KINGDOM FALL
63. Ruined

The following morning, Annalys woke up to find Robb in the middle of dressing. She smirked, having no shame in admiring his backside as he placed his pants on, "What a wonderful sight to wake up to," She suddenly spoke up, making it known that she was now awake.

Robb placed his shirt on, just before turning to face her. He slowly began to smile, realizing that Annalys had been checking him out, "What is about you and asses?" Robb bluntly asked, causing them both to laugh at how true the statement was, "Many woman like tall men, or muscular men, perhaps even men with nice eyes, but you..." He trailed off, walking over to Annalys before kneeling on the bed next to her, "You like men with nice asses."

"Not my fault you have a nice ass," Annalys replied without a care in the world, causing them both to laugh.

After the laugh died down, Robb knew it was time to tell Annalys why he was getting dressed, "I'm going out into town, to get some supplies and some food. We'll be heading for the Westerlands in about a weeks time," He informed her in a calm tone, causing her to sigh in defeat at the fact that she was forced to be on bedrest while he got to leave, "Will you be alright by yourself here?"

Annalys laughed at Robb's question, "It's not like I can leave the bed. The maester says I have to remain in bed for at least three days." She remarked, only to notice the look on Robb's face, "What?"

"When have you ever listened to anyone's commands that weren't your own?" Robb questioned and they both knew he had a fair point.

"Now," Annalys replied and Robb found himself looking concerned, "I don't want to risk having to stay in bed longer than I have to. We must get to Casterly Rock soon, or they'll presume me to be dead. I can't let them think that. Also, I can barely walk. How am I supposed to get anywhere?" She continued on and Robb nodded in understanding, "Promise you'll return soon?"

Robb smiled at Annalys, "I promise." He replied, standing before turning toward the door.

Annalys watched Robb leave, wanting nothing more than to call him back to kiss him, but knew she couldn't. She sighed in defeat, watching as the door closed.

____

Meanwhile later, Annalys laid in bed, fast asleep when she heard numerous male voices just outside her room's door.

"Are you sure this is the room?" She heard one of the men ask in a stern tone.

"Yes! Yes, it is! That's the room Annalys Lannister is in," The Innkeeper fearfully informed the man, which immediately gained Annalys' undivided attention, "She's posing as a woman named Joanna, but I'd recognize that face anywhere. She's with a man named Torrhen."

"Is he there now?"

"No, he's gone into town for some supplies to leave. He'll be gone for hours."

Hearing his words, Annalys weakly sat up, an alarmed look on her face. She went to grab her sword, which was usually at her bedside, but immediately realized that it was not there. She frantically glanced around, finding it to be nowhere in sight. She continued to glance around, realizing that there wasn't a single weapon in the room with her, not even the dagger she usually had hidden under her pillow. She sighed in defeat, an uneasy look on her face.

Before she could react, the door burst open and in came four Baratheon men.

"Seven Hells." She muttered under her breath, noticing that each of them were alarmed.

"Well, well," The first man, who had black hair, grinned, moving closer to Annalys as she continued to sit on the bed, "Look what we have here. The infamous Annalys Lannister."

Annalys grabbed onto the board at the foot of the bed, trying her best to weakly stand up, which hurt like hell, "Stay back," She warned them in a low, threatening tone, despite knowing they were most definitely going to win, "I said, stay back!"

The man laughed, amused by her threatening tone. He exchanged a look with the rest of the group, just before looking back at Annalys.

"I don't know if I should bow or..." The man trailed off, eying Annalys' half naked figure closely. She was only wearing a shift and half of her body was exposed because of it.

"Take her," The man ordered the three others, who wasted no time charging at Annalys.

Annalys ended up grabbing ahold of the first man who charged at her, pushing into the two others. As they stumbled back, the leader of the group did nothing to help them fight back.

As one of them came toward her once more, she punched him in the face as hard as could. She lifted up a nearby wooden chair, wasting no time hitting another one of the men with it, the object breaking upon impact.

The leader of the group held a hammer in his hand, but made no motion to come toward her, which concerned Annalys. Why did he have a hammer?

While she was distracted by the sight, one of the men ended up punching Annalys right in the face. She cried out as she fell backward, unable to steady herself in time. As she hit the ground, she ended up roughly hitting her forehead on the table, causing her to practically envision stars above her for a brief moment.

She could immediately feel blood dripping from the newly inflicted wound, which concerned her deeply. She went to stand up, only to find herself struggling in doing so with her wounded thigh and the fact that she could barely see straight due to her head being bashed into the table.

Another one of the men came toward her and she tried to kick him, but it seemed to do nothing while she was barefoot. He wasted no time climbing on top of Annalys, wrapping his fingers around her throat as he began to choke her.

