Hear me Roar - English version

CHAPITRE 15 - Your Majesty

               I grab my bow, my arrows and my sword and leave my room. My options are limited. I could give them to Sansa, but I can't let her have weapons of this sort. I could take them to Baelish, except that I no longer trust him, and he doesn't live in the Red Keep.

               The door to my last option opens and, surprised, Varys lets me in. I wait for him to close the door before saying anything. These days, no corner of this castle is safe.

"Your Majesty, what brings you here?" asks the eunuch. "And what is all this?"

"These are my weapons," I reply. "The most conspicuous ones. Joffrey wishes me to move my belongings into his quarters. Except, as you will have gathered, anything that could be used to kill him."

"So you want me to keep them for you."

"You would be doing me a great service. And I shall be indebted to you."

               I'm starting to get used to the capital, and I know exactly how to speak to men like Varys. If I want him to do something for me, he needs an incentive. And what better than a favour from the queen herself.

               Without further ado, I set to work. I hide my weapons in discreet corners of Varys's room, trying to remember each of the hiding places.

"Why didn't you bring them to your good friend Littlefinger?" he asks suddenly.

               Lying beneath the bed, I pop my head out so I can see if Varys is serious. Apart from the fact that he ought to realise I'll never trust Baelish again, I'm stunned by the realisation that he's aware of our little affairs.

"Lord Baelish and I are not friends," I reply, standing up. "I do not forgive betrayal."

"You must have been very close for you to consider his actions a betrayal."

               I brush my dress whilst staring at the eunuch. What is he playing at? He'd do well to get to the point, for I'm not at all taken with this little game of cat and mouse.

"You seem to believe in many things, Lord Varys."

"What I know, I have not seen with my own eyes. I cannot therefore swear that it is true."

"Those eyes belong to you," I object.

               I am beginning to know the lords of the Council well and, especially after Baelish's betrayal, I have learnt to see beyond what they are willing to tell me.

"The king, like all of us, saw Lord Baelish take your hand on the day of..."

               That explains it... Joffrey wants me to move in with him so he can keep an eye on me, because he's afraid I'll fall back into Baelish's arms. I can't really blame him; jealousy is a natural human reaction. However, I realise I'm going to have to be even more careful than before.

"Why are you telling me this?" I ask Varys.

"I wish you well, Your Majesty. I believe that, thanks to you, the Seven Kingdoms still have a chance of survival."

"You are placing a heavy burden on my shoulders."

"Someone must shoulder this task."

               So it shall be me.

♐︎

               A tournament has been organised to mark King Joffrey's birthday; the entire court is invited – it's a grand occasion. Just like, in fact, everything that has anything to do with his royal person. And I never fail to remind him of that.