KINGDOM FALL
— 41. Robert's Bastard

In King's Landing, Annalys walked through Flea Bottom, wearing a large cloak with a hood to hide her identity each time a Gold Cloak passed by her. She couldn't let them blab to Stannis. They would ask why she was there in the first place.

She stopped at every establishment she could find, gifting the people there with gold dragons and silver stags before advising them to head to the Westerlands if they wanted to avoid persecution when they refused to convert their fate. Many of them surprisingly agreed, taking Annalys' bribe, which was enough to pay for their travels and buy them somewhere to live in Lannisport or another one of the Westerland's cities.

Others, however, refused, not wanting to believe Annalys since she was technically the reason Stannis was on the throne in the first place. She didn't blame them, though. If she were them, she wouldn't believe her either. However, she wanted to make up for her mistakes. She planned to do that by protecting the people of King's Landing from Stannis and his obsession with the Lord of Light.

Once making it to the Street of Steel, which was her last stop, she entered one of the blacksmiths shops. She entered, only to nearly collide with a man who seemed to be about her age.

"My apologies, Milady. I didn't see you," He apologized, only to notice how Annalys' eyes were wide in shock, "Is something wrong?"

Annalys stared at the young man closely, knowing she'd seen him before. It took her a moment before she finally figured out where she knew him from exactly, "I know you," She stated, causing him to give her a puzzled look, "I've seen you before. A year and a half ago, you were being taken in a horse-drawn cart by the Red Woman after the Brotherhood Without Banners sold you to her."

The man's eyes widened in utter shock, not understanding how she knew who he was. He couldn't remember her. After all, they had only locked eyes for three seconds at most before he was dragged away. No one could remember things that Annalys could. She had perfect memory.

"Who are you?" He found himself asking and as if on cue, Annalys removed the hood of her cloak to reveal her golden hair and green eyes. She was a Lannister, the man knew that much.

"Annalys Lannister," She introduced herself in a calm tone, eying him closely, "Mind telling me what your name is?"

"Gendry, Milady," He introduced himself to Annalys politely, bowing to her since it was expected.

"Gendry," Annalys repeated after him, knowing the name was familiar to her, "You're Arya's little friend, aren't you?"

Gendry's eyes widened at the mention of Arya. It was a name he hadn't heard in more than a year, "You know Arya Stark?" He questioned her, frowning in confusion.

"Of course, I do," Annalys responded, laughing at how foolish Gendry sounded, "I was married to her brother. Technically, she was my sister by marriage."

"You're Queen in the North, then," Gendry realized, his eyes wide in disbelief, "What is the Queen in the North doing in Flea Bottom?"

"To protect the small folk from Stannis Baratheon," Annalys informed Gendry, who visibly tensed up at the mention of the new King, "Something tells me you know Stannis personally."

"He and the Red Woman tried to kill me," Gendry informed Annalys in a hushed tone, "They knew something about me. Something that was important to the magic they wanted to use. They needed my blood."

"You're one of Robert's Bastard's, aren't you?" Annalys bluntly asked, much to Gendry's shock, "You look like him. I'd recognized those blue eyes and black hair from anywhere."

"Gendry!" A man shouted out, causing them both to turn to see whom Annalys presumed to be his boss walking over, "Get back to work!"

Gendry turned Annalys, giving her an apologetic look, "I have to get back to work, or I'll be looking for another job."

"He won't be, actually," Annalys suddenly spoke up, causing Gendry to frown in confusion as she turned to address his master, "He's coming with me."

"I am?" Gendry asked Annalys, a deeply puzzled look on his face.

"How would you like to work as a smith in Casterly Rock, where your work can actually be appreciated?" Annalys suddenly asked Gendry, thinking it to be the only way to convince him to leave Flea Bottom.

"You're serious?" Gendry asked Annalys in disbelief, clearly thinking she was only joking, "Why would you help me? I thought the Lannisters wanted me dead."

"My brother did," Annalys corrected him, referring to Joffrey and his order to have all of Robert's bastards executed more than three years prior, "I don't. King's Landing is going to become a war zone and many are going to die. If you want to live, you'll want to come with me."

Gendry remained silent for a long moment, listening to Annalys' explanation. She didn't care that he was the bastard of Robert Baratheon like everyone else always did. She just wanted to protect him because he was innocent.

