KINGDOM FALL
— 39. Westeros' New Princess

    Weeks soon passed and Annalys had been confined to her room, seeing as though she had just given birth and the funeral to her grandfather was over.

One day, she couldn't take it anymore and knew if she wanted to stay sane, she needed to take some type of walk around the castle. She yearned for a moment of alone time, which she hadn't gotten since Robb arrived at King's Landing with Stannis.

After feeding her children, Annalys carried their sleeping bodies into the room connected to her temporary chambers. She opened the door and placed them down in their shared crib. She turned on her heel, closing the door to their small nursery before she headed toward the door to her chambers.

She opened the door, giving orders to the guards that had been posted outside her door. She told them to keep watch and to not let anyone in, just before she began to walk throughout the castle that had once been her home.

The place was so familiar to her. She had been born there and she had been raised there. However, standing there now, the place looked foreign to her. Especially the people. None of the people she walked passed looked familiar. She didn't know any of them.

Not a single one.

She wondered where the people who used to live in the castle went after Stannis took the throne. Had they been executed? Did they escape? It was unknown to her and as much as she shouldn't have cared, she found herself still doing so.

Annalys turned a corner, only to come face to face with Grey Wind. Grey Wind growled at first, only to realize who she was. He whined at the sight of her and Annalys slowly began to smile, feeling happy to see the direwolf after so many months.

  She extended her hand out, allowing Grey Wind to step forward and sniff, "Hey, boy," She nervously chuckled, kneeling on the ground in front of the large direwolf.

He had grown since she last saw him, that was for sure. She didn't think it was possible, but it seemed as though Grey Wind was twice the size he had been the last time she had seen him.

With their faces close together, Grey Wind wasted no time licking Annalys' face as she petted him. She laughed happily, tightly hugging Grey Wind.

She began to smile, feeling a sort of comfort with Grey Wind. Grey Wind was just as much Annalys' as he was Robb's. They had raised him together ever since Annalys arrived at Winterfell with her family years before. As Grey Wind matured, it had been Annalys who helped Robb to feed and care for the direwolf.

"You have no idea how much I've missed you, bud." She whispered to Grey Wind softly, a smile on her face.

Just then, Annalys' attention went elsewhere as she heard the sound of a young girl singing. She frowned in confusion, immediately standing up from kneeling on the ground.

She began to walk down the hallway, Grey Wind going in the other direction. She suddenly stopped walking, realizing the singing was coming from Myrcella's room, which happened to be at the end of the hall.

"Myrcella?!" Annalys whispered to herself, her eyes wide as she rushed to Myrcella's room, only to find it to not be her younger sister.

She looked ahead, finding a young girl sitting down on the ground in front of a basket filled with Myrcella's old toys. The young girl held a doll in her hand, one that had been given to Myrcella as an infant when Annalys refused to play with it herself.

Annalys' frown became larger and she tried her hardest to hide her angered look when she recognized the girl to be Shireen, Stannis' old daughter, "What are you doing in here?" She suddenly spoke up in a cold tone.

Shireen immediately turned to Annalys with wide eyes, practically jumping in fright as she dropped the doll onto the floor. As Shireen turned to face Annalys, the Lannister woman was able to see that half the girl's face was covered in Greyscale.

Annalys had never seen Greyscale before, but had no reaction to it. Her face remained the same, unbothered. Seeing that, Shireen was taken aback, clearly expecting Annalys to make some sort of reaction to it like everyone else who had seen it did.

"Father has given me this room. He says I may keep Princess Myrcella's dolls, since she no longer lives here and I am the new princess," Shireen informed Annalys in a calm tone, only to notice the way the elder woman teared up, which caused Shireen to feel guilty, "Did I say something wrong? I'm sorry," She apologized quietly, sighing in defeat as she looked down at the ground in shame.

Annalys held back her tears, finding herself feeling somewhat bad for the girl. The girl was innocent. She had nothing to do with what was happening. In a way, the girl sitting before her reminded Annalys a bit of Myrcella, "It isn't your fault," She told Shireen assuringly, moving closer to her, "You must be Shireen, Stannis' daughter."

Shireen smiled shyly after she heard Annalys' question and wasted no time nodding her head, "You're Annalys. The Queen in the North." She told Annalys, whose smile immediately fell at the statement.

