Gowen blinked away the though of the King's wife, bending to kiss Tya's cheek. The Lannister maiden smiled sweetly at him, and exclaimed over the fineness of the Queen's halls. "Oh, but look, my Lord. Is this not simply the most beautiful?" She pointed to a flowering tree. "Such fragrance."

"Well, I do believe she is by far lovelier," the calm voice of Aelinor rose from behind the couple. Gowen spun around, taking Tya with him, both bowing. "Shame on you, Lord Baratheon, you haven't said a word about visting."

"Your Grace, a thousand pardons. We hadn't meant to inconvenience you." He felt almost bashful then. The woman he wanted stood before him, the woman whom he was growing fond of at his side.

"Ah, what inconvenience? I have longed to meet the wonderful woman who is to become your wife. Come hither my dear and let me have a look at you." And so he saw both the women side by side, his heart squeezing painfully inside his chest. Duty, he would have to choose duty over desire, he knew the moment the Queen smiled his way.