KINGDOM FALL
60. Torrhen and Joanna

Annalys, who now had her hair dyed brown, sat in front of Robb on their horse. After fleeing from the Baratheon soldiers, they were only able to buy one horse without using all of Robb's money, leading to Annalys and Robb riding on the same horse.

Of course, Annalys did have money of her own with her, but she wasn't going to tell Robb that. She yearned to keep it for emergencies only and didn't feel as though buying two horses counted as one.

They silently rode through a scene of brutal violence, with villagers slaughtered amongst their upended carts, flies buzzing at their corpse. Robb looked disgusted at the sight while Annalys did not, clearly expecting to see such a thing. She remained silent, trying to keep her expression unreadable after witnessing the horrific sight.

After all, it was her fault. She had been the one to order Lannister soldiers to terrorize the villages in the Riverlands in the first place.

"When am I going to get a horse of my own?" Robb asked in annoyance, growing tired of having to share a horse with Annalys.

"Never," Annalys replied in a cold tone, earning an eye roll from Robb, "Now, shut up."

"Oh, so now you want be cold to me?" Robb playfully asked Annalys, tightening his arms around her waist as he leaned closer to her and brushed his lips against her earlobe, "I could've sworn it was quite the opposite last night."

Annalys laughed humorlessly, moving her head away from Robb's as she pried his arms from her waist, "A moment of weakness, that is all. One that will never happen again," She immediately told him, much to Robb's dismay as he sighed in defeat, "Here we are."

Annalys' horse came to a stop as they reached an inn. They could hear the sounds of men heard in the buildings, none of them peaceful and positive.

"I'm hungry. You're hungry. We should stop," Annalys explained confidently, not caring about the risks of being recognized by someone or the fact that it sounded as though the men were arguing inside.

"What if the men recognize us?" Robb asked Annalys uneasily, clearly more worried about it than she was.

Annalys remained silent for a moment, studying the area around them, "Six horses, which means six men. If it comes down to it, I can kill him them easily."

Robb found himself rolling his eyes at Annalys' remark, "Is killing your solution to everything nowadays?" He complained in annoyance.

"When it suits me..." She trailed off, nodding her head in agreement, "Yes. Yes, it is."

"There's a neat trick you do," He paused, leaning closer to Annalys as he spoke to her in a low tone, "Your lips move and your father's voice comes out."

"I don't see that as a bad thing. You might, but I don't," Annalys retorted, shrugging her shoulders as she turned to look Robb in the eye, "You wish you could be half the man my father was." She whispered to him in a venomous tone.

   Robb immediately gave her an offended look and Annalys smirked in satisfaction, clearly saying it in purpose solely to get that type of reaction. The Stark man, however, refused to let Annalys think she won the argument with her remark, "If that means I won't be a kingslayer, then so be it." He argued, earning an angered glare from Annalys, which caused him to smirk.

What he didn't know was that each time Annalys heard him call her father, 'kingslayer', it drove her closer to thinking a relationship between them could never work. She hated people who would dare call her father a kingslayer. They didn't know the whole story. They had no right to talk about him when he wasn't there to defend himself.

It took everything in Annalys not to defend Jaime when he wasn't there to do it himself, but she knew she couldn't anyway.

"Don't speak of matters you know nothing about." Annalys snapped at Robb coldly, narrowing her eyes at him.

"What is there to know?" Robb asked, clearly not believing Annalys had any reason to defend Jaime for something he clearly did, "Your father killed the king he swore to protect."

Annalys was about to argue when she spotted two men exiting the Inn. She squinted her eyes, recognizing one of them to be Poliver, a man who served House Lannister. He was also one of the men Bronn sent to disrupt the peace in the Riverlands.

"I know him," Annalys informed Robb in a hushed tone, "The small one. His name is Polliver. He serves the Westerlands," She paused, watching as the two men urinated into the bushes by the farm, "He's also the man who captured Arya and brought her to Harrenhal in the first place."

Robb immediately tensed up at the revelation, clearly not expecting it. The two Lannister soldiers finished relieving themselves and began to walk back into the Inn. Annalys' eyes widened when she noticed Needle hanging from Poliver's belt.

"Needle," Annalys whispered softly, a hint of determination appearing in her eyes.

