Red Keep
POV of Robert Baratheon
Robert Baratheon, King of the Seven Kingdoms, was nursing a hangover when he heard a knock at his door.
"Who is it Selmy?" he slurred out through the blasted headache and reached for another bottle of wine only to find it was out of his reach.
And he found himself not wanting to put an effort to lift his ass to get to it.
Where is the dumb cunt Lancel when he wanted a drink?
"It's Queen Cersei, your grace." Barristan Selmy's elegant and respectful voice came out from the outside.
"Send her in." He growled out as he wiped his face and tried to make himself look the slightest bit more decent. Although, he knew very well that the cold bitch he married would look at him with disgust anyway.
The door opened and Cersei entered the room like she owned the fucking place.
With so many Lannister cunts crawling around the keep these days, she might as well have owned the blasted Red Keep instead.
"What do you want so early in the morning?" he asked as he finally got up and reached for the wine he so desperately wanted.
She gave him a look that was filled with disgust as he removed the cork, took a swig off the bottle, and allowed the delicious wine to go to his gullet.
"Varys' spies informed him that they saw Bolton's flagship passing through the Weeping Water a month ago along with a few dozen other ships."
"What about it?" he asked with a burp. "The boy wants to go somewhere on his toy. Why do you care about any of that?"
"I care because this ship… Titanic is reported to be twice as large as the largest ship in the Royal Fleet and could hold three times the men."
"Titanic, hah! What a name. How come I never thought of such a good name for any of my ships." he mused to himself, only paying half a mind to anything that was spewing out of the cold bitch's mouth.
"You do not understand Robert. This ship is made of Ironwood. One of the most expensive woods in Westeros. The wood required to make such a ship alone would have cost hundreds of thousands of gold dragons."
"Penny pinching." He scoffed though internally he was starting to wonder how the boy lord could pay for such an expensive toy.
Did he take a hefty loan from the Iron Bank? Or maybe the old gods gave him the Ironwood for it, as they gave him everything else…. supposedly.
Well, perhaps the boy lord earned the golden dragons himself. He is a smart lad and started a lot of business. Lately, a lot of people have been talking about Bolton products.
Robert didn't care anyway. As long as the boy lord gave his taxes to Ned everything was good. And if the Boltons were up to anything they shouldn't, Ned would have told him already.
"Why do you care what the boy spends his gold on?"
"I care because the boy now has a large fleet that rivals both the Iron Fleet and the Royal Fleet combined. I care because I think the boy is preparing for a war."
"War? As if you care about any such things. Stop wasting my time and get to the point woman. What do you want?"
The bitch huffed at him like he was some simpleton who was not understanding the preaching of a maester. Fucking cunt.
"The Boltons have grown too rich. Too powerful. Too influential." She said in a calmer tone. "They already have the 2nd largest Fleet in Westeros. If House Bolton grows any more powerful, then they would pose a serious threat to your savage northern friend."
"Mind your words, woman." He warned her and said. "Ned is ten times the man your father will ever be. Or your brother for that matter." He took a wild delight in the rage burning in her eyes, even as she took a few deep breaths to calm herself down.
And truly, the fact that the Bolton boy has such a large fleet didn't bother him that much. If the boy ever thinks about rebelling, then he has Ned in the North to put the boy back in his place.
The boy's ships wouldn't be able to do anything against the full might of the North.
"The point I was making… is that the boy is a threat," Cersei said, forcing herself to remain calm. "You should not allow him to grow any more powerful."
He scoffed at her words. "And what do you want me to do? Take away his ships? Take away his lands?"
"No. If you do such a thing, your own lords will rebel against you." She said conspiratorially. "But… you can take away the glassmakers he stole from Myr. My father would even be willing to wipe away half of the loan you owe him if you give him those glassmakers"
"Hah!" he barked out a laugh, startling the woman. "So that's what you were after. His glass. Do you think I am a foolish man, woman? Would I tarnish my reputation to give more gold to your father?" He scoffed. "Get out of here and don't bother me unless you have something important to talk about."
The rage in the woman's expression was truly a sight to behold. And so much better than the disgusted face she usually wore.
She clenched her fists and for a moment it felt like she was trying to murder him with her glare. Hah! As if such a thing would work.
In the end, she simply snarled at him and visibly composed herself before leaving the room.
Ser Barristan moved out of the way. The old knight had more than enough brains to know not to get in front of her.
Truly… what a horrible woman he had married for the sake of the realm.
The realm should worship him for the sacrifice he had made by marrying the cold bitch.
If only Lyanna had not died. If only he was married to Lyanna instead of this cold bitch. His life would have been so much better. If only…
"Ser Barristan." He called out. "Send a man to Baelish. I want a few whores in my bed. Make them northerners."
The knight bowed and called out to one of the servants working in the Red Keep while he opened another bottle of Red Arbor and gulped it down in one go.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.115: Lannister Brothers
Ch.116: Last Missing Piece