KINGDOM FALL
— 32. Dragons

Annalys' eyes opened, finding herself dreaming of standing in the throne room. She walked through the large hall until she reached Iron Throne. She walked up the steps before stopping in front of the Iron Throne.

"Do it. Take a seat," A male voice suddenly spoke up, causing Annalys to jump in fright as she turned her head to see Tywin standing next to her in front of the Iron Throne, "Go on, do it."

Annalys opened her mouth to question her grandfather, only to have him continue on, "It is what you're meant to do. It's what you've dreamt of being your entire life. The Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. Now, go on. Do it."

Not understanding what was going on, Annalys decided to just go with it. She went to take a seat, only to stop when she felt someone grab onto her arm, "Don't." Another familiar voice suddenly told her, causing Annalys to turn to stare at Robb in utter shock, "Don't do it, Annalys. You take a seat on that throne and you'll destroy everything we have. Don't you want to be with me again? Don't you want to be happy and live up North with me?"

"A wolf and lion," Tywin suddenly scoffed loudly, gaining her attention once more, "Now, that's a marriage that was doomed from the start. Sit on the Iron Throne. You and I both know that is what you truly want. Take the throne and you may protect your family. You can bring power and glory back to the Lannister name. You may be queen in your own right, not because you're a king's wife."

Annalys tensed up comfortably, glancing between both Tywin and Robb. She didn't know what to choose.

Family, duty, and power with the Lannisters, or love, safety, and happiness with Robb up North.

Just then, Annalys' attention went elsewhere where she heard a loud inhuman screech from a distance. She turned her head with a frown, not understanding what was going on.

She turned to look back at Robb and Tywin, only to find them to be gone, along with the Iron Throne.

She sighed in defeat, looking back in the direction of where she heard the screech coming from. Cautiously, Annalys walked down the steps and toward the door, away from where the Iron Throne formerly resided.

She walked through the doorway, only to suddenly find herself now standing in an open field. It looked to be the Westerlands, but she didn't know for sure.

Numerous members of the Lannister, Stark, Tully, Martell, and Tyrell armies were scattered around when she heard the loud screech once again. Annalys immediately looked up, only to have her eyes widen when she saw three large dragons flying through air, the largest one being ridden by a woman with pale blonde hair.

She was a Targaryen, Annalys knew that much.

"Shoot the scorpions!" The familiar voice of Bronn shouted out, causing Annalys to turn to see him standing with Jaime and Robb, much to her disbelief.

Annalys continued to glance around with wide eyes, finding a man wearing the Greyjoy sigil shooting one of the weapons that seemed to be called "scorpions." She began to see that he looked a bit like Theon after staring at him for a moment.

The unknown man and numerous other Greyjoy soldiers shot numerous bolts from the scorpions. They glided through the air, many of them nearly hitting the dragons.

Just then, one of the Scorpions ended up successfully shooting one of the dragons. The dragon let out a loud pain-filled screech as he fall through the air, heading straight for the ground.

  The whole ground practically shook as the dragon finally hit the grass with a loud bang. Annalys immediately looked up, watching the unknown Targaryen woman stare at her dragon in horror and utter shock.

Believing him to be dead, a sad look grew on the Targaryen woman's face before she finally rode away with her two remaining dragons.

  As soon as she and her two dragons were out of sight, the dragon who was presumed to be dead weakly rose up onto his feet, screeching and roaring at the men surrounding him.

Annalys watched in horror as numerous Dornish men threw spears at the green-colored while others shot arrows. The dragon, however, continued to try and fight back.

Rhaegal. That was his name. Annalys didn't have the slightest clue how she knew that, but she knew. His name was Rhaegal. After Rhaegar Targaryen.

The sounds of the dragon's pain-filled roars and screeches brought pain to Annalys for some odd reason. She didn't know why, but she didn't want him to be hurt any more.

She suddenly found herself closing her eyes, inhaling deeply as she was consumed with a feeling that told her exactly what to do next.

A small gasp escaped Annalys' parted lips as she opened her eyes to see Rhaegal continuing to fight against the men who tried to kill him.

One man who was standing in front of Rhaegal ended up being torn to pieces by the large dragon. The others who dared to try and attack him ended up being burnt to a crisp.

Each time Rhaegal roared in pain, Annalys felt as though she was feeling his pain as well.

Not even having any control over it, Annalys began to walk toward Rhaegal without showing even the slightest bit of fear.