Before Robb could react, Annalys climbed off their horse, on the verge of walking toward the Inn, "What are you---" He began to ask Annalys, who stopped walking for second, "Where are you going?" 

Annalys stopped walking, turning to look at Robb, "To get Needle back. That's Arya's sword. Jon had it made for her."

"It's just a sword, Annalys," Robb argued, which was most likely the last he should have said to her, "We need to get to Casterly Rock. We'll never end up doing that what with all the stops you're forcing us to make."

"You don't know what it's like to have a sword that's rightfully yours, Robb," Annalys argued defensively, a sincere look on her face, "One that yours and yours only. You may not know this, but I do. That sword means everything to Arya, just as Lady's Wrath means everything to me," She paused, moving her cloak to the side to show him Lady's Wrath, "Now, let's go. We may have a proper meal tonight, right before I take Needle back."

With that, Annalys started to walk toward the Inn and Robb sighed in frustration, just before hesitantly following after her.

"Annalys, wait," Robb called out, trying to convince Annalys to give him a moment to catch up to her, but she continued to walk away as she ignored him, "Seven hells, woman." He said quietly and with her back facing him, Annalys smiled in amusement.

Moments later, Annalys entered the Inn she could immediately hear a woman whimpering while the soldiers around her egged each other on.

"Come on, give it up." One of the man encouraged the other man, causing the Innkeeper's daughter to whimper.

The girl struggled in the grasp of one of the men as Robb entered behind Annalys, shutting the door behind them. When Annalys entered, every man's head turned.

They didn't pay much attention to Robb. Instead, they eyed Annalys closely, clearly yearning to use her as one of their "play-things", just as they had done with the Innkeeper's daughter.

  Annalys immediately recognized the men to be Lannister soldiers, seeing as though they were wearing her House's Lannister colors. Red and gold. Of course, they didn't recognize Annalys to be their queen, seeing as though her hair was died brown and the dark cloak she wore hid Lady's Wrath under it.

Her golden hair and Lady's Wrath in its sheath at her side was what usually had people recognizing her.

The entire inn fell silent as all eyes were on the duo. Annalys paid no mind to them, unlike Robb, who looked warily at the men groping the Innkeeper's daughter.

Annalys sighed in defeat when she saw Robb staring at them. She quickly grabbed him by the arm, leading him over to an empty table in the back. They both took a seat and the Lannister men returned to their assault on the girl with Robb trying his best not to intervene.

Annalys, however, seemed to not even care, from what Robb could see. Of course, that wasn't the case. She cared more than Robb did, she just refused to be impulsive by reacting without thinking it out first.

She watched hesitantly as one of the Lannister soldiers grabbed her from one of the other man, causing her to cry out due to how rough they were being.

"Please, she's a good girl," The Innkeeper pleaded with the men, begging them to leave her daughter be.

"Shut your mouth and pour us more ale and we may not take her with us when we're done with her," Polliver snapped at the man in a stern tone, only to turn his head to look at Robb, seeming to recognize him.

"I know you," He suddenly spoke up, causing Annalys and Robb to tense up.

Under the table, Robb grasped the hilt of the his sword, watching as Polliver stood, "You're Annalys Lannister." He continued on, causing Robb to sigh in relief, "The Queen."

  He released his grip on his sword, knowing for a fact if it came to killing the man, Annalys had it all handled.

Polliver walked over and joined their table, a smile on his face, "I'm sorry. You have the wrong person," Annalys responded, a soft smile on her face as she looked up at the man, "I could only wish to be Queen Annalys."

"My mistake, My Lady. You look just like her, only with brown hair," Polliver replied, taking a seat across from them at the table, "You have her body and all," He paused a hand motion to say she had big breasts, causing the men in the room to laugh loudly.

  Robb looked to be on the verge of snapping after hearing Polliver's words while Annalys simply smiled at them, knowing if she had her way, they'd be dead soon enough.

"Pour our new friends some ale," Polliver told the innkeeper, glancing between Robb and Annalys, "What's your names?"

Robb was on the verge of opening his mouth to speak when Annalys gripped onto his thigh from underneath the table, causing him to shut up, "Joanna. My name is Joanna," She replied, smiling before gesturing toward Robb, "This is Torrhen."

Poliver looked between Robb and Annalys. Annalys was smiling while Robb seemed to be glaring at him, "What brings you so far north, Torrhen and Joanna?" He asked curiously, taking a large sip of his ale.