Annalys tried to grab ahold of the man's face, but found herself becoming weaker by the second as she began to lose consciousness since she wasn't able to breathe.

Before she finally knock out, the leader of the group of man pulled the person choking Annalys off, "You idiot! You could've killed her! Stannis wants her alive!" He shouted angrily, looking toward the two other soldiers, "Get her up. Now."

Without hesitation, the two men grabbed ahold of Annalys, forcing her to move closer to the same table that inflicted the wound on her forehead. She tried to fight back, despite being severely beaten. As she did so, one of them roughly grabbed onto her hair, causing her to hiss in pain.

"I swear to you, you're going to regret this." She growled at the man dragging her by the hair, "I'll kill you, I'll kill all of you! Every last one of you!"

"Hold her wrist," The leader of the soldiers demanded in a stern tone, lifting up his hammer.

Annalys tried to fight back, but found herself unable to as they forced her into a kneel in front of the table. While one gripped onto her hair, the other man grabbed her by wrist, forcing her to place her hand on the table.

Annalys balled her left hand into a fist, refusing to let them to do what they were planning to do. No, she wouldn't let them. She refused to let them do the same thing to her that the Bolton men did to Jaime.

Her left hand meant far more to her than Jaime's right hand meant to him, believe it or not.

"I would lay it flat if I were you." The man warned Annalys and the one who was holding onto her wrist forced her to lift her hand up.

He roughly slammed her hand back down on the table, which forced her palm to flatten out against the wooden table and not be balled up into a tight fist any longer.

Knowing what was yet to occur, Annalys pleaded with the men, tears forming in her eyes at the thought of them destroying her left hand. She never begged, but at that moment, she had no idea what else she could do, "Please," Annalys pleaded, tears threatening to spill from her eyes as she weakly shook her head, "End this madness. This doesn't have to--"

Suddenly, Annalys was cut off by the feeling of the hammer slamming down against the back of her hand at full force. It was agonizing and she felt as though the pain was just as bad as giving birth to twins had been, if not worse.

Annalys tried her best to keep quiet as much as she could, but she ended up screaming on top of her lungs in agony when she felt and heard the bones that made up her left hand break.

A second time, he slammed the hammer down on her left hand once more, causing her to cry out. She looked down, finding her broken hand to be covered in black blood. The men looked horrified by the sight of Annalys' blood being black, but were too busy torturing her to say anything about it.

A third time, he hit her hand with the hammer again and Annalys could hear more of the bones in her hand breaking each time he slammed the hammer down on it.

One last time, he roughly hit her left hand with the hammer. However, on the last time, Annalys didn't cry out. Instead, she lost consciousness and fell backward, straight to the ground.

____

On the first floor of the Inn, where men were drinking and eating their lunch, Annalys was dragged down the stairs by the four Baratheon men. She was weakened and beaten bloody, far more than she had been when she lost consciousness. She found herself almost unable to stand on her own.

As she was dragged past them, most quickly glanced at her before looking away, clearly not recognizing her to be Annalys Lannister. The black blood covering her injured face made her almost unrecognizable.

Suddenly, the four men forced themselves stand in place with Annalys when they reached the man who had been leading the search for Annalys in the Riverlands, "Lord Velaryon," Annalys groggily greeted the man, her tone remaining sarcastic, despite being so weak, "How nice it is to see you," She paused, lifting up her left hand, which was practically mangled, "I appreciate the name day gift, but need I remind you, that was three months ago."

"It seems even destroying your left hand doesn't shut you up, Queen Annalys," Lord Velaryon greeted Annalys, gaining the attention of many men in the Inn, much to her satisfaction.

"That's queen Annalys!"

"Look at what they've done to her."

"Someone, do something!"

Annalys weakly smirked, hearing each of the men and women there whispering about her as she glanced at each of them one by one, "You, Ser..." She weakly trailed off, pointing to one of the men seated closest to where she stood, "Is that the Red Stallion of Stonehedge I see embroidered on your coat?"

"It is, Your Grace," The man politely replied, nodding his head in confirmation.

"I recall saving your lord's life on the battlefield two years ago against one of my cousins from Lannisport. How is your lord now?" Annalys questioned curiously and the Baratheon men became confused as to why she was conversing with random men when she was on the verge of being taken captive.

Lord Velaryon had been right. Even destroying her left hand wouldn't shut Annalys up and that was the biggest problem. Her left hand was Annalys' most known weapons, but it wasn't her most powerful. Her way with words was her greatest weapon. It was how she was able to weasel her way out of so many things over the years, even as a child. It was how she always won.

"He is doing well, Your Grace," The Knight responded, uneasily glancing around at the men surrounding Annalys, "Very well."