She wasn't Queen in the North. Not anymore.

Gradually, Annalys began to smile again as she knelt next to Shireen on the floor, "You're a very pretty girl, Princess Shireen. Westeros will be lucky to have such a beauty as their heir and princess." She complimented the girl, continuing to smile, despite it being a forced one, "One day, if the Gods are in your favor, you will be Queen."

Suddenly, a silence grew between them, causing Annalys to turn to Shireen. She immediately frowned when she noticed the saddened look on Shireen's face, "What's wrong?" She asked, clearly not understanding how anything she said could make the girl cry.

Shireen stayed silent for a long moment, staring down at the floor with an ashamed look, "Mother doesn't believe I should be heir to the Kingdoms. She thinks I'm not fit." She confessed softly, the thought of her mother despising her clearly making her sad.

"Why's that?" Annalys asked, even though she clearly knew the answer.

Shireen frowned her eyebrows in confusion, thinking it was odd for Annalys to ask such a question since the answer was obvious, "Because of my face, of course. Can't you see it?" She questioned, a small frown on her lips.

"Of course, I can. I'm not blind," Annalys bluntly responded, only to realize that she was being rude to someone who was being nothing but sweet to her, "But why does it matter? The Greyscale merely proves that you're a survivor. If a girl like you can survive Greyscale, you could surely live a long life as queen. You could make a difference. If they can't see that, then they're blind."

Shireen began to smile sheepishly as she tried her hardest not to blush at the compliment Annalys gave her, "My father speaks so highly of you. My mother never liked that. She claimed you to be a bastard, an abomination," She informed Annalys, who chuckled lowly as she playfully rolled her eyes,"My father sees you as some God. It has to do with Melisandre. She thinks you're something called the Golden Lion."

"I'm pretty sure that's my father's title, not mine," Annalys replied, quietly laughing at the thought.

"No, not that kind of name. It's a prophecy," Shireen argued, causing Annalys to frown, "Don't ask me about it. I haven't the slightest clue. I only overheard them calling you the Golden Lion."

"Interesting," Annalys muttered under her breath, picking up the doll off the ground that used to belong to her sister.

"They call you the greatest archer in Westeros," Shireen nervously smiled as she looked up at Annalys, "Is it true?"

"I don't know. One day, they call me the greatest swordsman and the next they call me the greatest archer..." She trailed off, suddenly coming to realization.

She missed her family dearly. However, the only way to be able to see them was to get herself in so much trouble that they locked her in a dungeon. What better way to do that than to bring the princess out for a walk when the girl was supposed to be confined to her room?

  "Something tells me you don't get out much, Princess Shireen," She found herself telling the girl, who smiled at her.

"Is it obvious?" Shireen replied, giving Annalys the answer she hoped for.

"How would you like taking a walk with me through the castle?" She suggested and immediately noticed the way Shireen's eyes practically lit up at the thought of being able to finally leave her room, "My children are sleeping. I have guards posted outside their door so they'll be safe in my absence. I have a few hours before I'm due to return to them."

"Mother and Father will be furious if I leave this room..." Shireen trailed off uneasily, knowing she'd get in trouble if she were caught, "They say it isn't safe."

"With me by your side, no one in this castle will even attempt to harm you. I swear it." Annalys assured Shireen as she stood up, holding out her hand for the girl to take, "No one would dare threaten a girl who is under the protection of the infamous Annalys Stark..." She trailed off, realizing she wasn't a Stark anymore.

Was she even a Lannister? No, she wasn't. Not legally. She wasn't a Baratheon anymore. In truth, she was a Waters. The surname of a bastard child born in the Crownlands. However, it wasn't like anyone would ever admit that. They never did.

  Annalys was a Lannister. In all honesty, she was as Lannister as someone could get. Both her parents and her grandparents were all born from House Lannister. Nothing could beat that.

Annalys was snapped out of her thoughts as Shireen finally rose from kneeling on the ground and grabbed onto her hand. Annalys smiled at the girl, just before leading the Seven Kingdoms' new princess through the hallways of the Red Keep.

Shireen was so innocent, she hadn't even thought about the fact that Annalys was a Lannister, a lion. She was a Stag and stags never did well in the company of lions. After all, Robert Baratheon was the perfect example.

