[1940 Words]
—Westeros, in King's Landing, within the Red Keep, Axel Cambers, 291 AC—
"Go on, my prince. Her Grace was clear that you are not to leave your chambers. Ser Janos and I shall stand without. Call, and we will answer."
So spoke Barristan Selmy as he drew the heavy oak door shut. The latch settled with a muted thud. He and Janos Slynt took their posts before it, white cloak and gold cloak side by side, to remain until the king and queen themselves came to relieve them.
Axel Cambers stood alone in the heart of his chambers.
They were as fit a prince. The grand bed dominated the far wall beneath tall windows covered by a curtain, carved oak posts thick as a man's thigh, its canopy heavy with black and gold.
Lions and crowned stags were worked into the coverlets in thread that caught the candlelight. The mattress was wide enough to hold 5-6 people if need be, though it held but one.
Near the hearth lay a smaller withdrawing space, screened by carved panels: a place meant for counsel and quiet conversation in years to come. For now, Axel used it for meals away from prying eyes or for the rare peace of solitude, a refuge from the clamor of outside or the stench from outside.
Adjoining the main chamber were lesser rooms, tight but well-appointed, meant for squires, sworn shields, and trusted servants. Another chamber, tiled and discreet, served for washing and attire.
Copper basins, oils scented faintly of lavender and rosemary, combs of bone and horn, folded linens warmed by the hearth. (Nothing like the modern age, but they are not filthy.)
Rich tapestries lined the walls: hunts through autumn forests, battles fought beneath the midday sun, ships sailing through storm-tossed seas. Myrish carpets softened the stone beneath his boots.
A writing table stood near the window, scattered with parchment, quills, and a pot of black ink sealed in wax. Shelves filled with books bound in calfskin and gilt. Sword racks lined one wall, holding blades more for decoration than anything.
All of it is his.
Axel crossed the chamber without looking at any of it and threw himself upon the grand bed. The mattress enveloped him whole. He stared up at the carved beams above, tracing the knots in the dark wood.
'Why did I let my anger get the better of me?' he thought. 'I have always had a cooler head. A joke here and there, a few slights, I let them pass. Yet he made Myrcella cry… and I saw red.'
His jaw tightened at the memory.
'But why did I not stop? Why did I not stop when he was on the ground blooded? I would have beaten him far worse still if they had not dragged me off him.'
No one answered him. He was alone, just playing the events on repeat in his head for how long he did not know. His train of thought was cut off when a faint sound came.
A faint shifting sound came from the tall bookshelf to the right of his bed, the oak frame trembling as hidden hinges stirred behind rows of leather-bound books. The passage concealed there groaned open, and from it stepped his little sister, Myrcella, her pale gold hair catching the light. Persia rested in her arms, her tail swaying idly.
The moment Persia saw him, she wriggled free of Myrcella's hold and leapt from her arms, landing with a soft thud before running into his embrace. Myrcella's lips twisted into a pout, wounded pride plain upon her fair face.
"Oh, who's a good girl. Did you have fun with Myrcella? Did you cheer her up?" Axel murmured, nuzzling his nose against Persia's. The cat answered with a soft meow, her slit green eyes fixed upon him, most focused upon his own green eye.
Myrcella folded her arms, though the pout softened when she looked upon the gentler side of her elder brother's face. "So, big brother, I heard some people outside my door speak that you got into a fight with Joffrey," she said, lowering her voice as if the walls had ears, and in some cases, they do.
"How do you know that Myrcella it just happe..." he began, the words faltering the more he spoke, before he turned toward the narrow window. The sun was setting beyond the towers, the last of its light casting rays across the chamber.
A feeling of time displacement went through him.
"How much time has passed since the fight?" Axel asked, tightening his hold upon Persia without meaning to. He had not known how long he had been lost in his thoughts.
"It's been about 5 hours, and mother and father are arguing about you, or at least that's what the maids say."
Her words left Axel in a stunted silence. 'Five hours, is she serious? How long has it been?'
Axel let out a breath as he looked outside to the setting sun, five hours since he had beaten Joffrey, black, red, and blue. It took five hours for rumors to go throughout the Red Keep, to where even a princess in her room could hear it from maids.
Persia flicked her tail, but seeing his expression, she jumped out of his arms and ran back to Myrcella, who took her into her arms without a second thought.
"Go back and stay in your chambers tonight," he said after a few minutes of silence as Myrcella sat on a chair and played with Persia. "And don't listen to the rumors, while I did get into a fight with Joffrey, I would never do it to you, you know that, right, my dear, lovely sister, no matter what anyone says."
Myrcella tilted her head. "I always knew you would never do anything to me, you love me too much," she said with the brightest smile she had ever given, except for her birth.
In the Royal Chambers of the King and Queen, sounds of loud yelling could be heard from outside.
"You let him fight his brother like a 'man' and look what happened!" roared Cersei Lannister, as she looked at Robert, who was sloshing wine down his throat from the goblet in his clenched fist as she poured her own.
"He was defending his little sister from his own brothers' cruel behavior," replied Robert Baratheon, his voice cold as he stopped drinking to look at Cersei with disdain.
