AN :
Next goal for another bonus chapter: 750 power stones! It's the weekend, so writing one will be like fighting a final boss… but hey, worth it, right?
In the Game of Stones, you either win or you wait. The more Power Stones you offer, the faster the chapters come.
...
( Cersei Lannister POV )
She did not like that the woman's huge household had taken up a massive portion of the Red Keep, with Essosi servants rushing about everywhere, and she did not like that the woman went about like she was already the queen, hardly deigning to look at anyone save Prince Rhaegar and the King.
No, Cersei didn't like that one bit.
...
It didn't help that the woman was prettier than her either (just for now, she told herself, she'd grow up to be prettier still), or that she was able to carry a spear around and no one dared insult her to her face about it. Oh, some of them whispered behind the Volantine woman's back of course, but even then, Cersei knew that they were far more accepting of it from Lady Valia than they would ever be if Cersei took up a sword publicly. Likewise for her two bodyguards, the women who stood near the height of Lord Baratheon and rippled with muscle, from some strange Essosi kingdom far east of even Volantis.
They had been mocked at first, for being warrior women and for their strangely accented High Valyrian. It was probably good that they didn't speak the common tongue. But that mockery and quieted significantly since the red-haired one had sparred with Ser Barristan of the King'sguard in the great courtyard. The Middle-Aged knight had still won in the end, but it had been a close-run thing, and many of the lords who had been so eager to wag their tongues before now kept such mockery to themselves.
Cersei wanted that. She wanted to be so powerful, so beautiful, and so strong and skilled that no one would ever dare to criticize her again, that any fool who thought to insult her in even the slightest of ways was laughed out of court, mocked, and died in ignominy and disgrace. That some Essosi woman was closer to that perfect dream than she was rankled her. Now she spied on Lady Valia from a mousehole beneath a cupboard in her quarters, listening carefully and hiding her breathing with her hand.
She could see the Volantine woman's bare feet, pale and thin, as she sat in her chair. Occasionally clumps of silvery blond hair were falling to the ground, as a servant, barefoot also, was giving the future queen a haircut.
"How exactly does your cousin expect me to give him such authority discretely Lyria?" The powerful voice of the dragon-blooded woman sounded frustrated. "I doubt it would go over well politically. I do not want to repeat the mess that made me leave Volantis in the first place."
"It's not… he doesn't wish for it to be a public affair at all my lady, only that once you are married to Prince Rhaegar and secure in your own position, you bribe some Gold Cloaks, make them look the other way at a few disappearances." The servant, so named Lyria said quietly. "He only needs a few to start, and it's not as if anyone cares if they disappear."
"Hmmph, he should be happy enough that I'll hold to the deal he made on your behalf." Lady Valia grumbled. "It is no small thing to share."
"I am certainly very thankful for that My Lady."
"Hmmph, you should be, it is no small ask, but a deal is a deal, and I suppose he did get me out of Volantis with most of my wealth intact," Valia said dryly. "Tell him I will consider it, next time you speak to him."
"As you will my lady," Lyria said graciously. "Would you like to see the back now?"
"Yes, show me in the mirror."
Cersei heard something clanking as she listened with interest. It seemed this servant woman, Lyria, was more than just a base maid, that and Lady Valia had apparently fled Volantis, not simply left to marry Prince Rhaegar. She pressed her eye eagerly against the peephole.
"Hmm, good job Lyria," Valia said approvingly. "Now gather up the hair. I'll need it for the blessing later."
"Of course my lady." Cersei saw small, pale hands begin to pick up the hair from the floor, scooping it up into a little leather satchel. "Do you intend to do it here?"
"Oh? No, they'll mind the blood. It was enough work cleaning it up the first time." Valia answered without missing a beat. "No, such things are better done in dark places anyway, Ulka has confirmed for me that no one will be in the palace dungeons tonight, and no one will mind the blood there."
