Westeros 7/14
Everyone has a coping method. Sometimes it’s a puzzle, an unanswered question or a philosophical riddle; sometimes it’s stories made up in one’s own heads.
The Scott children have Westeros. It’s always there, in their imaginings, in their daydreams, in their nightmares. The game has a magnetism to it, a sort of sick darkness that pulls at one to play.
But now people are dying, one after the other, and some of the players are starting to wonder just what, exactly, that magnetism is.
They had Mrs Lancaster on her knees, her wrists bound with coarse rope behind her back. Cat had tracked her down with her connections and nabbed the woman, fucking nabbed her, off the streets. Or something. Theon hadn’t enough curiosity to ask for the exact details. Cat was not a woman he wanted angry.
Theon watched Robb lazily, an arrogant smirk on his lips. Cat was glaring at Mrs Lancaster, a look the woman returned happily.
“Do you know what you have done, Lancaster?” Cat asked coolly.
“I have done nothing, Scott,” Mrs Lancaster- Cersei, he should say; no point being polite to a prisoner- returned, not bothering to play dumb. The feud between the two women had gone on for years. Cersei knew exactly why she was here. “It was an accident, one my son was unfortunate enough to witness.”
“It was murder,” Cat snarled. “You killed my husband in cool blood.”
“The courts say otherwise.”
“The courts were wrong. I wouldn’t doubt you paid the judge and the barristers to get you off. People may be bought; the truth may not.”
Cat looked at Robb expectantly. Robb had his gun pointed at Mrs Lancaster’s head, Grey Wind snarling at his side. The wolfhound’s massive size didn’t seem to bother Mrs Lancaster in the least.
“Do it, Robb,” Cat urged. She was always urging him on lately…and Robb was always ignoring her, brushing her off like so much annoyance. He was eighteen and a man. He didn’t need her mothering him.
Theon thought his resistance was a good thing.
Robb hesitated, the gun jerking in his hand.
“She killed your father,” Cat said, “and murdered his best friend. She did this because she wanted to.”
Robb dropped his arm, the gun resting at his side.
“No.” He didn’t look at Cat. “We have no proof she did it. I won’t kill her now. Leave,” he said, ordering his own mother. “I want to talk with her alone.”
Cat’s lips turned down, but she didn’t disagree. “Come, Theon,” she said, reaching her delicate hand out to him. “Let’s go.”
“No,” Robb said, his eyes focused on Mrs Lancaster still. “Theon stays.”
ØØØ
“You killed my father,” Robb said. Theon was proud of him: his voice barely shook.
“Of course, I killed him,” Cersei scoffed. “He deserved it.”
“And did my father deserve it?” Robb asked, gun pointed at Cersei’s head. Grey Wind growled.
“Yes,” she answered simply, her eyes clear and dry. “He supported my employer and for that he had to die.”
“Why?” Robb demanded angrily. “Why did you kill my father, Lancaster?!”
Cersei laughed. She tossed her head, her blonde hair falling in long waves over her shoulders. She was the most beautiful woman Theon had ever seen. “You think this is about our families? You Scotts never forget the past, do you?”
“Those who don’t remember the past are bound to repeat it.”
“You are still a foolish boy, Robb Scott. This has nothing to do with the past. If you knew what Lord-” his name was a curse on her tongue, “-Burton did to me, you would not be so quick to judge me. That man was a menace. His death is a blessing on all who knew him.”
“Lord Burton was a good man.”
“To his whores, perhaps, but to anyone else? You are severely mistaken.”
Theon could not keep quiet any longer. “What exactly are we supposed to believe Lord Burton did to you?”
Cersei jerked her head towards him. Her eyes were as cold as glaciers.
“He molested me, Mr Grey. I was so happy to be given such a good position, working for the Lord Chancellor. I thought it was my chance to learn the inner workings of Parliament, to study our greatest institution of government from the inside. Instead, I was subjected to an onslaught of innuendo, inappropriate touching and…forceful methods. He was not a persuasive man; rather, he took what he wanted.
