Of Tridents and Swords

Part 3

With your House emigrating from the Reach after the coming of the Andals, a few wedding customs were different than usual. At least in opposite to what was usual in the North. Instead of following the old gods, your House followed the Faith of the Seven, just like the family of your betrothed, for example. But in the Reach, it also was a local custom to hold a wedding breakfast. And what was the royal family, if not a great host? Your father probably had some say in the matter as well and he was adamant everyone was following the traditions. Especially with your wedding taking place so soon after the official tournament to win your hand.

That was the reason you were breaking fast in company of no one else but your mother, sitting on a larger balcony overlooking Blackwater Bay with an awning shielding you from the morning sun of the capital. The breakfast for everyone of House Targaryen, your father and brother, as well as other nobility was held in the Queen's Ballroom.

Not only the separated breakfast was a tradition in the Reach, but also the receiving of gifts was a part of it. Your mother gifted you a golden ring with a large emerald in the center and smaller diamonds surrounding it, claiming that it had been passed down from her mother to her. It fit your finger like a glove, and you certainly did not plan on taking it off so soon.

House Targaryen was quite different than House Manderly, in many things. Some things were more obvious, like the Dragons, while others were a bit subtler or more private, like the dynamics between the members of their family. You had heard several stories of House Targaryen. Some were likely to be true, meanwhile others just were absolute bullshit, and there was no other way for you to put it.

Those differences spiked your curiosity, wondering what gifts your betrothed was to receive during the breakfast. You were particularly interested to see the gifts your father and brother gave him, but that had to wait. Maybe you'd both have time to sneak out during the feast held in the evening.

For the first time in weeks, you felt...calm. There was not a hint of tension in your shoulders, or anxiety bubbling in your stomach. Despite being so close to marrying Aemond Targaryen, you felt serene. You blamed it on the torture you had endured the past few months, the stress your father had put you through in order for you to find a husband. And now you were going to marry a man he probably did not even like. It was bitter feeling did not allow you to relish in the feeling of being utterly relaxed. Your father had done everything in his power to provide you with a great future by trying to wed you to a Lord of a noble house, yet he was not satisfied with the outcome of it and the fact that you were not marrying a Lord but a Prince. At least, that was what you suspected because of how he started to act around you and the Targaryen's.

Your stomach sank at the thought of making your father unhappy, and it had to show in the way you were absentmindedly pushing the lemon cake on your plate from one corner to the other and back. "What is it that plaques your mind, my dear?" The concerned voice of your mother and her warm hand on your shoulder pulled you out of your thoughts. You were straightening your shoulders out of instinct, as if to shrug off every bad thought and focus on the present, but your brow was still furrowed. "It is nothing, mother," you tried to convince her, but your mother did not believe you. "Y/N," she warned you, her head tilting sideways, silently challenging you to change your answer, but when you made no move to say something, she continued, "most of your life was spent by my side. Do not try to fool me, Y/N, I know when there is something wrong."

It was foolish of you to think you would be able to lie to her. If there was something you were bad at, it was lying. Back when you were younger, you were usually the one to rat your brothers out to your parents, but not out of ill intentions. You were always doing the stupid things with Medrick and Torrhen, your parents just knew you were going to spill everything the second they were going to confront you alone. The love you held for your parents and the sense of honesty was your largest weak spot.