Before this continues i apologize for the waiting, i've been extra busy with the holidays and also i got a new puppy, so he's been taking a lot of my Free time, i will try to post 2 chapters a week from now on, if i get to busy i promise to atleast do 1 a week!
Thank You for reading me and i wish everyone Happy Holidays! Remember that any reviews good or bad are appreciate it.
Chapter 5
Alicent POV
The wedding is tomorrow and Ashten is arriving today, I'm so excited to see him, as wild as he might be he's my brother and I've missed him so much, i know he decided to stay in HighTower just to be able to do as he pleases without having to worry about father getting mad at him. He has always been strict, even more with him than with me but that's only because I listen, Ashten does not, he doesn't like to be told what to do and tends to do the opposite.
I haven't seen Rhaenyra much since we had dinner a few days ago, we only talk during meals because she really busy with the wedding planning, tonight Taena will have dinner with the royal family, its tradition that the night before a wedding the groom and bride share dinner together, in this case since Taena is the second wife, the dinner includes the rest of the family. The ceremony will be tomorrow morning and the celebrations later in the day, for the ceremony we wont be able to talk but hopefully we get to during the celebration.
The day of the fittings she was the nicest, I know these feelings are only going to grow deeper with time and the fact that she's so welcoming isn't helping. I went to bed with her sleeping clothes on that day and they are the softest, I was afraid to damage them in some way but she reassured me she has many of them so it would be fine, the best thing is they smell like her, Rhaenyras scent, its stronger than flowers but not too strong, sweet but not too sweet, even her scent is unique just like her, is there anything about her that isn't perfect?.
The day after the fittings i tried giving the clothes back but when I went to her room she wasn't there, I had to give them to one of her maids instead, later that day she sent them back, with a note that read "keep them, part of the princess treatment", her maid told me that she wanted to bring them herself, but the queen had sent for her, could she be more sweet!, seriously she's not helping my situation at all.
I'm so pathetic that I've worn them all week and no matter how many times my maids have washed them they still smell like her, they help me not miss her as much, it's so strange, I barely know her and I feel like we have known each other for a long time, the night of the dinner I held her hand, and she didn't let go even when she got up. Im not getting my hopes up and I'm not trying to be weird with her, I truly feel sorry because she can't get away from the spotlight, when she said I sounded mad about people watching her, I wasn't mad I was jealous, the thought of people watching her and maybe thinking about her in other ways bothered me, a lot more than I like to admit.
My maid comes in with a big smile to give me the best news, Ashten just got here, Father is coming to get me so we can go meet him in the castle grounds. As we are walking down the stairs Taena comes rushing to us, "He's here?, I'm so glad he came early and not tonight, I was worried i wouldn't be able to see him before tomorrow" she says as she catches her breath and walks down with us.
"Sister you don't have to come with us, if you're busy Ashten will understand" father says to her giving her a look, "I'm not busy Otto, I have one more day of being a HighTower and I want to spend some of it with my family" she grabs my hand tight and gives me one of her motherly smiles.
The doors are already opening when we get to them and there he is at the bottom of the stairs, I run towards him and he already has his arms open to welcome me, "little sister its only been two weeks and you're already taller and more beautiful" he says as he kisses the top of my head "nonsense Ash, I missed you so much" I say looking up to see his face, and I notice, he has a bruise under his left eye "what happened to your eye ?" I ask, "I missed you too sister, and don't worry about it, you should see the other guy" he says as he gives me a wink with his bruised up eye, "come here you wild boy" Taena says from behind me as she's opening her arms for him to hug her "T, you look beautiful, can I still call you T or should I say 'your grace'" he says in a funny voice, "Your majesty for you" she replies as she grabs his chin and starts checking the bruise, we are heading inside, and before anyone can do anything else Father grabs Ashten, knowing my Father he's about to give him a talk for coming to the wedding with a bruised up face.
Ashten's room is in the same hall as fathers, I suspect father requested to have Ashten close, he hasn't given up the challenge of controlling Ash. Taena had to leave to get ready for dinner so I'm walking to my room alone, I'm becoming more familiar with the castle and its many halls, I know how to get to most places now. I was looking down most of the way so I didn't realize Rhaenyra is standing outside my room, she looks beautiful, she's wearing an off white dress with gold touches to it, nothing big but wow she looks stunning, "I was waiting for you" she says as she realizes I'm now looking at her instead of the floor, "I'm sorry about the wait I was…" I start to explain but she cuts me off mid sentence "welcoming your brother, I saw all of you through my window" she continues "and seeing all of you being so close gave me an idea, but let's get inside so we can talk about it" she says as I open the door and let her go in first.
"so what can the princess possibly need from me?" I ask curiously and she rolls her eyes before responding "Mother and Taena seem to be building a good relationship, and I'm glad, but the official royal dinner is tonight and I have no clue what Im going to talk to Taena about, I don't know a lot about her, but you do! She seems to be really close to you and your Brother" she finishes her sentence, I find it adorable that she is worrying about this, she's the princess the next Queen in line and she's worried about making Taena feel left out, she couldn't be more perfect.
