Pins and Problems
"Hold still, dear," requested Serena Farus, pulling some fabric more tightly around Lady Ailyn and pinning it in place.
Ailyn tried not to move and bit back the tired sigh that tried to escape her lips. She'd been standing on this pedestal for several hours now, trying not to move except when Serena or one of her assistants moved Ailyn's arms up or down. Some of the girls were not being very careful where they stuck the pins either.
Gana mercifully came to her rescue just as Ailyn was about to ask for a reprieve.
"Lord Tywin is here to see you, my lady," said Gana softly, glancing behind her toward the doors.
"Thank you, Gana. Excuse me for a moment, please," said Lady Ailyn firmly, stepping down off the pedestal. Two girls quickly unwrapped the fabric from Ailyn leaving her only in a thin, white under dress.
"My lady, you can't go out there like that!" gasped Gana, scandalized as Ailyn started to walk toward the opening in the curtain.
Ailyn stopped, glanced down at herself and then motioned for her robe. While she was slipping into it, she asked one of the assistants for several squares of fabric so she could ask Lord Tywin's opinion on them.
She stepped out from between the curtains of the makeshift tent that had been created in the middle of her room, as a dressing area for Ailyn while her measurements were being taken for her new dresses. Lord Tywin was standing near the door, studying the tent with a slightly bemused expression.
"Good morning, my lord," said Ailyn with a warm smile as she came to stand near him.
"My lady. I don't recall dress making being quite this complicated," replied Tywin, eyeing the curtains and the young women flitting in and out of them with fabrics and ribbons.
"You demanded a large order, Tywin. The wedding gown alone has taken the better part of the morning," sighed Ailyn, stretching her back a little.
"May I see the plans for it?" asked Tywin looking at her.
Ailyn shook her head, a playful smile on her lips.
"It's a surprise. You will not be disappointed," she assured him when he frowned at her refusal.
He seemed about to protest so Ailyn brought out the squares of fabric to distract him.
"Which of these do you prefer? I can't decide which I like better," said Ailyn holding out a bright red with a golden pattern woven in and two separate squares of a deep crimson and shimmering gold.
Tywin's eyes flashed between the two patterns and then he pointed at the two separate, solid squares of color.
"Those," said Lord Tywin decisively.
Ailyn nodded and replaced them in her pockets.
"Are you busy today?" she asked.
Tywin nodded, suddenly looking a little tired.
"All day. I don't know if I will be able to see you again until late," muttered Tywin searching her face.
"It's alright. I know you will always have much to do and no one can do it better," Ailyn answered supportively.
Tywin looked pleased with her and then became apprehensive as an uncertain look passed over Ailyn's face.
"I have a request to make about the wedding," she began, glancing up at him.
"Name it," replied Lord Tywin quickly.
"It's just that…unless it is your particular wish, I'd rather not have a bedding ceremony," Ailyn said quietly, looking up at him almost shyly.
A dark look passed over Lord Tywin's countenance.
"I was not intending to allow it," said the Hand of the King firmly.
Ailyn breathed a soft sigh of relief.
"Thank you. I've never agreed with that tradition. I think you should be the only one to see me naked," flirted Ailyn.
Lord Tywin's green eyes flicked over her robe and he took a small step closer to her. He put his hands on her hips in a possessive way she liked, moving his head close to hers and resting his temple against the side of her head.
"We are not alone," breathed Ailyn, her eyes sliding partially closed.
Lord Tywin made a soft growling noise in his throat and pulled her waist against him, kissing her fiercely but briefly.
She barely had time to react before he held her away from him and released her hips.
"You have meetings," Ailyn reminded him a little breathlessly, smiling at him.
"And you have more dresses to design," he answered, looking at her with something like fondness.
"Try to be civil with them," suggested Ailyn, grinning at him.
"Until tomorrow then, my lady," Lord Tywin replied, bowing low to her.
She curtseyed and watched him leave. Then, Ailyn turned and resolutely walked back into the tent for several more hours of standing and being poked.
Later that day, Ailyn was taking a stroll alone in the gardens when an unwelcome visitor stopped her.
"Your Grace," said Ailyn respectfully, curtseying low to the Queen.
"You look very pleased with yourself," observed the Queen coldly.
"I am merely enjoying the day, Your Grace," replied Ailyn carefully. She had not seen Cersei since Lord Tywin had announced their engagement and now she looked like she was spoiling for a fight.
"You're a fool if you think he loves you," snapped Cersei, eyeing her with disdain.
"I never asked him to love me," answered Ailyn quietly, not wishing to provoke her.
"You'll be important to him until you've served your purpose; whatever that might be since you cannot bear children. Then, he'll ignore you," said Lord Tywin's daughter, in a way that suggested she had personal experience of his disinterestedness.
It pained Ailyn to think Lord Tywin never paid attention to Cersei unless it was to reprimand her for something but he had forbidden her to speak to him on the subject of his children.
