LION'S LEGACY
49. Beginning of the End

That afternoon, the cries of Annalys were heard all throughout the Red Keep as the gates were closed without her permission.

    Seeing as though she was unable to protect her other children, Annalys decided to protect the one she was still able to. While Robb was making plans for their escape with Jaime, Brienne, Edric, Steffon, Edmyn, and Ser Rickard, Annalys made her way to her youngest son's chambers.

  She entered, rushing over to her son's crib. He laid asleep in bed, oblivious to what was going on around him.

   Hearing the chaos outside the castle walls, Annalys walked over to the window. She looked outside to see numerous places in King's Landing on fire, rebels presumably from the Reach inflicting chaos all through the city.

She began to tear up, thinking about how she had been dragged away as Eddard was stabbed four times. He was most likely dead now and she had been unable to save him. Her boy was gone. Her first boy. And it was all her fault.

She wondered what happened to Lyanna, Torra, and the rest of her children. Were they dead? She even wondered about Aden, wondering if he was hurt as well. She cared about the boy after he had lived with them for so long. He was like family and it pained her to know he had the chance of being dead, all because he chose to fall in love with a member of her family.

  Loving one of them was like signing your death sentence, she began to believe.

Hearing footsteps, Annalys turned to find a man wearing a hooded cloak standing in her son's room. "You're not supposed to be here. You're supposed to be dead," He told her in a low, threatening tone, "It doesn't matter. They're coming for you anyway and I'm not here for you," He paused, looking toward Edric, "The rest of your children are dead. He's the last one left. Even if I don't do it, he'll be dead when they arrive."

The man unsheathed his blade, beginning to move toward Edric. "No!" Annalys shouted, rushing toward the man to stop him.

Before she could react, the man backhanded her across the face. Her entire body whipped around due to the force he put into his form of attack. Her body hit the ground before he roughly grabbed her by the hair.

He attempted to slit her throat, but instead, Annalys headbutted him before walking backward until his back hit the wall while she was still holding onto him.

He continued to attempt to slit her throat, but before he could, she grabbed onto the blade of the dagger with her hand. She continued to try to pry the blade out of his hand, despite the blade severely cutting into her hands as she did so.

Having no other choice, Annalys bit into the man's arm. Not to kill him, but because she knew his scream would be loud enough for others to hear.

As if on cue, the door to the room entered and Edric entered alongside Ser Edmyn and Ser Steffon. The three knights rushed forward, prying the man off of their queen before killing him.

Little Edric, who was awake, began to cry and Annalys rushed over to him. She picked him up, hugging him tightly as she held him in her arms. She began to cry while also trying to soothe her own son's cries.

She turned to Edric and Edmyn, who clueless on what to do. Annalys was being overthrown, but by whom? They had no clue.

"You're the only ones I trust," Annalys informed the three men, choking back a sob, "I'm going to die. Robb is, too. There's no denying that. You must take my son. If that man was right, my other children are dead," She explained, crying out at the thought, "I can't let the same happen to him. He's just a baby. He doesn't deserve this."

"Anything you need, we'll do it, Your Grace," Edmyn answered without hesitation, clearly willing to serve his queen and the royal family until the day he died, even if the queen herself was dead.

  Instead of addressing all of three of them, Annalys stepped forward and moved toward Edric. She knew she could only trust one of them with the information. If they all knew, it put little Edric at risk. "Take him to Dorne after it is revealed that I'm dead," She whispered to him softly, "Take Edmyn and Steffon, wait at the abandoned tower just ten miles from here. You know the one I speak of. People will come after you. Fight them off and do not let anyone know where you're taking him, not even Edmyn and Steffon. After it has been revealed that Robb and I are dead, take my son to Dorne without Edmyn and Steffon. You may be released from your duties to me after doing so."

  Annalys pulled away from whispering in Edric's ear. Edric wasted no time nodding his head in response. "I'll protect him until my dying breath," He found himself saying, despite Annalys not even asking Edric to remain with her son, even after they arrived at Dorne.

"You are my family, Edric, and I love you, you must know that," Annalys confessed to Edric, tears threatening to spill from her eyes, "I trust you more than anyone."

"I know," Edric replied and without hesitation, Annalys hugged her friend, trying her hardest not to cry.

   After pulling away from the hug, Annalys handed her son to Edric. She placed a kiss to her son's forehead, beginning to speak softly to him, "I love you with all my heart, my son. I hope you never forget it. Be strong, be brave. You are a Lannister, a Great Lion. Always remember that."