"Now, do we have a deal?" Annalys found herself asking Gendry, who immediately nodded in agreement, "Good. Now, come with me. I'm sure there's at least one place in this city that serves some decent food."

Gendry laughed at Annalys' comment. The two of them exited the smith shop and headed out into the streets of King's Landing together. A Baratheon and a Lannister. Now, that was an odd friendship.

___

Hours later, in one of the inns in King's Landing, Annalys sat with Gendry, the two of them having numerous plates of food in front of him. Gendry felt as though it was more food than he had consumed his entire life. She was filthy rich, that was for sure.

Annalys placed a small bag on the table, sliding it over. Gendry frowned, cautiously picking up the bag and opening it to find it to be filled with gold dragons, "That's more money than I've seen in my entire life," He confessed quietly, earning a small smile on her face.

"I've been stashing money all around the capital since I was ten, in case of something like this happening," Annalys informed Gendry, who gave her a puzzled look, "I assumed I'd be using all of the money to escape King's Landing when Joffrey came to power. Turns out, it's Stannis and Robb I need to escape from." She explained in a calm tone, "I've been handing out money to anyone who wanted to seek refuge in the Westerlands."

"How much is this?" Gendry asked, his mind stuck on the fact that the bag was completely filled with gold dragons.

"One hundred gold dragons," Annalys informed Gendry, whose eyes widened in disbelief.

"That's more than a smith makes in his entire life," Gendry realized, still stunned shock by Annalys' gift.

"I know," Annalys replied, a small smile on her face, "It's going to be a few months before I make it to the Westerlands. You'll have to stay at an Inn until I get there. Once I do, you may live in Casterly Rock with your own chambers and materials be the Castle's smith. You mustn't tell anyone of this, though, alright?"

"I won't," He promised, only to have the two of them be cut off when the door to the Inn opened.

Annalys turned her head, only to groan in annoyance when she watched Robb enter alongside three Gold Cloaks, "I fucking hate gold cloaks," She muttered under her breath, causing Gendry to quietly chuckle.

"Tell me about it," He remarked, just before Robb made his way over to Annalys.

"Annalys," He greeted the girl in an awkward tone, glancing between her and Gendry, "You're not supposed to be here."

"Why's that?" Annalys asked Robb mockingly, staring up at him with a large, yet fake smile on her face.

"It isn't safe for you to be here," Robb reminded Annalys and she couldn't help but laugh at the statement.

"I'm a Lannister, Robb," Annalys argued, standing up from her seat, "I'm not safe anywhere."

Robb remained silent, having a brief stare down with Annalys. She clearly wasn't taking him seriously.

"You need to return to the castle," Robb ordered in a stern tone, earning an eye roll from Annalys.

"Fine," Annalys replied after a moment of silence before turning to Gendry, "I'll see you soon, Gendry."

Annalys smiled down at Gendry, jokingly winking at the Baratheon man just to piss Robb off. Gendry smiled in amusement, noticing the fuming look on Robb's face as Annalys walked past him and exited the Inn. Robb took a moment to glare at Gendry, just before following her outside.

Once they were outside, Robb wasted no time asking her what the hell was going on.

"Who was that?" Robb quickly asked, a concerned look on his face.

"I don't think that's any of your business, Robb," Annalys replied, her voice somehow sounding nice and polite, despite actually meaning it in a hostile way.

Ananlys began to walk down the street, Robb trying his best to keep up with her, "Are you with him?" He suddenly asked, causing Annalys to immediately stop walking.

Her eyes widened at the question. She slowly turned to face Robb, finding him actually looking concerned. "Of course not," Annalys wasted no time answering, her tone having not a single ounce of hostility or anger as she spoke to him, which was the first time since she left Riverrun, "I would never do that to you, even if we aren't married anymore."

Robb felt himself consumed with guilt at her words. Annalys could see it, too, but she had no clue what made him tense up so much. Much to her stupidity, she didn't bother to ask, either. That was her mistake.

"Then, who is he?" Robb found himself asking Annalys softly as he walked closer to her.

He stopped when he stood in front of her, their faces just inches apart. Despite being in one of the loudest and most chaotic parts of King's Landing, they felt as though they were the only ones there. Nothing around them mattered, only each other.

