"I don't want to be queen. The people choose me to be their queen because if a false king sits on the Iron Throne, the kingdom will bleed."
Clarissa Baratheon has played the Game of Thrones since she was a child. But will she win or will she die?
[...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
❆❆❆
A GRUNT escaped Clarissa's lips as Ella stuffed her into a tight corset. 'Corsets give you a shape and tidy your rough edges', Clarissa's mother had told her when she was forced to start wearing them. Since Clarissa was only ten and two namedays old, she hadn't gone a day without wearing one and not because she likes them as it was quite the opposite actually.
"By the gods, has this grown smaller? Or have I grown larger?" the princess asked her handmaiden who laughed.
Once she was finally dressed in her grown, Ella led her towards the mirror and began to comb through her dark hair which proved to be easier this time. As Clarissa stared at her appearance, she always noticed that out of her siblings and her, she was the only one with the Baratheon colouring as she had dark hair and blue eyes while her siblings had the Lannister colouring of blonde hair and green eyes.
"Well, you certainly devoured the lemon cakes on our way here," Ella informed her which caused a loud scoff to escape her lips, although she flashed a one-sided smile to Ella through the mirror.
"Honestly though, your hips have become wider since we left King's Landing as has your bosom. You're a true woman now," Ella corrected herself as she stared at Clarrisa's bosom which was slightly budging over the opening of her yellow dress and was emphasised by the prasiolite coloured teardrop pendant that was connected to a tree-branch shaped chain around her neck.
"I've been a woman since I bled according to my lady mother," Clarissa commented sadly as she stared at her reflection with a distant look in my eyes.
"If she had her way, I would be already married. My father would never allow it, of course. He wants me to be happy, unlike him and mother," she informed Ella as a sad smile appeared on her lips.
She remembered the day her mother was arguing with her father about marrying her off to form alliances, but the king didn't agree as he wanted Clarissa to marry for love as he was unable to.
"I will not have my daughter be in a loveless marriage!" The king argued with the queen so loud that Clarissa could hear them through the door as she walked past.
Suddenly, the door slammed open revealing her red-faced mother as she brushed past her while her father's face softened when he noticed her by the door. "Clarissa, come here dear," he ordered her, and she obeyed, walking hastily towards him.
He wrapped both his arms around her shoulders tightly and pushed her head into his chest. "Listen to what I say. I want you to find a man who will love you not for being a princess or because of duty, but being you," he informed her, and she nodded against his chest.
"Your mother frightens me," Ella's voice broke the princess out of her flashback as Ella placed a jewelled headband in her dark hair.
When the handmaiden noticed her forlorn, pensive expression, she huffed lightly and bent down so that Clarissa could see her reflection in the mirror. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself. You are a princess, for gods sake! Many have had it worse," she informed Clarissa and smiled, making her expression becoming brighter with kindness.
"Stand. Let me look at you," Ella ordered her and once Clarissa was standing, she smoothed the princess's yellow with black embellishments dress.
Clarissa gave a twirl which caused Ella to laugh heartily. "You look beautiful," Ella commented making the princess smile shyly towards her.
"Would Robb Stark be the reason why you are so eager to dress nicely?" the handmaiden asked with a cheekily smirk on her face.
Clarissa hid her surprise and scoffed as she rolled her blue eyes. "Why must a lady's reason behind dressing nicely always be a man?" the princess asked with a hint of annoyance in her tone.
Ella raised a black eyebrow at her which made Clarissa argue; "Perhaps I simply want to look nice. Or perhaps it is because a comely appearance is of paramount importance for a lady, as my lady mother has drilled into my head."
"Whatever you say, princess," Ella responded back making the princess poke out her tongue unladylike.
Ella quickly sent Clarissa on her way as she didn't want the queen's wrath for the princess being late to the feast.
❆❆❆
As Clarissa's mother fussed over her appearance by fixing her hair, Clarissa could hear the yells and roaring laughter coming from inside the hall. Barbarians, Clarissa had heard her mother whisper in a hushed, disapproving breath that only she could hear. When the queen was finished fussing over her daughter's appearance, she moved onto Myrcella and told her to adjust the clasp on her dress.
"Robb Stark is to be escorting you in, Clarissa," her mother had informed her with a sideways glance towards the Stark heir.
She followed her mother's line of sight and saw Robb speaking with Theon Greyjoy, the Stark's ward, and Jon Snow, Lord Stark's bastard son. Clarissa had little memory of her previous visits to Winterfell with her father but she remembered Robb being an annoying, chubby-cheeked boy who would chase her around the Godswoods and frightened her with the help of Theon and Jon. But as she looked at Robb now, she guessed the nine years have been grateful to him.
"Do not let me see you looking at the Stark boy like that, or you will be married before the morrow," the queen whispering into her daughter's ear so that no one but she could hear her.
With furrowed brows and eyes narrowed in confusion, she looked up to her mother, searching for any sign that she was jesting but found none. It didn't surprise Clarissa as her mother would send her off to marry a man she didn't know nor love if she grew feelings for the Stark heir.
When the time came for them to enter the hall, Robb Stark approached the princess with a kind, gentlemanly smile gracing his features. From the corner of her eye, she saw her mother studying him with calculating eyes. This seemed to put him off slightly although his smile did not leave his face making Clarissa offer a smile of her own.
"My lady," he greeted, giving Clarissa a slight bow as he visibly tried not to look towards the queen.
Although when it was called for, as she was the queen, Robb flashed a slightly uneasy smile in her direction. "Your Grace," he greeted her the same as Clarissa but only the smile he gave her wasn't as kind as the one he gave the princess.
The queen inclined her head politely but paid him little to no mind. It didn't seem to bother Robb, as he quickly turned his attention to Clarissa. "I believe it is time for us to line up for the entrance," he informed the princess; offering an arm for her to take.
She graciously took his outstretched arm and allowed him to lead her towards the door. When she observed him closely, she noticed that his proper demeanour didn't suit him well and he was obviously not used to such formal events. Manners and grace and all the skills that came along with it were engraved into her mind from a young age, but despite the Stark children being taught the same skills; judging by Sansa Stark's splendid manners- such skills did not seem to stick with Robb. Perhaps it was just a lack of practice.
❆❆❆
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
