Chapter 29
Five Days Later
The High Septon's voice rang across the Great Hall. "All Hail Daemon Targaryen the Third of His Name, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, and Protector of the Realm!" He boomed. "And his Queen, Sansarya of House Baelish!"
The Great Hall erupted in applause. From the front of the crowd beneath the Iron Throne, Maegara clapped along with the others, brushing away the worried glances from the Small Council members and the uncertain murmurs behind her. Jason must have noticed this too, as she felt him inch closer to her. But Maegara continued to stand up straight and confident as befitting a princess, and smiled and clapped for her brother's ascension to the throne.
Daemon looked well enough, despite the many days he didn't. There was a fire in his eyes she had never seen before, but she took it as Daemon finally manning up to the responsibility their father left him, and now he was king. He is king, as it should be, she thought. She glanced back at the Small Council from the other side of the aisle. Her mother clapped politely for her son, and Lord Baelish looked proudly at his nervous-looking daughter, the maiden queen whose crown seemed too heavy on her delicate features, but Serys looked on nervously, licking his lips and letting his eyes wander around the room.
They'll see I'm right. This is Daemon's crown, it isn't mine to take. She looked back at Daemon, who was now looking down at her with a smile on his face. Though the smile was a simple one, reminding her of the easy life they used to have, Maegara couldn't shake the feeling that she felt something was wrong. Whether it was the new sight of seeing her brother as king, she couldn't be sure. It's nothing, she told herself. Either way, it's not my responsibility anymore.
Jason placed his lips close to her ears. "Are you certain about your choice?"
"Nothing we can do about it now," she whispered, and added jokingly, "Don't worry, if Daemon plans on burning the Seven Kingdoms to the ground, I know he loves me enough to spare the Westerlands."
Jason smiled at her jest, but she noticed how nervously he looked at her brother.
After the ceremony, there was to be a feast in the evening to celebrate Daemon's coronation, following a tourney the next day. They had the rest of the afternoon to themselves. As they exited the Great Hall, one of Daemon's squires approached Jason and Maegara.
"Princess Maegara," the squire bowed before her. "His Grace requests a private luncheon with you in his chamber within half an hour."
"His Grace? Oh, right. That's what I'm to call him now." Maegara said dryly. "Tell my brother I'll be there."
The squire bowed and made his way back into the Great Hall, fumbling as there were many high borns exiting.
Maegara slipped her arm back into Jason's. "Let's not head back to the apartment first. Why don't we walk down the gardens first? It's such a lovely day."
Jason agreed and led her down to the gardens behind the Holdfast. "The King's first lunch, how exiting." He said dryly.
"Oh, don't be jealous." Maegara laughed lightly, though she couldn't help but feel that something was wrong. She looked around to make sure there were no peeking eyes in the hallway leading to the garden and saw none. She brushed off the feeling. It was going to be a really good day, she told herself.
They walked in comfortable silence into the garden, and Maegara was glad it was just the two of them. Whenever there was someone important nearby, they had to pretend that they barely tolerated each other, and it was so much easier when they were alone. At one point, they nearly bumped into one of Lord Tyrell's daughters wandering the gardens, so instead they turned around and took a different path into a small gazebo overlooking the Narrow Sea.
"I'm so tired of having to hide ourselves." Jason helped Maegara onto the ledge overlooking the sea before hoisting himself up beside her.
"You have a role to play. I understand that." Maegara replied. "If someone saw that I even remotely liked you, they'd wonder why I do and would know something was amiss."
Jason sighed. "There was a Lannister who was known to be ruthless, yet it was a secret among the Lannisters that he was a totally different man when he was at home with his wife."
"Then maybe we should go back."
Jason turned to her. "Do you mean it?"
She nodded in reply. "Daemon's married, gods know how long it will be before he finally beds Sansa but I don't plan on waiting. My name day's passed. Father's gone. Daemon's king. I've helped Daemon all I could with father's work, and it's up to Lord Baelish to teach him the rest. Mother's going to Dragonstone. Sansa and Daemon's name day isn't anytime soon. I think I'm done here." She smiled at him. "And besides, your name day's coming soon. It would be nice to celebrate it there."
"I'd be fine having it here with you." He smiled, and Maegara rested her head on his shoulder. "Not at the Great Hall, just here, at this exact spot with you. Sometimes I feel like I've wanted to be a lord for so long, yet I feel like I'm not doing enough."
"You are, and Casterly Rock is where we belong."
"We?" He asked dubiously.
"I am Lady of Casterly Rock, of course. What else would I be?" She grinned. "Besides, I think I'm done here."
"We'll be out of here by the end of the week." He promised.
"I'm fine with that." She said, slowly holding his hand. "I miss Thad and Enya. It's been two months, Jason."
"I miss them too." Jason replied. He noticed Maegara was looking at him, a cryptic smile on her face. "What is it?"
"I've been meaning to tell you this, but with father's death and Daemon's coronation, I thought it could have waited for a better time." She said quietly before taking a deep breath. "I think I'm carrying your child."
Jason turned sharply to look at her. "What?"
"I've been missing my flowering twice." Maegara explained. "And two days ago, I went to see Maester Robert and…I'm pregnant."
Jason smiled from ear to ear and quickly covered his goofy grin with one hand. "Are you serious? I'm going to be a father?!"
"Technically, you already are a father…"
"You know what I mean, Marga."
Maegara smiled. "Yes. This is going to be your first trueborn child."
"Thank the mother!" He exclaimed before kissing her and embracing her. "Thank you. I love you, Maegara. I'll love this child, but I'll love Thaddeus and Visenya as my own, I promise you—gods, I'm to be a father!"
Maegara laughed at his reaction and kissed him back. "Something to look forward to when we get back to the Rock."
"It certainly is." He beamed. Jason was too excited to remain seated and hopped off the railing. Maegara turned her body to face him, holding his shoulders as he placed his hands on her waist. "I promise you that you'll never have to trouble yourself ever again in the Rock. No more lies between us, no politics, it's just you, me, the twins, and our third child. I love you so much, Marga."
Maegara giggled. "I love you too." She whispered. "We've been married for almost a year and I think this is the first time I've said it."
"I don't remember, but I'll remember this as the first time you meant it." He grinned, pulling each other closer, as close as they could be.
For the first time, Maegara forgot everything else but him, until she remembered that she was still in King's Landing and it was not over yet. "Let's continue this later," she whispered in his ear. "I still have lunch with Daemon in a while."
Jason groaned, but forced himself to pull back. "Very well, I'll see you afterwards."
He helped Maegara off the railing. Maegara kissed him once more. "Can't we leave tomorrow?" She asked.
"We've been here for a month, my dear. There's too much to load in just one day."
"Then we'll send for everything else afterwards. I can settle everything with Daemon later."
He smiled. "Give me three days to get us out of here."
"Fine, three days." She pouted. "But we've missed two months of the twins' lives, we're not leaving the Rock again after a while."
"Deal." He smiled. "Can't wait. Now go, you can't keep the king waiting."