  If Annalys had been as sinister and nefarious as people made her out to be, she could have kidnapped Shireen and blackmailed Stannis and Robb into handing over her family. After all, Shireen was the princess. She was the heir to the Iron Throne and it was a known fact that Stannis couldn't produce any more children with his wife.

Shireen was the future of Westeros. Annalys could have easily gotten what she wanted by threatening to harm the girl. However, she wasn't that type of person. It was the main thing that made her different from the rest of her family.

She didn't harm children and she would never think about doing it, either.

However, what Stannis and the rest of his followers, including Robb, didn't realize was even if they had captured Jaime and Cersei Lannister, that didn't change the fact that one of their offsprings was still out and free and lived among them. Annalys.

With Annalys free to do whatever she wanted, Stannis' rule was never secure, neither was the safety of his family. Stannis may have taken over King's Landing, but the capital would never stop being a Lion's Den while Annalys was there.

With one word said, she could have everyone siding with her and that made her dangerous. She had a way with words that even Shireen was beginning to trust her, despite being told by her mother to stay clear of Annalys altogether. If Annalys could do that with a single conversation, what else could she do?

They had to realize, Annalys must have been capable of many things they couldn't imagine if even the infamous Tywin Lannister admired and saw potential in her. Not to mention the fact that he even feared her, in a way.

____

     In the Red Keep, Robb and Stannis was speaking about the Lannister prisoners when they reached Annalys' chambers. They had gone there to speak with her in private, only to find her not there.

"Your Grace! Your Grace!" One of Stannis' guards called out as he ran over to Stannis, out of breath.

"What is it?" Stannis questioned, sounding somewhat annoyed.

"You must see this..." The guard trailed off, panting for breath, "In the throne room..."

Hearing the man's words, Stannis and Robb exchanged a look before rushing in the direction of the throne room.

Several moments later, they reached the throne room to find many people gathered around, laughing and clapping. Without hesitation, they pushed through the crowds, finding Annalys standing near the Iron Throne.

The two men glanced around, finding dozens of arrows embedded into the walls around the Iron Throne, all of them forming into the shape of a crown. Many men and women were laughing at the sight and the duo continued to look around until they spotted a familiar person standing before them with a quiver filled with arrows strapped to their back and her bow in hand.

That person, of course, happened to be Annalys, who was trying her hardest to get herself into trouble. Her back was facing the Iron Throne, but she still didn't seem to notice Stannis and Robb standing just a few feet in front of her. Shireen stood next to her, holding a bowl in her hand.

"Now!" Annalys suddenly shouted, leading to Shireen throwing the bowl into the air.

Within the blink of an eye, Annalys had released three arrows, one after another. The people in the room were shocked, clearly never seeing that many arrows release in such a short period of time. One of the arrows hitting the bowl before reflecting, which caused the bowl to be pushed further up into the air and closer to the throne.

The second arrow caused the bowl to be pushed against the wall before the arrow embedded itself into the wall. Just as the bowl was about to fall off of balancing on the single arrow, the third arrow stabbed into the wall, leading to the bowl being held up by them both.

Many people gasped in shock before they all clapped loudly, cheering Annalys' name. After witnessing the scene occur, Robb was left shocked while Stannis remained stoic, as always.

"Annalys?" Robb suddenly called out, causing Annalys to turn to Robb with wide eyes.

However, the second she noticed Stannis standing beside Robb, she slowly began to smile, looking mischievous after what she had done, "My apologies, Your Grace," She told Stannis,  despite knowing that what she did had the chance of causing her to lose her head, "It seems I've gotten a bit carried away."

"Carried away-- " Stannis began to say, on the verge of shouting at Annalys when he saw Melisandre standing near Annalys, giving him a stern look. He sighed, his expression remaining stoic as he turned toward some servants, "Lady Annalys has had a long day. Escort her to her chambers and draw her a bath."

Hearing Stannis' command, Annalys frowned, just as Robb did. What she did was punishable by death, how did she get away with it. Annalys turned her head, only to find Melisandre's eyes on her. She smiled at Annalys slightly, but the female Lannister quickly turned as she walked away, avoiding eye contact with the Red Woman.

