Silver Stag

Nightmares & Flowering

[King's Landing - Red Keep]

Lady Sansa Stark walked through a castle hallway, Sandor "The Hound" Clegane coming in the other direction.

"I beg pardon, ser. I should have come to you after to thank you for saving me. You were so brave." Sansa thanked him.

"Brave? A dog doesn't need courage to chase off rats."

"Does it give you joy to scare people?"

"No, it gives me joy to kill people." He said, causing Sansa to gasp. "Spare me. You can't tell me Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell nevr killed a man."

"It was his duty. He nevr liked it."

"Is that what he told you? He lied. Killing is the sweetest thing there is."

"Why are you alwys so hateful?"

"You'll be glad of the hateful things I do someday when you're queen and I'm all that stands between you and your beloved king."

Sansa turned and walked away.

[King's Landing - Red Keep, Sansa's Chambers]

Sansa was having a nightmare, reliving the attempted rape by the rioters.

"No, no!"

She woke in a start, and pulled back the covers to see that her first period had begun, leaving her distraught.

"No. Oh, no."

Sansa got up, grabbed a knife and tried to remove the bloodstain. Shae entered the chamber with Sansa's breakfast, before rushing over to help.

"It's all right. Give me that."

"If the Queen sees, I can have Joffrey's children now."

"Help me flip it over."

While Shae and Sansa tried to flip the mattress, another handmaiden entered, causing them to stop. The handmaiden turned and rushed out of the room. After exchanging a glance with Sansa, Shae followed her.

[Dark Hallway]

The handmaiden moved quickly, Shae pursuing her.

"Where are you going?" Shae asked.

"To tell Her Grace."

Shae pulled a knife and held it to the handmaiden's throat.

"You'll say nothing to anyone. Do you understand?"

The handmaiden nodded in fear and then ran off. Shae watched her go until she was out of sight.

Shae rushed back to Sansa's room. Only, when she returned, The Hound was already there, Sansa sitting on her bed, dejected.

[King's Landing - Red Keep, Cersei's Chambers]

All was for naught as Cersei and Sansa entered the Queen's room.

"Your mother might have prepared you. You flowered, my dear. No more." Cersei told her.

"My mother told me, but I thought it would be different."

"In what way?"

"I thought it would be less messy."

"Wait until you birth a child."

Sansa sat on the edge of the bed.

"You're a woman now. Do you have any idea what that means?"

"I'm fit to bear children for the king?"

"A prospect that once delighted you, bringing little princes and princesses into the world, the greatest honor for a queen." Sansa nodded. "Joffrey has alwys been difficult. Even his birth, I labored a day and a half to bring him into this world. You cannot imagine the pain. I screamed so loudly, I was sure Robert would hear me in the Kingswood."

"His Grace was not with you?"

"Robert was hunting. That was his custom. Whenever my time was near, my royal husband would flee to the trees with his huntsmen and his hounds. And when he returned, he would present me with some pelts or a stag's head, and I would present him with a baby. Not that I wanted him there, mind you. I had Grand Maester Pycelle, an army of midwives, and I had my brother. When they told Jaime he wasn't allowed in the birthing room, he smiled and asked which one of them proposed to keep him out. Joffrey will show you no such devotion." Sansa looked down. "You may nevr love the king, but you will love his children."

"I love His Grace with all my heart."

"That's so very touching to hear. Permit me to share some womanly wisdom with you on this very special day. The more people you love, the weaker you are. You'll do things for them that you know you shouldn't do. You'll act the fool to make them happy, to keep them safe. Love no one but your children. On that front, a mother has no choice."

"But shouldn't I love Joffrey, Your Grace?"

"You can try, little dove."

Sansa looked down, sadly.

[King's Landing - Red Keep, Cersei's Chambers, Night]

Later that night, Cersei and Tyrion were in her bedroom. Cersei was lighting candles with a long straw.

"Since when do you light your own candles?"

"Since I decided that I can't stand to look at any of my handmaidens for another instant." She blew out the flame on the straw's end. "How many times can you read one raven scroll?"

"Stannis Baratheon's fleet has been spotted sailing north past Tarth, two hundred ships."

"More than we have."

"Yes, that's more than we have. He'll be at our gates within five days, four if he has the wind."

"We have strong, high walls. We'll rain fire down on them from above." Cersei told him.

"Rain fire on them from above." You're quoting Father, aren't you?"

"Why not? He has a good mind for strategy, doesn't he?"

"Call it tactics, not strategy. But, yes, he does have a good mind for it. The best mind, some would say. Sadly, he's not here. It's just you, me and Joffrey, the Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm."

"I'm sure you'll make a point eventually."

"He needs to start acting like a king. This war you started is coming to our doorstep. And if the entire city wants Joffrey dead..."

"I'm not the one giving the boy whores to abuse."

"I thought the girls might help him."

"Did you?"

"I was wrong. If we can't control him..."

"Do you think I haven't tried? He doesn't listen to me."

"It's hard to put a leash on a dog once you've put a crown on its head." Tyrion told her.

"I always hoped he'd be like Jaime. He looks like him. In a certain light."

"The boy is more Robert than Jaime."

"Robert was a drunken fool, but he didn't enjoy cruelty. Sometimes I wonder. What? If this is the price for what we've done, for our sins.

"Sins?"

"The Targaryens wed brother and sister for hundreds of years, I know. That's what Jaime and I would say to each other in our moments of doubt. It's what I told Ned Stark when he was stupid enough to confront me. Half the Targaryens went mad, didn't they? What's the saying? "Every time a Targaryen is born, the Gods flip a coin."

"You've beaten the odds. Aelinor, Tommen and Myrcella are good, decent children, all of them."

Cersei began to cry at this statement, leaving Tyrion flustered. He moved to approach her, perhaps to comfort her, but knowing there was no closeness between them, the air quickly grew awkward.

Not knowing what to do, he left.

Stannis would arrive soon. He was the last line of defense. He needed to come up with some strategy to keep them all safe.