Dragonstone, 288 AC
It is a rainy day in Dragonstone, as usual Stannis would say, and the Lord of the place has come here to spend a few weeks in his castle. He has visited his small folk, defiant about him at first, but respecting him more and more with time. Today, he has wanted to go hunting with Proudwing, but the weather is too bad, especially for the bird. He spends the day in his office, writing letters then goes in the Great Hall receiving his small folk. Right before lunch, Maester Cressen walks in with two letters. The old maester should have stayed with Renly in Storm's End, as a maester usually serves a castle and a land, not a man. But he loved his Stannis way too much to see another serve him, and he had asked this favor himself to Robert, when visiting King's Landing. "Go with him", the King has answered. "Why should I care?". Cressen has been hurt by how indifferent Robert looks towards his own brother, his own flesh and blood. How can two brothers hate each other so much? It is beyond his understanding: they are different of course, but siblings do not have to look alike to love each other. On this day, Cressen walks as fast as his old legs allow him too. He has known what these letters are as soon as he has seen the seals. Stannis raises an eyebrow when he sees him coming in, all sweaty and breathless. Silently, Cressen hands him the two parchments. Stannis pales a lot and Cressen knows he knows. His jaw clenches as he opens the parchments: Cressen has not wanted to read them before him but he stays by his side, observing his face. He quickly hands the first one to his maester, his jaw still clenched. Cressen takes it, and reads:
"I HAVE BLED! Come marry me!"
No need to read the signature hastily added at the bottom of the parchment. And it has not been enough to make Stannis laugh, while Cressen has to bite his tongue to not chuckle with amusement in front of so much enthusiasm. Stannis is reading the second letter, way longer, and, when he is done, he leans forward, rubs his face with his hands after giving this one to Cressen. He hides his face as Cressen reads the letter, written by Lord Tully, confirming his daughter has bled and that she is ready to marry him. He asks him to let him know when he will leave, so the wedding is ready, even though these ceremonies are not particularly long to prepare. But he needs a date, so the guests arrive in time. The road to Riverrun is very different whether you come from Winterfell or King's Landing. He also precise he has hired musicians, and asks if Stannis has peculiar taste in food or in who they shall invite or not. A pretty common letter, Cressen thinks, and, as he looks up on his Lord, he does not understand why Stannis looks so upset. The young man looks like he is crying indeed, and Cressen raises an eyebrow:
"My Lord?"
"What?" Stannis does, more harshly than he has wanted. "Sorry, Cressen", he then sighs, knowing it is unfair to take it out on the maester.
"What is it, Stannis?" the old man asks nicely, seeing how disturbed he is.
"She is thirteen", Stannis sighs, and stands up, pacing up and down, his fingers snapping each others. He is a grown man now, but has still the same mimics than when he was just a little boy.
"And she has bled, my Lord. She is a woman according to the rules of our world. My Lord…" Cressen sighs and walks to him, "look at her letter. She is begging you to marry her. She loves you, my Lord. Can't you see it?"
Stannis scowls at him:
"I can see it! But I can't help thinking about how young she is, how innocent, how… how she deserves so much better than me…"
He mutters the last words, and Cressen gives him a hurt look. Will this damn boy ever love himself and understand that other people could care for him, enjoy his company, his smart mind, could love him as he is? The shadow of his brother was too imposing for this boy. If only he has been born the eldest, how different his life would have been…
"You will be an excellent husband for her, I know it", Cressen argues.
"I would not even know how to…pleasure her", Stannis says with shifty eyes.
Cressen walks closer again:
"I know how to help you. Come to my office, My Lord", he says, walking out of the Great Hall. Stannis follows him without a word, his shoulders sagging as if he was carrying the weight of the world on them. They walk up the stairs of the Maester's tower, and a fresh air makes Stannis shivers as they get in his room. Cressen hastily closes the window facing the sea and rummages through books. Stannis looks around, noticing it exactly looks like the room he had in Storm's End, except for the landscape out there. He walks to the window, staring at the sea, noticing how heavy the rain is. He could count on his single hand the days when the sun has shined.
"Here it is!" Cressen exclaims, and Stannis turns around to see a big book, wide opened and a drawing of a vagina on a full page. He winces with disgust: he has never seen one, but he knows how it looks like. Cressen, with a passionate tone Stannis finds suspicious, starts explaining:
"The women, contrary to men, have a very small organ here", he points at a spot, on the highest part of the vagina. "Come and sit down, the drawing is not going to bite you, my Lord."
Stannis obeys with a whimper of despair, and looks at the drawing, still wincing.
"This organ is called a clitoris. And it is the only organ totally deserved to pleasure, and only pleasure. So, you should focus on this on your wedding night."
"I have to touch that?" Stannis disgustedly says.
"Touch, lick, kiss. Come on Stannis, you're not a little boy anymore. Do you want to pleasure her, or not?"
"I want to do my duty", he groans.
"Good."
To the maester's surprise, Stannis grabs a parchment and starts writing on it.
"Are you taking notes?" he raises an eyebrow again.
"Do you really think I will remember this by the wedding night?" Stannis retorts, keeping on writing.
Cressen eyes the parchment:
"You misspelled "Clitoris", it is with an only S, my Lord."
"Thank you", he mumbles and corrects it after a scowl. "What else should I need to know?"
"A girl often bleeds on her wedding night, because there is a small membrane called hymen at the entrance of the internal part of the vagina. When her husband penetrates her, he mostly rips or tears it apart. Do not panic if she bleeds, but if she aches, you must stop immediately and let her…adjust to your size."
Cressen says that with a knowing look and Stannis reddens with embarrassment:
"It is not that big…"
"I have known you since you were born, and have seen you naked on several occasions. You are big, my Lord."
Stannis shifts uncomfortably on the chair and Cressen goes on:
"The most common sexual position for a first intercourse is the man lying on the woman. Do you want to see a drawing of this?"
"No!" Stannis exclaims again.
"Fair enough", Cressen simply says. "You also need to be clean in this area."
"Of course", Stannis says, not writing this down. "Other body parts she can have pleasure with?"
"Breasts of course, but the pleasure will be mutual I guess. Nipples are often very sensitive, especially since she is a virgin and has never been touched by a man."
Stannis nods, writing down as Cressen keeps talking. Hips, ribs, thighs, inner thighs, back, kidneys, butt, neck. He writes carefully, wondering which part of a woman's body is indeed NOT sensitive to strokes. The Others take him, this is going to be a very long and boring night.
"Will you answer Lord Hoster?" Cressen asks when their little lesson is over.
"And Lady Aylis", Stannis nods.
"Very well", Cressen nods in turn and lets him leave back to his office. Stannis closes the door behind him and writes a long and thankful letter to Lord Tully, explaining they would need more or less sixty days to get to Riverrun. First, they would reach King's Landing by the sea, and then would travel from the Capital to Riverrun. He thinks he should buy Aylis a few gifts when he will be in the Capital and adds this to the list he has made, just to remember it. He also writes he agrees with the musician, and thanks him silently for not organizing a tourney. But maybe Aylis has told him about it. He finishes the letter with his signature and his seal, before writing to his future wife in turn. The letter is very short, just explaining the same things about distances and travels. He signs the same way, and sends the two letters together.
After he watches the raven flying away, he walks downstairs and orders that the servants get a room ready for Aylis, and starts organizing his trip, sending other letters to Ser Davos to invite him to the wedding.