LION'S LEGACY
36. Another Joffrey

While Robb was speaking with Lyanna, down the hall, Annalys knocked on the door of Eddard's room and soon enough, the eldest of Annalys' sons answered. He opened the door to his chambers and was immediately shocked at the sight of his mother standing before him.
Of course, he expected one of them to come to scold him, but he expected it to be his father, as always, not his mother.

"Mother!" He exclaimed, his eyes wide in shock.

Annalys' expression remained unreadable at his reaction. Instead, she raised a brow at him as she gave him a questioning look. "May I come in?" She asked softly and Eddard wasted no time nodding his head.

He stepped out of the way, allowing his mother to enter his chambers. "What are you doing here, Mother?" He questioned Annalys, despite having the feeling he knew exactly why.

"I've come to talk to you about what's happened," Annalys informed Eddard, giving him somewhat of a scolding look.

Eddard sighed, looking down at the ground in shame. "I apologize, Mother, I shouldn't have--" He began to apologize, only to stop talking when his mother grabbed him by the chin.

He looked up at Annalys and frowned, watching as she examined the numerous bruises and cuts across his face, all given to him by his twin sister. "She did quite a number on you, didn't she?" Annalys questioned Eddard, earning a small nod.

"I shouldn't have hit her back, though," Eddard admitted, a guilty look on his face.

"You're right. You shouldn't have," Annalys replied in a calm tone, "But this fight wasn't your fault. It's mine."

Hearing his mother's words, Eddard frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?" He questioned, a deeply puzzled look on his face.

"You think I have favorites, Eddard, but I don't. I'm just able to bond with some of my children more than others, but I still love all my children the same, you must know that. Believe it or not, you and Lyanna are the ones I have the strongest bonds with. Not just Lyanna. It isn't because you are my favorites, either. It's because I endured more alongside you both. I started a war to keep you both. When you and your sisters were less than a year old, you traveled with me from the Riverlands all the way to Casterly Rock with no more than a small pouch of silver stags with me."

Eddard's eyes widened, shocked by the revelation. Of course, he knew all about the rebellion his mother started when he was just a few years old, but he hadn't known about her travels with them from the Riverlands to Casterly Rock.

Annalys sighed in defeat, deciding to get back on the subject she started with before Eddard attempted to ask questions about the journey they made from the Riverlands to Casterly Rock, which she knew just by the look on his face that was he dying to ask about it.

"I wasn't raised by a good mother. I was the daughter of the most hateful woman alive. She raised my brother to be mad, spoiled, and a brat. If it weren't for Jaime, I most likely would have ended up just like Joffrey. I was my mother's favorite, after all, and I loved her more than anything, despite all of her wrongdoings," Annalys explained in a calm tone, despite looking ashamed, "I started a war just to keep her at my side. I learned all there was to know about parenting from her and that was my mistake. She wasn't a good mother, she was far from it. That was my mistake. She put it in my head that your firstborn had to be the one you were closest with, that what you had with that child would be a bond stronger than anything else. I wrong to believe in that. I shouldn't have even thought about taking any tips on parenting from her. I should have known better. But now I do. I will be there for each of my children equally. I promise you that."

Eddard began to smile and Annalys wasted no time hugging him. "Now that it is snowing in King's Landing for the first time in years, I've decided to hold a feast. Would you like to help Joanna and I plan it?" She asked and Eddard immediately began to smile even wider, nodding his head in response, "I also have a surprise for your Father. Someone will be paying a visit and I believe he will be very happy about it. Can you guess who?"

A gasp escaped Eddard's lips, his eyes widening in shock. "Uncle Jon?" He questioned, beginning to feel excited at the thought of seeing his favorite uncle again.

In truth, he was all the children's favorite uncle. All except Joanna, who enjoyed Tyrion's company, despite him being locked up. Robb and Annalys didn't know of Joanna's constant visits to the black cells, but it didn't mean her siblings were oblivious to it.

"How did you know?" Annalys questioned, raising a brow at her eldest son.

"Who else is there that Father would be so excited to see?" Eddard replied, causing Annalys to give him a look that told him that he did have a point there, "Why is he coming? Isn't he apart of the Night's Watch? Aren't they supposed to be at the Wall?"

