KINGDOM FALL
— 36. Prince and Princess

Hours later, Annalys screamed out in pain as she stood in front of her bed, tightly gripping onto the back of a wooden chair with one hand while placing the other on her large belly.

She wore a shift and nothing more, knowing that the babies were coming. It had been nearly four hours since family had been taken and it was all she could think about during her labor pains.

With her luck, none of the men from either sides of the battle could find a single midwife, leaving Annalys with a single Maester. That Maester happened to not even be a Maester any longer. His name was Qyburn. He was the one to treat Jaime when he lost his hand. He was also the same man at Harrenhall when Robb and Annalys had arrived there two years before during the war. She and Talisa had saved his life, perhaps he was now there to return the favor.

The men had gotten ahold of Lady Jeyne, thankfully, and Annalys had ordered them to bring her to her instead of imprisoning her with the others.

Robb stood there as well, not knowing what to do in the situation. Annalys heaved for breath and with Jeyne's help, she took a seat on a nearby chair. She knew she was close to giving birth, but something inside her was making it take longer.

   She didn't want them to be born, not yet. If they hadn't been, she could've gotten her family out of the castle in time. Annalys cried in pain, slowly looking up at Robb, "Please, Robb. I need her. I need my mother. She can't die," She pleaded in between cries of pain as she stared up at the man she loved, "Please, Robb. Make them bring her to me. Please. I need her."

Robb sighed, a saddened look on his face as he slowly shook his head, "She can't be here. She's a prisoner now. You know that," He reminded her in a calm and quiet tone, not wanting to upset her, "The Northmen want their heads on spikes. If we release them, they'll view us to be weak."

   Annalys was about to yell at Robb, but she was cut off by a sharp pain in her stomach. She cried out in pain, "I was meant to get them out before you got here." She admitted softly, not even realizing that she was saying it loud enough for him to hear, "They were supposed to be kept safe, away from you."

Robb's face fell as he heard Annalys' words, which Annalys didn't notice, "Please, Robb," Annalys continued to beg, despite having bigger problems at that moment than her family's release, "Please. I beg of you!"

"You know I can't, love," Robb whispered her softly and within seconds, Annalys' face was longer sad.

Instead, Annalys' expression became cold and angry. As Jeyne continued to wipe Annalys' sweaty forehead with a towel, Annalys looked up at Robb, hatefully glaring at him, "Then get out," She told him in a low, threatening tone, much to Robb's shock.

"What?" He asked in disbelief, not thinking he heard Annalys correctly.

"Get out," Annalys demanded, her tone becoming louder and angrier, "Get out! I don't want you here! Don't you understand that! I hate you! You ruined everything! Get out!"

Robb opened his mouth to speak, only to get cut off by Qyburn, "I think it'd be best if you left. The stress you're giving her isn't good for her or the babies," He informed Robb, who sighed in defeat before hesitantly leaving the room.

"Jeyne," Annalys cried out, clutching her belly as she continued to sit on the chair instead of the bed like she should have, "I don't want them to come out." She paused, panting for breath as she slowly shook her head, "I don't think I'll survive this."

"Don't say that, Annalys," Jeyne argued in a stern tone, shaking her head in protest, "If anyone can survive childbirth, it's you."

"My mother labored nearly two days to bring me into this world," Annalys informed her handmaiden in between pants and cries, "It's already been nearly half a day. I don't think I can last much longer. I haven't given birth to even one of them yet." She paused, screaming out in pain, "I need my mother!"

With a sad look on her face, Jeyne turned her head, exchanging a look with Qyburn. They looked saddened.

It was already a horrific birth. Annalys had no one at her side. Well, no one she was supposed to. She didn't have an actual maester. She didn't have a group of midwives. She didn't even have her own mother. It was horrible.

Annalys had never felt such pain before. She thought being stabbed as many times as she had been in the past would've been more painful than childbirth, but she was wrong. She had never felt anything close to it before.

_____

Several more hours had passed and it became clear to the entirety of the people now residing in the Red Keep that Annalys was fighting the birth of her children. Annalys didn't even know she was doing it, quite honestly. It was all in her mind. She was busy thinking about her family in the dungeons that she practically refused to push like she needed to.

Soon enough, Catelyn Stark arrived with the Starks girls, who hadn't been far during the battle. Catelyn soon entered Annalys' room and decided to help the girl who carrying her grandchildren. After all, she had given birth to five children. She had far more experience in childbirth than Jeyne and Qyburn put together.

