End of Youth / Tommen Baratheon (2.2)

31. Girls Like Me

"What's it like being a mum?" Rickon questioned. 

"If our mum had all of us and still found the energy to wake up and deal with us some more for 17 years- wow, I wish I could go back and tell myself to be nice to mum. This parenting is hard work and TJ is only a baby." Rieka declared. Rickon chuckled. 

"I wish we could go back." Rickon admitted. "Wish we never left winterfell." 

"If you would have said that a moon ago, nine moons ago," Rieka remarked touching Tj's little sleeping face. "I would have agreed, turn back time, prayed to the Gods that we were all smarter but..."

"But you are a mum now and TJ needs you, you wouldnt have him if we went back in time." RIckon agreed. 

"But we would have Father, Robb... mother." Rieka agreed through a shaky breath. 

"Do you think they can win, save winterfell without the lannisters army?" RIckon added.

"I hope so," Rieka agreed. "I'm sure we will be hearing from the Dragon queen soon enough and her displeasure with us." 

"Are  you worried?" Rickon questioned. 

"I am." Rieka admitted. "Dont think less of me." 

"Never, you are bravest, strongest person I know." Rickon assured. 

"Thanks honey... I don't feel so strong sometimes, am I doing a good job faking it?" Rieka mused. 

"You could have fooled me." Rickon assured. "You are the queen, do you talk to your king about your fears?"

"I dont want him to worry." Rieka countered. 

"Mother and father talked to each other, they loved her each other... I would hear them sometimes-"

"Gross." Rieka countered. 

"Talking." Rickon clarified. "I would hear them talking and... well before father left they talked about their fears for the future, their worries for what was to come." 

"They did?" Rieka questioned. 

"If a war is coming for us, don't keep anything inside." Rickon offered. 

"When did you get so wise?" Rieka questioned. 

"I learned from my big sister."

Rieka found Tommen with TJ that night, he was telling him a story. Rieka stopped in the doorway watching them. Avalon slept curled up on the end of the bed, Ser pounce beside her. 

"And your mama is the most awesome and the prettiest girl in the world," Tommen went on. "You are going to brave like her, I know it. I'm not all that brave but she is, smart too, you are named after me but make mistake you are going to get all your mama's best qualities." Rieka brought a hand to her heart as she moved to him pressing a kiss to his cheek. 

"Tommen you are the sweetest man that ever lived." Rieka remarked he put TJ back in his crib and turned to her. He pressed a kiss to her lips and she smiled touching his cheek. "I think you grew overnight." Rieka remarked running her fingers through his hair. 

"I want to be a man you can look up to, physically and metaphorically." Tommen agreed. Tall like Jaime in no time, Rieka thought as she stared into his green eyes. 

''If I close my eyes, I can hear the sound of Oberyn's skull breaking. The sound of your scream. I never heard a sound like that. I thought, That's true love." Cersei remarked.  "Oberyn looked beautiful that day. He really did. No one moved like him. No one had such skill with a spear. Even Ser Gregor couldn't stop him. If only he hadn't taunted him. He could've walked away and left poor Ser Gregor to die. But that wasn't your lover's way, was it? Now he's buried somewhere. And here's Ser Gregor, stronger than ever. That must be difficult for you." 

Ellaria scowled back at her. Just because Tommen was king didnt mean that Cersei still wasnt in charge and she had her ways, her connections, she was a lannister after all. Euron took his sweet as time with his hostages, Ellaria and her daughters included and with Tommen and Rieka distracted by their new child and heir, TJ, Cersei knew this was the best time to strike. 

" When my daughter was taken from me, my only daughter... well, you can't imagine how that feels unless you've lost a child. I fed her at my own breast even though they told me to give her to the wet nurse. I couldn't bear to see her in another woman's arms. I never got to have a mother, but Myrcella did. She was mine, and you took her from me. Why did you do that?' Cersei demanded. 

But Ellaria didn't answer. SHe had met Rieka briefly and she didnt want Tyrion dead, she was grateful to Oberyn. Did Ellaria bring this on herself? Perhaps. She did kill Myrcella but that was justice, in her mind. 

'Doesn't matter now.' Cersei went on 'Your daughter's a beauty, too. Those brown eyes. Those lips. Perfect Dornish beauty. I imagine she's your favorite." Ellaria glanced to Tyene, out of the three girls that came with on this blasted battle for the dragon queen, Tyene was the only one that was her true daughter.  

"I know, I know, we're not supposed to have favorites, but still, we're only human. We love whom we love.'' Cersei remarked. Ellaria mumbled a curse at cersei through the gag. 'I'm sorry, I can't understand you. That gag makes it impossible to understand what you're saying. It must be frustrating... We all make our choices. You chose to murder my daughter. You must have felt powerful after you made that choice.'' Cersei went on and Ellaria grunted.

' Do you feel powerful now? I don't sleep very well. Not at all, really. I lie in bed and I stare at the canopy and imagine ways of kill my enemies. How to destroy Ellaria Sand, the woman who murdered my only daughter. I thought about having Ser Gregor crush your skull the way he did Oberyn's. It would be poetic, I suppose, but fast, too fast. I thought about having him crush your daughter's skull. She's so beautiful. The thought of this lovely face cracking open like a duck egg, no, it's just not right.' Cersei glanced over at Ellaria's daughter and she whimpered.

'Mama.' Tyene was crying and that broke Ellaria's heart.

'Qyburn here is the cleverest man I know. Clever enough to learn what poison you used to murder Myrcella. The Long Goodbye, was that it?" Cersei recalled. 

''The Long Farewell.' He corrected.

''That's the one. How long does the poison take?''

''Difficult to say-- hours, days. It depends on the subject's constitution.' He informed her.

''But death is certain?' cersei confirmed.

'Oh, yes, Your Grace, quite certain.'

'Your daughter will die here in this cell, and you will be here watching when she does. You'll be here the rest of your days. If you refuse to eat, we'll force food down your throat. You will live to watch your daughter rot.' A smile curved on Cersei's face 'To watch that beautiful face collapse...' Ellaria started sobbing '...to bone and dust. All the while contemplating the choices you've made. Make sure the guards change the torches every few hours. I don't want her to miss a thing. ''

"He's already bigger," RIeka remarked. "I feel like I blink and I miss something." 

"He needs a sister." Tommen remarked matter of factly. 

"I'm a bit sore still, can we wait a few moons?" Rieka pondered. 

"Sorry, I didnt mean..." TOmmen chuckled laying back beside her, he rested his head on her chest and she wrapped an arm around him. "Rickon told me." Tommen remarked draping an arm over her waist. "That every boy needs a sister to look out for him, because boys are trouble." Rieka chuckled. 

"Boys are trouble." Rieka agreed kissing the top of his head. "But girls like me are trouble too."