"Joffrey was beating a servant boy in the middle of the yard, and he does this thinking there will be no consequences, and there won't if you have your way." Robert barked at Cersei that her coddling of Joffrey had made him this way.
"And your solution is what?" Cersei stepped closer, green eyes blazing. "To let him get beaten like this? While he could do better, he is the heir to the Iron Throne, and you let Axel beat him in front of everyone like that?"
"HAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!! Heir?" Robert sneered after he laughed loud and boisterously. "The boy needs humbling. I'd rather have my heir be the one who can take a blow than one who weeps when he's given one."
Her jaw tightened. "You dare!!! What are you insinuating? Are you skipping the line of succession?"
"I am thinking about it!!!" Robert yelled, finally tired of the bull crap.
Robert drank the rest of his wine in a single gulp. "If the boy keeps acting like this and challenges Axel again, he'd best be ready to lose, be it the fight or the throne." He said as he got up and walked to the door.
"And if Axel does something like this again," Cersei answered softly before Robert could leave, "what would happen to your favorite second son? What would happen to him?"
Robert waved a dismissive hand and left the room, most likely looking for a whore and for some more wine.
Elsewhere, in Joffrey's chambers, it was quiet, the only sound coming from candles on the walls.
Jaime Lannister stood near the bed, golden armor set aside, his white cloak draped across a chair. As he looked down at Joffrey, who lay unconscious, his breathing was regular but a bit shallow; the many injuries on his face were still dark and swelling, but Grand Maester Pycelle said they would go down in a few days, but his leg and the back of his head would take more time to heal.
Cersei entered without announcement. "He beat him harder than I thought," Jaime said lightly to Cersei, though his eyes lingered on all the marks of Joffrey's face.
"He embarrassed him, he did it in front of the guards, the servants, and some lords and ladies who had come to look at the yard," Cersei corrected as she looked at Joffrey with sadness, and though she did not know disgust for how he lost to his younger brother.
"Robert won't do anything to Axel." She said, but not even she knew what she wanted done; while she did not like what Axel did, she still loved him, he is her son after all.
Jaime frowned as he looked to Cersei, then to Joffrey, then back to Cersei. "Axel started the fight first, and he is not the firstborn nor the heir, so why is Robert not doing anything to him?"
"He said he is rethinking having Joffrey as his heir if he keeps up what he has been doing and if he keeps losing to Axel," Cersei said, her voice breaking as she let a tear fall down her face, not knowing what to do.
Jaime stepped closer to her. "It's fine, all we have to do is make him a better warrior and control his impulses, or at least not make it so obvious, so you will need to start disciplining him, and I can train him in the sword."
Cersei's gaze flicked to him. "But I just want him to be free to do what he wants, like we were not able to."
"And where did that get him?" Jaime asked, an eyebrow lifted as he did not want to say that she is delusional, but he couldn't think of anything else from what she said.
She was about to speak, her eyes lit a blaze, but then she hesitated, then looked at the ground. "I... You're right, I will start to discipline him and have him join you in the training ground, but what about Axel?"
Jaime leaned in, lowering his voice. "What about him? It doesn't matter what happens to him from the rumors I have heard; he will be the next lord of the Stormlands and will be out of our hair."
Cersei placed her hand against his chest, fingers brushing the gold threads of his tunic. "He will be out of our hair and will not be a threat to Joffrey's rule."
"But what will you do with him? He is still your son, not mine like Joffrey," Jaime asked, still mad over how Axel and Joffrey were conceived.
"I... I don't know, but I do know I love you and our son, so let's go to that room." Cersei said after kissing Jaime passionately, but he pulled back. "Ha... ha, ha.. What about Tommen?" He asked before Cersei silenced him with a kiss again.
"H... he's fine, I have a nursemaid looking over him," Cersei said before she went back to kissing him. So they walked out to a secret chamber no one knows about and did what lovers do. [A/N: I will not write sex scenes for anyone not MC]
[Author's Note: If you're confused about anything, stick with me, I'm making this as we go! Did you like the changes I made? Yes, no, leave a comment and tell me I will do what I can, so leave a review and tell me what you may want to see, and as you know, this is a harem, so who would you want in it?
Disclaimer: I have a rough idea of where this is going, but I haven't mapped out every single detail or an overarching idea. So if you have suggestions to make the story better or who you might want to see, please leave a comment and review! I hope you like the story. While I do use AI, I don't think it is slop, and if there is any, I will try to change it and or add humanity into it, but just give me a chance.
Next time: So the next chapter he will have the memory awakening, as said in the previous chapter, and it will have a few months time skip so this can be over just a bit and that is where he will have the memories awakening and get the thing that makes him like the 3 people I named, then it will be a major time skip either the start of the royal process or a few chapters till then but maybe 3-5 that will show MC who is older, OC's, and the happenings of kings landing. Now this will be a group/chain chapter, so I suggest you wait to read it until all chapters are out, and it will be between 3-5. See you then!
Ending Note: Thank you for the support. Have a great( if you're not religious) and or blessed day, and check out my other account where I publish Og novels. It's called Fiction_Dragon! :)]