Annalys noticed that Robb truly looked concerned about who Gendry was. There was a hint of jealousy, too, but Annalys paid no mind to it.

"A man I met in the Riverlands the day I found Arya with the Brotherhood," Annalys somewhat told the truth, but made sure to lie as she went on with her story, "He's the boy Arya traveled with after fleeing Harrenhal."

Robb nodded his head in understanding, clearly recalling Arya speak of a boy named Gendry from King's Landing. "That doesn't explain what you're doing with him, though," He remarked, his voice still remaining calm, despite there being a argument just waiting to occur between them.

"I met him the first time I visited Flea Bottom after returning to my family a year ago," Annalys informed Robb, who didn't even realize she was lying to his safe, "I enjoy coming to visit the orphanages. I like to give to the poor, whether it be the children, the bakers, or even the smiths. Gendry happens to be a smith. I've been giving him money here and there, to help him get by. I've found a friend in him."

Robb remained silent for a long moment, studying her features. He found no evidence of her lying, but that was his stupidity. He knew better than anyone she was capable to look someone dead in the eye and lie straight to their face without them noticing. She was also able to think up lies within seconds. She was a skilled liar. She lived amongst them for so long in the capital that she became one of them.

After all, their entire plan was created in that way when they both were in the Riverlands a year before. Robb was a fool for choosing to believe Annalys wouldn't lie to him. She promised to never lie to him again, but that was over a year prior.

He imprisoned her family. He was planning to execute them. The promises they made to each other over the years were now destroyed. The promise didn't meant anything to Annalys. Not anymore.

"Just a friend?" Robb whispered softly to Annalys, who slowly nodded in response.

"Just a friend," Annalys confirmed, finally noticing just how close they were to each other. She glanced down at Robb's lips, which he noticed. She felt a lump in her throat and an odd sensation in her gut. Robb was on the verge of leaning forward to kiss her when Annalys turned on her heel and began to walk away, refusing to let her remaining feelings for Robb resurface.

Love was the death of duty and her duty was to her family.

Annalys was quite confused when the phrase popped into her head. Ser Edric Dayne had been the one to tell her that and he was right. Her duty was to her family. She couldn't let her love for Robb ruin that. Not again. Not after the last war.

That night, Annalys had been forced to attend a feast with Robb, Stannis, and the rest of the people loyal to the new Baratheon King. It was somber in the room and there was no music or entertainment. Annalys hated it. It was nothing like the feasts and parties her family used to have at court.

Annalys wondered, did Stannis even know what the word fun meant?

Robb, who sat next to Annalys, turned to look at her. She was staring off into space, clearly in deep thought. She tightly grasped a glass of wine in her hand, which happened to be her seventh glass that night, despite the feast only starting two hours before.

By the look on her face, Robb knew Annalys wasn't happy. She was clearly still not happy about the conversation they had earlier the day before and the fact that he forced her to leave Flea Bottom because it was "unsafe". Neither was Robb. He learned that Annalys was not the same person she was before. She was secretive and most of all, she was cruel in ways she hadn't been before.

However, in a way, neither was Robb. He wasn't the same man he was before.

Not being able to take the silence between them anymore, Robb placed a fake smile on his face, deciding to act as if earlier that day and the previous day never happened, "Are you always this quiet now?" Robb found himself asking Annalys, who slowly turned to look at him after he snapped her out of her thoughts.

She had been thinking over a piece of advice her mother had given her as a child and finally thought it'd be time to use it. Sex, tears, wine, her mother used to tell her were the ways to get what she wanted from a man.

Annalys knew that after everything she and Robb had gone through, tears and wine wouldn't work anymore. Only sex would, as crazy as it seemed.

"So what if I am?" Annalys asked Robb with an attitude, a bit of hostility in her tone of voice as well.

Robb tried his best to remain calm and not get angry with Annalys, "Well, I am not. It seems we have a bit of a problem, don't we?" He jokingly asked, but Annalys made no attempt to smile, "We always spoke to each other about everything before. If we want our marriage to work, we must continue with the way things were before."

