Hear me Roar - English version

CHAPTER 25 - "Too Bad..."

               Gathered on the banks of the Blackwater Bay, we listen to the prayers of the septon wishing a good journey to Princess Myrcella. The farewell was hard, and the girl continues to cry while moving away.

               It took me a while to figure out Tyrion's motives. In fact, his uncle only wants to ensure her safety. And Dorne, although hostile to the Lannisters, will still be less dangerous than the Red Keep.

               I'm sure the princess will be perfectly fit for life there. Unlike the capital, the streets do not smell the dead rat. Tommen, on the other hand, will have trouble accepting his older sister's departure. He is now alone with Joffrey.

"You look like a kitten meowing to call its mother" rants the king. "Princes don't cry."

               Exasperated, I step away from him. I no longer have to suffer his moods. If he wants to be an idiot, let him be away from me.

               I meet Tyrion a little further.

"You have wine?" I ask without much hope.

"Do you want to drink next to the Great Septon?"

"Alcohol helps me bear our good king."

"You now understand the burden that is mine."

"My poor Hand" I say in a laugh.

♐︎

               Escorted by the royal guards, we take the path of the Red Keep through the streets of the capital. And much to the astonishment of our good king, the protests are being heard. The people are hungry, the people are angry, the people will no longer be silent.

               I understand them. I would even say that I support them. But my support would be even stronger if they did not threaten my safety.

               Feeling the tension rise, Tyrion orders that Prince Tommen be brought back to the castle by another door, on the shore. The little boy doesn't deserve to be in any kind of riot.

               Most of the people gathered around us ask for food for them and their children, others, angrier, insult the king. The situation degenerates when one of them throws a dung on Joffrey who lands right on his cheek. At first tempted to laugh, then impressed by the throw, I regain my seriousness when the guards take out their weapons.

               A few meters from me, I hear Joffrey shouting « Kill them all! ». Without further ado I throw myself on one of the Lannister soldiers, pushes him on the ground and takes his sword. He has no time to fight back as the rioters are already throwing themselves at him.

"Go in!" shouts Tyrion beside me.

               Cersei and Joffrey are rushed back inside the walls of the Red Keep while, in front of me, a boy brandishes the arm of the septon above his head.

"Get to safety" I advise my friend.

"Where is Sansa?!"

               My attention was diverted by the violence of the scene, I could not follow her with my eyes and now, she vanished.

               I feel my heart racing. It misses a beat and starts over. Chaos reigns around us. Between the cries of pain, we distinguish between swearing and crying, I seem to hear my name. But when I turn my head, I only see angry people.

"She's the queen!"

               And a tidal wave of people is coming at me. For a few seconds, I feel like I'm dying, buried under the bodies, scratched by their dirty nails. My chest is crushed under their weight, cutting off my breath. Is it over? Is that how I die? I can't die like that, not when there's so much left to do. I can't leave Sansa.

               A gust of wind then blows my hair. One foot after another, I straighten myself while the dozens of bodies are projected away from me. A dome protects me. When I first try to find my savior, I realize it is me. I created this thing, and I can create others.

               With a triumphant movement, I raise my sword, making the dome disappear at the same time. I feel like myself again. Did you miss me?

               To every man who falls, I utter a more powerful cry. I had not felt so alive for a long time.

               I hear footsteps coming behind me and, with a free kick on the ground, bring out a stone wall that sends my attacker into the air.

"She's the queen!" I roar laughing.

               To my right, a man yells louder than the others, he gives orders. It's Meryn Trant. Yes... You know what's going to happen. I go to the soldier, flying any man who comes too close to me.

"TRANT!"

"Go inside!" he orders me.

               He respects the oath to protect the royal family. But did he protect me a few weeks earlier while I was helpless on my bed? He destroyed me in small pieces and deserves that I do the same.

               I inflict a blow to the chest to destabilize him, but he turns out stronger than what I thought and responds immediately. Trant tries to catch me to get inside but I avoid him without any worries and pushes him to the ground.

               One foot on his stomach, I'm about to give him the final blow when I feel myself falling. Sir Meryn grabbed my foot. In my fall, I put a hand behind me and propelled by a draft of air, go forward.

               The blows follow one another, tearing my dress and weakening my enemy. The sound of our swords colliding in my ears.

"Do you know what Maegor the Cruel did to his third wife?" I throw to Trant avoiding another of his assaults. "Tyanna of the Tower had poisoned his other wives to give birth to a stillborn child and die in childbirth. He cut her body into seven and hung each of its members at the gates of the city."

               My cunning works and Trant slightly loses balance, unsettled by my speech. I take the opportunity to go behind him and slash the back of his knee. In a cry of pain, the soldier falls to the ground.

"Say hello to Tyanna for me" I tell him before I shove my blade into his back.

               Meryn Trant collapses in a metallic hubbub.

"Your sister is here!" cries the Hound to me.

               I head towards the castle, pushing away the men who try to approach me. The one who managed to get the queen will go home applauded by his peers, before being hanged the next morning. A night of happiness is worth it.

               One of them tears my dress at my right shoulder. The fresh air on my bare skin suddenly brings me back to this bed, in Joffrey's apartments. Motionless, petrified, I look at the Hound with an imploring air. I need help, I will not get away alone.

               Clegane grabs me like a potato bag and brings me inside as fast as possible. As the big doors close, I can see the man who ripped off my dress, a piece of pink silk in his hands.

               Sandor Clegane puts me on the ground, and I let my legs give way under my weight: a well-deserved rest. Worried, Tyrion takes me in his arms.

"Where's Sansa?" I ask, panting.

"Inside, she is safe."

"Is she hurt?"

"Slightly. But she's fine."

"What about Joffrey?"

"Other than smelling cow dung, there is nothing to say."

"Too bad..." I'm joking in the arms of the little man.