❝ 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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March 110 AC
It would be far too unseemly if a Princess of Dorne had a household bereft of ladies-in-waiting. Never mind that Qoren has never cared for her or Morgan and dealt slights such as this as soon as he had the power to do so. With the presence of a Targaryen in their lands, with a royal marriage on the cards for Aurelia, she needs a household.
"My darling girl."
She kissed the hand offered to her in a motherly manner that caused Aurelia to swallow harshly. Carolei Yronwood had been her lady mother's lady-in-waiting before Qoren married Valena, before she had been called back to the Yronwood, after her only brother's passing to assume the mantle of the ruling lady. Aurelia had fond memories of her in her youth. She had been the one who taught her the chain stitch, who spent hours on the beach with her and taught her how to swim. Aurelia had been delighted with that, had cried fat tears as she left Sunspear to take her place as liege Lady of her own household.
"Lady Yronwood," she met her with. "We are pleased to have you with us."
Lady Carolei had been blessed with two children in recent years. Victor, a son and heir first. And just a few months past, her first daughter. A beautiful, chubby baby girl named Ilaria after her mother. If Qoren had a child soon, they would all be raised together, an honor bestowed upon the Yronwoods for their service to the Martells.
Lady Carolei took no offense at her coolness. Only smiled.
"My Lady Princess," she bowed deeply, as gracefully as ever, the weight from her pregnancy nearly vanished under her skirts of green silk.
It would not have been proper to call on a ruling Lady to act as a lady-in-waiting if she weren't already at Sunspear, having traveled to negotiate some contracts with her brother.
"It would be an honor to be my lady's companion and help prepare her for her upcoming nuptials," she told her easily enough. "And it is only right that after the mother I should tend to the daughter." She smiled warmly, gently tapping the hand she still held.
"I wish to speak to you about the Prince."
Lady Carolei lost her smile all at once and arched a brow.
Aurelia would have preferred to have this conversation much earlier and yet, since she'd been told of her engagement, time had flown by and she felt as if she barely had a moment of peace where she could breathe.
"I only met him a few times when I was at court," Carolei said slowly. "But it was enough to know he's rash and unpredictable. But he's also devoted to his family. Do not make him your enemy."
"How should I gain his devotion?" She asked. "I don't want an unhappy marriage. I don't want my children to grow up knowing their parents are in a constant battle against each other."
It had almost destroyed her as Cressida. She had been born with both her older brothers going away for most of the year and she had grown up hearing the battles between her parents, saw as her father deteriorated before her eyes before he succumbed to death and how Walburga cared not for her feelings, preferring to use her a tool. When she'd had her own children, she'd been determined to treat them better than her parents had treated her and she would do the same in this life. No child of hers would grow up unloved or unsafe.
