❝ There was a feeling of inevitability when I met you. And our lives were fated to converge like some cosmic dance. And I think I had to break your heart and you had to break mine. ❞
As Cressida Black's lungs ceased to draw breath, Aurelia Martell's...
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February 110AC
Aurelia stared at the letter in front of her with pursed lips. She knew this day would come eventually; she had been prepared yet still she did not like the news that was bought to her.
She was seventeen now, it was to be expected that after five years, Qoren and her father would come to an agreement and that she'd be called home to marry. Morgan's letter a few months ago had only made her expect it. Yet, she wanted to rage. Despite what she'd said years ago when she'd first been sent to King's Landing, now she wanted to stay. It had become a home of sorts for her and she wasn't ready to leave the Princesses.
Princess Viserra had become a second mother to her, taking her in during one of Queen Aemma's confinements and then she and the Queen had basically allowed her to flit between their households as she pleased. The Princess had taught her to play the game at court, which was honestly not so different to the game of wizarding politics, she had come to find out. And Rhaenyra still needed her, the girl was a bomb waiting to go off and she couldn't help but fear that it would happen when Alicent gave birth to her child, when a son was born to the King as she'd seen in the flames.
And Danae. Danae, who she'd been tasked to care for but who she now thought of as her own. Who she sometimes saw Bianca in, an energetic and fearless little girl who'd grow up to claim Vermithor or Dreamfyre, no doubt — unable to settle for a hatchling when she could have a grown dragon, especially since her egg had grown cold. The thought of leaving her behind broke her heart.
"You look troubled, Aurelia," Princess Viserra's voice awoke her from her musings. She had almost forgotten where she was, so consumed she had been by her own thoughts.
"I received a letter from my father today," Aurelia responded, cursing the tears that came to her eyes as she spoke, at Viserra's signal she began to make her way to her, and sat across from the Princess with grace, despite her emotional state.
"We will miss you."
Aurelia was touched by her words, yet still they did nothing to ease her troubles.
"I wish I could stay here," Aurelia responded, pouting. A part of her wished that Viserra had all the answers, that she would be able to make the Qoren and her father change their minds, but the other part of her knew that she could not.
"I know, Aurelia, I know," Viserra said gently, taking Aurelia's hands into her own as she spoke. "I did not wish to marry either. But we must all do things we do not like from time to time. Marriage is, sadly, one of them."
At that Aurelia could not say anything or make any protest. She knew well enough how true the words were. She'd always known her time in King's Landing would end when she had to marry. She'd trade court for her husband's castle.
"It is not so bad," Viserra soothed, her grip on Aurelia's hand tightening. "And I'm sure you'll have your husband bending to your will in no time."
"You taught me well," Aurelia allowed. "I shall do my duty. I only hope that one day I'll be able to come back."
