"A sinner comes before you." He does indeed, I thought, for there stands the man who hurt the most precious thing in my life. Cersei was wearing the same linen shift I had last seen her in, although she herself seemed to have been cleaned up. Her eyes failed to hide her fear, looking out anxiously on the crowd that leered at her like vultures ready to devour someone already dead. Her jaw was set, biting back curses and tears alike that threatened to spill out at the whole of this situation, at the perversion of it, the injustice she had been dealt. And her hair, oh, her hair! Gone were the golden locks that had always smelled of lavender and been soft as silk, crudely chopped off to leave only a ragged crown of dirty strands. She was still the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. "Cersei of House Lannister, mother to His Grace King Tommen, widow of His Grace King Robert. She has committed the acts of falsehood and fornication." And how truthful are you, your High Holiness? How many lies have you told to make your followers love you, how many false promises of honor and righteousness? "She has confessed her sins and begged for forgiveness." I gritted my teeth. Cersei did not beg. This man was showing the world a spurious image of her, and the worst part was that he was able to, just like that. "To demonstrate her repentance, she will cast aside all pride, all artifice, and present herself as the gods made her-" A shiver ran down my spine. He couldn't mean...? Of course he could. He was the High Sparrow. "-to you, the good people of this city. She comes before you with a solemn heart, shorn of secrets, naked before the eyes of gods and men, to make her Walk of Atonement." I saw Cersei swallow. She was no longer looking at the crowd, but at the Red Keep, towering high above the city, a beacon of hope. Two septas approached her from behind and tugged the linen shift down roughly. Cersei, to her immeasurable credit, did not flinch, but I did. Rage boiled up in me like flowing lava, searing my veins and my bones. This was not for the commoners' eyes, nor the septas', nor the High Sparrow's, for no one's but mine. They had laid her bare for all the city to see as I had bared her so many times in the seclusion of our chambers, safe and alone. They had taken any and all privacy from her in an instant. They had stripped that most intimate of revelations of its sacrality. And I would make them pay for it. One septa gave Cersei a push and she stumbled forward one defiant step. Another shove had her slowly starting down the grand stairs of the sept, and the septa began speaking a one-word mantra. "Shame." The High Sparrow smiled slightly as Cersei passed him, vicious bastard that he was. Shame. Shame. Shame. A bell joined the shout, and Cersei reached the edge of the crowd. Two Sparrows cleared her path, but the people were still close enough to touch her. Pushing through the sea of bodies, I followed the procession with some struggle, wondering if it would be better to let Cersei see me or not. If she showed any reaction and the members of the Faith discovered me... our cover would be blown. Best to stay hidden, then.

Shame. Shame. Shame. After a few moments, several individuals joined in, throwing insults and obscenities at Cersei. My beautiful Cersei. I could already see her eyes growing damp, not quite forming tears yet, but only thanks to her iron determination and composure. Soon it was not only words being thrown, but waste of all sort - food or bodily. People exposed their own naked bodies to her, and some started grabbing and shoving her. I wanted nothing more than to intervene, to stand between her and the horde, to strike at the hands reaching for her (and perhaps also the corresponding faces) and shield her from the foul projectiles. But of course, that was impossible. So all I did was push past shoulder after shoulder, take a few elbows to the ribs in the chaos and let my unbearable frustration and anger out by retaliating, hard. Elbowing people left and right made for a much faster way to progress, too, and I could keep up with my queen and her tormentors without trouble now. She had given up on dodging the sludge flying her way, and something else had to have hit her too, because a small spot of blood had formed in her hairline. Her face displayed more and more the despair and humiliation she was feeling, yet she still did not cry. Shame. Shame. Shame. Someone beside me lunged forward to spit in her face, and with a growl, I pushed him to the ground. Mess with the lion and you draw the wolf's wrath. A few heads turned, but none that would condemn me. The Sparrows were doing their share too, beating down on the ones that went too far out of line. I had no sympathy for them. This was my Cersei they were attacking. The tears started falling now. I heard her quiet whimper even above the roaring crowd, and the sound cracked my heart clean in two. A Sparrow was shoved back by a commoner and stumbled into Cersei. She lost her balance and fell to her knees, staying on the ground for a moment with heaving breaths and closed eyes, before lifting her tear- and blood-stained face to the Red Keep on the horizon once again. A mingle of agitated onlookers and Sparrows barred the way, but Cersei's eyes were transfixed by the sandy fortress above. That's the spirit, I thought, don't let them get the best of you. You are a lioness, you will not cringe for them. Albeit with hunched shoulders and bloody footprints in her wake, she walked on, letting the tears fall freely but not giving the leeches the satisfaction of looking their way or lowering her head. We were getting close to the entrance of the Keep now, I could see the Goldcloaks up ahead. Evading the Sparrow assigned to guard me outside had been easy enough, I had simply snuck out a servants' entrance by the kitchens. It took more than that to follow me. But now I had to get back in, and I had no time to go through the faraway kitchens again. I had to be there for Cersei as soon as she came in. 