"I've sent him here to collect some prisoners for the black cells to be recruits for the Night's Watch," Annalys informed her son in a calm tone, causing Eddard's eyes to widen in alarm.

"What about Uncle Tyrion?" Eddard found himself asking, a deeply concerned look on his face.

"What about him?" Annalys replied, frowning at the fact that her son seemed to care about what was going to happen to Tyrion, an enemy to their family.

"Will he be taken as well?" Eddard asked and Annalys nodded, causing him to shout, "You can't!"

"And why is that?" Annalys questioned, giving Eddard a scolding look as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"He is family. He should be released," Eddard argued, much to Annalys' frustration.

"He sided with the enemy, Eddard," Annalys reminded the boy, who was quick to argue.

"He's been imprisoned alone in the black cells for two years," Eddard complained, growing frustration with his mother's failure to see from his point of view, "Don't you think that punishment enough?"

"I won't talk about this with you, Eddard," Annalys argued, sighing in defeat.

"But you'd talk about this with Lyanna, wouldn't you?" Eddard suddenly asked and as Annalys opened her mouth to argue, she was cut off by the Stark boy, "Oh, but that's only because Lyanna would agree with you, isn't it? She agrees with you on everything. It's annoying. Doesn't she realize that not everything you do is the right thing? Why can't everyone realize that you're not as good of a ruler as everyone views you to be? You kill people just to gain their allegiance. That isn't what a good ruler does!" He complained, much to Annalys' shock.

Hearing her son's truthful, yet heartbreaking words, Annalys tried her best to hide the sadness and how hurt she felt. Eddard's eyes softened, realizing he had hurt his mother. He didn't think before he talked, as always.

"Mother--" Eddard began to apologize, a saddened look on his face.

"Thank you for being honest with me, my son. It's good that you're not afraid of telling me the truth. I'll keep that in mind," She managed to get out, tears welled in her eyes.

With that, Annalys turned on her heel and leave. Eddard stood in place, feeling disappointed in himself. He began to realize he was the reason he wasn't included in politics like Lyanna was, not because Lyanna was the 'favorite'. He had to ease into it like Lyanna did, which was the way Lyanna was able to voice her opinions without her mother getting angry. Eddard had done the opposite.

He wasn't as mature as his sister and because of that, he'd never be taken seriously as his twin sister was, even though she was only thirteen years old.

At eleven, she nearly started a war to protect their mother and father against Daenerys and the men of Westeros actually took her seriously. They were actually intending to follow her into war.

At that moment, however, Eddard's thoughts soon began to shift to his Uncle Tyrion. His mother was planning to send him to the Wall and Eddard knew for a fact he'd never survive there, not for long, at least.

___

   Soon after he had spoken to Lyanna, Robb retired to his chambers. He found Annalys in bed, lying down with little Edric in her arms. He was fast asleep, unlike his mother, who stared blankly at the ceiling, looking to be in deep thought. He walked over to her, placing a hand on her arm, which snapped Annalys out of her thoughts.

She turned to look at Robb, looking to be on the verge of crying, which the Stark man immediately noticed. "What's wrong, my love?" He asked her softly, feeling concerned about what had her looking so distraught.

"I must ask you something and you must swear that you'll be honest with me, even if you think it's the last thing I want to hear at this moment," She insisted as she sat up, Robb sitting down next to her, "Swear to me."

"I swear," Robb replied without hesitation, feeling the need to hear whatever it was she had to say, not caring if he might regret his promise, "Now, tell me, what is it? What's this question?"

"Am I a bad mother?" Annalys suddenly asked, much to Robb's shock.

He wasn't expecting that sort of question, to say the least. It broke his heart to hear her words, knowing she would only ask such a question if she was starting to believe it herself.

"I know that you love our children more than anything. You have a fierceness when it comes to protecting them that most mothers don't have. You'd do anything for them, anything to keep them alive, safe, and happy. You'd start a war if you had to," He explained, not even realizing how true his last words were for the upcoming future, "But I also know that you and I were raised in different ways, which means we parent our children in different ways as well."

