Chapter 1: The Queen's Seduction
The Red Keep was too quiet tonight.
Cersei stood in the arched doorway of the royal bedchamber, watching Robert where he sat before the fire, his broad shoulders hunched over a half-empty goblet of wine. The flickering light painted his profile in amber and shadow—one moment a king, the next a man who looked as though he carried the weight of Westeros on his back. She knew that weariness. Had felt it herself, more times than she could count.
Tonight, though, she refused to let it win.
The silk of her robe whispered against her skin as she stepped forward, the cool air of the chamber raising gooseflesh along her arms.