𝟐𝟕𝟑 𝐀𝐂, 𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐘 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊, 𝐖𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐒, 𝐖𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐒

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗢𝗥𝗡𝗜𝗦𝗛 𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗔𝗚𝗘 𝗪𝗔𝗦 𝗚𝗘𝗧𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗖𝗟𝗢𝗦𝗘𝗥 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗖𝗟𝗢𝗦𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗢 𝗖𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗟𝗬 𝗥𝗢𝗖𝗞. According to the scouts, they were bound to reach the gates on that day and as such, everything had to be meticulously prepared, including the children.

Cersei started throwing a fit – as usual – and so, Aunt Genna had to deal with that situation, leaving Cecilia and Jaime alone temporarily.

"Jaime, could you just stop moving, please?"

"Why must I wear these clothes? They are uncomfortable and they itch!"

Cecilia ignored her little brother's complaints as she did her best to fix them. Usually, the seamstress would do that task but she'd fallen ill, so she took it upon herself to fix them.

Of course that Jaime, being a very impatient little boy, would not stop moving. He had to complain about everything, the clothes, the fact that he had to wake up earlier than usual, as well as shaving his hair which was starting to get wilder and wilder. Their father wanted Jaime to look every inch the lordling, failing to understand what she herself had already figured – Jaime was a soldier and not a diplomat. All he wanted to do was to get his stick sword and run through the gardens, sparring with whoever accepted to do so with him.

Their father was patient though. He wanted Jaime to become the best man he could possibly become but Cecilia feared that the picture their father had painted was but a mere illusion, a dream that would not come true. Perhaps she was wrong, perhaps Jaime would be the best Lord of Casterly Rock... she hoped she was wrong or else... their father's legacy would crush him.

"We have guests, Jaime. They must see us for what we are – lions of the Rock. So, you will stop acting like a spoilt little boy and you will behave yourself?" she insisted in a sweet voice that hid her annoyance perfectly well.

Queen Rhaella had once told her that the greatest gift the Gods ever gave her was her wit as she could say the most unpleasant thing and make it sound a thousand times better. She had a way with words and with that, she could soften many blows and cheer many people.

Jaime stopped moving, watching her meticulously trying to fix the clothes he had become too thin to wear. "Stop using your lady's poison!" he said to her. Cecilia put down the needle and met her brother's eyes in utter confusion. It was no secret that her younger brother was a curious lad with a tongue sharp as the blade of a sword he had yet to learn how to wield, but she had no idea where he'd gotten that idea from or what he meant.

"What does that mean?" she asked, earning a shrug for a response.

"I don't know, I heard Uncle Gerion saying that to a woman," he explained. She grabbed her needle again, trying not to make much out of the picture. However, it was as though she could picture and hear her uncle say that and as the image came to mind, she burst in laughter. She put the needle down and covered her face with her hands.

Her Uncle Gerion was one of the funniest – if not the funniest – man she had ever met. She loved all her uncles very much but if she had to pick a favourite, she wouldn't hesitate in picking her Uncle Gerion. She loved to sit by the fire and listen to his absurd jokes about the most varied topics.

However, the truth was that her love for her family only increased after her mother's death. With her lord father always busy with matters of the King, it had been her uncles and aunts who had comforted her as she would rarely allow herself to weep in front of her siblings. She was the eldest and so, she had to hug them when they cried, not cry as they hugged her.

"You're so silly sometimes, Jaime!" Cecilia told him as she struggled to breathe. She forced herself to stop laughing, knowing that they were running out of time. She took her needle and finished, at last, the stitches.

"Is it over?" he asked as she put down the needle once more. Cecilia nodded, watching him lift his hands, praising the moment.

She rolled her eyes and stood up, placing her hands on her brother's shoulders. "Please be a good boy while Princess Nymeria and her children are here. She was our mother's dear friend, we shall welcome her as she would. And her children... let's befriend them as our mother would have liked, please"

Jaime looked at his feet and then at her again before sighing. "Fine! Can I go now?" he asked impatiently, rolling his eyes at her. She surprised him by giving him a peck on the cheek, which he jokingly cleaned, faking disgust. In return, she hugged him as tightly as she could and filled him with kisses. "Stop, Cecilia! Enough of that!" he screamed at her as he tried to free himself from her grasp, eventually managing to do so and setting himself on her, tickling her.

Cecilia broke in laughter as she tried to run away from him but alas, it was hopeless as Jaime was much stronger than she was – something that came as quite the shock for her.

"STOP JAIME!" she screamed. He didn't stop though, to the point where she already had tears in her eyes out of laughing so much. "Please, please... you win!"