Robb moved closer to Annalys, grabbing her hand and holding it in his own as he spoke to her. "You were raised in a way that allowed you to speak to your mother and father any way you wanted. After all, you grew up with your real father being your uncle. He was a best friend to you most of your life, not a father. And your mother...despite her loving her children more than anything, she wasn't a perfect mother. She was distant and spent most of her time mothering your brother and not you. You didn't have perfect parental figures to learn from as I did. The way you are parenting, you're just making it up as you go--"

"Could you please get on with it, Robb?" Annalys asked impatiently, realizing what he was doing, "Stop stalling and just tell me the truth."

"You're not strict enough with our children. You let them do whatever they want, you let them speak to you however they want, they can get into as much trouble in this capital as they want to because they know you'll always be there to bail them out and make sure there's isn't consequences to their poor actions," Robb explained, causing Annalys to sigh in defeat as she began to feel guilty, "Despite Lyanna being only thirteen, she is far more mature than Eddard. I've treated Eddard as he is. A child. You haven't done the same to Lyanna. She might be the heir to the Iron Throne, but she is still a child, yet she hasn't had a childhood at all. When we were both missing two years ago, she attempted to wage war on Daenerys. She called our armies and would have gone to war if you hadn't arrived when you did. She was ten at the time and since then, she's matured even more. She acts like an adult and expects to be treated like one by everyone around her," He continued on, much to Annalys' dismay since she knew he had a point, "Torra believes she can do whatever she wants as well. She leaves the capital for days at a time and no one says anything about it. She is sixteen and is still under our care. She needs to be reminded of that. You're not a bad mother, Annalys. You just need to improve and start acting more like a mother than a friend or an older sister. They need to be parented and scolded when they've done something wrong, not have their asses kissed."

Annalys remained silent, nodding her head in understanding. He was right. She didn't act much like a mother, despite claiming to be one. She acted more like a friend to Lyanna and an older sister to Torra.

"We have eight children when including Torra, Annalys," Robb sighed in defeat, "They all need the same amount of attention."

Annalys nodded, turning to give Robb a thankful look for being honest with her. Just then, a small cry escaped Edric's lips, causing them both to turn toward there. The little boy was now laying on his back instead of his stomach, looking up at the ceiling.

Despite just having a serious conversation, Annalys and Robb began to smile, moving closer to their youngest son. Robb wasted no time picking him up, placing little Edric in his lap as he and Annalys sat crisscrossed on the bed. Edric sat on his own, no longer crying as he sat in front of his mother and father.

"Hello, my love," Annalys greeted the baby quietly as she looked down at him, smiling.

Edric oddly giggled, waving his arms around as he continued to glance between his mother and father. "Watch this," Robb told Annalys before turning to Edric, "Who's your favorite, my son? Mama or Father?"

Edric remained silent for a moment and just as the duo began to believe he didn't understand them, he managed to say. "Mama!" He exclaimed while giggling, causing them both to look shocked since they knew it was his first word.

Edric smiled and cooed as his mother picked him up, placing him in her arms. Robb watched the mother-son duo, playfully rolling his eyes. "Mother's boy," He muttered under his breath, earning a smirk from Annalys.

"Says you," She retorted, referring to how close he used to be to his mother growing up, "Our son better favor me after what I endured giving birth to him."

Robb began to laugh, shaking his head. "I cannot believe you gave birth to him on a beach," He remarked, causing Annalys to smile almost proudly.

"All on my own, might I add," She responded, just before there was a knock on the door.

"Your Grace, Princess Joanna and Prince Torrhen are at the door," Ser Edmyn, who was posted at the door, spoke up, causing Annalys and Robb to exchange a look.

"Let them enter," Annalys responded and soon enough, Torrhen and Joanna entered the room together.

Joanna was crying while Torrhen had his arm wrapped around her, trying to comfort her. "What is it? What's happened?" Robb asked, a deeply concerned look appearing on his face at the sight of Joanna weeping.

"Lady died," Joanna cried out, referring to her pet cat, "Dash killed him."

