KINGDOM FALL
— 21. Ser Bronn of the Blackwater

  Soon enough, Annalys arrived at her room. She yelled at the servants to leave, allowing her to be alone. Jeyne attempted to stay, but Annalys ordered her to leave as well. Once Annalys was alone, she began to pant for breath, trying her hardest not to cry.

She became so consumed with anger that she began to repeatedly punch the wall at full force, hoping the pain that came with it would distract her from how heartbroken she was. The knuckles on her left hand began to bleed, leading to Annalys finally stopping.

  Soon enough, she couldn't deal with it anymore and a loud sob escaped her parted lips as she knelt on the ground. She began to sob loudly, clutching her stomach. Jaime may have listened to her and not told anyone, but that didn't change the fact that Robb would soon hear about the annulment.

  With all of the news that seemed to be spreading because of her about Robb, he would soon begin to think that she was betraying him. He would never forgive her, thinking she had been planning it the entire time. But that was a lie. It wasn't the truth.

  Suddenly, Annalys was snapped out of her thoughts when there was a knock on the door, "Go away!" She screamed, still crying.

    Despite Annalys' order, the door still opened. Annalys turned to yell at the person, only to become shocked when she found her mother, "Jaime said you learned about the annulment. He thought you might need me..." Cersei trailed off, looking uneasy by Annalys' state, "since you were angry with him."

"Do you know why?" Annalys asked her mother in between sobs, "Did he tell you?"

"No," She admitted after a moment of silence, shaking her head, "But it doesn't matter."

Cersei slowly walked over to other okids look okpppo. A saddened look grew on her face at how distraught and heartbroken Annalys looked at that moment. She tried her hardest not to cry as she knelt on the floor beside her eldest daughter. It pained her to see her eldest in such a state.

Cersei wasted no time wrapping her arms around Annalys, allowing the girl to sob in her mother's arms.

Annalys continued to cry and Cersei began to tear up at her daughter's state. She stroked Annalys' hair in comfort, not knowing what else to do. None of Cersei's children ever opened up to her like that, especially not Annalys. Cersei hadn't seen Annalys cry since she was five years old. Annalys was always so strong and never let herself become as hurt as she was at that moment.

Annalys, deep down, knew that any time she had cried since she was younger, Robb had somehow been involved. She loved him so much, but she had to admit, being with him also brought her the most pain. She did things for him she never thought she'd do for anyone. She killed for him. She betrayed her family for him. She carried his children. She would have done anything for him and she still would.

But she feared at that moment, that her stupidity would cause her to lose the man she loved. She didn't know what she'd do if he didn't forgive her.

Cersei attempted to tell Annalys that she'd be alright and everything was going to be okay, which led to Annalys sobbing even harder as she desperately shook her head, "No, no, it's not, Mother. It's not," She sob loudly, her voice becoming barely audible, "He's going to hate me and he doesn't even know the truth."

Cersei froze for a moment, beginning to frown as she didn't understand what her daughter meant. She shook herself out of her thoughts after a brief, deciding not to question Annalys. Perhaps she should have.

___

    At Riverrun, Arya stood in the doorway of Robb's chambers. Not even a week after his room was fixed up, Robb had trashed it once again. Unlike last time, none of his belongings were trashed. It was all of Annalys'.

Arya's eyes scanned the room, finding all of the Annalys' belongings scattered across the floor, most of them broken. Arya became horrified, however, when her eyes locked on Annalys' bow, her most prized possession. It laid on the ground, snapped in half by Robb during her his drunken fit of rage.

   Arya wondered how Annalys would react to what Robb did to her bow. Annalys always believed that it brought her luck and she loved that thing almost as much as she loved Robb.

Arya was snapped out of her thoughts when Robb turned to her, tears rushing down his face as he heaved for breath. He let go of the bottle of alcohol in his hand, causing it to crash to the ground and shatter into numerous shards of glass.

"Robb, we don't know even know if it's true," Arya tried to convince her brother that the raven sent to them with news of the annulment wasn't true.

"It is, Arya! Annalys has probably been planning this since the beginning. She insisted on going to King's Landing even after I warned her. She knew she'd survive there because she planned all of this. None of what she told me she'd do has happened. Joffrey isn't dead. Tywin isn't dead. The Mountain isn't dead and Sansa hasn't fled King's Landing!" Robb shouted at Arya angrily before he looked down at the ground, betrayal written all over his expression, "She tricked me. She betrayed me. She betrayed all of us."