With that, she walked over to one of the walls, pushing on it to reveal a passageway. "This will take you all the way to the underground tunnels. Turn right instead of left at the end of it and you will be near the Kingsroad. There will most likely be stray horses fleeing from the capital."

Edric nodded in response, exchanging a look with Edmyn and Steffon. She immediately hugged them both, just before watching them leave with Edric and her son out the passageway. Edric gave her one last look, tears welled in his eyes as he finally forced himself to leave.

_____

    In the small council chambers, Robb stood with Jaime, Ser Rickard, and Brienne, the remainder of the infamous and supposedly 'undefeatable' Queensguard of the Great Lioness. 

"You must do something for Annalys and me," Robb informed the three knights, looking to be on the verge of crying, "My sons and my daughters are supposedly dead, but I refuse to believe that. Not after everything. Annalys and I most likely won't get out of this alive, but that doesn't mean you have to meet the same fate. I must ask you to go out there and find my children, whatever remains of them," He paused, trying his hardest not to cry at the last part of his request, "If they are alive, I must ask you to protect each of them with your lives."

"I will protect them until my dying breath, Your Grace," Brienne, as expected, was the first to agree.

"As will I," Jaime added in confidently, "They are my family, after all."

  While each of them agreed, Rickard remained silent, simply nodding his head in response.

Robb stepped toward Brienne, removing Lionsbane and its sheath from his belt. He handed it to Brienne, which was his way of telling her to give it to Eddard, if he was still alive.

"Now, go," Robb commanded in a stern tone and despite them being hesitant, the three knights forced themselves to leave the castle.

"Your Grace, Your Grace!" One of the last remaining Red Cloaks remaining within the castle walls shouted out, "The rebels have breached the gate. I recognized their sigil."

"What was the sigil?" Robb asked in concern.

"House Tyrell, Your Grace," The man informed Robb, who was stunned speechless by the revelation.

Annalys was right the entire time and he had been foolish enough to tell her she was crazy for thinking such a thing.

    In the courtyard, Annalys stood in place, not looking fearful as the rebels breached the gate and entered. Only about a dozen Red Cloaks stood with her, compared to the several dozen rebel soldiers from the Reach that were led by Loras Tyrell, which, oddly enough, didn't come as a surprise for Annalys.

"You've lost, Annalys," Loras spoke up in a calm tone, "Order your men to step down or they will be violence."

"Do you know me at all, Loras?" She asked him softly, clearly having no strength to show any anger toward him after being told all of her children were dead, "I choose violence."

She had nothing to live for. Her children were dead. If she died, she died. At least she'd die fighting for her throne.

"So be it," Loras decided and within seconds, spears were thrown on each side, killing many more Red Cloaks than rebels.

Soon enough, Annalys was the last Lannister left while Loras still remained with about ten rebels.

"You forget yourself, Annalys," Loras spoke up in a calm tone, "You're not as powerful of a fighter as you once were."

"You forget yourself, Loras," Annalys retorted with an attitude as she picked up one of the dead men's swords, "I am Annalys Lannister, daughter of Jaime Lannister. I am one of the greatest swordsmen who ever lived. I will always be able to best you lot, even on my worst day."

One of the men rushed toward her, but Annalys deflected his swing with her own sword before slashing him across the neck.

Another came toward her and she ducked before pointing her blade upwards and stabbing him right through the chin.

   The next man came and Annalys stabbed him in the knee. As he fell into a kneel, she beheaded him with a single swing before killing the next two men that came toward her as if it were the easiest thing in the world.

As she killed her sixth man, Annalys stole his sword and ended up carrying a blade in each hand. As four men came toward her at once, she blocked their hits with both swords. She killed two at once before tossing one of her swords into the ninth man. With a sword in her right hand instead of her left, Loras watched in horror and disbelief as she fought just as well with her non-dominant hand as she did her left.

She had believed she was done until she turned to see even more men coming toward her.

"Oh, fuck," She cursed under her breath, furious that she had to fight even more men.

She glanced around, finding familiar men from the Reach within the group of men. "You fucking traitors," She growled at them, lifting her sword in order to defend yourself.

"You want to do this? Go ahead!" She roared at them like a lion, "I kill each and every one of you for this. So go on! Try it!"

One of the men came toward her and Annalys dodged his form of attack before decapitating him with a single powerful swing.

  A second man came and Annalys slashed him across the chest before killing the next. She unsheathed the blade on his belt, holding the dagger in her right hand while holding the sword she obtained in her left hand.

The remaining men stared at the Great Lioness in horror, watching as Annalys' face and her golden blonde hair was covered in her enemy's blood.

