I Just Pray For Your Fall ||| Cregan Stark

twelve

Riding back from the Sept to the Red Keep was a very awkward experience. More desperate newlyweds could be found in each other's laps, simply being unable to wait until after the celebratory feast. Aemond and Amara did not have that problem. There was a strange tension that hung in the air around them. The only time they got close was when the road back to the Keep was so rocky they knocked into one another.

"The ceremony was nice," Amara commented on the way back. She was having a hard time with the silence and the feeling of suffocating in the wheelhouse with him. As much as they had a duty to do and Amara was intent on Aemond having a certain perception of her, she wished he would relax himself. Things would be easier if he was more casual.

Aemond glanced at Amara like he was startled by her speaking. "It was," he agreed curtly. He licked one of his lips, considering, before he slowly reached out toward the hand Amara had on the cushion to keep herself steady. She made no move to stop him when he hesitantly set his hand on top of hers; testing. Any forward progress was good.

Amara didn't want to bring attention to what he'd done in case he took whatever she said the wrong way. It was effort and Amara wouldn't do anything to jeopardize the success of their marriage. Instead, Amara smiled at Aemond and brushed her thumb gently across the side of his hand. If she was good enough to him despite the circumstances of their marriage, she might get what she wanted.

***

There were other festivities of the day from the time of their ceremony to the feast in the Great Hall of the Keep but Amara wasn't mentally present for them. Seeing her flowers from the Reach decorating the courtyard and Great Hall was what brought her back to focus on what they were doing. For most of the afternoon, Amara played her part of a happy wife to Aemond. In front of everyone else, they seemed close, which was the best she was going to get for the time being. At least Aemond seemed to appreciate Amara going along with things willingly.

They didn't need to be the talk of the court as soon as they were married. From what Amara saw from him, Aemond didn't want to disappoint his mother like Aegon had. He was a good son. The obedient, honourable, and diligent son. Being a loyal husband and not an embarrassment like Aegon was part of that. Amara being a happy individual to everyone they talked to helped immensely.

It carried over into the feast. With Amara and Aemond sitting up at the head table with the rest of the family where they had people coming up to congratulate them. Amara kept her smile on her face and allowed Aemond to put his hand on top of hers at the table while they spoke to the guests at the feast. Amara appeared naively joyful to the many people arriving. That was exactly what she wanted them to think because it was easier to spot deceit when it wasn't well concealed.

Amara wasn't stupid. She saw people whispering, saw Aegon rolling his eyes, and knew the questions about the Reach, Highgarden, and the flowers weren't genuine. Their goal was to passively mock House Tyrell and its state and get away with it. An infant Lord and the supposed regent marrying a second son in King's Landing. Amara knew but she let it happen. As a woman, she had to choose her battles carefully.

That feast was also the very first time Amara met the King face to face. When she and Aemond arrived, Viserys was already seated at the head table. "Father." Aemond's greeting was cold and short, a small nod of his head.

Whatever issue Aemond had with his father couldn't impact Amara. He was his son, and Amara was a subject Viserys ruled over. "Your Grace," Amara greeted the old and frankly decaying man formally, curtsying to him while her arm was intertwined with Aemond's.