KINGDOM FALL
— 94. Insanity

Robb was making his way through the Red Keep, searching for Annalys when he reached the Great Hall. He found two guards standing in front of the doors, not moving a single inch as the screams of Stannis Baratheon sounded through the halls.

Oddly enough, the two men allowed him through and Robb was immediately horrified when he saw what was happening inside the throne room.

Stannis' corpse was chained to the Iron Throne, missing a head. His actual head was lying at bottom of the steps that led to the Iron Throne. His eyes were open and on his headless corpse, his right hand was cut off. His crown was burning red as it laid upon his head, as if it had been placed in a pit of fire for a long while before it was forged into his head. Lady's Wrath was laid out next to the head, blood covering it, but Annalys was nowhere in sight.

"A-Annalys?" Robb called out, but got no answer, "Annalys?"

"Don't judge me," A voice suddenly spoke up, causing Robb to whip his head around to see Annalys appearing from what looked like a hallway behind the Iron Throne, "He had it coming."

Robb looked back over at Stannis. He took a deep before making his way over to Annalys. "He deserved his hand cut off and a burning hot crown placed upon his head?" He asked, trying his hardest not to look disgusted by her acts of sadism.

"A crown, fit for a king," Annalys responded lowly, much to Robb's horror, "Now, for the hand part, that was personal. He tried to take my hand, I returned the favor. Come to think of it, it didn't really matter. He died anyway."

Robb remained silent, staring at Annalys closely. She was content, as if nothing that just happened bothered her. She was still wearing the peasant dress he stole for her to wear. Blood covered it now, however, her face as well.

It was only at that moment how beaten her face actually looked and the bruises around her neck. "What happened to you? How did you survive being stabbed so many times? How did Stannis get to you at Castle Black?" He asked her softly, trying to keep his eyes on her instead at the headless corpse that was sitting on the Iron Throne, not even three feet away from them.

"I didn't," Annalys admitted, much to Robb's horor, "It killed me. Melisandre stole my body and brought me to Dragonstone. She revived me two months ago..." She trailed off, pondering briefly, "I think it was two months ago. I lost track of time during my imprisonment."

"You've been gone for six months," Robb informed Annalys, causing her eyes to widen while the Stark man's eyes trailed down to her belly, "Is our child--"

"Revived alongside me," She informed him calmly, as if it were normal, "I was dead for three months somehow, meaning the child didn't age during that time. It would seem I'm about nine months along, then."

Robb frowned, confused by the whole ordeal. It didn't add up. How could Melisandre revive an unborn child?

"You're due, then. Soon," Robb realized, trying his best to keep calm in front of her, "What are you going to do now that you're in power?"

"Place Stannis' head on a spike on the walls of the Traitor's Walk, along with the heads of his wife and his generals. I will make sure the people of King's Landing who lost their homes are rehoused and given some money to make up for what they lost. I will supply them with a bit of food, free of charge for the rest of the week. I will list who will be in my Queensguard. I will make up my small council. Name a Hand. And have my coronation." She explained without a care in the world, "Oh! And announce our marriage. You are now king consort."

Robb stared at Annalys closely. She looked weak, as though she hadn't slept or eaten in days. Yet somehow, she smiled and forced herself to keep going. "When will you eat?" He found himself asking, as if it were the only thing on his mind, "You must be starving."

"I will eat after I've placed the traitors' heads on the Traitor's Walk," Annalys responded calmly, turning away from Robb before making her way over to Stannis' body.

He watched her worriedly, feeling as though something was wrong. "Where are our children?" She suddenly asked as she stopped walking and turned to face him once more, "Where's Olyvar?"

"Olyvar is at Winterfell. The twins are Casterly Rock," He answered in a calm tone, concerned as he witnessed Annalys converse with him without a care in the world while also dragging Stannis' head off the throne.

Something wasn't right with her. Something had changed and it wasn't something good.

"Have them brought here. Invite your family for the coronation. My family as well." She insisted, a soft smile forming on her lips at the thought of seeing her children and also meeting Olyvar for the first time, "Olyvar will be legitimized the moment he arrives."

Robb furrowed his eyebrows, watching Annalys walk away from him without another word said.

____

Days had passed and Robb felt as though things had gotten worse between him and Annalys. There was a distance and he didn't understand why. They were happy and they had announced their married. People had accepted it, due to all that Robb had done for the Seven Kingdoms.