"I could ask the same of you," Annalys replied, gesturing toward his Lannister colored uniform, "What are you doing all the way in the Riverlands?"

"Just keeping the queen's peace," Polliver replied, much to Annalys' anger.

"No need," Annalys replied without hesitation, shaking her head with a fake smile on her face, "The war's over."

The Innkeeper soon walked over and poured them some ale. Robb immediately drank his while Annalys didn't, which was a first. She kept her eyes fixed on Polliver, refusing to look away.

"So I've heard. Our Queen of the Rock has made a peace treaty with the King in the North, but that isn't surprising. We all seen it coming," Polliver explained and Robb and Annalys exchanged a quick look, just before turning to look toward Polliver once more.

"She's good, our queen," Polliver continued on, a smile forming on his face at the Lannister woman, not even knowing she was sitting right in front of him, "Best at what she does. Killing, winning, and ruling. She's placed a lot of gold into our pockets since she came to power, that is for sure. More than I can say about the Late Lord Tywin."

Robb scoffed quietly, "You can say that again." He muttered under his breath, which ended up catching Polliver's attention.

"He speaks," Polliver commented, causing Robb to turn to him with a puzzled look, "I was starting to think you were mute."

"Not mute. Just don't like talking to men who think they can reave and rape and do it on behalf of their queen." Robb complained, causing the entire inn to fall silent.

Annalys sighed in frustration, face palming herself at his impulsive comment, "Seven bloody hells," She whispered to herself, knowing Robb's impulsiveness had gotten the best of them.

She was hoping he wouldn't speak for the entire time, but of course, that was too much to hope for.

"Wearing these colors, we can do whatever we please. Once again, people shudder in fear when they see men wearing red and gold color armor. We can thank our queen for that." Polliver boasted, much to Annalys and Robb's dismay.

   Annalys tried not to look uneasy, despite feeling guilty for all that was being done in her name. She laughed nervously, pointing toward where there was some food. "Enough talk of war and politics, alright? Bring us one of those chickens." She insisted, but what Robb had said just moments before made it clear to Polliver that were foes, not friends.

"You going to pay for it?" Polliver questioned, glancing between Annalys and Robb.

"Did you?" Robb retorted with an attitude, much to Annalys' annoyance.

Polliver laughed, shaking his head, "No, but we're the Queen's men. We don't need it," He responded in a calm tone, "So, you got money?"

"Not a single copper," Robb lied, shaking his head before he began to speak to them in a low, threatening tone, "But as the lady said, we'll still take that chicken."

"Tell you what. We'll trade you. One of our little chickens for one of yours. Give us a go at Joanna here," He tried to convince Robb, turning toward Annays with a grin on his face, "Lowell there likes them when they're fiesty and witty."

The men began to chuckle and while Robb began to tense up, Annalys simply smiled.

"You're a talker, aren't you?" She questioned Polliver, who slowly nodded, not knowing what she was getting at, "So am I, but I don't get along with other talkers. It takes the attention off of me and that bores me. And I don't like to be bored. Just ask Torrhen," She paused, pointing toward Robb while calling him by the alias she made up for him, "I tend to become dangerous and lethal when I'm bored," She told him in a low, threatening tone, "And hungry. So I think we'll take two chickens now."

"Neither of you seem to understand the situation here." Polliver argued with Annalys, glaring at her.

"I understand that if any more words come out of your mouth, I'm going to tear out your tongue," Annalys glared at Polliver hatefully, causing him to look at her warily.

"You have the mouth of a madwoman and a whore," Polliver retorted, earning a snort from Robb, who knew it was definitely not going to end well for Polliver now.

"What can I say, I am mother's daughter," Annalys sarcastically smiled at Polliver, who narrowed his eyes at the Lannister woman.

"And who's your mother?" Polliver questioned Annalys uneasily.

"Cersei of House Lannister," Annalys informed Polliver, whose eyes widened in disbelief, "You heard of her?"

Alarmed, Polliver immediately stood up, realizing that his presumption from earlier was correct, "You're the Queen! Annalys Lannister!" He exclaimed loudly, clearly regretting everything he had done since she arrived.

"Yes, and you're a dead man," Annalys replied, glaring hatefully at every man there as she rose from her seat.