Speeding up, I made myself as small as possible and squeezed under people's arms rather than barging through them. Soon, I was out of the throng and found myself facing the wall of the courtyard. There was a window up ahead, but there was no way I would reach it in this dress. Still, it was the only entrance I could see nearby... The fabric gave an ugly crunch as I tore it and prayed I had learned enough from Bran to do this. Tying the loose strips up around my legs, I searched the wall for handholds, finding two protruding bricks to my satisfaction. I pulled myself up and huffed at the sudden strain of supporting my full weight on my hands, but I managed to set my feet on another ledge. Awkwardly crouched up against the wall, I made my way up as fast and safely as I could until I could swing my legs over the windowsill. I gave myself no time to breathe, briefly checked the distance to the ground on the other side and lowered myself down, jumping the last bit once I was dangling by my arms. I untied the scraps of my dress as I was running, hoping I would still reach the entrance before Cersei. Kevan Lannister looked at my dishevelled state (and likely general presence) in irritation, but I paid him no mind. I had come not a moment too soon: the door was opened and Cersei stepped through. She had broken down into sobs by now and I saw that she could barely walk. Qyburn rushed toward her with a blanket, but I was faster. Taking the coverture from him before he could protest, I crashed into her and wrapped her in my arms and the blanket at once. "My love", I whispered in her ear so quietly even she could barely hear it, my voice breaking, "oh, my love." She clung to me like to a lifeline, her knees finally giving out, and I carefully sunk to the floor with her while she cried into my shoulder. "You're okay now", I told her, stroking her wet and unfamiliarly short hair, "it's over. You're safe." I noticed vaguely that neither her uncle Kevan nor Grandmaester Pycelle nor any of the assembled Lannister soldiers had made a move to help or comfort Cersei, only Qyburn and I. But it did not matter right now, all that mattered was that she was here, she was alive and free and she would be fine. Qyburn came up behind me, placing a hand on Cersei's shoulder. "Your Grace, it's good to have you back", he said softly. "Come, we'll take you inside. I need to have a look at those feet." The noise of heavy metal boots on stone made both Cersei and me look up. "May I have the honor of presenting the newest member of the Kingsguard?" I recognized the man walking toward us, but it couldn't be - he had died, I had watched him die! But Gregor Clegane seemed undoubtedly alive as he picked Cersei up out of my arms and carried her back into the Keep, Qyburn and I following the two of them. "If it please Your Grace, he has taken a holy vow of silence. He has sworn that he will not speak until all His Grace's enemies are dead and the evil has been driven from the realm." Knowing I would be of no help during Qyburn's examination, I squeezed Cersei's hand. "I'll be waiting in your chambers. We'll talk then."

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It felt like fate was not on Cersei's side for the time being. After all she had endured at the hands of the Faith, it seemed unfair that the gods should have even more cruelty planned for her. I had just heard the news of Jaime and Myrcella's return from Dorne. Cersei had known, even then, she had known that it wasn't a good idea to send her daughter to a place where her family was that hated. But Tyrion had of course known better, had claimed it would be safe, had rendered Cersei unable to prevent it, and that falsely placed trust had brought Myrcella's dead body to our shores today. I entered Cersei's chambers not knowing what I'd find. The Walk of Atonement had left her both more vulnerable and more resilient than ever. I couldn't predict which side of her would react to these news, although I bet on the former. I was right. "Do you remember the first time you saw a dead body?", she asked without looking up. Her haircut had been tidied up the day of her return, framing her face as graciously as ever. She was wearing the necklace again the only copy of which Myrcella had possessed. "A kitchenmaid dropping dead in the yard", I replied quietly. "Wasn't pretty." "For me it was my mother", Cersei said as I took a seat beside her. "All I could think about when she died was what would happen to her now. Every day, every night: what does mama look like now? Has she started to bloat? Has her skin turned black? Have her lips peeled back from her teeth?" She shook her head with her eyes squeezed shut against the tears and I began stroking her back. "I think about locking Myrcella in a crypt. I think about her beautiful little face starting to collapse-" "Don't", I interrupted her gently. "Don't think about it." "I have to", Cersei whispered, "I have to, it's not right that she has to suffer alone." "She's not suffering", I said and took her hand into mine, "she's gone. No one can hurt her anymore." Cersei looked up at me through a veil of tears. "She was good. From her first breath she was so sweet. I don't know where she came from, she was nothing like me. No meanness, no jealousy, just good." "You don't honestly think of yourself like th-", I began, but Cersei continued. "I thought if I could make something so good, so pure... maybe I'm not a monster." "You're not", I said emphatically, cupping her face with both of my hands. "You are no monster, Cersei. I can see perfectly well how she's your daughter. You love your family, you would do anything for them, there is good in you-" "And yet I lose them", Cersei said desperately. "I fail. The prophecy is coming true, and I can't stop it, I'll lose everything, it's all falling down." "It's not." I pulled her into my side. "I know it seems that way to you right now, but you have been through a lot of shit lately and are understandably panicking, and this is not the end." "You don't understand", she exclaimed. "I'm losing control! They won't even let me attend her funeral, did you know that? My daughter is dead because I couldn't stop my brother from selling her, I can't say goodbye to her properly, I was held captive and whipped through the streets like a whore, my own uncle steals the Small Council from me while I'm imprisoned and won't allow me to even attend it anymore - it's all slipping through my fingers, all I have worked towards. I- I'll kill them all!" She sobbed. "The Sparrows, the Martells, Tyrion - I want them all dead. I want them to suffer like I have, like Myrcella has." "Then I'll help you make sure that happens", I said without missing a beat. "We will find a way to fix this. And- and if we don't, it's still not the end. We'll run away, start a new life, somewhere where no one knows our names and we can live in peace. Fixing it or not, the only thing we have to deal with is the Faith. Our trial awaits." "Oh, worry not", Cersei waved the subject off, "the trial is the one thing that won't be an issue. With the Mountain reformed and sworn to Tommen, we'll win any trial by combat. That is our right, and we have the boundless advantage. It's what we do to those browbeating fanatics afterwards that should concern us. But I will think of something." She laid her head down on my shoulder. "Thank you", she said more quietly. I tightened my arm around her shoulder and placed my head on top of hers. "For what?" "For being here." "Always."