“He took me after the birth of my first child. I am sure you know Joffrey, Scott: your sister is quite enamoured of him. I was married for less than a year. I had resisted Lord Burton for five. He threatened to give me my leave if I did not return to work within a month. I was tired and ill, but I returned for the sake of my career.
“That very day, Lord Burton had his way with me. I was helpless. If I refused, I would be abandoning my career. No one was ready to believe that I had ‘entertained’ the Lord Chancellor unwillingly. I could tell anyone, he said, and none would believe me.
“This I suffered for several years. Lord Burton was careful. No one suspected I was less than pleased with our ‘relationship’. Until, one day, I met Lord Eddard Scott. He was Lord Burton’s closest friend, one he saw infrequently. My family has never had a good relationship with the Scotts; yet, this man was different. He was honest in a world full of dishonest men. I knew then that this man would believe me.
“But the only times I could get close to Ned Scott were the awful holidays the Lord Chancellor forced me to attend. I went, hoping each time to have a single moment with the man. I knew he would look past Robert’s chancellorship to the horrible man beneath. I could see it when he looked at his friend. Lord Burton had gone corrupt. He was not the man Ned remembered from childhood.
“Instead of me going to him, he came to me. Ned Scott came to me and told me that he knew my youngest child to be Robert Burton’s. He suspected the others might be as well. He accused me of adultery. He said that if I was trying to wrangle money from the Burtons, I was sorely mistaken.
“I am a Lancaster!” Cersei snarled. “My family is among the richest in the country! We do not resort to base trickery and extortion to accomplish that.
“When your father told me that, I knew he had to die. If I could not trust in the honour of the most honourable man in Britain, I could not trust in anyone’s.”
ØØØ
Robb had always been too kind. With his bleeding heart, he let Cersei go. He just let her walk out of the room and go home, trusting that she would keep her word and not hold her imprisonment and interrogation against them.
Cat could not believe it. She raged at Robb, calling him a fool, saying his father would have done differently. That was not true. Ned would have done the same.
Cersei did not keep her word.
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The Scott children have Westeros. It’s always there, in their imaginings, in their daydreams, in their nightmares. The game has a magnetism to it, a sort of sick darkness that pulls at one to play.
But now people are dying, one after the other, and some of the players are starting to wonder just what, exactly, that magnetism is.
They had Mrs Lancaster on her knees, her wrists bound with coarse rope behind her back. Cat had tracked her down with her connections and nabbed the woman, fucking nabbed her, off the streets. Or something. Theon hadn’t enough curiosity to ask for the exact details. Cat was not a woman he wanted angry.
Theon watched Robb lazily, an arrogant smirk on his lips. Cat was glaring at Mrs Lancaster, a look the woman returned happily.
“Do you know what you have done, Lancaster?” Cat asked coolly.
“I have done nothing, Scott,” Mrs Lancaster- Cersei, he should say; no point being polite to a prisoner- returned, not bothering to play dumb. The feud between the two women had gone on for years. Cersei knew exactly why she was here. “It was an accident, one my son was unfortunate enough to witness.”
“It was murder,” Cat snarled. “You killed my husband in cool blood.”
“The courts say otherwise.”
“The courts were wrong. I wouldn’t doubt you paid the judge and the barristers to get you off. People may be bought; the truth may not.”
Cat looked at Robb expectantly. Robb had his gun pointed at Mrs Lancaster’s head, Grey Wind snarling at his side. The wolfhound’s massive size didn’t seem to bother Mrs Lancaster in the least.
“Do it, Robb,” Cat urged. She was always urging him on lately…and Robb was always ignoring her, brushing her off like so much annoyance. He was eighteen and a man. He didn’t need her mothering him.
Theon thought his resistance was a good thing.
Robb hesitated, the gun jerking in his hand.
“She killed your father,” Cat said, “and murdered his best friend. She did this because she wanted to.”
Robb dropped his arm, the gun resting at his side.
