The Sun Will Shine On Us Again | Oberyn Martell

The Rumors

Cersei was walking the corridors of the Red Keep with her twin brother. Her hands were on the front of her skirt, holding onto them and twirling the ring with the red stone on her finger. She looked at every single man or woman they passed. They only bowed to her, greeted her, and looked away from her. Away from her and her brother.

"Look at them, what Robert brought here again. Just scum, nothing more." Cersei snapped in disgust. She kept her eyes on one man, whom she judged from his clothing to be someone of noble birth. She didn't know everyone. She couldn't know every single inhabitant of Westeros.

"And you still don't know what came here with all of them," Jaime said. His hand rested on his sword, which, on the other hand, was clipped to his belt. Just like his sister, he also looked at every single person they passed.

Cersei raised an eyebrow. This time she turned her attention to Jaime and waved her hand, inviting him to speak. What was currently living in her house, and what was moving around her town, worried her the most. And if something else came with them, as their queen, she should know what exactly it was.

"Rumors are going around," he began. He looked over his shoulder behind him and around him, making sure no one was listening. Even the walls there had ears, everyone knew that. And even more when it was a conversation the queen had with her brother.

Cersei waited. But instead of telling her, Jaime grabbed her by the shoulder and dragged her into one of the corridors. Not only did they get rid of the curious ears that were standing and talking everywhere around them, but they also got rid of the queen's guards, who followed her everywhere she moved, at least for a while.

"Are you going to tease me for much longer?" she raised an eyebrow. Jaime was still silent and walked on, pulling her behind him. If someone else treated her like this, she would have him handcuffed. It didn't bother her with him though. She never minded anything he did. Although some exceptions would have been found, it was only the bare minimum.

And when he apparently decided that no one could hear them anymore, he let go of Cersei and turned to her. He let his eyes hang on hers and ran the tip of his tongue along his bottom lip.

"One of my men came up with it, saying he heard it from a knight who supposedly heard it from his master. According to him, Joanna's child is a bastard, and if it were up to him, he would have Joanna beaten so that she would lose the child."

The Queen was shocked by the words of a member of the King's Guard. It shocked her even more... No, it stung her heart that someone would have said something similar about her daughter. About their daughter.

"Who?"

Jaime extended a finger to his sister, trying to silence her for a little while: "I'm not done yet. There's more, but this time it's not from the same man. Another knight told him that it was true and that you are such a calculating whore. They claim you allowed Joanna to bed with any number of men she wanted to sleep with and then forced Martell down the aisle, claiming it was his child."

Cersei leaned against the cold stone of which the Red Keep was built. Her palms were shaking. Anger flowed through her entire body, like turbulent water in the sea during a storm. She needed to take a deep breath and exhale. She needed to calm down and not think coldly because it never turned out for the best.

Joanna could not find out about this. She was fragile. She always was, but now she was much more. Her pregnancy was to blame, Cersei had no doubt. And what she also didn't doubt about was that Prince Oberyn Martell was the father of Joanna's child. But how should she convince others? If she silenced one of the men who told it, the others would take the rumor as true.