____

    After sending her servants away, Annalys stripped from her clothing, walking over to the steaming bath in front of her. Without hesitation, she stepped into the metal tub, despite the water being so hot.

She tightly gripped onto the sides of the bath, taking a seat in the water as she let out a sigh in relief. She turned her head, only to groan in annoyance when she realized the soap and the sponge was several feet away.

   Just then, there was a knock on the door before it opened to reveal Robb. He walked in without a care in the world, wearing his breeches and his loose undershirt.

Annalys avoided eye contact with the Stark man for a moment. She let out a small sigh, remaining silent as she finally brought herself to look up at her husband. Well, former husband.

She couldn't remember the last time she had been alone with him or even spoke to him. The only time she saw him was when he came to see the twins. Even then, they barely spoke to each other, but that was Annalys' fault. Each time he tried to make conversation with her, she shut him down.

Despite that, Annalys felt comfortable in his presence at that very moment, "Would you mind..." She trailed off, pointing toward the sponge on a nearby table.

Robb nodded his head, not saying a single word as he walked over to the table. He picked the sponge up and a small vial filled with soap, just before he made his way over to Annalys.

Without hesitation, Robb knelt in front of the bath, to Annalys' right. He uncorked the vial, spilling some of its contents into Annalys' bath.

Annalys watched Robb as he did so. He dunked the sponge into the warm water, soaking it before he wasted no time running it over Annalys' bare body.

"You haven't said much since my arrival," Robb commented, breaking the silence between them as he bathed her.

"I haven't much to say," Annalys confessed, shrugging her shoulders as she refused to look him in the eye.

Robb sighed in defeat, lifting Annalys' arm slightly before he began to wash it, "You do." He argued, causing Annalys to turn frown as she turned to finally look him in the eye.

"How would you know?" She complained, letting out a large scoff.

"Because you always have something to say," Robb remarked and Annalys tried her hardest to contain the smirk that was just dying to form on her lips, "Something tells me you're just bottling it up inside."

"You're wrong," Annalys argued, trying her hardest to keep a straight face in front of Robb.

Usually, she was able to keep her expression unreadable to those around her, but at that moment, she found herself struggling. There were many reasons for that. Of course, there was the fact that she was bare in front of him. Then, there was the fact that despite what was going on between them, it was so hard for Annalys to be cold to Robb.

She loved him more than anything, even after everything that had happened. She had done so well forgetting about that while avoiding him, but at that moment, she began to feel the same way she did before she left Riverrun and headed to King's Landing nearly a year prior.

"Am I now?" Robb questioned Annalys, smiling slightly in amusement.

"You are." Annalys continued to speak in a cold tone, only to watch as Robb pulled the sponge away.

    He released the sponge from his grip, allowing it to drop into the steaming hot water. Annalys watched in concern as Robb began to stand up, no longer smiling. She immediately realized that Robb had actually been there to try and get her to open up. However, she had ruined it, which was the last thing she wanted to do.

   Annalys straightened her back up as she watched Robb get ready to walk away. She didn't want him to leave.

In a way, she missed his presence, even after everything that had happened. However, there was another, more important reason she wanted him to stay. Manipulation.

Not knowing what else to do to get him to stay, Annalys extended her arm out, grabbing ahold of Robb's hand. Robb immediately stopped walking. He turned to face Annalys to see her looking up at him, a pleading look on her face.

"Stay," She spoke softly, her voice a mere whisper, "Please."

   Robb remained silent, slowly nodding his head as he knelt back down in front of her to meet her at eye view. Their faces close together, Annalys tried her hardest not to smirk in satisfaction as she began to lean forward.

Robb was hesitant at first to do the same. After weeks of shutting him out, why was Annalys suddenly so willing to kiss him? Torn on what to do, Robb hesitantly began to lean forward as well.

Something wasn't right with Annalys. He just knew it, but what was it?

Annalys placed her hands on his biceps, wetting his white shirt as she tightly gripped onto his arms.

Without a second thought, Annalys smashed her lips against his. Robb instinctively closed his eyes, immediately kissing back. While he was distracted, she roughly pulled him forward, which caused him to fall into the large tub with her.

As he fell into the water, Annalys loudly laughed in amusement. Robb quickly steadied himself, staring at Annalys in shock. He was on the verge of complaining and snapping at her for doing such a thing, only to notice that for the first time in a long time, Annalys looked happy. Genuinely happy.