Not being able to keep anything contained any longer, Annalys turned to Robb, looking angered, "Things will never be the way they were, Robb," She paused, leaning closer to him as she began to speak in a low, threatening tone, "And it isn't like we'll be able to keep the lie about our marriage a secret any longer. Our marriage is annulled and our children are bastards. Nothing will change that. Not even your attempts in trying to get me to talk. You're holding my family captive. You're forcing me to stay with you, despite our marriage being annulled, which means you're technically keeping me captive as well." She explained, causing Robb's eyes to widen at the revelation, "Yes, Robb. That is exactly what is happening here and nothing you say can change that. I may love you still, despite what you've done, but I will never forgive you for what you've done. Remember that, because you will only hear it once."

Before Robb could react, Annalys gulped down the rest of her wine, placing it back down on the table. She stood up from her seat, leaving without another word said.

____

  That night, after feeding her children from her breasts before putting them to sleep, Annalys stood in Eddard and Lyanna's nursery. She looked down at them as they slept soundly in their shared crib. A smile found its way onto her lips at the sight.

She leaned forward, making sure the blanket was keeping them warm before she headed to the door and made her way back into her own chambers. She made sure to close the door to the nursery, already knowing what was on the verge of happening.

She had it all planned out.

Annalys walked over to the table in the middle of her room, pouring herself her ninth glass of the night. Perhaps it was her tenth. In all honesty, she was beginning to lose count. She never drank that much in such a short amount of time unless she was trying to cope with something.

At that moment, she was. She was trying to cope with the fact that she was on the verge of doing something her mother would do. Something she never dreamed of doing. Seduction.

As expected, there was a knock on the door, just before Robb entered. Before turning to Robb, Annalys gulped down the entirety of her wine.

With that, she turned to face Robb, who looked uneasy, "I wanted to apologize for the way I was acting tonight." Robb confessed, a sympathetic look on his face.

"It isn't your fault," Annalys somewhat lied to Robb, shaking her head, "You're trying to be nice and I've been nothing but rude to you."

"You have a reason to be. I betrayed you." Robb began to tell Annalys, only to watch as she drunkenly poured herself a half cup of wine.

He watched as she quickly drank it, causing him to immediately feel uneasy, "I wanted to tell you--"

  Before Robb could finish his sentence, Annalys cut him off, "Let's not talk about that." She argued with Robb, placing her empty cup down on the table next to her.

He opened his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted as Annalys moved closer to him. He watched as she stopped in front of him, a look on her face that remained unreadable even to him.

Annalys slid her index fingers into the waistband of his breeches, pulling him closer to her. Once doing so, she looked up at him and Robb instantly realized that she was drunk.

Before the Stark man could react, Annalys placed both hands on the sides of his face, roughly kissing him on the lips.

  Robb, of course, didn't kiss back at first, clearly taken aback. However, after much hesitation, Robb finally began to kiss Annalys back.

Robb jumped slightly as Annalys trailed her hand down his back, only to roughly grab his ass. That was something he did to her. Why the hell was Annalys doing it to him?

Annalys began to playfully smirk into the kiss, knowing he was absolutely shocked by her actions. She lightly bit Robb's lower lip as she did so, causing him to groan in pleasure.

The kiss became more aggressive and Annalys' tongue soon invaded Robb's mouth. The taste of wine immediately filled Robb's mouth, which, in a way, concerned him.

Annalys soon gripped onto Robb's waist, pushing him against the now-closed door to her chambers.

   Robb let out a small grunt as his back collided with the door but immediately knew what was going on. Annalys was making herself become the one fully in control.

Deep down, Robb was concerned by Annalys being all over him, knowing just an hour before, she seemed as though she hated him.

Annalys placed her hands on Robb's chest, feeling the warmth of his body, which felt like a relief to her cold body.

  Robb instinctively wrapped his arms around her waist and Annalys bucked her hips forward, against Robb's groin. Robb moaned into Annalys' mouth and before he could react, she pulled away, peppering kiss along his jaw.

  Robb shut his eyes, leaning his head against the door as he allowed Annalys to fully take charge. She started to kiss down his neck, not meeting eyes with him. If she did, Annalys knew she'd never be able to go through with what she was doing. The wine only helped her somewhat.

Annalys stopped for a moment, feeling something poking at her front. She smirked slightly in amusement, not that Robb could see it, though.

As she began to pull away from him, Robb frowned in confusion, not knowing what was going on.

Just then, Robb watched in utter shock as Annalys knelt in front of him, beginning to unbuckle his pants.