Annalys staggered as she turned toward another man, smiling slightly, "And you're from House Blackwood. I recall saving your lord's life as well."

"You did. And our lord is very thankful. He will remember that day for the rest of his life. Without you, he'd be dead." The man responded, much to Annalys' satisfaction.

"I envy you and the love the people have for you, but I don't quite see the purpose of this," Lord Velaryon spoke up, on the verge of grabbing ahold of Annalys, "You're coming with us. You'll be dead within a fortnight if our king has our way."

Annalys moved away from the man, turning to another familiar knight, "I recall fighting alongside you in the Battle of Whispering Wood." she pointed out in a calm tone and the man nodded.

"You did, Your Grace. I never seen someone fight so valiantly and bravely," The blonde man responded in a proud tone, "Without you, we would have never won the war of the Queen and Five Kings."

"Aye, and against my better judgement, I put King Stannis on the throne. Stories have spread across Westeros of him burning people at the stake when they refuse to convert. He plans to take all of Westeros and force them to follow the faith he follows. It is heresy!" Annalys shouted, clearly attempting to manipulate the men around her as she pointed toward Lord Velaryon, "I am here, in the Riverlands, with your king, Robb Stark. I am here to reunite your king with his heirs, Prince Eddard and Princess Lyanna. But this man plans to take me while I'm wounded and ship me off to King's Landing to be executed. A threat against me is a threat against your king and your prince and princess," She explained and without hesitation, every single man rose from their seats, clearly taking her side after hearing her words, "In the name of King Robb Stark and the good Riverlands Lords you serve, I call upon you to seize these men and help me return them to the Westerlands to await King Robb's and my justice for their crimes."

Without hesitation, all of the knight drew their swords toward the Baratheon soldiers, causing Annalys to smirk in satisfaction. It was an odd feeling, to have someone fight for her while she was left defenseless, but in a way, Annalys enjoyed it.

_____

About an hour later, nightfall arrived, Robb entered the Inn, finding Annalys standing with three Riverlands Knights with the five Baratheon soldiers tied up in ropes next to them. Her face was now cleaned up, but she was hiding her left hand behind her back. There was a large bruise under her eye, a cut on her lip, and a large cut on her forehead.

"Annalys..." He trailed off uneasily, causing every man's head to turn, "What's going on?"

"Your Grace," The Knights immediately greeted Robb, bowing to him.

"These Baratheon Soldiers tried to capture me in my room, but these loyal knights helped me capture them before they could bring me to the capital," She explained, a large smile on her face, "They deserve a proper reward, do they not?"

Robb continued to look shocked, but immediately noticed the look on Annalys' face. She was up to something and he didn't know what. He did know one thing, however, she wanted him agree, "They do." He replied, nodding his head in agreement.

Annalys continued to smile, turning to face the men, "When I return to Casterly Rock, I will gift you each with a thousand gold dragons, to thank you for your service," She informed the men, causing Robb's eyes to widen in shock.

How the hell was Annalys so able to give a thousand dragon to three different men as if it were nothing?

After the men exited the Inn with the Baratheon soldiers, Robb walked closer to Annalys, a puzzled look on his face, "A thousand gold dragons?" He asked, looking to be uneasy.

"I'm the Queen of the Westerlands. I have control over all the mines," She informed Robb, a proud smile on her face, "I'm the richest person in Westeros at this moment."

"Quit showing off," Robb complained jokingly, causing them both to smile in amusement, "How did you get them to follow you?"

"I reminded them that I was their queen once, and that I saved many of their lives during the war." Annalys explained to Robb, who smiled at her proudly.

After a moment, however, Robb glanced down at Annalys' leg worriedly, "How's your leg?"

"It doesn't hurt, actually. I barely feel it," She confessed, but refused to tell him the whole truth.

Of course it hurt. The difference now was the pain in her hand was far worse and it made her forget all about her leg.

Annalys looked back over at Robb, who clearly didn't believe her, "Robb, I'm fine. I swear." She tried to convince Robb, but it was clearly he didn't believe her.

Robb placed his hand on the side Annalys' face, examining her face worriedly, "Did they harm you anywhere else? Did they touch you?" He questioned Annalys, who lied by shaking her head, "What did they do?" He asked in a low tone, knowing she was lying.

Annalys began to tear up, which concerned Robb deeply. She found herself beginning to cry as she lifted up her hand from hiding it behind her back. Robb's eyes widened at the sight of her hand. Her entire left hand was severely broken and black blood covered it entirely. From what he could see, she couldn't move it in the slightest.

"They tried to cripple me like the Bolton men crippled my father," Annalys explained, stammering as she tried her best to choke back her sobs, "They ruined my hand."