It was a sight that made Robb smile as well. For the first time since they reunited, Annalys seemed to be acting like the girl he fell in love with years before. The lively, confident girl who used to defy gender roles left and right. The girl that just wanted to be happy.

"Oh, you're gonna get it." He playfully growled, about to move forward when Annalys spoke up.

"Is that so?" Annalys sarcastically asked, a daring look on her face, "I'd like to see you try, King in the North."

Robb laughed at Annalys' playful tone of voice. He quickly took off his trousers and shirt, which were soaked. He wasted no time throwing them out of the tub before moving closer to Annalys.

Robb grabbed her by the waist, causing Annalys to laugh as they began to mess around with each other, most of the water in the tub finding its way onto the floor of the large room.

     Several moments later, Annalys found herself sitting in between Robb's legs. Her back was leaned against his chest, Robb's arms wrapped around her as they both sat in the tub, the two of them utterly silent.

Annalys felt odd at that moment. The silence was unbearable. It was never like that before. She despised it. However, she knew that she was the cause of it. She had been since the moment she gave birth. Over and over, Robb had tried to make conversation with her and each time, Annalys had cut it short.

"You feel it, don't you?" Annalys suddenly spoke up, breaking the uncomfortable silence between them.

"Feel what?" Robb questioned, but deep down, a part of him knew exactly what she was referring to. He'd be a fool not to.

"The distance between us," Annalys admitted and Robb immediately felt uneasy at the mention of the cold, hard truth.

"It isn't my fault, if that's what you're thinking," Robb argued, but still continued to speak in a calm tone.

"It is what I'm thinking," Annalys argued back and Robb found himself frowning, "You're keeping my family captive. How else would I react?"

Robb tensed up at Annalys' words, knowing in a way, she was right. "Let's not talk about this now." He whispered quietly, shaking his head in response.

Frustrated, Annalys pulled herself out of Robb's grasp. She turned to face Robb, kneeling in front of him inside the tub as she gave him an angry look.

   "When should we talk about it, then, Robb?" Annalys asked him, a furious look on her face, "If you think I'll sit back and watch as you execute my family, you're wrong," She explained to him coldly, her entire face becoming filled with rage at her next words, "I'll burn this entire city to the ground before I let that happen. If it comes down to it, I'll kill Stannis myself to keep them alive, and every last one of his men."

Robb's eyes widened in disbelief as he heard Annalys' words, "You swore a vow, you pledged yourself to him and his cause." He pointed out to Annalys, who didn't even seem bothered or affected by his reminder.

  "I've broken vows before, haven't I?" Annalys questioned Robb without a care in the world, "You have as well. We both broke a vow together when we married. Do you remember, or has it really been that long? Do you think breaking this vow would be any different for me?"

Robb stared at Annalys in shock as he heard her confession. He couldn't believe that Annalys would say such a thing. She didn't even seem like the same person she once was when they were last together in Riverrun.

Robb opened his mouth to speak, but before he could attempt to actually say something to her, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Annalys spoke up, not taking her eyes off Robb.

Soon after, the door opened, revealing Jeyne to be standing there with a robe in her hand. "Annalys, the twins have woken. It's time for them to be fed." Jeyne informed Annalys, who turned her head to look at her handmaiden.

Immediately noticing the look on her face, Annalys realized that Jeyne was lying to save her from a conversation with Robb that she most definitely wasn't ready for.

Annalys nodded her head slightly, giving Jeyne a thankful look as she stood up. Not caring that she was naked and soaking wet, Annalys stepped out of the tub, causing water to spill everywhere.

Jeyne moved closer to Annalys, helping the woman place on her robe before they both left the room.

As she left, Annalys didn't even attempt to look back at Robb, who was still sitting in the bath, horrified after Annalys' confession.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Annalys is finally showing Robb's who she truly is and he's SHOOK.

Also, I thought the scene between Shireen and Annalys was kinda cute. It proves Annalys doesn't judge a child for her father/mother's mistakes, unlike a lot of people in GoT.

The dynamic between them and their sort-of friendship is quite odd, seeing as though in reality, Shireen is technically Annalys' replacement after her family replaced Annalys' as the royal family.