   Annalys was laying flat on the bed, tightly clutching the wooden board at the foot of her bed. Catelyn watched on worriedly, knowing that there had been no progress since she had arrived.

Now, sunrise had come and gone and it nearing noon. Annalys had labored nearly fifteen hours and there still wasn't a single hint at the babies coming any time soon. Her screams and cries had filled the Red Keep for hours. The men wouldn't have been surprised if the prisoners could hear her in the dungeons.

Robb paced the hallway just outside Annalys' room, worried out of his mind. He wanted to be there for her, but he knew he couldn't. Not with how angry Annalys was. He had never seen Annalys look at him the way she did hours before. It was filled with hate.

Inside Annalys' room, Catelyn grabbed Annalys by the arm, forcing her to sit up, "Annalys, look at me," She demanded in a pleading tone.

She grabbed both sides of Annalys' face, forcing the girl to look her in the eye. Annalys inhaled and exhaled deeply, feeling herself getting weaker and closer to death as more time passed by, "You must push this baby out and the other will come sooner after. You mustn't fight it as I did or you'll be forced to endure what I did at your age birthing Robb." She explained, grabbing Annalys by the hands before helping her stand up.

"I can't," Annalys cried out in between pants as Catelyn forced her to stand in front of the bed. She forced her to grip onto the board, bending over slightly so that she may be eased a bit from the pain, "I need her. I need my mother."

Catelyn's face fell, finally realizing what everyone else didn't. Annalys was past being ready to give birth, but she was purposely fighting it, hoping that someone may actually end up getting her mother just to ease her pain.

   Catelyn didn't blame Annalys. The girl was being forced to give birth in a place that was surrounded by men who had just slaughtered the people she grew up with and cared for. Her family was locked up in the dungeons below her and her family home was now taken over by usurpers. However, the only thing Annalys truly wanted at that moment was her mother and she couldn't even have it.

Catelyn tried her hardest not to cry at the thought and decided to try her hardest to make Annalys comfortable, despite not getting what she truly wanted. Her own mother. Not her Robb's.

Catelyn placed her hand on Annalys' back and soothingly rubbed it as Annalys screamed out in agony, "When I birthed Robb, I was your age. I thought I would die from the pain. I had no one with me but people I didn't know. My husband was at war, fighting in Robert's Rebellion and I feared losing him. I fought against birthing Robb and it brought me agonizing pain. I labored more than a day because of it. You mustn't do the same, Annalys. If you do not start pushing now, you will die."

Annalys sobbed, Jeyne and Catelyn grabbing onto her arms as they assisted her on sitting on the chair. She sat on the edge of it, tightly gripping onto the seat of the chair. She dug her nails into the wooden seat and Catelyn's eyes widened as she saw blood dripping from them.

Jeyne lifted up Annalys' shift, noticing by the look on her face that Annalys was getting ready to finally push, "Take deep breaths, Princess Annalys," Qyburn insisted, dabbing Annalys' sweaty forehead with a small towel.

  Catelyn frowned slightly at the fact that even after everything that had happened, Qyburn continued to call her a princess, but decided not to say anything about it, "You must push now. Your children will be heirs to the North and the Westerlands. They will be princes, or maybe princesses, but you must push if you want yourself and them to live."

Annalys cried, nodding her head as she panted for breath. Jeyne took the towel from Qyburn, using it to dab Annalys' forehead instead while Qyburn knelt in front of the princess.

"Push, Princess Annalys. Push." He encouraged her and Annalys finally began to do as she was told.

Soon enough, Annalys began screaming even louder as she did before as she started to actually feel the first baby, "He's here, Princess! He's here! Continue pushing. You can do this. Just push," Qyburn continued on and Annalys tried her best to do what he told her.

Annalys inhaled and exhaled deeply a few times, taking a few more deep breaths before she began to push once more.

Catelyn's eyes widened as she looked down, seeing the baby beginning to come out of Annalys with her own eyes. She didn't understand why Annalys chose to be sitting while giving birth. No one did. Usually, births occurred in a bed with the mother lying down, but instead, Annalys had decided to do it the hard way. Only Annalys would do such a thing.