Jaime seemed pleased with that, letting go of her. She was quick to get away from him, in case he tried to do that again. "Never do that again!" she warned him threateningly with her index finger pointed at him and her eyes slightly narrowed. He lifted his arms in surrender and slowly, Cecilia cleaned the tears from her eyes, heading towards the mirror so that she could fix her hair that was now a mess.

"Would you see to Cersei for me? She is still mad at me" she asked Jaime. From the mirror, she could see his sadness as she said the last part. She shared the same sorrow. She missed her sister very much and there was nothing she wouldn't do to have her back.

What hurt Cecilia more in the middle of everything was how she was growing used to it, to her sister's burning hatred that was so great, she would avoid her, ignore her and eventually, insult her when they were forced to be in the same place for a long time.

"You know how Cersei is, she will come around," he told her, stroking her back as he tried to comfort her. She appreciated the attempt but in truth, it did little to nothing, which he seemed to notice as well. "And even if she doesn't, who cares about her when you have me and Tyrion?" he asked, elbowing her playfully. She gave him a small smile.

"You do. You love her so much, you are the closest people I have ever seen... it's like together you are one..." she said as she reflected upon her two siblings. She wished she had someone like that, who cared so much that would move mountains for her. Unfortunately, she didn't have many friends... she only had one and he was not her brother. "Besides, you must think very highly of yourself!"

"Always!" he joked at her as he brushed his golden hair with his fingers. "And says the girl who is the best friend to the Prince of Dragonstone. You two would spend your lives together if you could! I even think you love him more than you love me!"

Cecilia would have responded but before she could say anything, their aunt knocked on the door and opened it. "Cecilia, Jaime, they're coming"

She stood up back on her feet and held Jaime's hand.

Together, both walked towards the main yard, where they would greet the Martells, along with some of their aunts and uncles, and their sister of course.

As the self-centred little girl that she was, Cersei had been the first to be there, accompanied by her cousins, who were far too foolish to say anything on the contrary.

They both stood by her side, yet Cersei refused to be next to her sister, moving to edge of the row, having Jaime stand between both sisters. That action made Cecilia very sad since all she wanted was for her sister to forgive her and become her friend again. But Cersei wasn't forgiving and Cecilia knew she was likely not to ever speak to her again.

Cecilia could not show her sadness though. She had to be joyful and pleasant to their guests, she could not let her father down. After all, he had trusted her to welcome the Dornish Princess and her children. He had trusted her to represent her House and she could not disappoint him.

So, the lioness smiled again so graciously and brightly that it made Cersei nearly claw at Jaime's arm, who was not interested in the occasion in the slightest. He'd rather be sword-fighting with Uncle Tyggett or joking around with Uncle Gerion. Instead, he had to dress in clothes so tight and expensive that it could easily cause him to suffocate. He wore a red, velvet coat embroidered in luxurious gold and matching pants.

But his sisters wore completely different styles and completely different gowns.

Cersei's gown was a typical western gown, sort of a kimono-like dress just as bright as Jaime's coat, embroidered with the same gold.

Cecilia's, on the other hand, was a dress typically seen at court. It was a silky sort of dress, with bubble sleeves and a heart-shaped neckline. It was gold and embroidered in a darker tone of gold, there were details of lions and vines that showed the power and wealth of House Lannister. Whoever saw her would say she was a Princess in her own right, though there was no truth in those affirmations.

That dress had been a dress that the Queen herself had gifted her with and she saw fit to wear it to the occasion. It had been her mother's favourite dress and she saw fit to wear something her mother would have wanted her to wear in such an important day.

The carriage arrived. Unlike the ships Cecilia would see sailing back in forth between Lannisport and Sunspear, there was not a sun pierced with a spear, nor was it bright yellow and orange like the sigil of House Martell, which led her to believe that they had been travelling by sea.

When the carriage stopped, Cecilia anxiously waited for someone to get out of it. Her heart was beating the fast it had ever beaten. She could not say if it had been because of the anxiety or the excitement but whatever the case was, the few seconds it took before the door was opened seemed like hours.

A man and woman around her mother's age climbed out of the carriage. The woman wore a dress in light silks that made the little lioness feel extremely overdressed. The dress of the Dornish Princess was bright orange and had some details of yellow that gave her the feeling of the warm sun that would, many times, grace the Westerlands with its presence. However, lately, that wasn't the case anymore. The rain and the heavy clouds had taken that place in the sky and disgraced everybody with the melancholy and nostalgia of the running down, cold, heavy water. Surprisingly enough though, the sun was shining in the sky, though very shyly, as if the Martells had brought their sun with them and gifted the West with a little light that had been missing since the death of Joanna Lannister.

