"Fool. No one who ever wears a crown is safe." She looked about the hall, at all the lords and ladies paying rapt attention. Lords Rowan and Tarly were sharing furtive glances as the King spoke.
Uncle Kevan sat brooding over his wine. The Redwyne boys, Horror and Slobber both, were sat next to Lancel. The Dornish whores continued to attract glances, even as the King demanded full attention. Grand Maester Pycelle looked half-asleep.
...
There is no one I can rely upon, not even Jaime, she realised grimly. I will need to sweep them all away and surround the king with mine own people.
After a good long minute, Tommen looked to be finishing his speech, "With this blessed union," he offered a small smile to Margaery, "we bring order back to this great land of ours." He raised his cup in a toast, "To peace, prosperity and fertility, my lords!"
There was a great round of thunderous applause accompanied with chants of, "Peace, Prosperity, Fertility!" from the crowd. Though it stung her pride to admit, Tommen looked to be a better orator than she had ever been. No matter, Cersei reminded herself, the lioness does not concern herself with the opinions of the sheep. So what if he can make them baaaaaaa better than I can? They are sheep still.
Later, after the meals had all been taken away, Margaery and Tommen began the dancing, looking a sight ridiculous as they whirled and twirled about the floor. The Tyrell girl stood a good six inches above her husband, and though Tommen proved surprisingly adequate at dancing, he lacked Joffrey's easy grace. And no sooner was he done that Margaery's cousins all swooped in, one after another, all insisting that His Grace must dance with them as well. They will have him stumbling and shuffling like a fool by the time they're done, Cersei thought resentfully. Half the court will be laughing at him behind his back.
Finally, when he was done with the cousins, Tommen danced with the Dornish whores, finishing with Lady Arianne, who seemed all too eager to provoke Tommen with her harlotry. Still, Cersei was glad for it if only to witness the flash of distress on Margaery's face as she watched them whilst dancing with her brother Loras. They could be twins, Cersei thought as she watched them. They looked the perfect pair. A ripe crop of pimples would teach them some humility.
Cersei was interrupted from her reverie by her own twin, "Would Your Grace honour her white knight with a dance?"
She gave him a withering look and refused, making to refill her cup. Cersei refused Mace Tyrell, and later Lancel. The others soon took the hint. Our fast friends and loyal lords. She could not even trust the westermen, her father's sworn swords and shields.
Tommen approached her, then, and asked her to dance. It was not a request she could refuse, she knew, and she forced a smile on her face and stood and entered the floor with him. They began to slowly twirl to the music, and Tommen leaned forwards and whispered in her ear, "You look anxious. Or drunk."
"I'm fine," she said, much too curtly.
"No," Tommen asserted, "You're not. But I think I know what's troubling you. It's Margaery, isn't it?"
Cersei stiffened, and then forced herself to relax as she continued to twirl, "The bedding-"
"-Is necessary. We've been through this, mother. I need their loyalty, and this is by far the best way to get it."
"I do not believe the girl is a maid," she blurted out, echoing the concerns she had voiced to Jaime. "Renly had a cock, did he not?"
Tommen offered a half-shrug in response, "What of it? Father's wedding to you did not stop him enjoying other women. So long as she is virtuous from now on, and I can be assured of the parentage of any children she bears me, it hardly matters."
Cersei resisted the urge to scowl, "Robert bedding me did not keep me loyal."
Tommen smirked as their dance wound down, "Don't worry, mother," he said as he kissed her cheeks. "I won't moan another's name as I finish."
She could have slapped him.
Their dance ended, his words leaving her simmering with rage as she watched her son walk over to his table to nibble on some applecake. She returned to her seat, finishing her cup of wine hastily, stomach unsettled by the reminder of her son's knowledge. She scowled again as she saw him share a laugh with his bride. Margaery is spying on me. When Senelle came to refill her cup, the Queen had to resist the urge to throttle her. Do not presume to smile at me, you traitorous little bitch. You will be begging for mercy before I'm done with you.
"I think Her Grace has had enough wine for one night," she heard Tyrion say.
No, Cersei thought, all the wine in the world would not be enough to see me through this wedding. She rose so fast she almost fell. Jaime caught her arm and steadied her. She wrenched free and clapped her hands together, preventing Tommen from doing the same later. The music died, the voices stilled, "Lords and Ladies," Cersei called out loudly, "if you are so good as to come outside with me, we shall all light a candle to celebrate the union of Highgarden and the Iron Throne, and a new age of peace and prosperity for our Seven Kingdoms."
Tommen had arranged the display, and in a moment of pettiness, Cersei hoped it would fail. Let it set the city alight. We will build a new palace, across the river. Away from this cesspit. Hells, for half a groat I would move the capital from here to Lannisport and rule the realm from Casterly Rock.
Laid out on the floor were queer little paper lanterns, resembling little onions in shape, of Tommen's own design. They were available in every colour possible, of which she had selected a red one. Servants came through the crowd, handing out small stumps of candle, the wicks lit. Slobber accidentally set his on fire, and was left bereft of any lantern. She placed the stump in the little basket, taking care not to set the paper alight.
Tommen looked about him, to see if all the lords had prepared their lanterns correctly, "On my word, yes? One, two, three!"
Tommen wafted his lantern up into the breeze, and hundreds more soon followed. The lanterns rose into the night sky slowly leaving it alive with light, red, yellow, orange, green, blue. A symbol of the unity of the realm, the King had said. The Queen could see the lights drift across the sky, as if stars themselves. Some of the ladies gasped, others cheered. Many, including herself, were gripped with wonderment at the sight.
It's beautiful, she thought, as beautiful as Joffrey, when they laid him in my arms. No man had ever made her feel as good as when she had felt when he had taken her nipple in his mouth to nurse.
Tommen gazed at the sight solemnly, until Margaery whispered something in his ear that made him chuckle. Some of the knights began to place bets on how long it would be before they began to disappear.
"It's a pretty sight, I'll grant you," Lady Olenna said after a while, leaning on her cane. "Pretty enough to see us off to bed happy, I think. Old bones grow weary, and these young ones have yet more excitement awaiting them on this one night. It is time the King and Queen were abed."
"Yes," Tommen beckoned to Jaime, "Lord Commander, escort us to our pillows, if you would."
The three left, and Cersei stood alone, watching the little stars drift away and all blink out, one by one.
...
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