"Annalys wouldn't do that!" Arya screamed at her eldest brother, growing frustrated that he constantly thought the worst of Annalys since the night of the Red Wedding.

"She's arranged to marry Loras Tyrell! Tywin Lannister has annulled our marriage and made it as if it never existed. She's heir to Casterly Rock. She's getting everything she would've gotten if we didn't marry," He paused, running a hand through his hair as he began to cry, "She means to do the same thing her mother did with Robert Baratheon. She means to make them think that my children are Loras Tyrell's..." He trailed off, quietly gasping as his drunken state had him thinking of something that was far from the truth, "He'll know about them not being his and he'll let it happen anyway because it'll keep his own secret from getting out."

    Robb slowly turned to look at Arya, who was wide eyed. At first, she was angry that Robb was so drunk that he was making up assumptions, but now, all she could think about was the fact that Annalys had been pregnant the entire time, "You let her go down there..." She trailed off, trying her hardest to calm herself down, "You let her go down there carrying your babies, Robb. They named you a traitor! The moment they find out those babies are yours, they'll chop her head off like they did Father and it will be all your fault!" Arya screamed at Robb furiously, "Seven hells, Robb, and here I thought you couldn't get any stupider."

Arya turned on her heel, fleeing the room before Robb could speak up. What Arya didn't know was leaving Robb alone while he was so drunk was the last thing she should have done. If she had known what he was capable of in his heartbroken state, she would have never left his side.

----

    The following morning in King's Landing, Annalys sat in her room with Lady Jeyne, both of them somehow deciding to read books. Lady Jeyne had snuck into the Maester's Library, stealing two books about pregnancy for Annalys. Well, more about the birth rather than the pregnancy itself.

Podrick, Annalys' new squire, was there as well, but Annalys already tested his loyalty and he was proven to be able to keep his mouth shut. Podrick walked over to the table, pouring them both a glass of wine.

Annalys looked up from her book, giving the young man a thankful look, "Thanks, Podge," She jokingly said, calling him by his nickname, "Pour yourself a glass while you're at it."

"Yes, My princess," He immediately replied, obeying her.

"It says your water will break," Jeyne informed Annalys, looking up from her book, which the Princess did soon after as well, "Water will trickle down your leg and that will mean it's time."

She looked toward Annalys, who clearly felt uneasy, "What will happen when it's time?" She asked, but before Jeyne could answer, there was a knock on the door.

Before Annalys could speak up, the door opened, revealing Jaime to be standing there with another unknown man, "What do you want?" Annalys asked, rolling her eyes in annoyance since she was still pissed at him.

Jaime turned to look at Lady Jeyne, who made no motion to leave, "Whatever you say in front of me, you can say in front of Jeyne," She informed Jaime, noticing the uneasy look on his face.

  Jaime nodded his head, looking back over at Annalys, "You have a lot of enemies in King's Landing. I thought it'd be best if you have someone to stand beside you and protect you as your sword shield." He explained to Annalys, who couldn't believe that Jaime, of all people, would give Annalys a sworn shield.

"I can protect myself." She argued with Jaime, clearly not wanting another person to follow her around. She already had both Podrick and Jeyne, who else did she need?

Jaime glared at Annalys, looking annoyed by her stubbornness, "If you agree to Bronn being your sword shield and pay him his dues, I might just decide to help you with your little issue."

Jaime smirked slightly, noticing the way Annalys immediately turned to look at him, clearly interested in his bribe, "Fine." She responded, giving him a tight-lipped smile that was clearly fake.

"Thank you. I'll leave you two to it." Jaime quickly responded, leaving before Annalys could angry.

Once Jaime was out of sight, Annalys went back to reading her book. Jeyne stared at Bronn for a moment, amused by the fact that he was forced to just stand there awkwardly, clearly not knowing what to do.

"You can leave if you want, I don't need a sworn shield," Annalys spoke up in a calm tone, but still refused to look up from his book.

"Aye, that may be true, but Jaime wants me to stay with you," Bronn argued with Annalys, who immediately noticed that Bronn must have agreed because he was being paid.

