Hear me Roar - English version

CHAPTER 12 - Cursed be the one who seeks to tear them asunder

               I open my bedroom door and come face to face with a Lannister guard.

"You cannot leave. Orders of the Queen."

"Within twenty-four hours, I shall be the Queen."

               The guard takes a moment to process this information but eventually steps aside. I believe he understood that if he refused me passage, the next twenty years of his life would be reduced to forty-eight hours.

               I head straight for Cersei's apartments. The soldiers stationed outside her door initially block my path before yielding under the same threat as their comrade: once I am Queen, if they oppose me, they will have to say 'farewell' to their precious heads.

               When I enter, I find the three remaining royal advisors (Baelish, Varys, and Pycelle) alongside Cersei. Sansa is writing on a piece of parchment what the Queen dictates to her.

"What is the meaning of this, Lannister?" I ask, approaching my sister.

"Diana!" Sansa exclaims. "They said they would protect us and that I could marry Joffrey! They haven't hurt me, I promise!"

               I pull her close. I didn't doubt she was in good health, but it is simply reassuring to see it with my own eyes. However, I note that Cersei has not stopped lying to her. I dare not imagine her reaction when she realizes that I am the one who will marry Joffrey.

"Lady Diana," Cersei says. "You should rest; tomorrow is a big day."

"I have been resting for weeks, and you have taken advantage of it to manipulate my sister and... She's finished it..."

               I snatch the piece of paper from the table and read carefully what Sansa has written. She is asking Robb to come to the capital to swear fealty to Joffrey. Since, to my knowledge, the Lannisters still haven't recovered Tyrion, Robb would be a fool not to see through this trap.

               The moment he receives this letter, he will call his banners. I know him; we were raised together and, to be honest, it is exactly what I would have done.

"The North will not bend the knee," I assert. "Even less so while my father is locked in a dingy dungeon for a crime he did not commit!"

"Your father has been declared a traitor to the Crown, my lady," Varys explains.

"You know perfectly well that it is a sham."

"Truth or lie no longer matters. Bending the knee is the only way out for House Stark."

"Is that a threat?"

               I am ready to fight to the bitter end to make my truth heard, the one and only truth. Robert had given full power to my father until Joffrey came of age, making him the Regent the Seven Kingdoms needed. Now, my father faces the death penalty, and there is no one left to save me.

"All of this is regrettable," Cersei begins.

"What is regrettable is that you are making a thirteen-year-old child believe she can become Queen when the King's wedding is scheduled for tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Sansa says, stunned.

"Go back to your room, that's an order."

"Diana! What are you talking about?"

"To your room, Sansa! Now."

               I wait until my sister has left the room to resume the discussion. I know that everything that happens from now on will break her heart. By forbidding her from witnessing this, I am protecting her more than anything; she will understand that later.