"What are you doing?" Robb asked in concern, despite having the feeling he knew what she was planning to do.

Annalys stopped for a moment, looking up at him from her kneeling position, "I think you know what." She spoke in a confident tone, refusing to let herself look as nervous as she truly felt deep down.

"But you've never--" Robb began to point out to Annalys, who was quick to cut him off before he could finish his sentence.

"I don't care." Annalys practically snapped at Robb, her tone cold and stern.

"You don't have to..." Robb trailed off uneasily as Annalys finally finished unbuckling his pants.

"What if I want to?" Annalys suddenly asked, pulling Robb's breeches down to his ankles with a single tug.

Robb's mouth gaped open slightly at Annalys' response, "Then...Then, I would say--" He awkwardly began to reply.

Just then, Annalys went from having her nails digging into his waist to now clutching his ass as she went down at him.

Robb tilted his head back, letting out a groan as felt Annalys' mouth on him, "Gods." He grunted, the sensation he was feeling clearly foreign to him.

Knowing there was no stopping Annalys now, Robb tangled his fingers in Annalys' golden hair, tilting his head back as he allowed Annalys to do as she pleased with him.

However, a part of Robb continued to feel concerned. Something wasn't right. He just knew it. Annalys was doing something they had never spoken of doing with each other before. A part of Robb wondered what had even gotten Annalys to think of doing such a thing.

___

The following morning, Robb laid awake in bed with Annalys, who laid soundly asleep beside him. She was wearing just a shift while Robb was completely naked, given what they had done the night before. More specifically, what Annalys had done.

It was silent in the room and Robb stared at Annalys intently. She looked peaceful, despite the frown she wore in her sleep. He remained silent, eying her features. The expression she wore in her sleep was the same one she had been giving him lately. In all honesty, she had been nothing but cold to him since the moment they reunited more than three months before.

Annalys was right, however. In a way, she was being held against her will, whether or not Robb wanted to admit it. She was being forced to stay in the same castle where her parents were imprisoned and wasn't allowed to leave.

A saddened look grew on Robb's face, finding himself feeling guilty for what he had done. But he had no choice, right?

Hearing the sound of one of the babies crying in the nursery, Robb cautiously sat up. He got out of bed, making sure not to wake Annalys as he did so. He picked up his breeches off the ground, placing it on along with his undershirt before he made his way to the twins' nursery.

Robb slowly opened the door, relieved that it didn't creak as he did so. He walked into the nursery that was connected to Annalys' chambers before he walked over to the large crib in the middle of the small room.

He stopped in front of the wooden crib, smiling as he looked down to see that both Lyanna and Eddard were awake. It had been nearly four months since they were born and Robb felt as though they were growing bigger by the day.

The two infants stared up at their father. Little Eddard smiled and cooed as he met eyes with his father while Lyanna began to cry. She always seemed to do that, Robb thought to himself.

He didn't know what it was, but something about him Lyanna never seemed to like when he came to see them. She always cried, unlike Eddard, who remained calm in his father's presence. However, if Annalys was around, Lyanna was perfectly calm and even smiled at her mother. Never at Robb, though.

  It was like Lyanna favored her mother over her father, even at four months old. How was that possible, though? She was a baby, she couldn't have known anything that made her favor her mother over her father.

"Shh. It's okay. It's okay." Robb whispered to Lyanna softly, lifting up Eddard out of the crib before doing the same to Lyanna.

He held both children in his arms, Lyanna taking a moment to cry before she finally began to settle down somewhat. "Let's go for a walk, shall we?" He told his two children, a small smile on his face as he entered Annalys' room to find her fast asleep.

He had been told a few nights before by the servants that Annalys rarely slept. The girl who had been known for being able to sleep from sundown to noon growing up was now only sleeping two hours at most each night.

Knowing that Annalys would most likely still be asleep when he returned, Robb took one last look at the woman, just before he walked over of her chambers carrying Lyanna and Eddard.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Oof. Their relationship is getting hella dysfunctional and Annalys has literally gone half mad in the process 😬, I wonder if they'll ever go back to the way things were. 🤷🏻‍♀️

ALSO Annalys stooped as low as to seducing Robb, making her an almost mini Cersei in a way.

Idk about Cersei, but I definitely know Jaime will NOT like that when he finds out. (He tries Annalys' entire life for her not to become Cersei)