You are the lady-in-waiting to the queen. Your father served as Hand to the King, and as the daughter of the king's closest adviser, you were a valuable hostage and an excellent candidate to marry the queen's son, that is, if the queen herself hadn't taken a liking to you. After her half-brother's death, she was able to finally claim the throne for herself, but, most importantly, the war was over—she couldn't care much about the throne itself, but she was tired of the constant dangers posed to her children, of all the bloodshed and schemes against her.

You have the queen's ear, but she keeps her thoughts and feelings close to her heart. It is not easy to win her affection or her trust, but her loyalty and passion for the ones she holds dear are legendary.

The queen has asked you to join her in the solar after supper. You're nervous. You know how demanding the queen can be, and she has a reputation for being quite unpredictable.

You find her sitting on a cushioned chair, facing a large window overlooking King's Landing. She's dressed in a silk robe, and her long, silver hair is loose, draped around her shoulders.

"Don't you think it's strange?" she says without looking at you. "How they look at me, all of them. How they bow their heads and call me Your Grace, but in their eyes I see it. Fear." She turns her head slightly, looking at you from the corner of her eye. "Why do you think they're so afraid of me?"