  Knowing he had no other choice, Polliver rose to attack, but before he could unsheathe his sword, Annalys climbed right over the table and knocked Polliver to the ground.

Annalys walked away from the table, Robb watching motionlessly as she removed her cape and unsheathed Lady's Wrath.

    A man came toward her and she blocked his attack with her own sword, just before she punched him in the face. He fell to the ground and Annalys blocked yet another attack from the next man. He retracted his sword and went to swing his sword at her again, only to end up getting slashed across the back.

Another man rushed toward her and Annalys easily fended him off. Their swords deadlocked and Annalys ended up kicking him the stomach, causing him to fall against one of the many tables in the Inn.

A fourth man came toward Annalys and she punched him so hard that blood spurted from his mouth as he fell straight to the ground.

Annalys started to fight another man and ended the fight by punching him in the throat. She then lifted Lady's Wrath, beheading him with one clean swing to the side of his neck.

Robb continued to stand motionlessly, watching in utter disbelief as Annalys fought off a half dozen men on her own as if it were nothing.

He hadn't seen truly in action since the War of the Queen and Five Kings. He didn't see her during the Battle at King's Landing. He never got to truly see the way she was able to fight against a dozen men and leave them all dead in the end, with not a single scratch on her.

Once she knocked yet another man to the ground, Annalys kicked him in face, just before she stabbed in the neck with Lady's Wrath.

All of the men soon laid either injured or dead on the ground. Annalys turned her head to see Polliver crawling toward a nearby sword. She rushed toward him, roughly hitting him in the face with the pommel of Lady's Wrath.

As Annalys knelt next to an injured Polliver, Robb noticed the last living man rushing toward her from behind.

He was about to warn her, only to be cut off as Annalys stabbed him right in the groin area when he reached her, not even having to turn to face him to do so. The man screamed out in agony as she removed the blade from being stabbed into that area, only to be finished off as she stabbed him a single time in the stomach.

She turned back toward Polliver, who looked to be trying to get up again. She stood up and roughly kicked him in the face, causing him to fall flat on his back.

She bent forward slightly, removing Needle from his belt. She glared down at Polliver, who stared up at her in fear. He never better than to try and stand up against Annalys. Everyone in Westeros did. He was a fool for thinking he would have escaped with his life after what he did.

Polliver cried, staring up at Annalys with a pleading look, "Please, Your Grace! I beg of you!" He begged Annalys, looking to be on the verge of crying, but Annalys didn't care, "I'm sorry."

Annalys growled, pressing the tip of Needle against Polliver's throat, "How dare you do all of this in my name!" She shouted out, glaring at Polliver as he continued to plea and cry for her to grant him mercy, "Arya Stark sends her regards, Polliver."

Polliver's eyes widened in shock at her words, but before he could say anything, he was stabbed through the chin, slowly with Needle.

He began to gasp and gurgle as Annalys removed the sword. She watched closely as the blood filled his mouth and he started to choke, just before he died.

Robb watched Annalys warily, noticing how she seemed happier after arriving at the Inn than she had been the entire trip from Winterfell to the Riverlands.

He cautiously began to walk toward Annalys, not knowing at first what to say to break the silence between them, "Annalys---" He began to speak up as he grabbed the wrist of the hand she was using to hold Needle.

  Before he could finish, Robb was cut off by Annalys roughly smashing her lips against his. He was shocked at first, but soon began to kiss back, placing his free hand at her waist.

They continued to kiss passionately, just before the sounds of whimpers caused them both to pull away from each other. Annalys was the first to look upward, finding the Innkeeper and his daughter on the second floor.

  Annalys fully pulled away from Robb, turning to face the father-daughter duo, "My apologies for what these men have done on behalf of House Lannister. I had no recollection of it," She apologized, smiling softly them as she went into her pocket and took out a small cloth bag filled with Gold Dragons, something Robb didn't even know she had the entire time, "I hope this can make up for what they've done. It's enough to get you through at least three years."

The Innkeeper stared at Annalys in shock, puzzled at how she could go from killing one second to being kind the next. Even Robb looked puzzled at the sight, wondering if Annalys was even sane at that moment.

  AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Remember the names Torrhen and Joanna, they'll be very significant in the future. 😉😉😉

I got bored and made this, thought it fit 😂

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