"You will always be important to him, Your Grace. You are his only daughter and he does love you, despite what you may think," insisted Ailyn kindly.
The Queen merely shook her long golden hair at Ailyn with a look that stressed how little she thought of Ailyn's opinions.
"I cannot wait to see your disappointment on the day he does cast you aside," said Cersei maliciously and then swept off before Ailyn could say anything in reply.
Lady Ailyn watched the hurt Queen stalk away. Ailyn's mind was swirling with questions and rebelling at the idea that Lord Tywin would one day not care for her anymore. She blushed slightly remembering the dinner they had shared a few nights ago. They had conversed easily with each other and afterwards… well, afterwards, it was all she could do to keep his hands from untying her dress while he kissed her to distraction.
But if he could treat his own daughter with such coldness, perhaps the Queen knew him better than Ailyn thought she did.
Ailyn shook her head in annoyance, trying to clear away her doubts. She walked quickly in the direction Cersei had gone, determined to have another conversation with her. If they were going to be family, both women were going to have to learn to coexist somehow.
Ailyn went down the hallway and turned a few corners into a long corridor. She stopped in her tracks as she saw Ser Jaime walking beside Lady Brienne. They were moving in the opposite direction of Ailyn and didn't hear her behind them. Ailyn moved back against the wall so she would not be seen and watched them. They appeared to be bickering but in good humor and both seemed happy as they walked in stride together down the hall. Ailyn started thinking about what Ser Jaime had said about the difficulty in liking whom he chose when Cersei flew out of a side corridor directly in their path. She couldn't hear the ensuing conversation but the Queen looked livid and soon Lady Brienne bowed stiffly to her and left, leaving Ser Jaime looking angrily back at his sister. He grabbed her arm and pushed her into the wall behind him which caused her guards to advance on him with their hands on their swords. They backed off a little at whatever Ser Jaime said to them and with one last look at his sister, he stomped off down the hall without looking back. The Queen watched him go until he was lost from sight, her head tilted at a disappointed angle.
Lady Ailyn turned away and went quickly back to her room, not wishing to run into the Queen again after the altercation with her brother.
"Gana, I have an idea," said Ailyn as she closed the door to her room. Serena and her flock of assistants had left for the day to begin working on her new dresses.
"What is it, my lady?" asked Gana, coming over to her mistress.
"Things will be much easier on everyone in the Lannister family if Cersei had something to occupy her mind other than her replacement as Queen Regent, the loss of her son, father and soon her brother," said Ailyn thinking aloud and walking over to her desk.
"That still doesn't excuse her behavior to you," insisted Gana with a frown. She didn't like the Queen anymore than Ailyn did.
"No but I can sympathize a little with what she must be going through," replied Ailyn, taking out a sheet of parchment and inking a quill.
"So how are you going to make her leave you alone?" asked Gana curiously.
"My father will back very soon and I think between the two of us, we should be able to convince Prince Khersian to attend the wedding," said Ailyn, tapping the quill against her lips as she thought about how to word the message.
"Prince Khersian of Lys?" asked Gana, trying to trace where Ailyn was going with this idea.
"Yes. He's wealthy, powerful, unmarried and has a decided soft spot for blonde women. I simply think he and the Queen Regent should meet," decided Ailyn, putting quill to parchment.
"It's not like you to play matchmaker with anyone, my lady," queried Gana, looking at her mistress.
"I know. I usually detest the very idea but that woman is making me desperate. Every time I see her, I don't want to hear how Lord Tywin will never love me as much as his first wife," said Ailyn quietly, focusing intently on what she was writing.
"Has he told you he loves you?" asked Gana softly.
Ailyn paused in her writing and then slowly replaced the quill, her hands falling into her lap.
"No. He needs me and wants me. I have those sentiments from his own lips but he has never mentioned love. I don't know if he's capable of that emotion anymore," admitted Ailyn, looking down at her hands.
She looked up at Gana before she could speak.
"I don't blame him. What happened between us was sudden and very unexpected. He's been alone with his grief for so long that…love may be something that happens later," reasoned Ailyn.
"And you, my lady?" asked Gana gently.
Ailyn looked out the window at the blue sky and listened to some noisy birds that were flitting around by her balcony.
"I remember the overwhelming feeling of love I had for Darrren; the desire to always be with him, to take of care him and be safe in the knowledge that I meant everything to him. I don't feel that when I look at Lord Tywin. It's true that I care for him very much and I…desire him but I feel I know so little of him sometimes that it stops me. I've seen something of his ruthlessness so no matter how close we become, I feel I will always have to be a little careful in how I act and speak around him. His unswerving devotion to his family is… daunting," finished Ailyn.
"But you will be his family soon," Gana reminded her, clasping Ailyn's shoulder.
Ailyn glanced up at Gana and smiled at the realization.
"And may the Seven preserve me if I ever fail to live up to his expectations as I take on his name," said Ailyn, looking out onto her balcony thoughtfully.