"It's okay, Annalys," Robb tried to comfort Annalys, cupping her face in his hands, "You'll be alright. I know it."

Robb was on the verge of hugging Annalys when she roughly pushed him back with her right hand, "No, I won't. How can I defend myself like this? How will I use a sword?" She sobbed and Robb immediately felt puzzled as to why she cared so much about that. There were other reasons to be worried about a broken hand, but all she seemed to be worried about was carrying a sword.

"You may think I'm being dramatic, but you don't understand, Robb. My hands are the main reason why I'm so feared. My left hand is the hand I use for my sword. It's the reason I'm undefeated. It means everything to me. I may be able to use my right hand to hold a sword and I'm almost just as good, but that doesn't change the fact that I won't be able to use a bow," She explained, holding up her injured hand, "I won't shoot a bow for quite a long time. Perhaps never. How will I survive?"

"You're a Queen, Annalys," Robb tried to reminded Annalys, "You don't always have to fight. You can have other people fight for you, until you're healed."

"Without fighting, I am nothing, Robb," Annalys reminded Robb without hesitation, causing him to frown in concern, "Fighting is my life. It is what makes me, me. I would choose being a knight over being a queen any day. Fighting for myself is what keeps me alive. Like this, I am nothing. I will never be the same."

Robb's eyes softened, realizing that fighting meant more to Annalys than he ever thought possible. He wasted no time hugging her as Annalys cried into his shoulder. "We'll make those men pay," He whispered to herself softly, finding himself feeling furious at the fact that he hadn't been there to protect Annalys when she actually needed it for once, "I promise you that."

____

That night, soon after Robb had arrived, he fetched the Maester that had treated Annalys' thigh after she had been attacked by a boar. The Lannister woman sat in a chair in front of the unknown maester as he tended to her left hand.

As he did so, Annalys winced and groaned in pain each time he even touched it in the slightest, "Will it heal?" She questioned the elder man, a deeply concerned look on her face.

"I haven't a clue," He admitted truthfully, much to Annalys' dismay, "From what I can tell, your entire wrist has been dislocated and the bones in your fingers are severely broken. I've never seen anything quite this serious before," He explained and Annalys began to tense in concern, "The easiest solution would be to just take the entire hand off."

Hearing the man's statement, Annalys' face immediately turned threatening instead of fearful, "You will do no such thing. My left hand will stay right where it is," Annalys argued in a stern tone, refusing to end up like Jaime.

"Your Grac—" He began to object, only to be cut off as Annalys used her right hand to choke him in order to make her point.

The maester began to choke and gasp for breath. His eyes widened in utter disbelief at how strong she seemed to be. Not even because she was a woman, but because she was using her non-dominant hand.

He looked Annalys in the eye and the woman had a look on her face that could kill on its own.

"I don't need my left hand to kill you," She told the man in a low, threatening tone, glaring at him hatefully, "You will fix my hand and pop my wrist back into place. Unless you'd like me to do the same to you that has been done to me. Maybe then I'll remove your hand, just as you wish to do to me. How would you like that, Sir?"

"I will do the best that I can to fix our problem, Your Grace," The Maester replied uneasily, rubbing his neck as Annalys finally released him from her hold.

"Mmm," Annalys hummed, nodding her head in response, "Good. It seems we finally understand each other."

"You'll need milk of the poppy for this procedure," The Maester informed Annalys, whose eyes widened slightly in alarm.

"No milk of the poppy," Annalys argued in a stern tone, shaking her head in disagreement.

"There will be pain." He continued on, but Annalys still refused.

"I can take the pain," Annalys pointed out, sounding confident in herself.

"Quite a bit of pain," The Maester repeated himself, much to Annalys' annoyance,

"As I said, I can take the pain," Annalys argued in a stern tone, much to the Maester's dismay.

He sighed in defeat, hesitantly nodding his head in understanding. With that, the Maester strapped and buckled Annalys' left arm to the chair to secure her while also to staunch the bleeding. He strapped her right arm down as well, being warned by Robb that she tended to have fighting instinct when harmed.

With that, as the maester began the procedure, Annalys' agonizing screams were heard all throughout the establishment.

Robb, from where he stood outside the room Annalys resided in, flinched as he heard her loud, painfilled screams.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Annalys will not be able to use her hand for the rest of this act. Everyone knows what Annalys' greatest weakness are now: Jaime and her left hand.

A lot of you are waiting for Robb to go off on Annalys and soon enough, he will. They just need to get the hell out of the Riverlands first😂

Annalys will do something that will REALLY piss Robb and that will finally make him snap. You guys will most likely get pissed off, too, let me tell you.

Also, just so you know, they'll be only one chapter a day from now on cuz I'm running out of pre-written chapters after not writing new ones for almost two weeks😂