Jaime, Bronn, and Robb stared at Annalys in disbelief, Jaime being the first one to call out Annalys' name and question her on what the hell she was doing.

Annalys continued to walk toward Rhaegal, who was burning and roaring at numerous men who tried to get close to him. However, he paid no mind to Annalys.

  Once reaching Rhaegal, Annalys grabbed ahold of the spear that was embedded into his neck. Without a second thought, Annalys ripped the spear out of him.

Rhaegal wasted no time turning to Annalys and before anyone could do anything about it, he roared as loud as he could in her face.

Annalys, however, found herself not flinching or even showing the slightest bit of fear as he did so.

The field fell into completely and total silence as each man watched their queen in disbelief. They couldn't understand it. Why hadn't Rhaegal burnt her to a crisp like every other person who dared to get too close to him?

Whether it was curiosity or familiarity when it came to Annalys, Rhaegal tilted his head slightly as his face found itself just inches away from Annalys'.

  Annalys stared intently into the dragon's eyes, seeing something no other man there could. The dragon wasn't just any ordinary and viscous beast. He was more than that, just as the direwolves were.

Slowly, Annalys lifted her hand up, reaching out toward the dragon. She was on the verge of petting Rhaegal's snout when someone took it upon themselves to stab him with a spear.

Rhaegal immediately turned his attention to the men, screeching loudly.

"No! Stop! Stop!" Annalys screamed at her men in a pleading tone before it became stern, "I said, stop! I command you to stop!"

  Knowing they couldn't refuse their queen's order, the men hesitantly stopped attacking the dragon. After knowing they had listened, Annalys reached out toward Rhaegal, who wasted no time turning his attention back to the woman he found himself beginning to bond with.

  Ananlys stepped closer to Rhaegal and began to remove every single one of the spears embedded into the dragon's body.

Just then, the entire army loyal to Annalys watched in utter disbelief as she climbed onto Rhaegal's back as if it came naturally for her.

Annalys didn't know why she was doing it, but something inside her was telling her to. It was as if she had no control over what she was doing, deep down.

As soon as Annalys grabbed ahold of Rhaegal to make sure she didn't fall off, the dragon leaped into the air with her riding on top of him.

She quietly gasped as her eyes widened in shock. How was she able to do such a thing?

As Annalys flew away while riding Rhaegal, she looked down to see all of her staring at her in utter disbelief.

A Lannister riding a dragon. Now, that was something they thought they'd never see.

Annalys closed her eyes, only to find herself no longer riding Rhaegal. She glanced around, finding herself standing in what looked like the highest level in the Red Keep. She stood at the window, a bow in hand.

She looked down to see a battle occurring within the streets of the capital. Most of them were men loyal to her, but she could also see men that wore attire that she had been told by her grandfather that an army called the Unsullied wore.

A loud screech was heard and Annalys turned her head to see the same Targaryen girl from her last dream riding her usual dragon.

"Dracarys!" She heard the woman shout and for some reason, Annalys knew exactly what it meant.

She was planning to burn King's Landing.

A part of Annalys insisted that she kill the woman before she could do so. As if on cue, just as the large dragon was flying past the Red Keep in preparation to burn his first street, Annalys shot her first arrow, aiming straight for the dragon queen.

Annalys watched in disbelief as the arrow glided through the air at an almost inhuman speed before stabbing the Targaryen woman right in the back.

It took a moment before she realized what hit her. When she did, she found herself losing her grip on her dragon and ended up falling off, heading straight for the ground. Annalys watched as the unknown Targaryen girl collided with the ground in front of the Red Keep and despite how horrific the scene was, Annalys couldn't help the smirk that formed on her lips.

Annalys didn't understand. What was it about this girl she hated so much? Who was she? Why was Annalys dreaming about her? Why had she been riding one her dragons?

  However, before answers could be given in her dreams, Annalys was woken up from her deep sleep.

She turned her head, noticing that Jeyne stood at her door, a smile on her face. She had clearly been the one to wake her up.

She groaned in frustration, clearly annoyed that she had been woken up.

____

    Since Annalys had been woken up earlier than she usually was, she ended up having an extra hour and a half before she was expected to head to the Tower of the Hand.

Annalys spent that time doing as much research as she could about the last living Targaryen. She asked many people about it, but only Varys had been willing to tell her the truth.

There was only one Targaryen left living in the world. Her name was Daenerys. She lived in Essos and doing whatever it took to claim as much power there as she could in order to take the Iron Throne. She had three dragons with her. Viserion, Rhaegal, and Drogon.

