It's Time To Go // Criston Cole // Harwin Strong

32. Hostile Womb

"Any luck?" Alicent pondered and Aislynn shook her head as she reached out, touching Alicent's large pregnant stomach. 

"I swear you are all stomach, every time." Aislynn remarked. 

"You will be a great mum." Alicent assured. 

"I just hope I get the chance." Aislynn agreed. 

"You will. These things take time." ALicent reminded her. 

"That old fuck got you pregnant three times. Harwin is young and fit and should be able to do his damn duty." Aislynn muttered. 

"Are you trying to make me jealous?" Alicent countered with a choked laugh. 

"I would fuck your husband if it wouldnt give me a silver haired little shit." Aislynn muttered. "Not that your children are shits. I love them dearly." She added quickly. 

"Your babies are going to be black haired beauties." Alicent declared. 

"Yours are prince and princess." Aislynn added. 

"He loves you." Alicent assured her. "I wouldnt worry about it."

"Right, because worrying does nothing but stress me out and thats not good for carrying future spawn." Aislynn agreed. 

"Lynnie-"

"You know I heard Daemon once say that his wife, that he probably murderer had too hostile of a womb, what child would grow. Do you think I have a hostile womb?" AIslynn whimpered out nervously. 

"No, Lynnie-'

"How does one fix a hostile womb? I can't just start being nice. My body would know its a farse!" Aislynn exclaimed annoyed. "I'm never going to be a mother because I'm a bad person and have a hostile womb!" 

"Stop that, stop that right now." Alicent corrected. "You dont. You are the best person I know." 

"Then you need to meet more people because my body is saying I'm a monster unable to bare children." 

"It hasnt been-"

"A year." Aislynn corrected through tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "Its been a year and..." 

"You will, I promise you will." Alicent declared hugging her tight. 

"What if its not in the cards for me?" Aislynn countered. 

"You can have my next one." Alicent offered. "They like you more than me anyways." Alicent remarked. Aislynn let a silent tear fall as Alicent hugged her tight, telling her everything would be alright in the end. 

Fire crept up the back of Aislynn's throat, pulling her muscles tight around her neck as it burned its way to her eyes. Her chest ached under the pressure of another failure. The moons bleeding may as well have been a knife stabbing Aislynn over and over again. That would have explained the pain sheering through her insides. 

"I hate you," Aislynn whispered, unsure if she was talking to the blood or herself. Why wouldn't her body just make a baby? Wasn't it supposed to happen after just one time of unprotected sex? Isn't that what they promised in sept? So, why was Aislynn standing there a year later, still not pregnant?

Aislynn looked over the balcony to see Harwin smiling contently, what was that smile? Why was he licking his lips? What the literal hell? She leaned over more to see silver hair blowing in the wind. 

"Of course." Aislynn whispered before plopping down on the couch. "Why can't you love me?" Aislynn begged softly. She thought they were doing good but there he was staring Rhaenyra like she was the whole damn world. Maybe she was over reacting but maybe she wasnt and maybe she was doomed to be loveless forever. 

+

"Okay larys tell me about you." Aislynn requested. He stared back at her. "Your foot fetish." She clarified. "Shoes off." Larys blinked back at her before slowly removing his shoes. "Socks too." Larys did as instructed and Aislynn saw his foot.

"Clubfoot." Larys remarked softly. "Had it since I was born." Aislynn nodded.

"Your other foot is... nice." Aislynn offered awkwardly larys chuckled looking to his non deformed foot. "There is nothing wrong with you larys." Aislynn remarked. "I mean physically yeah but it seems natural why you want to look at feet such as mine and Ali's."

"You think?" Larys countered

"Sure. You are just going about it all wrong." Aislynn added.

"I am?"

"People long for what they cant have." Aislynn remarked. "If they want love they go to a brothel and it's a false sense of love for a moment. If people want children they dote upon others kids until they have their own. We all gravitate towards what we don't have but want."

"What do you want?" Larys countered as he put his shoes back on.

"I want my husband, your brother to love me and not Rhaenyra." Aislynn remarked honestly and bluntly. 

"I dont know why he looks at anyone else when he has you." Larys informed her. 

"You are just saying that because I have gorgeous feet." Aislynn teased. 

"A nice face too." Larys offered and Aislynn chuckled. 

"Do you think I'm wasting my time trying to get him to fall back in love with me?" Aislynn questioned softly. 

"I think he loves  you." Larys corrected. "I think he just..."

"What? Tell me." Aislynn demanded. 

"You were forced in unions and your brothers ended them, correct?" Larys recalled. 

"Yeah." Aislynn agreed slowly. 

"Well Harwin may have liked you but you only met him once or twice and he's not the type of man to follow directions." Larys offered. 

"So if I said stay away from me, I forbid you to go anywhere near my cunt he would never takes his lips off me?" Aislynn offered. 

"I dont know about that but possibly." Larys offered. 

"Why are men so awful?" Aislynn declared. "And I know this is strange considering our arrangement but you dont fall into the awful men category." Larys stared back at her and he believed her. 

"Thank you." Larys said softly as he rose. 

"Didnt you tell Ali something?" Aislynn countered. 

"Your conversation is payment enough." Larys assured. 

"Then stay." Aislynn requested. "Finn is in lessons, harwin is eye fucking the princess and..." Aislynn shrugged as Larys sat back down. "You might be my only friend and I dont know that I like you half the time."