Each men who came toward her, she killed. She killed each and every one of them until Loras was left standing with only ten men while the bodies of nearly first men laid at their feet.

Annalys was tired, to say the least. She was thirty-five years old and nowhere near the girl she once was who used to be in her late teens and early twenties, the girl that was able to kill fifty men without breaking a sweat.

"Well, who's next?!" Annalys shouted out, on the verge of attacking the next few men when she saw them looking behind her.

She turned her head, only to find Robb standing before her, being held by two men. Blood covered his clothing, blood that wasn't his. She knew for a fact he must have been putting up a good fight himself inside the Red Keep, all on his own against so many men, just as she had been.

However, he did have a few cuts of his own scattered across his face, just like she did. Annalys watched helplessly as they forced her husband into a kneel before placing one blade against his throat and a sword pressed against his back. It was clearly done as a precaution of him finding a way to escape the blade at his throat. A move he would have obviously learned from his wife during the many years they had been together.

"Well, well, a king and a queen, whose only weakness is each other," The unknown man who she recognized to be a Florent spoke up, "Your reign is over, Annalys. Why don't you just give up while you can?"

"I will never give up my throne, not until I am rotting in the ground," Annalys responded in a low, threatening tone, "Go ahead. Kill him. See if I care. I already lost everything else. What's one more loss? If you lot have your way, I'll die soon after him."

Robb looked ahead at Annalys, knowing she was bluffing. However, it was clear Lord Florent actually believed her, which was why she was saying it in the first place. She knew for a fact she'd die, but that didn't mean she wouldn't help Robb survive.

"You're saying if I killed the Father of your children right before your eyes at this moment, you would not care?" Lord Florent questioned, beginning to laugh.

"I'm only with him for three reasons," Annalys continued on with her lies, holding up three fingers, "One, to keep the North within the Seven Kingdoms. Two, he's in love with me even though I do not feel the same way, and three..." She trailed off, keeping her eyes locked on Robb as she knew it would break both of their hearts in half when she said the next words, despite both of them knowing it was a complete lie, "Three, he's foolish enough to believe Edric, Joanna, and Torrhen are his children."

Robb remained silent, the words hurting him, despite knowing they weren't true.

"Spare him," Annalys encouraged the men in a calm tone, continuing on with her lies, "He might be the biggest fool there is but if you kill him, you'll lose the North. Margaery will lose the North."

The men tensed up, shocked that Annalys had figured out who would be his usurper. "Robb slept with that whore Eleanor Mallister once and she gave birth to that bastard Olyvar Rivers nine months later," She paused, trying her hardest not to break down as she spoke such horrific lies about the people she loved, including the boy she called her son, "The seed is strong, as they say. Keep him alive long enough to marry Margaery. Make him bed her. She'll soon give birth to an heir of the North."

Despite Lord Florent contemplating the proposal, Loras Tyrell let out a small laugh, causing the group to turn to him. "You truly believe her, don't you?" He questioned Lord Florent, scoffing, "Annalys is a skilled liar and is what they call a talker, a talker that can weasel her way out of any mess with her lies and manipulation. Lies come easily to her. You'd be a fool to believe anything she just said. Why would she ask you to spare Robb if she didn't care about him? Why would she care about whether or not my sister can keep the North? She hates my sister. The real Annalys would relish in the thought of dying while knowing my sister would fail at keeping the North."

"You're right," Lord Florent responded, grabbing the back of Robb's neck before pressing the blade harder against the Stark man's throat, "Kneel, Annalys. Surrender to the Tyrells and the Reach."

"I will do no such thing," Annalys argued in a low, threatening tone.

"Kneel or I will cut your husband's throat," He continued on, his blade cutting into the side of Robb's neck in preparation for cutting his throat just like one of them had tried to do with Lyanna, "I said, kneel."

      Annalys stood in place for a long moment, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. She hadn't knelt to anyone in years. Even Robb knew that. She was far too stubborn to ever give up her throne to anyone. After all, he was there when she swore to bow to no man.

However, Annalys slowly turned her head, locking eyes with Robb, the man she loved, both of them trying their hardest to hold back their tears.

She recalled the day at Casterly Rock when she chose power over love. She claimed that Robb was the only person she'd ever bend the knee to. She might have meant it in a sexual manner at the time, but at that very moment, she knew it to be the absolute truth.

