A Champion of Light and Lions (Cersei Lannister x OC)

16 - Turmoil

⚠️Explicit mention/description of SA⚠️

Cersei and I were standing in the crowded hall, suffering through one feigned condolence speech after another. It was clear that everyone was merely showing grief out of duty, not any actual love they had had for her father. If they hated saying it and she hated hearing it, why did we even have to bother with the whole ordeal in the first place?

But the commiserations kept coming, and Cersei kept forcibly smiling through it all, thanking the mourners before moving on down the hall in an attempt to get away from them, only to be stopped by another.

When at last, the majority of the funeral guests seemed to have spoken to her and we got some peace and quiet, I spotted a man looking quite out of place amidst all the finely garbed men surrounding him. He wore a simple roughspun robe with wide sleeves that covered his hands completely, and his hair was cropped closely to his skull. His feet were bare and dirty. Despite his gaunt face, he looked young and couldn't have been a day over twenty.

I did not recognize him, but Cersei clearly did. She startled at the sight, squinting as if trying to make sure he was who she thought he was.

The young man walked up to us. "Your Grace", he nodded. "My lady."

"Cousin Lancel", Cersei replied with another cursory glance, "I hardly recognized you."

"My deepest sympathies", Lancel said, ignoring the unspoken question.

Another man stepped up beside Cersei, and this one I did recognize - Kevan Lannister, her uncle. "I apologize for my son's appearance", he said tersely.

"Uncle, it's quite alright", Cersei smiled mildly.

When Lancel turned and left, Kevan continued. "They call themselves sparrows." He huffed. "Bloody fanatics. Religion has its place, of course, but at a certain point... They never would have come to the capital when Tywin was alive."

"I'm sure he'll grow out of it, whatever it is", Cersei replied. She seemed oddly tense. "Excuse me."

"Of course", Kevan nodded and let us pass.

"I think I'd like to speak to these sparrows", I said after a moment.

"Want to engage in some religious debate?", Cersei asked.

I smirked. "Perhaps."

We followed Lancel into a more private room.

"Your wounds from the Blackwater seem to have healed", Cersei said, starting up a seemingly friendly conversation.

"It wasn't my wounds that needed healing."

She sighed. "What can I do for you?"

"You can forgive me", he said.

"What could you possibly have done to warrant my forgiveness?", she asked.

"I led you into the darkness."

I snorted involuntarily. He clearly had no idea who he was speaking to. Cersei Lannister, chosen of the Light, being led into darkness by a misguided boy? That was about as likely as a heatwave in Winterfell.

"I doubt you've ever led anyone anywhere", Cersei commented plainly.

Lancel went on undeterred. "I tempted you into our... unnatural relations."

Cersei went rigid beside me, and I understood why she had seemed so uneasy before. She had slept with him.

"And, of course, there was the king... his boar hunt. His wine."