Annalys couldn't believe it. Her dream was somehow correct. One of the dragon's names was Rhaegal. She didn't know how she had known that, but she did. She didn't know what it meant, either, but a feeling inside her told her she needed to do everything she could to help destroy Daenerys Targaryen before it was too late.

After all, it wasn't like her grandfather was doing anything about it.

   Soon enough, Annalys found herself sitting the chamber of the Hand, awaiting her grandfather's arrival. She was early that day and she already knew that meant she'd be waiting quite a while until he finally arrived.

About twenty minutes passed by the time Tywin arrived. He took his usual seat at his desk with Annalys sitting across from him.

  "Grandfather, Tell me about the Targaryen girl in the east and her dragons," Annalys suddenly spoke up, breaking the brief moment of silence between them.

Tywin immediately looked up at her, slightly taken aback about the fact she heard about Daenerys. He had done everything in his power to keep the stories of Daenerys from everyone at court, especially Annalys, "Where did you hear about this?"

"Doesn't matter," Annalys replied without hesitation, refusing to snitch on Varys as she shook her head, "Is it true?"

"Apparently so," Tywin answered, knowing there was no use in lying to Annalys. She'd see right through him, she always did.

"Don't you think it'd be wise for us to do something about it?" Annalys complained, not understanding why her grandfather hadn't done anything about the potential threat across the Narrow Sea.

   "When I was Hand of the King under Aerys Targaryen, the skulls of all the Targaryen dragons were kept in the throne room," Tywin began to explain to Annalys, clearly believing that Daenerys wasn't a threat because her dragons most likely weren't big enough to be one, "The skull of the last of them was the size of an apple."

"Aye, but the biggest belonged to Balerion the Dread and it was the size of a carriage," Annalys retorted, clearly, for once, not agreeing with Tywin about a threat made against their family.

  "Yes, and the creature to whom it belonged died 300 years ago," Tywin pointed out to Annalys, much to her annoyance, "Curiosities on the far side of the world are no threat to us."

"That could be true, but how do we know these dragons are just curiosities and not the beasts that brought the whole world to heel?" Annalys continued argue with Tywin, causing him to look a bit annoyed.

He was supposed to giving be Annalys her morning lessons of rulings, not argue with her about what to do about a Targaryen who lived across the Narrow Sea and from what he could tell, posed no threat to them.

"Why are you suddenly so interested in the Targaryen girl?" Tywin found himself asking, growing frustrated with Annalys, "You usually hate when we talk about House Targaryen."

"Because if Daenerys decides to invade, we're as good as dead," Annalys replied without hesitation, which caused Tywin to find himself to be a bit interested in what she had to say.

"Why's that?" Tywin asked, genuinely curious about what made Annalys was inclined to believe Daenerys Targaryen needed to be dealt with as soon as possible.

  "The Stormlands are sided with Stannis. The Iron Islands are in open rebellion. The North and the Riverlands will never be loyal to us after you killed their king. The Reach will side with whomever's winning and the Martells still hate us after what you ordered the Mountain to do to Elia Martell and her children," She paused, giving her Grandfather a knowing look, which earned a bit of an eyeroll from him, "The Martells will be the first to side with the Targaryens and do I have to remind you that your granddaughter, my sister, is living with those people?"

"What of it?"

Annalys shifted in her seat, clearly not being able to sit still. Tywin had to endure that from her most days, Annalys' inability to stay in once place as they conversed. Perhaps that was why she loved to fight and use a sword so much. She couldn't stay in the same place for more than ten seconds.

  "Should Daenerys Targaryen invade and House Martell sides with them, Myrcella will be a hostage to the enemy. The Targaryen girl could use Myrcella against us and that is the last thing we want." Annalys explained without hesitation, clearly already thinking over every scenario while she was impatiently waiting for Tywin to arrive that morning.

"What would you do, then?" Tywin questioned Annalys curiously, "To stop anyone from choosing this Targaryen girl over us?"

"I'd have Myrcella and Trystane married as soon as possible. I'd have them travel to King's Landing and I would place him on the small council." Annalys confidently answered, as if it was the only smart thing to do.

Tywin scoffed, clearly thinking what Annalys suggested to be mad, "What reason would we have to place a boy as young as him on the King's small council?" He complained, not understanding what she was getting at.

"Assured loyalty." Annalys suddenly answered without hesitation, much to Tywin's shock.

