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

20 - Freedom

Even though I had my plan all laid out to the last detail, it would have been a lie to say I wasn't petrified of actually executing it. My heart was pounding as I made my way to the sept for the final time not to watch, but to go in.

It was warmer than I had expected beneath the thick layers of my costume, but I would not have dared complain about Elana's craftsmanship. It was immaculate work, a copy that would fool anyone. But there was only one group of people I had to convince: the septas. And they would be the most difficult of all to deceive.

In my opinion, I looked indistinguishable from them now, but I did not see their uniforms every day. Would they be able to tell the difference?

There was only one way to find out. With one more deep breath, I pushed through the large front doors into the sept.

I was immediately enveloped in dim, cool, dusty air, a stark difference to the bright sunlight outside. To my right was the door I had seen the other septas pass through when they went to feed the prisoners. I clutched the tray in my hands hard, my knuckles already going white. This was it. There was no going back now.

The door opened and a septa with an empty tray exited. I held my breath as she caught sight of me. Everything could be over so fast - one mistake, one unlucky coincidence, and I'd join Cersei in that cell.

The septa's gaze passed over me and, luckily, on to the entrance doors after a few seconds. She gave me a short nod as she walked past me and disappeared around the corner.

I exhaled in relief. So far, so good. I made my way down the narrow hallway that led to the cells. From here on out, I was traveling blind. I had no way of knowing where to go past this point.

A door creaked open on my left, and I could hear quiet sobbing from inside before the door fell shut again behind the exiting septa, sealing off all sound. I swallowed hard. What condition would I find Cersei in?

I waited for the septa to leave the hallway before going back to the door she had come through. It had no lock, so it couldn't be a cell. I carefully opened it a crack wide and peered through. Before me lay a staircase, only faintly lit by torches placed along the wall every ten feet or so. I was getting closer to the dark underbelly of the sept.

The crying grew louder the further down I went. Finally, the staircase opened up into another hallway stretching off into both directions. It reeked of piss and sweat and grime, and echoed with the cries and sobs of its inhabitants. I almost wanted to cry at the thought of Cersei - Cersei of all people! - spending weeks in a place like this, but this was no time for tears. I needed to stay focused and collected. There was no room for error.

I went down the left side of the hallway first, checking through the little slit in each door who was inside.

They all looked back at me with fearful faces when they heard the telltale creak of the hinge, telling me that whenever these slits usually opened, nothing good came of it for them.

Eventually, I arrived back at the staircase, with no sign of Cersei so far. I started down the righthand path. It wouldn't be long now until I would find her, and get her out of here at last.

I passed cell after cell, and still, no Cersei. Where was she?

When the last of the cells in the hallway proved to also hold another prisoner, I started to doubt my plan. Had I missed something? Were the royal prisoners held somewhere else? It sure would defeat the sparrows' whole idea of equality in the face of sin, but... Cersei clearly wasn't here, and she wasn't free, so there had to be another area with more prisoners.

Dejected, I made my way back up the staircase and looked around. That was when I realized how long this initial hallway was. And that there, lining the wall... were about half a dozen more doors just like this, presumably leading to other staircases with more cells. Lord, how many prisoners was the Faith prepared to hold?! And how many had the sparrows managed to take in such a short time?