Annalys barely spoke to him, though. She did as she pleased in the castle, named men to the Queensguard and never even told him. She named Ser Davos Seaworth Hand of the Queen and didn't even tell him.

He didn't understand what the hell was going on. They used to be partners when they were Queen and King in the North. Now, he felt as though he was just there.

As King consort, he thought Annalys would let him have some sort of say in things, but she didn't. She didn't even speak to him. He felt as though the last real conversation they had with one another was just after she killed Stannis.

He wanted to talk with her about what had happened while she was gone. He wanted to tell her about their children, he wanted her tell him what happened during her imprisonment as well.

She wouldn't, though. She'd say that they would talk later and then they never would.

In two days, those invited to Annalys coronation were due to come, including Olyvar and the twins.

Robb entered the "King's Chambers" which were actually Annalys' now and Robb's.

He found Annalys standing in front of one of the windows, looking out at the night sky.
"I love you," He suddenly spoke up, causing Annalys to turn to him and frown, "I need you to know that."

"I know," Annalys replied softly, her voice a mere whisper.

"I want to support you, as your husband and as your king, but how am I supposed to do that when you won't even talk to me?" Robb complained, but continued to speak in a calm tone, "It's been three days since you've taken King's Landing and became queen. I've only spoken to you once since then. You avoid me at all costs, set up your entire household, named Sansa one of your lady-in-waitings, and you won't speak a single word to me about what happened during your imprisonment."

"There's nothing to say about it, that's why!" Annalys suddenly snapped at him, despite Robb not even arguing with her.

"There is. You and I both know that," Robb argued, shaking his head in response, "You sleep at the edge of the bed, you won't let me touch you, your bruises look like they've been made by hands on your neck and your arms..." He trailed off, a saddened look on his face, "Just tell me what happened. You can tell me."

"If you're wondering if they raped me, they didn't," Annalys informed Robb, tears welled in her eyes, "They knew better than that. But they did other things," She paused, trying her hardest not to cry, "I was stabbed seven times by men for doing what I believed in and then I was stabbed in the back for something my father did twenty years ago. I was dead for more than a month and then the Red Woman revived me, only to have me thrown into a cell. I was starved, groped, tortured, beaten, and I even had horse shit thrown at me once," She explained, causing Robb to look horrified, "But I was fine through it all. I remained strong. What broke me was when I heard the girl who was becoming like a daughter to me was going to be burned at the stake. That's when I snapped. What made me really snap though was when I heard Stannis say he was going to burn me alive in the Sept. I didn't care that I was going to burned, I cared about all the people who'd be burned alive with wildfire in the aftermath. I screamed and cried. I pleaded for them to listen, but they didn't. I was left naked for three months and when he finally gave me something to cover up with, it was a bridal's cloak. Something that had been in my family for generations. He didn't just give it to me for the hell of it. It was supposed to mean something. To break me."

"I was going to die in the Sept, until you saved me," She continued on, beginning to walk toward Robb as she cried, "For that split moment, I felt like the girl I used to be. Before everything that's happened in the past five years. But then it all went away when the need for vengeance consumed me. I don't know why, but it did. It was all I could think about. And I did just that. I killed Stannis and he died screaming. I smiled as he died in agonizing pain. I shouldn't have, but I did. I smiled!" She shouted out the last part of her sentence, her voice cracking, "Do you know how mad that makes me sound? I took pleasure in it, I'm a monster."

"You're not a monster," Robb argued, shaking his head in disagreement.

"I am," Annalys argued in a stern tone, "And I'm the worst kind of monster, because I claim to do it in the acts of being a hero," She paused, both of them knowing that Robb had been the one to say that about her two years before when they ended things at Casterly Rock, "You were right about that. I am a monster. A monster far worse than Joffrey. But somehow, the people of Westeros love me. They have no idea who I really am. No one does. Not you. Not Jaime. Not even myself." She explained, trying her hardest to contain her tears, "I've been avoiding you because I notice how you look at me differently. You look at me as though I'm a monster. And I fear that when my children return to me, they'll look at me the same way."

Annalys remained silent, noticing the look on Robb's face at the mention of her children. She knew there was something he wanted to say about their children. "There's something you need to know about Lyanna--"

"That's she's being corrupted by my mother?" She questioned, much to Robb's disbelief, "I know. I figured it out just after I got the raven from Jon about the Wildlings. It's the reason I sent them to Winterfell when I went to the Castle Black. It's also the reason I now intend to actually marry my mother off. I'm a horrible mother for not noticing it earlier."