Both Annalys and Jeyne turned to each other, both of them smiling in amusement, "How much is Ser Jaime paying you?" Jeyne asked the same exact thing Annalys had been thinking, "It's the only valid reason for someone willingly agreeing to be the sworn shield of the King's greatest enemy."

"Double what his brother usually bribes me with," Bronn informed the two women, who laughed when they realized he was talking about Tyrion.

Annalys laughed, beginning to smile as she and Jeyne placed their books down. She handed them to Podrick, who placed them on Annalys' bookshelf before walking over, "Sit," Annalys told Bronn before looking toward Podrick, "You too, Podrick. The table's big enough for the four of us."

Once Podrick and Bronn had taken a seat, Annalys immediately began to fill their glasses, along with Jeyne's, "Ser Bronn of the Blackwater, I'm guessing," She spoke up in a mocking tone.

"What a horrible name," Jeyne commented, she and Annalys quietly laughing in amusement.

"It's what I get for shoveling Lannister shit for the past four years." He informed them, causing Annalys to smile.

"I like you," She replied, handing him the glass of wine,  "Jaime's as stubborn as I am so it would seem we'll have to get used to this arrangement. He'll only give me what I want if we do this," She paused, raising a brow at Bronn, "What did he say was the reason for me needing a sworn shield?"

"He said you've dug yourself into a hole that you couldn't seem to get out and needed someone to watch your back because your fighting days were over." He explained and Podrick, who knew the truth about Annalys, nearly choked on his wine, causing the group to turn to him.

"My apologies, Princess," Podrick apologized, much to Annalys' annoyance.

Annalys sighed, turning back to Bronn since she was annoyed with Podrick's constant use of such good manners, "They're not, Ser Bronn. My fighting days are far from over. I'm just more cautious these days. I have things to live for now." She explained to Bronn, who looked amused by her vagueness.

"What, marrying Highgarden's official sword swallower and making him some little flower cunt babies?" Bronn asked Annalys bluntly, causing the entire group to smile in amusement.

"If you're going to be serving Princess Annalys, Ser Bronn, you must know she's nothing like the perfect princess she's made out to be," Jeyne pointed out to Bronn, who had a knowing look on his face.

"Oh, I know. No 'perfect princess' would have been named the greatest swordsman who ever lived," Bronn responded without hesitation, earning an eyeroll from Annalys.

"Why must everyone call me that?" She asked in annoyance, turning to look at Podrick instead for an answer, "Mind telling me?"

"Maybe it's because your grandfather is known to put someone of the best warriors and swordsmen into his army, but you seemed to be able to cut through all of them like nothing, Princess Annalys," He explained to Annalys, who smiled proudly as she thought back to her time during the war.

"Don't forget that you beat your royal cunt of a brother like it was nothing," Bronn commented, causing Annalys to smile even larger.

Annalys laughed softly, pointing a finger at him, "I think I might actually like you."

"I sure hope so," Bronn responded, letting out a loud scoff, "I'm going to be up your ass until Jaime tells me otherwise."

"You needn't worry. I'm much more fun than I look," Annalys responded, an assuring smile on her face.

"Oh, I know that. Just don't go looking for me to bend the knee and 'my princess' you ever time you go to open your mouth." He explained, directing his attention toward Podrick, "I'm not this one."

Annalys smiled, shaking her head at the group of three sitting before her. It would seem she would have to spend a lot of time with all three of them now. She didn't know whether that would be a good thing or a bad thing.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Honestly, it may seem like Jeyne has such a small role and doesn't do much in this book, but let me tell you, Jeyne is the only one who will ALWAYS have Annalys' back no matter what.

Daenerys has Missandei and Annalys has Jeyne (whom I've grown to love while writing this book)

Jeyne atm is a somewhat of a companion for Annalys while she's stuck all alone, but she'll become more than that soon enough and have a bigger role. (No, not a love interest)

She becomes Annalys' best friend and her most trusted advisor. The person Annalys trusts most. Jeyne keeps Annalys' secrets. (Unlike some other people, *jaime and cersei, who tell each other *😂)

Anyways, keep that in mind. Jeyne has a BIG role in this story and she will impact Annalys' story greatly as well.

Remember: Wars are on the verge of starting.