The Sun Will Shine On Us Again | Oberyn Martell

The Birth and Death

"You still don't know who started spreading that lie?"

In the last days, Joanna remained locked in her chambers, because walking was more and more difficult for her. And that's why her mother visited her quite often, instead of Joanna herself going to see her. It was the same now. Joanna was sitting on a divan by the window and her mother was standing a short distance away.

"No. I tried to cast the net everywhere I could, but nothing. Even Varys didn't come up with anything." Cersei looked more than calm. Joanna felt like she didn't care one bit about the situation. But why should she? It did not directly concern her. The main person concerned was Joanna and her child.

Her eyebrows shot up and she turned her head to her mother. "Varys didn't find out anything? I refuse to believe that," and the tone of her voice sounded exactly like that - skeptic. She didn't understand that Varys, who was practically the king of all spies, didn't find out who had uttered such a lie.

She carefully got up from the couch and walked around the room to at least relieve her stiff muscles a little. Lying down and sitting all day tired her more than if she moved all the time. She left her hands down by her side, sometimes leaning against the chair to keep her balance.

"He is not omnipotent either. Those birds of his must have been restrained somewhere," Cersei shrugged and took a few steps towards her eldest daughter. She looked at her rather worriedly. She'd been worried about Joanna ever since three months ago when the bag of rumors that had spread through King's Landing like a contagion had spilled over.

Joanna tapped the chair with her fingertips and sighed. "I can't believe that Varys doesn't know something about it. Didn't you try to pressure him to at least tell you something?"

"I tried it. I'm telling you; he doesn't know anything."

Joanna moved a chair away from the table and sat down on it. She put her hand on her belly and caressed it. She couldn't wait for the moment when she would give birth and not be pregnant anymore. Her legs were swollen, she was short of breath and constantly going to the privy. She was tired all the time and much more irritable than usual the last few days. And to all this, as if it wasn't enough, the king's hunting accident was also added.

"And how is father? I would like to go see him, but..." she waved her hand, indicating her current state. She would have liked to go see him, but from what Oberyn had told her, she was glad she wasn't allowed to. And if the worst was to come, what the Maester was talking about, she wanted to at least say goodbye to him.

"I'm surprised he's still alive. He's rotting alive, and it's not a pleasant smell when you walk past his chambers. I don't want to imagine how it must smell there with him."

Cersei turned pale and green just by talking about it. Her skin took on an almost similar shade like the dress she was wearing. Joanna wrinkled her nose in disgust and frowned.

Right, this was exactly the situation where she was glad, she couldn't move from her chambers. Well... she could move from there, but she was afraid that it would come upon her somewhere in the middle of the Red Keep. She was about to burst. During the last week, several times during the day, she begged the child inside of her to finally get out of her.

However, she didn't expect that it would be born in the place where she grew up. She thought that after the tournament and the whole series of celebrations in Stark's honor, she and Oberyn would go back home to Sunspear. She told herself that they would stay for a few more days. And so, until King Robert had the accident with the wild boar. And then, the Maester told her that in her current state it wouldn't be suitable for her to travel such a distance.

"So he doesn't have much time left," she breathed out the words. She hoped that her child would be born even before the king's death. She longed for him to see his grandson before he died. Although it was true that her child wouldn't lose his or her grandfather because Robert Baratheon was not her real father, she still considered him that way though.