“No.” He didn’t look at Cat. “We have no proof she did it. I won’t kill her now. Leave,” he said, ordering his own mother. “I want to talk with her alone.”
Cat’s lips turned down, but she didn’t disagree. “Come, Theon,” she said, reaching her delicate hand out to him. “Let’s go.”
“No,” Robb said, his eyes focused on Mrs Lancaster still. “Theon stays.”
ØØØ
“You killed my father,” Robb said. Theon was proud of him: his voice barely shook.
“Of course, I killed him,” Cersei scoffed. “He deserved it.”
“And did my father deserve it?” Robb asked, gun pointed at Cersei’s head. Grey Wind growled.
“Yes,” she answered simply, her eyes clear and dry. “He supported my employer and for that he had to die.”
“Why?” Robb demanded angrily. “Why did you kill my father, Lancaster?!”
Cersei laughed. She tossed her head, her blonde hair falling in long waves over her shoulders. She was the most beautiful woman Theon had ever seen. “You think this is about our families? You Scotts never forget the past, do you?”
“Those who don’t remember the past are bound to repeat it.”
“You are still a foolish boy, Robb Scott. This has nothing to do with the past. If you knew what Lord-” his name was a curse on her tongue, “-Burton did to me, you would not be so quick to judge me. That man was a menace. His death is a blessing on all who knew him.”
“Lord Burton was a good man.”
“To his whores, perhaps, but to anyone else? You are severely mistaken.”
Theon could not keep quiet any longer. “What exactly are we supposed to believe Lord Burton did to you?”
Cersei jerked her head towards him. Her eyes were as cold as glaciers.
“He molested me, Mr Grey. I was so happy to be given such a good position, working for the Lord Chancellor. I thought it was my chance to learn the inner workings of Parliament, to study our greatest institution of government from the inside. Instead, I was subjected to an onslaught of innuendo, inappropriate touching and…forceful methods. He was not a persuasive man; rather, he took what he wanted.
“He took me after the birth of my first child. I am sure you know Joffrey, Scott: your sister is quite enamoured of him. I was married for less than a year. I had resisted Lord Burton for five. He threatened to give me my leave if I did not return to work within a month. I was tired and ill, but I returned for the sake of my career.
“That very day, Lord Burton had his way with me. I was helpless. If I refused, I would be abandoning my career. No one was ready to believe that I had ‘entertained’ the Lord Chancellor unwillingly. I could tell anyone, he said, and none would believe me.
“This I suffered for several years. Lord Burton was careful. No one suspected I was less than pleased with our ‘relationship’. Until, one day, I met Lord Eddard Scott. He was Lord Burton’s closest friend, one he saw infrequently. My family has never had a good relationship with the Scotts; yet, this man was different. He was honest in a world full of dishonest men. I knew then that this man would believe me.
“But the only times I could get close to Ned Scott were the awful holidays the Lord Chancellor forced me to attend. I went, hoping each time to have a single moment with the man. I knew he would look past Robert’s chancellorship to the horrible man beneath. I could see it when he looked at his friend. Lord Burton had gone corrupt. He was not the man Ned remembered from childhood.
“Instead of me going to him, he came to me. Ned Scott came to me and told me that he knew my youngest child to be Robert Burton’s. He suspected the others might be as well. He accused me of adultery. He said that if I was trying to wrangle money from the Burtons, I was sorely mistaken.
“I am a Lancaster!” Cersei snarled. “My family is among the richest in the country! We do not resort to base trickery and extortion to accomplish that.
“When your father told me that, I knew he had to die. If I could not trust in the honour of the most honourable man in Britain, I could not trust in anyone’s.”
ØØØ
Robb had always been too kind. With his bleeding heart, he let Cersei go. He just let her walk out of the room and go home, trusting that she would keep her word and not hold her imprisonment and interrogation against them.
Cat could not believe it. She raged at Robb, calling him a fool, saying his father would have done differently. That was not true. Ned would have done the same.
Cersei did not keep her word.
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