Cersei gasped, what sort of blessing would leave the floor bloody? She realized her mistake a moment later, as the sound had slipped out of her without thinking.
"Did you hear that?" Valia asked, stilling in her seat. Cersei saw the muscles in her heels tighten.
As panic raced up her spine though, Lyria answered in the negative. "Hmm? Oh, that's just the wind through the rafters. These Westerosi palaces are drafty, at times they even sound like moans."
"Tch, a savage kingdom truly." Valia groused. "Very well, I think it's about time, do you wish to accompany me for the blessing?"
"...I think I shall have to miss it tonight my lady, best I go speak to my cousin."
"He's a bad influence on you." Valia teased, before moving towards the door. "Ulka," she thumped her hand on the frame. "Ulka, I'll need a ride to the black cells."
Cersei frowned as the woman left the room… on the one hand, she'd already heard a lot here, but on the other, she knew exactly which tunnel went to the dungeons…
It didn't take long for curiosity to win out, and Cersei hurried through the cramped tunnels as she rushed along through the dust and cobwebs, batting them aside with her hand as if they weren't even there. The space was small, cramped, and more than a little bit dank as she worked her way down to the Castle Dungeons, far away from the Maiden vault which day next to the Godswood. The smell was thick and unpleasant as she passed lower and lower down the side of the hill, reaching the split in the tunnels that led to the various levels of the dungeons. Turning to her left, she shuffled down rough-hewn steps, her heart pounding in her ears.
The tunnel through the black cells had a low ceiling and ran above and between each of the cells, where their ceilings narrowed. Because of the high position of the peepholes, which were much smaller here and only built where certain bricks joined together, Cersei had an excellent view of the ritual Lady Valia was already constructing in these pits.
The blond Volantine stood with her red-haired bodyguard, Urga by her side, a bowl held in her hands, full of her own trimmed hair from earlier. As Cersei arrived, she had clearly already finished some preparations. Valia stood in the center of a ring of fourteen circles, holding the bowl against her stomach.
Cersei listened closely as she began to speak.
"Fourteen Gods for Fourteen Flames, hear the prayer of I, your blooded child, and turn your eyes to my hands as I make this offering."
A sort of supernatural stillness seemed to settle over the room as she spoke, and Cersei shuddered without knowing why.
"Fourteen Gods for Fourteen Flames, hear the words of I, your daughter!" The woman continued in Valyrian, raising the bowl of hair. "See now I bring you the flesh of a dragon, a sacrifice made on your altar of blood and fire."
Valia reached out and took Ulka's hand, and the massive Warrior woman at once took her knife and sliced her own palm. The wound quickly began to bleed, dripping into the bowl Lady Valia held out. Blood splattered too on the dark floor of the black cells, but Ulka didn't seem to mind, simply bandaging her hand quietly as Valia continued the ritual.
"Blood of Heroes freely shed, flesh of dragon freely given, take this daughter's sacrifice, Balerion Cloak of Wonder, bring forth new life in me Vhagar of Ash and Soot! shed your brilliant golden wings Meraxes Sky Tower! and restore my beauty Slehadaron Gem Laiden." Valia's voice reached a fever pitch now, and Cersei could only watch transfixed as she continued to work her dark magic. "BLESS ME NOW OH GODS OF MY ANCESTORS, LIGHT ME WITH YOUR FLAME ANEW."
There was a sudden screeching, like nails on a chalkboard, and the hair and blood burst into fire, and no ordinary fire at that, it was red as rubies and darker than a smith's flames. It flashed across Valia's body and her bodyguard's, driven by the sound of a steady heartbeat.
When the fire gradually faded from sight, Cersei could only tell that Lady Valia looked somewhat paler than before. An almost supernatural glimmer to her skin, her eyes glowing with golden light.
And that was about all that Cersei saw because no more than two seconds had passed before she was up again in the cramped tunnels and running now to her father's office. Her blood thundered in her ears.
Lady Valia was a sorceress! And a frightening one at that!
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