"You're not--"

"I am," Annalys interrupted Robb in a stern tone, "I don't think I was ever supposed to be a mother. I thought I was, but I don't think so anymore. I'm always fighting in battle, I'm always leaving my children with others while I go off for months at a time, risking my life. The problem is, I love them with all my heart and I'd die for them in a heartbeat. I just wish I could have a normal life with them, but that will never happen. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't remember who I was after how long I've been gone."

"They do," Robb informed her, a sad smile on his face, "They both do. Lyanna misses you the most, though. She freaked out the last time I saw her and you weren't there."

Annalys smiled slightly, trying her hardest not to be saddened by the thought of her daughter missing her mother, who happened to be nowhere in sight. "I just hope the peace lasts longer than it did last time," She confessed to Robb, tears threatening to spill from her eyes, "Daenerys Targaryen will sail for Westeros soon enough. I just hope we will be able to have at least a year of peace with our next child before we must fight again."

"We will," Robb assured Annalys, sending her a small smile as he took a step toward her, "We will have peace with our children in the capital."

"And Torra and Olyvar," Annalys added in, causing Robb's smile to become wider.

"And Torra and Olyvar," Robb agreed with Annalys, watching as she slowly moved closer to him.

Annalys took a deep breath before finally hugging her husband, feeling a bit less uncomfortabe in doing so. Robb gradually hugged Annalys back, sighing in relief at the feeling of her back in his arms.

As Annalys closed her eyes, her mind became consumed by the images, the images that had been stuck in her head since she was revived. She pulled away from Robb, causing him to frown as she turned away from him. "What's wrong?" He found himself asking her, a deeply concerned look on her face.

As she began to think of the images, she turned to Robb, tears welled in her eyes. "You shouldn't love me," She suddenly stated, causing Robb to furrow his eyebrows in confusion.

What made her suddenly say that?

"What do you mean?" He asked her, frowning as she backed away slightly when he took a step toward her.

"I am a monster," She began to explain, trying her hardest not to cry, "I've ruined your life. Don't you see that?"

"That isn't true--" He tried to argue, only to have her cut him off.

"Isn't it?" She retorted, tears finally to beginning to spill from her eyes, "It took me dying twice to finally see all the pain I've caused you. I insult you constantly, I've taken our children away from you twice, I've laid my hands on you before..." She trailed off, beginning to cry, "And I treated you so horribly for sleeping with Eleanor Mallister once when I've bedded Euron, I slept with a whore during the war against you, and I've slept with a wildling queen. How could you possibly forgive me for that?"

"Because you've forgiven me for the things I've done," Robb replied without hesitation, causing Annalys to scoff loudly.

"That's the thing, Robb. If you think about it, what I've done is far worse than what you've done," She confessed, crying as she spoke to him, "I've turned you into such a lovestruck fool of a man and I'll never forgive myself for it. Our loving bond used to be so strong when we were younger. I loved you, you loved me, and we were happy. So happy. It was all that mattered to us. Everything changed the night of the Red Wedding and from there, I've ruined everything," She explained, Robb giving her a sympathetic, "And I didn't just ruin you and your marriage, I've ruined myself as well. I've turned myself into a hateful, manipulative woman. A woman who's worse than my mother. I've grown power hungry, I had little regard for human life, sex means nothing to me, I lie more than I tell the truth...What have I done to myself? I've ruined myself. I was once a war hero, a woman who was noble and always did what was right. I was selfless and always defended those who were defenseless. I was a hero to the people of the North. Now, what am I to them? Nothing. Nothing but a woman who's caused them so much loss and pain. For that, I'll never forgive myself."

There was a moment of silence between them as Robb gave Annalys a saddened look. She continued to cry, slowly kneeling on the ground as she began to sob. "What have I become?" She cried out, realizing how bad she had gotten lately, "What have I done to myself?"

A saddened look on his face, Robb quickly moved closer to Annalys. He knelt beside her, hugging her tightly as she sobbed in his arms. "How can you love me?" She asked him softly, "How can anyone love me? After everything I've done. I've ruined everything around me."

Robb remained silent, hugging Annalys as she continued to cry in his arms. Despite feeling saddened by her sobs, he was relieved, in a way, that she was finally coming to her senses about everything. Perhaps she'd revert back to the woman she once was, now that she knew that everything she had done was horrific. But was that even possible?

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Annalys is finally started to realize how far gone she's become 😬

Only like three chapters left of this book before it's off to the next one!