With one last hard push, the baby was born, but Annalys still wasn't relieved, knowing another was coming, "She's here," Qyburn suddenly spoke up, much to everyone's shock.

It was a girl, not a boy.

   Annalys soon opened her eyes as the sound of a baby crying filled her ears. Her eyes widened, looking down to find Qyburn cutting the umbilical cord belonging to a little baby girl.

    She gasped quietly, beginning to cry with joy at the sight of her firstborn, despite being in so much pain. She hadn't even thought to remind herself that her daughter had been born a bastard and things were far worse for a bastard born child when they were a girl.

"Give her to me," Catelyn demanded as Jeyne held the baby in her arms and was on the verge of giving her to Annalys.

"What?" Annalys asked in confusion, a large frown on her face, "Let me hold her."

"You can't," Catelyn argued in a stern tone, "You still need to give birth to your second child, Annalys. Let us pray that it's a boy."

Annalys sighed in defeat, looking down in shame. She herself didn't care about whether or not her child was a boy or girl, but that didn't mean the rest of the world felt the same way.

Wives were supposed to give birth to boys specifically in order for them be heirs. The girls were just there to be married off for alliances or riches, just as Annalys herself had been and her mother before her.

   It had only been a few minutes of peace before Annalys felt the pain resurface. She cried out in pain, clutching her stomach as she bent forward slightly. She groaned in pain, continuing to cry out as she didn't waste time starting to push. She knew the baby was coming and she refused to wait it out like she did with her daughter.

"Good, good. Now, push, Princess Annalys. Push!" Qyburn encouraged her in a calm tone.

Soon enough, the sound of another baby crying filled the room. Annalys slowly opened her eyes, looking forward to find her second child to be a baby boy.

Drenched in sweat, Annalys weakly smiled. Her eyes were droopy and she felt herself to be beyond tired.

  However, she refused to sleep, not wanting to leave her children alone in a castle filled with enemies. It had only been a few minutes since their births but she already found herself feeling protective of them.

Her mother was right. There was nothing like the love a mother had for her children.

Annalys, however, didn't even know the half of what the love and protectiveness she had for her children would cause her to do. It was only the beginning. She had always been on the receiving side of a mother's love, she had no clue what it would be like to be the one giving it.

"A boy and a girl, Princess Annalys. Twins, just as you predicted," Qyburn informed Annalys, smiling at her as he and Jeyne helped the woman to her bed.

   They laid her down before Catelyn walked over to her holding both children in her arms, "A prince and princess. Shall I call my son in?" She asked Annalys, who shook her head.

"No," Annalys argued, causing Catelyn to frown in concern, "Not yet. I want some time alone with them."

  Catelyn slowly nodded in understanding. She bent forward, placing the two newborn children in their mother's arms. Annalys quietly gasped at the feeling in the pit of her stomach as she held her children for the first time. Her mother was right once again. There wasn't anything quite like the first time a mother held her child.

It gave Annalys a boost of hope. Hope that would help her to do what was right for her House, her family.

Tears filled Annalys' eyes as she looked down at them, finding herself feeling genuinely happy, despite all that was going on around her. It pained her in a way to see how similar they looked to Robb.

They had his Tully red hair. The shape of his eyes. His facial structure. They looked exactly like Robb and nothing like Annalys. If the birth of her children had happened a year before, the fact that they looked like so much Robb and nothing like her would have brought her so much joy.

At that moment, though, she knew it only meant bad things would happen. She knew because of how much they looked like Robb, there wasn't a single thing she could do to deny Robb the ability to legitimize them as Starks. There was no way for her to keep them as her own, as Lannisters, despite being the one who gave birth to them.

If Robb found out her intentions, he could easily take her children from her. It wasn't like he needed to keep Annalys around. They were no longer married. She was no longer his queen and she had betrayed him.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

The twins are born!!! And they look just like Robb. Oof.

Lemme just say now, the whole ordeal of Annalys being Cersei's favorite because she's her firstborn will happen with Annalys and her daughter, seeing as though she was the child Annalys gave birth to first.

After all, the whole hidden theme of the first book was "history repeating itself"

Of course, the theme will be different for this book, but some of history will repeat itself, just not in the way it did in the other book. (Like Annalys won't end up with Gendry, her and Robb are endgame through and through)

Anyways, as baby Lyanna grows older, she will be closest with Annalys while baby Eddard will be closer to Robb. (You'll see 😉)