"how long do you have?, it doesn't matter I will tell you all there is to know about T" I motion for her to sit down, seriously she looks stunning "First of all, you look very pretty.." she rolls her eyes again but gives me a thankful nod, "Taena or T as we call her, well she's been like a mother figure to us, when mother died she took over the wife responsibilities at home so I wouldn't had to, i was only 7, the same age she was when she lost her parents…" she's staring into my eyes giving me her full attention, its hard to ignore these feelings when she's looking into my eyes like that, "I suspect that part of her didn't want me to go through what she had to, she made sure our childhood was great, she enjoys embroidering and she's really good at it, she taught me all i know about it, loves sweets but prefers eating them when no one is watching so she can enjoy as many as she wants" i stop when i realize i was talking without thinking, which seems to happen to me constantly with Rhaenyra "don't ever tell her I told you that she would be so mad, its rare to see her mad, she's happy most of the time I've only seen her mad 2 or 3 times but only because of my brother, he's wild and she loves that, she has always told me to not be afraid of being myself, I think once you get to know her you will love her, everyone does".
Rhaenyras POV
I've been talking to Alicent for a while and dinner hasn't been served yet, her dinner will be earlier than mine, so as soon as it arrives I have to go, she's been so pleasant tonight, I wasn't lying I watched them from my window, I wasn't trying to but it was the noise of the horses arriving that made me look, and I do want to know more about Taena, but also a part of me wanted to see Alicent, i'm not sure why but I can't stay away from her, she's been so nice and a part of me doesn't feel like i have to act anyway around her, like i can be myself.
I've been thinking a lot about her, and I wonder why. She's kind of becoming the one thing I look forward to, when we talk time literally flies, she actually has a sense of humor which I thank the Gods for, when I heard some girl my age was coming with Taena I was worried she would be one of those girls that just likes to talk about boys and dresses but she isn't, actually she hasn't mentioned anything about boys which I'm so glad for, nothing bores me more than trying to impress a bunch of boys that couldn't even beat me in a fight.
Right now while she's talking about Taena I can see how much love she has for her, she hasn't said one bad thing about her and I don't think she's purposely avoiding telling me something bad about her aunt ,she doesn't have anything bad to say about anyone, ever and I like that. I notice a pile of books in her night table so I decide to ask about them "why do you have so many books in your night table"i ask watching her blush, "I….. you will think its boring…but I like to read….whenever I have time to" she says as she starts looking down at the floor and now i get why mother got her a book as a welcoming gift, i insisted a book was a bad gift but i realize how wrong i was now "Hey! I don't think its boring, father always says that in order to gain knowledge one has to read, he loves reading, I not so much, I rather listen to the stories" i stop lowering my voice so she can realize how serious i am "don't tell anyone but I don't read as much as everyone thinks, my main maid Noryka reads to me in the garden" I can see a smirk forming in her face like she's holding her laugh, so i start explaining "I saw her looking at my books one day, I was going to let her borrow one but she told me she couldn't read, so we made a deal, I taught her how to read and she would read for me, we both win in this deal, we don't do it as often because she's been busy, since she was promoted to head maid" the smirk is still there.
"only you would make such a deal to avoid reading" she says finally letting a giggle out and i cant help the smile that comes to my face, "if I have the chance to make my life easier, why not?" She's about to say something back but her dinner is here so its time for me to go, "Thank you so much for telling me about Taena, enjoy your dinner, i promise I will keep the sweets secret safe, but only if you keep mine" I say as I'm standing up and she does the same "Deal!, enjoy your dinner and ill see you tomorrow" she says giving me a comforting smile.
Alicent is such a sweet girl, and talking to her definitely helped, now I feel a lot better knowing a little more about Taena, but also i came to the realization that she hasn't mention anyone from her hometown, she certainly must have left someone sad for leaving, shes such a great company i wonder how many boys miss her over there, is that Jealousy? why am i jealous about boys missing her?, that's a thought i will need to come back to but right now i have Dinner to attend.
Dinner has been great so far, Mother and Taena have really made progress, everything is pretty much done for the wedding, Taena is actually pleasant to be around, I can tell she respects my mother not only as the queen but also as the first wife , she has been talking about her life in high-tower and every-time she mentions her niece and nephew there is sparkle in her eyes, she loves them and she should know they love her the same way.
"I was talking to Alicent earlier and she couldn't stop telling me how great her childhood was because of you, you've done a great job at raising both her and her brother, they love you" I say and I notice her smile grows wider
"I love them so much, it wasn't easy raising them, I didn't want them to feel like I was trying to take their mothers place, Alicent was 7 and Ashten 11 , Alicent used to call me mom when she was younger but Ashten would get mad at her, so when she realized he didn't like her calling me mom she gave me a nickname, she has nicknames for everyone, mine is T and i wouldnt be surprised if she already had a nickname for everyone here" I wonder if she has one for me yet and if she does what is it?.
"She's sweet, and beautiful I bet she will have lines of suitors when she turns 17, wishing to marry her, if she doesn't already have them" mother always says the right things, i was just thinking about that earlier, the many suitors she probably left sad in Hightower, she will one day leave the castle, when she marries, the thought of it makes me sad, I've just met her and I'm already hoping she wishes to stay here even after marrying.
"actually she has never seem interested in marrying, when she was younger she would tell Otto she was never marrying so she could take care of him in his senior years, Of course that's not going to happen, I want her to experience love, she's a sweet girl and I know she reads romantic novels sometimes so she can't be too opposed to the idea of love" mother gives a nod of agreement, and I can't stop thinking about what Taena just said, Alicent reads romantic novels but isn't interested in marrying, which makes no sense at all and it makes me think about the pile of books on her night table.
