AN :
Next goal for another extra chapter is 300 power stones.
In the Game of Stones, you either win or you wait. The more Power Stones you offer, the faster the chapters come.
...
( Cersei POV )
While she clutched a rag to her forehead though, she had smiled for hours.
She had been right about Callum! Even the Most Devout could see it! And that meant she was right about herself too! If Callum was blessed by the Maiden and the Crone, perhaps she was blessed by the Warrior and the Father? Surely the Seven wouldn't just bless her brother and leave her with nothing.
...
What was it like to be blessed that way? She wondered. The Raven had said that Callum had been held up in front of the entire Starry Sept. Perhaps her father would let her practice with swords if she could just convince the High Septon to do the same for her in the Great Sept of Baelor?
Alas, Cersei, like a prisoner, was confined to the Red Keep. Never free to walk the city, never free to use her own mind or even the strength of her arm. Trapped like a golden bird within a crimson cage… no, like one of the Lions kept within Casterly Rock, a great golden cat within an iron frame.
Cersei was a lioness who wanted to leave, to prowl across the plains and hunt her own prey. She wanted out of this stupid bedroom, out of this stupid bed. She wanted to go back to the Rock, where no one would stop her from crawling through ancient mining tunnels, where she might be able to accompany Uncle Kevan again on hunts. Where she could see Jaime and Callum again.
Cersei felt her melancholy fade as she leaped to her feet, spry and able as she'd ever been, she marched to the basin at one side of her forced new bedroom and began to wash her face.
The candlelight flickered on her skin as she braided her hair into a ponytail. It made her lips glow red as she smiled into the silvered mirror on the wall, giving a smile she thought looked quite vicious. Yes, She was a Lannister, a Lioness with the heart of a King. Like the leader of her pride, she would be glorious and powerful just as soon as she escaped this bitter cage. With a fierce glare at all around her, she burst out of the door of her room and began making her way towards her father's office once again. It wasn't that late, and Father rarely stopped working before midnight anyway.
The door was guarded by one Ser Lorin Farman, but he didn't make to stop her, just giving a curious glance downward as she stood right up in front of her father's door and knocked as loudly as she could.
"... I'm guessing that's Cersei, come in." her father invited, and Cersei pushed the door wide as she marched inside, all fire and brimstone in her mind. Her father looked tired, reviewing some papers. It was probably the application for a city charter from Stony Sept that he'd been talking about earlier today. "Good evening Cersei." Tywin set the paper down with a sigh. "You look as if you have something to say." He stared at her sharply, and Cersei felt a quiver of fear run up her spine.
That was right, she wasn't just talking to anyone, she was talking to her father. Her anger felt smothered as goosebumps ran up her spine under his withering stare. It was… it was hard to say what she wanted to say. Cersei felt sweat build on her brow and she felt like she wanted to cry again under that gaze, but though her stomach turned, she didn't let it stop her. She needed to get this out. She needed to get out of here. "Father… I wish- I wish to return to Casterly Rock."
Tywin blinked, the danger in his stare falling away. "Oh," he said, sounding honestly surprised. "And why is that?" the danger returned a little, but not as harshly this time. Cersei felt as if she could breathe again, even as her mind raced to find better reasons. Reasons he'd accept at least.
"I… I do not like it here in the Red Keep anymore Father, and there is not much point now is there? Prince Rhaegar will marry Lady Valia and Prince Viserys will be too young to care about me for many years yet." Cersei gulped. "Wouldn't it be better for me to return to Casterly Rock? To Lannisport?"
Her Father paused for a long moment, before with a tone of consternation, he asked her carefully. "Cersei, do you truly not like it at court?" The hand of the king sounded more confused than anything.
"Your mother always spoke very fondly of her days as a bedmaid to Queen Rhaella. She started when she was about your age." Tywin tapped his fingers. "I thought you'd been quite enjoying your time here, it's certainly let you meet more girls your own age and status."
Cersei blinked at her father owlishly, a blush finding its way to her cheeks as she looked away, mumbling. "F-father, I am not mother, I don't… I don't want the same things." she shifted from one foot to the other. "All the girls at court are fools and the… no-the point is, I don't enjoy it at all Father! It's all gossip and wasting time!" Cersei said shaking her head. If Father was ever going to understand a single word she said, she needed him to understand this.
"Yes, that is typically what noblewomen enjoy," Tywin replied, frowning, and Cersei could tell her words were not registering. She needed her father to actually understand her.
"No-I… That's not the point father! The point is that I'm not a typical noblewoman! I want to go out and accompany you on hunts! I want to do real things! I don't want some old Velaryon crone to teach me embroidery! I want you to teach me how to rule and rule well! I want to learn important things, and to talk about important decisions!" Cersei knew her tone was getting louder, but she couldn't stop now. It was all flowing out of her like wine from a broken jug.
"I want you to listen to me like you listen to Aunt Genna! Why can't you show me how to be like she is? You don't act like she's a fool…" Cersei sniffed, wiping her tears back with her sleeve once again.
Father stared at her strangely, it was an expression she'd never seen on his face before, squinting slightly, with his chin pulled tightly up under his pinched lips and his nose creased. Tywin looked at her as if she was some sort of puzzle to be solved. It made Cersei feel a little uncomfortable, but she bore with it. Whatever he said next couldn't possibly be worse than the sinking feeling in her gut as she realized she'd just been screaming at her father, the man who brooked no disrespect.
"Alright, you will return to the Rock. I'll make arrangements for a ship to take you in the morning."
Cersei blinked, not sure she'd heard him right, then her mouth fell open. Father had… he'd actually listened to her! "Truly?"
Tywin sighed and shook his head. "Truly. I had no impression that you disliked court especially." he scratched his cheek. "If I keep you here you'll probably act out and cause issues. The best answer is to simply send you back to the Rock entirely."
Tywin said cooly, and Cersei felt the sting of his words, not a bit, for her heart was thrilling with joy. "If you wish to be like Genna then I'll put you in her care. I've always thought she only ended up the way she is because Ser Emmon is a fool, but she may be able to pass some manner of practical understanding to you nonetheless."
Cersei's grin shone on her face like the sun as she rushed around her father's desk to his side, throwing her arms around him. "Thank you, Father! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!"
She felt Tywin stiffen at her embrace, and she realized with a bit of fear that she did not think she had actually hugged him this way in years.
Then his hand came down on the top of her head, patting her gently, and everything was right in Cersei's world.
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