"What?" Annalys asked in disbelief, knowing for a fact that Dash was Rickard's direwolf, not Joanna's, "Why was Dash even near Lady?"

"I don't know!" Joanna exclaimed loudly, tears streaming down her face, "I was searching for her in the castle and I found her. She was covered in blood and was lying in front of Rickard's door. The door was open and Dash was laying on the bed with Rickard. Dash had drops of blood staining his fur."

Annalys frowned in concern, knowing something wasn't right. If Dash had killed Lady, he wouldn't just have drops of blood staining his fur, the fur on his face and his neck would be drenched in it. "What about his neck, what of his mouth?" Annalys found herself asking her daughter, "Was there blood there as well?"

"I don't know," Joanna responded while Torrhen tensed up, remaining silent.

While Robb continued to talk with Joanna and attempt to comfort her, Annalys turned to Torrhen, who was clearly keeping details of the whole ordeal to himself. Instead of asking him, however, she rose to her feet. She walked over to a nearby chair and lifted up her robe, placing it around her body. She turned to Robb, who now sat on the bed with Joanna, Torrhen, and Edric. "Stay with the children," She told Robb in a stern tone, "I'll deal with this."

Robb was on the verge of speaking up, knowing he was missing something. Before he could, however, Annalys was already out the door and heading to the wing of the castle where the children's chambers were located. Annalys walked down the hallway, accompanied by Ser Edric, who was the only one she could trust with what she had the feeling was about to be revealed.

Annalys stopped in front of the door to Rickard's chambers. He looked down, feeling uneasy when she saw her daughter's pet cat lying dead on the floor. She inhaled sharply, just before kneeling next to the white-furred cat. She stared at it closely for a moment, noticing that it was, indeed, not mauled by an animal. She already had the feeling that was the case.

Annalys stood back up, exchanging a look with Edric before unsheathing her dagger. Edric watched on, not saying a single word as Annalys cautiously entered her son's room. Edric was about to follow her in, only to be stopped as Annalys closed the door to her son's room and locked it. He frowned in concern, wondering why Annalys didn't let him inside as well.

What was going on? What was he missing?

It seemed as though he was just as clueless as Robb was, which was a first. In truth, no one would have figured out what Annalys had at that moment. Someone had to have experienced something similar before to actually piece it all together.

Annalys' hand shook anxiously as she tightly grasped her dagger in her left hand. Dash locked eyes on Annalys, but merely whined before lowering his head once more. She stared at him for a moment, realizing that by the way Dash's fur was simply stained with a few drops of blood, he hadn't been the one to kill Lady, he was only a witness.

And why would a direwolf do nothing as someone, even it were just a cat, was killed right in front of them?

Unless their master was the one who had done it.

Annalys cautiously walked toward Rickard, who laid asleep in bed, his entire body covered by his fur blanket. Annalys used her right hand to move Rickard's hair out of his face, revealing a bloody fingerprint on his cheek. She slowly removed the covers from his body, only to quickly cover her mouth with her hands to stop herself from crying out when she saw the blood practically drenching his clothes.

However, despite silencing her cries, when she had covered her mouth, she ended up dropping her dagger, which fell to the ground with a clink. Hearing the noise, Rickard began to stir in his sleep before his eyes opened.

  He frowned, confused when he found his mother standing before him, looking beyond horrified by his state. "Mother? What's going on?" He asked, only to notice how she eyed his clothes, which were drenched in blood, "Mother, I can explain. I swear it--"

"I don't want to hear it," Annalys snapped at Rickard without hesitation, feeling as though nothing her son said could make up for what he had done.

He was six years old. Her six-year-old son had killed his older sister's pet cat. How the hell did she let it come to this? How could she be so blind to her son starting to become just like Joffrey? And Joanna and Torrhen were so scared of their little brother that they had blamed the act on their brother's direwolf. They feared their own brother.

History was repeating itself and it was her bad parenting was at fault.

"Come with me," Annalys demanded, roughly grabbing with Rickard by the arm before dragging him out of the room.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Well then. That escalated quickly 😂

Lemme just say...

Annalys is missing A LOT of the story.

What do you think is going to happen?