He stared at Annalys closely, taken aback by her response. She was right and he hadn't even realized it. Now, that was where he truly began to find himself interested in what she had to say.

For months, he had been teaching her how to rule properly and defeat each threat that came their family's way after he died. He never thought to learn a bit from her, which would have been wise of him.

"Go on." Tywin encouraged Annalys, wanting to know what else she had to say.

Annalys found herself smiling slightly, satisfied that she had gained Tywin's interest with her idea of winning a potential brewing war.

    "Should the Martells even think about siding with Daenerys Targaryen, we'd have their heir in our grasps. Hopefully, Myrcella would be with child by then, which would ensure that House Martell couldn't betray us. The child would have both Martell and Lannister blood running through their veins." Annalys explained, despite feeling slightly guilty it required Myrcella to be pregnant with a Martell child at such a young age.

"What would you do about the Tyrells?" Tywin questioned Annalys, knowing she was just dying to say that part of her plan.

"Marry Tommen to Margaery, just as we planned to. Instead of marrying me off to Loras, name him to the Kingsguard," She explained and Tywin immediately began to assume that she was only saying it to get out of marrying him, "Not because I don't want to marry him, but because it would make Margaery heir to Highgarden. Their child would not just be the prince or princess of the Seven Kingdoms, but they'd also be the future of Highgarden. It'd ensure that they were both permanently staying in King's Landing for the rest of their lives. If we have both Margaery and Loras in the capital, the Tyrells would never think of betraying us."

"What else would you do in this plan of yours?" Tywin continued to ask Annalys, having the feeling that there so much more to her already strategic plan.

She had it all planned out, didn't? It was shocking, though, seeing as though her obsession with eliminating Daenerys Targaryen had only started after waking up from her dream, which had been not even two hours prior.

"I'd hire the Faceless Men to execute Daenerys Targaryen. They're said to be unstoppable assassins. If we hired them to kill Daenerys, she'd be dead within a year. No one would ever seek it coming." She continued to explain her well-thought out plan.

"You have this all planned out, don't you?" Tywin remarked, a small smile on his face after hearing Annalys' plan for eliminating a potential threat.

   He'd be lying if he said he wasn't proud. He could only wish for his own children to make such a plan. 

Annalys shook her head at Tywin's question. "How long did it take you to think that all through?" He asked Annalys out of curiosity.

  "However long it took you to get here for our daily lessons." Annalys admitted truthfully, much to Tywin's shock.

"Impressive." Tywin complimented her with a slight smile on his face, "Now, what shall we do today? High Valyrian? Geography?"

"Gods, no. No way am I doing anymore Geography," Annalys complained, chuckling lightly as she shook her head in protest, "Since we've begun with geography lessons, you've made me memorize every damn city, town, lake, forest, and mountain in Westeros. I don't think I need any more lessons on that."

"There's always room for more lessons," Tywin argued, standing up from his seat as he went to go fetch a map of Essos, "We'll start with Essos today."

Annalys cursed under her breath, knowing it was her fault because she was the one to mention her dislike for geography in the first place.

She couldn't sworn she noticed a faintly amused look on Tywin's face when he saw her reaction, which caused Annalys to find herself smiling as well.

______

     Jaime was walking toward the Throne Room, hoping to find Annalys on his way there. It felt like lately she had been avoiding him. He suddenly stopped, frowning in confusion when he found Annalys standing in the throne room alone with Tywin.

"When your enemies defy you, you must serve them steel and fire. When they go to their knees, however, you must help them back to their feet. Else wise, no man will ever follow you when you rule the Westerlands after I die," Jaime heard Tywin explain to Annalys in a calm tone and much to his confusion, Annalys actually seemed to be listening to him.

   "And any man who must say 'I am the King' is no true king at all," Tywin continued on, he and Annalys walking through the empty throne together, "Aerys never understood that, neither did Joffrey. Hopefully, your brother Tommen won't follow in their footsteps. When you and I have won this war for House Lannister, we will restore the king's peace and the king's justice."

  Annalys nodded her head in response, agreeing with Tywin, "Now, let's go. We must continue with your geography of Essos. From what I can tell, you're severely lacking in it."

"As if!" Annalys complained loudly, glaring at Tywin in annoyance, "I'm not that bad."

"You pointed to Braavos and told me it was Yunkai," Tywin reminded Annalys, who gave her grandfather a puzzled look.

"And?" Annalys frowned in confusion, "They're right next to each other. It's a common mistake."