   She chose power over love once and she nearly lost everything, including her happiness. The majority of her children were dead. Edric was taking her youngest son to Dorne, where he'd protected by the Martells the rest of his life and would marry the Princess of Dorne when he came of age. Olyvar was safe at the Wall, where he'd be protected by Jon, the Wildlings, and his soon-to-be sworn brothers. Jaime was on the run, but he'd manage, he always did. She had watched as Eddard was stabbed four times. The rest of her children were most likely dead. Lyanna, Torra, Rickard, Joanna, and Torrhen. All of them.

She had nothing else left.

Except for one thing. Her husband. The man she loved more than anything in the world. The father of her children. She had a point when she spoke of his claim to the North. Without Robb, the usurpers wouldn't be able to keep the Iron Throne. The North would surely rebel if Robb died. Perhaps they'd spare him if she knelt. At least she could hope on that happening.

"Annalys, don't!" Robb pleaded, knowing Annalys was on the verge of making a decision that would change everything.

If she knelt, the Tyrells had the ability to spin the entire story of what happened and claim she willingly gave up her throne. If any of their children were still alive and protected until they came of age, they'd have a harder time taking back the Iron Throne that was rightfully theirs if they ever chose to do that. Their claim to the throne could be said to be invalid if Annalys bent the knee and gave up it up.

Robb was willing to sacrifice his own life to ensure Annalys did not kneel and give up her throne. Not because of their wellbeing, but their children's.

Robb had once begged Annalys to chose her love for him over the Iron Throne when she was pregnant with Torrhen and Joanna, but now, he wanted the opposite.

   However, Annalys wasn't thinking about her children. She assumed they were all dead. She thought Edric would be better off as a Prince Consort of Dorne than King of the Seven Kingdoms. Being a King or Queen was a burden no one would ever want if they truly knew what it meant.

One thing she knew she still had left, however, was her husband. The man she loved. And she was willing to give up everything in order to have him spared.

Robb also didn't want Annalys to bend the knee because he knew there was a high chance he would be spared while she was killed. And he would have rather died than live a life without the woman he loved. They had been together for over eighteen years. He couldn't even remember what life was like without the love of his life at his side. They fought so hard to be together, was she really going to give it up?

"Annalys, please, don't do this. Please," Robb continued to plea with tears threatening to spill from his eyes, only to groan as Lord Florent cut a bit more on his neck with the blade of his dagger.

  Annalys held back her tears, taking a deep breath before slowly falling into a kneeling, despite not him begging her not to. It took everything within her to kneel, but she had to. She had no other choice.

Believe it or not, she would have rather died knowing Robb could live and perhaps be forced to marry Margaery than to die knowing he would be dead, too. It didn't matter who he had to be with, as long as he didn't die. Even if that person was Margaery.

   She was a completely different person than the girl she was more than a decade before. The same girl who once claimed that even if Robb wasn't with her, he still wasn't allowed to be with Margaery, despite the alliance having the ability to help the North greatly.

   The entire army of men watched in disbelief and astonishment as Annalys knelt before Lord Florent, looking down at the ground in shame. As she did so, she looked nothing like Great Lioness she once was.

    Robb's eyes widened in disbelief as well, not thinking it was possible that Annalys had truly surrendered to the enemy for him.

    It was unlike her. Annalys had chosen power over love once before, but now, she chose love over power. What had happened to her?

The reason was she wasn't the same girl she was all those years ago.

     As she knelt, Annalys didn't feel like she was herself. She was giving up everything to save Robb. Her crown, her power, her rights to the throne, her title. Most of all, she was breaking her promise to her grandfather after spending years of demanding it be kept.

  All to save Robb, too. Surely, Tywin Lannister was rolling around in his grave at that moment.

  The Great Lioness had given up all that she had left, just to spare the Young Wolf.

  Despite their love being legendary and powerful than most, Annalys giving up power, of all things, to save him was something no one in Westeros ever believed would happen. 

Tywin Lannister was right. They were fools to think a marriage between a Lion and a Wolf, a Stark and Lannister, would ever end well.

And for that, they'd all pay, but not with their lives as everyone in the Seven Kingdoms expected. They'd pay with something far worse.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

End of this act! Come prepared for the next one! 😂

As the last paragraph states, Annalys and Robb are not dead, but what do you think will happen to them?

Obviously, they won't be set free.

By the beginning of the next act, Lyanna will be traveling west on her own, Joanna will
be across the Narrow Sea, Torrhen will be at Winterfell, Rickard will be with the Hound in the Riverlands, Edric will be arriving at Dorne, Torra is North with the Wildlings, Olyvar is at the wall, and Eddard's whereabouts are unknown 😬😬