Along with the beautiful dress, the Princess of Dorne wore a veil to cover up her hair, which disappointed Cecilia. In her years in the Capitol, she had never seen a woman covering her own hair with a veil, there was always a headpiece, and the concept came by as very foreign to her. She wondered why the woman would try to hide her hair with that, especially since a little of it could still be seen as bright and healthy hair.

Another thing that caught Cecilia's attention was the fact that the Princess's skin was far darker than her own... than anyone she had ever seen. Maester Creylen had taught her that in Dorne there were three different ethnicities and that the Martells were Salty Dornish, which meant that they had darker skin than the rest of the people due to their Rhoynar ancient culture.

She had listened to people talking about the Targaryen and the Lannister beauty, but in her eyes, there was something truly fascinating about the way people of Dorne looked like. Their difference didn't come to her as a bad thing.

The Dornish Princess walked with her hand on top of the man's hand, who Cecilia assumed was the Prince Consort.

After the Dornish Princess, her daughter followed. Cecilia instantly knew that was Elia Martell, with her tender appearance and sweet smile, which was different from her mother's. She took after her father rather than her mother, but their skin was the same colour all the same.

Finally, a boy left the carriage and stopped by his sister's side – Oberyn Martell, she was sure. Unlike Elia, Oberyn took after his mother. He had the same eyes as her, not only the colour but the piercing gaze, as well. He was tall and athletic and had a smirk on his face that made Rhaegar's timid smile be left in the shadows.

For a moment, Cecilia stood in awe at the Dornish Royal Family, trying her best not to stare but being almost unable to do so. It was only the words of her father in her head that made her regain her composure.

She could not let him down.

"Princess Nymeria, it is our greatest pleasure to welcome you into our lands of the West. My Lord Father would have greeted you himself but due to matters of the King, he was unable to be here. Yet he wanted you to know that you are most welcomed at Casterly Rock"

The Princess of Dorne could not help but feel familiar with the little girl's tone. It was as soft as the bird's singing and as tender as the Mother's own voice. She didn't know if it was because of the little girl's child voice or because she had inherited it from her mother, but what the Princess could say for sure was that the gentle smile in the lion cub's face belonged to Joanna Lannister, just as her hair and features. But her eyes were different, she had the eyes of her father, attentive to detail and focused.

She had once held that girl when she was a baby, and now, almost ten years later, Cecilia Lannister had grown up to be as gracious and as delicate as her late mother who was too beloved by those who surrounded her, but who had closed her eyes way too soon, nonetheless.

"I am Cecilia Lannister and these are my siblings, Jaime and Cersei Lannister"

Nymeria smiled.

She knew all about the Lannister children, except for the last one. She knew everything about her friend's pregnancies, including the pregnancy of the little girl who was born dead – Shaena.

Her friend would often write to her and, between her matters of governance, she would always take some time to write back. So, she knew how obedient Cecilia was, how willful Jaime was and how close he was to his twin, Cersei, whom Joanna described as being too vain for Tywin's liking.

They were all as beautiful as their mother had described them but not half as little, especially Cecilia. The loss of her mother and the exigence of her Lord Father had shaped her into a more mature girl than she should be at her age, making her grow up way too fast.

"Thank you for your welcome, Lady Cecilia. We understand your Lord Father is a very busy man and his absence is more than justified," the Dornish Princess replied amazed by the little girl's maturity. She admired her, for a second, but also pitied her. A girl whose childhood and innocence had been stripped away due to the cruelty of the Gods. "In any case, I would like you to meet two of my children – Princess Elia and Prince Oberyn of House Martell. As well as my husband, Nymor Dalt, Prince Consort of Dorne"

Cecilia smiled at the man standing next to the Princess and nodded in acknowledgement.

"It is our pleasure to meet you, Prince Nymor", she said with a nod. "And it is very nice to meet both of you, Prince Oberyn and Princess Elia"

Oberyn observed as the girl her mother had spoken about. She had rich green eyes, as green as any Lannister but much more passionate than those of her siblings.

She was considerably tall for her age, being yet flat-chested and was as skinny as a spear. Overall, she was still a child, a little girl with no age to carry out such heavy burdens as the sense of duty that she seemed to carry. Despite being so young, she behaved like a woman, having a sense of warmth in her heart that overshadowed those who surrounded her and irradiated them.