Tywin remained silent, narrowing his eyes at Annalys. "They're not." He pointed out to Annalys, causing her to sigh in defeat, "They're on opposite sides of Essos, but you will learn. I'll make sure of it. Within a fortnight, you'll know where each of the Free Cities of Essos are located, and more."

  Jaime continued listen in on their conversation, watching as Annalys walked away with Tywin.

He couldn't believe it. He always wondered where Annalys had gone off to in a rush after their sparring lessons every day. She had been with Tywin. He was shaping her to become just like him.

Jaime found himself feeling completely filled with rage at the revelation.

No. He refused to allow it to happen any longer. Annalys was his daughter, not Tywin's. He refused to let Annalys become just like his father. Tywin deciding to shape Annalys in becoming a mini version of him couldn't mean anything good, Jaime knew that much.

No more than fifteen minutes later, Jaime stood with Cersei in the chamber where the history of the Kingsguard was kept.

Cersei was sitting at the table, watching as Jaime paced while holding a glass of wine in his hand. He was frustrated and beyond furious, Cersei knew that much.

He had explained to Cersei what he learned and as much as she was unhappy about it, she was most definitely not as angry as Jaime was.

After all, no matter what, Cersei was still her mother, but for Jaime, it was different. When he saw Tywin with his daughter, all he could see was himself being replaced by the elder Lannister man.

Tywin was allowed to be seen with Annalys in public as much as he wanted. He was, after all, her grandfather. He could teach her out in the open and they could spent time with each other as they pleased.

Jaime couldn't do the same with his daughter, not without risking the truth being revealed once and for all. People already believed Jaime to be her father, if they were seen with each other out in public on too many occasions, more people would begin to believe.

As the weeks passed since the Trial by Combat, Jaime had felt himself drifting from his daughter, the strong bond beginning to slowly fade. Jaime believed it to be no one's fault, just fate, until he saw Tywin with Annalys.

He realized Annalys wasn't avoiding spending as much time with him, she was ditching him to seek more lessons from Tywin. Annalys truly wished to learn from Tywin, to become like him.

That infuriated Jaime more than anything, believe it or not.

    Jaime spent twenty minutes explaining to Cersei about what he learned about Annalys and Tywin. Once doing so, he revealed that he planned to end the partnership before it could truly begin and stop their father from ruining what was left of Annalys' innocence.

"You can't," Cersei argued, which happened to be the absolute truth, "You can't do anything about it. Not when it risks---"

"He has our daughter! He stole our daughter out from under us!" Jaime screamed at Cersei furiously, speaking louder than anticipated. After a moment, he sighed in defeat, his tone becoming quieter in fear of someone hearing him, "He has Annalys. Our little girl. He means to latch his claws into her and shape her into becoming just like him. Do you understand that?"

"Annalys won't let herself become our father," Cersei argued in a stern tone, shaking her head at Jaime's statement, "She's far too smart for that. She won't let herself be manipulated by him."

"You don't understand," Jaime told Cersei softly, a hint of fear in his eyes, "She's doing this willingly. She wants to learn from him. Haven't you seen the way she's changed lately? She even speaks like him now. The time she spends with our father is rubbing off on her and I fear the outcome. We must stop it."

"We can't," Cersei confessed, tears forming in her eyes at the thought of their firstborn becoming just like her father, "We're too late. We can only hope he gives up on her and realizes turning her into him is the last thing he wants."

Jaime scoffed, giving Cersei a look that told her he thought she was crazy, "Like that'll happen," He remarked, leaving the room in a fit of rage.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

What do you think of Annalys' dream?

Also, this will probably be the last scene between Annalys and Tywin alone. But the plan she makes in this chapter will be significant in the future.

JAIME IS PISSED THO!! He already had only a small amount of moments where he could truly be a father to her and teach her and Tywin has taken that away fully, whether he realizes it or not. (🤷🏻‍♀️)

ALSO, I added a new character to the cast list but I'll put it here. (He'll be making a few appearances)

HIS NAME IS SER EDRIC DAYNE!!

He'll be introduced as a rival for Annalys next chapter (the only person that literally matches her in skill in combat.)

I mean, he's gonna be the first knight to hold the title "sword of the morning" since Ser Arthur Dayne. (a person Annalys is constantly compared to) And he'll have Dawn.

Ofc, after a few chapters, a friendship will form.

But anyways he's a VERY IMPORTANT character. (Not a love interest tho)