Beginning of the End | House Of The Dragon

7.1

3RD PERSON

House Pendragon stood on the second platform watching the funeral from above, all stony faced with small hints of sadness and boredom. Blotchy and teary eyed in the case of Aelthea, but we'll get into why later on, for now we'll focus on the fact that a significant chunk of the family was missing. It was deemed improper and insensitive to bring the bastards and Aurelius's paramour, much to Aurelius's annoyance, and so only The Lord, Lady, and their four children were present.

Aurelius wore all grey with a long jacket that stopped just above his knees and had fur sown on in onside to fight against the cold sea breeze. Grey was as close he could get to the grieving colors of black since he didn't know or feel grief over Laena, though he felt sympathy for her family and her girls. Jonquil wore a velvet red dress so dark it almost appeared black, it was lined with gold embroidered designs with small rubies decorating it, the sleeves were off the shoulder and billowed down to the bottom of her dress. A tightly braided bun kept her hair from her face with only a few loose strands blowing freely in the wind as she currently holding her eldest daughter infront of her, rubbing small circles on her shoulders and looking down at her with a mix of concern and sorrow.

Maex had told her what had happend. He wore a grey outfit similar to his father minus the coat and stood stoicly beside his mother with his eyes trained only on his first born sister, his only concern was her. Alysanne wore a pale gold with a similar design to her mothers with the billowing sleeves and gold lining, except hers wasn't off the shoulder and was decorated with pearls not rubies, hair left in a simple loose braid. Lastly, Aelthea was in a thin sheer off the shoulders red dress with puffy shoulders that stopped and held tightly onto her wrists, a sleevless red silk kirtle the only thing keeping her nakedness safe on truth, a gold belt matching the necklace adorning her neck, and her hair was left in a half ponytail and the curls ran down her back, minus what was pulled over her shoulder.

She tried to look as stoic as her brother and was succeeding for the most part, the only thing to give away her internal turmoil was her tear stained face thst reflected in the sunlight to show all the different trails they'd raced. She was strong though, and ignored the urge to cry again as she thought about what her father had done, instead she swallowed the knot on her throat and translated as much as she could of Vaemond Velaryon's speech.

While none of the family really knew where she'd learned High Valyrian, they were grateful since now they wouldn't just be standing there like idiots waiting for this to all be over. Aurleius was the only one to roll his eyes, assuming that she's been taught by Aegon and never thinking that it was the second born Prince.

Jonquil glared daggers as Vaemond Velaryon stared at Rhaenyra and her children so blatantly as she listened to her daughters words, "Salt courses through Velaryon blood. Ours runs thick. Ours runs true. And ours must never...thin, I think?"

It didn't matter if Aelthea got it wrong or not, it was obvious in his stare that he was questioning the legitimacy of Rhaenyra and Laenor's children making Jonquil see red and force her to dig her nails into the palms of her hands to avoid a scene. Aurelius beside her, scoffed and glared at the back of Daemon's head when he laughed, thinking about grabbing a rock and throwing it at his head. Althea thought about doing the same as her own best friend began to blow bubbles with his mouth in a clear sign of boredom, not even trying to be respectful for the people around him. If she had known of her and her fathers shared thoughts Aelthea probably would have cried in anger.

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Aurelius and Jonquil walked side by side as they watched there children go off on their own. Jonquil felt her husband's hand on the low of her back. "We weren't separated for long." She only hummed and he, not satisfied with such little acknowledgment he turned her lightly to face him and away from the kids which she stared at so intensely. "I'm glad." His smile was soft and his eyes were loving but Jonquil's were hard and judgemental when she met that golden gaze.