"We trust that you are hungry from your journey, so we've taken the liberty of preparing a small banquet in the gardens," the little lioness offered kindly.

"Thank you, Lady Cecilia, but I fear I will not partake in such a lovely banquet. Age weights on me and I got way too tired from the journey," the woman politely refused. Cecilia did not expect that and neither did her Aunt Genna, who gave the woman a stiff look. "Nevertheless, my children would love to attend, I'm certain and..."

"I shall see to my wife if you would not mind," Prince Nymor said devotedly and affectingly to his Princess-wife.

"Very well then. Follow the handmaidens, they shall show you to the chambers we have prepared for you," Cecilia's eyes met Genna Lannister's, who seemed displeased with her niece's choice. However, she knew Genna was not the most welcoming person, she had a strong character that Cecilia admired but that other people most likely didn't.

And she wasn't wrong, Genna knew as much. In her eyes, the young lioness was definitely Tywin's daughter, if that had ever even been in question. She knew what decisions were right to be made and when they were, though their attitudes were very different.

Tywin, at the age of ten, was the one who spoke against her betrothal to the foolish Emmon Frey, making even old Walder Frey intimidated with his authority.

Cecilia was different though. She was just as smart as her father but far sweeter than he ever could. She has such promise, Genna thought, I'm sure she would become the greatest Queen the Seven Kingdoms would have ever seen if she was ever given the chance. Perhaps even greater than Queen Alysanne, the Good Queen.

"Shall we go? The day is lovely to catch some sun," the young girl suggested, earning a nod from all of them. Cersei and Jaime had decided to walk by their aunt's side in the back, whereas Cecilia had decided to walk with the Dornish Prince and Princess. "I have always been curious, how is Dorne like? Unfortunately, I was never given the chance to visit your country"

"It is a hot, dry country full of sand," Elia said in a sad tone, earning a pitied look from Cecilia. However, then she giggled and Cecilia slowly smiled as she realized the Dornish Princess was joking. "I'm japing! It is lovely, you would love it, I'm sure. Though it is not a lie that Dorne is full of sand, it is still a wonderful place full of people whose blood runs feverishly and passionately"

"It sounds like a wonderful place indeed" she politely replied, despite not being convinced of that. They needed not know about that.

"Perhaps you'll come to live there" the Prince pronounced himself for the first time during the conversation. Cecilia was speechless, she didn't know what he meant by that, so she decided to ignore it upon their arrival to the Rock's gardens where she would so eagerly play with her siblings. Baby Tyrion did not join them for the time being since he was still very weak in health, but she hoped he would soon join her during her readings.

"We want to play!" Cersei told her sister who sighed and nodded, agreeing to it. Cecilia saw no point in arguing, especially at that moment. Cersei was the kind of person that got whatever she wanted, which disappointed the eldest lioness. She had wanted a sister to have someone to talk to, someone who would understand her but it seemed that even Tyrion could fill that place more than the young girl herself.

So, as soon as both siblings started running after the other, Cecilia was left alone with Princess Elia and Prince Oberyn, not having much to talk about with them.

For a moment, she wished her mother was still there. She missed her to the point that her heart ached from it. Every night she would close her eyes and dream about her loving smile or the warm kisses, sometimes even those times where she would sing to her and to her siblings.

Now she was gone, buried under Casterly Rock. She would never hug her children and they were never going to feel her maternal hugs whenever they would get into quarrels.

"Eat as much as you like, we want you to feel at home," she offered as she noticed them waiting at her. They sat on the table where she would break her fast with her family, whenever the sun shone high in the sky. She had done that many times but ever since her mother had died, no one even dared come outside and eat in the joyful way Lady Joanna would.

If it depended on her, Lady Joanna would have all her meals in the gardens, which was the reason why Lord Tywin had commanded that a large table should be kept by the fountain. That way he could break his fast with his Lady wife whenever he was home, and whenever he wasn't, she could still break her fast with her sisters by law, and later on, with her children.

Cecilia watched as both Prince and Princess grabbed a lemon cake for themselves, taking a strawberry one for herself. Those were Rhaegar's favourites, and they were hers as well.

They would sneak into the kitchens and steal some made for the Queen and her ladies. Then, they would hide behind the bushes in the gardens and eat them as they tried to control their laughter in order not to be caught.

"I hope everything is to your liking, Princess Elia and Prince Oberyn"

"Call me Elia," the girl asked as Cecilia nodded. "And he is Oberyn"

"Then enough of formalities, call me Cecilia"

Silence fell upon them. The only sound present was the laughter of the twins who were playing hide and seek, though they had little to no place to hide. Since Casterly Rock was located on top of a hill, flowers did not bloom easily in there. So, they had a field instead, with a fountain in the middle.

