Kingdom Fall : Aegon II Targaryen

Love and Duty.

True to their word Rhaenyra and Daemon marry before the end of the moon cycle. Annerys had only ever witnessed a handful of weddings before and they always took place in a sept under the faith of the seven so she had never seen a Valyrian marriage ceremony before. From her very limited knowledge of weddings she had decided that weddings in a sept were meant for duty and Valyrians were meant for love. Anne was quite sure that even in all of their talk of duty her mother was marrying Daemon for love. She also knew she would marry Aegon in a Sept.

Thankfully Valyrian ceremonies are much quicker than Westorosi ones so they are off the beach and around the dinner table in half the time that they would have been if it was a wedding held under the faith of the seven.

Jace and their mother seem to have made up and Luke had warmed up to the idea of Daemon being his step-father when he had allowed him to hold Dark Sister, which had left Anne still quietly fuming because how is anyone supposed to make peace with someone who they don't know is angry with them. Anne supposes that the problem with being pliant is that nothing will ever resolve itself if you spend all your time in the pursuit of pleasing others. How are you expecting to please yourself?

Anne had helped her mother ready for the wedding that morning and when she was twisting her mothers hair back of her face she had asked her mother "Do you love him?"

"Yes, I suppose I do." She tells her with a smile.

The two sit in what Rhaenyra thinks is comfortable silence but is really Annerys building up courage, which she finally does, to say "Please do not make me marry Aegon. Can you not say anything to the king, please."

"Anne, I can't tell the king no, not after he announced it to so many people." Her mother tells her "I am sorry that you do not get a choice in this. I had thought that you would, when you were first born I thought to myself and I told your father that you would marry someone you loved no matter who it ended up being. I decided that day that if Jace got to have the crown you would get to have love and I'm so sorry my darling girl that you will not have that."

That is what Anne thinks of that evening as they are sitting around the dinner table it's piled high with decadence, all sorts of foods that her brothers were making quick work off. As well as these fragile crystal goblets that had been brought back from Pentos which Daemon had permitted them all to drink out of in celebration of the wedding. Which was a novelty for Luke being someone who was quite accident prone and therefore not trusted with things that easily break. Annerys is pushing honeyed pork around her plate when Baela asks "Will someone pass me the peas please."

"I can't see them." Rhaena replies.

"I don't think there is any." Jace says.

"There always is." Anne replies always prepared to argue with Jace.

"Not today, there will be nothing green on this table to besmirch this joyous occasion." he says happily at it's supposed to be humorous something to endear him to Rhaenyra's children yet to a quietly furious Annerys its like kindling to a spark so she says "well I will be a green in not time so perhaps I should leave" and she stands.

"Sit down." Daemon tells her leaving no room for argument.

She thinks about defying him but thinks twice before she sinks down into her chair. They all begin their conversations again and it seems as if there will be no further disagreements and that they might all have a pleasant dinner as the servants bring in the desserts before she hears Luke ask "Why isn't Grandfather here? Did he not want to come?" Annerys knows it's because he's worried that the King had refused to come because he's angry at him for what he had done to Aemond she knows how guilty he feels and yet she can't focus on Luke as she watches her mother shift in her seat and Daemon take a large drink of his wine before he says "The King does not know that we have been married."