Chương 86: Chapter 86

She woke up first. It was a very cold night. "Ned, love, wake up." She said and stood up. The chill was biting that night. No one had left Winterfell in two weeks. It was too cold to venture outside. Real winter had set in. The last ravens brought good and bad news. Tyrion and Sansa were fine but they were forced to stay in Riverrun until it was less cold. The Tyrells demanded to have Eddard. The queen swiftly rejected that suggestion. It was declared that Eddard would be fostered in Winterfell and leave for the Vale when he was five and ten.

They heard the screams from the queen's quarters. They followed Luwin. "Her grace has started the labor."

"Is it not too soon?" Ned asked.

Maester Luwin entered the chambers. "Where is Jon?" Cersei asked.

"I assume, he is inside." Ned replied.

Cersei saw as the handmaidens entered the quarters. "I am going in." She said and marched inside.

Daenerys Stormborn was sweaty and clutched her belly in a painful way. "Get out." Cersei said to her son. "You are not helping; you are making her worry." Cersei pushed a scared looking Jon.

Daenerys looked at her, "thank you. He thinks something bad will happen."

"Nothing bad will happen" Cersei pulled her hair back and sat by her.

The maester asked the queen to open her legs. "Your grace is not fully ready yet. Do not push."

Daenerys nodded, "what do I do now?" She asked.

The maester smiled. "You wait and breathe."

"Walking helps." Cersei said and helped her walk around the room. Daenerys went around the room a couple of times. It must have been at least forty minutes before the pain was unbearable.

"I have to push now." Daenerys hissed at the maester.

"Not yet." The older man said.

The girl looked at her for support. "You have to wait a bit more."

She said in a very soothing voice. Cersei offered her hand and wiped off her forehead.

They breathed together and waited for the maester's instructions.

The man asked her to push and so the queen of Westeros did.

It was painful, Cersei knew it was. Daenerys labored for another twenty minutes before the babe made her appearance.

She was a beautiful baby girl who did not cry. The maester had a somber face. "There is no crying." Daenerys said tonelessly.

"My son is dead." She continued.

The maester wrapped the babe and cut the cord. "I am so very sorry your grace. You have to push once more." The man said. He gave the babe to one of the handmaidens.

The queen nodded and pushed once more. She was eerily quiet as they cleaned her. Cersei walked to the maiden and asked to see the babe. She was beautiful, pale but a chubby baby. She would have been a wonderful little girl Cersei thought.

She took her to the queen. "You have to be brave and see her." Lady Stark gently said.

"No." The girl turned away.

Cersei pressed on. "You will never forgive yourself if you do not see her." The older woman finished.

Daenerys' back tensed or so Lady Stark thought. "Sit up." Lady Stark said calmly. "Look at your babe."

The queen received the little bundle and traced her face. "We have to bury the babe." The maester said quickly.

Lady Stark glared at the man, "Not yet." She said. Cersei would never forgive him for taking Joffrey so soon.

"Leave, all of you now." Cersei said with a hint of steel.

Daenerys Stormborn cried then. She cried and held the baby to her. Cersei let her and waited. "I do not know the color of her eyes. She will never see me." The young queen sobbed.

"What am I going to tell Jon?" Daenerys said.

Cersei shook her head. "I will tell him. Do you want him now?"

"No, can I stay with her a bit longer, alone?" Daenerys held the dead babe.

"Of course." Cersei left the quarters. Ned and Jon were somber. "It is dead, isn't it?" Jon said

Lady Stark nodded, "You had a daughter." She said quietly.

Jon looked down and sat defeated. "It has to be a punishment from the Gods. It is not natural. She is my aunt. It is not to be. We were foolish."

Cersei sighed. "She is distraught and does not want to see you. If it is any consolation, the babe was fully formed. She is beautiful." Jon nodded.

"Where are you going?" She asked when he left for the halls.

"I have to clear my head a bit." He said sadly.

Ned nodded. They stayed in the halls. "Maybe it is punishment." Ned said quietly as they went back to their quarters.

"Mayhaps." Cersei replied. She was tired and sad.

Cersei went to bed with Ned. She found that she could not sleep. The woman stood up and went by the queen's quarters once more. She entered and found Daenerys sitting down by herself.

The queen looked up, "Jon took her. He said that he had to bury her in the weirwoods. Why not in the crypts? Your babies were there."

Cersei nodded, "Do you want to have her in the crypts?"

Daenerys' eyes filled with tears, "no, it's damp and ugly. We buried Aenys in the snow. It was a beautiful clearing. I want her in the woods too."

Cersei felt pity and sadness for the girl. She was alone, as alone as she had been when she lost Joffrey. Jon was unavailable to Daenerys at the moment. He was selfish when this girl needed him the most.

"I named her Rhaella." Daenerys explained.

"Your mother was beautiful." Cersei gently and patted her hand. She did not add that the woman had also been hauntingly sad looking as well.

"Jon hugged me and kissed my forehead. He left me." Daenerys replied softly.

"He had to bury Rhaella." Cersei excused him.

Daenerys nodded. "I do not think he is coming back." She said hollowly.

"Do you want him to come back?" Cersei asked.

The queen shook her head. "I do not think I can see him without crying."

"Let me draw you a bath." Cersei said carefully. The girl was unresponsive.

Cersei had the maidens work quickly and quietly. Soon it was time for the dragon queen to get into the water. Cersei washed her quickly; she untangled her hair and braided the long silver mane. The girl was pliant as if in a haze.

"Thank you." She said carefully.

The conqueror of Westeros looked minute in that bed. She was about to leave when the girl stopped her. "Could you stay with me? Just for tonight."

An orphan girl, starved for love and attention. Cersei remembered how it was. How alone she felt. She remembered bitterly how much she missed her mother when she was young. She had aunt Genna; this girl never had anyone.

"Of course." Cersei gently moved her to the side of the bed and rested next to her.

Cersei sang to her as she used to do for her children when they were very little. She played and soothed the girls head. She used to braid and play with Joanna and Arya's hair.

"Thank you very much Lady Stark."