There had once been a heart tree placed in there, but it had been cut down many years before, just like all the others after the Andals defeated the First Men. The North was the only place that had the infamous heart trees which Cecilia had only seen in paintings. She wondered if she would ever see one in real life, though the answer was very clear to her – she would never see one because her Lord Father would never marry her to a Northern House.

"My mother told us you know Rhaegar Targaryen, the Prince of Dragonstone," Oberyn commented, breaking the silence between them. The Lannister girl's gaze was directed to him as she came back to reality from her own thoughts, nodding at the question.

"How is he? Is he as handsome as people say he is?"

Cecilia's cheeks felt warmer at Elia's question. She knew Rhaegar was handsome but there was so much more to him than that. He was sweet and loving, he had a melancholy in him that made his violet eyes gain a shade of nostalgia that could hypnotize anybody who would look him in the eye.

"Rhaegar is... the most gallant boy I have ever met," she said with admiration in her voice. Oberyn wrinkled his nose upon the description the young girl had given of the Prince.

He had never met Rhaegar Targaryen, all he knew about the Prince was what the merchants would say – that he looked like his mother, the Queen, that his eyes were the doom of many women and that his voice was as angelic as the Maiden herself.

Cecilia Lannister seemed to be very fond of the Prince, just as the merchants had said. Those two shall be husband and wife one day, the smallfolk would say. Singers will sing songs about them both and their tale of love and they will be better than King Jahaerys and Queen Alysanne.

Oberyn had come to realize that those rumours were untrue. Had they been true and they wouldn't be there, they would have returned to Dorne after being in the Reach while looking for suitors.

Joanna Lannister had wished that her daughter married Oberyn, that one of her daughters would. But Cersei was too young, in Oberyn's eyes, and Cecilia... he doubted that the infamous Lord Tywin Lannister would ever betroth her to him. After all, Cecilia Lannister was the Ruby of Casterly Rock, the West's Delight and therefore, he knew Tywin Lannister would have the ambition of marrying her to Rhaegar, which had probably been the reason why their friendship was so strong.

But why would Lady Joanna invite them to Casterly Rock though? Why would she ask them into her home and talk about marriage with his mother, a marriage between either Cecilia or Cersei and Oberyn as well as a marriage between Jaime and Elia?

"You must tell me more about the court, I've never been to King's Landing before!" Elia excitedly asked the young girl, who pretended to consider the Princess's request.

"It will be my pleasure"

Cecilia told Oberyn and Elia everything she knew about the court and the people she had met. From the kind and gentle Queen Rhaella to all the knights of the King's Guard and the majestic Iron Throne. She told them about the way the court functioned, how the ladies would follow the latest fashion and how beautiful they were as well. The King as a man of great authority that would be joined by his son when holding court. She even went as far as telling them how the people of the city were and how smelly the place was in general.

Yet, even when naming the less pleasant side of King's Landing, it was very noticeable how much she enjoyed being there. The excitement was mostly due to Rhaegar's presence but also due to some friends she had made throughout the years such as Stannis and Robert, although the later rarely ever visited court since he was being fostered at the Eyrie with Jon Arryn.

Cecilia did not hold back in the stories about the place either, going as far as telling them how much she enjoyed watching Prince Rhaegar walking in the streets and singing to the smallfolk, who loved the dragon prince very well.

Elia expressed eagerness to visit the place one day and would not stop asking questions about it but Oberyn did not share the same enthusiasm, going as far as not remotely trying to conceal his distaste towards it. Why he acted that way she could not tell but one thing was for certain, Oberyn Martell was a boy of strong ideals he would not budge on and Cecilia was unsure on what to make of that.

I'm back and this time with a story that has been requested and seemingly abandoned for far to long. I want to post more but as you know I have other stories and this one is harder for me to write. Also, with my Instagram (daughterofwinterfell if you wish to visit), things have been harder.

With that being said, Cecilia is here and I finally bring you the first part of the Dornish visit which unfortunately won't be featured for that long because there's a lot to cover in this story, so I must keep going.

I hope you have enjoyed this chapter, it was bound to be longer but if I were to put the Dornish visit in a single chapter, it would be way too long (we're talking about more than 10K words and nobody wants that). With that being said, I'm writing the next chapter. I know it's awful but I bid you to be patient.

For the time being, stay safe and I shall see you next time!

XOXO,

-BW