. The throat was the only possible option."

Jaime stood silent, glaring at Annalys. He knew she was right, but he couldn't let himself admit that, "Let's just get rid of the body before the sun rises," He demanded and Annalys immediately nodded her head in agreement.

___

That night, Annalys didn't sleep at all. When the sun rose, she and Jaime were just arriving back from tossing the body of the man in Blackwater Bay. They knew, sooner or later, his body would most likely show up on the shores, but they knew it would be a while until that happened. They both entered the Red Keep and went their separate ways, not talking about what they had done.

After dressing for the day in one of the dresses her mother had given to her as an early Name Day present, Annalys soon met up with her mother in the gardens. They stood together, practically glaring at Loras Tyrell, who stood with Margaery from afar, "I don't suppose there's anything we can do about this," Annalys spoke up in a calm tone, "I don't much like the idea of marrying a man who's infamous for sleeping with other men."

"We could have him killed," Cersei suggested, but more in a joking matter, which Annalys didn't notice.

"That doesn't sound like such a bad idea," Annalys bluntly replied, causing Cersei to turn to Annalys with wide eyes, "What, did you want me to lie? Do you think we can kill him?"

Cersei was silent for a moment, nodding her head in response to Annalys' question, "I'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe, even end the Tyrells for good. Hang the world. Keeping our family safe is the only thing that matters to me."

"What if the ones putting me in harm's way is someone in the family?" Annalys asked curiously, a cold look on her face, "Your darling son ordered one of his kingsguard to kill me, you know."

Hearing Annalys' revelation, Cersei turned to Annalys with wide eyes, "What?" She asked her daughter in disbelief.

Annalys sighed, turning her head so that she wasn't looking Cersei in the eyes, "The impulse I understand. He hates me because I'm the only one besides Uncle Tyrion who tells him what he really is. He wants me dead for what I've done in the past and because far more people in this city love me than they love him. Fair enough. He wants me dead. But his stupidity?" She asked, letting out a large scoff, "He could have had me poisoned and no one would have known. But instead, the king orders a Kingsguard to murder me in my sleep. I am trapped in a Lion's Den, does he truly think I wouldn't sleep without a knife placed under my pillow for protection?"

Cersei remained silent for a long moment, trying to process what she had just learned, "What did you do to the man?" She managed to ask, knowing the man most definitely didn't survive Annalys' wrath. They never did.

"I slit his throat. Jaime got rid of the body." Annalys informed Cersei in a calm tone, sounding as if she didn't care that she had murdered yet another person.

Tears began to fill Cersei's eyes, not because of the fact that Annalys had killed someone, but because Joffrey had the nerve to order one of his men to try and kill his elder sister. Cersei thought she could keep her safe, but it seemed as though she was failing miserably.

"What do you want me to say?" Cersei found herself asking, since she didn't know what else to say.

"I want you to tell me if my life is still in danger." Annalys snapped at Cersei in an almost pleading tone.

"Most likely. But not from Joffrey," Cersei assure Annalys, shaking her head, "He won't do anything again once I tell your grandfather."

Annalys sighed in defeat, looking upwards to see many Lannister banners hung up along the castle wall, "Seven kingdoms united in fear of Tywin Lannister, just like old times." She whispered softly.

"Not the Tyrells. Soon they won't need to be afraid of him. Joffrey will belong to Margaery, the little doe-eyed whore. And so will his children and their children. History will be taken from our hands," She explained, venom laced in her tone. She slowly turned to Annalys, who turned look at her mother as well, "But you'll escape, at least. Jaime and I will make sure of that."

"Jaime or not, I'm truly fucked." Annalys admitted bluntly.

Of course, Cersei thought Annalys meant her issues with Joffrey, but that wasn't the case. Annalys referred to the fact that she was supposed to be on Robb's side, but as the time passed, she found herself unable to betray her family. And if Robb found out about her betrothal to Ser Loras Tyrell, he'd never forgive her and she'd have no way to explain herself.

____

  In the White Sword Tower at the Red Keep, Jaime stood in the chambers of the Kingsguard. He was looking down at the page of the book in front of him that had his name written on it. He was about to flip the page when Cersei suddenly entered, looking angered, "Why didn't you tell me?" Cersei asked her brother angrily, "Why didn't you tell me about Joffrey ordering one of his kingsguard to kill Annalys?"

Jaime groaned and cursed under his breath, annoyed that Annalys hadn't kept her mouth shut as she promised to. It was expected, though. He had the feeling she'd tell Cersei, "She wasn't supposed to tell you," Jaime stated, sighing in defeat.

"Wasn't supposed to tell me?!" Cersei shouted at Jaime loudly, "Joffrey tried to kill our daughter!"

Jaime's eyes widened in alarm as he realized how loud Cersei was being, "Quiet down," He warned her in a hushed tone, "People can't know that she's our daughter."

"People already suspect it of us," Cersei coldly snapped at Jaime, "Maybe not of the others, but they do of Annalys. They've suspected it for years, even when Robert was still alive. You two were so close...they always suspected it."

"She was my firstborn," Jaime reminded Cersei in a stern tone, "I couldn't help it. You know that. I couldn't let her be raised by that drunken fool. I couldn't let her become him."

"I think she knows," Cersei informed Jaime, tears in her eyes, "Since she made that comment at the dinner with the Tyrells, I can't stop thinking about it. What if Annalys knows?"

Jaime was silent for a moment. He knew the truth, but he knew couldn't betray Annalys by telling Cersei, "I don't know," Jaime admitted, shrugging his shoulders, "She most likely does. She was married to Robb Stark and even he knew."

"But she kept it a secret for all this time. Why?" Cersei asked Jaime in concern, "Joffrey wants her dead. She wants him dead. All it takes is one word from her about you being her father and she could have Joffrey ripped off the throne."

"Annalys would never do that," Jaime argued, standing up from his seat as he gave Cersei a look of disbelief, "She may want Joffrey dead, but she would never risk the rest of us."

Cersei was quiet. Tears filled her eyes as she thought about Annalys, "I swore I'd protect her and I've failed. Joffrey wants her dead. When Father dies, they'll be nothing stopping him from killing her," She confessed, trying her hardest not to cry, "She'll be Lady of Casterly Rock. She'll have the Lannister armies and within no time, the majority of the kingdoms will side with her. One of them will die."

Cersei turned to look directly at Jaime, "It won't be Annalys, I won't let him kill her," She declared, sounding determined as a single tear slowly fell down her cheek, "I won't lose my firstborn. Not my little girl." She argued, shaking her head, "We're not supposed to have favorites, but if I have to choose, I'll choose Annalys in a heartbeat."

"I know," Jaime replied, nodding his head in understanding, "As will I."

"There's a war coming, Jaime. I can feel it," Cersei informed Jaime in a soft tone, speaking the same words her father did, "And I have a feeling our little girl is going to be the cause of it."

The duo stood in silence, feeling a chill run down both their spines at the thought of Annalys being the cause of the next war.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

A war is DEFINITELY coming, but what do you all think it'll be about? Who do you think will be on each side?